Scotty

I have disabled the vignette ads for now .... those are the kind that appear in between page loads. I am assuming this is the main bugbear? Other than that we have content ads (in forum/topic ads), anchor ads - which are the ones that turn up at the top or bottom of mobile pages and can be minimised - and matched content ads, which are the sidebar ads that show related content and ad links. 

According to our adsense reporting, auto-ads gives us a 150% increase in revenue over the current ones so i would rather tweak it to suit than ditch it ....  

We signed up for a trial with google that runs for 90 days. This will see 50% of our ads presented as normal and 50% of them presented via google 'auto-ads'.

The vignette ads - the ones you have to close that show in between pages when navigating the site are all part of the auto-ad portion of the trial. I get them too and its the one part of the test I don't like so far. We do want the ads to help cover our costs, but I dont want them to be intrusive so I will take this feedback into consideration when deciding whether we continue auto-ads (unlikely I think)

Is it the same 15 point score as England? I lost track with Brexit? Looking at the banding for MLS, the international ranking of Canada, Toronto's second placed finish in last year's supporters' shield, and appearances - for Singh at least - in the CONCACAF league it might be close. Not sure is any consideration is given to U21 players in terms of international call ups but with Canada being ranked outside the top 50 (for now) any points there might be a stretch. 

Anyhoo - just an example. Wherever the club look, hopefully they might think out of the box and try to land a few gems on loan if we can. 

think out of the box - season long loans for Luke Singh and Rocco Romeo from Toronto FC! With football still somewhat restricted over here, and former feeder teams in Ottawa and elsewhere not able to accept players, TFC do seem to look further afield for opportunities for loanees ..... why not us ! 

Luke Singh (20) - decent (6'2") centre back who was called up from TFC II to the first team as a squad player for the CONCACAF Champions League match against Club Leon from Mexico. Got an unexpected start in that game and was then kept in the first team squad on an upgraded contract after doing well in the Champions League. Has made 2 additional first team starts for TFC in MLS and scored 1 goal. Currently loaned back to TFC II. Looks like a good prospect. Was on trial at Brondby at one point but made no appearances due to an injury. Recently called up to both the Canadian and Trinidad & Tobago national training camps as he is eligible for both until he decides who to represent. 

Rocco Romeo (21) - another centre back (6'4" and solid) who looks like a decent prospect. Has not made any first team starts as he has spent most of the last two seasons on loan at HB Koge in Denmark. Another who was recently called up to the international camps and is currently trying to get into the Canadian Olympic Squad.  

Pledged/Paid List

1. @Scotty 
2. @bughtmaster 
3. @Caley Mad In Berks 
4. @ICT29
5. @Naelifts
6. @snorbens_caleyman
7. @snorbens_caleyman
8. @HawkeyeTheGnu
9. @HawkeyeTheGnu
10. @Tree 
11. @Robert
12. @Robert
13. @Robert
14. @weeman
15. @jagster
16. @Row S
17. @Fraz
18. @The_Sponge
19. @The_Sponge
20. @The_Sponge
21. @TheMantis
22. @TheMantis
23. @Wanderer
24. @finmack
25. @IBM
26. @IBM
27. @TheCaleyOne
28. @Gringo
    -----------------------
29. @Gringo
30. @DundeeICT
31. @Eye Settee
32. @Moogthurso
33. @Moogthurso
34. @Moogthurso
35. @Moogthurso
36. @tm4tj
37. @tm4tj
38. @tm4tj
39. @Gowans
40. @caley100
    --------------------------

Its time for Player Sponsorship for the 2021/2022 season. 

For 20+ years now we have sponsored one or more ICT players each season. We were proud to have been the main shirt sponsor of Grant Munro through his entire ICT career from a youth breaking into the team to his final season with the club, then we moved onto sponsorship of Liam Polworth. We have also sponsored other players over the years for boots, gloves or other items. For the last three seasons we have sponsored Cameron Harper and it looks like a good choice now that he's breaking into both the Caley Thistle side on a regular basis and also got a call-up to the Scotland U21 setup alongside Robbie Deas, Roddy MacGregor and former team-mate Daniel Mackay. As we transition out of the COVID scenario, the club needs these sponsorships more than ever ... so hoping we can raise enough again this year to continue .... 

Details below.    

PLAYER TO BE SPONSORED: 
We hope to continue sponsorship of CAMERON HARPER's Home Top. If we reach additional milestones, we will look to add sponsorship for other players for 'lesser' items. 

COST
Home Shirt - £450 inc vat [to be confirmed]

HOW TO TAKE PART
To take part in this sponsorship you will need to upgrade your site membership and join the "Player Sponsor" group. We in turn will use the money received from these memberships (minus PayPal fees) to purchase player sponsorship(s) from the club. We will set all memberships - regardless of when ordered - to end on June 1st of each year. This allows us time each year to gauge the interest in continuing for the following season. 

The cost to join this group is £16.00 (this amounts to £15.00 joining fee plus £1 to cover the PayPal fees). You may purchase multiple memberships if you wish, just amend the total in your shopping cart and add a note when placing the order if it is to cover family members who may not officially be site members!!!

• ALL MEMBERS: To join the group simply go to this page http://caleythistleonline.com/store/ or access the CTO Store from the main menu at the top (under shop). All our site membership upgrades are handled securely via PayPal's platform which will accept direct payment from most credit/debit cards so it should be easy enough to upgrade your membership whether you live in Sneck or somewhere thousands of miles from there.
   
• CASH MEMBERSHIPS: We do NOT take cash payments. Everything needs to go through Paypal. Sorry. 

Once we know how many members have joined the group, we will decide on what gets sponsored. The first item will be the selected player's Home Kit ... but the more members who upgrade to "Player Sponsor" membership, the more we can sponsor. At the end of the season, members of our sponsor group will be selected at random to receive any gifts we may receive from the club. For any events that occur during the season (like sponsors nights or meet and greets etc.) we will offer first refusal to members of the sponsor group to attend as our representative. Eligibility will also depend on any COVID restrictions in place at the time. 

If you are interested, please add your name to this thread or go ahead and join the sponsor group. You will be marked as  once we confirm payment received via membership upgrade ....

EDIT: As questions are raised in the thread, we will clarify any that need a response below: 

Technically the payment is listed as a 'subscription' when you pay, but that is internal to this site only and is done this way so that in a year's time it will generate an invoice on here allowing existing members to renew (if they wish) or to let it expire. Renewal (or not) is at the user's discretion and as far as paypal is concerned it's a one-off payment and there will be no automatic re-billing from their side.

Thanks for all your work on this Gringo. I know it became increasingly hard to get the odds each week, post them, then work the excel magic to get the standings. 

11 minutes ago, caleyboy said:

The boys not from Dalneigh. Anyway, what's wrong with Dalneigh?

Absolutely nothing. Best part of the town

So long as we don't bet our sell-on fee on black and see it come up red ! 

Yes, Happy to see Denmark progress after all that trauma and the circumstance of their losses ... and happy its completely in our hands now. "Win and In"

1 hour ago, Robert said:

Mount and Chigwell are self isolating as a precaution as they were seen hugging and congratulating Gilmour at full time. I really hope we don’t lose other players for tomorrow’s game, but find it hard to believe there are no close contacts in the squad.

For once we do hope he is Billy 'NoMates' ! 

While its simple arithmetic if you prefer ... Scotland usually do find a way to make it more of a calculus type question and throw in some geometry and trigonometry for good measure just so we can be sure to find new ways to not qualify. Looking at the tables and the potential 3rd place finishers  ....  we need to beat Croatia, anything else and there is no scenario where we qualify.

Even if we do beat Croatia, there are a few ways it can go pear-shaped for us .... Switzerland are likely in after yesterday (4pts). I guess we will know groups B & C by later today and if results go our way and the 3rd place team finish no better than 3 points then hopefully that might simplify things to "win and in" for us as we can reach 4 points !  

makes life - or at least the math - simple. Beat Croatia and we should be in the next round. Get to the next round and every one of the squad makes history as we have never done that before ... and we would have done it at Hampden ..... should be enough of an incentive for any player.

Good performance from the lads. gritty and determined and sometimes pretty ... but solid for the full 90. More of the same please. 

Edit : putting this here with the permutations.  
https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/news/026a-1286c3028f34-c072d2f81d9b-1000--who-needs-what-to-go-through/

Quote

Scotland must win to finish at least third, and can still overtake England for second place on overall goal difference.

15 minutes ago, ictbob said:

 I'd rather we signed guys that want to play for caley not just because Ross county don't want them but there families are settled here!

and what better way to "get it right up ya" to Uncle Roy and Ross County, who they think dumped them unceremoniously than being motivated in doing really well for Caley Thistle!!! 

1 hour ago, Satan said:

It was good (at times) to see the youth involved last year  it's been lacking for too long, but it was some experience we lacked at crucial times in the crunch games.

agree with this … I am a fan of the adage that "if you are good enough, you are old enough" but while youth is all well and good, and its great to see players get their chances, you absolutely need some experience and veteran presence to grind out results over the course of a season and to act as mentors to younger players coming through. Pretty happy with how the squad has shaped up so far, and the addition of someone to look after fitness and hopefully reduce injuries is also important ... that's one area where Brewster had us as the fittest team going and I think we competed for the full 90 in those games rather than tiring out and either losing games late on or failing to pressure opponents and get a result that we may have deserved. 

Its going to be a tough division this year at both ends so anything we can do to be towards the top is great and so far it looks like we are headed in the right direction.   

9 hours ago, WYNESS101 said:

Guess we are keeping the home kit for another season?

Usually do a 2 year cycle on each kit ....

At first glance I kind of like this one but not sure if it will grow or grate as time goes by. Looks like the badge is also still not the same quality as before with the wide white borders. Based on comments from others about sponsorship and additional money coming in, possibly from the Hydro project on Loch Ness involving ILI and Aecom, I am guessing we are adding the teal shorts and what looks like light elements of green in the pinstripes in a nod to AECOM? Their website features those same colours as their branding. 

Thought we played well in parts, but the finishing wasn't there. Came close multiple times, hit the bar, their keeper made some crucial touches, we got in each other's way at times .... all very frustrating and all very "Scotland at a tournament"!  I had hoped we would defend well and strongly, like the Finns did in the game against Denmark (before the incident), or like North Macedonia did for much of their game but didnt think that was the case. However, there have been a few heavy defeats so far in this first round of games, so losing 0-2 is not the end of the world given that 4 x 3rd place teams go through ... but taking something from Croatia or England becomes almost required and to be frank, after watching the two of themm play yesterday, I think both might wipe the floor with us ....  This was our best shot, and we blew it. Hope the lads prove me wrong! 

Think this needs a thread …

Watching the Italians do their stuff today against Turkey ... and happy to note that my cable TV subscription gives me all the right channels to watch every game  ..... looking forward to 9am Monday morning (my time) for our turn … 

If we were able to get away with a basic tidy-up and 'prettify' of that area and ask the SFA/SPFL to use this - temporarily - in the context of allowing more fans into the game whilst making sure physical distancing recommendations were adhered to then maybe that would work. No point shelling out loads of cash we dont have, or jeopardising stadium ratings for no good reason. 

I know there is a UEFA stadium criteria tied to club licensing and this wikipedia page makes it simple to see the criteria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_stadium_categories . I also see the SFA awards are tied to that same UEFA criteria and we are Silver as Mantis mentioned. Page 34 of the document doesnt say we would drop to bronze if we have a standing area though so not sure on what basis opening up the west would cause that?

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish-fa/football-governance/club-licensing/

 https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/7460/scottish-fa-club-licensing-manual-2021.pdf

Reverse the situation … If Brad had commented on him in the media in a similar fashion would that be venomous? or would we applaud him for winding up our local rivals? Its all about perspective ….  Was Charlie Christie venomous when he asked Bone the score and set him off on a course of events that got him issued multiple red cards? We all thought it hilarious.  Were some of the comments about Derek Adams from our support about him 'seething' venomous? Nope, also hilarious from our point of view. Was Vigurs venomous in that famous picture of him giving fans the V sign? The fans got on his case and he gave it back, and has given it back - to both clubs. Countless examples of 'banter' that some on the other side of that banter could regard as venomous. 

Its all rivalry … and there are libel and slander laws (or defamation in Scotland I think) to protect Brad or others if they want to complain about it. At a club level we stick together and try to wind up our rivals, come Monday, whether from Dingwall or Dalneigh we will all be supporting Scotland and likely winding up our friends who may well be supporting someone else from south of the border. 

As for Gardyne and Mackay - I will leave that up to Billy Dodds .. If Mackay can still score when we want, and Gardyne can add some veteran experience to a squad which, for much of the year, flirted with relegation last season and either can be the difference that sees us challenging next year and perhaps not missing out on the playoffs then so be it. I would far rather have either playing for us as opposed to the current managerial incumbent at Viccy Park in charge of us ! 

Apart from the cost, the big problem doing anything on that stand is the presence of the high pressure gas line that runs along the side of the A9. 

12 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

Nicky Ross scored the opener almost immediately from kick off against Indy Eleven.

2 videos of this goal on YouTube. composed finish. 

The official coverage

Pitch level view

14 hours ago, Row S said:

Whatever happened to the much publicised loan arrangements with Sheffield United to give several of their youngsters first team football with us? I can't recall one player ever coming here to play.

It wasn't a formal arrangement, it was based on someone at ICT being acquainted with someone at SU in some fashion. Never came to anything.  Just like the Arsenal link mentioned at another time in our history. In current terms, its like saying we have a 'link' with Hearts or Rangers just now because of our Sporting director or CEO .... but at least those links have provided players over the recent past.

On 9/22/2015 at 1:07 PM, Yngwie said:

About 10 years ago we got a mention in the Bash St Kids in the Beano!

From another thread on here ....... so I am guessing this may gel with the info from @Mr Eager 

Happy with this. Like others, I was not necessarily a huge fan prior to him helping us out last season, but things took a turn for the better when he did come in and whether it was his impetus, the results of McCann's coaching starting to take effect, or some combination of the two, we finished the season a lot stronger than we had been the previous few months. Now its time for the real work to begin .....