Just read some background to Owain's 4 years on ICT's books and his absolutely positive comments on that stay. Tonight he has an art exhibition on recent Scottish life. From a personal point of view can I just say thank you to Owain for his time at the club. He is an absolutely decent guy who gave everything to the cause and I for one salute him. Here is wishing him all the best for the future.

Reading in the P&J today he is close to completing a move to Hamilton. 

Fully agree, heavily slated on here which is unfair. A victim of his own success getting a bumper contract from a generous board as reward for making it into the Wales squad at the Euro's (that's no feat to be dismissed), only to be dumped from the squad and sidelined due to the terms of that contract. Being portrayed by the very people that gave him that contract as being greedy and somehow a contributor to the financial predicament of the club is a sentiment far too many fans have lapped up.

Hopefully he gets a chance at Hamilton and gets back to knocking on the door for his national team - clearly Rice saw enough in him to think he's a worthwhile option and I'm sure he is more heavily qualified in the subject than many of the Championship Manager experts on here.

 

Edited June 6, 20196 yr by bdu98196

The issues over the last two years were not his fault. Why would he walk away from such a lucrative contract he had been freely offered ?

However, his departure has freed up a huge wage which I hope that at least part of can be used to recruit a couple of new players. Better for both parties that he now goes.

Glad that he had the finances to hold an Art Exhibition. Glad that he had a good time in the States and hopefully added some extra dollars to the pounds sterling. Hope that he does not hold some guilt for continuing to adhere to his ICT contract.

Pob lwc i ti Boyo. Diolch am y dyddiau da a gobeithio y byddwch yn rhoi'r holl arian TGCh yn ddiogel i ffwrdd.

A brief survey of Welsh international players to have played for ICT has led me to the conclusion that all Welshmen are called Owen or or a variation thereof.

 

Cheerio don't let the door hit you on the way out. 

8 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

The issues over the last two years were not his fault. Why would he walk away from such a lucrative contract he had been freely offered ?

However, his departure has freed up a huge wage which I hope that at least part of can be used to recruit a couple of new players. Better for both parties that he now goes.

Unless you can produce a copy of his contract then how lucrative his contract was is, at best, speculation.

Threads have been moved to the rumour mill and users banned for less.

Hope he gets on well at Hamilton. Good goalkeeper. 

10 minutes ago, TopSix said:

Hope he gets on well at Hamilton. Good goalkeeper. 

He is but we have one equally good goalkeeper staying and a couple of promising youngsters.

Hopefully, at least some of the money freed up can be invested where it's needed more.

13 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

He is but we have one equally good goalkeeper staying and a couple of promising youngsters.

Hopefully, at least some of the money freed up can be invested where it's needed more.

I genuinely hope he gets on well. Struck me as being a decent guy. I'd like to see us take more players through our development system, too. 

42 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

He is but we have one equally good goalkeeper staying and a couple of promising youngsters.

Hopefully, at least some of the money freed up can be invested where it's needed more.

Three promising youngsters.  Hoban, Mackay and MacKinnon.

1 hour ago, TopSix said:

Hope he gets on well at Hamilton. Good goalkeeper. 

New Zealand ?!!

8 minutes ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

New Zealand ?!!

? 

Nobody is perfect (unless you have a red face and your name starts with a "S & a P" of course) and he seemed like a very straightforward and likeable guy.

13 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Explain? In which way has OFW shown a lack of respect to the club, broken the clubs trust and failed in his loyalty? I would suggest that if anything its some fans and the club itself that has betrayed these.

For a club which is poor at communication, its certainly done well to spin senior players as greedy and problematic in contributing to the clubs financial plight. I wonder if Draper, Raven & Warren hadn't accepted being forced out and walked elsewhere whether the same treatment would have eventually bestowed them?

1 hour ago, bdu98196 said:

Explain? In which way has OFW shown a lack of respect to the club, broken the clubs trust and failed in his loyalty? I would suggest that if anything its some fans and the club itself that has betrayed these.

For a club which is poor at communication, its certainly done well to spin senior players as greedy and problematic in contributing to the clubs financial plight. I wonder if Draper, Raven & Warren hadn't accepted being forced out and walked elsewhere whether the same treatment would have eventually bestowed them?

Very well said. All these players were offered contracts far more lucrative than we can afford now.

Nevertheless, they were not earning fortunes and what they were offered appeared value for money at the time and all served the club well.

Agree with Buster - pure speculation. I am talking about the pride of playing fer the shirt and loyalty to the club. Shure they are old traditions but they remain important to me. Draper, Warren and Raven "walked" - The latter two stayed and played as squad players - RESPECT to them.

Oh and how many games (minutes) did Owing Phoney Williams play fer Cymru ?

Good keeper OFW he'll do well at Accies!

1 hour ago, Alan Simpson said:

Good keeper OFW he'll do well at Accies!

We have been fortunate, over the years to have had some excellent 'keepers including Jimmy Calder, Mark Brown, Dean Brill, OFW and Mark Ridgers.

Even better, as DD points out above, we have three more home grown players with real potential to carry on that fine tradition once Mark Ridgers either moves on or hangs up the gloves.

Credit also due to Ryan Esson both for what he's done on the pitch, including playing a very full part in our Scottish Cup triumph but, more particularly in recent years for his experience and skill in coaching and developing our other 'keepers.

It's water under the bridge and now is spilt milk. Much more important things to look at the noo,

41 minutes ago, Scarlet Pimple said:

It's water under the bridge and now is spilt milk. Much more important things to look at the noo,

Impressive number of metaphors in such a brief post.

Only 2 of our Europa League players left now...

45 minutes ago, Jack Waddington said:

Only 2 of our Europa League players left now...

Then, the new squad will just have to write their own  chapter in our ever evolving story and create their own bit of history.

That's another reason that I like you Kingsmills- -you get straight to the point.

Actuellement, when Owain came back he was , seemingly, jettisoned by the club and left on the sidelines. He is a good keeper (or was at least) and there was no reason for such an isolationist policy against a player who either made a mistake or should be praised for having the guts to try anther scenario abroad. No manager nor any club should attempt to control the life or destiny of any player UNLESS there is a signed contract in the boardroom of the club which he has either not kept to or abandoned or the other party to the deal was refusing to play him  etc, etc.

We don't know exactly how much he  was paid before his departure and it says quite a lot for the player that when he decided to come back  he came back to Caley Thistle, showing by that move alone that he cared for the club.  He is not a criminal and yes, he may have made a mistake, by swanning off abroad like Dick Whittington to make his fortune but so what.?   ..He was still able to kick a ball out of the goalie's area, was a very good keeper and the club  should have put bygones  behind them and encouraged him  by playing him as frequently as possible.

And IHE, spell out to me what other players would have done anything different to OFW re his actions to the money that came to him?