Down, down, deeper and down

[DJS]

According to jailender.com this is now the new gudgie cof theme tune.

Have to admit feeling a wee bit of sympathy for them as they are my diddy team.

[RednBlackComeback]

:015: :015: :015: :015:

ooh not.....not to be.......not to be a........staggie !!!

:015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :021:

[Harry Chibber]

fck'm they would have no sympathy for us if the shoe was on the other foot!!

Get it right up'em ***** scumbags :015: :015: :015: :015: :015:

[SMEE]

I rekon County should be sacraficed in for the sake of Clachs survival.  :022: Av never subscribed to the SUPPORT THE HIGHLANDS team pish. Fek em.......hope they go to the wall. Only got in the league coz Elgin ****** cheated!

[Kingsmills]

It would be a sad day for football in the Highlands were Couny to fall back into the second division.

[SMEE]

Wouldnt be a sad day in my house. Ad be jumping thro hoops and putting up the bunting :021:. As someone sed, they would have a free bar in Tinks Social club if boot was on other foot.

[johnnykipper]

This could be very bad news for ICT :009: :009: :009:

[Kingsmills]

I tend to agree, for a number of reasons.

[Charles Bannerman]

Smee... I can't even come close to agreeing with your suggestion that Ross county only got into the SFL because Elgin City "cheated". I'm assuming you're referring to the adverse effect that the Teasdale Affair and the stripping of the 1993 HL title had on Elgin's SFL bid.

I certainly don't think that did City any good, but I also don't think City ever were going to get in ahead of superb bids from both Caledonian Thistle and Ross County. I saw County's efforts to be elected at first hand and their really presented an excellent case. The contribution of Bobby Wilson shouldn't be underestimated here. They absolutely deserved to get in on merit and that has been confirmed by their progress since which, although not as dramatic as ICT's, has still been very good. They have also, throughout, maintained a very professionally organised club structure.

Obviously things have not been so good "overthebridge" this season and they're now bottom of Division 1 and 5 points adrift of safety. I for once sincerely hope that Ross County weather this storm and remain in the First Division.

[Kingsmills]

Whilst I don't share Smee's setiments in general, I too think that Egin City might well have gained entry to the Scottish League ahead of County had it not been for the unfortunate background to their bid if only on the basis of population base and history of success.

However, that's now ancient history and no grounds for ishing our neighbours ill at ths difficult time for them.

[dead_ball_specialist]

County are a much bigger club than Elgin, you only have to compare their attendences, stadia, training facilities and business operations.

The only reason they're struggling is that they've consistantly appointed bad managers, from Cooper all the way through to Leech. (I wonder where they'd be today if they'd never sacked Bobby Wilson?)

If they do go down it'll probably take them a few years to recover. Financially they've overstretched themselves signing dodgey cetral belt mercenaries who've short changed them. They're going to have to adopt a more affordable approach;  scouting the best Highland League talent and deleloping their own young players. In the long run, this might be the best thing that could have happened to them.

[Heilandee]

I really hope they stay up or no home games for me next season  :009:  as mentioned by others, if Bobby Wilson(a legend) had continued in charge i reckon they'd be better placed , mebbes Barry would be ower there by now  :023:

[beachcomber]

Not so good having the feeder club slipping down a division.

It always strikes me that the animosity from Dingwall towards ICT seems genuine while the attitude going the other way is more of a friendly rivalry. Or am I completely wrong.

[Charles Bannerman]

Perhaps I should have added earlier on the thought that in some respects Ross County's SFL bid in 93/94 was actually stronger than Caley Thistle's never mind Elgin's. In particular I would point to the fact that Ross County was a stable , existing club while CT's bid materialised at a time when it was far from certain whether there would even be a club there. The bid actually squeezed through during a narrow four week window of the "phoney peace" when the Rebels suspended their actions against the Committee.

I would also point to how much better County have done than Elgin after they eventually got in but, as Kingsmills says, this is ancient history and I'm only too pleased to see all three North teams in national league football... the higher up the better for all three

And congrats to Robbie for getting Elgin off the bottom at last!!!

[The Mantis]

County are a much bigger club than Elgin, you only have to compare their attendences, stadia, training facilities and business operations.

It was all a matter of timing though. County were not a bigger club back then (or at any time before 1994) but got in on the first wave of clubs. Also they had just won back to back league titles under Bobby Wilson but had only won it once before in their history.

Elgin got in when the novelty of Scottish League football had worn off and ICT/County had nicked all the fans. Not to mention the small matter of County's best ever cup result 3 days before the vote.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Lets have a wee "bet" on the game that takes them down or into the play offs. I might even go.  :001:

League Ross County v  Hamilton Accies 13.03.07

League Ross County v Clyde 17.03.07

League Hamilton Accies v Ross County 

League Ross County v Partick Thistle 03.04.07

League Dundee v Ross County 07.04.07

League Ross County v Airdrie Utd 14.04.07

League Livingston v Ross County 21.04.07

League Ross County v Gretna 28.04.07

14.04.07 fer me.  :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: or Robbo the next week!!!!

 

[mainstander]

County are currantly five points short of the safty of 8th place with 24 left on the board. So it would take at least five more games for them to be further behind than points left and be doomed at least to the play off's. Thats the Dundee game on April 7th.

Their also goal differance short of 9th place with 24 on the board so it would take at least six games before they'd definately be relegated. Thats the Airdrie game on the 14th.

And that assumes that County lose all there games while Queen of the South and Airdrie win theyres which is unlikely. This could run for a while.

[The Mantis]

Airdrie are no great shakes either, and there's always the likes of P*rt*ck only a few points ahead. I can see County being in the playoffs and surviving to give us all a good laugh again next season.

[kencar]

Think I'll go and watch them play Hamilton tomorrow night and have a wee laugh at them  :016:

Also I'll be able to check out this Richard Offiong bloke

[clacher_holiday2]

as i was saying on saturday (and have all season) queen of the south wont be relegated this year as they have ian mccall as boss, a guy who is a total ar$e in the commentry box but actually useful in the dugout

county and airdrie dont seem to have anybody in charge,

also to be a bit fair on them, if we were in that league with the team we had when we went up, id put us somewhere between 3rd and 6th.

[buckett]

It was always apparent that whichever of the 2 Highland teams reached the SPL first would thrive to the detriment of the other.

This now seems to be the case and sadly for County, I think that our attendances might benefit from their eventual relegation - who wants to go and see 2nd division football when there's SPL fare just down the road?

There was never going to be room for two SPL teams in the Highlands, especially two so geographically close together and I think it is only a matter of time before County find their level in the second division.

If they had won promotion to the SPL instead of us then we would now be in a very difficult situation. Come to think of it, if they'd won promotion to the 2nd division in their first SFL season, which they very nearly did, that could have set the trend for a complete reversal of the situation we have today.

I predicted Ross County's subsequent decline some time ago on this forum (or it's predecessor) and suggested that Elgin City might well overtake County in the Scottish League. Sadly for County, as Elgin City lift themselves off the bottom of Division 3, it's all starting to take shape.

[clacher_holiday2]

bit early to be having elgin above county buckett!  i predicted all three of the other hl sfl clubs (??) to end up around division two eventually with us always the most likely to take off into the distance, im sure that was the sfl's plans when we were admitted to the pyramid system, it was the lower leagues that needed the boost at the time.  when we entered the league i think it was st johnston who had the lowest premier league attendance the year before, at paltry 7,000 for the season, which was also behind the 10,000 seats rule.

even if we were in their position, i think we would still hold a decent support and easily full time football well into the future, dont think we'll ever go part time (though it was on the cards 4 years ago).

part of the reason i couldnt care less for how theyre getting on just now is the animosity shown in the other direction by the county fans, who for the most part genuinley want to see us relegated.  its been the case for years, theyve always measured their own success to how theyre doing relative to us, i have that as the number one reason their crowds have fallen so sharply this past two seasons.  in terms of being in competition with us theyve lost, county almost have to ask themselves now what is the point in their existence, for far too long theyve been looking over the bridge at their 'rivals'.

bit harsh on all county fans maybe but its true for a **** of alot of them, they have no idea where to go next.

[buckett]

Spot on, Clacher, but bear in mind it's never too early to make a prediction!

In the HL days I always had a soft spot for County - they were probably my favourite 'other' team, along with Clach, strangely enough.

So it was a bit of a surprise when I realised just how much the County fans HATED Caley. It seems they saw us as their rivals, something we could not reciprocate as our rivals were the 2 other Inverness teams.

And I think we all hated Elgin City. (who will eventually overtake County in the SFL - you wait and see!)

[tm4tj]

County are on the slide but fighting back somewhat.

They are three nil up against Hamilton after sixteen minutes, with our new boy Cowie scoring two goals so far :010:

[caley100]

Now 3-1, Offiong scores... how County needed this result.