Eagle4Caley

It was too...and Birmingham

Yeah especially if England get to the Semi's (probably unlikely) ..... ....Although not all ICT supporters are Scottish.

Wow! To be honest I suspect few people on this forum can have any doubt that you have a bit of a beef with the the current board! ....But I don't think it's that hard to see that Gary Warren might benefit at 34 by having a two year contract with someone else (unless it's on a peppercorn rate!) against the 1 year he had left with ICT. Your point about ANY player getting injured is irrevelant since I'm talking about GW, it's not hard to see that should GW had suffered a bad injury in his final year with us then when nearing 35 next year getting another contract could be tricky, so he now has the benefit of two years pay. I'm sure had he stayed with ICT he would have featured during the season, however with Robbo securing a right back and with Mckay, Donaldson and Tremarco all on extended contracts beyond GW's it's possible to envisage those four being the regular back line (and with McCart available too). TBH I'm neither pro-this-board, nor anti-the-old-board, either set have made mistakes and the current one will still do so, still at least ICT aren't going into the new season with one fit striker like Palace did last year (you can imagine the flak the CPFC board got for that!), any football board gets few thanks if ticket prices go up, or results are bad, or signings don't materialise, the manager isn't sacked etc etc. And I'm not naive, I understand situations are manipulated by either side when it suits them.

Pretty much agree with everything you say....as far as I can see everyone wins. Gary now has a longer contract on possibly more money, we have rebalanced the squad financially, and certainly from an age point of view. Imagine if Warren had got an injury next season, he would have been in a more vulnerable position in terms of his next contract. We've lost a good man no doubt, with plenty of experience, a great servant....it was ashame he was banned for two of our finals. However certainly in our relegation season there were a few on here having a pop at him and it's probably true that he might not have been first choice next season. It's difficult for the board to get it right, not least since social media, always outflanks you. There was obviously suggestions being made, as in 'if you fancy finding yourself a better contract elsewhere we wont stand in your way/demand a fee' but that has empowered Gary. In the end the board (any board) will never satisfy all the fans nor that it needs to....yes I get 'more transparency, openess' thing, but just what do we really expect with player contracts and transfers. Someone else has suggested the board is a 'shambles'...really? At the end of the season people were speculating about whether we were in financial trouble or if we could avoid going part time. Yet what I see is a club that's got key players on extended/better contracts (and longer than a year!) and recruited five new players in good time (yes we lost Vigurs), leaving us with squad that has some potential and longevity and no sign of going part-time as well as organising itself off the park. Sure people have had issues with the departures of Gary, and Ross Draper and David Raven previously, but ultimately the club makes 'business' decisions about what it can afford and fund.

Crucially we need to know what CaleyD thinks!

He did plenty in the first half of the season, but lost out as Robbo tried different combinations, particularly once Austin got himself fit, struck me as being the sort of player who'd get in just the right positions to score simple goals, and seemed a hard worker. Why do we write someone off for a because a loss of form/managers selection choice, but not consider the previous good form. Bell is someone who could benefit from strength training in the gym and building up stamina levels , and building on his experience...there is definitely a decent player there.

Bell had a very good start I thought, and he scored 7 goals up to the New Year and he was getting a fair number of plaudits from posters on here (he was one of the bright spots in a poor start)....sure, he went off the boil a bit, but he'll only be 22 in July and has plenty of development to go, surely we don't write someone off for a temporary loss of form, when the overall signs are good

Really like both kits, but especially the home kit. Palace did something similar when we got promoted to the EPL, but the blue and red are better tones (richer) on the Caley top. If you only want stripes this may not be for you, but I think it's classy and distinctive, and the black trim sets it off well. Defo on the 'buy' list

I'm sorry to see both Vigurs and Mulraney go... but we'll get over it, Vigurs has obviously been offered a better deal and he lives in Dingwall, so good luck to him. However can it be said that either Draper or Tansey have pulled up trees at RC? Angus Beith could be a canny move, and Trafford/Chalmers/Polworth/Calder are a decent mix as well Mulraney is more of a player who didn't really perform at the level or at a consistency I felt was in him....but we'll get to see more of Elbouzedi, and Doran is a more effective and potent player than Jake.... plus Walsh seems highly rated. We seem to have pretty much sorted things out good and early...bodes better for next season, compared to the shambles last year. BTW 50p says Vigurs gets sent off at least once against us!

I picked my wife up from a local station just now and told her County were down....she cheered! Supporting Caley is clearly infectious

Caley and Palace have certainly come up with quite a few variations of the red and blue and stripes over the years...here's Palace's new kit, the white 'sash' kit also appears every so often, and always has our fans dribbling with desire. The yellow trim on the home kit is somewhat controversial, although the history of it goes back to the 60's. I liked all of Caley's recent home kits.

For once I feel better that the English aren't to blame for everything Anyway .... When I was up recently with my wife, we took the train to the Kyle of Lochalsh as a day trip, and of course when past Dingwall and RC's ground, it was a nice sunny day and Dingwall looked quite pleasant, so when I noted to my wife over the weekend that RC might be coming down to the Championship she said that it would be a good match to go to (see... she's hooked now as well!) ..........But not in the middle of winter

Yes Draper, Mckay and to a lesser extent Tansey have done a good job for us!

Mind you if this was done every weekend in the Town Centre close season, coupled to Season Tickets on installment plans, and maybe cluster ticket packages (2-3 games/family bundles booked at the same time at a small discount) you might get the drip-drip effect, constant publicity building interest, and allowing a long lead-in for that buying decision. I accept it's hard work though, but small targets say 200- 500 extra purchases over time could make quite a difference.

Is this going to be the long awaited 'Announcement'?

In a way given that he was injured for most of the year, Elbouzedi is almost like a new signing..... next season could be the 'breakthrough' season

That bit's nuts as we made a profit of £250k in 2015, so did we suddenly go on a player salary spending spree?

My impression from previous comments on here was that ICT were running at a deficit even in the year that we won the Cup (circa 500k was mentioned, although the 2016 Statement from the club suggested the deficit was £21,391!), also what has been the cost of John Hughes pay-off (was that cleared in one year?), and that of Richie Foran's (I assume he didn't leave with nothing). What has been the reduction in TV money, and what has been the reduction in gate receipts this year?

Oh yes...it was like watching Man City/Barca as we destroyed Leicester (...or those 20mins in the 2nd half against Dunfermline, when it looked like Caley would run riot)

True....but it would be hard not to argue that St Mirren's promotion was, in part, built on how they finished last season

I have never bought into the 'we should have got automatic promotion' viewpoint, I can't see on what basis we had any advantage over the teams already down in the Championship, there was no great amount of parachute payments (300k is nothing), our attendances were bound to fall meaning less income, most of the players from our 2014/15 seasons (our most succesful) had departed, several of our most experienced players that were left would have to go or not recieve new contracts (Meekings/Draper/Raven/OFW) our Board was in flux, our manager had been let go, morale was at rock bottom we had no recognised striker, One of our best prospects, Doran, was still injured we were going to have to rebuild using very young and very inexperienced players On the plus side we had Vigurs, Polworth, Tremarco and ........ So in reality coming straight back up was a very tall order, maybe missing out on the play-offs is a disappointment, but the likelihood of us (or any of those participating) going up via the play-offs is very slim, and I would say we are (as of today) in as good a position for next season as those above us.

Great result yesterday....we did what we needed to do just in case the Pars slipped up, that's professional I can't wait for next season ... Falkirk away is on the bucket list, (and maybe Ross county away?!?)

Glad to see a new positive thread in Robbo's name. Considering the mess the club was in following relegation I think he's played a blinder, and one has to say the Board got their first major decision right. All the quotes below are from September, when fans were understandably jumpy and depressed (TBF there were plenty in support with some well considered views), the last quote is mine!... When we think of the various outcomes against the statements below, it's hard not to feel pretty satisfied about how the season has panned out, despite just missing out on the play-off, given the low and desperate base we started from. A turning point for me is that run of 10 clean sheets from 11 in the Autumn (Defence sorted...tick). The fantastic unbeaten run since the start of March shows that Robbo got to grips with the squad, sorted out the driftwood from the decent, and galvanised them, they responded to him and each other so that we now see that famous 'spirit' return, a key ingredient in any successful side. Signing Austin in January is now looking a masterstoke (as was Donaldson earlier), fortunately we had so many games postponed that his absence from the side due to injury perhaps was as costly as it might have been. Finances/contracts/aquistions and poaching by other teams will all have a bearing on how we start the next season, but hopefully we wont lose too many key players (Vigurs perhaps), the club seems to be quite active already so we should start with a settled and positive squad, the younger ones having benefited from a whole seasons worth of action. The appointment of Robbo shows the benefit of having a wise older head at the helm (Just like Palace with Hodgson)...... gosh I think I have something in my eye! (and nobody say 'plank') ------------------------------------------------- Quotes The board's ludicrous "give the manager's job to someone who didn't even apply" experiment has failed. Robbo is a good guy but he is not what we need - the defence needs sorted out first and foremost and he is not the man to do it. The board has let the club down appointing a manager out of the game for as long as Robertson has, acquisitions have been very poor ................. Genuinely think we will be lucky to stay up at this rate. Now I'm eternally grateful for the job he did last time around but he inherited a very good nucleus of talent ...............and I'm not sure if he's capable of building from scratch. Robbo is and never was the answer, but right now, the Club doesn't even seem to know the question. I have been told on good authority that the players won't play for him this has been going on too long now and rather than starting to make any noticeable difference, Robbo and the coaches seem to be continuing to make all the same mistakes from last season. There quite clearly is a rift in the dressing room. Players were having a go at each other, the discipline is "shot". Tactically we are shocking. I now think he knows he is out of his depth and can't sort it. I quite like the tough words from Robbo about the players performances and attitude, although that's usually a short sentence away from 'losing the changing room'! --------------------------------------------------

A really good interview, comes across really well.

Exactly!