Scotty

Got a reply from the ICT Ticket Office (ICT) to my questions about the ticket arrangements for this game. Hearts have confirmed that the "primary school" children offer is for U-12 so some secondary pupils may qualify also. - The phone number to call is 0871 663 1874, then option 1 and option 8 (line only open 9-5pm) - Derek Matthews confirmed to Andrina that Hearts ticket office should be ready for any phone sales from ICT fans as of 9am this morning. This was copied to Martyn Ewart so these are at least two of the names who should know what is going on if you feel you are getting the runaround from anyone who doesnt know what you are talking about !!!

He did say he was only on to answer questions and put the record straight at that time as he felt things were said that were incorrect. As his name is mentioned as one of the favourites he probably also thinks it inappropriate to make comment on here right now.

I have forwarded your comments to the ticket office. The information we posted came from ICTFC.

I could be wrong - it may have changed by now - but going from memory, half the board is elected by the shareholders but Tullochs have/had 3 spots guaranteed and can say who those are. They also have final say on who will be chairman. This arrangement was made when Tulloch bought several hundred thousand pounds worth of shares a few years ago and I believe was to be in force for 5 years so may have expired by now.

Never said our membership had any direct effect on things although I believe it would be foolish to think the comments have not been noted as we know they have. However, I was merely responding to a question about the number of people who come on here relative to the size of our fanbase.

Our normal viewing rate is about 10-15,000 page views per day. Over the last month or two I would say that this has steadily increased in parallel with the discontent the fans are displaying. Over the last few days it has peaked at around 30-35,000 per day. Our new registrations since January 1st have also been at a higher rate than normal (250 from Sep-Nov, 151 in Dec, and 196 so far in Jan). We are now seeing somewhere between 600 and 700 of our 1627 registered (and active*) users logging on every day and a fair proportion of the rest logging in every few days. We might not represent the majority of the fans, but our userbase is pretty sizeable ...... for a club of our size [*active: if a user has not logged on in 90 days they are classed as inactive and not included in our "active member" total. If they fail to logon for a further 90 days, the account is deleted so our membership level is not bloated like some other forums with users who havent been seen for years !!!]

I would first have to ask why it wasnt possible .... conflict resolution requires both parties to be willing to compromise somewhat or at least lay their cards on the table. As Donald Park worked alongside three ICT managers (Robbo, CC and Brew) one wonders what made CB so different to the rest ? There is no suggestion that he was undermining Robbo or CC nor the club itself (who wanted him as manager after Robbo and CC) so perhaps the problem was not Park?

If my right hand man knew more than me about certain aspects of the job, I would work with him so that together (as a management team) we would both prosper and learn from each other. I have been in this situation in a business sense and when you show faith in the ability of others to do their jobs rather than just follow orders, the outcome is usually a lot better than if you try to rule with an iron fist (tried that too - it doesnt work unless it is used extremely sparingly).

if they are locked in a little room discussing who the new manager will be, or driving up or down the A9 to speak with candidates then I wont complain !

This has got to be the quote of the day !!!!! Malky Thomson, speaking in the Herald: "I wouldn't say it's been a bad season so far" http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines...2483024.0.0.php

We are already doing that ........

yeah, but he would probably send the team to Pittodrie when they really should have been at Ibrox

Hell, if he is based in the South of England it is easier for him to come up here than if he were based in Glasgow !!! Who are our sponsors again ?

The highlighted part will certainly not happen - as far as we are concerned, personal/private lives are just that and we will continue to be vigilant on that front. Regardless of our individual opinions about Brewster, I can hold my head high and say that we let very little slip through the net as far as the "internet driven rumours" that were quoted in the Herald article and I have had PMs from quite a few people who were pro-Brewster right up until the end that have acknowledged this. The moderators have done a lot of work behind the scenes making sure this happened so please dont make sweeping statements like that when we can cite numerous other instances where we also took the same action (Tokely, Hart, Bennett etc). As always - opinion is fine, regardless of which end of the spectrum it comes from, but if the abuse/personal line is crossed we will continue to deal with that as it happens and you the user have the report button available to you to report anything you think crosses that line - we may uphold it, we may not, but we do look at each report and make a decision one way or another.

Pretty much confirms many of the rumours I had heard but not posted over the last few months. An almost obsessional focus on fitness with little or no emphasis on tactics or set pieces etc. He lost his best tactician when he replaced Park with Thomson and the rest, as we know was downhill from there. If anyone had the audacity to complain, or make constructive criticisms they were (allegedly) fined or dumped from the team and hence we saw an ever dwindling group of players who were in the good books and who would play at any cost ..... I agree with others that any new manager will actually inherit a good squad and if he has man management skills, is prepared to be a little more democratic rather than autocratic (to a point) we could very quickly see a lot of that team spirit come alive on the pitch again. In any workplace, its hard to perform if you perceive your boss as a clueless ******* .... whether that perception is right or wrong !!! Good luck to the new man, and whoever it is, lets get right behind him.

As i posted earlier, the more I read, the more I like the idea of Archie Knox. He is highly respected, and has superb contacts throughout the game. If he took Wilson and/or Christie as a #2 he could groom either for the top job at some point down the road. I know CC has been manager before, but lets be honest, he was kinda thrown in at the deep end and may benefit from AK's experience. If Knox isnt up for it then I would be equally happy if we went for Butcher or Robertson. Butcher was regarded as doing pretty good at Motherwell before he left, and as for Robbo, well we have had that debate for the last few weeks and I would be happy to see him as boss too.

To add a bit of balance - here are some archived comments regarding his time at Motherwell http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...ng-top-job.html "Under Butcher's gentle coaxing, Motherwell's youthful brigade can not only look forward to a rare Hampden cup final appearance, but also occupy a satisfying mid-table position in the Premier League, a remarkable turnaround for a club who finished bottom of the league two seasons ago, escaped relegation on a technicality because `promoted' Falkirk's stadium did not meet requirements, and lost their two best players, James McFadden and Stephen Pearson, to Everton and Celtic after entering receivership." http://www.motherwell-mad.co.uk/news/loadn...W&id=167086 "Terry is held in high regard by both the fans and the players and we look forward to seeing the team develop further under his supervision."

The more I read various online articles, the more I like the idea of someone like Archie Knox - a well respected man with contacts everywhere - alongside a #2 with ICT in his blood (Charlie or Barry)

Final report from Turkey, care of Fiona. Last game was today and the boys won 2-1 to round off a very successful trip against strong opposition. Only sour note came on Saturday when striker Daniel Park broke his leg in two places at training. He is in a cast and is allowed to fly with the team tomorrow and is in good spirits considering. Report Under 19 Squad - Strikers Carrol & Sutherland on target as boys end Turkey trip with another win The Under 19's rounded off their "Da Vinci" training camp in Antalya, Turkey with a 2-1 win over Azerbaijan national Under 19 squad. Goals from strikers Shaun Carrol and Shane Sutherland gave them a thoroughly deserved win despite selection worries due to illness and injury. Daniel Park who suffered a broken leg at the weekend was joined on the sidelines by Keiran Wilson and Sean Porter with other members of the team playing with the effects of a flu bug sweeping the squad. We started proceedings in a positive manner with Kevin Fraser looking dangerous supporting lone striker Shaun Carrol. Midfielder Nick Ross was unlucky not to open the scoring when he was sent through by a diagonal ball but his early shot was saved by the Azerbaijan goalkeeper. The aerial presence of Stuart Leslie on the right side was causing Azerbaijan problems but we could just not find that killer final pass of quality to take a deserved lead. However the opening goal was not far behind and it came from a good move, a diagonal ball into the right wing area found Struan Scott-Woodhouse charging down the flank. He showed good feet and his cross picked out Shaun Carrol in the box, he steadied himself and fired home. Despite controlling the remainder of the first half we could not add to our lead and this gave the opposition a glimmer of hope at half-time. With tired legs creeping in after playing four games in a short space of time the boys started on the back foot and conceded an equaliser when a Kyle Allison kicked clearance was charged down by the Azerbaijan forward and he rolled the ball over the line. Azerbaijan were in the ascendency now and Kyle Allison had to look alert to tip a strong shot over the bar and thus prevent the opposition taking a lead their play did not deserve. However the boys refused to wilt in the Turkish heat and set about creating a winning goal. There were a couple of close encounters until five minutes before the end we scored the clinching goal. Striker Shane Sutherland, who had been suffering from the effects of the flu for the last few days came off the bench to again provide a quality finish. A great free kick from Graeme Shinnie on the left touchline to the back post found Stuart Leslie and his cut back gave Sutherland the opportunity to beat the Azerbaijan goalkeeper from 12 yards to make it 2-1. The final whistle followed shortly afterwards and the boys completed their four games in Turkey with three win and a draw against high quality opposition. They can all be proud of their efforts on a trip which has highlighted the strong team spirit amongst them. ICT Team Allison Scott-Woodhouse, Welsh, Finnis, Shinnie Leslie, Hemsley, Rennie, Ross Fraser Carrol Subs: Sutherland for Ross (71 mins), Morrison for Hemsley (71 mins)

Ewan has good contacts up here so you have to take the article somewhat seriously ... although a lot of the speculative names that will come out in the next few days could safely be said to have come from the thousands of posts on here on this subject. For the record - I would not have a problem with Butcher. I always enjoyed his straight talking manner when he was at Motherwell, and although no fan of England you cannot look past the leadership and passion he displayed as the captain of one of the world's top national teams.

nothing on the RSL website but his Wikipedia entry says he negotiated his release from RSL - either way, he could have been a decent signing and one that may have helped our inexperienced strikers.

I would guess he is on loan from his current club: Real Salt Lake of the MLS. The MLS season runs from April - Sep/Oct so like Beckham and a few others, players seek temporary deals during the off season.

He even managed to get away with "pishing rain" on the radio

comments? .......... see next manager thread

Traynor Comments: http://caleythistleonline.com/images/stori...-09/traynor.mp3 Richard's Call: http://caleythistleonline.com/images/stori...-09/richard.mp3