Clearly this got everyone excited...

ICT face Dundee, Raith Rovers, Peterhead and Cove Rangers. Fixtures to be announced shortly.

4 minutes ago, RiG said:

Clearly this got everyone excited...

ICT face Dundee, Raith Rovers, Peterhead and Cove Rangers. Fixtures to be announced shortly.

Sorry, fell into a catatonic state mid-draw, only just awoke...

Easy enough group surely no disasters like last years league cup

Tough group with no easy games but no reason why we can't progress.

10 minutes ago, Alan Simpson said:

Easy enough group surely no disasters like last years league cup

The sort of complacency that the manager and the players certainly won't share. Nor will most sensible and realistic fans.

1 hour ago, Kingsmills said:

The sort of complacency that the manager and the players certainly won't share. Nor will most sensible and realistic fans.

Good lord man if we can't beat that teams there truly is no hope might as well lock up the ground I'd expect Alness United to beat that lot ! 

I'll  go further if we don't win the group the players should play there nxt game in Ann summers gear only a bunch of proper fairys could blow that possibly the easiest if least glamorous of group games Iv ever seen!

36 minutes ago, Alan Simpson said:

I'll  go further if we don't win the group the players should play there nxt game in Ann summers gear only a bunch of proper fairys could blow that possibly the easiest if least glamorous of group games Iv ever seen!

A little insight into Alan's weekend entertainment right there

Whether we should be expected to win the group or not, I always go into the group stage with a touch of realism and tempered expectations all down to the fact that rightly, we'll use the games as pre-season like most do.

If it started a month later then I'd raise the bar but see no point in lumping pressure on the team so early on in the season. 

Looking forward to these games heightened by where the away games could possibly be, certainly easier for us to get to than a home game.

 

Hope its cove Peterhead and Dundee away as all easy to get to for me.

I'd expect a new look squad with a few of last year's u18's.

Get the new players integrated and the young ones experience.

I'd hope we could win / compete on most of the games but I'd rather it was a warm up for the league season proper.

Mickey mouse!

  I don't get it when people call the league cup a "mickey mouse" competition. I was there when we lost to Aberdeen, and I was devastated to lose that final,  and are they saying that a third of the trophies that Celtic won on their historic treble treble are mickey mouse? Every trophy that we are involved in are important to our development and in some cases, our history. I for one, can't wait for the dates to be announced,  roll on the new season.

2 hours ago, Satan said:

I'd expect a new look squad with a few of last year's u18's.

Get the new players integrated and the young ones experience.

I'd hope we could win / compete on most of the games but I'd rather it was a warm up for the league season proper.

Mickey mouse!

Totally agree, forget winning the group, get the youngsters in as I said on another thread, if we can find a couple of players who can cope at this level that is worth far more than qualifying for this nothing competition, if not, when are we going to play them? If I were an U19 and didn't get a run in this competition I would tell the club  where to go. Give them a run of games that's what's needed to get up to speed, you can't judge on the basis of one or two games you need to play against men on a regular basis to get used to the pace and strength of opposition players. If the club can't risk them in this competition when are they going to play them? Listen to all the pros who played first team as youngsters, they were up against their own senior pros in full on matches and in the reserve league which regrettably we no longer have.

ICT are notoriously slow starters : need to start on the front foot both in cup and league and not be left playing catch up.

We always seem to stick to a Highland tour for pre season matches : maybe a step up in quality of opposition might help the team in these early games?

29 minutes ago, DWH said:

ICT are notoriously slow starters : need to start on the front foot both in cup and league and not be left playing catch up.

We always seem to stick to a Highland tour for pre season matches : maybe a step up in quality of opposition might help the team in these early games?

Entirely agree. It will be a tough league next season and to have any chance of winning it we need to get off to a consistently good start.

We have finished very well in the last two seasons but that has not been enough and won't be again next season.

3 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

  I don't get it when people call the league cup a "mickey mouse" competition. I was there when we lost to Aberdeen, and I was devastated to lose that final,  and are they saying that a third of the trophies that Celtic won on their historic treble treble are mickey mouse? Every trophy that we are involved in are important to our development and in some cases, our history. I for one, can't wait for the dates to be announced,  roll on the new season.

Hey Jaggernaut, if you think its worth winning knock yourself out, it is mickey mouse and if they fail to get a sponsor it will probably be done away with. As I said above use it to blood new players but as for winning it who cares? it has the lowest attendance of a cup competition, produces almost no money, has no European place at the end of it, would you swap two league cups for one Scottish Cup? if the answer is no I rest my case.

56 minutes ago, wynthank15 said:

Hey Jaggernaut, if you think its worth winning knock yourself out, it is mickey mouse and if they fail to get a sponsor it will probably be done away with. As I said above use it to blood new players but as for winning it who cares? it has the lowest attendance of a cup competition, produces almost no money, has no European place at the end of it, would you swap two league cups for one Scottish Cup? if the answer is no I rest my case.

How is a major honour a Mickey mouse cup? Just cause you don't get into Europe don't make it pointless .

You will find you get more money now out of the Scottish League cup due to the BT Sport coverage £250,000 for winning it £115,00 for the runners up plus the TV money. 

You only win £60,000 for winning the Scottish cup these days runners up gets £30,000. You get the same amount (£60,000) for reaching the League Cup quarter finals. 

As far as I'm concerned the League Title Scottish Cup & League cup are your big three domestic cups & that's it the same in every country. Each one should be taken seriously especially if your a club like ICT. Football is all about winning major honours something we don't achieve often. 

As for the "No one cares who wins it" argument plenty of people do I remember every team who has won it in my lifetime & know of finals that happened before I was born it's one of the few cups I care about it's the same with a lot of football fans I know.  

A win at any level  is a development stitch in the fabric, PROVIDED that the Manager understands very well that this is just a warm up to advancement  and has a definite plan in place as to  improvement and progress.

You don't have to be a seer to work out that it will be Dungdee away on BT Sport, Raith and Putridheid at home and Cove away.  Group should save us on travel expenses anyway.

10 hours ago, MrCaleyjag said:

A little insight into Alan's weekend entertainment right there

Feck me - Look what I have seen in my crystal ball

Some very challenging games. Just what we need to get into gear.

Get Brewster back to work on  pre-season fitness and we'll scud all these teams. 

12 minutes ago, TopSix said:

Get Brewster back to work on  pre-season fitness and we'll scud all these teams. 

I think you forgot to put this in your post ?

4 hours ago, TopSix said:

Get Brewster back to work on  pre-season fitness and we'll scud all these teams. 

Ooooft soap on a rope all round then eh think I'd rather keep the beer belly than get a workout with Brewster! Should beat that lot anyway Dundee needing a whole new squad take time to gel the rest of them a team like us should beat them comfortably win this group no worries!

Complacency, Alan, won't do the trick. We need to win and win big to definitely have a chance of promotion next season.

1 hour ago, Scarlet Pimple said:

Complacency, Alan, won't do the trick. We need to win and win big to definitely have a chance of promotion next season.

Absolutely need to start strongly our slow starts let us down along with our inability to turn draws in to wins play offs are a nightmare winning the leagues gotta be our target tough tho with both Dundee teams