Leaderboard

I am making contact as a forum member of Caleythistleonline. Initially can I request confirmation of receipt please. There does appear to be many CTO members who are stating that they are not receiving any response from the Supporters Liaison. The major concern at the moment would appear to be Player Sponsorship opportunity. As a long term supporter I am concerned that many people would appear to be NOT renewing their season tickets nor attending as many matches in the future. Support is crucial. Please advise as to what is happening with the SLO link. John MacKenzie AKA Immortal Howden Ender Sent to SLO - no receipt automatically made

A few clubs have emailed expressing an interest, but are awaiting a reply from ICT. Albeit , they've all received an email asking if they want to buy a season ticket or sponsor a player

Rules and Instructions for playing the Nutters Prediction League (NPL) for the 2024/25 Season. How to Play - General Information To take part in the NPL all you have to do is simply predict the following for all First Team Inverness Caledonian Thistle matches. Competitions covered in the NPL are: The Championship; League Cup; Challenge Cup* and SFA Cup. *Challenge Cup games will be HT and FT ONLY The Half Time (HT) score. The Full Time (FT) score. The scorer of the First goal for ICT. The scorer of the first goal for the opposition and The Crowd / Attendance figure. There is no need to register for this game. Just enter your prediction on the Gringo’s NPL Board on the forum before the match kicks off. Each game will be posted on the board approx’ two weeks before the fixture (if I remember!). If you are going away on your holidays etc and the games you wish place a prediction on have not been posted, then please PM me your selections and will do my best to post them for you. Post your prediction in the following format:- HT: FT: 1st Scorer ICT: 1st Scorer Opp: Crowd: (Just copy and paste the above format onto the board and add your predictions) For Example:- Gringo HT: 0-0 FT: 2-1 1st Scorer ICT: Anybody 1st Scorer Opp: Bonehead Crowd: 3345 Important To avoid losing points, please use the same 'username' throughout the contest. The Rules / Scoring system All predictions should be posted before kick off, it is up to you to check k.o. times and post accordingly No excuses! ALL entries posted after k.o. (even 1 sec over) will NOT be accepted. Very often the match thread will be automatically locked at the scheduled kick off time regardless of whether the match has physically kicked off or not so please post early to avoid disappointment. Each game will be advertised on the Gringo's NPL board approx' two weeks or so before the game. These games will remain on the board throughout the season and, where possible, will be locked after kick off or some other time convenient to me. H-T and F-T Correct Scores You will be awarded 1 pt for each correct score (1-0) and result (h, a or d) + a bonus of 2pts for an all correct prediction. I.E If you predict a 1-0 score and the actual score is 2-0 you will be awarded 1 pt for the 'home' result and 1pt for the '0' score. If the score was 1-0 you would get 1pt for the '1', 1pt for the '0' and 1pt for the 'home' result plus a bonus of 2pts for an all correct answer giving you a max 5pts. (Sounds complicated but it will become as clear as mud as the game progresses). So, basically, a correct score is worth 5 points. Please note that, unless you state otherwise in your prediction, the first score you give will always be regarded as the 'home' team. First Scorer ICT/ Opposition /Use of Surnames You will be awarded 2pts for a correct answer. OG's do count but only if you state this at the time and for the correct team. Please be aware of teams who have the same players surname in their line ups (including those on the bench) so please state clearly which player you have selected by using their first name(s). Failure to clarify this WILL result in a loss of points if that player scores. Crowd Section You will be awarded 10 pts if you are bang on and 5pts if you are no more than 100 out – over or under. The crowd figure will be determined by those displayed on the Official SPFL Web Site. If for some reason this site does not publish the crowd figure an alternative recognised web site may used. If there are no correct predictions (10 pointers) for the crowd then the nearest entrant to the actual figure will be awarded TWO bonus points. If there is a tie for this honour all involved will receive the two points. The JOKER For 2024/25 please refer to the separate thread regarding your JOKER entitlement. Using a Joker will DOUBLE your points tally for that game. Only one joker per game can be used. Use them wisely on games you are very confident on getting loads of points. The Joker CAN be used on any Bonus Point games but any Bonus Points won will NOT be doubled. To use your Joker simply add **JOKER** at the end of your prediction. The winner of the 2024/25 NPL will be able to use three jokers the following season. Those finishing in the next nine positions will qualify for two Jokers and all others will only get one. Cup Matches Cup matches will be based on 90 mins only (which includes time added on for stoppages). Extra time does not count. There will be no extra points awarded for extra-time scores / pens etc. Any games played on a neutral ground the home team will be notified on the appropriate game thread. Bonus points From time to time I will select a match where bonus points will be available. All bonus point matches and details of how to win these points will be advertised on the specific thread. Please look out for them as they could appear at any time. Abandoned / Postponed Matches Abandoned and Postponed matches will be VOID and all entries will be cancelled. They will NOT be carried over for the re-arranged fixture unless otherwise stated. Notes on 1st scorer A point was raised about naming a first scorer after predicting a '0' scoreline. It was suggested that the entrant should put 'None' or No Scorer in the first scorer section and be awarded the 2pts. As far as I am concerned if there isn’t a goal there cannot be a 'first scorer'. I have no problem with entrants naming a 'first scorer' and predicting a '0' scoreline. It will be accepted. (Affectionately known as Gringo’s Law) Posting for other players / Multiple Postings You can post a prediction on behalf of another entrant (with their permission!) but please specify clearly who the prediction is for. Posting a series of predictions is also permitted but please make sure all the entrants names are on the respective entries. Notes on Correcting your Prediction Corrections to your prediction(s) can me made prior to kick-off by either using the edit facility on the original post or, alternatively, just re-post the whole prediction. In all cases the later prediction is used when the NPL spreadsheet is compiled. Scores and Updates Results and Tables from completed Games will be posted as soon as possible after each game. As I am the only person running the NPL, delays to updates can be expected due to holidays and going to watch ICT etc. As a general rule I will attempt to get the update on the NPL Board no later than two hours after the match. An expected update time will be advised on the respective Game Thread. Championship Tie In the event of a tie for first place, positions will be decided by the amount of correct scores (HT/FT 5 pointers) you have got, if there is still a tie after that the amount of correct scorers will be used. If it is still tied after that then I will use the average points system. This system will also be used to determine the 'Euro' positions for the benefit of the Joker quota for the following season. Prize Unfortunately I have had to withdraw the prize of a small-engraved trophy. The trophy was always purchased locally but the company has since closed. Alternatives are too expensive for my meagre pension. Bragging rights will be yours though for an entire season and your name etched into the Role of Honour for the NPL. The top ten positions will be regarded as qualifying for Europe and will be inscribed on the NPL Honours list.

Nice one Ol’ Gringers - looking forward to going again, the withdrawal symptoms are kicking in hard this summer. Weekends just aren’t the same without the challenge of yer NPL predictions

Now that I like . We've finally managed to get the 'c' out of ICTFC and the eagle has flown, leaving just the thistle and ITFC

Agreed. This is also disgusting and shows a total lack of respect.

email address seems appropriate given the speed of response.

There was a young lad serving in the shop the other day when I was in, he said the players are back in for pre season training on Monday. Looks like only a few days left to secure Billy or whoever before this season kicks off in earnest !

There is a valid argument to say B McKay’s best days are behind him and it’s time for the club to look beyond him. Avoiding for now the talk of what options / scenarios the club had in mind if McKay left (I’m sure Robbo has a list of players), it is an opportunity for Samuals or one of the other signed players to step and take up the role. Also push the apprenticeship players and roll the dice!

Well, giving Billy the deal he wants would certainly make sense for Billy! But not necessarily for ICT. Worst case scenarios from the club’s perspective are that we commit a very high wage that we cannot afford in season 24/25, or that our highest wage is going on a fringe player who by then is way past his best. Given Billy’s age, the longer the contract, the lower his weekly wage should be, because a year or two from now he cannot reasonably be expected to be as good and as fit as he is now. Maybe the sticking point is that the player wants the same wage for 2 years as was offered for 1? Whatever is going on, I really hope they can find a deal that works for both sides, but I’m not optimistic.

What injury crisis? Got an insider with juicy info...?

Sad to hear that Craig Brown has died. I always felt his contribution was underrated given that we regularly qualified for tournaments during his tenure. I’m sure he was proud of our recent performances. Scotland has lost one of the good guys.

I’ve been waiting for my annual letter from ICT asking me to renew sponsorship. For many years I’ve sponsored players, started with goalies gloves, then players boots (sometimes two players in one season) as these were all I could afford as an OAP. ICT website (mostly out of date) states that sponsors will get invitation to attend player sponsor events, photo opportunity with sponsored player at end of season and gloves/boots sponsors receive a Club gift. As ICT have reneged on these arrangements this past season, no photo, no ICT gift, nought, can I assume ICT don’t want sponsorship from fans, only big companies etc and we, the day in day out fans, are considered not worth bothering about and likewise not worth contacting to explain.