some of you know me and som eof you don't but please take the time to read this if you have wandered into this thread.

i have been following caley for quite some time now and have attended plenty of matches. i'm not about to pretend that i have been to every game and nor am i about to pretend that i have all the answers. i do however have some concerns,

i am a local , i have lived and worked in and around inverness all my life i have grown up watching sportscene on a saturday afternoon waiting to hear the score and in more recent years(after i got over my jinx phobia) i have been a regular at the games.

latey though it is a different team on the park, what used to be a good understanding between players seems to have become an unwitting struggle. the players on saturday against hearts seemed more concerned with trying to set up someone else rather than having the guts to take the shot, or go in for the tackle. we sem to have lost our bite. Yes i would say we have had more than our fair share of bad refereeing descions but if we continue to let the ref scare us out of the game then we might just as well not boher going out on the park.

I can appreciate the situation that people like Russel Duncan are in, the prime concern in this day and age, as much as i hate to say it, has got to be to his family.People can go on about loyalty till they are blue in the face but he has reached the point in his career where he needs to be ensuring as best he can that he is doing the absoloute best for his family. If he is being illadvised by his agent then maybe it is time to take a long hard look but as a club we should be doing more to ensure that the people we have relied upon and counted on time and time again are taken care of and that they are happy in there role because if we dont then one of these days it is going to turn round and bite us on the ***.

as for the fans well in all honesty i think that the club is very much molded in the newcastle mindset to a certain extent. they know that there are a large percentage of the crowd who will turn up week in week out and who will defend the club to the last. perhaps it is time that the club showed these fans some appreciation.yes the new away strip is a nice touch but not everyone can afford to spend 100 pounds on a top.

i hope that the club can continue to progress and i hope that one day soon we are up there in the top half of the table fighting it out for a spot in europe, whatever happens i intend to be there. proudly sporting the colours.

i hope that if you have read this you can ee what i am trying to say, this is not meant to be just a winge and a moan i genuinely am a concerned fan and i am struggling to see how we can be so erratic, we performed brilliantly against Rangers in january and i can honestly say that leaving the ground that day was the worst i have ever felt. not because we had lost but because for a brief part of this season the team felt like it had heart again and i felt gutted that we didnt get what we deserved from it.

finally i know its cheesy but i really do like the slogan from the advertising posters about town and i hope that maybe some of the team will remember it when they are feeling a bit hacked off or whatever

It's Not Just The Jersey But The Heart That Beats Beneath IT

Yes 100 pounds for a top is incredible.

My dentist charged me about 75 pounds to remove a tooth last year (half an hour--poor boy he had to struggle s-o-oo hard)so I am sure I could have had the chipped one filled :016: for at least 100 quid. LOL

I would imagine most of us know exactly where you are coming from tuggers.  The season started pear shaped, rounded up a bit and has gone pear shaped again.  Frustrating season as we were well capable of being in the top six, but not on the performances since January.  The Rangers game was probably the best of the recent decline, at least we showed up for that one.  We have played worse than the Hearts defeat, but for most of us, it was the straw that broke the donkeys back.

Scarlet, the ?100 away top is not just a football strip, it is a type pf sponsorship, probably amounting to ?60 for the pleasure, as replica tops are normally about ?40.  Now they are a rip off.

Who is your dentist, I'll give him ?200 to take your whole head off.

Tug the new away top is the same price as the home one...........around ?40 with 10% discount for season ticket holder, supporters club member etc. The ?100 was for a limited edition with names on it.

Russell Duncan has been offered more money than he was getting and a three year contract with testimonial at the end of it. I would have thought that was security for his family by footballer standards.

This season has been one of the most depressing I recall.

I think we should be favourites for relegation next season.

Good post tug and i agree with most of what you have said .What you say about our fans is true and i along with many others feel the hard core , by that i mean mainly season ticket holders are treated with contempt at times.A recent example of this happened last saturday night in the Heathmount hotel. One of our fans bumped into our chairman Mr Savage.In conversation he expressed his dissappointment at the teams performance to be told politely to take a reality check,to quote WE ARE IN THE S.P.L after all.This is the kind of patronising talk we get through all levels at the club. The reality is we are in our 4th season in the top flight and if we are to progress we will have to be more positive in our aims .This is vital if the club is to maintain the current level off season ticket holders never mind increase them.Instead of our manager saying in the press how the fans got on the players backs ,would it not have been nice for once to hear him say he got his team selection and tactics wrong. Not for the first time this season i might add .I like you am a genuinely concerned fan and worry what next season might hold if we continue along the same path. Above all on the pitch we need to rediscover the team spirit for which we have been reknowned.If we manage that we should be ok.

Tug, it is refreshing to read your concern without all the normal malice against one person, be it Brews selection or any other person at the club.

I do feel that, excluding Gretna, the teams around us are well coached and fit, an area we excelled in under Brew last time round, so we are therefore just one of the other teams who are good on their day but can be awful on other days. We do seem to rise to the challenge of bigger teams but, as fans, we dread facing the teams we should be beating.

Alex has answered the Duncan situation very well and, as you say, he has to do the best for his family but it still leaves a bad feeling!

I employ staff here in Aberdeen - train them and very often, due to this training, lose them to the oil industry as I can not compete with the oil incomes.

Am I surprised - a bit, am I hurt at their lack of loyalty -a bit, would I do it if I were them - of course I would. Are some of them left with egg on their faces- of course, they are found out to have less ability than they thought they had and perhaps would have been better staying. 

Likewise ICT can not compete with some other teams on income structure but, hey... it is not the end of the world if Russell leaves! If we had 7000 through our gates every home game then our pay structure would be more flexible, I'm sure.

This reminds me of summat I said last August.  :029:

This reminds me of summat I said last August.  :029:

Something to do with Colin Hendry? No, wait. Colin Nish? What about Callum Elliot? And there was Hagi as well....

I have read your recent posts RIG - I can sense your support.  :014:

I have read your recent posts RIG - I can sense your support.  :014:

In all seriousness, I actually agree with a lot of what you say concerning off field issues. The supplanting of Charlie & Donald with Brewster and Malky being a good example.

But some of your rumours for players are horrible!

This reminds me of summat I said last August.  :029:

Something to do with Colin Hendry? No, wait. Colin Nish? What about Callum Elliot? And there was Hagi as well....

WHEN IS IT GOING TO SINK INTO MOST PEOPLES HEADS THAT IHE SPEAKS THE BIGGEST AMOUNT OF BULLPOO EVER

TMFTJob

@@#4%$$$^&****@#$*****?@%%$!++*%%%##$~~~~||$^&& !!!!!!

I am going to send you a diplomatic note... :blah01:

This reminds me of summat I said last August.  :029:

Something to do with Colin Hendry? No, wait. Colin Nish? What about Callum Elliot? And there was Hagi as well....

WHEN IS IT GOING TO SINK INTO MOST PEOPLES HEADS THAT IHE SPEAKS THE BIGGEST AMOUNT OF BULLPOO EVER

Ah - ma wee stalker from the hills - still in awe of the Internet master but still in reaction formation mode.  :rotflmao:

And RIG - That is the beauty of "rumour" - but most can work out when it is ludicrous wind up and when it is close to the point - and recently that has to be done in a gaurded manner also. Still at least this post will go right over the head of Blackheadforce.