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Its also to do with perspective and personnel ..... !!! Regardless of the fact that we overtook Dundee's 10 point lead last season (always feels good saying that) to win the title, and the fact we were in the SPL for 5 years prior to our relegation, we are still just that "wee team in/from the Highlands" that everyone thinks is in the middle of nowhere.... and thats just the Scottish Central Belt teams !!! Gawd knows what English teams think (although Watford might be impressed). Add to that our - how shall I say it - 'apparent naivety' when dealing with contracts or transfer offers and we get offered considerably less for our players than some other teams. It is not that Griffiths, Harkins or anyone else is worth 2 or 3 times an Ian Black, Don Cowie or a John Rankin but we make the mistake of not tying these guys up on longer contracts or worse still, wait until the last minute and try to make our contract offer compete with other teams who offer more and lose them on a Bosman. I am hoping we can learn lessons from past years and react to Rooney's 'I want to stay' comment in the Courier last week and tie him up on a 3 or 4 year deal. He has proved he is worth it. I would say the same for Odhiambo, Ross, Hayes, and a few others ...... The players know that if an offer comes in, and it is decent, ICT will accept it, but doing it this way seems to make sense as it protects our investment in these players and maybe loses ICT that moniker of being a 'soft-touch' when it comes to transfers.

For me, it's a very difficult call for clubs our size. It's all very well to seek longer term contracts for key players but they come with risks for both the club and the player. For it to work you need two willing parties (which I hope, and think, is the case with Adam Rooney) with the player being realistic about the finances they are willing to accept and the club being prudent in what they are willing to risk. In some cases I doubt if the club could ever have matched the demands of some who have departed. The success of Don at Watford also makes things more difficult for the club as his former team mates will look on with envy at his success and perceived pay packet whilst wondering what if? I think it's harder for a lot of the Scottish clubs to offer significantly more than we can but in England, there is still plenty cash in the Championship and League One. We as fans also expect a hell of a lot from our players at times. All want loyalty and commitment no matter what from those we value and expecting those we don't to bugger off no matter what their contract says. Could any of us really blame a young guy, in the peak of his form, for wanting to sit tight and see what options he has for his future before commiting further? Would any of us put a financial restriction around our earning capacity in the knowledge that without it we may be able to quadruple our earnings still doing something we love? As for Leigh Griffiths, I expect him to go in January to the first club with a six figure offer. The administrator will make sure he does.

Been reading all about Rory's progress since he left TCS and been nothing but impressed. Albeit at a much lesser level, he is making a huge contribution to his side who sit at the top of the league. His goal scoring record is tremendous and week after week you read opposition managers saying that he was the difference between the teams. This has got me thinking if he has another shot in him at a higher level or is his success down purely to the level he is playing at. Is he another Andy Barrowman or a potential Bernie Slaven (for younger posters he left Albion Rovers for Middlesborough and became huge even making the ROI World Cup Squad)? I think someone will take a punt on him and I hope they do. Thoughts?

For those who can't be bothered reading the article I'm compiled a summary of the story: "Waaaaaaah!"

There's a surprise..... "Small" team doing better than expected and the Scottish gutter press start dragging up crap. Seems fairly obvious that this is nothing more than a bitter Drinkell making a few quid by (badly) trying to spin a non story. He wasn't deemed good enough, he asked the question and he didn't like the answer he got....dry your eyes!!!

The stadium is fine where it is !!! If you move to the Bught - which I personally agree would be a decent location - then it is NOT central. It would be on the western outskirts of the town and mean a longer distance for supporters from the eastern side of the town. You will never please everyone and the 500 you might pick up from the west of the town would likely be offset by the 500 you might lose from the east. There is no way for any of us to know for sure. With regards to Bught, I do not buy into the idea that roads/infrastructure is a problem, at least not one that cannot be solved. A move to the Bught might finally prod local and national government to complete a proper bypass/ring-road that the authorities have only really played around with for years. This would leave you with a stadium that is similar in accessibility to something like Mcdiarmid Park. Having said that, I still favour TCS right where it is ....... It may not be exactly central right now but as the focus of the town is moving South and East with almost every development, then central is what it will end up. There is also the A96 corridor to consider. The local plan calls for an "entertainment village" in a thin strip from Allanfearn all the way to the Kessock Bridge bounded by the Firth, the A96 and the A9. This should see all manner of entertainment type facilities popping up as well as marinas etc. The plan showed the TCS as the central point of this area. If it happens, and I know it is a big 'IF', then we are perfectly placed. The final reason - and its the most simple one - as stated by Caley100, we simply cannot afford this pie-in-the-sky type of move. Building a stadium, even with the help of someone else (eg Asda, Tesco or such like - and you have to ask why they would pay so much for a chunk of reclaimed land in the middle of an industrial estate .... ) would still cost us a fortune and I would rather see us consolidate ourselves in the SPL and make gradual progress on the stadium we already have and have already pumped mi??ions of ?s into.

Stratton Farm (on way from A96 to Smithton) was the option that scored best in the 1993 appraisal. It was and still is on a bus route, it can be approached from three different directions and further road improvements are planned in conjunction with new development. It is also not in Inverness which was significant in 1993/4 as at that time we didn't have Inverness in the club's name. Stratton Farm is also now owned by Inverness Estates, one of Mr Sutherland's and ICT Director David Cameron's companies. They got planning approval to build a new town centre there last month. Doesn't require much out of the box thinking then?

I think its called the Brewster Bounce ..... he bounced us down a division and is now on course to do the same at his new club.

Poor Dougal is getting a hard time.

Ive been to grounds in city centres throughout the Uk and Europe many in very built up areas where the crowds are on a lot larger scale than ICT I personally would like to see a 10k stadium at the Bught similar to St Johnstones but with all four corners filled in The poster who mentioned the crowd at bonfire night is 100% correct as there are bigger crowds then, than they ever will be at any football matches A move to the bught would attract at least 500-1000 more than we get at present Finally i havent read "Against All odds" i find it highly amusing that nearly every post you make you seem to make a reference to it:laugh: Don't think i'll be rushing out to buy one somehow even if they are still in print Dougal

With 29 games to go its a bit soon to be counting chickens........................but I do admire your optimism

Gordie was a former colleague of mine, lovely man and always smiling around the office RIP big man and keep an eye on the team today for us!

Well thats the end of that then. I believe he was offered his own airport as part of the deal but it was turned down because he has a fast jet and Kinloss was for slow jets. He was also offered his own estate but felt that 300 houses was not quite what he wanted. Of the two Rooneys which one would he of been the fat one with glasses of the really small one who uses junior golf clubs. I really think we were wise to stick with the one we have got, the other one would have just got in his way. We would also have had to spent money, we would need to raise the Kessock Bridge to allow him to get his head through. :tongueincheek:

Ok our home form is rubbish while our away form is rather impressive My reckoning being its down to one reason and thats because of the location and design of the Caledonian Stadium Surely if we moved to a purpose built stadium in the city we would attract more punters through the turnstyles The present location is not good enough its difficult to get there and its at best cold and windy even on summer days I'm surprised that ICT were even given permission to build a stadium there due to its proximity to the A9 and the resulting congestion it causes to the road user on match days I would much prefer a more central location preferably somewhere in the town with seating all around the pitch and not just three sides like it is at the moment No doubt i'll hear that its a beautiful location and all that but its football we are here to see not to admire the passing yachts or to spot the odd jumping dolphin Its time for the club to move onto the next level and that will be achieved by moving stadium in my mind Thoughts? Dougal

Quite simply, the games that attract the highest viewing figures are Old Firm away games, and the broadcasters need viewers to generate subscription income and advertising revenue.

Do you wear an apron at work? Eh? Pieman, obviously not.

i dont see us having any chance next week but they might be tired so who knows

It's also on the same night as Scotland v The Faro Islands at Pittodrie Stadium

I am going to use the post quoted below as the most recent example but it is clear that certain members are 'targetting' their reputation votes and voting down specific members regardless of what they say ...... Bottom line, its getting to the stage where we do one of three things ..... 1. We remove the feature entirely (which I feel is unfair on users who are not abusing it). 2. We remove the facility to add any negative votes at all but still allow positive rep. 3. We remove the voting privilege from those individuals we feel are abusing the sytem. There is also a fourth option, and one which I would hope we can try and do ..... use it in the way it was intended !!!! vote for posts you think make a valid point or where you agree with the opinion and vote for those posts where you disagree with the opinion expressed. Voting a post down when it is a simple question seems quite ludicrous