Scotty

Looking at the numbers, I would be inclined to go with a ?460 Signed Home Shirt which would come with the new Away Kit (and maybe talk to the club and decline the shorts/socks so long as they get Grant to sign the top !!) along with 1 training top at ?92 .... that way we would have 3 items to draw at the end of the year. This would come to ?552 and with 51 already pledged we are only ?42 short. CTO will take care of that if no-one else wants in. I do however have one request ... and I hope its not seen as cheeky. The main item should - as has been the case for the last 6 or 7 years - be listed as sponsored by the INTERNUTTERS and INNES BAR SUPPORTERS CLUB but I would respectfully request that if we sponsor a second item that consideration be made to listing that one as CALEYTHISTLEONLINE.COM. My reasoning for that is that many of the sponsors are not Innes Bar punters but are CTO members, and - as some may remember - CTO was the original sponsor of the player when Grant was still a youth player ... we just changed the name as the prices went up and I couldnt afford to pay for it on my own :015:

not sure - I would guess not.

Wikipedia people only moderate the website, they dont actually write (most of) the articles. The articles are edited by members of the public and they will - as has been mentioned - often get things wrong or make an edit out of sheer devilment.

"The Wilderness Years"

would agree with that .... the historical data (ie, which clubs a player has played for) is usually pretty accurate ... its just basing expectations of how good a player will be on the arbritary skill levels set in the game that is cringeworthy...... www.soccerbase.com is also a decent source for appearances but they too get it wrong reasonably often (not as much as wikipedia though)

"Against All Odds" deals with the creation of Caley Thistle .... Ian's account of the first 10 years in "Going Ballistic" has more info regarding what came after ... like the debt.

I am indeed proud that we appear to have been debt free for a number of years, but as someone who was on the brink of creating the "pay a player" fundraising scheme detailed in Ian Broadfoots book, and who has been a shareholder from early on, I know we were in debt ..... If you dont believe me? try these links http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/665361.stm http://www.ictfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Club...~892997,00.html or read the history of seasons 1999-2000 to the start of 2002-2003 here http://caleythistleonline.com/club-guide/ict-history. This history was provided by Ian Broadfoot, the club historian and is replicated on the official website and in his book "Going Ballistic" so it is a matter of official record. This shows we were in deep debt for a long time and certainly way more than 6 months. Hell, I was even present at the meeting in the stadium when we had a board of directors resign en-masse because of it. There was already a road there. Wasnt there one for the dump before the built the stadium on it? again, read the history, this time the 1995/96 one .... while there may have been a bit of a road there in the first place (a small part of the bit that away fans use to arrive/leave), the club had to build the stadium and the access road that goes round from the harbour. I am not sure of the exact financial amounts finally involved but we got 900K to help build the stadium (which cost 5m) and the harbour trust helped with the access road ... however, they didnt fund it all and that expenditure basically created the millstone around our neck that was the debt referred to above.

sorry, that statement is wrong ... we almost went to the wall because of the debt of building the stadium and the access road. This is where/when Mr Sutherland first came on the scene, restructured us and did some jiggery pokery to make the debt disappear. I am also not looking forward to the next two sets of accounts because regardless of who is in the right or wrong - IHE and Stevico as well as the club know far more about that than me - it appears there will be a large Niculae shaped hole in one of them and a relegation income drop in the other. If Johndo (as opposed to IHE) is a barometer of the mood, I would say that today's statement could be a tentative first step in getting back to some honest communication and I applaud it. I dont care if this website had a role to play or not, the important thing is that the statement seems to be more honest and open than we have had in the recent past.

The Zadi is of course our "party pizza" as there is at least a dozen slices in each box

Given the choice, I think it would have to be Costa Rica !!! The game against the Puerto Ricans will come too soon to even contemplate a trip (unless its really cheap) and if we do get through, then Mexico would not be an option for me if they made it through. I call it Mexi-NO as too many bad things have happened to Canadians or other "gringos" down there in the last couple of years. That leaves Costa Rica or Columbus !!! Back to reality .... I might manage Ohio for the Columbus game ... its only about 350 miles

Growing up, I always considered myself a *Celtic "fan" but a Caley "Supporter" based on the fact that a supporter pays money at the turnstiles, buys merchandise, or generally contributes financially to the club whereas a "fan" just follows the fortunes of a team on TV/Radio etc ..... Luckily, through shareholdings, merchandise, centenary club, player sponsorship contributions, and such like, I can still be a supporter of ICT rather than just a fan, even from this distance I got into Caley because I used to live in Dalneigh a stones throw away from Telford Street and we used to see the players running up Hawthorn drive a couple of nights a week for training at the pitches beside Dalneigh School. I went to quite a few games as a youngster but it was only in the mid to late 80s and early 90s that I was at more and more home games. When ICT came into being, I was an ever-present at Telford Street and then the TCS. * For clarification - my "fan" status of Celtic ended on the day that ICT - or CT as it was for that first wee while - entered the senior leagues. My first ever visit to Celtic Park was for Celtic -V- ICT in the cup [yes, THAT game]

yup - that is my understanding too. If he is giving up the salary part and only claiming legitimate expenses, then I do not have a problem with that. Whoever is in that position or fulfilling the duties of that position be it called Director of Football or something else would be claiming the same thing. I have an inkling that our chief exec (now called General Manager), who has also taken a substantial paycut, and who is the one who tries to make the books balance, will keep a close eye on all expenses ..........

good job we arent in the SPL ... he'd need some size shirt to put that name across it

65K for the lot if I remember correctly ..... Raith were in financial doo-doo and had little choice but to accept.

:clapping03: :clapping03: . Like I said already in another thread, we have to play our part and crucifying people at every turn is not the way to do it. As noted, the chairman's comments seem to address many of the exact things raised on here and whether you believe every word or perhaps just the outline, it IS a positive comment. sadly, I feel some will still use this approach :107: :comp01:

nothing to do with the fact we were playing our worst football in more than a decade of course .......

good luck to him.

It features 24 teams from North and Central America and the Carribean. Format: http://www.concacaf.com/competitions/champ...010/format.aspx Qualifiers: http://www.concacaf.com/competitions/champ...0/qteams09.aspx The Canadian Champions have to play in the preliminary round, this will be against Puerto Rico Islanders and if we win, we go in a group containing MLS champions Columbus Crew. The Crew are TFC's nearest rivals geographically and in the eyes of many fans, they are to Toronto what County is to ICT.... Incidentally, Columbus were put out by PRI last year so winning the preliminary game is no walkover. PRELIMINARY ROUND San Francisco (PAN) vs. San Juan Jabloteh (TRI) Pachuca (MEX) vs. Jalapa (GUA) New York Red Bulls (USA) vs. W Connection (TRI) Olimpia (HON) vs. Arabe Unido (PAN) Cruz Azul (MEX) vs. Herediano (CRC) D.C. United (USA) vs. Chalatenango (SLV) Liberia (CRC) vs. Real Espana (HON) Toronto FC (CAN) vs. Puerto Rico Islanders (PUR) GROUP STAGE Group A Houston Dynamo (USA) Metapan (SLV) Pachuca (MEX) or Jalapa (GUA) Olimpia (HON) or Arabe Unido (PAN) Group B Toluca (MEX) Marathon (HON) D.C. United (USA) or Chalatenango (SLV) San Juan Jabloteh (TRI) or San Francisco FC (PAN) Group C Columbus Crew (USA) Saprissa (CRC) Cruz Azul (MEX) or Herediano (CRC) Toronto FC (CAN) or Puerto Rico Islanders (PUR) Group D Pumas UNAM (MEX) Comunicaciones (GUA) New York Red Bulls (USA) or W Connection (TRI) Liberia (CRC) or Real Espana (HON)

To add to what CaleyD and Kingsmills have already said - please note that just like we did with the Richie Hart incident, we will remove any posts that are getting into the details of this case before it has reached its conclusion. It is a matter that is currently before the courts, the accused have pleaded not guilty, and we have to be very careful not to allow anything that is not established as facts. Please also note that our "private life" rules still apply and anyone overstepping the mark there will also be sanctioned in an appropriate fashion.

Toronto FC did what many thought impossible tonight and won the Canadian Championship. They will now represent Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League with a chance to qualify for the Club World Cup. After beating both Vancouver and Montreal 1-0 in Toronto, TFC lost to Vancouver 2-0 in Vancouver. With Vancouver rounding off their games by beating Montreal 2-0 in Montreal it looked an impossible task ... Vancouver were top after their 4 games with 9 points and a 4-1 F/A total. TFC had played 3 games, won 2 and lost 1, and had F/A of 2-2. The simple math was TFC were 3 goals behind Vancouver but had to win by four clear goals as anything else would mean Vancouver would go through (better goal difference V Toronto). The first 20 minutes were painful as it sat at 0-0, then it got even worse .... penalty for Montreal and it was scored. TFC now had to score 5 !!! TFC have NEVER scored 5 in their short history. The best was 4 in one game ....... Enter Dwayne DeRosario, Canadian International, star of MLS for a few teams, but now TFC's local boy done good. DeRo was on a mission .... in 29 it was an overhead kick in the box 1-1, in 39 a drive from the edge of the box and it was 1-2. 4 minutes into the second half and he springs the offside trap to make it 1-3. His play inspiring others around him, Guevara made it 1-4 with an excellent free kick in 68 minutes ..... 22 minutes left and only one goal needed .... getting tense now ... into the 82nd minute and a TFC corner. Guevara swings it in and Chad Barrett who has a reputation of not being able to hit a coo's ar$e with a banjo (despite working hard) heads it in for what is technically the championship winning goal if TFC can hold on for 8 minutes plus stoppage time. TFC are pretty ropey defensively at this stage having sacrificed defenders for more attack minded players with their substitutions earlier in the game. Not to worry though ... into stoppage time and Chad Barrett has a chance, he squares it to Guevara who takes a step and bangs it into the net ... 6 feckin 1 and TFC are definitely the champions of Canada, man tonight felt GOOD !!!!!!!! not sure if this link is viewable in the UK but here is the link to TFC TV and the goals/highlights http://torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/console.j...id=3&id=805

If I am reading this correctly then ... all we are asking for is that the club try to be a bit more honest and open with things where they havent been in the (recent) past? If they can also admit (from time to time) that mistakes were made, and things didnt go to plan or turn out how they invisioned but will try harder in future that would be the cherry on top? In return, how will we behave towards them? Will we work with them to pull in the same direction as CaleyD has said? Will we stop making a huge issue out of every small thing and concentrate on legitimate issues? Will we cut them some slack when tough decisions have to be made? It has to be a two way process and as much as things DO have to improve at the club, we also have to play our own part ... no harm in being vocal when we have to be, but at other times, supportive might be a better option. Gawd, I cant wait for the season to start so we can talk about matches again !

Davide Xausa

:023:

just for clarification - It was the chairman who made that statement not DFS. However, I do agree that we could be in for a prolonged spell in D1 if we dont get things sorted. From the outside, it does look like implosion, chaos and confusion but as I said before, I will wait a few more days to see/hear what is said officially ... I only hope that when the dust settles, we can see there was method in the madness rather than vice versa.

blank DD form now added to application form thread http://community.caleythistleonline.com/in...showtopic=13255