Salvation via Robbo

[Sean93]

If it doesnt click soon I'll not be back till its fixed.... Season ticket back the works.

Fair play im on strike officially haven't been since miserable defeat to county at start of season.

[DornochCaley]

If it doesnt click soon I'll not be back till its fixed.... Season ticket back the works.

Fair play im on strike officially haven't been since miserable defeat to county at start of season.

Aye. I will be joining you. Why should i pay money to get the bus to see that shower of ***** when i could be hitting the Shot Or buying some new Xbox games

[Council Juice]

Its not that I really want Butcher out because we all knew it would be tough coming down. Rarely do teams bounce straight back up etc. It's just that I wouldn't be too disheartened if he did go.

[Scarlet Pimple]

A good team should bounce back Captain but this team does not have the pexperience or the players I fear.

But you never know.......?

[Guest]

Robbos a hearts man, always has been and still says he is in his Sun Column.

As some have said, whats in the past is the past. Whos to say he would come in and do a good job? Because he has before? Nah, doesnt work like that.

But dont get me wrong, id definitely be up for giving him a chance. His love for the club, striker skills, and contacts in the game all do it for me.

Don't tell me you believe what you read in the Sun?

Robbo is a lifelong Hibs supporter - but his heart is with ICT now, he is the man for the job alongside Barry Wilson ................................. but PLEASE PLEASE no 10CC, he is still struggling to run his raffle and was a complete disaster as a Manager here. Also, his profile is far too low, he would bring zero to the Club.

[Donview]

Aye ok, but Mark Brown was a product of the Rangers conveyor belt of world class young talent.

You on the right forum........

[Jay_7]

You on the right forum........

Of course I am, I was having a dig at the Rangers "yooth" setup.

Are you?

[jonnyf95]

steve coppel is a free agent

couldnt do any worse could he?

i thought Donald Park was the best coach caley ever had

[starchief]

but PLEASE PLEASE no 10CC, he is still struggling to run his raffle and was a complete disaster as a Manager here. Also, his profile is far too low, he would bring zero to the Club.

Christie took ICT to their highest position in the table with 7th (although more points than 6th place due to the split and 40 points above the drop zone) in 2005-06, then 8th in 2006-07 (18 points above the last placed team and 3 points below the 6th). Yeah, a real disaster. Let's hope we never get as bad as a hair's breadth away from the SPL split again.

A disaster!? What would be success for you then?

[Scotty]

Christie took ICT to their highest position in the table with 7th (although more points than 6th place due to the split and 40 points above the drop zone) in 2005-06

not to mention a post-split record of 5 wins out of 5 without conceding a single goal - an SPL record that still stands (I believe).

As I see it, Butcher is manager right now and his task is quite simply to get us back up to the SPL. He has a contract that runs to the end of the season and even if we wanted to we could not sack him as he would likely be due some significant compensation that we could ill afford given the Niculae debacle, lower revenues etc etc etc.

Having said that, I do not believe we should seriously be looking to sack him anyway as he should be allowed at least a full season before full judgement is passed. I hear what everyone is saying about this player or that player being lower quality than what we had or need and playing his favourites etc. and whilst I do agree that its frustrating, and gives us all a sense of deja-vu to the "good old days" under CB (sarcasm), I dont buy it that a manager - who is judged on results - would leave out someone he thought could do a better job unless there was a reason. We only see (or hear) the 90 minutes on gameday. we do not see the rest of the week in training, nor do we normally hear of any other things going on in the background in a typical week. I could be wrong, but I would suggest that the management team get a fuller picture than we do over the course of a week.

As far as players are concerned, it would be nice to think that they all live in the same ICT-tinted world that we do and all that has to happen is for us to wave a contract under their nose and they will sign it regardless. Unfortunately, it doesnt work that way. Another thread lists a fair number of players that "would have kept us up" and whilst I agree that quite a few - who may actually have stayed with us - were possibly hounded out by various people, there are just as many who would have moved on regardless of what we offered. We had pretty much the lowest wages in D1 when we were last here, and our SPL wages were the lowest in that division so unless its players like Tokely or Munro who are ICT through and through, they are going to (quite rightly) look to get the best deal they can whether that be at ICT or elsewhere. That gives us no option but to sign players we can afford even if they may be of a lower standard than we would like.

Lets have a bit of a reality check here, realise what and who we are, and maybe we can make progress........ No matter how big we would like to think we are, we are, in reality, a small club playing in a smaller league than we were last year and we have to cut our cloth to suit. I used to hate Charlie saying "a club of our size" but now we are back in the first, that is exactly what we are and until we realise that, we are never going to be happy. We need to get rid of the arrogance, get rid of the sense of entitlement that relegated teams/fans display and get back to the days where hard work and teamwork took us to the SPL and allowed us to "punch above our weight" for so long and that applies equally to the players, the team management, the fans, and the club officials. One thing that has been getting my goat for a while is that we as fans are displaying the same sense of arrogance and entitlement that used to make us hate the fans of the "big" clubs that had come down from the SPL. We are not better than the teams in Div1, we are at the same level. We need to work hard in every game to finish ahead of them.

Getting back to Butcher ..... As I said above, I dont believe we should even consider sacking him, but if we do not reach the SPL - and on current form we will not - then I fully expect TB to walk away citing conflicts with Scotland/TV committments and with him will go quite a few players who are on short term contracts. We will then have a wilderness spell (like Dundee) before we hopefully regain that ICT ethos where hard work and team work made us a good side.

Whether Robbo or Charlie would be that salvation, I dont know. In the event that TB jacked it, either would do for me but neither would get the full backing of 100% of the fans as they have been in the hotseat before so there would be grumbles, but then again, no matter who took the job, that would be the case.

Maybe we can just start winning and this whole debate can be pointless

[Donview]

You on the right forum........

Of course I am, I was having a dig at the Rangers "yooth" setup. :D

Are you?

Aye, been around since you were probably still in short trousers !!!

Don't be fooled by the low number of posts, like a few of the older heads tend to just observe these days due to lack of time avaiable and "youthful" content.

[Scotty]

can confirm Donview has been round the block ...... He's been around these boards that long that he was bald when Mantis still had hair !

[TopSix]

If it doesnt click soon I'll not be back till its fixed.... Season ticket back the works.

Fair play im on strike officially haven't been since miserable defeat to county at start of season.

Aye. I will be joining you. Why should i pay money to get the bus to see that shower of ***** when i could be hitting the Shot Or buying some new Xbox games :D

Good riddance to the both of you. Don't come back.

[TopSix]

Christie took ICT to their highest position in the table with 7th (although more points than 6th place due to the split and 40 points above the drop zone) in 2005-06

not to mention a post-split record of 5 wins out of 5 without conceding a single goal - an SPL record that still stands (I believe).

As I see it, Butcher is manager right now and his task is quite simply to get us back up to the SPL. He has a contract that runs to the end of the season and even if we wanted to we could not sack him as he would likely be due some significant compensation that we could ill afford given the Niculae debacle, lower revenues etc etc etc.

Having said that, I do not believe we should seriously be looking to sack him anyway as he should be allowed at least a full season before full judgement is passed. I hear what everyone is saying about this player or that player being lower quality than what we had or need and playing his favourites etc. and whilst I do agree that its frustrating, and gives us all a sense of deja-vu to the "good old days" under CB (sarcasm), I dont buy it that a manager - who is judged on results - would leave out someone he thought could do a better job unless there was a reason. We only see (or hear) the 90 minutes on gameday. we do not see the rest of the week in training, nor do we normally hear of any other things going on in the background in a typical week. I could be wrong, but I would suggest that the management team get a fuller picture than we do over the course of a week.

As far as players are concerned, it would be nice to think that they all live in the same ICT-tinted world that we do and all that has to happen is for us to wave a contract under their nose and they will sign it regardless. Unfortunately, it doesnt work that way. Another thread lists a fair number of players that "would have kept us up" and whilst I agree that quite a few - who may actually have stayed with us - were possibly hounded out by various people, there are just as many who would have moved on regardless of what we offered. We had pretty much the lowest wages in D1 when we were last here, and our SPL wages were the lowest in that division so unless its players like Tokely or Munro who are ICT through and through, they are going to (quite rightly) look to get the best deal they can whether that be at ICT or elsewhere. That gives us no option but to sign players we can afford even if they may be of a lower standard than we would like.

Lets have a bit of a reality check here, realise what and who we are, and maybe we can make progress........ No matter how big we would like to think we are, we are, in reality, a small club playing in a smaller league than we were last year and we have to cut our cloth to suit. I used to hate Charlie saying "a club of our size" but now we are back in the first, that is exactly what we are and until we realise that, we are never going to be happy. We need to get rid of the arrogance, get rid of the sense of entitlement that relegated teams/fans display and get back to the days where hard work and teamwork took us to the SPL and allowed us to "punch above our weight" for so long and that applies equally to the players, the team management, the fans, and the club officials. One thing that has been getting my goat for a while is that we as fans are displaying the same sense of arrogance and entitlement that used to make us hate the fans of the "big" clubs that had come down from the SPL. We are not better than the teams in Div1, we are at the same level. We need to work hard in every game to finish ahead of them.

Getting back to Butcher ..... As I said above, I dont believe we should even consider sacking him, but if we do not reach the SPL - and on current form we will not - then I fully expect TB to walk away citing conflicts with Scotland/TV committments and with him will go quite a few players who are on short term contracts. We will then have a wilderness spell (like Dundee) before we hopefully regain that ICT ethos where hard work and team work made us a good side.

Whether Robbo or Charlie would be that salvation, I dont know. In the event that TB jacked it, either would do for me but neither would get the full backing of 100% of the fans as they have been in the hotseat before so there would be grumbles, but then again, no matter who took the job, that would be the case.

Maybe we can just start winning and this whole debate can be pointless :D

Great post Scott. Hit the nail on the head.

[Donview]

can confirm Donview has been round the block ...... He's been around these boards that long that he was bald when Mantis still had hair !

Just a couple of years younger than your clansman IHE.................and we're still squatting in yer west coast stronghold with no intention of relenting ownership :P

[Jay_7]

:P Aye, been around since you were probably still in short trousers !!!

Don't be fooled by the low number of posts, like a few of the older heads tend to just observe these days due to lack of time avaiable and "youthful" content.

Fair do's. I can assure your good self, my Rangers post had tongue firmly in cheek. ;)

Edited October 20, 2009 by Jay_7

[Georgeios]

If it doesnt click soon I'll not be back till its fixed.... Season ticket back the works.

Fair play im on strike officially haven't been since miserable defeat to county at start of season.

Aye. I will be joining you. Why should i pay money to get the bus to see that shower of ***** when i could be hitting the Shot :P Or buying some new Xbox games

Good riddance to the both of you. Don't come back.

DITO my good man, when caley are stuck, you can dust off your big team tops again...

[caley100]

can confirm Donview has been round the block ...... He's been around these boards that long that he was bald when Mantis still had hair !

Jeez! that long ago? the days of ration books and valve radio's eh?

[Council Juice]

Scotty that post was spot on. Think I hinted in mine that we all knew we had a fight on our hands. Nobody realised quite the extent. We knew no team since 99 had bounced straight back but most thought, "nah we'll be different" even if they never said as much. I'll admit I thought we would be higher up the table than we are.

I still support Butcher fully. I think once he gets the team bloodied in, which will take time due to lack of real 1st team experience, results will become more consistent. People have to remember the only way Butcher will find out if his players can cut it and are up for a scrap is to try them out. He's protecting younger players like Ross as he obviously

needs to break him in slowly into a more settled team as to not hinder his progress.

Your right on the money in saying we need to ditch the arrogance. We are not a SPL team any more and are the team to beat. We are the benchmark others want to exceed. Which makes it even harder. We need to stop taking thinks for granted as a team and as a support.

But its so easier said than done.

[caley100]

All very realistic comments and sprinkled with common sense, the next few games will indeed sort out the season for us as challengers or has beens.

Ayr away,Morton Home,g*pos away and Airdrie home are all games we SHOULD win, and will need to be won if Butcher is classified as being acceptable to ICT in my mind.

[DornochCaley]

If it doesnt click soon I'll not be back till its fixed.... Season ticket back the works.

Fair play im on strike officially haven't been since miserable defeat to county at start of season.

Aye. I will be joining you. Why should i pay money to get the bus to see that shower of ***** when i could be hitting the Shot :P Or buying some new Xbox games

Good riddance to the both of you. Don't come back.

Bugger off.

[Guest]

Christie took ICT to their highest position in the table with 7th (although more points than 6th place due to the split and 40 points above the drop zone) in 2005-06

not to mention a post-split record of 5 wins out of 5 without conceding a single goal - an SPL record that still stands (I believe).

As I see it, Butcher is manager right now and his task is quite simply to get us back up to the SPL.

....................

....................

Maybe we can just start winning and this whole debate can be pointless :)

There's a certain appeal to living in the colonies where you don't have to endure the sh&t we've had to watch this season.

[Scotty]

no appeal -- just makes it doubly hard to watch us lose to County when you make a round trip of 7000 miles !

[Renegade]

Here's my question to the ones who like Robbo. Where was this Robbo love fest when Christie resigned? This whole thing only seems to have popped up, in the last few months of Brewster's reign, but when Christie resigned there was barely anyone saying they wanted him to take over (I checked out the necessary threads a wee while back). So why's he become so popular all of a sudden?

[PullMyFinger]

Here's my question to the ones who like Robbo. Where was this Robbo love fest when Christie resigned? This whole thing only seems to have popped up, in the last few months of Brewster's reign, but when Christie resigned there was barely anyone saying they wanted him to take over (I checked out the necessary threads a wee while back). So why's he become so popular all of a sudden?

Robbo was employed at that point and his name certainly was mentioned by a few but the farce of Neil Warnocks alleged interest captured peoples imaginations.