Scotty
08: Site Admin
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Everything posted by Scotty
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Bit of 'Euro Snobbery' going on here methinks !!! Decry the Canadian Championship (or MLS) all you like ... but the winners of this competition qualifies as Canada's representative in the CONCACAF Champions League and the winners of that competition compete in the Club World Cup. Toronto got to the Semi-finals last year knocking out several good Mexican teams as well as a couple of powerful MLS teams (like Beckham's LA Galaxy, the reigning MLS champions) before eventually losing in the semi to the Mexican Champions .... 2 games away from the Club world Cup !!! Club world cup this year will have Chelsea, Monterrey (Mexico), Auckland (NZ) as well as the Champions of Asia, Africa, South America (winners of Copa Libertadores), and the Japanese 'J' league champions (as the host nation). In the last few years, this competition has been won by Barcelona (twice), Inter Milan, AC Milan, Man Utd, Internacional (Brazil), Sao Paolo (Brazil), Corinthians (Brazil) ... so call it Mickey Mouse if you like .... Yeah, official articles on this particular official website are never the best !!! If you are interested, then I can see if I can post a better link thats more 'normal' !!! Suffice to say the game was 'interesting' ! For now it is Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton as these are the only fully professional teams in Canada. The cup is actually called the "Voyageurs Cup" and was only started in 2002 as a cup given to the Canadian team with the best record in USL (the league below MLS) over the course of a season. It was paid for by fans and until 2008 all costs were borne by fans via donations etc. In 2008 it was brought under the wing of the Canadian Soccer Association and a new format for the competition started ... Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal played off in a group in a round robin competition and the winner of the group got the cup. this changed last year with the addition of Edmonton and now its a straight knockout with each game taking place over two legs. In the 5 years since the CSA took it over, Montreal won it the first year, and Toronto have now won it for the last 4. Hopefully more teams will be added, but for now its just the 4. Football is still developing over here (and yes it IS developing not declining !!!) so plenty of scope to expand it in future years ..... figured I would post this last night as some may be interested in MLS or following a league that is still in play while the SPL season is over ... but if no-one is interested in doing anything other than looking down on MLS with a feeling of superiority then I wont bother my arse in future .... For my own part, after 20+ seasons of watching Scottish Football and now 6 years of watching MLS (and USL before it) I can certainly compare the two and can also see the quality of MLS increasing year on year. Although its nowhere near the level of top European teams or even South Americans yet, it is a league that is growing in quality and also seems to be very focused on parallel development from the grass roots up so the foundations are strong. MLS are one of the few leagues that actually learned their lesson after burning brightly when originally formed back in the days of Pele, Beckenbauer, Best etc .... before crashing spectacularly. MLS 2.0 has strict fiscal controls in place, a salary cap, a requirement to have a fully fledged Youth Academy at every club and all sorts of other things designed to develop the game ... and every year the results of that are evident .....
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Just got back from BMO Field where TFC, despite having 0 points from 9 league games have just won the Canadian Championship against Vancouver (after beating Montreal in the last round) Lots of talking points, 2 red cards, seriously dodgy ref, but a bit of positive feeling tonight after league woes ....... More posts tomorrow perhaps and maybe a few pics if anyone is interested :)
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Until we have a single league structure rather than 1 entity with 3 divisions and 1 entity with an 'elite' single division then we leave ourselves wide open to this ..... forget Rangers for a second .. the whole structure needs to change. That would have been interesting, especially as technically there is no barrier to applying !!!
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Precisely the point I was making to the poster I replied to. Using any other team as an example (eg. Gretna) is irrelevant as this has never happened before and there is/was nothing in place to cover this eventuality .... the fact that there will be something in future might stick in the throat a bit (a lot) but applying a new rule retrospectively is wrong in my opinion especially as we all know that had it been a team outside the OF that this discussion would be long finished !!! I don't disagree with you, but the simple fact is that the SPL and SFL are separate entities and the only agreement in place is that the bottom team in SPL is relegated with the top team in D1 being promoted if their ground meets the criteria or if they have suitable plans in place to ensure they are playing in an SPL compliant stadium. To the best of my knowledge nothing covers expelling a team from the SPL into the lower reaches of the SFL. Until the SFL, SPL, and SFA combine into a single governing body this kind of cluster**** is always going to be on the cards ! Actually there is, its called Motherwell !!! They went into administration in the SPL, had no penalties applied and came out of administration via a CVA which saw them pay something in the order of 8 pence in the £ to creditors and remain in the SPL. Disagree. 10pt penalty should be applied to any team for going into administration. Further penalties or sanctions should then be applied depending on the scale of the 'crime' (just like your example where the guilty parties would get different sentences despite both being guilty). I have no problem with Rangers getting a huge fine, nor with a transfer embargo, nor with the SPL witholding a % of the money they would be due in future seasons ... its about the only things they can do at this point in time under the current rule structure other than kick them completely out of the SPL .... the 'newco' thing in my mind is basically tantamount to the SPL kicking old Rangers out and making a decision on whether to allow newco Rangers straight into their single entity league or whether newco Rangers need to apply to the SFL for entry to that league after a second SFL team comes up via the promotion/relegation agreement ..... Doncaster is spinning in the wind and making no sense so we already know the decision is likely made .... but regardless of the decision, the ramifications are huge ... Rangers in the SFL (assuming they get in) means a lot less money for all and maybe more teams into administration, and yes, I also agree, that newco Rangers, straight into the SPL (which they are allowed to do within their rules) is also tantamount to cheating or at the very least some extremely shady practices that will definitely drive a lot of fans away from the already ailing game .... its a no win situation and if this response sounds contradictory, it is because I honestly dont know whats best for ICT in all of this and that is the only team I am bothered about. That works for me
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I dont want to be a spokesperson for Rangers .. but as I have posted numerous times, you cannot compare Livi / Clydebank / Gretna / Dundee or any other team who faced sanctions/administration/liquidation to the current Rangers situation. The ONLYteam to have faced sanctions by the SPL (before Rangers) were Gretna. They were deducted 10 points and at the end of the season, relegated (by way more than 10 points). At this point they ceased to be a member club of the SPL and became a member club of the SFL. The SFL then sought assurances from them that they would be able to fulfill the next season's fixtures and when they could not, they were demoted to the bottom of the SFL's own structure (ie. D3) and subsequently went into liquidation. The same applied to Livi when the previous owner was playing silly beggars in the SFL's eyes. Already in D1, they could not guarantee to fulfill fixtures as a result of council action over the stadium and were also demoted to D3 and began their climb back up the divisions. Dundee were hit with the 25 point penalty by the SFL after going into administration for a second time ... the first time it happened they were in the SPL and received absolutely no penalty. Livi also received no penalty for going into Admin when in the SPL and Motherwell also escaped punishment so as much as many folk would like to say Rangers should be hammered and dropped to D3, it would be a far more savage punishment handed out than any of those that were vaguely comparable. In a sensible world, where the national sport had a singlegoverning body instead of three major ones and several other ones for various non-league bodies like junior, welfare, HFL, etc then dropping them to the bottom of the structure would make sense, and I would probably support that notion, but in reality, the SPL cannot drop Rangers to the bottom of someone else's league structure even if they wanted to...... you want to get pissed off at the SPL? then get pissed off at the cluster**** way in which Scottish football is organised (or disorganised). We dont need 3 governing bodies with three sets of rules and with built-in preferential treatment for some over the others, and making rules up as they go along ... we need a single entity controlling however many leagues we end up with and with set punishments for breaching certain rules including the option to relegate from top to bottom ... However, we need to draw a line in the sand, change things now and apply punishments moving forward. We cannot apply these retrospectively, we cannot let (some) use the situation for 'revenge' on Rangers but equally it does stick in the craw that the SPL can basically do whatever they like in terms of inviting Rangers (newco) into the fold as a replacement for Rangers (screwed-co) As for Caley Thistle ? Thats entirely different. I am a Caley Thistle supporter, have always been one since formation, and will always be one whether we are in SPL or any other division. My situation does not allow me to get to games very often, but you can rest assured that when planning future trips back home, it will not co-incide with games against Rangers.
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might even be appropriate to add this link from our old story during his testimonial year .... http://caleythistleonline.com/page/index.html/_/archives/news-2009-10/a-tribute-to-tokely-r625 [photos are screwed up as we changed our article system since the article was posted ... but the text works !!!]
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At the end of the day, I am not bothered by the terms offered -- that is between Tokely and Butcher/Club -- and to be frank, a little bit personal to the topic of discussion under our site rules. Whether he is offered 50%, 100% or 200% of his current wages is really none of our business and I am not going to get drawn into that ..... and would politely ask that posters respect some of the more personal aspects of this and other contract details they may hear via gossip or even from players/friends etc during the close season ..... My main point in all of this discussion is about performance, and based on comments made and votes received this season, I firmly believe that Ross Tokely can still do a job for our club in the SPL and he should be offered a contract on that basis and that basis alone. The secondary point I am making, and its secondary nature may be getting lost in all the chatter .... is that I believe he has shown extreme loyalty to the club in his time here and the aforesaid loyalty should afford him a certain degree of respect from the club in negotiations over a contract. Call it favouritism if you like, call it treating him differently because of his loyalty if you like ... but the simple fact of the matter is that after 16 years at the club he has earned that right in my personal opinion. We have never had a player stay so long at ICT and probably never will again .. that makes his situation 'special' and one which should be handled appropriately. He will stop playing for ICT at some point, and I would hope that everyone concerned would actually work out an exit strategy for that rather than closing the book abruptly. In sixteen years he has played hundreds of times for thousands of us and many of us have seen both the good and the bad of RT ... but when he goes, the fans and the player should be afforded the courtesy of a proper goodbye ..... I will be hugely disappointed if he is not in the squad next season, and doubly disappointed if the comments already made in this thread prove to be the reason why (and we all know the reasons will surface in the end regardless of any spin that is attempted on either side). I know I will not be alone in that feeling as his exit from ICT - whenever it happens - will truly be the end of an era and it may be a lot more emotional for some than the club, the manager, or even the player realise !
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there's not enough forum space to list how many rules that photo broke IHE !!!!
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hard to tell without seeing who is signed ...... I think County will surprise a few folk and will not be cannon fodder in the way the Pars were. Hibees will surely be better next season too ..... Also have a feeling that Hearts will implode quite a bit with the end of season contract terminations. the Rangers circus will still rumble on and unfortunately I see ICT struggling again next season .... but hopefully that might change if we can retain the core players or sign suitable replacements for those who choose to move on .....
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Rosscoe has been written off so many times and by so many people in the last sixteen years at ICT he could buy a mansion if he had a quid every time anyone said he was finished or wasnt good enough. For me, and regardless of any bullshit or personal animosities folk might have, my personal opinion is that he IS still good enough, and furthermore I also believe that his sixteen years of loyalty to the club should also buy a bit of loyalty from the club. I read the comments from posters above about not being able to afford loyalty ... but in this case its not like he cannot do the job ... his votes in the Player of the Year polls this year show that ... so its not loyalty for loyalties sake .. its a bit of loyalty for a tremendous club servant and a realisation that this loyalty is also towards a player who still has something to offer. So c'mon Terry .... Put a decent offer on the table that will allow him to finish his career with the club. How many professionals these days can say they have truly been a one club player - Giggs & your mucker Mo Malpas ... but not too many more. As to first team guarantees ? I would also say that we do not guarantee first team football to anyone - that has to be earned, and in Rosscoe's case he can and will earn that. No-one, and i mean no-one should get a first team guarantee ... but if thats not the sticking point then lets not try to force him out like we (allegedly) did with others ......
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Aberdeen. Grey. Damp. Miserable. Expensive. That is all !!!!
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mmmmmmm ..... if your gonna get a tattoo like that, at least find an artist who can draw .... The champions League part looks ok ... apart from the misaligned text and the lack of a slightly bigger font for the 'C' .... but the 'Well badge is horrendous ..... the trees look like a forest fire, the ball looks like a sniper sight, and the circular badge looks like it was drawn freehand by someone with the shakes !!!!! here's what it might have looked like with a decent artist ....
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You really know you have been fishing when CB has a pop at you
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Hayes to take it ..... scored !
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penalty to ICT !!!!!
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think the paint has dried too
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Seasonus Horribilis endeth Inverness wrapped up their seasonus horriblis with a comfortable win over a reserved Hibernian. Two second half set pieces sealed the points for the homesters to ensure they stayed above the Cup finalists. Greg Tansey and Jonny Hayes supplied the finishes in a brighter second half against an understrength Hibs side. The Highland Marchers made it to Inverness on schedule despite the weather doing it's best to scupper their efforts. A ten mile detour did not deter the marchers who actually enjoyed trekking 170 odd miles through wind, rain, sleet and snow in the name of fun. Nutters! Well done to all, now get yer feet up for a wee rest. The darts in the Innes were bolstered by the return of Showaddyaddie, or fruitbat, if you preferred, and the Highland Marchers and Clan members were enjoying some light refreshments, unfortunately we all had to cut that short to go and watch a football match. A bright and breezy afternoon tempted over 4000 fans out of their homes to give the season from hell a decent send off. It was a day when some players were bidding farewell to the Highlands with Tuffey and Golobart looking like definite departures given their respective tweets and comments on facebook. Hibs rested as many as they could without completely fielding a pub side, with young 19 year old Paul Grant replacing our old keeper Mark Brown in the Hibs goal. One or two did start but were keen to ensure they never put themselves out of contention for next weeks Capital Cup Final. Garry O'Connor was one of them, swapping places with Leigh Griffiths after the break and Ian Murray played what will probably be his last game for Hibs. The first half was basically a non event with neither side able to sustain any pressure, although Esson did save smartly from Tom Soares after 35 minutes, diving full length to get a strong palm on a low shot from distance. Inverness were unable to make the debut keeper work in that first half and he could not have wished for an easier first 45. Half Time:- 0-0 The second period started a bit more briskly and Grant made his first meaningful contribution stopping a Hayes shot, and shortly after Gillet fired one a couple of yards over from thirty yards. Greg Tansey has been much maligned this season after coming here with a reputation for scoring spectacular free kicks. Well, he made amends today as he fired a 25 yarder up and over the wall before it nestled neatly behind Grant to open the scoring. No more than Inverness deserved at this point as they were now getting on top of there struggling opponents. Hallelujah! A second penalty of the season for handball, with Matt Doherty being the culprit and it looked like a parting gift for Jonny Hayes as he placed the ball on the spot and smartly drove the ball into Grant's goal, the keeper going the wrong way. There endeth the scoring, but not before Ryan Esson showed us why he is our number one keeper with a couple of comfortable stops from second half sub Leigh Griffiths. Grant fluffed a couple of hasty clearances but nobody was alert enough to take advantage and the game petered out with Inverness just having enough in the tank to see off the pub side from Leith. Full Time 2-0 tm4tj MotM for me goes to man mountain and local superman Ross Tokely. Never put a foot wrong, or a head wrong and will be needed for at least another season. Let's hope a deal can be thrashed out for our last surviving member of the supercaleygoballistic side. Greg Tansey ran him close and scored a super free kick, but the young Hibs goalie might think he could have been positioned better, still at least this one was on target from Greg, and Ryan Esson showed a couple of flashes as to why he has kept Jonny Tuffey on the bench for most of the season. So, the season did finish with a minor flourish but overall there were too many disappointments along the way, the exception being the 6-3 thrashing dished out to Kilmarnock. Derby games to look forward to next season so it's out with the old, and bring on the new. I asked my old dart playing buddy Caley100 to give me a short overview of his season through his ICT eyes. Well, he gave me one........ A short overview that is and here is how he saw it. Caley100's view on the season. Well maybe my reputation preceded me, I had been asked to complete a Hibs match report but perhaps my sometimes negative view on our season might have shown through, so I'll give a short view on this season through today's hangover eyes. As always, we approach matches with a mostly positive manner, helped in my case with a few plenty beers and a game of darts in the Innes bar with my mates, and mostly this season its been disappointment and in some cases, (Dee utd/Hibs) weekend spoilers. As I reflect whilst walking the bloody happy looking dog through the woods on sunday mornings, can't he see I'm not up for chasing and stick throwing? There has been some rays of hope and perhaps a wee sign of things to come, however the next match sorts that out as we contrive to shoot ourselves in the foot once again as defensive errors and spectacular own goals leave us shaking our heads in disbelief. Of course the injury thing has been a huge problem for TB & MM to contend with, the constant changing of the starting eleven has led to an unsettled team, especially in defence where we have had some howlers. As we stumbled over this seasons finish line with a points margin that was going to be harder for Pars to gain on than us to lose, I'm hoping next season will be better, albeit as I hear with a smaller budget, I'm also hoping that we see more Scottish players in the team. Not for one minute have I considered not buying a ticket for next season, I'm a fan and supporter and I think I always will be. Players will leave, Jonny will be off, (not to Dons I hope), Tuffey will go for regular football, players come in (hopefully someone to score goals), and we will gather next to the Moray Firth and await the caravan hordes from the bleak north. Cheers Caley100, thanks for the words and let's all hope we can put this season to bed and build for the future, oh, and when you learn to fetch the stick and bring it back to Archie then you will get some treats. Hope you have enjoyed all our previews/reports for this season and thanks to the numerous wordsmiths who have given up their time to contribute to the website. We'll all be back for pre-season, see you soon. tm4tj 12th May 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 2 - Tansey (62), Hayes (pen.71) TEAM: Esson, Tokely, G.Shinnie, Gillet, Piermayr, Hayes (Ross 85), Tansey, A.Shinnie (Sutherland 63), Foran, Tade (Tudur-Jones 63), McKay SUBS: Tuffey, Meekings, Golobart, Proctor Booked: none Sent Off: none Hibernian 0 - TEAM: Grant, Doherty, O'Hanlon, Murray, Stephens, Francomb, Wotherspoon, Soares (Stanton 60), Sproule, O'Connor (Griffiths 46), O'Donovan (Doyle 72) SUBS: Brown, Towell, Booth, Monaghan Booked: Francomb (33), Stephens (61) Sent Off: none Referee John Beaton Attendance 4457 -
THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness C.T. -V- Hibernian PREVIEW Sat 12th May @ 3:00PM Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO Moray Firth Radio Live Commentary [UK Only] BBC Commentary (see links on page) [UK only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO BBC Match Highlights (online) - [UK only] BBC Sportscene TV programme [UK only] ICT Official Website Highlights [Worldwide - Registration Reqd (free)] TEAM LINEUPS
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For those using iPhone or iPad, the makers of the forum software released a new mobile app for the forums yesterday. You can use it to connect to any IPB forums that have upgraded to either of the last two versions which is 3.3.1 or 3.3.2. This site is using 3.3.1 but I am going to be applying the 3.3.2 upgrade files soon as they may fix some of the issues recently reported ... Not sure what version P&B use, but they too use the same software so if they have kept up to date on versions then it can also be used there. Its not a free app but only costs about $1.99 from Canadian iTunes store so probably less in the UK one. Search for IPS or IPS Communities. An Android version will also follow in due course. It does not solve the poll problem, but I will post that on the customer forums as something raised by our users.
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just have to post this link .... that is all http://www.thehillbillygypsies.com/
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as far as I am concerned, its a geographic rivalry based on proximity, nothing more, nothing less. I dont hate them (except for the days we are playing them), but I also dont like them. I have already congratulated them on winning the league, they did it on merit and it was deserved. However, it will not stop me ripping the pish at every conceivable opporchancity, and I would expect nothing less from the County fans in return !!! Its called banter, and I look forward to plenty of it next season on here and elsewhere. Wonder if County Air will make a re-appearance ??? When it comes to wider geographics, I am also happy for there to be two teams from the Highlands in the SPL as that gets right up the nose of a few folk down south (something that Robbo loves winding them up about too) .... thats another geographic rivalry, but this time, one where we can actually side with county to wind up the likes of Chick, whose insular paisley patter(ned) comments are frequently more offensive to me than the dingwall Gudgies.
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Best of luck guys .....
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen St Mirren -V- Inverness C.T. PREVIEW Sat 5th May @ 3:00PM Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO Moray Firth Radio Live Commentary [UK Only] BBC Commentary (see links on page) [UK only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO BBC Match Highlights (online) - [UK only] BBC Sportscene TV programme [UK only] ICT Official Website Highlights [Worldwide - Registration Reqd (free)] TEAM LINEUPS
