Missing out a "blessing".

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Is Terry Butcher Dougal in disguise ??

[Kingsmills]

.....or is Dougal Terry Butcher in disguise ?

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

Here's a crazy thought for you. If we had made it to Europe and had,say, 500 fans willing to spend £500 each following us on our travels....that's £250,000 that those people could now donate to the player budget instead!

 

We're lucky to take 500 fans to Dingwall never mind a European fixture !

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Away End looked sold out to me.

[dougal]

Let's be brutally honest here St Johnstone have the better team, stadium and set up in Perth than we do at present, a European trip would be nice but I personally don't think we were ready for it

A step too far but that's not saying we can't improve on the park and improve facilities at the Caledonian Stadium in the very near future to make that step

It will be very interesting to see who the Saints draw but I'd hazard a guess they will get a right good hiding home and away and we will all be grateful we missed out this year

Dougal

[Yngwie]

When the draw gets made, will whoever Saints get be the same team that we would have got, or does it not work like that?

[CaleyD]

It never fails to amaze me how much people get drawn in by what is printed in the press.

 

Direct quotes are often shortened or portrayed out of context in order to sensationalise them because journalists know that in doing so they generate conversations such as this which provide exposure and (potentially) increase readership.

 

I get that some people are a bit down, I am/was too....but does anyone seriously think for one second that Terry, the players, the Chairman or anyone else didn't/don't want the club to be achieving as much as possible?  Nobody ever heard of trying to look on the bright side when disappointing things happen?

[Kingsmills]

I quickly looked on the bright side when we lost the League Cup semi, I looked on the bright side when we gave away a sloppy injury time goal in our last home match against St Johnstone which turned out to be of some significance, I managed to see a bright side when we squandered the lead against a vastly under strength Dundee United side last week.

 

This week it is taking me just a little longer to make out the silver lining attached to the cloud.

[CaleyD]

I get that...and fans are entitled to be frustrated.  However, you can't list the "poor" bits without balancing them off against the "great" bits (and vice-versa).  Pulling a draw out of the hat when down to 10 men at Hearts, pulling back from 3-0 down against Dundee Utd to make it 3-4 and then being sucker punched by a dodgy penalty....to name just two.

 

At the start of the season most of us would have been happy to have done a Dundee Utd and sneaked into the top 6 by the skin of our teeth.  We didn't do that though, we got ourselves to the top end of the table (admittedly after a slow start) and then held our own for a large part of the season.  To have achieved that alone on the resources we have was a minor miracle.

 

It's a little disappointing that we ran out of steam at the end, but that's just the reality of operating on a budget which doesn't allow us to have the depth of squad that's needed to ride out injuries, suspensions etc.

 

So yeah, we could all put together a list of the reasons we "failed" to make Europe, but there's a far bigger list to be had by looking at the reasons we achieved what we did this season....and it does the club, players AND fans a total injustice to underplay that....IMO.

[JockWatt]

Of course I was disappointed, but on reflection I'm glad that we won't have all that expense - not until we finish higher NEXT season !

 

Roll on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kind of Blue]

I quickly looked on the bright side when we lost the League Cup semi, I looked on the bright side when we gave away a sloppy injury time goal in our last home match against St Johnstone which turned out to be of some significance, I managed to see a bright side when we squandered the lead against a vastly under strength Dundee United side last week.

 

This week it is taking me just a little longer to make out the silver lining attached to the cloud.

 

Please give a little bit of credit to TB and the team for the massive achievement of reaching top 6 and the highest ever placing in the club's history or is that you're a little bit sheepish about the fact that you were tipping us for relegation back in September

Edited May 22, 2013 by Kind of Blue

[Kingsmills]

Be fair, I was tipping us to finish eleventh.....

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

It was a very good season, the best ever, the best achievement and a considerable improvement. What some people are trying to point out is that it should have been a great season, one that may not have been better and despite the presence of much more positives had a couple of major disappointments.

[+bughtmaster]

the saying is: YOU CANT WIN EM ALL !

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

But we could have won more !!

[KingBeastie]

I bought a lottery ticket last week.  I did it online so I get emailed automatically if the ticket wins anything.

It's Friday now and I've not had an email so I guess I never won anything.

Still maybe it was really a blessing that I didn't win, I mean if I had all that money I'd buy at least 2 or 3 drum kits and then I wouldn't know which one to take to a gig... and sneakers too - I'd have lots of pairs of sneakers and it would take me a while to decide which pair to wear...  yeah definitely a blessing.

[lukemackay]

Stop yer greeting the lot of you.

We are saving ourselves.

Europa league 2015 final is in Warsaw, and the winner qualifies for the champions league. The champions league final is going to be held in the San Siro.

Soooo

Italy! Italy! We're the famous caley thistle, we're still going to Italy! (Just taking the scenic route)

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Nobody is really greeting and that would be the opposite of Happy Clapping. Many of us appreciate the achievement but still feel a sense of disappointment and pointing out faults appears to miff some individuals. If we keep going on the same track and learn from the mistakes that we made this season we will only get better and I sense that we will still have a Euro party celebration in Dungwall.

[+bughtmaster]

Good lord IHE I think you are beginning to see the light, well done old man!

[CaleyD]

Nobody is really greeting and that would be the opposite of Happy Clapping. Many of us appreciate the achievement but still feel a sense of disappointment and pointing out faults appears to miff some individuals. If we keep going on the same track and learn from the mistakes that we made this season we will only get better and I sense that we will still have a Euro party celebration in Dungwall.

 

Nothing wrong with pointing out "faults", IMO.  What irks me is the failure by some to realise that with the resources available to the club then we're not going to have perfect players and a depth of squad to allow us to cover all eventualities.  They need to appreciate that, all things considered, the team did more than make up for any short comings by finishing 4th in the league.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I think that most appreciate the shortcomings but in the world of football a lot of games are won or lost on tactical decisions and at the end of the day points make prizes. Another frustration is that there were times this season when we appeared to have learned from mistakes but then we made the same mistakes again. Unfortunately though we put our faith understandably on a core of key players and when they go missing we struggle. The other thing that really bugs me is the announcements of players leaving before the end of the season. I certainly feel that the Andy Shinnie and OTJ situations did not help the players, the team and appeared to put Terry and Mo into two minds as well.

[+bughtmaster]

I almost totally agree with the above post IHE.

Times this season where we appeared to have learned from mistakes, spot on, a little leniency here though that can be put down to a number of factors but imo a lot of it is inexperience and the panic derived from that.

 

The core situation is correct and that all comes down to money, as does the players advertising themselves for moving on and you are perfectly right that has enormous impact on a side. It is unbalancing and upsetting though something ICT and supporters have to learn to live with 

 

If only ( I know the most stupid two words ) the team had stuck together for another season, as Doran was trying to hint at earlier on, that team would have been capable of anything.  It was not to be.  Now we have a very much better starter pack for the new season which will give T & M more reason to build up the team confidence factor so hopefully we will get a flyer again and find ourselves challenging at the top when he filters in his new finds.

 

Personally my excitement and expectations are higher than ever for the new season. Having said that and knowing the budget limitations I will again settle for top six but it would not surprise me to see us at the top of the league at some stage of the season.

 

Have a happy close season all 

[starchief]

I dont see how top six is possible this season or next. After all, we dont have the cash of others and, as some are so fond of saying, Butcher is tactically niaive, so next year, like this, will be a relegation battle with the other paupers of Ross County. What else could we expect of such a poor manager making such terrible tactical choices. We will never finish above the likes of Hearts, Hibs,Aberdeen and Dundee United without tactical awareness.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Good lord IHE I think you are beginning to see the light, well done old man!

Good lord Bughtmaster I think you are beginning to see the light and listening to sense. See you in a Cup Final soon. Xx

[+bughtmaster]

I'll be there,

Hugs                ( no kisses though )