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Where Now?


jagster

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As the Title says. Where now? 

Last year was undoubtedly the most successful in our history , to win the Scottish cup, finish 3rd in the league and play in Europe against Astra Giurgiu who are currently winning the Romanian league above Steau and Dinamo Bucharest is what dreams are made of. 

I think we will be safe this year but who knows what lies ahead. I personally am not bothered about County finishing above us as it's such a rare thing. For many years they weren't even in the same league as us and any Derby was pre season or a cup game 

Mid table for a club like ours is an achievement to be proud of and anything better is fantastc

i enjoy trips to Dundee Perth  Edinburgh etc and look at as a great day out with drinks football etc  and hope they continue for a few years yet but if they don't there are trips to other towns which are just as enjoyable 

Hopefully we can maintain the top league for a while yet but I can't help but think next year is going to be pivotal in the story of ICT  I'm always pretty optimistic and hopeful that things will work out ok. Ironically one of my favourite seasons was in the 1st when we came back up again and though we heard stories of losing £1million I really enjoyed it . Even losing the cup against Dundee after being 2 up 

As fans do we think the next few years can be as good. Have we reached a pinnacle. Are we going to be Like hibs/st mirren etc and flirt with the championship 

I can't help but think the story of ICT has got lots of twists and turns and exciting tales to come yet. 

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It's disappointing not to make top six, especially after coming so close, but it's not the first time - I'm sure we've missed out on top six on goal difference before now. Personally I think that provided we can finish these last few games strongly then the team have done No Bad considering all the injuries this season. Some people say you can't use that as an excuse, but I don't see why not as it has affected team selection all season.

I wonder if the board could do with being a little more transparent with the clubs finances. It's great to support a club who are not in debt and not to be worrying about the threat of administration all the time, but it's also galling to watch other clubs come in and pick off our players. They don't all have big turn outs at games so why can they afford what we can't. Maybe if we could understand a bit more about what comes in and what goes out, we would understand the decision making better.

At Christmas time I was diagnosed with a potentially life threatening illness and have been receiving various forms of treatment since then. I'm doing well and hope that things will turn out alright in the end but I have found that the only time that I forget completely about my ill health is on a Saturday afternoon (or Sunday lunchtime or Tuesday evening depending on TV schedules) when I'm watching Caley Thistle play.  It doesn't seem to matter if the game is good, bad or just plain ugly, it has the ability to take my mind off every thing else for a couple of hours and I have been grateful for that. At the end of the day, it is just a game and I would hate for the pressure on our players to affect their lives with their families away from the football pitch. I like to think they enjoy being in Inverness for all the things that life has to offer them away from football up here as well as at the club. Life is too short and none of us know what's waiting around the corner.

In the worst case scenario, where the team would end up relegated, upsetting as it would be, it wouldn't be the end of the world. They'd still be our team and we'd still support them and to tell the truth I quite enjoyed the season we spent after we were relegated - no ugly sisters, refs seemed fairer and less likely to cave under pressure from fans and the league was tight and competitive, where each week seemed to involve lots of reshuffling of the table - football was fun again (although I'd still rather avoid it if possible this season). 

Onward and upward Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club on your amazing journey. I can't ever imagine supporting anyone else.

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What a fantastic, realistic attitude from Jagster and CaleyHedgehog - wouldn't it be fantastic if everyone on this site accepted the current situation - I aplaud you both. One point I would like to make is regarding the Club financial situation. I really don't think any supporter should think or worry about this as it's the BOARD'S responsibility to ensure our manager has sufficient funding to compete at the highest level. If they can't do that then they need to attract people who can. Simple fact is- if we don't stay in the SPL we will soon be watching  part time  football.

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Realism, is what we need now - we were lucky to have built up a great team on a small budget with the gamble of signing unproven players working and everything aligned and clicked with limited injuries, bits of luck like Meekings handball and our fans pulling down the Celtic players in the cup final, even the season before to come back and beat Hearts in the LC semi against the odds. Like many other smaller clubs who do well, we may look back and think - what if we'd kept that team together how far would they have gone, I bet hibs say the same about their early 2000's team before the OF picked off all the talent, or DUtd now they are staring relegation in the face compared to 18 months ago.

As said we are a mid to lower SPFL team, where top league survival is the aim each season, but foremost we want to be entertained. If the team looses that should be accepted providing they show desire, work-rate, fight and at least try to entertain the fans - unfortunately this season there have been spells lacking in some of these areas. We now need to make the transition to Yogi's team, let him bring in who he can or wants and let those who want to move on do so. But it has to be remembered that we can only attract those who are in our budget and want to come to Inverness.

Biggest disappointment this season is meekly loosing to Hibs in the SC QF, a team with poor form who cant pick up a win recently yet beating us on our own patch, this season ICT should have been back at hampden and with the draw we could have been looking at a final place. Sadly these occasions cannot be taken for granted, much like our SPFL status or the calibre of players at our club. Bigger, more well supported, higher budget and some may argue better clubs than us have been relegated recently and will be in the future, therefore we are not immune and its probably inevitable that unless our crowds grow and therefore budgets we will eventually stagnate or start to fall back with relegation at some point.

 

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I'm not sure it's really a question that needs to be asked as all football teams should strive to better themselves and move forward regardless of any pitfalls or obstacles that are put in their way. I do however agree with the content of the thread and most peoples thoughts and it's good to see a thread that isn't painting everything in a dark light like it's the end of the world.

We all knew deep down that after last season there would be changes, players would move on, that it would be hugely difficult to emulate anywhere near what we did acheive but the extent was unknown and I think that's what's caught people on the hop.

It's not like the club has died or gone into administration or been chucked into the bottom league or anything, still so much to be thankful for and to build on.

It's imperative that we try and secure our more talented players on contracts past the summer that we haven't already and surely we should be looking already at targets to bring in and even be working on some as we speak. As well as this I firmly believe that we need to bring in another coach, where possible, that has good attacking coaching attributes as the exit of Russell Latapy is evident for all to see and an area that we really need to improve on. His influence where maybe not noticed last season is massively noticable now in my opinion.

With regards the board and being more transparent with the fans, that's a difficult one to be honest and not something that can be answered directly I don't think. Yes in an ideal world they could come out and make everyone involved aware of the direction of the club and what they are trying to achieve and budgets and how the finances are but then they run the risk of opening this up to the wider football community. Suddenly everyone knows you have a bit of money to spend or you want to recruit the following way or want the club to play a certian way etc, there must be areas that are kept at board/management level and this goes for all businesses.

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22 hours ago, Huisdean said:

All good posts but would suggest the people we really need to hear from now are the board. It would be good to hear their vision for the club going forward.

I would say we have kind of got to where we want to be.

Which is consistently playing in the top tier, we have won the big cup,finalists in the wee Cup, finished 3rd and played in Europe.

The support/ interest in ICT has grown considerably √

The skill levels of local youngsters had improved √

ICT tv √

Children are growing up supporting ICT

The next step would be to increase the numbers actually coming to the matches as well as maintaining the standards that we have set on the pitch.

 

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What a refreshing change from the posts of the last few weeks blaming just about everybody bar the 'supporters' put me off posting altogether!!

Where to next ?----- well how about top four place next season ?

Not impossible, surely there cannot be another season of injuries and bad luck like this season. Should the core of favourites stay together showing the same appetite for advancement as shown against D. U. coupled with the wider experience of the John Hughes style of play, which when executed properly as it was on several occasions this season tore other sides apart.

As it was, it was good enough to create goal scoring chances during each game, which is the aim of that style of play, WE could have and should have taken those opportunities which would have had us  win many that we drew or lost.

Brought in players are still in the learning process of the style, some will not grasp it and haven't done so but those are the ones that were brought in with a wing and a prayer to stand in for the injured in the hope that they would make the grade, unfortunately it hasn't worked out for them. they will be replaced by the big man in good time. It matters not if we have a glut of mid fielders if they can score goals  Tansey, Polly and Vigurs  fit in exactly as scorers. You don't always need Strikers as such though they are so very useful opportunists if you get really good ones and who are really goal hungry---hard to find.

So that is where I want to see us go next

Footnote,

Hedgie----------- get well soon, I'm sure that is a chorus from all of us here at CT on line.com.---------enjoy your football

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Thank you all for the good wishes. I really didn't mean for it to be 'all about me'' (although my friends would say that I love to be the centre of attention), I  had just wanted to show how football has the ability to let you forget your worries for a while. It's not the most important thing in the world but it is a great form of escapism for us fans. I usually only go to the home games; but I have to say I admire those of you who make the time and spend the money to go regularly to the away games as well. You must really give the team a boost when they see/hear you all on their travels. It sounds like great crack, but I'm sure there are many long boring journeys home when the results don't go our way, so well done to the travelling support for the team.

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Where now? I think last season we achieved probably the best we are likely to achieve in terms of league position and big cup win. I dont see us, or any other team, being in a position to match Celtic and Rangers to win this league. Another Europa run, with maybe getting past the first stage, would be a step forward but for me survival each season is where I'd want to be.

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On 12 April 2016 at 0:47 PM, Alex MacLeod said:

Where now? I think last season we achieved probably the best we are likely to achieve in terms of league position and big cup win. I dont see us, or any other team, being in a position to match Celtic and Rangers to win this league. Another Europa run, with maybe getting past the first stage, would be a step forward but for me survival each season is where I'd want to be.

Not complaining about this season as I know it's unrealistic to expect what we got last season every year, but I don't get this mentality of wanting to just survive every year, surely there has to be a point where you need to be more ambitious? What's the point of surviving to survive? Or have I misread your post

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2 hours ago, Rival said:

Not complaining about this season as I know it's unrealistic to expect what we got last season every year, but I don't get this mentality of wanting to just survive every year, surely there has to be a point where you need to be more ambitious? What's the point of surviving to survive? Or have I misread your post

There are sixteen or seventeen teams capable of competing in top flight. As performances go just now all bar four are very much a match for each other. Everyone of those teams can take points from and lose points to every other and from time to time take points from the top four. We're all in the same boat so surviving in top league has to be the main aim with anything higher being a bonus

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There's no point wanting to survive in a league you have no ambition to do anything in. We should be looking to be in the mix for top 6 each year and push on to Europe every so often, not just to survive. I understand that we can't have brilliant season every single year, but anybody who says they'd be happy with 10th year after year is kidding themselves on. 

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Last seasons goal was survival.

That quickly moved to top six, moving on to making the top 4 just in case Celtic won the Scottish Cup for a place in Europe, to finishing 3rd plus a Scottish Cup.

We didn't quite get the wins we were due this year with injuries to key players, signing a striker who couldn't run fast and another who didn't want to pass the ball with no end product. ( at least he's improved a lot since the start of the season)

Survival will always be the first objective. 

 

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Keep on playing, keep on attracting supporters (though I fear the return of the union jack mob will bring even more of the Invernessian Loyal back out of the shadows), hopefully be able to field more local youngsters, win the odd cup, stay as much as possible in Spiffle 1 and get as high up as possible. Can't really hope for more. But there will be good days and bad days and its the former we live by.

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