RiG

If we do get any money from the Christie move, and I'm still not convinced we actually will do, then hopefully it can be used to extend the contracts of some our promising young players like MacGregor, Deas and Gardyne.

He's getting paid more money and is closer to family. I doubt he will care too much.

Not much between the sides but I think that was a deserved win for ICT. Whilst still not firing on all cylinders and not creating too many chances we were very well drilled at the back and worked exceptionally hard to close Killie down when they had the ball in more threatening areas. And when they did managed to wriggle free and get a cross in Devine and Broadfoot were almost always there to clear the danger. Allardice took a while to get going but he grew into the game and seemed to perform a lot better when he was working with Welsh after Dodds made some changes in the second half. Gardyne took his goal really well, nice wee burst of pace to get away from Naismith (?) in the box before rifling an effort into the roof of the net. Duku was a bit of the boil today I felt, he struggled to win any high balls up to him, but Sutherland was pretty decent. He put in a hell of a shift trying to close down the Killie CBs in the second half and had a decent opportunity to kill the game off when he tried to chip the keeper but got it all wrong. MotM for me though was MacGregor who started the game playing alongside Allardice and was perfectly fine but when he was pushed further up the pitch when Duku went off for Welsh he seemed to revel in this more advanced position and he showed some wonderful touches to drag the ball away from Killie players including one outrageous challenge / Cruyff turn he did on Burke (I think). He seemed to be at the heart of everything we tried to put together in the second half and although we didn't often get a chance at the end of any attacking move they almost all went through MacGregor. Hopefully the tape of the game can be destroyed so no opposing scouts see what he can do. Killie seemed to be reliant on long balls forward for Robinson to chase (when he was on the pitch) or for Burke to try and create something. He did come in for some harsh treatment during the game but I felt he also went down a bit too easily at times and I think the referee started to give him fewer decisions as a result. Polworth faded badly as the game went on and I don't even know if he had a touch for long periods of the second half. Killie just seemed a wee bit unsure of how to break us down. We definitely seem improved at the back now which is good. Ridgers did have a couple of decent saves to make in the first half but I can't recall him being too troubled in the second. Decent wee crowd down the road to support us and were in good voice throughout. Players definitely seemed to appreciate it after a few "mellow" home matches.

We are in the Chadwick stand behind the goals. IIRC I recall the last time we were there this happened...

Update from Killie - away tickets on sale (online) from 12pm today.

Kilmarnock still waiting on East (?) Ayrshire Council to get their finger out and confirm the crowd capacities for the game on Saturday.

If that's true not too much of a surprise. These temporary stands with a lifespan of 10 years (IIRC) are now 16 (?) years old. Also, Ayr fans are fat b@st@rds.

Yeah by the end of recording I had remembered who it was but it was cut out to see if anyone would venture a guess

Cor - another feature packed podcast for you! We take a look back at the games so far, look ahead to some of our upcoming matches, interview Ryan Esson, Billy Mckay and Kilmarnock fan Craig Anderson from The Terrace Podcast, discuss the role of the Fans Group, announce the winner of the signed Danny MacKay strip and there's another competition giveaway as well with the chance to win a match worn Scott Allardice shirt! Phew! Available from all the usual podcasty places (Apple, Google, Spotify etc). Enjoy!

We've got Ayr next week with Killie the week after. Given the ongoing easing of restrictions there really shouldn't be any reason not to have an area allocated for an away support

Do you have Spotify @Kingsmills? If so I've popped a link to the episode below but happy to send a link direct to the website for the episode as well. Hope you like it!

I haven't used the streaming option but from what I've heard the quality is much better and justifies the price increase. We sit just above the mid point for streaming charges in the Championship from what I can tell. Of course don't forget that streaming of games is a stop gap. Clubs probably don't want fans at home long term. They want them down at the stadiums spending more money on strips in the club shop, in hospitality and so on. Pricing a stream so that it detrimentally affects your home crowd on match day is not a good idea.

Thanks, appreciate the response. Anything that improves communication between the club and fans is good and hopefully it will allow for more effective collection of thoughts and opinions from supporters to funnel through a single point of contact to the club to respond (perhaps through their own dedicated SPoC as well). Fingers crossed it goes well.

There isn't a legislative requirement, as far as I can see, that requires the wearing of face coverings outdoors. Regulation 5 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 states that face coverings must be worn by "a person who enters or remains indoors within a place listed in regulation 6" (my emphasis) and sports stadiums are mentioned in this regulation (6(1)cc). Therefore, you only have to wear a face covering if you were to go indoors in a sports stadium i.e. into the toilets or into the "body" of the main stand (if that was even possible) as these would be considered being indoors. Trying to justify that the main, north or south stands are "indoors" is a hard push but of course clubs can go above and beyond the legislation if they so wish but there is no legislative requirement for them to make supporters wear face coverings in outdoor seating or standing areas of the stadium. However if the club make it a condition of entry then that's another thing.

The first home league game of the season is here and we face Raith Rovers who are perennial losers in Inverness but for how much longer? Much is made of our excellent record against the Fife side but records are meant to be broken and they looked a very tidy team last season and they will surely be one of our main challengers for the playoff spots this campaign as well. Of course they will have a familiar face in their ranks in the shape of James Keatings. Other players to keep an eye out for include Lewis Vaughan who missed a good chunk of last season but he has returned to form in a big way bagging four goals in the five or six games he has played so far whilst Aidan Connolly and Dario Zannatta looked like tricky customers in the wide areas against Hamilton in the 4 - 4 draw at Starks Park. So whilst the Raith defence looks rotten their attacking players will be a big threat on Saturday. Information on streaming is available here - https://ictfc.com/ictv-info-raith-rovers-h But the big question is will we be able to buy a pie on Saturday?

As mentioned above by @jamie ictfc there are meant to be other "avenues" for communications between the fans and the club but these seem, at least on the face of it, to be underutilised. I was wondering if therefore the Fans Group replaces these previously underutilised avenues or is another channel between the club and supporters? Obviously any communication is welcomed but we haven't had much of that in the past but hopefully that changes.

Forgive my ignorance is this a replacement for / extension of / addition to the ICT ST?

Ignored.

We're already selling tickets for away fans in Section K and L (IIRC) of the South Stand. Sadly, and possibly to be expected, our season ticket numbers seem to have dropped off the face of a cliff again with last season further affecting numbers.

As mentioned above Arbroath have confirmed that the opening league fixture can be attended by home and away fans.

Must be a new record on CTO to write off the manager and new signings after *checks notes* four games...

Richie Foran is the only ICT manager who has successfully navigated the group stages of the League Cup. We succumbed to Alloa in the first knock out stage.

Fail to beat Hearts tomorrow (or at the very least draw and win the penalty shoot out for the bonus point) and we will achieve our lowest points total for the group stage since the format was changed.

There's your striker in.

With apologies for the double post but that defending for the opening goal is awful. For me it all starts with Harper being sat too far behind Deas and Broadfoot covering McIntosh coming off the right flank. Harper tries to pass him on to Broadfoot and moves out to half heartedly close down Fyvie (which he doesn't need to do as Doran and Allardice could get there quicker) whilst Deas is occupied by a run forward from Megginson, who initially dropped off the front line to receive a short pass pulling Deas out from the back, and then angles his run in behind Harper pulling Deas away from the middle and McIntosh positions himself in between the now massive gap between our two CBs neither of whom can recover in time to block the shot.