Oh Deer

[+old caley girl]

1 hour ago, buckett said:

It was very clear to me, when County came storming up the Championship table to join us in the Premiership that one of the teams would stutter. Initially it was them, but they persevered and Roy threw more and more money at them and eventually we stumbled and down we went.

A city the size of Dundee can just about support two Premiership teams. Inverness, about a third the size cannot. And make no mistake, Ross County is an Inverness team - without the proximity of Inverness, Ross County would be nothing.

When we got relegated from the Premiership under Foran a lot of posters on here thought a few seasons out of the Premiership would be fun! As I and a few other argued at time it would go on to leave us in financial difficulties due to our neighbours hoovering up money from sponsors/hospitality etc due to being in a higher league. 

No I don't feel sorry for them. I'd rather concentrate on our own team tbh 

[buckett]

12 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

When we got relegated from the Premiership under Foran a lot of posters on here thought a few seasons out of the Premiership would be fun! As I and a few other argued at time it would go on to leave us in financial difficulties due to our neighbours hoovering up money from sponsors/hospitality etc due to being in a higher league. 

No I don't feel sorry for them. I'd rather concentrate on our own team tbh 

Yes it's dog eat dog, winner takes all.

There was near euphoria on this forum when County got promoted: "local derbies!" they said. "2 Highland SPL teams!" they said. "good publicity for the North!" they said.

Some of us knew though, that only one would prevail, and that would be to the detriment of the other. I sorta hoped it would be us!

[Charles Bannerman]

20 hours ago, buckett said:

It was very clear to me, when County came storming up the Championship table to join us in the Premiership that one of the teams would stutter. Initially it was them, but they persevered and Roy threw more and more money at them and eventually we stumbled and down we went.

A city the size of Dundee can just about support two Premiership teams. Inverness, about a third the size cannot. And make no mistake, Ross County is an Inverness team - without the proximity of Inverness, Ross County would be nothing.

I am very much with you there, Buckett, although it’s worth mentioning that ICT has also had a lot of money thrown at it, albeit far more unobtrusively. The problem is that after around 2018-ish, the good financial work done during the previous years was basically pi$$ed against the wall by atrocious mismanagement.

You also raise an intriguing point about County’s dependence upon Inverness. That has probably increased since ICT were relegated in 2017 before going down the toilet. Meanwhile County, with more, and more predictable external financial backing than ICT, have been in the Premiership apart from 2018-19. In particular, newcomers to Inverness won’t fully appreciate that these two clubs are very distinct from each other and won’t see a trip to Dingwall on a Saturday as a particular hardship. I wonder if, with ICT’s renaissance alongside County’s relegation, the next couple of years may see any shift back in the position of this particular pendulum?

Not for the first time, I couldn’t help but smile when listening to Off The Ball at the weekend, where a discussion (among central belters) seemed to predicate County’s support entirely on the population of Dingwall (once they eventually established that this was actually approaching 5500 and not 2500!)

[bishbashbosh]

Club

Club Statement: Season 25/26

02/06/2025

Club Statement Season 25/26

Last week's result against Livingston - resulting in us playing in the Championship next season - has left everyone at the club, personally and collectively, hugely disappointed. We know how much playing Premiership football matters to our community, and we share their deep frustration at how the season concluded. 

As you might imagine, we have done a lot of soul searching at the club over the last week, and following that, have decided to restructure our football management team under Don Cowie as we make gaining immediate promotion our sole focus.

We believe strongly that we have a dedicated and talented manager in Don and that he is the right man to lead us for the season ahead.

To support Don, we have appointed the experienced John Robertson as assistant manager with immediate effect. Carl Tremarco and Paul Cowie will leave the club, and we thank them for their efforts and wish them well for the future.

John has more than 400 games under his belt as a manager, knows the challenge of recruiting from our base in the Highlands, has experience of the Scottish Championship, and has worked with Don in the past. He already knows the club well and has spent much of last season watching from the sidelines in his role as a BBC pundit.

"Everyone at the club is determined to put us in the best position possible to gain promotion back into the Premiership - and to do so within a season. Bringing John in to support Don, will allow us to reshape the playing squad and turn things around as quickly as possible” said Chief Executive Officer Steven Ferguson