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Different time zone.

The club is heading for exactly the level it should be at based on the attendance figures it gets compared to others in Scotland. Its a fact we should all get used to. Until some bluesky thinking is shown and something to engage the people then we will end up stalling at our natural level. The 'novelty' factor that once came with a charge up the leagues and fist foray into the Premiership is gone, there's been no 'bounce' from the various on pitch successes over the last 5 to 10 years (LC final, SC win, Top 6 finishes etc). The club through various administrations seems to successively get further away from the community each time, the matchday experience is getting less fulfilling each season and the catering and overall facilities are dropping in quality. There's little buzz, excitement or feel good factor its all so turgid and a malaise - we have a club that seems to struggle with the concept of social media and realising that football now is very different to the 1990s/2000s and fans expect more.

There are two reserve leagues. Last season there was 3, a premiership and two which were split east and west. My point was, if teams like East Kilbride can or Queen of the South then we really have no excuse.

The combination of the attraction for English players of working under an England legend and the long hours and thousands of miles put in by Steve Marcella. Terry Butcher, like Steve Paterson before him, was an excellent fit for ICT with the right attitude and a good eye for a promising player and I imagine that, with the benefit of hindsight, both now regret leaving the club when they did. I suspect that both we and they would be in a much happier situation today if they had both stayed on for another two or three seasons.

Maybe we should try to look into it then .... depending on the teams, the amount of wage percentage we would be expected to pay might put it out of our range but surely its worth exploring. I only mention Toronto as they are actively seeking this kind of thing ... but there must be teams closer to home who could see the merit of some players being blooded in the championship (or premiership when we get back in) and willing to work with the club for mutual benefit.

I dont think its a totally lost cause but families do influence there is no doubt about it. Not a reason to give up though as peer pressure has an effect too. We need to go back to school/youth group tickets and encouraging teenagers to come as they are more likely to return? Id let all u16s in free but I do realise that has implications financially.

Alan when I worked on the trains on a Saturday the train from Kyle by the time it got to dingwall would have in excess of 30+ fans from Kyle strathcarron Garve etc all going to the match so I can completely agree with you there.

https://spfl.co.uk/news/spfl-play-off-schedule "Kick-offs are Saturday 3.00pm and midweek 7.45pm unless stated". No TV for the QF's.

Just the kids?

Twenty five years is a whole generation. That excuse is wearing a bit thin.

I'd love to see a tie-up with Norwich City, as Caley Tennis said in his posting they have a tremendous academy setup. They're on the verge of winning the Championship on a team that cost peanuts. They made a mint out of selling on James Maddison to Leicester and his improvement started with his spell at Tannadice where he got regular first team experience. Another cracking batch of youngsters are coming along nicely as are our U18s. City were on the brink of collapse when Webber turned up and the astute activity in the transfer market (selling as well as buying) has had remarkable success. A lot of that is down to Farke and his knowledge of fringe players playing in the lower level European leagues. I remember we used to have a great scouting setup and for me that seems to be what we're missing the most. Norwich have proved, as have we in the past, that you don't need big bucks to build a winning team. What you need is an overall strategy and vision that everyone buys into - sound business sense, a good scouting system, good coaching and a great team spirit. We're more than capable of that.

Jesus folks, surely we all know that after one season ends then a new one begins and season tickets will be sold for that. It's been happening since the beginning of time. Why have people not budgeted for this accordingly. It's not rocket science. I know, let's just blame the club.

I was in the Main Stand at Ayr

and I hope the fans, especially some of the 14,000 who went to the cup final and haven't seen much or anything of the club since, take the opportunity to fill them. Surely we can muster at least 4,000 fans for home play off legs and, should we manage to reach the play off final, closer to 6,000. Time for the fans to rally to the cause whatever issues we have with the running of the club.

That's the spirit!

This response makes me wonder why I ever bother to post on this forum

I have little interest in how County do unless they are playing us. I have no issue with them doing well and having a wealthy benefactor. I certainly wish we had the same. Roy McGregor has the interests of his club and their fans at heart and I admire him for that. They certainly have a much stronger connection between the boardroom and the stands than we have in recent seasons. That said, whilst wishing County congratulations on almost certainly achieving promotion at the first time of asking, I now intend to ignore them and concentrate on our own efforts to get back into the Premiership. Not to match County but entirely for our own sakes and the same of the future of our club.