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I think people get pulled in a certain direction including myself with regards to punishing the greedy b#####ds. If it was a club like Kilmarnock, and for instance a company who loans money to Killy and carries their dept suddenly goes bust and the receivers want the dept called in then Killy may be no more.Just only a possible example. But this hasn't happened to Kilmarnock, its happened to a big greedy club, a club that will beat most of the clubs it plays due to its spending power, a club that will steal your best players just to have them sitting on a bench, a club that will go bust and still have the money to fly from Glasgow to Inverness and stay in a 4* hotel but cant afford to hand over the money for tickets it sold to their own fans to watch an away game. a club that will overspend with the hope of getting a greater return from the cups it competes in. A club that steals your locals so they can call themselves Rangers fans just so they can cling on to a bit of success and rejoice if their adopted Glasgow club beats the team of their place of birth. A club that refuses to share more of the SPL kitty to the rest, just to weaken the rest of Scottish football. If it was a small club that was in difficulty I think I would be compassionate to them but its happened to a club that takes,takes then takes some more. What ever sanctions are put in place all they have to do is spend more cash and get a good lawyer to overthrow any handicaps put in front of them, just like the bans handed out to Lennon. I say take what you can get from them.

I was in Rome a couple of weeks back and checked out this guy. His name is Joseph Ratzinger but he's known as Ben. Apparently he's a Michael Jackson fan and the nickname is a play on his last name and a reference to Jackson's song about a Rat called Ben. Whilst he's playing in Rome at the moment he is originally from Germany and represented his country's youth league as talented right winger. He still plays in that role and could be a useful replacement for Jonny Hayes if he departs. Ratzinger is getting on a bit and would bring some experience to the team. He's maybe past his prime but by all accounts he can really pull the crowds in and never tires of delivering crosses. Celtic were interested in him a couple of years back and there was media interest when he went to Celtic Park for a trial. Celtic were keen to sign him but the deal fell through on personal terms because he was reluctant to play on a Sunday because of other committments. However, we have fewer Sunday games than Celtic and that should not be a problem. Other personal terms shouldn't be a problem. He is single so there is no family to consider and he is not bothered about how much he earns. I went to his house to see him and boy, is he loaded! He is also knowledgable about ICT. He struggles with the English language but the picture above shows his response when I asked him whether he knew where ICT finished in the league this year.

Took the words right out of Terry's mouth. Good luck to all. Sounds like a great idea for a good cause.

Speaking as an Englishman, I think CC sums it up well. I like the Olympics but I don't like the same things CC doesn't like. I do think some people underestimate the value of hosting the olympics. I am sure it will increase the interest of a lot of youngsters in a variety of sports and there will be a significant boost to the tourist industry and a legacy of facilities. Having said that, I think it really is impossible to judge the financial impact it will have. In England at least there will be a general feelgood factor about hosting the games and this may have a positive impact on health although absenteism will rise as folk take time off work to watch Tom Daley make a much bigger splash than he intends. But the costs really are huge. I am all for the olympics but do they really have to be so expensive? The taxpayer really can't afford this. Mind you, had Rangers paid their tax bill things might be a little different.

So with Old Caley Girl's Christ, Doofers Dad's Ratzinger and Maria up front, do you think we will reach high places this season? Perhaps we also need Billy Graham for the defence ? He was a saver.

When London was announced as the host city in 2005, the UK leaders all thought the economy was hunky dory. I like the Olympics. It's a great sportig event. However there's a few things I don't like: First of all, I would prefer a Team Scotland instead of an amalgamation of 3.5 countries.. I don't like how Lord Coe et al have hi-jacked the Olympics to turn it into some sort of Royalist, aristocracal, Diamond Jubilee propganda. This whole carrying the flame malarky. It's a good idea on paper - but not at a cost of millions of pound of tax payers money so that Princess Anne, David Beckham and Will.I.am / W.I.ll.Iam / William / Willy or what ever his name is can strutt their stuff. Football is not an Olympic sport. Tennis is not an Olympic sport. Finally, ordering the Saltire flag to be removed from the roof of Hampden because 'Flags of countries not competing cannot be displayed' for me is highly offensive. So, to sum it all up........

One thing about supporting a wee club like ICT is, if you go to enough games, you end up having a pint or two with people like the parents of the players.....

I am a little worried about the future for ICT but I think that stems from the shambles that is the SPL at the moment. I don’t think I would be as worried if there weren’t issues over future TV money and league restructuring I’m not sure I buy into this point of view that we need local players in the team to ensure passion and loyalty. These are characteristics of a person that are down to the individual rather than where he is from. Given the choice between having a successful team with a team made up of not local players or a poor team full of local players I know which one most of us would choose. I think our current spell of bad form is not down to the fact we dont have a lot of local players in the team but more down to the fact our budget and geography dictates we can only buy players of a certain quality IMO I would be great if we could fill our team with local talented youngsters and do well in the SPL but I doubt we will ever see this. Football is a primarily a business and loyalty to local players or indeed long serving players is becoming a thing of the past. Not saying I like it but its becoming part and parcel of the game Using ICT as an example I think the days of us filling a team with numerous local players are long gone. I think more often than not in the coming years we will be filling teams with a mix of Scottish players from the central belt and English youngsters released from bigger clubs. The only exception to this will be a few young players ( similar to the likes Nick Ross, Gavin Morrison etc) on the fringes of the squad and maybe the odd local player doing well becoming a first team mainstay (similar to Munro) To look at the theory that many other teams/managers use predominantly local players in their teams I'm not sure I buy into this either. Ross County currently have only three players born relatively local to Dingwall (Michael Fraser - Drumnadrochit, Grant Munro - Inverness and Alec Cooper - Inverness) hardly bristling with local talent! St Johnstone have only 2 players in their first team who were born in Perth in Kevin Moon and Stevie May. Aberdeen seem to recruit strongly in Aberdeen with 9 locally born players in their first team but have been largely disappointing in the last 5 seasons if not more. Dundee United have 2 players born in Dundee with a 3rd joining them this summer in Michael Gardyne. The old firm have hardly been well know for filling their first teams with local talent and Hearts and Hibs teams are more often than not filled with foreign players. I think the idea that players are only loyal to a club if they are born in the city they play is fast becoming a myth. Money is often the only thing that players play for nowadays. I think the days when players like Giggs and Scholes play their entire careers at one club are going to be a thing of the past. Loyalty these days is a very rare thing and more often than not money speaks louder than anything

Have just watched the above programme on the Beeb and am truly shocked at the goings on on the Polish and Ukrainian football terraces. Racist abuse at its most grotesque and this is where the Euro championships are to be held. These countries don't deserve the champions and seem oblivious to problems they have. A group of supporters where giving the Nazi salute and a club official said they were just pointing to opposition..WTF? UEFA seem powerless to stop this and even its president, Platini, refused an interview. I believe that the respective countries football associations should withdraw from the tournament now and really show united front against violence and racism. Catch the programme on the iPlayer if you didn't see it.

Christ wont be up front..........everyone knows that Jesus Saves................maybe we could get Marvin Andrews in there as well

It just serves to highlight that Scotland is not the only country where teams and the National Association/s are happy to benefit (financially) from the hate filled rivalries that bring people to games in large numbers. Panorama were obviously showing the Polish and Ukraine problems at their worst....but sadly, I'm not so sure things are any better here, or indeed in many other countries.

I don't think its the games itself Chris, more the hype, media overkill and expense surrounding it all. Its especially worse down and it never out of the news.

To me....it was just an opportunity to spend yet more billions, upgrading infrastructure and facilities in London, under the guise of the Olympic games. Last i heard, they reckon the cost could be £30Bn. Wouldnt catch the Govt investing that amount anywhere else, other than London!

Mens games are Spain, Japan, Honduras and Morocco, but it would be interesting for the womens teams games USA, France, Colombia and PDR Korea ( North I think ). After that first weekend Glasgow only has two more games so Scotlands participation as part of the UK London olympics are almost over in the weekend before the official opening ceremony. So much for Scotland benefiting out of the Olympics. Have to say I didnt want them here ( London ) in the first place, so can I have my Tax money back please. Would have helped the Country out not having these overpriced preparations.

Well you have slightly misquoted me there. I have actually raised doubts for the last three seasons in regard to Rosscoe's ability to stay the pace in the SPL, especially as a full back - and I also admit that I was just as unsure about his ability to play as a central defender, as I suspect many others did. But I have also stressed on more ocassions about his saviour performances in certain individual matches and his total committment to the club. If he had gone two seasons ago I dont feel that there would have been such an uproar. But he has simply epitomised the fighting spirit required, has extended his legend status and has even endeared himself more to the fans. At a time that we are going through major change Tokely is the type of character / influence that you need at this club. I admit, as I have alluded to in another thread, that I continue to have my doubts about his stayability but he deserves to be given the chance to stake his claim anyway. And if he has played his last game then he has actually been treated in a more deplorable manner than Munro.

It would be interesting for the likes of Dundee, Dunfermline, Falkirk etc applied to join the SPL as newco's. I wonder what 'fix' the SPL would create to reject these clubs and accept Rangers. What a joke. Get them out, my life would be better.

Some very good points and arguments there. But I would have to disagree with this one. Sky/ESPN will reduce the amount they are prepared to pay for a Rangerless SPL. Significantly, I believe. Rightly or wrongly, having both of the OF clearly means an awful lot to them. That's why the expiring contracts had a clause specifying 4 OF derbies a season. That's why they haven't signed any TV deal for the new season, and won't sign anything until they know whether Rangers will be in it at all, and whether they will be in a position to compete. You are right that the SPL is a small part of Sky's operation, and your average English punter doesn't give two hoots about the SPL (but probably watches the odd OF derby). However, there must be tens of thousands (at least) of Rangers minded people throughout the UK who subscribe first and foremost in order to watch their own team, perhaps paying around £300 a year to do so. Even if only a proportion cancel, that's still £millions a year lost to the TV companies, which then reduces the amount they are willing to pay the SPL. Lower viewing figures also have a direct impact on Sky/ESPN's advertising revenues. None of us know the value of a TV deal without Rangers, but I suspect the club chairmen have an inkling and are very concerned about the consequences.