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Dear Mr Cameron, As I'm sure you are aware, with the impending liquidation of Rangers FC not too far away and the highly likely prospect that you and the other chairman of the remaining SPL clubs will vote on the matter as to whether to allow a "NewCo Rangers" to join the SPL. As you know, the fans are almost completely of the opinion that a NewCo Rangers, should they be allowed to join the league system, should start at the bottom of the ladder in the Third Division, just as the newly formed Caledonian Thistle FC had to do back in 1994. Mr Cameron, vote for the wishes of the fans. Vote for dignity. Vote for justice. Vote against an organisation that has exploited sectarianism and bigotry for it's own gain. Vote against a NewCO of a club that has stolen millions to buy itself success. Vote for you to be seen as a man and ICT as a club, who said NO. Mr Cameron, vote NO to NewCo. Yours sincerely, Renegade ICT Season Ticket Holder

The Chairmen must vote against Rangers NewCo being admitted into the SPL. Caley D has eloquently laid out the reasons on another thread making the point that both Dundee and Falkirk have submitted valid applications within the time frame required. But for me there is a further important reason - one of precedent. If Rangers NewCo were accepted into the SPL it would be for one reason only - money. It would mean that the SPL chairmen felt that admitting Rangers NewCo would be to the financial advantage of other clubs in the SPL and therefore they would be admitting them for a reason other than merit. Currently, teams are admitted on merit with the team that wins the SFL gaining promotion. If Rangers NewCo were to be admitted, not on merit but because of the potential financial advantage they bring to the other member clubs, then what happens next year when Cowdenbeath romp to the first division title with Dundee a distant 2nd? Do the SPL chairmen admit Dundee rather than Cowdenbeath on the basis that they will bring more money into the SPL than Cowdenbeath? Admission must be as a result of merit and not of what is, to all intents and purposes. bribery.

I fear for the future of the SPL and Scottish football in general BUT Rangers should not be treated any different to any other club and should be appropriately punished for their only too evident misdemeanours over some period of time now. They deserve the absolute disgrace of playing Elgin CIty.

Dear Caley Thistle board, Please listen to your fans and do not vote for a newco. They wouldn't vote for us! Thanks

Oh yes! Yes please! Yes indeed!

Latest update for the Caley Thistle fans involved. We are going to submit an application to join the SPL as a space is now available. Bring on the fecking local derbies!

IMO, it is impossible for the SPL to usher a Rangers NewCo into place......and they can take all the votes they like on it. Here's why...... Before the SPL can look to having a vote on the NewCo they have to dismiss the valid applications they already have from Falkirk and Dundee....both of whom had their applications in before the 31st March deadline. To do anything else would open a whole new can of worms if Falkirk and/or Dundee decided to challenge it. There's a chance Dunfermline could also have a case if they've not yet handed over their SPL share. All this talk of Rangers NewCo "negotiating their place in the SPL" is bollocks (again, IMO). Like it or not, the NewCo can not be punished/prohibited from entering the SPL and/or have additional sanctions applied due to the actions and indiscretions of the OldCo....legally they, the NewCo, are a separate entity and not liable in any way, shape or form for the OldCo. They cannot say "Rangers NewCo, meet these conditions and you can get in" whilst ignoring the fact that Dundee and Falkirk both have valid applications on the table....or applying the same entry criteria/sanctions to Dundee/Falkirk and any other clubs applying in future. There's NO legal grounds upon which the SPL can accept Rangers NewCo into the SPL with sanctions attached...it would be considered nothing more than blackmail by the courts (be that civil or CAS). They have to decide on whether they accept any application on the same grounds as any other application, or to reject the application on the basis that Membership/Application criteria have not been met. Same goes for the SFL. If Rangers NewCo are rejected by the SPL and an SFL team is promoted then the SFL have a process to go through whereby they announce a vacancy and invite applications. Unlike the SPL, a Club License IS needed to play there, and Rangers (NewCo) would be hard pressed to qualify. This whole sorry mess is far from over.

SP - isnt it strange how chinese whispers develop - I was reliably informed athat Mantis had an attached ******, that you had 4 STD injections and bolts attached to yoer neck, a vasectomy and recently a lobotomy operation. And if the depression comes back then you now who to call.

We have now lost Hayes, Tansey, Tade, Tokely etc, which in my mind are 4 of our best or most experience players. Before the end of last season when TB got rid of Munro and Duncan, he said he wanted to rebuild the squad with younger players to push on towards the top 6. Now at the end of this season, we are losing all our players again so yet again we are going to have a mismash team that have not fluidity, unity, dont know how to play together and wont have enought time to get used to each other before the start of the season. I really hope TB can prove everyone on here wrong and pull of some gems of signings but i have serious doubts. This season is make or break

This is the team that wanted to leave Scottish Football for many years, and did not hide the fact that they wanted to play in England and Europe.They did not care what would happen to the other clubs left behind. I say good riddance.

I suspect Don will be able to anwer this one for me. If there is a March 31st Deadline to apply for the SPL and Dundee and Falkirk have both applied, shirley only they can be considered. Newco Rangers don't exist yet and i'm not great at maths but I can see that quite obviously they have missed the 31st March deadline. Therefore, other than cheating by the SPL board, how can they even apply to get in? I suspect i've misunderstood something in the rules somwehere though!

ok i agree with Renegade that they shouldn't be aloud back in but do you honestly think we could last without rangers and the income we generate from games at ibrox and here and we wouldn't have as many tv money either

Think your question is acceptable within the context of this thread...but for future, there's a big button towards the top right corner that says "Start New Topic".....will do a screen grab for you when I get back to a proper computer.

From the same era.....

Obsession with the past? Because we would take Blackie back? A man who's just picked up a Cup winners medal? You must be Dougal at the wind up. Nope...I'm just somebody who didn't support either Thistle or Caley before the amalgamation,...and supported my own local HL team for most of my life. I'm out of the Inverness loop, and always have been. On moving out of my home area and up to Caithness, I have chosen the teams I support., bearing in mind I hope I'm not up here till I die. All I meant with that comment was that, from that article, his options currently appear limited.....and the ducklings/swans remark was mostly aimed at I believe blackie will be on everyone's wish list in Scotland this summer with the exception to Celtic. I can see him going to rangers if everything works out for them or a fairly decent English team, lower championship or high league 1. I'd be delighted if Ian Black could do a job for us and could be signed....but I'd not be keen if the only reason for signing him again was because he had picked up a Cup winners medal, given he was released not that long after.....and once left ICT to better himself so his loyalty is suspect. He signed a pre contract with his boyhood club, who are also a far bigger club than ICT. It's hardly a sign of suspect loyalty. It's pretty self explanitory. I dont know who wouldn't make that move given the choice. Add to the fact he had a terrible relationship with his gaffer (Brewster) at the time I'd have been baffled moreso had he stayed.

I'm reminded of a quote from the late great Phil Lynott: "When I'm in England, I say, I'm from Ireland. When I'm in Ireland, I say, I'm from Dublin. When I'm in Dublin, I say, I'm from Crumlin. When I'm in Crumlin, I say, Leighlin Road. When I'm in Leighlin Road, I say, I'm a Lynott."

So I hit a raw nerve then by suggesting that Gary Warren may be just a squad player. At the moment he is going to be a first pick as he has to cover roles that may have gone to Tokely (legend), Hogg (injured and may sign if a better offer doesn't come his way), Proctor (a great servant and uitility player, gone), Gillet (who knows where he is going but not ICT), Golabart (real promise but gone). So he's going to be a very busy bloke indeed. To clear up any uncertainty I saw every home game last year plus a few away. It was misery by the way. Nevertheless I will support ICT regardless and wish anyone pulling on the shirt all the best, why would you want anything else. Finally how many times has TB seen the new boy play?

Faith to do what? Top six? Nope. Relegation? Probably not but a possibility. Best manager we could have? Probably not. Deserves to be sacked for being nowhere near relegation, coming higher than a bigger-spending Hibs, falling only two points short of bigger-spending Aberdeen and winning more games than both the Dons and the next up, St Mirren? Nope. This board is getting really tedious. Think it's time to retire.

Luke, I think you will find your hypothesis has not been proven. Most fans will defend anyone be it players, the manager, fellow fans etc, if they think they are being criticised unfairly. Where we differ is when we feel people (and the manager in particular) need to be defended. As far as the manager is concerned, he gets the chance to defend himself week in week out in the media and he is very capable of doing that (see - I'm defending him!). But as the person who makes the key decisions on the playing side, it is only right and proper that fans question him when we they have doubts and criticise him when they feel he has done things wrong. That is what a forum is for and if we stopped having that diversity of views the forum would be very boring and the club would be the worse for it. It really would be best if folk stuck to the arguments rather than criticise their fellow fans. We're all on the same side after all and share a common wish for ICT to succeed, we just have different views of how we get there.

There was never a point last season when I felt we would go down so unsure what your asking. I just had a little experiment and turned out my hypothesis was correct. Fans on here are happy to defend a player with no ties to the club but not our own manager.

Oh yes? Well take a look at this then..... http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-fife-14734520 Maybe it's also worth remembering other SNP pet projects such as centralising the Police into a single (central belt dominated) force and forcing local Councils to adopt their Council Tax freeze to the detriment of local services. Salmond is very good at banging on about his referendum (where he is actually asking Highlanders to vote to have their lives completely dominated by the sectarian ridden central belt) and how a Yes vote will end up in more self determination. But what he really means is that he wants the lives of every Scot to be totally controlled by his own little fiefdom at Holyrood. Devolution for him is fine as long as it concentrates power in Edinburgh which is exactly what he is doing by removing local control over the likes of police and what local services can be afforded and concentrating it right in his own back yard. As for the A9, it's actually not a bad road and what cause a lot of the problems are some of the total lunatics you find driving on it - a point already very well made by Mrs Jnr. Slow traffic (even though Tesco lorries are no more) is also a problem and a combination of the two is not good at all. Actually one of the biggest liabilities I have seen on the A9 is on a Saturday morning when fans driving to football matches in the south are better than most at behaving like complete nutcases.

Lets hope that the Black Hills are not the feckin Black Isle then and Tokely isnt Crazy Horse !! There are actually quite a few similarities between Butcher and Custer as the latter was described as "a media type personality", charismatic and flambouyant but was criticised by many of his generals for being aloof, tactically questioned, especially in regard to defensive actions.

You mean this top Joonya? This has always been my favourite top. My one doen't fit me any more though.

Letting Grant Munro go last year was really hard to take and we paid a heavy price in defence for it (R*ss C**nty's gain). Letting Rosscoe go is just a step too far and totally stupid. These were guys who played for the jersey - not just using ICT as a stepping stone to something else. They were true Caley Thistle heroes and stalwarts. All we can look forward to now are unknowns from the diddy leagues of England who will use ICT for their own career progress. Grant Munro & Rosscoe were fans' favourites and played with the true ICT spirit. We've had the heart of our club ripped out - these two guys were still in their prime and now we can 'look forward' to them playing for C**nty against us in the SPL. I'm truly dreading next season! Will it be a case of more sendings off, penalties against and own goals - which was the story of last season? I hope not. Over to you Mr Butcher to prove that my fears are unfounded. Happy to eat humble pie if you can improve things this season.

Of course it is sad when fatalities like this occur but the reality is that the A9 is not a particularly dangerous road when you look at the stats. The road safety foundation regularly reviews road safety and rates roads based on the number vehicles using the road and the number of fatalities relative to that. On that basis, both the A9 (south of the Ord) and the A96 are rated as low to medium risk. The only 2 roads rated as high risk in Highland are the A833 between Drum and Beauly and the A86 between Laggan and Spean bridge. The 10 most dangerous roads in the UK are all in England and mostly in the pennine area and if you have ever driven on some of those you will realise what a pleasure it is to coast along on the A96. The statistics clearly show that dualing roads significantly increases their safety and so it makes sense to do this. But when you look at the stats more generally the reality is that the dualing of these important trunk routes is unlikely to be seen as top priority from a road safety perspective. It makes more sense to look at specific sections where accidents are more common and campaign for road safety improvements to address these identified black spots. The argument for more extensive dualing is more a journey time issue than a road safety one.

I'm far too worried to think about panicking.

Im not at the panic button pushing stage yet but I do have a strong feeling of apprehension for next season. ICT are a team that in the past have trived on team spirit, work ethic and continuity whereby we have never really had to replace huge chunks of the squad each summer. Our transfer dealings in the past have usually been replacing a few players in the Summer with some being signed by bigger clubs and some being released or retiring. The last two seasons have seen pretty substantial overhauls of the playing staff and I personally think it is this which brings so much negativity and panic out in fans. With settled teams you know roughly what you are going to get, with newly assembled teams there is a big fear of the unknown. Historically ICT have been a team that has relied on team spirit and work ethic to survive and battle through the divisions, with new players and especially young or foregin players who know nothing of the highlands or indeed the SPL team spirit and an understanding of Scottish football will take time and its something that 1 year deals do not encourage. Butcher has brought a different way of dealing in the transfer market and it brings a great deal of uncertainty with it. Will the players adjust to the SPL? Will they blend well with the existing players? Do they have the required mental/physical skills to play in the SPL? Will they accept a deal with another team after 6 months? Will they play well to the tactics we use? Will they adapt to the Highlands? Will they cope without a nandos on town? I realise Butcher must be under a great deal of pressure to assemble a squad capable of surviving in the SPL and i certainly dont envy his task however whether his approach is the correct one then only time will tell. I dont buy into the train of thought that because we have very tight budgetary constraints that we cannot sign players on more than 12 months contracts. I have made my issues clear regarding 12 month contract well known but if clubs like ours in the SPL can offer longer contracts then why cant we. There are three leagues below us in Scotland in terms of hierarchy and indeed budget. Are those who say we cannot afford 2/3 year contracts trying to tell me that no club with less budget can sign their players on 2 or 3 year deals? Something that has possibly made fans even more worried this season is that if you were to compare the fortunes of St Johnstone and ICT last season then they have done massively better than us on what is rumoured to be a similar or slightly lower budget than us. Is it down to injuries? Luck? Poor tactics? Poor signings? Who knows! I for one am willing to give Tel a chance to assemble a squad this summer in the hope of a good season. By renewing my season ticket for next season i have shown my faith that we can have a better season than last however this season is make or break for me. Last season was really hard going at times and if things do not improve then i shall seriously reconsider renewing my season ticket for the season after. I shall never stop supporting ICT but whether that will be in the form of season tickets or picking and choosing which games to attend i do not know.

Oh, great... yet another boring and negative thread.