Scotty

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Works for me, despite it being a 7AM kick off in my timezone !!! Toronto FC is also an early kick off today against New York and thats at 2PM (7PM for you). .... looking forward to shouting some more witty and clever insults towards cheating French bar steward Thierry Henry. poor poor game today .... in danger of blowing it in terms of the European spot.

THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen St Johnstone -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW 27th April @ 12:00PM, McDiarmid Park, Perth Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Sportsound LIVE Commentary [UK Only] Moray Firth Radio LIVE commentary [UK Only] BBC Sportsound Open All Mics [UK Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS

This one is also good .... allows you to use the slider at the top to fade in and out of current google map compared to old maps .... http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5&lat=55.76275&lon=-3&layers=B000000000FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

It was where the current Currys electrical Store is now. The Co-Op is roughly where the old Frozen Foods shop was. To anyone who hasnt been in Inverness in the past 25-30 yrs, the whole top end of telford street would be pretty much unrecognisable Telford Street Park was located where Currys is now, the poster was asking about before that ..... also Frozen Foods was on what is currently (part of) B&Q's now derelict site. the Co-op occupies the site that was Muirtown Mills / Laundry / then derelict for a while. better illustrated in pictures ...... This was apparently the area in 1912 [ source: http://maps.nls.uk/atlas/bartholomew/page.cfm?id=1210 ] It shows no football ground anywhere in the vicinity. the same area from 1932 (sorry it is small image) [source: ]http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html] It shows what I believe is the distillery on both sides of Telford Street and the ground in its familiar spot the same area from 1959 (same source as above) It shows more housing, but still distillery, Muirtown Mills, Laundry and football ground the same area from 1981 (again, same source) shows a lot more housing, distillery still there on both sides of the street but Muirtown Mills no longer there. These were warehouses from my recollection that were derelict by the time B&Q was built on the site of the distillery opposite. Am Baile also has some good old maps http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/search/results.jsp?layout=list.50&desc=Advanced search for Maps (Subject &index=50&storeId=1366985064590 , not sure if any of those give more info for Carse area and there is also http://www.oldmapsonline.org/

.... and full of copyrighted images stolen from other websites without permission or accreditation, including those of at least 1 or 2 members of this site who run pre-merger tribute pages. I consider the original post to be spam, but hesitate to delete it as it may actually morph into a decent discussion with the help of the rest of our site members.

I didnt say he was gone ... I said he had never made it into the 1st team squad since February. If I were to adjust my theory, I would still say something happened (discussion/argument about playing time) in February, as he had been in the starting lineup or at the very least a sub for most games before then, but you may very well be correct in saying the later incidents were indeed the last straw ..... definitely more like Bajram Fetai than Roman Golobart in terms of loanees it would seem

I wondered about that ... he was always in the squad for much of the season, started a few games, then appeared as a sub quite a lot .... last game where he featured in the squad was 16th February, but since then he disappeared without a trace. We have played 8 games since then, and with all due respect to the younger players I will mention, I would think he would have got into the squad ahead of Gibbons, Polworth, Laing, Christie etc. He didnt even make the bench when we played St Johnstone at the beginning of this month ... and we only named 5 subs for that game ! Seems to me something must have happened around the middle of February? My guess would be on some moaning about being a sub all the time, followed by a request (demand?) to play him or send him back to Arsenal ... with sending back being the option chosen.....

never has been - this is the one voted on in the stadium .. same format as it has always been .

Chris Hogg on the bench ..... may be symbolic gesture, and perhaps unlikely to feature, but back in the 18 must feel good for him !!!

THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Celtic -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW 21st April @ 12:45PM, Celtic Park, Glasgow Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Sportsound LIVE Commentary [UK Only] Moray Firth Radio LIVE commentary [UK Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO LIVE on SKY SPORTS 4 can also be viewed legally online at http://www.nowtv.com/sports (payment required / UK only) SPL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS

Although you are a master of debate IHE, you master baiting doesnt seem to be attracting anyone better luck on the next fishing expedition,

You are comparing apples and oranges ! Without opening up another merger debate, ICT was formed from two non-league teams who ultimately decided (or were told) a joint application to join the senior structure would be more likely to succeed. Lower division teams are already part of the senior structure so other than finance, what would be their motivation? an interesting list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_club_mergers This is a touch arrogant is it not? What gives anyone the right to tell other teams to merge? It is something teams would have to decide for themselves, just like we did, and for whatever reasons they can put forward to their fans. Not sure how East Fife and Cowdenbeath fit into the mix as I dont know a lot about each of their histories off the top of my head, but having a couple of friends who are Pars and Raith supporters, I know that telling either of them that their teams should merge is likely to be met with a swift kick to the chuckies! They have quite a rivalry, and both have a fairly distinguished history in both the top leagues and also the lower leagues .... Would you be happy for a St Mirren fan to tell us ICT and County should merge because we are both from the Highlands? or that we should have a three team merger including Elgin? Would also like to know how you know that a merged team in fife would have a far bigger support? You assume that to be the case, but reality suggests that a percentage of fans of the pre-merger teams would not support the merger (we know this happens - from experience). If crowds were up at all, then based on the figures you posted, I would guess the increase would likely be negligible. It may happen due to finances somewhere along the line - obviously Dunfermline are in deep trouble right now - but it is not something we should even consider forcing on lower league teams, many of whom are happy to remain small community based clubs.

I am going to say it .... yup .... I agree with IHE !!! Not sure about 14-14-14, but IHE is right, every system that could be proposed would be flawed in someone's eyes. For me, whatever the solution is, the foundation has to be simple ..... no splits or complicated realignments of leagues in mid season, no complicated self-preservationist tactics or rules, no multiple ruling bodies and a focus on turning the downward spiral in the opposite direction ... I tend to fall into the 16-16-16 camp with the addition of 6 new (ambitious) teams from juniors/HFL/South. If the likes of Caley Thistle and County can reach the SPL in 10 and 18 years respectively, then there is no reason others could not follow a similar path .... 16 teams does present a problem of only 15 home games per season as opposed to the current 18 in SFL or 19 in SPL, but maybe there could be some creative thinking on that with the establishment of an additional national cup competition or even regionalised cup competitions with home/away legs that would inevitably lead to a few derbies (and increased crowds). Failing that, if adding ambitious teams is not an option, I wonder if 20-20 might be an option? It would obviously call for 2 teams to be lost to non-league play, but with current finances and the game dying on its feet that - unfortunately - may not be as contentious, or as problematic an issue as it sounds .. go 20-22 initially and drop it to 20-20 over a few years through attrition. 2 leagues, 3up, 3 down, playoffs for a few more, pyramid system below that to allow ambitious teams a route into the 'big time', and all being run under a single organisation where each member club has a single vote and a simple majority is needed for most decisions. Youth development would also have to be taken seriously but not all clubs could afford academies so perhaps regional academies (initially) funded by the league and/or any grant funding available which could then be utilised by all clubs both big and small (assuming they did not already have their own that they chose to continue using). I know this will never happen, but its a fairly simple concept ..... These are ideas off the top of my head ... they may be good, they may be crap, but something has to change and for me the most important part is getting the foundation right and then building on that ... the rejected proposal doesnt seem to address that, but no-one else has really shouted a viable alternative from the rooftops .......

Good thing - domestically at least, but from the article, it sounds like they are seeking to implement it in a strange manner where high value contracts are already in place with players, and 13 of the 20 teams are already over, or in some cases well over that figure. The idea is good, but the implementation seems half-arsed, and the ticket money clause also seems wide open to abuse. Also not sure how teams competing in Europe will see it when they cant spend what they want, and may lose ground to the huge European teams who can spend indiscriminately. Cant see it working properly unless there is a Europe-wide cap. Its a bit like describing our own frustrations when a player in Scotland moves from the SPL to the championship or lower and still gets paid more than he can earn in Scotland ...... Most folk know I watch Toronto FC in MLS. MLS is of course, a salary cap league but the cap is set far far lower than the EPL .... $2.95m per team or $56.05m in total. That equates to about £36.4m for the entire league ... a lot less than the £52-£60 million the EPL will set for each individual team over the next three years. Each team can of course have up to 3 designated players who earn over the individual player maximum - like David Beckham, Thierry Henry, and Torsten Frings did for each of the teams I mentioned above, or like Barry Robson or Kenny Miller if you want to make it a bit more Scottish .... but no team can fill their squad with huge wages just because they have the cash to do so .... The biggest reason for this rule in MLS is because of what happened the first time round in the USA when the forerunner of MLS allowed teams like New York Cosmos to fill their teams full of (fading) superstars on ridiculous wages. The crowds did not come out as the sport was not really marketed, or of interest to most Americans, the wages were unsustainable, and "lesser" teams just could not compete and the league finally imploded. This time round, MLS has a number of measures to encourage slow but steady growth that has seen it rise from 10 teams in 1996 to 19 teams in 2013. However it is a lot different than most leagues in the world The league "owns" all of the teams. Each team has an owner-operator who is a shareholder in the league Each team must establish (or already have) a youth Academy as a condition of entry In order to control costs, the league shares revenues and holds the players contracts instead of players being contracted to individual teams. They also have to approve salary negotiations. When a transfer is made to a league outside of MLS (like Maurice Edu to Rangers for example), MLS gets the money and passes about 75% of it to the club, the rest is shared. The club must use that money for development, infrastructure or other things like that. A small proportion of it may be used as "allocation money" for a single year to allow the team to go a bit over the salary cap. Toronto used the Maurice Edu money to replace the artificial grass at BMO field with real grass, and also ploughed some of it into a huge new Soccer Academy complex they built In terms of the salary cap, its complicated but works ..... these are the main bullet points Teams can have a squad of up to 30 players Salary cap is $2.95m (US$) per year, per team The first 20 spots on the squad count against the salary cap Players in spots 21-30 do not count against the cap and are known as off-budget players. You cannot add high earners into those spots to get around the cap. Players in spots 21-24 must earn minimum of $46500 Players in spots 25-30 must earn minimum of $35125 (the league minimum) Players who earn league minimum must be under 24 Generation Adidas players are also "off budget" and can be anywhere in the squad from 1-30. These are players that have not yet graduated from college, but who MLS has signed to a contract. They can still finish college, but are available to teams without a cap hit. They tend to be good players. Maurice Edu, Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, are a few who came through that system. Generation Adidas players are usually paid more - sometimes a lot more - than spots 21-30 but not count against the cap. Homegrown (Youth players promoted from team Academy). These players generally fit somewhere into 21-30 in the squad but up to 2 per year can be paid more than the 21-30 wage structure and not be counted against the cap. Each team can have up to 3 designated players. The salary cap hit for a DP is $368,750 against your overall total. the player can be paid more (Beckham/Henry were getting $5m per year) but the team owners pay this. A DP coming to a club in mid-season is a cap hit of 50% of the full year total. Teams are encouraged to sign young DPs (to try and get away from the fading superstar image I guess). A player who is 20 or under on a DP contract is only a $150K cap hit, one who is 21-23 is a $200K hit. Interestingly enough, there is talk over here - mainly from fans - about getting rid of the salary cap ... but personally, I would like to see it rise to maybe $5m instead of $3m which would allow teams to sign a strong squad as well as 2 or 3 quality DPs ..... right now, teams with DPs tend to have weaker players further down the squad list as they dont have as much wiggle room in salary .... but that is part of the levelling factor ......

April fixtures added.

Cant find up to date revenue figures for this year, but last year, the income was £21.4 million and after costs, it was estimated payouts to clubs were in the region of about £12m over the course of the year which looks fairly consistent with figures I have from a few years ago. Perhaps CaleyD or someone else has more accurate numbers? Assuming the figures are somewhat accurate, that would mean for 2nd place the payout would be in the £1.8m range, dropping to £1.14m for 3rd and £1.02m for 4th so between £700K and £800K difference for 32nd over 3rd/4th, which for ICT (and many other clubs) is a huge incentive. Last year we were 10th and would have pocketed about 660K so whatever we get this year is a huge bonus .... but 2nd would mean more than a million extra compared to last year ......

cheers .... could have saved a lot of typing if I just waited 10 minutes

Dont think we get any extra cash from TV coverage of league games ... its all part of the overall prize fund. only cup games where we get a windfall. Finishing second though should be a huge priority as the league is still setup to reward the top two teams with the lions share of the cash !!! not sure if it is exactly the same but it used to break down like this .... 4% went to every club (48% total) the remaining 52% was split based on finishing posittion 01 = 4% + 13% = 17% 02 = 4% + 11% = 15% 03 = 4% + 5.5% = 9.5% 04 = 4% + 4.5% = 8.5% 05 = 4% + 4.0% = 8.0% 06 = 4% + 3.5% = 7.5% 07 = 4% + 3.0% = 7.0% 08 = 4% + 2.5% = 6.5% 09 = 4% + 2.0% = 6.0% 10 = 4% + 1.5% = 5.5% 11 = 4% + 1.0% = 5.0% 12 = 4% + 0.5% = 4.5% (+ parachute payments) same info still on SPL website dated 2009 ./.... http://www.scotprem.com/content/default.asp?page=s2&newsid=7618&back=home

Just looking at overall post-split fixtures and there are some weird KO times ...... although fixtures now up on SPL website, no little icons for Sky, ESPN or Alba yet. WK34 Fri 7:45pm - DUFC V M'Well Sat 3:00PM - 2 fixtures - definitely not on TV (UEFA blackout period) [Killie/Hearts, St Mirren/Dundee] Sun 12:45pm - Celtic -V- ICT Sun 4:05pm - St J -V- County Mon 7:30pm - Hibs -V- Aberdeen WK35 Fri 7:45pm - County -V- DUFC Sat 12:00pm - St J -V- ICT Sat 3:00PM - 3 fixtures - definitely not on TV (UEFA blackout period) [Aberdeen/Killie, Dundee/Hearts, Hibs/St Mirren] Sun 12:45pm - M'Well -V- Celtic WK36 Sat 3:00PM - 3 fixtures - definitely not on TV (UEFA blackout period) [DUFC/St J, Hearts/St Mirren, ICT/M'Well] Sun 12:00 - County -V- Celtic Sun 3:00PM - 2 fixtures - dont think its a blackout period but cant see those being on TV [Dundee/Aberdeen, Killie/Hibs] WK37 Sat 12:15pm - Celtic -V- St J. Sat 3:00PM - 3 fixtures - definitely not on TV (UEFA blackout period) [Dundee/Killie, ICT/DUFC, St Mirren/Aberdeen] Sun 12:00pm - Hearts -V- Hibs Sun 4:05pm - M'Well -V- County WK38 Sat 3:00PM - 3 fixtures - definitely not on TV (UEFA blackout period) [Aberdeen/Hearts, Hibs/Dundee, Killie/St Mirren] Sun 12:45pm - DUFC -V- Celtic Sun 12:45pm - County -V- ICT Sun 12:45pm - St J. -V- Motherwell

full list now up on BBC (but still not on SPL site) http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22085472

Dunfermline now confirmed as being docked 15points : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22085474

official ICT site @ http://ictfc.com