Libero

Barry Nicholson There has been a mass exodus at PNE with a lot of players being released however Nicholson was only placed on the transfer list, that leads me to suspect that they would want a fee if he were to leave. If thats the case (it would be strange given that he is 33) then i doubt we would be interested. That said he was a reasonably good footballer in his day, would certainly add an attacking impetus to the midfield

I can understand players moving on to better their careers but for me this is no more than a sideways step. Suprised he's opted for a move east when he could have done a lot better IMO

Press conference at 5:30 tonight at Pittodrie to announce Hayes signing for Aberdeen (subject to a medical) Aberdeen website: http://www.afc.co.uk/articles/20120626/jonny-hayes-_2212158_2823381 Absolutely no doubt we will miss Hayes badly, really hope Tel has an adequate replacement lined up

Cant be much worse than this surely?

thanks

Martin, a midfielder who is a product of our youth system has signed a professional contract with the club. story here: http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/529-piper-martins-reel-of-delight If its the same guy i'm thinking of, he played in the Munro/Duncan testimonial and did not look out of place against a strong County team. Always nice to see local lads get into the squad/team, hopefully he can adapt to the rigours of the SPL and become an asset to the team

Read in quite a few papers and online sources today that Hayes will complete a medical and sign for Aberdeen today. Still slightly suprised by him moving there, i reckon he could have got a much better move than that. It also makes me wonder would Inverness be a more viable option for footballers if we could get a Nandos

Couldnt agree more, we now need to rally round the club and hopefully try to offset the losses that will be incurred in the upcoming season

dont have access to SSN at the moment but numerous journalists are reporting on twitter that ICT have indeed said NO to a newco, quotes from Kenny Cameron as well so does indeed seem official

I completely agree, would love Scottish Football to follow that format, would do wonders for youth football and would greatly encourage competition (as long as TV money is more equally distributed. I havent ready the Henry McLeish report, to anyone who has, what are his recommendations on league set up out of interest?

I reckon that Croatia top with either: 1) blue main colour with red and black squares with a white collar or 2) black main colour with blue and red squares with a white collar both of them would be very smart IMO

Perhaps i didnt put my point across clearly Alex Scottish players can demand more because English clubs are willing to pay them that. Once a Scottish player has proven himself to be an asset for his team he will no doubt be spotted by scouts, when its comes to a straight choice between staying in Scotland on a relatively low wage or moving to England on a superior wage then its an easy choice. There is a much, much larger pool of players in England (huge competition for deals) desperate for football who are at a decent standard and would play for a wage we can offer, In Scotland the much smaller pool of players that would be good enough to play for us and be willing to play for a wage we can offer are highly sought after and often we are competing with clubs who can offer more. They type of player Butcher primarily likes to sign is a player at a small club looking for a stepping stone or a young player released by a big club looking to make his mark on the game. In Scotland there just arent enough players like this to meet his demand Basically what i'm saying is there is a much larger pool of footballers willing to play on a wage that falls between our budget than there is in Scotland

I wouldnt necessarily say all Scottish footballers are greedy. Some will move to clubs purely for financial gain where as some will move to play with better players/coaches or at a better standard of football. Not all footballers are purely motivated by money (all be it a lot of them are) I think what the problem that Butcher and Malpas have described is that Scottish footballers know full well there are numerous clubs down south who can offer them double, treble or even more than clubs in the SPL can and they can pick and choose which financial package to accept. This is no different to everyday employment where people will move for the best deal. We are suffering from the success of english football in that we cannot even begin to compete on a finacial level. Dont think this will ever change

Todays BBC Gossip Column: No online story yet though

If Butcher wouldnt sign McKay-Stevens on the basis of a niggling ankle injury then i cant see him going for a striker who has had some very serious hip problems to the extent his career is/was in the balance

All that Jonny has done is protect his tweets, meaning that only certain people can see them. Whilst I enjoy twitter for banter and up to the minute breaking news I do not think its a good way for footballers to announce where they may or may not be moving, little bit unprofessional if you ask me. Looks like we may have to wait for a club to announce (again) where he will be signing

The coventry game (if indeed it happens) should give us a decent run out given that the rest of our pre-season opponents will be Highland League

Just read this: http://sport.stv.tv/football/scottish-premier/107095-kenny-shiels-frustrated-with-kilmarnocks-double-trips-to-the-highlands/ and really quite amazed by his narrow-minded views: does he think his team are the only one who has to make 8 hour round trips? Up until this season our closest rival was at least a 4 hour round trip away. Routine journeys are frequently 8 hour round trips for us Get over it, our fans have been clocking thousands of miles following ICT to away games, its part and parcel of football so deal with it. If your self proclaimed 'among the best' fans dont like travelling to follow their team then tough!

Full update here: http://www.youthfootballscotland.co.uk/clubs/north-region-clubs/north-region-news/1510-aberdeen-and-district-jfa-news/5275-augsberg-win-after-clach-shock-county

I always rated Mensing, dont know why exactly, he wasnt exactly a gifted footballer. Maybe it was his no-nonsense approach to football and physical approach

Couldnt see this posted anywhere else. (if it is a duplicate, Mods feel free to delete) it appears that Owain Tudor Jones has verbally agreed a new contract, no idea for how long as the only source I can find says: http://www.highland-news.co.uk/Sport/Football/Inverness-Caley-Thistle/Seven-up-for-Caley-Thistle-14062012.htm He had a really bad season last year for injuries and i dont think we ever got to see Owain at his best. He always appeared assured on the ball and had a good range of passing. Hopefully if he does indeed sign on again that he can get a full pre-season and start the season fresh and injury free as i'm sure he can bring a lot to the team

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

Arent Dunfermline in millions of pounds in debt as well?

http://ictfc.com/news/team-news/516-its-the-qnew-facesq-show

Seem like Terry has been a very busy boy. Tyrone Smith has just tweeted saying that: