Scotty

I was originally going to post the following statement in the "Interesting" thread but decided it needed a place of its own on the main board as I think it is quite important. Its threads like the "Interesting" thread (and a few other current ones) that sometimes make me wonder why Donald and myself bother putting in the time, effort and money we do to run this site. The original poster, whether by design or accident invites a barrage of negativity by saying everyone is quiet after a win, and true to form the poster is proved 100% correct, a trait that is repeated in thread after thread after thread. And when we cant abuse <insert name of player or club official here> we get down to abusing our fellow supporters, site posters, or a particular favourite of many .... the mods and admin who volunteer their time to try and make sure it is a pleasurable place for fans of ICT to congregate and discuss things. I have had some low points on the site a few times over the 15 years since I started it, but right now, I think it has reached bottom and I can honestly say that personally, I now take ZERO pleasure in reading this board and dealing with all the petty squabbles and back-biting that goes on. It is no longer a fun venture to run, it is a chore. For most of this season, once I have updated various report/stats/league-table pages on a Saturday, I tend to bugger off for the rest of the weekend secure in the knowledge that by Monday there will be some form of manufactured ****storm going on. For the most part, that Monday morning firefight has been something that has been way too easy to predict!!! This situation, where some so-called fans of the club are showing utter contempt not only for the club and the team, but also for their fellow fans, and (in some cases) those who provide (or help to run) this free service where they can vent their spleen, is not a situation that can continue. That is not what this site is about. This is not why I started it, and it is not something I am willing to be a part of if it continues down this negative, petty and abusive road. I am not saying we all have to be happy clappers, blissfully toe the party line and swallow all the BS that we get fed from time to time. I am not saying we cannot disagree with each other or the club in posts. I am not saying we cant highlight things that are wrong or be negative when there are negative things going on. thats what a forum is all about ... its a place to discuss things like adults, to put your point across or raise awareness of your concerns and to show the club that you will be heard when they do things you dont like or when results dont go our way. However, being constantly petty, abusive and negative dilutes any impact, influence, or relevance that this forum may once have had, or may have again in the future. Right now it is (quite correctly) seen as a joke or an irritation to many ! If you look back on both mine and Donald's posts of the last couple of years you will see that we have both praised the club when we thought they got it right but also been highly critical when we thought they got it wrong. I have agreed with many of you, I have disagreed with many of you and I have resembled both remarks with many of you too. However, in most cases, I have done so in the context of a discussion rather than being abusive. As far as I am concerned, that is the way it should be. Everyone should have the right to express their opinion, and everyone should be allowed to do so without being abused just because someone else disagrees. Contrary to popular belief, the moderation team will not delete a post just because it doesnt match our own opinion. One of the major reasons for that is that we don't all have the same opinions !! We quite deliberately chose a moderation team with diverse opinions and we think that has been shown to be the case over the last few seasons. Regardless of any issues we have with the running of the club, we are also usually first in the queue to offer our help where and when we can, or to browbeat first Mike and now Darren about things we can try and do, advertise, or get the club to do to benefit the fans as well as themselves ... thats part of being a fan and that desire has not diminished in me despite the miles (or my TFC season ticket). However, if there is one thing that annoys me more than anything else on this board, and it is something that has been on the increase over the last 12 months, it is the type of reply that frequently comes after a post where someone expressed an opinion in polite and normal language, a response that calls them names that need to be asterisked or calls them stupid or basically denegrates or abuses them in some fashion. That is not acceptable. Depending on the veracity of the abuse it is somewhere between disrespectful and bullying and the bottom line is that if that is how you think you can behave, or want to behave, then quite simply we do not want you on this site, not now, not in the future, not ever. We are not telling you how to behave, that is entirely up to you, we are simply telling you what is and is not acceptable on this forum and reminding you that the consequences of inappropriate behaviour are wholly your fault. Ok, now that I have got my feelings on the current situation out in the open for all to see, it is time to talk about a solution. I will be honest and say I do not know what it is in its entirety, I wish I did. I know we could go to one extreme or the other with moderation and either over or under moderate ... in fact we continue to get both accusations thrown in our face on a regular basis right now. However, I know from experience that neither of these approaches will work so I have binned both of those ideas. For that reason, I am therefore putting the onus on the site users themselves. Myself and Donald might pay the bills, and the moderators might volunteer to help run the site, but everyone on the site has a stake in its continued existence. My number one requirement is that the unsolicited and unwarranted abuse has to stop and we get back to being a discussion forum rather than a board where people feel they cant express an opinion without being bullied or abused for stating it. As I said above, it is fine to disagree or post an alternative viewpoint, but that should be done with at least a degree of civility. If we cant do that, then quite simply this forum may cease to exist in its current form, its as simple as that. I have discussed my current feelings with the moderators and with Donald and we have had - and continue to have - a full and frank discussion on the matter. The bottom line is that we are prepared to look at how this forum is run and to make changes to our rules to accomodate any realistic and sensible suggestions from the userbase (for example: tightening up abuse penalties and perhaps relaxing other rules). We will also try once again to make the moderation and rule system more transparent and consistent so that it is clear to all what is and is not acceptable. However, it cannot and will not be a one-way street. Site users - assuming they want to remain members of this site - will have to play by whatever "golden rules" are finalised or they will face exclusion from the site regardless of who they are or how long they have been a member. As I said above, I am willing to listen to sensible and realistic suggestions but I just want to make it clear that this thread is not going to be allowed to turn into a bitch-fest about how you got a warning for this or that or how you dont agree with certain things. If you got a warning and want to ask about it or have a problem with something then we have a process for dealing with complaints and you should send a message through the contact form in the site menu. Those kinds of posts will be deleted from this thread. I want this thread to be for constructive comments and realistic suggestions. If there is some criticism mixed in and it is in the context of a reply with something constructive then that is fine. However, please be pre-warned that this posting is deadly serious and as melodramatic as it may sound, the future direction and existence of the site is on the table so if I feel that any poster is trying to "take the piss" on a subject that I feel is extrmely important I will have no hesitation in excluding them from the thread. so now that I have said my piece and given out the guidelines for this thread, let the fun begin !!!

You know what, that is bang out of f****** order. I wont say what is in my head right now because I would have to ban myself for abusing another poster, but even with the smilie your comment is inappropriate.

The club statement did say the lawyers were going to "request" the reasons for the decision as FIFA dont actually publish the grounds of any decision from the DRC when they announce it. However, there is nothing to indicate whether this "request" would be looked on favourably or even considered. Unless the club have some form of "magic bullet" that will vindicate them and make Marius and those of us who are skeptical about the whole thing look like fools, lets just put this to bed by paying the guy what he is due and draw a line under it, especially if we have let the deadline pass without either paying Marius or lodging an appeal. The longer it drags on, the more inept we look and the more it costs us both in terms of reputation and financially.

or former Rangers/England Captain :oops01:

Actually, there are half a dozen previous Scottish Managers with a higher win percentage than Brown! I didnt go back through them all, but of the "modern era" from the 70s onwards, only McLeish, Ormond and Docherty have a better record than Craig Brown. Burley 3 wins from 14 = 21.43% Worse even than Berti Vogts !!! (failed to qualify for WC 2010). We are currently at 45 in world rankings, having dropped 16 places last month alone. With new numbers due out in 4 days time that include a loss to 78th ranked Wales we are likely to drop a lot lower. I wonder if we can stay above Canada who have climbed from 94th in March to 53rd last month !!! McLeish 7/10 = 70.00% (narrowly failed to qualify for Euro 2008 but his (and Smith's) results lifted Scotland to 13 in world rankings) Smith 7/16 = 43.75% (won Kirin Cup, narrowly failed to qualify for WC 2006) Burns 0/1 = 0.00% Vogts 8/31 = 25.81% (failed to qualify for Euro 2004, managed to take Scotland to record low FIFA ranking of 88) Brown 32/70 = 45.71% (qualified for Euro 1996 and WC 1998, failed to qualify for Euro 2000 after losing playoff to England, failed to qualify for WC 2002) Roxburgh 23/62 = 37.10% (qualified for WC 1990 & Euro 1992 [1st ever time qualified], failed to qualify for WC 1994) Ferguson 3/10 = 30.00% Stein 26/61 = 42.62% (failed to qualify for Euro 1980, qualified for WC 1982 & 1986) MacLeod 7/17 = 41.18% (qualified for WC 1978) Ormond 18/38 = 47.37% (qualified for WC 1974) Docherty 7/12 = 58.33%

at the end of the day, the amount on offer for wages is not going to improve the pool of players he has to choose from. We need someone who can get the best out of what he has got at is disposal. In that respect, I would go for Walter as I mentioned above, or if we could get him for the national team, Craig Levein.

he should go, and he should do the honourable thing and save the SFA 900 grand by resigning instead of waiting for the golden p45.

Walter would do for me, and with the current problems at Rangers, he may want to hedge his bets somewhat !!! The bigger problem is getting the game itself back on track. It needs ripped apart and put back together again from the ground up with a focus on youth development and streamlining the bureacracy that comes of having so many governing bodies. I think it was Andy Roxburgh who warned of our current predicament many years ago. He may not have been Mr Personality but he did see the warning signs for the international team and we all chose to ignore them .....

mmm,let me see .. you could navigate round the site and go here http://caleythistleonline.com/ or maybe here http://caleythistleonline.com/news/match-r...drie-utd-report or perhaps here http://stats.caleythistleonline.com/matches.php or maybe even here http://stats.caleythistleonline.com/matchdetails.php?id=368 or you could just follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/ictonline

1-0 Dani Sanchez

Canada has been a crap team for years. The only thing they have really done is win the Gold Cup that time when Hastings got rookie of the tournament so that tells you how long ago it was. However, with Canadian interest in MLS increasing (TFC already in, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa all interested in getting in), and the rule that dictates MLS teams must form youth academies, as well as the fact that it is the #1 co-ed sport amongst kids of school age ..... look for Canada to be consistently climbing the rankings in the next 5-10 years PS, now Wales 3-0 Scotland

Wales 2-0 Scotland .... oh dear

He is at the ICT game. I hear Canadia did well today Yeah, they lost in Macedonia (3-0), just like Scotland did (1-0) ;)

He is at the ICT game.

use the real player / media player links ..... the link that says open all mics = Football, the link that says Main Game = Rugby

.style2 {text-align: center;}.style6 {border: 1px solid #FFFF99;text-align: center;}.style8 {text-align: center;border-style: solid;border-width: 0;}.style10 {color: #FFFF00}.style12 { font-size: 18pt; font-weight: bold;} THE MATCH Partick Thistle -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW Firhill Stadium, Glasgow 3:00 PM ...follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/ICTOnline or on Main Site Front Page ...discuss it during the game in the CHATROOM Live Match Coverage AUDIO: BBC Open All Mics (browser) [uK/VPN ONLY] BBC Open All Mics (real/media player) [uK/VPN ONLY] Moray Firth Radio (browser) [uK/VPN ONLY] TEXT UPDATES: BBC Sportbox SKY TEAM LINEUPS

I'm quite sure Darren is a frequent visitor to these forum's. as was Mike Smith when he was at the club !!!! I think Darren has gone one further and actually posted though

If mine arrives dog-eared, I know why

Anyone who knows me knows I dont frequent Gyms or Fitness clubs much so cant comment on his pre-ICT career but in all the dealings I have had with Darren over ICT related stuff I have found that he listens to you and acts effectively where he can. I am sure he is not perfect, but it seems like the anti-Mike stuff has instantly been shifted over to be anti-Darren material before there is even a shread of a legitimate reason to do that ! In his defence, can I point out that within just a week or two of taking over Mike's duties, he has already (quietly) done something many fans have been asking for for a long time ..... just look at the front page or the club info forum and you will see that he has ordered up things like training tops, goalie tops etc from Errea which should be available now before Xmas (assuming Errea deliver in time - which is out of his hands). It may only be a small gesture or act, and it is ultimately of a commercial benefit to ICT, but it still shows that he is aware of what people have been asking for and now that it is within his power to affect the outcome, he has done so. Give the guy a break FFS.

no slating .. you prefaced it well and made your point. I dont happen to agree with you for one simple reason, and you even included it in your post ...... I think you are blurring the line between the soldiers who are sent to a warzone and the government who decide where (and why) they are going. For example .... I did not agree with the second gulf war in Iraq as I feel that the UK and US governments manufactured it so that GWB could try to impress daddy and finish the job he stopped short of doing in the first (legitimate) one. The fact that the region is swimming in oil and his cronies all run companies that benefit from war helps too !!!! When it comes to Afghanistan, I believe this one to be more justifiable. Bin Laden was being helped by the Taliban who were a reprehensible regime in their own right and as he perpetrated the 911 attacks, it was fair game to go after him or anyone who sheltered him. In both cases, whether you support the wars or not, the soldiers of any nation who are killed are all worthy of remembrance. They may have chosen to enlist in the armed forces, but they did not choose to go to a foreign land and die. If you want to slate the government(s) go right ahead but you can support the troops without supporting the war.

not so sure about that .... despite the money they have spent, I think DFC might fall short. The team that are quietly becoming stronger in my mind are Partick Thistle .... if they can hold onto Buchanan in the transfer window, they will definitely be up there in the mix alongside Dundee and (hopefully) ourselves.

and when we won it .... we got promoted :023:

There was a lot of rumour surrounding the whole thing but I can add some facts to it ...... He was "allegedly" offered the DUFC job by Eddie Thomson but turned it down on the advice of "handlers". It was probably a good move given Eddie's fondness for welcoming managers in one door and straight out another at the time. Not sure if he turned it down because of that reason though as the strong rumour at the time was that he was told to "bide his time" for a while as the Aberdeen job would be vacant very soon. McCall ended up getting the DUFC job. In between turning down the DUFC job (allegedly) and taking the Aberdeen job he stated that he had signed a new 5 year deal with ICT. I can attest to this as I was present at the press conference in the boardroom where he (accompanied by our current DoF) announced that fact. He also confirmed that Duncan Shearer had signed one as his assistant. Shearer had been working without a contract prior to this. In typical ICT fashion, the clouds of semantics descended again a few days later when "signed" seemed to get replaced by "agreed in principle but not actually signed". However, as I was present representing the official website at the time (and I believe Messrs Bannerman and Chalk were there too representing other media) I can categorically confirm that the word used was "signed". A week or two later, he was unveiled as Aberdeen manager and the one thing that seemed to rankle a lot of fans - and hence the somewhat less than warm feelings towards Duncan Shearer by a sizeable proportion of our fans - was the way in which Shearer seemed to smugly confirm the signing the night before it was official with an appearance on Tam Cowan's TV show. The one thing that really p***** me off at the time was that at the press conference, Pele looked me straight in the eye, called me by name, and praised the fans who had been supporters of the club since day 1 and said something about not going anywhere as there was more work to be done. To my mind, it proved to be a bare faced lie and it took a lot of time for me to forgive him for leaving after making a statment like that. looking back on it now after a few years have gone by, it doesnt hurt so much. I have forgiven Pele for the statement that got me wound up so much in the aftermath of his departure, and would indeed welcome him back to the TCS in some capacity as I feel he probably still has a lot to give to the right club. Perhaps if we were ever to go down the route of having another inexperienced manager, Pele could act as a bit of a mentor ... you certainly cant deny his managerial pedigree (at Huntly and ICT if not elsewhere). Hearing about his alcohol and gambling problems and seeing him virtually self-destruct in a very public way at Aberdeen also put the whole thing into a bit more perspective. He had huge issues at the time that we as fans either didnt know about or chose to ignore. The fact that he has faced those demons and seems to be getting himself back on track should be far more important to us as fans than how he departed the club. Respect.

Its US Womens College "soccer" ...... having seen the refs in MLS, most of whom would make Scottish refs look like Collina, I would assume the standard in the college game is even lower so am not surprised the ref missed about 5 incidents - most of them probably straight red offences - before booking her for the most innocuous of her challenges.

can I just point out to those who dont seem to have read the first post in the topic that neither John Robertson or Jimmy Calderwood have ever played for ICT ! The topic title asks for a discussion on "Potential future manager, present and past players only"