Top 6 or not top 6, that is the question

[Sorted]

Think the lack of squad depth in certain areas will prove crucial and that we will run out of steam.

That said, anywhere 10th and up will be good news as far as I'm concerned and give a platform to have a real go next year.

[KingBeastie]

We have 10 games left to play until the split.

If we win 5 of them (15 points) that will be 44 points which I am pretty confident will secure top 6, maybe even 12 points would likely be enough.

Can we get those points however?...

That indeed is the question!

:ictscarf:

[Govan Jaggie]

Sadly a no for me. Nine games without a win has/will kill us. I think we shall be around 8th or 9th.

[+MrCaleyjag]

I am remaining upbeat and optimistically voted yes, it's amazing what a win can do for a team and I am hopefully that we can get back to the form we showed in first 12 or so games and even the games away to the OF.

There's no getting away from the poor form over the last 9 games and should we not have had such a good start I'm sure we would all have been a little jittery just now but the fact is we have shown we can do it and I am sure we will, we just need to get back to passing football on the counter which worked so well and cut out long balls and panicky punts up the field.

We shouldn't have to rely on one player but hopefully Hayes being back will be a big boost and bring the correct balance back to the team and hopefully we'll be able to open up teams again. Points are better than games in hand and lets remember all those games in hand others have are against each other pretty much so not a fore gone conclusion.

[KingBeastie]

Points are better than games in hand

This is very true. However United have 5 games in hand, they will surely be able to win two of those, which would be enough to put them above us... [Jinx them, jinx them, jinx them!!!]

[robbylad]

I think we can make top six but we will need a vast improvement in our home form.

[SMEE]

We have 10 games left to play until the split.

If we win 5 of them (15 points) that will be 44 points which I am pretty confident will secure top 6, maybe even 12 points would likely be enough.

Can we get those points however?...

That indeed is the question!

:ictscarf:

Bare in mind....ICT have taken only 8 pts from last 30 and we havent had a league win in 2 months! CaleyD made a point about us historically being poor starters and strong finnishers. I think we have done it in reverse this season!

[Johnboy]

Think the lack of squad depth in certain areas will prove crucial and that we will run out of steam.

That said, anywhere 10th and up will be good news as far as I'm concerned and give a platform to have a real go next year.

I think we'll finish higher than tenth, and will continue to hold out hope of a Top 6 place. I accept your comments re depth of squad. Interesting to note that even lowly Hamilton have a squad of 29. The team we played yesterday had no fewer than 5 changes from the one we played at NDP.

I thought Hamilton looked quite a decent side on Saturday - their defence was excellent - they were effective on the break and a draw was a probably a fair result. I really can't see them being relegated.

As far as squad size goes we really have to keep our fingers crossed regarding fitness, injuries etc.... Hardly an ideal situation to be in. Time is running out on the transfer window too, but can we afford to bring anyone else in without someone going out?

.

Edited January 24, 2011 by Johnboy

[bishbashbosh]

not a hope.

will do well to finish top ten. once celtic/rangers get their top 10 league and 3 teams are relegated we will become a 2nd tier team who will find the odd gem like robson, cowie, hayes and then pass them on for zilch (as there is no longer any cash in scottish football ) when they are out of contract, as we will not be able to offer the deals others in central belt can offer.

would hope we could get promotion to first tier now and again but if we do our better players will be snapped up end of season leaving us as relegtion fodder for the next season.

[dougal]

I find it incredible that 27 people have voted that we will finish in the top six!!!! these people are either seriously deluded or complete bampots at the wind up

I must admit before this pathetic run of results i too believed a top six place was possible but certainly not anymore i'm afraid

I reckon 9th or 10th but i still see this as a success, surely avoiding relegation was the main objective seeing this is our first season back in the top flight

Its time the guilty 27 take a long hard reality check

dougal

[lukemackay]

I find it incredible that 27 people have voted that we will finish in the top six!!!! these people are either seriously deluded or complete bampots at the wind up

I must admit before this pathetic run of results i too believed a top six place was possible but certainly not anymore i'm afraid

I reckon 9th or 10th but i still see this as a success, surely avoiding relegation was the main objective seeing this is our first season back in the top flight

Its time the guilty 27 take a long hard reality check

dougal

comeing from you?

lets be honest here the seasons only half way through and has a long way to got look at every single football team in britain this season every single team bar man u have had a loss in form whether it be killie, aberdeen, dundee utd, cardiff, chelsea theres a long way to go and calling people deluded for expressing their opinion is out of order tbh

Edited January 24, 2011 by lukemackay

[robbylad]

I find it incredible that 27 people have voted that we will finish in the top six!!!! these people are either seriously deluded or complete bampots at the wind up

I must admit before this pathetic run of results i too believed a top six place was possible but certainly not anymore i'm afraid

I reckon 9th or 10th but i still see this as a success, surely avoiding relegation was the main objective seeing this is our first season back in the top flight

Its time the guilty 27 take a long hard reality check

dougal

comeing from you?

lets be honest here the seasons only half way through and has a long way to got look at every single football team in britain this season every single team bar man u have had a loss in form whether it be killie, aberdeen, dundee utd, cardiff, chelsea theres a long way to go and calling people deluded for expressing their opinion is out of order tbh

That's dougal for you!!!

[TopSix]

He has reeled Luke in nicely! :biggrin:

Edited January 24, 2011 by Top Six Next Year

[qwerty11]

I voted yes but really it could go either way. Don't see why we couldn't go on another good run? Keep Rooney and Hayes - fingers crossed!

[dead_ball_specialist]

I guess the fact that ICT have, historically, been slow starters and strong finishers in the majority of our league campaigns counts for nothing then.

The way some people are going on then Butcher should probably just right this season off and start preparing for next season....if we're really lucky we might just avoid relegation!!!

Where were we sitting in the table this time last season?

[lukemackay]

this is realy a glass half full or half empty type of question

[TopSix]

It must be pretty galling for the gaffer. He always talks up the players, their contibutions and the teams spirit. Yet on here it's doom and gloom. Why are people so negative? There's no reason to be. We've been playing some great football this season and have seen some terrific performances. Ok, so there's been a dip - but look at how many games we've played in comparison to other clubs in the division. A Tuesday night trip to Ibrox can't have helped out in regard to the Hamilton game.

[Guest Mahonio]

I find it incredible that 27 people have voted that we will finish in the top six!!!! these people are either seriously deluded or complete bampots at the wind up

I must admit before this pathetic run of results i too believed a top six place was possible but certainly not anymore i'm afraid

I reckon 9th or 10th but i still see this as a success, surely avoiding relegation was the main objective seeing this is our first season back in the top flight

Its time the guilty 27 take a long hard reality check

dougal

I voted "yes" in this poll and WON'T TOLERATE" being called a "bampot" for thinking this thanks very much lad :annoyed: :annoyed:.

I have said, even before the season started, that we would finish in the Top 6 and still do believe this and the simple answer to why i think this is "faith".

Yes, teams have games in habd but, as someone above has said, we have points in the bag which puts slight pressure on United and Motherwell, would rather be where we are than Motherwell or United's position any day.

[TheKnowledge]

complete bampots at the wind up

dougal

Pot kettle black

[TheKnowledge]

I voted yes. Remember last season when others had a load of games in hand over us? We could well have our ground staff, and the SPL lack of concern for OUR traveling support to thank for a top six finish. Top Six This Year.

[ilpadrino]

I guess the fact that ICT have, historically, been slow starters and strong finishers in the majority of our league campaigns counts for nothing then.

The way some people are going on then Butcher should probably just right this season off and start preparing for next season....if we're really lucky we might just avoid relegation!!!

Where were we sitting in the table this time last season?

We're 23/33 of the way to the split. The same proportion of last season as a whole was 25 games in. We were 2nd, 6 points behind Dundee, ahead of Ross County on goal difference only.

We're 23/38 of the way to the end - proportionally 21 games in. We were 3rd, 10 points behind Dundee, 2 behind County.

[gingerjaggy]

lots of people mention all these games in hand but aberdeen have a hard fixture list which seems them play celtic again next week while st johnstone play hearts on sat and dundee utd well two of the games are against hearts and rangers so some of these games in hand are going to be hard which leaves me to believe if we can get a run going again now that hayes is back and these teams do drop points in there games in hand then i think we are looking well into the mix to sneak into the top 6. and killie have not run away from the pack so there are 3 places up for grabs with what looks like us,killie and motherwell with dundee utd st johnstone and aberdeen in the mix with the games in hand so still all to play for but i think we should take it one game at a time

[Scarlet Pimple]

"There is many a slip twixt cup and lip."

And that applies to all the other teams as well as ICT.Regardless of how many games that ICT have played they do have the points in the bag and as a result are ahead of the others behind them.

Secondly, Adam will get his act together in a more mature and professional way if no one comes in for him by the end of January.He has to if he expects his career to end on a high, this season or any other.

Thirdly, Jonny will shortly be fully fit and this will lift the team. He sure looked effective in the vide I have just seen. That pass that he slotted through towards the end was magic.

So the team has to hold the ship steady, get their determination and confidence back up to speed and things will get back on track.

And if Terry reaches what he feels is a safe-point in the season maybe he should throw caution a little bit to the winds and order ALL_OUT_ATTACK.

YES!

[MissICT]

Gotta show the spl that we are a strong spl side! We are super Caley and we can do it!!!

[Johnboy]

I'm an eternal optimist but I couldn't help noticing Hamilton have made a couple of decent looking signings today. Their squad is now considerably larger than ours, and they appear to well enough equipped to avoid relegation.

I'd hate to see any of our key players picking up an injury over the next few weeks. It could cause considerable damage - there are several key positions where we are completely short of meaningful cover.