Leaderboard

Here is the email I sent to Mr Cameron. As you can see its slightly altered from the one posted on here earlier but thought I would add it in case there was any other valid points etc. Dear Mr Cameron I am a Caley Thistle fan writing to express my opinions on a Rangers Newco. I am of the opinion that a new version of Rangers should under no cir***stances be voted into the SPL. While I appreciate that you have a huge decision on your hands and that you have probably received a number of emails on the subject, I feel it is only right that I contact you personally with my thoughts and to plea to you to vote NO to Newco Rangers. I have contacted the ICT supporters Trust with a similar message as well as expressed my opinions on calythistleonline.com. From an ICT perspective I feel you should not vote for a newco for the following reasons. Football is still fundamentally a sport. While there has often been a clash between commercialism and football; this is the reason the SPL scores are reported in the sports section of the news and not at the same time as the FTSE 100. To let someone (in this case a football club) off for cutting corners in order to achieve commercial gain eliminates any notion of ICT being a sports team and Scottish football being a contest. Dwaine chambers was a big name in his sport but was still banned from competing for breaking the rules. Surely allowing Rangers Newco into the SPL would have an adverse effect on the reputation of Scottish Football abroad? This would make Scottish Football look low-rent which for a league with a number of International TV Deals could have a negative impact on the reputation of ICT and other clubs overseas as a result. Inverness Caledonian Thistle had to jump through a number of hoops to get into the SFL and even more to get into the SPL by sacrificing two clubs with passionate independent support and going to great expense to meet stadium criteria. Many figures at the club have worked hard over the years (the late Jock McDonald for example). Our neighbours Ross County are upgrading their stadium as we speak to play in the SPL. Why should a Newco automatically enjoy the privileges of SPL membership others have had to go to great expense to achieve? Inverness Caledonian Thistle have always tried to live within their means and remain debt free. It could be argued that trying to do things the right way has meant the club has struggled to compete with teams who spend more and are in debt as a result. ICT voting Rangers Newco back into the SPL would mean the club are being hypocritical and devaluing their own good ethics. Why should the club go through the annual frustration of not being able to hold on to their top players when other teams that have effectively cheated can keep theirs and achieve higher league positions and cup runs? Why should members of the board such as yourself spend so long trying to balance the books when others are less scrupulous? The television deal with SKY is often used as an excuse to ensure Rangers stay in the SPL. In my opinion Scottish Football should not rely on television money as TV is a fickle industry. It’s possible that if TV ratings for the SPL or football in general decreased SKY could pull the plug regardless of the presence of the Old Firm? British Professional Wrestling has never fully recovered from being pulled from ITV by Greg Dyke in the late 1980’s; this was a TV sport that famously got higher ratings than the FA Cup Final that soon after disappeared from the airways. Football clubs should ensure that they can survive without this money in the long term as one day it may not be there. I would also like to point out there has been no guarantee that SKY would pull the plug completely on the SPL TV Deal should Rangers not be in the league. I also feel that Scottish football would still appear on TV without the Old Firm. After all SKY show football leagues with less appeal than ours such as the Australian Hyundai A-League and other fringe sports like Elite League Ice Hockey. I fear that if ICT voted for Newco Rangers and fans of the club found out, there could be a backlash and a decrease in support which I fear the club could not afford. I fear this may not just come from our own supporters. I have spoken to a good friend of mine who is a Celtic Season ticket holder and a member of a Celtic supporter’s club. He has informed me that supporters clubs of many SPL teams are planning boycotts of the grounds of clubs who vote for Newco. I am unsure on how accurate or widespread this is but I feel the club may suffer in terms of attendances if this were to happen. Both halves of the Old Firm have expressed interest to leave the SPL which shows a disregard for the wellbeing of other clubs in Scotland. Why should these clubs be sympathetic to them? A few years from now when Rangers are in a better position there is nothing stopping these clubs from saying the same thing again. The SPL clubs (ICT included) should try and ensure they can survive without the Old Firm regardless of how difficult this is. I would rather see ICT playing in a lower league and living within their means than see them being subsidy junkies in the SPL. Having only one half of the Old Firm in the SPL will make it easier for ICT and other SPL teams to renegotiate voting rights and distribution of wealth. This would mean if/when Newco Rangers reach the SPL things are a lot fairer than before. With Newco Rangers automatically allowed into the SPL I feel this would be difficult. Finally, making a Newco Rangers begin life in the Third Division may be a once in a lifetime chance to show how difficult it is for a team to survive out with the alleged land of milk and honey that is the SPL and to ensure that things change for the better down the pyramid. For a club like ICT who have had recent stint out with the SPL and may very well find themselves in that situation again, I feel this is vital as it will impact on the club's future. I appreciate the opportunity to express my opinion on the matter and I also understand that you are privy to information regarding the club and the Newco situation that fans such as myself are not. I hope that you will make the right decision as chairman of the club, I have every confidence that as a businessman and as a man who as always tried to do whats best for the club and it's fans that you will. I do not envy you having to make the decision but I genuinely feel you and the other SPL chairman have a chance to make a real step forward in Scottish football. Yours sincerely James Proctor

Wee rumour going around that McFadden may be offered the position of player coach which could mean Mr Mispass moving on, potentially to Alloa. Source is the back bar of the Fairways !!!

Day trip from Glasgow :)

What the feck are you doing in an Under 50's league? Oops - may have been a Freudian slip - over 50's !!! I propose the Park Bar at 10.30 am.

Greece have just auctioned off their Quarter Final place for 950,000,000 Euros. Bailout!

In which case, I'll throw my hat in the ring for a start up front

Speak for yourself

No we were after a 14 year old from Glengarry.

With the majority of SPL clubs eager to listen to fans opinions and it looks more and more likely 'The Rangers' newco will be denied direct entry into the SPL. The Sky TV deal is going to be a huge factor in how clubs deal with any loss of income arising from rangers not being in the league Now if all the rumours that Sky will pull out or offer a greatly reduced deal if Rangers are not in the SPL comes to pass will people on here continue their sky sports subscriptions or cancel? Simple poll to gauge opinion but feel free to add comments Personally I think I wouldnt but that is only because i use Sky for the EPL, golf etc. However if i were subscribing to an additional channel like ESPN then it would be dropped immediately

Six Grant Munros Fiveeeeeeeeeeeee Djebi Zadis Four Russell D's Three Rooneys Two Tades And a manager who aint a baddie.

Glasgow City Rangers have announced ther new strip for the SPL next season :

I am reliably informed by my other self that I am being serious this time

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.

As much as I like Malpas, this would be a dream come true for me.....not so much the coaching role, just to have him a in an ICT shirt!

Sorry Scotty, no idea on the teaching subject. I'm looking forward to following Caley Thistle next season. You've got yourself a new fan! Who knows, maybe Celtic will go tits up this season and make the Scottish Premier competitive! Here's hoping!!!!!

Laurence, for a lot of what you say I agree with you, but some things (like Scots in England living in a foreign land but unable to vote) are only half true. Some of your points smell like Tory alarmist propaganda, which is almost as bad as SNP smells-like-roses propaganda. The biggest problem in the whole debate is . . . for most things we simply don't know what will happen if there were to be a split. But like many divorces, it has the potential of being horribly horribly messy and with both parties being left unnecessarily hurt due to petty internecine squabbling. And for that reason alone I will vote no.