CaleyTennis

I reckon we will find a bit more information out regarding the management and contract extension offers etc at the start of next week once we have finished the season. I also don't anticipate having to wait too long regarding management as our season starts again in July (league cup), I still have a gut feeling that JR may resign but I'm not always right (I'm famous up at Thurso Golf Club and got the nickname "squid" because I got every single prediction wrong at the 2016 world cup lol). I posted in the squad update thread that I believe we have the necleus of a decent squad and also posted my thoughts on who will stay and go etc so I won't post that here too.

Out of the ones out of contract at end of this season I would keep on: Cameron Mackay, Ryan Fyffe, Harry Nicholson, Lewis Hyde, Anthony MacDonald and Nikolay Todorov. i reckon Aaron Doran, Kevin McHattie and James Vincent will be moved on. I'm not sure about Brad Mackay, Miles Storey or Shane Sutherland but, personally I would move on Brad Mackay and possibly Miles Storey (I'm torn on this one) but retain Shane Sutherland. So bearing all that in mind, that gives us a squad of: Mark Ridgers, Cameron Mackay, Wallace Duffy, Danny Devine, Harry Nicholson, Ryan Fyffe, Robbie Deas, Lewis Hyde, Cameron Harper, Roddy MacGregor, Scott Allardice, Sean Welsh, Davy Carson, Anthony MacDonald, Shane Harkness, Daniel Mackay, Shane Sutherland and Nikolay Todorov. That is the necleus of a good squad and it wouldn't need much strengthening in the transfer market. I hope that we target younger players in the transfer market because I believe that is the type of player we should be targeting, perhaps one or 2 experienced players too. I was going to add what areas would need strening but i can't because I don't know the positions of Nicholson, Hyde and Harkness. I think Fyffe may be a RB but I'm not 100% certain. I have changed lol, no more of this negativity, I'm becoming more positive

Some might be either shocked or critical of me but I certainly don't lay the blame at either manager, instead putting the blame on certain (but not all) players that haven't performed this season and a short part towards the board for not backing the manager(s) until it was too late. Scott Allan was an inspired signing but why wait until March to sign him, I'm certain Hibs would have given him to us in January if we enquired. So that leads me to these 2 questions below:- : Who should we retain and, if we can, release or move on? : What realistic signings would you like to see come in next season, to replace the players moving on? I'm again not going to be critical here but I would move on players that haven't featured much this past season, like has happened with Toshney (it was his choice though). As for new signings, imho we should be looking at young players either from Scottish Premiership clubs or ones that are available on free transfers, or perhaps ones from the lower leagues that are available. Now, I get that these guys don't come cheap but imho it's time the board backed the manager if at all possible so that we can make a push for the title next season. Before any new signings, it's imperative that we tie down as many players as possible so that the summer rebuild is small, imho we have the basis of a good squad, we just need 2-3 more in to bolster the team.

Massive rebuild job there, no matter what division they are in so hopefully contract renewal offers are being ironed out at this moment in time, we can't leave it any later.

If I lived in Inverness I'd love to take up that position and it's not because I think I'm Jose Mourinho (I know your original comment was sarcasm lol but I know how critical I can be so I'm having a wee dig at myself here lol). I currently work as a volunteer junior coach up here in Thurso plus my other job is in a kids setting, I just like working with kids, I think it's my personality, something that doesn't come across on an Internet forum ahahaha. Anyway, I hope that the position gets filled ASAP

Teams I wouldn't mind us getting drawn to play: Montrose, Clyde, Stranraer, Aberdeen, St Mirren or Forfar Teams to avoid: Celtic, Rangers, Dundee Utd and Hibs. I want a winnable match so we can continue our remarkable record in the cup (how many years since we didn't go far in the competition?) but I also want a tie that is likely to be picked by BBC or Premier Sports hence why I put Aberdeen and St M in the teams I would not mind list. St J are another option but they are on a good run of form at the minute and I have one friend that is so Anti ICT that he would rip me big style if we lost or would greet about refs if we won. He said last night that we "didn't deserve to win" "had a biases ref in our favour" and "won't get promoted this season and play in Mickey Mouse league".

Never been as proud to support ICT as I am tonight, especially after getting told by County fan friends on Facebook and an idiot St Johnstone fan friend that we'd "get pumped". The idiot St J fan even said it was "undeserved" I am always optimistic lol but I still believe we can get promoted this season especially if we play as excellent as tonight. It was a team effort so I'm not going to single out anyone as man of the match. :ictscarf: :ictscarf: :ictscarf:

What is it with us and playing well against top teams yet struggle against "bottom half/smaller teams" We have now drawn Hearts, Raith once and Dunfermline plus beaten Raith twice. Regarding struggling teams : One loss and 2 draws v Alloa, 1 draw against Arbroath and a loss to Morton. It's weird how that is the case :ictscarf:

Definitely a much better performance from the lads tonight, it's good to see them proving their commitment to the cause, on the park instead of just talking a good game to the newspaper journalists :ictscarf: If it weren't for Jamie Mcdonald we would probably have won. I echo what most said here, Carson was our best player and was definitely the correct choice of man of the match from a certain Mr Dodds. I know draws are welcome sometimes as the points may be crucial in the long run, but we do need to start scoring and winning sooner rather than later, even if its to only get out of the danger zone rather than push for 4th. Got to be same again on Tuesday unless Harper and Duffy are fit.

This quote from the Duffy article is very worrying and must be angering the coaches. "He made it clear at half time that we were just doing our own thing" Thats the second time this season that this has been mentioned, there was something similar said by John Robertson, I think it was after QOS 1-0 defeat. What's the point of managers/coaches giving instructions to the team if they just don't listen, does that suggest that they, as have been accuse of a few times in recent weeks, really don't care about the club or Robertson/Kellacher because if so, then we really will see a mass clear out in the summer, of that I have ni doubt.

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/allardice-caley-thistle-have-been-embarrassing-and-should-f-230963/ Here is an honest assessment of our "embarrassing" run of form this season, from Scott Allardice, it is worth reading. i didn't know if I should post it in the Morton matchday thread so I thought I'd start a separate thread for discussion but feel free to move it to wherever

It's a no from me because I want either Sheerin or Stewart Petrie as our next permanent manager whenever that time comes :). Anyway, it's Mr Gardiner that needs to go, what is his title anyway and what does he do because its not chairman, that's Ross Morrison's job. Whatever his role, he has failed DRAMATICALLY because we are a mess, something that wasn't the case until he came in!

No and his name is McCant!

Isn't Mcdonald on loan from Hearts so how is he "more than likely going nowhere"? That's the reason I didn't mention him but tbh, I wouldn't mind him staying if he is indeed under contract :). I really don't know if you are being serious with your incoming mentions but I will give you the benefit of the doubt on this occasion. Nick Ross: I wouldn't say no to him as he did okay in his previous spell and would give his all to the cause/team. Glenn Middleton: Big yes but I think he may be off to St Johnstone permanently in the summer. But if not, and he was willing to come up here and be isolated (like Kai Kennedy) then he'd be an excellent signing. Aaron Cervantes: Don't know anything about him but he sounds like one of Rangers youngsters so would fit the bill of who we should be aiming to sign, which is young and ambitious to get into a first team.

I have seen a few supporters on Twitter suggest that a mass clear out is needed in the summer and tbh, I couldn't agree more because there are players in the team that just are not pulling their weight or just don't give a s**t about the club or what poor, John Robertson and Scott Kellacher are going through just now. At the moment we have 9 players under contract so it's clear they'll be staying: Ridgers, Deas, Devine, Duffy, Harper, Allardice, MacGregor, Welsh and Dan Mackay. Here are the out of contract experienced players/youngsters I'd like to see be offered new deals and potentially stay for next season: Cameron Mackay, Carson, Vincent, Nicholson, Fyffe, Hyde, Harkness and Todorov. The rest I really couldn't care less if they got released or sold on, so that leaves us with a massive rebuild job on our hands. have also seen a couple of comments on Twitter saying that we should look at Innes Cameron but tbh, I don't think we should start touting or suggesting new signings until the end of the season when we know who is available. I said it in the Dundee match day thread and I'll say it here too, we HAVE to target the right type of players this time, none of this injury prone dross that are a waste of wages or loanees that don't care about ICT. I await a massive backlash for this post

I would actually be happy with that bit that I have put in bold from your comment A bit of experience alongside these youngsters and we are laughing :). I'd rather a team with a mixture of experience (preferably ones that we have that stay loyal to us for next season) and youngsters than one full of injury prone players that are not worth keeping on the wage bill, unless they fully recover from the long term injuries. Imho, we must get promoted in the next couple of seasons so we have to target the right type of players in the summer.

As a said on Dundee matchday thread, major rebuild needed, we are in serious need of quality centre backs, creative midfielders/wingers (not a priority though) and a prolific goalscorer. Surely we can find some gems in the Scottish or English lower leagues/non league!

That sounds reassuring Mr Mod :).

I suspect thats aimed at me, who else gets criticised this much on a forum! i say this hundreds of times, I AM A FAN SO ENTITLED TO AN OPINION FFS, if you don't agree then fine but don't pick on me everytime you don't agree with me. is it any wonder I don't post on here often, its like I get ganged up on for having an opinion and the mods just allow it, sometimes I wonder why I bothered registering in the first place, I'm slowly being driven away from the forum, something a few on here (Highland Capital to name one) would love to see happen.

It certainly has to because we cannot afford to fall any lower! I expect a reaction on Saturday and tbh, its a must win if we are to have any chance of reaching play offs (which is still achieveable amazingly), I still believe that we will be good enough to avoid the bottom 2 but our abysmal record of 1 in 10 means that we can't afford any more slip ups against Alloa or Morton in our next 2 matches. I get that injuries are problematic for us but we can't use that as an excuse, every team gets injuries during a season. The lack of matches is a very good point though so hopefully now we are back to full fit instead of being rusty. Anything other than 6pts from the next 2 and questions will need asked of the players commitment to the team because, me and others, are of the opinion that the players are playing like they don't care about a) the pride of wearing the strip and b) the troubles the management team have had this season.

One win in TEN is totally, totally UNACCEPTABLE imho, girn at that statement as much as you want but as you know, I'm entitled to an opinion, and that is mine. It's as if the duds don't give a s**t about John Robertson or Scott Kellacher because, if they did, they would put in much better performances than that pish week in, week out. Our defending would not be tolerated in THE HIGHLAND LEAGUE FFS, let alone this league and our strikers are so toothless it's becoming a big worry. Major changes needed in the summer, preferably to the defence, we need shot of duds like McKay etc that are bombscares, surely we can unearth more gems like Deas! I'm getting sick fed up with all this Dross that gets put out every damn match, they need to LEARN from the mistakes not repeat them ffs!

Win this and we'll go up to 5th only 2 behind QOS with games in hand over them. Think it's fair to say that results went in our favour tod apart from QOS beating Dunfermline.

Yep, I'd say a draw was fair too and it's a very good point, in fact it could be crucial in the cont of the league. Danny Devine was good tonight and probably was worthy of his man of the match award, I really don't get the stick he gets from ICT fans! The only worry I have is, we miss a goal who can get us up the table, if that was Boyce etc that had the chance Shane had at 1-0, it would have been a goal. I agree with a post from page one of this thread, I would also be happy if Neil were to be appointed full time (hopefully not though but I'd certainly like him as a future manager), he likes to play good football (or was this the style that JR plays too) and, imho he got the starting line up correct tonight so all in all, despite it being only a point tonight, I'm happy, and as you all know you well, I'm hard to please

I know I'm one to talk so feel free to slate me, probably not what mods want to hear (and not because it will lead to me losing the rag though) because it could lead to this thread going way off topic. Some of the comments I've seen on here, Facebook and Twitter are actually laughable. The guy hasn't had a match yet and some are saying its a disaster, which is wrong because Neil is a well respected sky pundit who knows what he's talking about. Yes his record at Dens wasn't good but we have had many failures of other clubs managers come here and do well. It's only interim anyway so let's all back him and hope he does well, he's just left a role as Rangers TV pundit to come up here to put himself back in the shop window. I would have preferred Gary Naysmith myself but I'm happy to give Neil my 100% backing. I look forward to hearing what he has to say in his first interview in a few hours.

Ah, that's why we didn't sign a replacement for Kai Kennedy Joking aside, it's good to see the young uns get a chance, Daniel Mackay could become a vital player for us Yep, definitely a welcome win (I even said it before the match see comment 3 on page one for confirmation lol), hopefully now that is the start of a good run of form that gets us climbing the table.