A New Year First

[Kingsmills]

This is the first time since our elevation to the SPL that I personally have not had some lingering fear of relegation at the turn of the year.

 

Congratulations and many thanks to Terry, Mo and all the boys. If the second half of the season is anything like as successful and entertaining as the first I will be a very contented Jaggie indeed.

[jaggy]

I agree, well said. Content

[lukemackay]

Behind Celtic going into the new year! Butcher out!

[12th Man]

I think everyone at the club deserves a big well done for the season so far.

 

Never mind Kenny Shields bumming himself up, I think he should put his duffel coat back on and get back to south park pronto, hes a lot more likable when you just hear a muffle. 

 

All involved at ICT have worked wonders, new faces at hospitality, hospitality B&B, new sponsors, the club shop taking the initiative to set up camp in th Eastgate centre prior to Christmas, the half time servery are serving at lightning speed, the staff at the bar keeping queues to a minimum, schools getting free invites and even looking out for a local school who had their gardens vandalized,  great competitions,  even different sections of the North stand are singing at matches, the membership numbers are swelling at Caley Jags together, the away support is growing and I havent even got round to the team yet.

 

Its absolutely fantastic to be going in to 2013 in 2nd place, only 6 points behind Celtic, and still in 2 cup competitions,  it just goes to show what a bit of self belief can do and long may it continue, just keep doing what you are doing as every week seems to take us a step closer to a top six finish for the first time, if and when thats secured the sky's the limit guys.

 

Thanks to all for a great 2012   and hears to an even better 2013. 

[PullMyFinger]

This is the first time since our elevation to the SPL that I personally have not had some lingering fear of relegation at the turn of the year.

 

Congratulations and many thanks to Terry, Mo and all the boys. If the second half of the season is anything like as successful and entertaining as the first I will be a very contented Jaggie indeed.

What's a Jaggie grandad?

[SMEE]

The Boys done good.

 

Personally....i feel, most seasons in the SPL.....that we SHOULD be good enuff to avoid relegation, but....i also realise that we are probably usually gonna be involved in the bottom half of the league come the end of the season......so for the most part, i am usually pleased by just staying up. Thats the beauty of being a realist.

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

Aye Sydney four minutes ago

[clacher_holiday2]

I really wish people would stop talking about our 'great form', we've been crap loads of times this season, we've dropped a lot of points purely because we've been complacent rather than because we've been outplayed. 

 

You'd think we' were 10 points clear at the top from Celtic the way some on here go on, the league table shows theres only 7 points between us and the bottom 6 and 10 to St Mirren in 10th.  The league is very tight.

 

I very much doubt theres many fans of other SPL clubs as impressed with ICT this season as some on here are, they'll be looking at how tight the table is and dismissing the league positions entirely.the same way we would if we were a mere 3/4 points behind a side with half the season left.

 

Obviously we're way ahead of where our budget says we should be but then we've got the players to pick up these points for now regardless of their wages, total credit goes to Butcher and his contacts down south for that, I just worry that we should've had more points on the board by now.

 

We've been lucky this past two weeks not to have been taken out of 2nd place, as the rest of the league closes up behind us, pretty much every dropped point will see us fall down a place or two.  We should have the points in hand by now to keep us in the European places regardless of other teams results, instead we're two defeats away from trying to cling on to a top 6 spot and challenging for position with County.

[clacher_holiday2]

And happy new year folks !

[lukemackay]

happy new nyrear every one.

 

 

feck county t6hey are b elleneds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#foreverinourshadow

[The Mantis]

A couple of things Clacher:

First, down where I live I can't count the number of times people have come up to me and said how well we're doing. They even know some of the players' names....... Contrast that with other years when we got dismissed as a long ball team that scrapped hard for every point. Hibs in particular - they used to say how ugly it was when we came to ER.

Second, just as your luck evens out over a season, it more or less does that over a half season too. Every club counts points lost and forgets the lucky points they won. The shadows are saying they NEARLY beat Celtic and lost last minute goals to st mirren, hearts etc, but they forget the dire games like dons away where they got murdered yet escaped with a point.

You're just choosing to do it the other way round for a change. Our team are playing with confidence and can recover from going behind (even 3-0!). No predictions, we could lose a couple of players in the window but it would take a real collapse to be as bad as last year. After all, who predicted we could lose Jonny Hayes and not miss him at all?

[clacher_holiday2]

Your right Mantis, we have done well, even a non happy-clapper like myself can see that.  The tone of your post suggests you're in agreement with me that some on here appear to be going OTT though?  We aren't the finished article by a long shot, really open at times and so far this season we haven't really achieved anything.  I'd be alot happier if it was the bad luck you talk of that's having us lose out on extra points and not sloppiness or poor preparation, which is how I see it.

 

To me bad luck in football is conceding an exceptionally good goal, a poor refereeing decision, the conditions cancelling us out, a bad deflection or I guess any unpredictable event that any team has to weather over the season.  Bad luck isn't conceding when you're defending on your 6 yard line for the last 10 minutes, a poor back pass isn't bad luck, sloppy sideways passing in midfield isn't bad luck, nor is your keeper being beaten by weak shots or giving away corners through flapping bad luck.

 

I'd like to think those praising us aren't doing so in a patronising manner, I know the media are.  If we do end up finishing in the top 6 we will rightly take praise but until then we're very much the plucky highlanders who are going above and beyond themselves.

 

I mean there were calls amongst Hibs fans for the manager to get sacked up until they beat Celtic last weekend, yet nobody is commenting on them having an exceptional season?  Theyre only 3 points behind us, so you would assume their fans would be as delighted as some of ours are.  Same could be said for Aberdeen or Dundee United, both are only a couple of wins away from us yet they're having average seasons.

 

This business of us doing well by our own expectations is nothing but an excuse for playing sh1te and dropping winnable points.  Even I've been surprised a few of the new players coming in have been good, they've exceeded my expectations, by all means let us say that. 

 

However aslong as we have a team capable of beating most sides in the league then that's what our new expectations should be, once we get back to having a worse side than the likes of Aberdeen, Hibs or Motherwell then we can settle for dropping points and inconsistency.  I just worry complacency will put all of our good work to waste, there's no need for it.

Edited January 1, 2013 by clacher_holiday2

[GaliantGrunt]

I fear the break will not be a good thing for us but the 3 or 4 games after it will be the true measure of how our season will shape up

including the semi final. 

A battle for a top six place could still unfold which would be dissappointing even though it would be  a terrific improvement on last season.

[12th Man]

I think everyone at the club deserves a big well done for the season so far.

 

Never mind Kenny Shields bumming himself up, I think he should put his duffel coat back on and get back to south park pronto, hes a lot more likable when you just hear a muffle. 

 

All involved at ICT have worked wonders, new faces at hospitality, hospitality B&B, new sponsors, the club shop taking the initiative to set up camp in th Eastgate centre prior to Christmas, the half time servery are serving at lightning speed, the staff at the bar keeping queues to a minimum, schools getting free invites and even looking out for a local school who had their gardens vandalized,  great competitions,  even different sections of the North stand are singing at matches, the membership numbers are swelling at Caley Jags together, the away support is growing and I havent even got round to the team yet.

 

 

 

Well done to all the people above for making that happen.

 

I'll postpone typing about  the team being in 2nd,  scoring the most goals in the League,  going to a cup semi final for the 1st time in years,  having the leagues top goal scorer,  having a player who has the most goal assists (if thats still current)   and our players being called up  for their countries.

I'll mention that another time for fear of  offending some posters. 

[+bughtmaster]

OOOh dear a little bit too much negativity creeping in,     get real, this team has surpassed your expectations, why start wearing the blinkers now?

 

The ICT deserve every bit of praise given to them for the first half of the season they have not beeen negative they have fought like tigers and redeemed themselves on many occasions when they have slipped up, yes two thrashings but lessons were learned and came back all the stronger for it.

 

How much more can you ask of a team on their performance to date. Virtually a new team playing like an established side and you moan, come off it , go and get yourselves some decent glasses, watch carefully the progress the manager and team are makeing and get behind them in a positive manner. Who knows you might even think of getting a rose tint in your lenses by the end of the season.

 

 

Happy New Year all. . . . .      remember the watchword is togetherNess.

[clacher_holiday2]

Negativity? All I said was we haven't achieved anything worthy of this outpouring of praise yet, the last two posters haven't exactly changed my mind on that front lol

I never said anywhere it was all about to come to an end either, me saying I think we should be doing better isn't being negative at all. Complacency has stopped better teams than ours in this league.

I just hope the attitude shown on here doesn't filter into the playing staff, they'll be expecting an open top bus during the winter break for being in the top 6 ffs. It's when we start to take our ability for granted that we won't be coming back from being goals down, you lose all urgency and intensity in play when you assume you'll come back regardless of the effort you put in, its already been evident in our last two draws.

When you have players who believe they've already achieved something due to the level of celebration in their honor, aswell as not feeling the need to prove themselves as much, they'll feel they deserve rewarded for it by a better contract, which is something else we're seeing from a couple of players atm. We could end up being the victims of our non-existent success without even playing a game in January.

Edited January 2, 2013 by clacher_holiday2

[PullMyFinger]

After all, who predicted we could lose Jonny Hayes and not miss him at all?

He hasn't exactly set the sheep on fire either, has he?

 

The ICT

Really? The...ICT? THE?

 

Who's your wee team?

[+bughtmaster]

ICT under19's are my wee team

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

With the way results went today we are still 2nd going into the break.

At this stage - top scorers in the league (44) and the least defeats (only 3). We have drawn a lot of games and if we had managed to hold out in a few of those games our points total would be even healthier.

Having said that I am extremely happy with where we are. Hopefully the break will allow the team some well deserved rest and we will repeat the performances when it all commences again.

And on a final note ICT are getting a lot more exposure overseas due to our current league position and hopefully we can still be there at the end of the season even if it is only by goal difference ;-)

[Alex MacLeod]

ICT under19's are my wee team

Except they've been disbanded and replaced with U-20's

[Alex MacLeod]

I agree with a lot that Clacher says. If Celtic hadn't scraped a win today we'd be in third. As it is we're still in second with a game in hand. We do, however, need to stay away from complacency and work hard to maintain our position. A few weeks ago not many of us thought we'd catch Hibs who were flying at that time. Motherwell also started brightly. Both have struggled to gain points in recent games and there's nothing in the stats to say the same couldn't happen to us. Even Celtic aren't running away with it though they have a bit of a cushion.

This league is very tight this season and anything could happen. I do, however, believe that the squad have a strong aroma of success and that that will spur them on. The incentives are there and the players are capable. Out of the current squad I could pick out two who could see eurpoean football at another club. For the rest this season is their biggest chance of greatness and I believe they also know it.

 

Yes be elated by where we are but dont lose sight of where we could be.

[+bughtmaster]

Alex, Alex,Alex Motherwell were unlucky not to get the draw today so now, as it stands, if, (and it is possible) we beat Celtic next time that will leave us six points behind them with the same number of games played. The Celtic support is already shaky, the team hasn't been performing all that well and their support knows that. The pressure is going to build on the team and and anything can happen, especially so if they are knocked out of their European sojourn. Celtic fans expect their Team to win every game, so does their manager, this is not going to happen, pressure is going to tell on a team that is imo over-rated and we are in for a very exciting second half to the season.

 

That said I do not believe there will be any complacency in the ICT camp, I aggree wholeheartedly with the last paragraph of your post, the smell of success is there, and the lads will do their utmost to savour a really historic season.

 

There is going to be a very strong challenge from all Teams from the seventh place up, possibly the most exciting race to the top ever envisaged in the SPL. Just enjoy what comes, give our lads your full support, and encouragement, relish it and let whatever happens last in your memory.

[CaleyD]

It's the job of the fans to get a bit carried away...it's part of the fun in being a supporter and so long as it's not accompanied by unreasonable expectation then all is well.  We're not a "big" team and we're not going to be in the position we are every year, so why shouldn't people enjoy it to the max while they can?

 

As for the team, it's Terry's job to make sure they keep their feet on the ground and keep going out and doing what they have been for the majority of the season so far.  Nothing I have seen from the team suggests they are doing anything other than remaining totally professional about the situation, and Terry is the first to remind us that nothing has been achieved yet.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Right on Caley D --what complacency? I didn't detect any at all. Which is surprising because  the team has really, really done  well.

 

Clacher, you have not been on here for quite a while and you have now  brought negativity  in with you .Such that Scarlet feels depressed.

Why are  you dwelling on  negative things or aspects of their play? What's wrong with positivity? I mean what is your point apart from the complacency plug. Being joyous is not the same thing as being complacent, n'est ce pas?

 

Face it : this may be a season to remember and in a big way. And maybe the only season for a while when we have the wonderful luxury of feeling ggggooooodddddd--- and for good reason. So, my new Year's resolution is to shrug off  your negative remarks and enjoy this blast while it last(s).

[tm4tj]

I don't believe clacher has brought negativity on here.  He has brought us all a touch of realism and by design a bit of keep your feet on the ground.  Yes we have worked wonders, but being a realist myself, I can still see the pitfalls.  We could drop as quick as we have risen.  On the other hand, we could remain in second place.  It is fine to dream about winning the championship, but best to keep that to yourself.  My opinion is that Celtic will romp home by twenty points or more.  I would like to be wrong, but as I said, I deal in realism, not wishlists.  What happens when the goals dry up, the draws turn into defeats, players go elsewhere for more money, the fans turn on the team and the management...............it will all go full circle one day, so no harm in milking it while the going is good, remember, the Rangers won't be away for ever.

 

Has anyone mentioned the leakiest defence or poorest crowds possibly.  No, it just appears to be a happy clappers paradise.

 

Still, it has been a wonderful season so far, and long may it continue.........................my bad