A few weeks ago, in full prophet of doom mode, I stated here that I thought Inverness would fall just short of the promotion play-off positions in the Championship.
I was right, though I take no pleasure in saying so.
However, I have to say that Caley Thistle really gave things their best shot in recent weeks, but recent draws against Queen of the South and Dundee made getting into the top four an unlikely looking proposition.
And so it proved at Tynecastle.
It’s at times like this that the fans of any football team on the planet will start asking ‘what if’ questions, and I’m no different.
What if Scott Allardice hadn’t been sent off last Tuesday night against Dundee?
If referee Mike Roncone had got that right you have a completely different game in which Brad Mckay probably would not have been sent off and the result could well have been different with Caley Thistle going into the Hearts game in a totally different frame of mind.
What if they had done better against the league’s bottom club Alloa Athletic throughout the season?
Two points out of a possible nine was an extremely poor return against a club that will be playing in League One next season.
I would have expected Inverness to have done better.
Questions like these are inevitable but pointless.
We may be disappointed to be spending another season in the Championship but we also have to acknowledge that in the last couple of months Neil McCann and Billy Dodds did a fine job of steering Inverness away from a relegation battle that at one time looked likely.
Perhaps on Friday night that should be our overriding thought as an Ayr United side in real danger of the relegation play-offs themselves head to the Caledonian Stadium.