Scotty

closing this thread as I have added ond stickied the normal matchday thread

sorry .... no fancy graphics or links today .... looks like live text not available on most sites and sky ticker only updating at half time .... we really are in a communication black hole when we are out of the SPL. Instead - we will bring you TM4TJs Match Preview ....... Caley Jaggies v Gable Endies New season, new club structure, new teams, new venues, new competitions, new players, new away strip and new hope for the ICT fans. The season kicks off earlier this year as relegation sees Inverness entering the Alba Challenge Cup and hosting Montrose in the first round at Tulloch Stadium, well most of it as part of the stadium will remain closed, with only the main stand being open. ICT are no strangers to this competition having won the Challenge Cup trophy in November 2003 after defeating Airdrieonians 2-0 at Perth thanks to late strikes from Steve Hislop and David Bingham. Today?s visitors Montrose have not been here since the Stadium was converted to all seating and the last time we entertained the Gable Endies was 5th April 1997 in a Third Division game where ICT won 3-2. The Gable Endies, now where did they get that unusual nickname I hear you ask? Apparently 'Gable-Endie' is the nickname given to a citizen of Montrose. The term originated because the early buildings had their gable-ends facing the High Street. How odd. Today?s team line up from Inverness is anybodies guess as the trialists and new signings were put through their paces in recent friendlies. Coupled with ongoing injuries and possible suspensions Butcher will be the only person who knows what the starting eleven will be. New additions Robert Eagles and Johnny Hayes could feature along with Danny Stratford and Lee Cox. Latvian defender Nauris Bulvitis is also expected to get a start. Ongoing injuries to Imrie, Odhiambo, and Proctor may see them miss out, although Butcher will wait to see how they are before making any decisions. For Montrose, manager Steven Tweed has a new look squad to choose from with eleven summer signings including John Gemmell and Alan Campbell. Gemmell scored fourteen times last season for Cowdenbeath with four of those goals coming against Montrose. He was also voted the Cowdenbeath Player of the Year. Alan Campbell was recently released by junior outfit Carnoustie Panmure. Tm4tj prediction Should be a comfortable day out for ICT, but with the new squad needing time to gel, we may have to be patient before overcoming Montrose who will be out to cause an upset. No room for complacency and the lack of goal grabbers will be a hindrance to us although my prediction will see Inverness come out on top by a couple

I know - its a very fine line .....

indeed. We bitch and moan about our board, and about the likes of Mike Smith etc when we have no football to talk about but the bottom line is that regardless of some decisions or actions they have taken that we perhaps dont like, or maybe dont understand, their stewardship of the club has for the most part, been pretty sound all things considered.

If the SFL have any concerns whatsoever in the ability of Livi to function as a club and fulfill all their fixtures both home and away for the coming season, then they have to go. its as simple as that. Who comes up and whether Livi can continue to function in some capacity in Div3 or whether a new team should be allowed in [bring back Clydebank] would be a separate debate. Gretna were initially relegated to the 3rd division because of their inability to guarantee they would fulfill their fixtures and because of that punishment the one potential buyer pulled out leading to their dissolution and resignation from the league. The Livi situation may have taken longer to evolve than Gretna's but it is essentially the same thing. The current owner seems hell bent on confrontation with the council and the council dont appear to have much time for him either as this comment from the BBC website shows "Council leader Peter Johnson told BBC Scotland that a late pledge of ?100,000 from Massone was not deemed credible" [source] If the SFL cant get an assurance from West Lothian council and the administrator that the club will be allowed to play the season at Almondvale no matter what, then the SFL surely has no choice but to impose the same punishment as they did to Gretna. Without discussing any of the personalities involved, it doesnt seem likely there will be any resolution if Massone is still at the helm so there is no way they can assure that right now !!! Fear not though Livi fans ... like Clydebank, Airdrie United, and Gretna 2008, you too might rise like a phoenix from the ashes of a former team .... in the junior leagues.

It can also work another way .... players on 1 year deals are looking for their next deal .... in some cases it may be with ICT, in others it may be with a "bigger" team. In either event, they should be motivated to do the best they can to catch the eye of someone who will offer them that better deal.

Luvgravy is on the left ...... and is definitely not my woman .... He's not even my b****

As has been mentioned already, we have had players before who nailed it during pre-season and failed to shine once the real stuff started - Deano, Rory, Garry Wood to name but 3, so pre-season is no yardstick of what is to come. HOWEVER - I am optimistic about this season. All the incoming players are young, seem to have something about them, and most can play in more than one position. It is down to Butcher to get the best out of them and I believe he can motivate them in that respect. We will not have the most expensive squad in the division - that will be Dundee - but it seems we have once again done a bit of a rebuild job and brought in guys that will be workmanlike and hopefully get the job done. Someone commented about our lack of flair players ... I looked at the squad list and had to agree ... but that can also work in our favour. The 1st division is a hard league that needs grafters working together as a team ... hopefully what this squad lacks in creativity it can make up for in graft and teamwork ... just like ICT used to !

Unfortunately, I think this is the most accurate reason for the one year deals so we just have to get it done !

He may get accused of wearing a skirt on occasions by those of an ignorant disposition but he is definitely no lady Jon - if you dont get fixed up for accomodation with someone else, try this place: http://www.fairfield-villa.com/ We stayed there on our last trip and it was excellent. 2 minute walk to the Caley Club, 10 minute walk to the Innes, an excellent breakfast and a landlady who used to run a pub so is pretty tolerant of guests who have had a drink or two All in all, the place was pretty good IMHO.

well straight away (assuming they survive) they should begin the season on -10 points.

Butcher seems to have gone for players that can all play in a variety of positions - pretty sensible if you ask me !

post edited since you quoted me .... one thing about MLS is the players are not "owned" by the clubs, they are usually picked in a draft (or via a rule called 'discovery' but thats not applicable here) and their registrations are held by MLS. He was released by DC in late 2008 so even though he is without a club he may still be affiliated to MLS in some way

There could be two reasons for this (not sure which, or even if both come into play here) 1. His last official club was DC United in the MLS so he is technically coming from abroad. Although he was released by DC in Aug 2008, he may still have been contracted to MLS as they hold all the player registrations, not the clubs. 2. Scotland and England are separate members of UEFA with their national associations therefore its an international transfer.

He definitely WAS listed .... I took my list for the squad from there a few weeks ago and have just added/removed players as they came/went .... I guess he needs to come off the squad list now too.

In the paper that Butcher hopes to offer Bulvitus a deal which would take the squad to 25. I take it this probably means any Sanchez deal is dead ? If we got him, he could possibly be our tricky/exciting replacement for Morais ? Alex - Kieran Wilson is also listed as a goalkeeper is he not ?

http://stats.caleythistleonline.com/index.php

and even less frequently are they on topic ! Seriously though guys, if you have nothing remotely on topic to add to this discussion then please do not post all this bullshit. I have asked nicely for the posts to remain on topic and for the oneupmanship and pissing contests to be taken elsewhere. I will not ask again. Any further spamming of this (or other topics) will just mean we start to make more use of the topic ban function and you will be excluded from reading and/or posting on the topic(s) concerned.

off-topic posts removed. If the two posters involved would like to continue their p****** contest or want to discuss grammar and spelling, please do it by PM.

I liked this comment - something we need !!! That was the sweetest left foot cross I've ever seen at the Walkers. Shame no one connected to his cross - I'll have to give it to him, the boy knew how to swing a ball in.

Twitter - good idea - we will look into it.

Yes, Bagan's goal at Tynie was one of my favourite away goals (as were all our goals in that game and the Celtic game in 2000). Barry's goal at Motherwell was up there too and although I cant remember much about it, Richard Hastings' first goal for the club at Telford Street was also a cracker.

That would be my favourite.

It is somewhat ironic verbage given the Irish connection but cant see anything wrong with using the word "hail" in that context .... any other context and TB would probably boot his erse back down the road. Maybe someone at the stadium is winding our Tel up :015: http://dictionary.reference.com/dic?q=hail...p;search=search

its a transformer and cant take up any shape we wish :confused01: