Libero

that doesnt stop a player signing with a club though does it? surely a player can sign a deal with a club prior to being registered

Well at Newcastle, their chief scout and the guy who found the gems (Cabaye and Tiote etc) that helped them to 5th in the EPL has just been rewarded with an 8 year contract for his success last season. I think its the case that big clubs in Europe can afford a pool of scouts or have scouting networks that can identify future signings however this costs money and basically is not feasible for small clubs. That said i'm sure there must be some way we can identify potential signings without having to rely solely on DVDs or agents If it is the case that Steve Marsella is doing all of our scouting for us then why does it appear that it is only England he appears to be hunting?

Im not at the panic button pushing stage yet but I do have a strong feeling of apprehension for next season. ICT are a team that in the past have trived on team spirit, work ethic and continuity whereby we have never really had to replace huge chunks of the squad each summer. Our transfer dealings in the past have usually been replacing a few players in the Summer with some being signed by bigger clubs and some being released or retiring. The last two seasons have seen pretty substantial overhauls of the playing staff and I personally think it is this which brings so much negativity and panic out in fans. With settled teams you know roughly what you are going to get, with newly assembled teams there is a big fear of the unknown. Historically ICT have been a team that has relied on team spirit and work ethic to survive and battle through the divisions, with new players and especially young or foregin players who know nothing of the highlands or indeed the SPL team spirit and an understanding of Scottish football will take time and its something that 1 year deals do not encourage. Butcher has brought a different way of dealing in the transfer market and it brings a great deal of uncertainty with it. Will the players adjust to the SPL? Will they blend well with the existing players? Do they have the required mental/physical skills to play in the SPL? Will they accept a deal with another team after 6 months? Will they play well to the tactics we use? Will they adapt to the Highlands? Will they cope without a nandos on town? I realise Butcher must be under a great deal of pressure to assemble a squad capable of surviving in the SPL and i certainly dont envy his task however whether his approach is the correct one then only time will tell. I dont buy into the train of thought that because we have very tight budgetary constraints that we cannot sign players on more than 12 months contracts. I have made my issues clear regarding 12 month contract well known but if clubs like ours in the SPL can offer longer contracts then why cant we. There are three leagues below us in Scotland in terms of hierarchy and indeed budget. Are those who say we cannot afford 2/3 year contracts trying to tell me that no club with less budget can sign their players on 2 or 3 year deals? Something that has possibly made fans even more worried this season is that if you were to compare the fortunes of St Johnstone and ICT last season then they have done massively better than us on what is rumoured to be a similar or slightly lower budget than us. Is it down to injuries? Luck? Poor tactics? Poor signings? Who knows! I for one am willing to give Tel a chance to assemble a squad this summer in the hope of a good season. By renewing my season ticket for next season i have shown my faith that we can have a better season than last however this season is make or break for me. Last season was really hard going at times and if things do not improve then i shall seriously reconsider renewing my season ticket for the season after. I shall never stop supporting ICT but whether that will be in the form of season tickets or picking and choosing which games to attend i do not know.

I think France will do well this year, had a very strong qualifying run and Blanc has got a strong team spirit back after the shambles that Domenech presided over. I think France, Holland or Germany for winners. Think spain will maybe make semis but i think their spell of domination may be over

I guess time will tell whether Tokelys move will be a epic fail from Butcher or a masterstroke by Adams It really will add more bite to our derbies. I for one cant wait. Really looking forward to the derbies this season, jaunt through to Ross and show these fermers that while they are welcome in the SPL, they are still the second best Highland team in the SPL

So how many players do County have that have points to prove against us? Munro, Vigurs, Duncan, and now Tokely

Its a real shame that grass roots football is so tied up in red tape and politics nowadays. No wonder Scottish Football is on its knees when a generation of children are stuck glued to tellys getting square eyes when ball games are often banned in the streets and pitches are deemed unusable for junior football unless they comply with numerous crazy rules that prevent fair competition

Really hope we can get through a few Cup ties. The last few seasons have been dismal

Seems to be a lot of confusion over his age. The South Wales Argus article linked by Murchison says he is 25 yet i have seen his age being mentioned as 27 or 28. Anyone know how old he is?

Nothing official on this yet Saw this article this morning, looks like its just putting rumours together, no official quotes: http://www.thisisglo...tail/story.html

Really hope that Hogg comes back as strong a player as he was. It was a horrendous injury and for anyone to recover fully from it shows a huge amount of mental and physical strength. Encouraged by the news that his recovery is coming along well and certainly hope that he is fit and ready to come back to the team soon

Ive heard a few other names that were up on trial with us as well as Denson at the tail end of the season but there has been no word of contract offers for any of them yet. I would imagine Terry (or whoever is conducting the transfer dealings) would have been waiting for the contract deadline we set to pass. There would be a clearer picture of who was staying/going after that date. Also i'm sure i read somewhere that Terry is on holiday so its possible that we wont see any deals concluded until he is back

Dont know if you had insider information Dewsburydude but it sounds like this guy may well be a signing for us Just read this article: http://www.southwale...ll_are_staying/

I dont really think it is unjust to harbour slight feelings of worriment about our future when we have so few players on board despite the fact our manager wanted to 'keep the squad together'. Remember Butcher and our Chairman have clearly stated that they want a team assembled as soon as possible, hopefully for pre-season. 14 players to sign in a month is no easy feat I dont expect us to go out and sign 14 players tomorrow but likewise i understand that we have a sizeable rebuilding project on our hands this summer.

Indeed a month away however I would hazard a guess and say that we have the least first team players on the books out of any SPL club (including Ross County) For Terry to have a full squad ready for the start of pre-season then we will have to make in the region of 14 signings. 14 good signings in a month for a team with our budget is going to be a tough task for any manager. Terry said he wanted continuity going into next season, this will not happen as we have or will be losing so many players. I dont have a partcular issue with having so few players signed for next season at this stage but my real issue is with signing players on 1 year contracts which leave us wide open to situations like this

No, dont recall anyone saying it had. Just having fun trying to name a team when we only have 11 players under contract at present

Still 7 short of a full team and subbies. Thats not including squad players. Going to be a long summer!

Just read the article here as well: http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/One-more-in-one-more-out-at-Caley-Thistle-01062012.htm

Foran got a new 2 year deal in January without a problem. Was he the only one offered a new contract then??? I honestly dont know but we must me doing something wrong if 11 players (who were to be out of contract in the Summer) were all offered new deals in January and only one signed a new deal!

I am all for setting a deadline if you have an inclination that it will in turn make your out of contract players sign on a bit sooner however if its true that no-one has signed on then the deadline was pretty ineffective. I agree that we need to see who is available to play for us next season but IMO this just reinforces the point that contract talks should have happened months ago. I dont buy into the excuse that we cannot negotiate with players while the threat of relegation is there. Relegation release clauses or relegation wage drops could easily we written into contracts

Havent seen a paper yet today but by the sounds of it the P&J are running a story where they claim that none of the out of contract players have replied to the contract offers on the dealine. By my reckoning thats OTJ, Billy McKay, Piermayr, Gillet, Tokely and Hogg away then Not good if true!

I didnt really think about that part too much Alex but you bring up a very good point. If a players contract expires this summer then surely any club would be able to speak to that player 6 months ago? Someone correct me if i am wrong

Lambert has handed in his resignation this afternoon but it has been rejected. Sounds like he wants to move but Norwich dont want to let him go. Lambert has done very well and I think he will do well at Villa if he is allowed to reshape the team properly. Rodgers is a manager i really rate however managing at Liverpool is a huge task and there is so much more expectation at Annfield. I hope if he does move there that he is given time to implement his management style on the players properly

it says that we have a GK lined up but only that we want a striker following Tades departure

story here: http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/501-new-faces-are-on-the-way- This season really is a make or break season for us IMO and we really need to assemble a squad capable of firstly remaining in the SPL but also hopefully challenging for mid-table.