For those who might be interested in watching the ICT youth teams, instead of watching one of the old firm on tv every sunday. Youth teams play at the Charleston pitches, beside the golf course, on a Sunday with 1 o clock kick offs usually.

13s and 14s play one week, away the next, with the 15s and 17s alternating.

Today the 15s beat Dundee Utd convincingly by 4-1, and the 17s feilding a mainly older 17s team absolutely trounced the Utd 17s by 10 - 0. Andrew Greig scored a double, and Adam MacLeod got a perfect hatrick ( right, left and bullet header ) before coming off after an hour. Mark Noble also scored his first for ICT, noted by his verbal celebration after scoring the 9th goal.

13s and 14s at home against Hearts next week

I am sure there are many that don't realise the cost of running that operation...myself included what are the costs Alex ?

Don't think you will get a reply stevico1 cause he doesn't have a clue!

First off I dont think there's any need for sarcasm. Second, If you don't know me then don't assume I dont have knowledge.

Lets look first at wages. Average U-19 wage ?150 a week (guess) = ?7800 a year x average squad of 18 = ?140k + costs of staging home games + costs of travel + insurance + kit + coaching staff. So we could be talking in excess of ?250k a year to run one team. Players could, of course, be part time in which case they'd need to be holding down other jobs so wouldn't be in a position to train alongside first team squads.

:huh: Oh Alex - you always rise to the bait. I think you have been listening to the spin doctors at TCS - they always talk the costs up. When we were in the SPL we received massive financial support for the young pro squad from grants and sponsorship deals but most of the kids got ?90 per week. Danny Macdonald did bring in a lot of money on the youth side but he also spent a lot on salaries for himself and others. I'm sure that a great deal of this money is no longer available now that we are out of the top league. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise Alex - this club has NEVER spent a lot of money on its youth development - FACT. For all the cost, we could have a team in the SFL U19 league and the squad could easily be made up of full-time and part-time players. I think the truth of it all is that we just couldn't be bothered trying to get this together!

I think you may find the truth is we kept a squad of players on SPL wages with a first division budget so some things had to go. I would hope that was a temporary decision.

Aye you may be right - and who's fault would that be then?

Edited February 18, 201015 yr by caleyboy

I am sure there are many that don't realise the cost of running that operation...myself included what are the costs Alex ?

Don't think you will get a reply stevico1 cause he doesn't have a clue!

First off I dont think there's any need for sarcasm. Second, If you don't know me then don't assume I dont have knowledge.

Lets look first at wages. Average U-19 wage ?150 a week (guess) = ?7800 a year x average squad of 18 = ?140k + costs of staging home games + costs of travel + insurance + kit + coaching staff. So we could be talking in excess of ?250k a year to run one team. Players could, of course, be part time in which case they'd need to be holding down other jobs so wouldn't be in a position to train alongside first team squads.

:( Oh Alex - you always rise to the bait. I think you have been listening to the spin doctors at TCS - they always talk the costs up. When we were in the SPL we received massive financial support for the young pro squad from grants and sponsorship deals but most of the kids got ?90 per week. Danny Macdonald did bring in a lot of money on the youth side but he also spent a lot on salaries for himself and others. I'm sure that a great deal of this money is no longer available now that we are out of the top league. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise Alex - this club has NEVER spent a lot of money on its youth development - FACT. For all the cost, we could have a team in the SFL U19 league and the squad could easily be made up of full-time and part-time players. I think the truth of it all is that we just couldn't be bothered trying to get this together!

I think you may find the truth is we kept a squad of players on SPL wages with a first division budget so some things had to go. I would hope that was a temporary decision.

Aye you may be right - and who's fault would that be then?

obviously the boards for not negotiating relegation wage drop clauses in the contracts but what player would sign one with that in the deal?