Scotty

only visible in UK .... cant be bothered working around it ... sure it will surface on youtube or elsewhere.

forever to be called "Gardyning Leave" from now on ......

That is some coincidence !! ... or was that in the days of travel agents and you both used the same one so ended up in the same hotel?

Word has just reached me, and it is with great sorrow that I have to report that Colin Macfadyen, a good man, true gentleman, and previous landlord of the Innes Bar, passed away in Raigmore last weekend. [note: click images for full size] Colin was a big reason, maybe the only reason - other than Big Stewart moving across the road from the bar - that the supporters group, loosely formed by users on this website, and formerly housed in the Caley Inn moved to the Innes when Don and Bridgit sold the Caley Inn. Colin welcomed us with open arms and many a great night was had in there both drunken and sober! He retired from the bar a good few years ago now, and left it in the very capable hands we see it now, but there are so many fond memories of times there with Colin. I will raise a glass to you my friend, and drink from the nice malt you gave to myself and Christe that was bottled with our names on the label, and I will always treasure the embroidered flag you gave me for the Innes Bar ICT Supporters Club when I left for Canada in 2003. Just a couple of the many touching gestures over the years. I know others in our group, and the Innes Bar clientele can also speak to similar acts of generosity and friendship. I had actually come across Colin many times over the years before we moved in there with the CTO supporters ... first as a darts player, playing against the Innes (for the Loch Ness) in the Mike Sutherland days and then as the secretary of the (IDPA) pool league delivering fixtures and again playing against one of his pool teams on a regular basis. It was always a good time in the Innes and that came from the attitude, kindness and demeanour of the host. You always felt welcome. Rest in Peace my friend. You will be truly missed. Trying to find a good picture of Colin - I know I have some - but this seemed fitting. While all the folks are in the foreground enjoying things, Colin can be seen in the background making sure those things worked flawlessly ......

Hamilton, Ontario 🙂 Great nostalgic footage ... that was some team back then.

and the groups ...... Portugal / Italy / Turkey / North Macedonia Scotland / Wales / Austria / Ukraine Russia / Sweden / Czech Republic / Poland So i predicted 10 of 12 teams correctly .... That's pretty much one of the best draws we could have hoped for ... ties that are winnable .... A victory over Ukraine at Hampden would set us up nicely for another memorable night against the Welsh .... I remember Archie McPherson's commentary ... but that sent me down a rabbit hole because I thought he had uttered those famous words "Argentina here we come ..." turns out that was Arthur Montford on STV : Wales 0 Vs Scotland 2 - WATCH THE RARE ARTHUR MONTFORD COMMENTARY. 1977 - YouTube Now I am in an endless loop of watching Scotland goals !!! Kenny Dalglish scored some crackers but James McFadden against the French, with Gordon McQueen in the SKY newsroom and the Radio Clyde guy going absolutely nuts is my favourite so far ! A slight edge over the Dave Narey 'toepoke'

If we take the concept rather than any of the individuals - past or present - out of the discussion then the best place for a noisy section is right behind the goals. Look at a lot of clubs and with only a few exceptions, the loudest and most raucous sections are right there. Not only does it fire up our players, but it can also be distracting to the opposition when defending their own goal. Looks good on TV too when we score at our own end and there is a load of celebrating fans. I can only go back to my Toronto experience for this kind of thing and we have had - from day 1 - a 'supporters section'. This started off as two sections of one of the stands, but is now an entire stand at the south end of BMO Field. Expanding it did involve moving people but they had the option to stay or to be relocated. Most stayed as it is the cheapest stand in the stadium, and in that entire section fans are encouraged to stand, wave flags, make noise etc. I've had my season ticket in here since 2007 and its brilliant. (Pre-Covid) It was always full, people trying to sneak in and join the fun, and although somewhat self-policing there are also rules with consequences. Some of the supporters groups have fallen foul of those rules and people were kicked out, even arrested and/or banned, but on the whole the different supporters groups work with the club to stick within the rules. It took work, but the drums came in as did controlled smoke (as opposed to early attempts by fans to use road flares!) ... Nowadays, the players are even involved and after a victory you will often see them come down to the South end, pull the drum out of the crowd and one of the players will lead the 'viking chant' (another Motherwell reference I guess) while banging the drum. Even in a stadium with close to 30K fans, the players always say how important it is to them to have that South end being raucous and loud .... the rest of the stadium is not silent but sitting (and by extension sweetie rustling) tends to tone down the atmosphere in those sections. I've had a few ICT supporting friends at TFC over the years and they all commented on the atmosphere! As for using bad language to justify not putting a supporters section behind the goal or away from a family section (in the past), I always thought that was wrong. Its a football game, not church, so you expect to hear some colourful language. I have been taking my son to TFC since he was about a year old ... I try to minimise my bad language when he is with me (or when I see other kids around) but unless someone is getting really foul mouthed on a constant basis then I am not going to get upset .... he hears the same thing on the school playground.

Probably contacted by a bidder to clarify if it was signed or not and had the bid withdrawn when it came back unsigned. Now the disclaimer to say unsigned so no-one can say they didnt know.

I agree they should not need to comment on any baseless rumours .... but once those rumours reach a critical mass and are coming from multiple directions, then it needs to be addressed. Our club - like almost any football club - is a sieve when it comes to keeping info and gossip quiet or secret. Too many people who want to share their "knowledge" whether it is true or not. We are not exactly renowned for our communication skills and the original question earlier in this thread about minutes from more than 2 months ago is indicative of that. Either commit to communication, or do not ... I've been through that a few times over the decades where various combinations of the club, ourselves and at times, the media all collaborated to have regular bi-directional communication channels with supporters which started well and then tailed off, always on the club side .... and this feels very much like deja-vu.

If there is a problem with an individual then its as simple as it has always been. no-one is (or ever has been) bigger than the team and they have to go unless management can resolve the issue internally. We don't need to know the details, even if we want to, especially if they are salacious, but they need to handle it and communicate that, even if its a simple one line sentence saying its been dealt with internally, or that someone has had a contract terminated by mutual consent etc. We are still right up there in the league and an internal problem festering from within can derail that pretty quickly .... We have seen that before, and I have seen that this year with Toronto FC ... [League runners up last year despite playing all games behind closed doors in Florida, to 2nd bottom of the entire two division table this year ... 2 coaches in a season, 3 designated players who hardly saw any game time together, and the highest payroll in the entire league ... rumours of disfunction in the dressing room after the 1st manager suspended one of the fan favourites and the replacement manager reinstated him after he took over. A season where many of the players just looked like they were going through the motions] .... I dont want that to happen at ICT so whatever the issue is then get it sorted, one way or another and move on.

So the 6 seeded teams are : Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Russia, Sweden and Wales . The 6 unseeded teams are : Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, North Macedonia, Austria and Czech Republic . My prediction for the 3 x 4 team groups .... given that these always seem to have some level of political intrigue and regional bias Portugal / Italy / Turkey / North Macedonia - POR-v-TUR, ITA-v-NMA Scotland / Wales / Austria / Czech Republic - SCO-v-AUS, WAL-v-CZR Russia / Sweden / Ukraine / Poland - RUS-v-UKR, SWE-v-POL Any way you slice and dice it, it will be a hard game or two and other teams may feel they want us as the weakest seed in their group!

Why do I think we draw Portugal if we get through the first seeded round !

Its nice to see us reaching the Euros and now getting into the playoffs ... its not that long ago that our interest in the qualifiers died completely after 2 or 3 matches when we knew we would finish 3rd at best in a group ... Here's hoping we can do well against the Danes and our eventual playoff opponents. My dream -- for Scotland to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in USA/Canada/Mexico and for them to be based in Canada and facing Canada (or anyone for that matter) at BMO Field in Toronto! [no divided loyalties - Kilt and Scotland top are stored for just such an occasion]

Yup, its a big deal over here .... We had literally no-one last year and a big sign on the door saying 'sorry' due to COVID so this year the kids were out in force ... must have been 200+ came to the door in the space of about 90 minutes before we totally ran out of stuff to give out. But we did keep some back for the little guy who didn't want to go out himself. A few photos from this afternoon before it got dark ... and one of the pumpkin i carved earlier which just had the equivalent of a pound store multi-coloured tea light in it. To me it looked more impressive that a couple of animatronic things we had (ghost and spider) but was the cheapest decoration we had !

If they will not engage with an official supporters body which holds a major shareholding (percentage wise if not quantity) and deems that body as not representative then who DO they see as representative of the fans? For me, it should start with the Trust and engagement should expand from there. IMHO - the club should be engaging with any fans groups ... be that the creators and listeners of the Wyness Shuffle, the Travel Club, the 'CaleyAway' supporters, CTO, or anyone else who emerges and takes the time to contribute to the club in a positive way either online or in person ... currently, all I have heard of the club interacting with is the hand-picked steering committee and that seems to have died a death also - or at least is not being reported. I can only talk to experience with the level of engagement we have had with the club which has varied over 27 years ..... It was pretty good for about 20 years overall ... but Rae and Crook chose to cut ties with this site over a personal beef/vendetta with CaleyD, and although I have spoken to the current chairman a few times about certain things and put them in contact with some individuals when they were looking at how to get rid of debt or get some ideas for income, they don't engage with us either. We remain open to any engagement with the club now that Rae and Crook are long gone and have continued sponsorship (which was going to be dropped under Rae and Crook) as a show of faith. While we may not have thousands of individual posters, we do have thousands of unique users who lurk on a monthly basis along with healthy page views so regardless of what anyone thinks, the posters on here, do represent a portion of the fans. We absolutely do not represent all fans, or even a majority, and have never claimed to do so, but those who come on here are engaged, just like other groups tend to have people who are engaged and interested in the club. Every group can claim to represent a portion (but not all) of the fans and together, I would argue that all the various groups, pages or organisations represent a lot of the fans and should all be encouraged. Over here (at Toronto FC) we have a multitude of supporters groups within the (approx 30K) season ticket holders and the club interact with any and all that are recognised as an established and active group within the supporters section of the stadium. We have supporters group meetings where leadership of each group meet (together) with the club in an open forum to discuss things we can do for the club together and concerns the club may have about things (behaviour, flares/smoke etc.) and on a yearly basis (pre-COVID) there were events at the stadium where its open to all members of these groups and we got to hear club overview and plans and also got to do a Q&A with a few of the players ... that's what got my little guy fully engaged when he met up with a few of the senior players .. and has since cost me thousands in getting him signed up for TFC juniors coaching .. so that little bit of engagement got them revenue in another stream .... Something ICT could and should do ... and to be fair, something it looks like they are trying if little articles here and there about partnerships and sponsorships are ongoing.

Problem with googling 'Top 5' of anything like VPN (or hosting) is that the various providers typically setup multiple sites where their product comes out on top ... or at least gets a great review. CNET or other independent sites are a good indicator. For VPN, the ones that work tend to have a cost.

I have used VPNUK before for this site when OAM was on each week. Never had any issues with them. Have not had subscription for 2 or 3 years now so not sure of recent performance : VPNUK : VPN Personal IP Specialists : Welcome to VPNUK . According to reviews IPVANISH is a good option for Scotland because unlike some services whose UK servers are in England, IP Vanish gives you the option to use servers in Glasgow. I have never tried them but would be interested in knowing details if someone has .... Opera browser also has inbuilt VPN which can use 'European' server. Not sure how effective it would be for streaming though as sometimes this only changes the IP address but the underlying info remains the same. Its not good enough to fool the BBC for example.

Jake Mulraney got the opening goal of the game for Atlanta tonight in their 2-1 defeat against Montreal.

Whilst it would not have been possible to attend anyway, I find it a little strange that no documents, proxy forms, accounts, or notice of AGM was received. I usually get this well in advance of any meeting .... did others receive this? Maybe it got delayed in the post. Agree with others though ... its better than expected after the last 18 months of pandemic affected football.

My guess is they are paying his wages - or sponsoring the cost somehow. Good thing to have if we want to improve. positive step.

not to be greedy but can you request a couple more?

3-1 Aaron Doran 🙂 🙂 🙂

2-1 Shane Sutherland 🙂

1-1 Broadfoot

anything we get is gravy ... it would be nice to get a hefty slice of a high fee but even at £1m or £2m then we would still benefit to the tune of 6 figures. My understanding is that we had a "very good" sell-on clause. As noted, if he goes for free at end of contract then we get the same percentage but even 100% of £0 is still £0 !