ICT squad 2012-13

[Renegade]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/18292747

Going by that news then, Billy McKay has signed a two year deal while Piermayr has decided to leave. I would have liked to have seen him sign for another season myself.

[Libero]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/18292747

Going by that news then, Billy McKay has signed a two year deal while Piermayr has decided to leave. I would have liked to have seen him sign for another season myself.

Just read the article here as well:

http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/One-more-in-one-more-out-at-Caley-Thistle-01062012.htm

[Yngwie]

Butcher also confirms that Hayes won't be an ICT player next season.

[AJS]

Tbh i rated Piermayr more than Meekings so im dissapointed he has left but if he wants closer to home then fair enough.

Gutted about Jonny but it was inevitable. He has had 3 great seasons with this club and will have left many good memories with us all...just hope he dosent go the Aberdeen.

I assume that Jonny's offer was a good one so it would probably be an idea to offer it out to a high calibre of player. Someone mentioned Ross Forbes in the transfer suggestions. Think he would be a great replacement if we could get him.

[Alex MacLeod]

What is a good offer by ICT standards. Press reported during the week that £2000 a week was the Aberdire offer.

[KirkieRobRoy]

I hope he disnae go to Aberdeen, which is a graveyard of good players and managers.

[AJS]

From what Kenny is saying if he is referring to players who are under contract then they are probably coming from Englad. Given that contracts dont expire there until the end of June.

[ICTRoughi]

From what Kenny is saying if he is referring to players who are under contract then they are probably coming from Englad. Given that contracts dont expire there until the end of June.

Wouldn't be surprised if Steve Williams came back. Doesn't his contract finish soon?

[Renegade]

Someone posted a few weeks back that the chances of him coming back are slim after he fell out with Foran a while back.

[ICTRoughi]

Someone posted a few weeks back that the chances of him coming back are slim after he fell out with Foran a while back.

I quite liked Williams, even though he had a couple of bad games he was a good replacement when Roman was out injured. It's a real shame that he won't come back.

[Renegade]

Aye, he was big and steady. We've certainly seen worse in the side.

I'm actually quite happy to hear McKay has signed. Not really much of a goalscorer, but a hard worker and holds the ball up well. The mindboggling tactics played by Butcher in regards to him though have not helped mind. The "kick and rush in his direction" style he's got so little to work with and the little support he has up top means that he may as well stay at home!

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

Dive dive dive....

[RiG]

If I remember rightly one of the things that Butcher had said he wanted to avoid this close season was having to undertake another major overhaul of the squad. I don't see now how we can avoid having to do something similar again.

[hislopsoffsideagain]

Last summer, Butcher punted quite a few players who probably wanted to stay.

This summer, he's managing to lose quite a few players that he wanted to keep.

Irony?

[AJS]

More like karma. Alot of the players he punted i would have kept. He had 2 choices last year. Build on what he got or go for an overhaul. A year on it looks like he made the wrong choice.

Im prepared to be patient. We still dont know who will come in to fill the gaps.

[Renegade]

I think the thing is, Butcher went out saying that there would be a new team for 2011-12. Why? There was really nothing wrong with the squad he had. Rooney and Innes were away and then should've got rid of the deadwood of mainly Golabek, Odhiambo and Max Johnson - I even wouldn't have minded keeping McBain in case of emergencies - I'd rather have seen him play this season than Gnapka, that for sure! He then would've kept the bulk of the squad (a squad that came very close to a top six finish) and brought in Golobart, Andrew Shinnie, Davis, Tade, McKay and Jones. That would've been a decent team and would've had enough there to compensate the loss of Rooney. But no, Butcher punts Munro, Duncan and Dani Sanchez all of whom were better the some of the duds he brought in and some, like Aldred and Gnapka, didn't want to be here. That's what a good manager would have done. Sadly though, that's not what he is.

Edited June 1, 2012 by Renegade

[starchief]

You mean the McBain that wanted a free transfer as he didn't like being a squad player. Much like Tokely. The McBain that, although a much respected ICT ex-player, was no way still SPL quality, just like Duncan. It's any stick isn't it Renegade? No matter the promotion, the year-long unbeaten away, the almost top six. Every time, from first to last, it's been criticism. And now, at the age of 34, after he had been given a two-year deal, after being offered another deal to stay, after getting a lot of negativity from posters on here, somehow Butcher's big plan was to axe Tokely from the beginning.

Here's my prediction then. Foran will eventually stop playing for ICT. It's been Butcher's plan from the start that eventually players in their mid-30s will be past their best. I strongly suspect Ryan Esson will go the same way in a few years. It's ridiculous allowing managers to manage their own way. Bring back Wyness. He might have been well past it by the time he left but at least he was ICT.

It's nostalgia masquerading as opinion.

[Renegade]

I didn't say I'd have kept McBain, I said I wouldn't have minded keeping him, if he wanted to of course (Wyness by the way was mostly rubbish in his second spell and punting him was one of the few things Brewster got right!). Duncan may have been loaned out by County, but not all clubs are the same, not all players fit in different squads in the same way and I doubt you'd have complained had he been offered a new deal.

I'm sorry I can't be the forever optimist like you, but unlike you I go to ICT games on an extremely regular basis and can only comment on what I see, what I hear, the research I've done and the way I feel the club is going. Butcher's had his moments when it worked and I congratulated him for promotion at the time but all things run their courses and I'm not going to kid on that I think is everything is fine and am not fearing relegation next season. There's people on this site who, if Butcher claimed the sky was green, would argue that it was so. I am not one of them. I am not a lemming, I am not a happy clapper, I am a Renegade.

Edited June 1, 2012 by Renegade

[+DoofersDad]

At least someone else has signed a contract - and it's a 2 year deal at that! But I would much rather have kept Hayes, Tansey, Tokely, or Tade than MacKay. He's not a bad little player and might do well at a lower level but I remain to be convinced that he is SPL standard and his strike rate needs to improve dramatically.

At least that's the high ball into the box tactic confirmed again for next season.

I'm in a funny mood tonight - I wonder why? Better sign off and go take my Prozac.

[ICTPaisley]

You mean the McBain that wanted a free transfer as he didn't like being a squad player. Much like Tokely. The McBain that, although a much respected ICT ex-player, was no way still SPL quality, just like Duncan. It's any stick isn't it Renegade? No matter the promotion, the year-long unbeaten away, the almost top six. Every time, from first to last, it's been criticism. And now, at the age of 34, after he had been given a two-year deal, after being offered another deal to stay, after getting a lot of negativity from posters on here, somehow Butcher's big plan was to axe Tokely from the beginning.

Here's my prediction then. Foran will eventually stop playing for ICT. It's been Butcher's plan from the start that eventually players in their mid-30s will be past their best. I strongly suspect Ryan Esson will go the same way in a few years. It's ridiculous allowing managers to manage their own way. Bring back Wyness. He might have been well past it by the time he left but at least he was ICT.

It's nostalgia masquerading as opinion.

foran will never stop playing for ict while butcher is still here, surely you knew that!

[Alex MacLeod]

People, people, people, no need to bring in the bitchiness. Everyone has a viewpoint but some are not seeing the big picture. It doesn't matter if its Butcher or Baker at the helm. The fact is we cant afford the calibre of player we need for this league. Christ, if we cant afford to keep Rossco, and I'd wager he was on not much more than a grand a week, then we cant afford to be in the market. For the last few seasons we've had to find financial bale-outs of 1/4 million just to make ends meet. I predict this club will be back in the lower leagues and part time in the not too distant future. Nobody has money to invest and gates are dropping. There are no assets to mortgage and the level of interest for football in the Highlands does not match the national average per head of population.

[starchief]

I agree Alex. I'm neither a happy clapper nor an eternal optimist. But can we really justify sacking a manager who's had 2 good seasons and one lacklustre season? Terry wasn't my first choice, nor my kind of manager. I expect to be struggling against relegation this season. But if I were a salesman and achieved well in excess of my targets for the first two years, did better than the minimum for the third, I would be well (insert banned word here) off to be sacked after that. Butcher deserves a chance from what he's achieved with us, not a 5-year contract, is all I'm saying.

[Caley Mad In Berks]

I agree Alex. I'm neither a happy clapper nor an eternal optimist. But can we really justify sacking a manager who's had 2 good seasons and one lacklustre season? Terry wasn't my first choice, nor my kind of manager. I expect to be struggling against relegation this season. But if I were a salesman and achieved well in excess of my targets for the first two years, did better than the minimum for the third, I would be well (insert banned word here) off to be sacked after that. Butcher deserves a chance from what he's achieved with us, not a 5-year contract, is all I'm saying.

I can't agree with the Salesman analogy. I worked in a predominantly sales orientated organisation for years. Sales targets increase year on year and it would never be acceptable to come in with a massive underachievement in year 3 after 2 good preceeding years. So on that argument alone, Butcher would be out.

If I were doing his annual appraisal for the season just finished I would definitely score him as having failed. Clearly he had set an objective of creating 'his own' team. The Munro decision was a massive mistake which I'd be surprised if even Butcher would not now acknowledge. So if we now look at who is left from 'his own' team, who do we have left from all his imports, whether they were loanees or signings? Currently, I think it is Meekings , McKay, and A Shinnie off the top of my head - not much to build a team around for the coming season is it?

However, I do realise that lack of money is a major factor in attracting new players. But whoever the players are, I just wish he would concentrate on the coaching side and get them playing football. I'm sure we are all fed up with the long ball punting upfield to a loan striker. Also, surely he needs to aim at some stability. I doubt if he fielded the same team two weeks running last season, when all his chopping and changing smacked of panic rather than planning.

So for me I'm afraid I think Butcher is lucky not to have been punted and I would be telling him that it is definitely 'last chance' time for him in the coming season.

[gordieict]

Alex I do agree that finances are very tough but what effect did Butchers style of football have on attendances? Also could the club not afford Tokely or did they not want to afford him? Butcher did not create all the problems we currently have but I certainly feel he is adding to them

Edited June 2, 2012 by gordieict

[Renegade]

I don't think you can put financial trouble as the reason as to why attendances are dropping. It seems to be a bit of a trend with Butcher actually. Sydney's attendances plummeted while he was there with his kick and rush approach being the main reason why.