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To be fair, I don't think there is a lot they can realistically do. It's not their fault the game in Scotland is going down the tubes. The problem lies with the way the world-wide game is marketed with the game increasingly structured and financed to cater to a global TV audience. The masses watch football from their arm chairs and not the terraces and they want to watch the big name players rather than their home town team. It becomes a self perpetuating circus. They have changed the big european club competitions from straightforward knock-out competitions to mini leagues and a shorter knock out stage in order to ensure the best chance and the most games for the biggest teams. Should one of them slip up against a less glamorous side that happens to have gate crashed the party the league gives them a second chance to let the big boys win. Worse still, several teams that then fail to progress in the champions league are given places in the Europa league. The 2 Manchester sides for instance, fail miserably in the champions league and are now earning further mega millions in the Europa league as a reward for their failure. To play the number of games these top clubs play, they have to have big squads of top players and television and sponsorship money means they can pay these players stupid sums of money. Some of these players hardly ever play but are there when needed. Unless a club receives massive investment there is no way teams can ever aspire to reach the top - the gap is too wide and the promising players and managers are plucked away with offers they can't refuse. A few years ago a talented manager at an average club could bring together talented players, keep then together for a few years develop a brilliant team and acheive great things - Brian Clough at Nottingham Forrest being number 1 in my list on that score. The dream that your club might just do that sort of thing is part of what draws people to support their local clubs, but as the market and financing of football has changed, that sort of team progression no longer happens. Get a couple of years out of a good player and they are off where the grass is greener. Clubs like us and the Pars get squeezed. We have to pay players more than we can really afford in order to keep the standard to a level the fans want to see. But we also need to keep ticket prices at a level which allows us to pay the wages. The problem is that increasingly the fans are voting with their feet and saying the ticket price is too much for the standard of football on offer. It's a grim thought, but from a business angle one might now consider that winning the league title is simply an unattainble goal. You have to buy success these days because market forces (and the Bosman ruling) break up teams that could develop together and progress to success. There has never been more money in the game, but it's all in the wrong hands. A cap on player wages and agreements that a much larger proportion of the television monies is shared throughout the game is required. I can't see that happening and I can't see that the SFA can do much about it either.

Arjen Robben's opening goal v England, and Jonny Hayes goal at Easter Road earlier this season. Separated at birth or what?

Read the book? Watched the games? Bought the T-Shirt? Test your ICT Knowledge and take part in our ICT themed Pre and Post Match Quiz hosted by the one and only CaleyD and a special mystery post match host!! Saturday 10th March 2012 - ICT v Kilmarnock - 12pm arrival for 3pm Kick Off So what’s included: Take a tour of the Stadium including photo opportunities pitchside and in the Boardroom Relax in the Kingsmills Suite with our pay bar and free programme & teamlines Test your knowledge in the first three rounds of our ICT themed quiz. Teams are limited to four per team (multiple teams can be booked and individuals can be made in to teams) Enjoy a generous portion of Stovies and Oatcakes Take your seat in the Stadium for the first half of the game, ICT v Killie Enjoy complimentary half time pies and hot drinks in the Kingsmills lounge before going back to watch the second half Full Time - return to the Kingmsills for the final round of our quiz and enjoy a post match analysis of the game and the Man of the Match presentation What will it cost? Only £10 per person for a fantastic fun filled day out. (Please remember ticket price is not included!) Call today on 01463 227453 or email [email protected] to book your spaces.

Actually its between 2100 and 2300 every Thursday on www.realcityradio.com This is my djing set-up with TWO 500 watt speakers and all my equipent costing over £2000 ... then i have production software and hardware. www.facebook.com/swebster.music Also if anyone is looking for a DJ for party's.... hello!

There should simply be a route to compensation in such circumstances.

Caledonia!!!!!!!!! the words to this song are fantastic. "Let me tell you that i love you, and i think about you all the time" PERFECT!! and its a good tune, unlike highland cathedral dour rubbish! luke mackay - what about "the popcorn dance"

Will leave it to Terry/Mo on this one ! We all know he (they) can spot a decent younger player, he's proven that several times by cherry picking some of our current players from England. He is also well aware of what stage contract talks with our own players are at and might have an inkling which players may or may not renew contracts ..... if he sees an opportunity, and its not going to cause us a financial headache then go for it ... if not, then it will be the usual summer merry go round ... where a lot of these players may still be available if they just sign on with a team until end of season.

I have a wife, children and a grandchild to support = plus the tab at the local.

You know what ... good luck to them !!!! I actually dislike County less than a lot of other teams !!! We have had a few good players from them over the years, and they have seen fit to extend the playing careers of a few of our legends too ! A very symbiotic relationship ! Regardless of the actual team, and more usually in debates where we were talking about stadium criteria, I have always said that whoever wins the first division deserves to go up to the SPL, regardless of anything else, as they have shown themselves to be the best football team in that division over the course of the season and its the football that matters. That opinion still holds true whether it is County or another team come the end of the season. I have no love for County, other than the love of beating them ... but I do kinda like the idea of those teams who already bitch about coming to ICT once or twice a season now having to bitch about the tortuous journey up the A9 to face two teams !!!!! Furthermore, I also stand by my own opinion on stadium criteria which is a newly promoted team should be allowed to use the existing seated part of its stadium for the SPL and if they choose to, should be able to use that first season in the SPL - and the extra money that brings - to make the stadium compliant rather than go down the route of spending money by March to have a compliant stadium "just in case" they win the league in May. I guess this position is less relevant now as ICT also set a precedent here too by sharing with the Dons and then getting the North/South stands built in double quick time ... but I just disagree with forcing teams to spend money they dont yet have on the off chance they will be champions ... It should be about the football and encouraging and assisting teams to reach the top rather than making them gamble with their own futures, incur debt they may not need to, and potentially spiral downwards if the gamble doesnt pay off ...... I didnt catch what Jim Spence was saying early doors on the radio on Saturday as I was running late .... but he seems to have been touting the larger league idea again .... something else I think is a good idea .... plenty of teams in D1 that could grace the SPL, and Ayr also took a good contingent to Hampden ....... even if they wouldnt have a fraction of them for a normal game.