Scotty

At the end of the day we have to put our chances away and we are not doing that. Yes, the ref was, by all accounts, very bad, and the 4th official supposedly said McCann was offside and the ref apologised for not awarding the penalty but those are the breaks. If we took our chances we would be talking about a good victory today. The goal came in the first half. If Brewster was so incensed, why did he not do what some other managers seem to do and jangle the players' sense of injustice to fire them up for the second half? "Right lads, the ref's a ****, he's ***te, and we are gonna get nothing. Lets show this ******* we can win it despite him" .... Its similar to what Pele supposedly said/did about the bookies when we were 18/1 going into the Celtic match in 2000 and we all know how that ended up. Rooney, Barrowman and Wood all have great potential but we are sorely lacking experience up front and that is a management decision. Regardless of what we think of Brew as a manager, I think we all accept that as a striker he was probably one of the best not to have pulled on a Scotland shirt so it makes me wonder how a man of his experience (and striking ability) cannot see this. I actually quite like the idea of someone like Kenny Deuchar on a short term deal until MLS starts up again in April. It might give the young guys a chance to blossom alongside someone who is similar to Brewster in poaching/striking abilities. I cant see it happening though as part of Deuchar's deal with MLS was being able to practice medicine in the States .... he likely has off-field responsibilities on that front. I totally agree about the concentration thing and highlighted it somewhere else. I have seen the team twice in 2008 and on both occasions the results were great, the performance at times sublime, and I ended the day with a huge smile on my face. On other weeks we seem to implode and put in insipid performances unless we are playing one of the OF. Just like the stewarding, we seem to have no consistency. That too is a management or coaching issue. Of course the players have to take some blame, but it is the manager's job to coach those players, to motivate them to be "up" for games, to set tactics that will hopefully bag us three points, and to have the balls to change those tactics or gee up the players if things are not going well. I don't believe that has been done in some of our more inconsistent games. We are all great armchair managers and each and every one of us would probably do far worse than Brew. We can talk a good game, and we know what we would like to see, but very few of us could carry that through onto the training pitches or the dugout. We should be working on set plays constantly. Free-Kicks, Corners, Attacking throw-ins etc .... IMHO, if we could score from set plays when we are struggling to score from open play, we would likely be several spots higher in the table

Relegation would be a financial disaster for the club and even with the parachute payments it would still be extremely tough. You just need to look at who has gone down in recent years and how many of them bounced straight back .... not many eh? The first division, is, in my opinion, the hardest division to get out of. You have many teams who can win it, and its usually pretty tight. A good team from one season can suddenly become relegation fodder the next, or vice versa. Just look at QOS, struggling to avoid relegation for the last couple of seasons, they have not made huge changes yet are proudly sitting atop the division this season. St Johnstone, Dunfermline, Livingston, Partick, Dundee ... all former Premier League teams, and County, Clyde, Airdrie and Morton all have their own pedigrees. Dundee could be in danger of relegation and I think we could all concede that many of these teams just a few years ago would easily be regarded as far "bigger" than ICT. I certainly do not class Dundee as a Div2 team ... The "pros" of Div 1 are certainly there. More competitive games, more competitive league, terracing, lower ticket costs, etc but there are also a lot of "cons". Huge drop in revenue from the league and from advertisers and sponsors, leading to lower wage budget, leading to having to offload some players and replace with "lesser" players. Less or no media coverage on BBC via live text or audio commentaries, less interest all round basically. As much as we moan at the SPL, I agree with those that say it is the only place to be. We have to fight hard to maintain our position in the country's top league, anything else should be seen as the same nostalgic folly that we point out when former Caley or Thistle supporters come on here and talk of life in the Highland League. Yes it was fun, yes it brings good memories, but memories don't pay the bills and you have to move on. ICT have moved on (and up) and we have to try and make sure we do not take that step back. I agree that the SPL is predictable in many respects, especially with regards to knowing which teams are likely to finish in the top two spots. I don't have the answer, but I would like to see Scottish football re-organised in some fashion so that it is a better product. Perhaps an expanded SPL without the OF, and regional leagues/pyramid system below the top two divisions - much like Sweden. or maybe we need to 'handicap' the OF in some way so that the league gets more competitive. We certainly need to drag some teams up by the bootstraps and remind them that although Football is a business, it is also supposed to be entertainment ....

OK, I will join in with naming potential candidates should it come to that. I am NOT calling for Brewster's head just yet, but I am not backing him either. One thing I would say though is that things have to improve quickly or his position will be untenable by Christmas. http://www.leaguemanagers.com/ listed a few names we might know .... Peter Grant, Neale Cooper, Billy Davies, Bobby Williamson ... and these are just 4 of the (Scottish) names listed as available (and no, I am not saying any of them should get it). Bobby is now national coach for Uganda but considering they gave him an ultimatum before his first game, who knows how lang that will last.

I hate that type of text commentary ... go back about 7 minutes and it says Falkirk are well in control !!! and now McCann scores ... bugger

It does say that on the BBC but it seems strange considering we have 4 shots (2 on target) to their 2 (1) Incidentally, DUFC 1-0 Pars (Robertson) Rangers 1-0 Accies (Boyd)

Sky Sports text commentary makes it look like Falkirk in control ?

Good luck to him.

If you are not a fan of former bosses coming back, why Robbo ? We didnt sack either of them, both left to manage their former clubs, and it went pear shaped for them both at those clubs .......

The answer is YES they do (and always have) read the forums. Some even participated from time to time. Please do not ask who is who as the Data Protection Act forbids us from divulging that info unless they themselves give permission or make it obvious to you (as some have done).

In the P&J the quote is : "?We don?t have a particularly great cup tradition and it would be nice to get to the final of the competition." http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/909133? and I would certainly take issue with that having been present at some tremendous cup games in places like Tynecastle, Celtic Park, Hampden and the Caledonian Stadium itself. However, the quote in the Record perhaps gives it more context: "In recent years, certainly since I've been at the club, we haven't had a great tradition of cup results. I think it's time that changed. For us to have a major semi-final to look forward to next year would be a great boost for the club." http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/...86908-20846931/

Only if they dont put ketchup on them

Tea Break time !!! Its a working day so not sure if I would have had time later LOL

FALKIRK -V- ICT The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk, 7:45pm Audio Coverage According to the BBC they will be covering the Rangers -V- Hamilton game only with "updates" from other games. The URL for the Rangers game is available to UK listeners only: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan...dia/rangers.ram The following links will likely NOT work tonight, but are standard URLs and worth a try nearer kick-off (just in case). Inverness Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan...a/inverness.ram Falkirk Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan...dia/falkirk.ram Sportsound/Open All Mics Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan.../sportsound.ram Livescores SKY - http://live.skysports.com/ScoreCentre/live.html BBC - ICT Live Text - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ext/default.stm P&J - ICT Live Text - http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/MatchComm....aspx/Inverness SportBox - http://www.sportbox.tv/football/matchcentr....php?id=1272133 Sporting Life - http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live_match/173431.html Lineups (click for full size image)

According to Sportsound website http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/t...dio/6354443.stm? it is covering Rangers V Accies with "updates" from other games. I clicked the link for the game but as expected the info in the player says "UK Only" doubt if any of the following (real player) streams will be working tonight but you might want to click them to find out nearer the time ..... Inverness Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan...a/inverness.ram Falkirk Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan...dia/falkirk.ram Sportsound/Open All Mics Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan.../sportsound.ram The urls are automatically truncated above, but for reference, the format of BBC URLs is usually as follows bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/sportsound/media/ and then the name of the home team with a .ram extension. The main sportsound or open all mics feed is the same but with sportsound.ram at the end instead of a team name.

Apparently its Strathclyde Police policy for BOTH clubs. I seem to remember however that last season or the season before, some tickets were allowed to be sold on the day at a ticket booth away from the turnstiles. Perhaps the Police have tightened up on this, as the info from the club, which was supplied to them by Rangers and Celtic, seems quite clear. I am not sure how they are handling the return of unsold tickets, sometimes they are sent back in advance via the post, sometimes they are delivered by hand via someone on the team bus. I would suggest you contact Andrina on email ([email protected]), explain your situation and ask her if they will still be available the day before. If they are, maybe someone here will pick them up for you and meet you in Glasgow to sort it out .... Its been done before.

Grassa could certainly advise :thumb04: To answer the question about how much income ICT get from ticket sales is a hard one. I dont think there are any publicly released figures that will show this kind of breakdown. The club will obviously know, but its not broken down in that much detail to fans or shareholders. Having said that, you only need look around to things like the new events committee and the recent hospitality offers for season ticket holders to see that the club are trying to bring in revenue where they can .... Is that to increase what they already get, or might the more cynical amongst us think that it is to try and make ends meet due to a downturn in matchday revenue linked to lower crowds ...... probably a bit of both in the end. I know I keep harping on about it, but this is where I feel that Boardroom Banter can help and I am glad that the likes of Grassa, Kenny Cameron and others have climbed back on board so to speak. Initially there may be little asked of the club except the issues that annoy fans, but over time, I expect it will evolve and people may feel more comfortable with making positive suggestions that will help not only themselves but also the club. I am in the middle of collating the questions for issue 2 and there are already a few comments made that are actually suggestions for revenue building or helping with atmosphere .... and that to me is what it should be all about .... not just grumbles, but also suggestions on how to fix the things we grumble about, or how to help the club make more money without necessarily dipping into people's pockets.

They were still around the tunnel area a few weeks ago (most of the ones I am referring to anyway).

I think we have a similar problem Pompey ... we are but occasional visitors to see the football in person and rely on audio/video or postings on here to get our fix. If we were watching it more regularly in person, we might be as disgruntled as some supporters. Its not just the results, its the manner of those results and also the addition of some of the other issues like parking, stewarding etc that taken as a whole seem to be making the atmosphere and matchday experience very flat. I have been to only two games in 2008 - both against Kilmarnock, both excellent victories, and both were games where we played very well. However, the thing that shocked me was the complete and utter lack of atmosphere in the main stand. I know some call them sweetie rustlers, but I sat there above the tunnel for many years and we had our fair share of banter with each other and with opposing managers/subs and also with stewards and club officials above and below us. This appears to have gone and people seem hesitant to make a noise ..... is it fear of being chucked out? Is it the product on the park? (wouldnt have thought so for the two games I saw), or is it something else? Whatever it is, it needs looked at urgently or the *18.5% drop in attendances over the first six home games compared to last season will only get worse. * First six last year = 30449 [Rangers, Dundee Utd, Hearts, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Motherwell] First six this year = 24797 [Hamilton, Hibernian, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Celtic, Motherwell] +/- qty = -5652 +/- % = -18.56%

Where do you get 4959 ? 16/08/2008 Inverness 0 - 1 Hamilton 3,595 23/08/2008 Inverness 1 - 1 Hibernian 4,022 13/09/2008 Inverness 1 - 2 St Mirren 3,501 27/09/2008 Inverness 3 - 1 Kilmarnock 3,426 18/10/2008 Inverness 1 - 2 Celtic 7,143 25/10/2008 Inverness 1 - 2 Motherwell 3,110 6 home games total crowd 24,797 average crowd (all) 4132 [53% of ground capacity] average crowd (excl OF) 3531 [45% of ground capacity] I havent got last weeks stats from other sides added to the leaguepad program I use but I believe this is the LOWEST average in the SPL and in terms of % of ground filled on a weekly basis only Kilmarnock (36%) and Motherwell (41%) are lower but they both have far larger capacities (just over 18K and just under 14K respectively). Of teams with a similar sized stadium to ours, Falkirk at just shy of 7000 capacity are filling 80% of seats, St Mirren with 8000 are filling 64%, and Hamilton with 6000 are filling 70%.

Wyness was not the worst player on the park against Falkirk(?) when his contract offer was withdrawn. Brewster made a scapegoat of Wyness over a very poor team display indeed. Part of the reason Wyness hadn't scored in four months at the time was due to injury. I think it was established at the time that the contract offer was withdrawn after Wyness' agent came back at the 11th hour and tried to change the deal. This was the one (only?) statement made at the time of the incident that was not denied by one side or the other. True but it didn't stop Brewster citing Wyness' lack of form at the time. I think it was Bennet that cited the agent being at fault. Is Brewster anything to do with contract negotiations? If not, why make a statement to the press about something he knows nothing about? (That said he does make regular reference to "tactics" after games so there'd be nothing new there ) I know it happened a while ago but something still doesn't smell right about the whole thing. Wyness was a settled man, who at a few months notice, upped and left to move to Paisley. Just doesn't add up for me. It was GB that made that statement and as I mentioned, it was the only one I can recall which was not denied by one side or the other. That - to me - speaks volumes. There may be more to it, I don't know, but the fact that GBs statement was not vehemently denied by the agent made it "case closed" as far as I was concerned. RE: Contracts - As far as I am aware, GB handles the contract negotiations, CB just indicates who he wants these negotiations to be with !!!

This is a problem that Kilmarnock are trying to figure out !!! Its not just an ICT problem.

Now 1 point off bottom and 4 off 5th. The only saving grace in this at the moment is that Hamilton have a -9 goal difference and ours is only -2. However, that only comes into play if we actually have the same points as them at the end of the season !!! Wyness was not the worst player on the park against Falkirk(?) when his contract offer was withdrawn. Brewster made a scapegoat of Wyness over a very poor team display indeed. Part of the reason Wyness hadn't scored in four months at the time was due to injury. I think it was established at the time that the contract offer was withdrawn after Wyness' agent came back at the 11th hour and tried to change the deal. This was the one (only?) statement made at the time of the incident that was not denied by one side or the other. Yup, heard that too. I am close to agreeing with this summary. Thats an interesting idea/combination.

Agree with a lot of what has been said on here, especially CaleyD's last post. Just wanted to add my tuppenceworth in on a couple of points. Unfortunately this statement is true. There are quite a number of disgruntled fans whether people want to acknowledge that or not. For many people, their "disgruntlement" manifests itself silently, the Highland way, and there is nothing said, but it can be seen in the gate figures. I don't think we are talking about thousands of people here. We dont have a huge fan base, so its more likely to be a few hundred. However, because of our small fanbase, a few hundred stay-aways - for whatever reason - damages the club. I actually believe the club are aware of this and a few people have recognised that it needs to be addressed. For example, the recent creation of the events committee seems to be designed to make sure events are co-ordinated and dont overlap as thay have in the past and are more varied in nature. That events committee is trying to create events that will be of interest to various demographiics in our support whether that be the "normal" fan, season ticket holders, kids, or corporate sponsors and hopefully they will succeed in bringing in more cash. I also believe that things like Boardroom Banter have been reinstated because some within the club realise communication with fans is abysmal and they want to get back to where we were in lower division days when fans could ask questions or make suggestions, and then receive answers or thanks for their ideas and actually feel valued and listened to. We have asked for this to be reinstated since it ended a few years ago and have always met with resistance. Perhaps we were asking the wrong person, but the last time we asked, the response - as you all know - was a lot more positive than the previous dozen or more times !!! Where I don't believe the club have made any headway is on matchdays. Lets leave performance aside for now - thats a whole other subject - and concentrate on the "ambience". The matchday experience is pretty ropey. We have facilities that are substandard or uninviting (car park, shop, concourse, eateries). We have stewards whose only aim in life seems to be enforcement of a policy that dictates fans are all troublemakers and each and every one should be "encouraged" to behave rather than enjoy, and we have no real "entertainment" before or after the football to encourage people to come along early or to make a day of it. What would I do ? 1. Fix the car park: I understand we can't put tar down because it has implications on the tax payable for the land but surely we can figure out a way to make it less frustrating to get in/out. I heard a couple of suggestions on my last trip home and I think it was Govan Jaggie who suggested on the BB thread this past week, but there is a simple cone & tape procedure used elsewhere that seems to work ... might be worth a try ! 2. Relocate the club shop inside the stadium for match days. There must be somewhere where merchandise can be sold whilst the game is taking place. At half-time people are milling around, waiting in queues etc .... they might buy something if there was a chance. As an internal club shop in the concourse would not be accessible during the week, experiment with a stall or small shop in Eastgate on a short term lease. 3. Paint the concourse to make it appear more inviting, or hang a few classic action shots of the team ... something to brighten up the dull and dingy look while you are waiting for your (burnt or dried up) pie. Add TVs so that you can see half-time results from other games, or show a live feed of what is going on at pitch level. 4. See what options are available for eateries. Is it more staff in the same serving hatches or might there be an opportunity to add more vendors and therefore more variety. If space inside is limited, then why not use outside space (which would also solve the bugbear of "normal" fans who like a smoke and get frustrated when they see hospitality patrons being allowed to go outside). If the club are worried about people getting in without tickets then make it a condition that they have a stub to go out/in. 5. Stewarding needs to be consistent and applied evenly throughout the ground. If away fans are being allowed to stand, then home fans cannot be penalised for the same thing. Stewards should also realise that although we will have the odd ****hole causing bother or needing some additional "encouragement" to behave, the vast majority are customers who are not there to cause trouble after paying what sometimes amounts to a small fortune to get into the ground with friends/family. Treat them accordingly. 6. Entertainment. Every matchday should be an experience that has the potential to last from morning to early evening. Perhaps there might be some mileage in having an inter-school competition each week throughout the season with local schools playing off against each other either before the match starts or in 5 a sides at half-time (or both). Having a school comp before the game would encourage kids and their parents, as well as other fans, to come down early and enjoy. Once the kids have finished playing, give them free tickets to watch the ICT game. Not sure what could be done at half-time but some more varied things perhaps than the flybe challenge. After the game is over, might there be any mileage in playing the reserve games ? Because of distances involved, this is what Toronto FC do and thousands of TFC fans stay behind to watch them (and buy more food/drink). these are just a few ideas on each of the points I highlighted as being bad - I am sure there are many more ideas out there but if the club start remembering that despite its unique nature, football is still a business, and fans are exceedingly "brand loyal" customers they will improve. If not, then crowds will be an issue forever and customers may choose to switch brands (unlikely) or just not buy as much product (whats happening now). I think all that needs be said on this is ...... look at the comments after the Celtic game (a loss but a good performance) or the Kilmarnock game (a nice win) and compare them to this weekend or any other weekend where we suffered a disappointing loss. What worries me is the consistency. How can a team that performs so well in the games I mentioned produce guff the next week ?

attendance 3110 ... 270 Motherwell fans.

ICT -V- MOTHERWELL Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, 3:00pm Audio Coverage The Game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan...a/inverness.ram (Worldwide) Open All Mics: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan.../sportsound.ram (Worldwide) Livescores BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ext/default.stm SKY - http://live.skysports.com/ScoreCentre/live.html P&J - http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/MatchComm....aspx/Inverness SportBox - http://www.sportbox.tv/football/matchcentr....php?id=1203631 Sporting Life - http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live_match/168040.html Lineups (click for full size image)