Leaderboard

The next 3 weeks will tell us a huge amount about where we are and where we are likely to go. If Drapes were to be sold for £100k, that will give us a clue as to the depth of the financial predicament and how the Club feel it should be resolved. What happens with Fon Williams and Raven will also give indications regarding both ambitions for the season and skill in the off-pitch aspects of football. As with all these issues, we are totally in the dark, so nobody can make informed comment. Draper has been a brilliant servant to the club, but we'd be raging in 10 months' time and we lost him to County on a free (e.g. Ross, Shinnie, Tansey). Equally, if his sale made the difference between solvency or not, we'd tear the Board to shreds if they didn't do the right thing to save the club. We need to offload some big earners, so OFW needs to go ASAP. The decision might then be between Raven and Draper. For me, Draper would be a bigger loss, but would bring in more cash. Tricky. On the pitch, performances have to improve - Robbo hasn't found the formula yet and there are tough fixtures ahead. We need ro get the outstanding issues around the squad sorted so that we can shut up shop and get on with the football.

Yup, definitely a blast from the past and for sure someone you could not get past with wallet intact .... funnily enough on my trip back in May I was driving behind a John Cummings van at the muirtown roundabout and thought back to when I used to interact with him both at ICT and also in a trade sense as he used to fit kitchens for our firm. End of the day, we should be welcoming anyone who has the best interests of the club at heart or who can maximise our earnings, regardless of which 'regime' they came from.

Sadly when we aren't far of being outnumbered by the away support for our opening home game of the season the boards hand could very well be forced in a financial sense. Whether that means some stay away or not time will tell. For all the talk of his importance to the team Draper for me doesn't contribute nearly enough with his overall game and severely limits the creative side of things for us. If his breaking up of play was quite as good as some would lead you to believe we would have conceded far less goals over the last 12 months.

By all accounts Draper is pretty content and been training well so I don't think he's unsettled. The issue we have and alluded to on one of the other threads is that there have been some 'soft loans' made. As much as we all know that Draper is worth more than £100k we may not be in a position to turn down any 6 figure sum regardless of previous statements.

There are a few things I'd like to see Tich McCooey on trial for Seriously, though, he would make a decent announcer.

It was the same for me and others in the north stand that usually buy them I went round to the main door and asked if there were any for sale and was told they were selling them in the sports bar so I did not bother. I hate to say it but when you go to Dingwall you have to walk round the tables with the sellers there and they push the sales which is why they can afford a bigger prize as well. Our club just can't get the basic things right even at the Clach friendly game recently they had them for sale as soon as you entered the ground.

Thought Inverness were by far and away the better team for the majority of the 90 minutes. Didn't see anything from United to suggest we can't finish above them. Our wingers will run riot in this league IMO. We just need a poacher to convert all these crosses and cutbacks into goals. Some harsh criticisms of Ridgers. Thought he commanded the box well and made some good stops. Some poor kicks for sure, but he was rushing as we were chasing the game. Don't want to be the happy clapper, but I even thought 'whipping boy' Chalmers came into a game and made some good contributions towards the end. Patience is a virtue. Most of our best players over the years were rank early doors and grew into the role. Let's give these lads a chance.

I love this site. ?

Wasn't there the idea - back in the early days of the club - of using Clach for that?

Puzzles me that people think the club is "arrogant" by exploring the possibility of doing this and putting in a request to the HL. Arrogance would be an expectation from ICT that because we are a big club in relative terms, the HL ought to simply bend over backwards to accommodate us, but there would appear to be no evidence of that being the case. It may well be a fruitless request, but I don't see why people are so keen to criticise the club for exploring something that would be good for ICT.

In many walks of life individuals who give up their own time free of charge become disillusioned by unfair criticism, by relatively unworthy others (usually hiding behind forum signatures), of their performance or their product. If anyone has a complaint then they should either join in or take over. Otherwise shut the feck up.

I heard the last time he was at a party, it was 50 years ago in a student flat in Edinburgh and he's never recovered from the swirly.

Yes. He was asked about taking players on loan, and said he wouldn't, especially from the big two and Hearts. The reason being that if they play, as Charles says, we pay them £350 a week. If they don't play we have to pay them £850. For high-handed arrogance that takes some beating. If we take a player on loan, in order to benefit the player and his parent club, we are fined, or blackmailed by £500 if he doesn't play, even if he turns out to be a dud. What a farce, and a ridiculous attempt to force small clubs to play their players or be charged. I wouldn't mind an incentive to play their players, but that should be the other way round - e.g. the parent club contributes towards their development, but we don't suffer if the player is injured or not a useful addition. Well done, Robbo, for saying so. And given the amount of players the big two hoard and whose development is stunted because of their confinement to the reserves, then it is also deleterious to the Scottish game.

It would help a lot if the announcer didn't think he was a radio DJ. Could someone please tell him to mute the music when he reads out the team lines instead of fading it up and down.