Scotty

Seems the early candidates are Spartans Annan Athletic Preston Athletic Cove Rangers I would guess at spartans being the early favourites. dont know much about Annan (other than we humped them in the cup once) or Preston but can see Cove losing out because the members may feel the highland league has had their fair share in the last 15 years with ICT, County, Elgin, Peterhead all moving to SFL or SPL.

Yes indeed - McCulloch's goal was indeed a cracker and very important at the time. As much as I enjoy any ICT goal, I have to say that out of the clip in the first post I find myself liking Russell Duncan's strike as one of the best ... a superb effort from distance and if he were Brazilian we would all be raving about how good it was.

"......Marius Niculae - who plays for Inverness ... where they speak the most perfect english in the UK ... but will Romania ever be as good as England, who won the world cup in 1966 and whose absence from this tournament devalues it somewhat ....." oops, you wanted real ones ..... will keep an eye out for some :004:

Actually dont think Richard fares that badly on here. Most - but not all - can see past the error in judgement he made in playing for County and because he has been pretty solid since we entered the SPL, most have also forgiven him for that error :004: On the Canadian side, and their fan message boards (which I can assure you can be a lot more vicious than the worst we allow on here) it was interesting to note that many people were loudly lambasting his selection by the new Canadian coach for the Gold Cup last year but had changed their tune by the end of it and were lauding him as having a good tournament especially when he showed some excellent leadership, grit and determination in the final that Canada had stolen from them by a refereeing performance that makes McDonald or McCurry look like they have the ability of Collina !!! Canadian fans used to have him on the hitlist as the player they wanted gone first, he is seldom if ever mentioned in those terms now as he has been putting in excellent performances at the heart of central defence for the team. With 46 caps, only Pat Onstad (GK), Paul Stalteri (D), and Dwayne De Rosario (MF) of the current squad are ahead of him in games played for Canada and a couple more games will take him into Canada's all time top 20 of most capped players (highest is 82 [source: http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/nationals/...t=10d&sub=3]).

totally agree (i mentioned his leadership in another thread) ... just dont think its gonna happen

At least you said older and not the fat git, yes it is myself with Marius and Mutu I figured I would get away with "older" ... anything else would be pot/kettle :004:

I assume you are the 'older guy' on the left of your avatar Steve !!! not Marius or the other guy in the see-through "right said fred" style shirt :015:

LA had Beckham and Donovan missing on international duty, Toronto had 6 of their normal starting 11 missing. MLS really have to figure out how to read the international calendar as they make absolutely no allowances for international games ..... having said that ... happy with 2-0 and another good attendance. (Scarlet - apart from enlightened Canadians, we also have many ex-pat Europeans/South Americans in Toronto who love their football !!!) If the next world superstar is hiding in Tiree as opposed to Timisoara then so be it ..... I just think it would be less insular and short-sighted to actually make use of the features/benefits the club can offer - including transportation links - to attract players to the club.

Yes thats right .... but I seem to remember at the time when County were promoted, the question was asked as to why there wasnt just 2 up and none down and it was said that the rules dictated that there must be a team relegated. When Airdrie went bust they were regarded as the relegated team so its all consistent (for a change).

If we want to sign players from England then I have said it before ... lets look at areas that have direct air links to Inverness and find some way to offer the players a bit of a sweetener by way of including a few air tickets for them to get down the road a few times during the year ..... Inverness is not far when you only have to travel an hour or two !!! Also - lets use Niculae to our advantage !!! Here we have a current international player who will (hopefully) be strutting his stuff at Euro 2008 and maybe getting the name ICT mentioned a few times ..... Just as some players might think we are a wee team in the middle of nowhere because of their lack of knowledge, Inverness suddenly becomes a bit more attractive when players are told that we have two current international players, one of whom is playing in Euro 2008 !!! Some see Marius as a millstone around the ICT neck ... in this instance he could be a benefit to the club !!!

I would imagine so ... he has been used in central defence since the Gold Cup and done pretty well. He is certainly in the squad.

Think the rules state that the bottom team must be relegated ..... Didnt County also gain a promotion in 3rd place one year .......

Thats why I used the word coach :004:

I think that if ICT keep him for next season we may just see the best out of him. He was at a low ebb when he came here, both in terms of fitness and morale. The work permit issue did nothing to help matters, and the early expectations placed upon him when clearly not fit, didnt do any good either. If he has a decent Euro2008 and is still an ICT player come season 08/09 then I think we may see a different, more confident, and far more effective Marius. He is now seen as a success again, he has scored more goals than he has for the last few seasons, he is back in the national squad and his confidence must have been restored. From what I hear - like Don Cowie - he actually wants to be at Inverness because he is happy here and that is important to him. If he is played in the right system - and despite his constant berating of the guy, I think IHE has actually made a lot of fair comments about this subject in amongst some of his less fair ones - then he will flourish and be yet another example of ICT resurrecting a career that had stalled ........ (maybe that should be our unique selling point to players we try to sign !!!) I hope our board can see past the "political" issues that seem to be driving him out of ICT and make a decision based on football. I hope to get to at least one game during season 08/09 and it would please me immensely if Marius was still in an ICT shirt. As for Larsson - I dont think Marius is feted as much as he was and to be fair, he doesnt deserve that amount of adulation (yet). Larsson, pound for pound is the best ever signing that any team in Scotland has ever made in my opinion. 650K for a guy who did what he did in his time at Celtic is unbelievable.

I cant comment on the player because I know nothing about him whatsoever but i see three positives in this "failure" 1. We seem to be actively looking at players. 2. We seem to be doing it quietly which gives us a chance not to get involved in bidding wars. 3. We are looking further afield than Ross County. Tend to agree with 4ize in that we cannot afford to be looking down our noses at other teams. We all love ICT, we all think they are the best thing since sliced bread, and we can all be proud of what we have achieved since 1994 which culminated in getting to the highest level in our country. but lets have a reality check ... We may be in the "Premier League" ... but it is the Scottish Premier League and whether we like it or not, or are prepared to admit it or not, outside the big two, it is a very poor relation to most of the leagues in England and on a different planet when compared to the English Premiership. For those who write a player off just because they come from a lower league, I have two words for you ....... Dougie Imrie playing Junior Football not that long ago and now a regular starter for an SPL side .... His performances over the last few months also saw him shoot up the POY rankings that fans on here vote for based on performance ..... Sure, he is raw, but his talent can be worked upon and that seems to be happening. One of the things that made me question some of the doubts I have about Brewster was seeing how he cajoled, encouraged and coached him through the one game I saw in person this season ... If Brewster has the ability to spot a raw talent like Imrie (or someone else from lower leagues in England or Scotland) and then mould that talent into a decent player, then maybe, just maybe, we may actually prove to have a good coach on our hands ....

If I were a Gretna fan I might disagree with what I am going to say but I think the football authorities have bent over backwards to treat them fairly. [li]When they went into administration they were docked 10 points by the SPL, effectively relegating them (or demoralising them to a point where relegation was not mathematically assured but pretty much inevitable). You could argue the rights and wrongs of this and use Motherwell or Livingston as examples of teams that managed to avoid the penalty but ultimately they were treated within the rules. Whose fault is it that they went into administration? .... It is the club's fault and also Brooks Mileson who withdrew his backing. It was not the SPL's fault even if they did contribute by making them play away from home. However, Gretna didnt do themselves any favours there either. ICT were in the same boat a couple of years earlier and moved heaven and a lot of earth to make sure the TCS could be SPL compliant ASAP. The result ... the SPL let us play there once it was ready. If Gretna had done anything to Raydale to make it compliant, I am sure the SPL would have done the same. [/li] [li]The SPL bent over backwards to keep the team operational until the end of the season. We have all heard the parachute payments were paid in advance, and Motherwell also contributed by reducing the ground rent at Fir Park despite having to relay the turf near the end of the season. This was quite obvious self preservation from the SPL as having to expel Gretna would have caused all sorts of controversy in deciding the league title, final positions etc and it was in the SPL's interest to keep them going. I read this week on one of the news sites that the SPL also came to a deal to pay players' salaries to the end of season .... not sure if this was with the parachute payment but bottom line, rules were severely bent to accomodate and keep Gretna limping along to the end of season. [/li] [li] The SFL sought assurances that the now relegated Gretna - who at one point could not confirm they would fulfill all their SPL fixtures - would be able to do this in Division 1. With no realistic rescue package in sight, and the administrators unable to confirm anything one way or the other, they did the only thing they could within their rules which was to demote the team to the lowest division and protect their other members who deserve to know exactly who they are playing next season so they can prepare for it. Anything else would have been unfair and would have caused untold chaos had Gretna pulled out a few games into the season and the SFL had to consider promoting other teams. Again, this is not the fault of the SFL or the other teams but of Gretna themselves who could not give assurances that they would not make a mess of the SFL like they could have done to the SPL [/li] [li] The SFL have also said they only have until next week to confirm participation or face expulsion. Again, I have no problem with this as the bottom division teams also have a right to know what is happening. We could say that Gretna should be allowed to stay in the league and drop it to 9 teams if they pull out, but lets face it, Div3 teams get small enough crowds as it is and the loss of two home games for each side wouldnt help much [/li] Incidentally - I see Cove Rangers are positioning themselves for an application .... http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/664743/

confirmed on BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/t...tna/7426281.stm

Guess they didnt pay their internet bill either .... http://www.gretnafootballclub.co.uk

The explanation for this will make for interesting reading. I suspect we may be led down the path that its all because we broke the wage structure for one player but lets make this clear to those that might try that spin here and now .... A lot of people know some fairly detailed information about how his wages for two seasons have already been covered one way and another whether he is here for next season or not. The blame for any shortfall in the accounts cannot therefore be blamed on this one transaction. If there IS a substantial loss then I ask that the club do not treat the shareholders like mushrooms (kept in dark, fed on ****) but explain it without spin. Personally, I suspect that our abysmal cup runs will have had far more effect on the bottom line than one player.

ok. now that the final squad has been announced, further discussions can take place in this thread ..... http://www.caleythistleonline.com/communit...hp?topic=7033.0

Source: Reuters BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania coach Victor Piturca dropped Dinamo Bucharest striker Florin Bratu on Wednesday when he named his final 23-man Euro 2008 squad. He had already sent home injured midfielder Ovidiu Petre, goalkeeper Danut Coman and uncapped midfielder Ciprian Deac from his provisional squad for the June 7-29 tournament. Experienced 28-year-old Bratu had been in good form for his club at the end of the domestic championship but Piturca decided to leave him at home, according to the announcement on the Romanian soccer federation Web site (www.frf.ro). Midfielder Florentin Petre backed the decision, telling media: "I'm so sorry for Bratu but he must understand that Piturca's strategy probably meant he had to leave him at home." Bratu's omission suggests a return to a more defensive system, a successful strategy in the past for the counter-attacking Romanians. Romania, whose last qualification for a major event was at Euro 2000, are in Group C with France, Italy and the Netherlands. Petre said: "We have all lived through bitter times watching our opponents playing on TV. "The worst was that we failed to reach the (major) finals three times in a row, but not because we played worse than our opponents." Fellow midfielder Razvan Cocis of Lokomotiv Moscow said: "We want our play to offer fans the opportunity to celebrate our success on the streets, like they were doing when Gheorghe Hagi was playing." At the 1994 World Cup, Romania, led by Hagi, reached the quarter-finals. Squad: Goalkeepers: 1-Bogdan Lobont (Dinamo Bucharest), 23-Eduard Stanciou (CFR Cluj), 12-Marius Popa (Poli Stiinta Timisoara) Defenders: 2-Cosmin Contra (Getafe), 15-Dorin Goian (Steaua Bucharest), 14-Sorin Ghionea (Steaua Bucharest), 4-Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre), 17-Cosmin Moti (Dinamo Bucharest), 13-Cristian Sapunaru (Rapid Bucharest), 3-Razvan Rat (Shakhtar Donetsk), 22-Stefan Radu (Lazio); Midfielders: 5-Cristian Chivu (Inter Milan), 6-Mirel Radoi (Steaua Bucharest), 7-Florentin Petre (CSKA Sofia), 8-Paul Codrea (AC Siena), 20-Nicolae Dica (Steaua Bucharest), 16-Banel Nicolita (Steaua Bucharest), 19-Adrian Cristea (Dinamo Bucharest), 11-Razvan Cocis (Lokomotiv Moscow); Forwards: 10-Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina), 9-Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart), 21-Daniel Niculae (AJ Auxerre), 18-Marius Niculae (Inverness Caledonian Thistle).

He wants to stay .... A lot of the fans want him to stay .... Some club officials want him to stay .... It will be proven (eventually) that his wages are not the financial burden they are reported to be .... I can definitely see the problem :017: :017: :017: :017:

Surprise, surprise, where did you get that from Scotty the deepest darkest recesses of my addled brain ..... its a prediction :015:

"....... Goal from Marius Niculae........ Niculae plays his football for (little) Inverness in the SPL. Inverness is supposed to be one of the places where they speak the most perfect English in the land ... talking of English, I wonder whether this Romanian team will ever be good enough to win the world cup like England did in 1966 ........" descends into reminiscing about England, Beckham and how tournament is devalued without their presence ......

another wages discussion is off topic for this thread ...... (but the answer to that is yes).