Jump to content

Scotty

08: Site Admin
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    22,606

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    249

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Scotty

  1. Scotty

    Sponsorship

    Scotty replied to lizi's topic in Caley Thistle

    Ok, just to close the loop on this one... Keith was in touch with me yesterday and the explanation was acceptable and makes sense. In my opinion, it would have been better to give us a quick update at the time, or at the start of playoffs, but I can see how those playoffs and then the players going on break literally the next day could impact things. Good to see they have also acknowledged the lack of 'functions' during the last couple of seasons, and again, with COVID, not entirely within their control... If I have one suggestion for Keith (and anyone else at ICT) it is simply to communicate with us, and by 'us' I mean the broader ICT support whether on here, on social media, via the Trust, in email, podcast, or some other way. Plenty of avenues open to the club and almost all of them biased in the club's favour so no-one is looking to tear them down until they start shooting themselves in the foot! Here is what Keith sent: So we have 3 items to draw for our Player Sponsors and I will get that attended to. Will post the draw info once its done. As in previous years we will use randompicker to do this as the mods/admins are also sponsors. If anyone is interested in going to the event scheduled for August 23rd let me know. It is scheduled for 7pm so may be an issue for those outside of town, but if you are around, and part of our player sponsor group then let me know. if we get more names than are allowed to go then we would do a draw via randopmpicker the same way as for the other goodies Finally - based on the response above from Keith then we will try to continue sponsorship for this year and we would likely look to continue Cammy Harper's shirt, then Lewis Hyde away shirt (if we raise enough) . The form the club sent indicates the same cost as last year so £450 inc VAT for a Home shirt and less for lesser items. I will get a thread for this up and running soon. Our costs to site users would also be same as last year which is £16 per membership with users able to purchase multiple memberships if they wish.
  2. Scotty
    Scotty HT: 0-1 FT: 1-2 1st Scorer ICT: B.Mckay 1st Scorer KH: Higginbotham Crowd: 902 CDN Girl HT: 1-1 FT: 2-3 1st Scorer ICT: D.Mackay 1st Scorer KH: Tidser Crowd: 954 SOS HT: 0-0 FT: 0-1 1st Scorer ICT: Oakley 1st Scorer KH: Austin Crowd: 898
  3. Scotty
    until
    Inverness CT -V- Cove Rangers
  4. Scotty
    until
    Inverness CT -V- Albion Rovers
  5. Scotty
    until
    Livingston -V- Inverness CT Ticket Info : to follow - will be posted on official site https://ictfc.com Supporters Bus Info : Venue Info : https://livingstonfc.co.uk/stadium/find-us/
  6. Scotty
    until
    Kelty Hearts -V- Inverness CT Ticket Info : https://ictfc.com/ticket-info-kelty-hearts-a-09-07-2022 Supporters Bus Info : Venue Info : https://keltyhearts.co.uk/new-central-park/
  7. Scotty
    The evidence is anecdotal ... players whose careers are affected by this seem to just fade away ... they sign for lower league clubs or slip out of the game with little or no fanfare. Supporters might not notice, or turn around and say they 'found their level' like was said about Rory McCallister, and indeed some of it may be just that, in the same way as you might only get 1 or 2 out of 100 academy kids reaching the first team but burnout does happen. You say Rangers did it - very true, but both them and Celtic cherry pick youngsters from all around the leagues not just their own academy so I would argue the stats there may be skewed. Best example I can think of in world football of burnout like this would be Freddy Adu, but like I said, i see it myself at Toronto over the last two years especially. Luke Singh was - in my opinion - almost ruined by our former boss after being expected to play in the first team every week. He got hung out to dry for a poor performance after 6 or 7 weeks as he wasnt mentally ready to play every week, and his head went down. He was dropped after that last appearance and we havent seen him since. He is now on loan at FC Edmonton in the tier below MLS. Our new boss Bob Bradley has a lot of youngsters in the squad, and although he is trying to manage their minutes more closely, has little alternative but to rely on youth a lot as he rebuilds. That comes with challenges of enthusiastic but inexperienced performances, as well as the risk of burnout. It doesnt take much to shatter a young player's confidence. Bottom line is I am not saying we should not play the youngsters, but lets manage our own expectations. Every player cant be Ryan Christie or Daniel Mackay and we are more likely to see half a dozen who are competent and grow into the role more slowly - or not at all. I was impressed with what I saw of Hyde towards the end of last season so provided we have coaches who will mentor and develop these types players that's fine ... but its not the answer to all our issues or budgets.
  8. Scotty
    We can bring them through, but you have to be careful. There is the adage that if you are good enough, you are old enough, and i loosely agree with that, but its been shown time and again that the vast majority of academy graduates or youth players are neither physically or mentally ready to play every game. Their minutes have to be managed and there needs to be a balance. Otherwise you run the risk of wrecking a career before its even begun. I see the same thing week in and week out at Toronto these days ... There are 11 academy graduates (and several other u-22 players who came from elsewhere) in the 30 man first team squad (currently 27/30 in the squad) and in some games we have seen 6 or more of them start as Bob Bradley rebuilds from the clusterf*** of having Chris Armas as our manager in 2020/21 (the same guy labelled Ted Lasso at Man Utd this year). Players like Ralph Priso, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Jayden Nelson, Kosi Thompson, and Deandre Kerr have all seen significant game time this year and are all under 19. All of them are exciting talents with (just turned 18yo) Jahkeele deemed most likely to perhaps emulate Alphonso Davies who went from Vancouver to Bayern Munich and lit up the Bundesliga. These are players who I would definitely label as "good enough". The others I counted are all under 22 and have also seen a lot of game time simply because of how MLS works ... Bradley cut-out the deadwood late last year and signed some players to replace them, but MLS player and squad rules being what they are you cant do it in one fell swoop regardless of how much money you have (and Toronto are wealthy). Until July 7th Bradley can sign no more players as that's when the transfer window opens in MLS. Lorenzo Insigne has already arrived from Napoli and lots of rumours about other players but the 5 I mentioned above are still likely to see a lot of time on the park. What I have noticed from all of the youngsters, including the 5 teenagers, is that they certainly have the skill, and the athleticism of youth, but in some cases they just cannot physically match up to bigger and older players as they simply haven't fully developed physically yet. They also don't have the guile or experience to draw or get away with fouls or to see a plan or a run from other players in the same way that an older player can and that can lead to needless errors and ultimately heads going down. They will get there, but when the club was going through last season and the first third of this season, and losing a lot of games, the errors got worse and the players form dipped. Last year, you could see it with one particular player who was played a lot and this year he has had to go out on loan to rebuild confidence as it was shattered ... but at least the manager does see potential in him rather than cutting him loose like would and does happen at some clubs ...
  9. Scotty
    How long until we see @IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER wearing it and singing Oh-2-be !!
  10. Scotty
    For some reason I am getting caught up on the use of the word 'bespoke'. Its not bespoke, its off-the-rack, which is the complete opposite. How many people throw that word around to make things sound pretentious and don't bother realising that, when referring to clothes, it means custom tailored, hand made, or at the far end of the definition ...made-to-measure even if those measurements are then entered into a machine to cut the fabric . Cant see anyone tailoring the shirts on the rack for each buyer so its just a shirt! Ok, rant over - as for the shirt itself, kinda like it, even as a Dalneigh boy who went to Telford Street. We were the self-titled Barcelona of the North with the red/blue one, now we are also AC Milan .. so Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovich in the next mashup photos of the kit please. Could sell thousands of them online. Now to hope they fixed the wording on the production version of the new home top ...
  11. Scotty
    Crosspost from the Nathan Shaw thread : We will see how he does ... Over the years we have had equal measure of turning jobbers into decent players for us - who then return to being jobbers when they move elsewhere - but we have also signed some out and out duds who never live up to whatever potential someone saw in them. There is a key phrase in that article for me and it is 3 simple words - "reignite his career" . The lad was playing for Celtic as a youngster and had played for Scotland youth before having to drop a couple of leagues after Hamilton so he's clearly not a bad player. However, that fall from the top level has got to hurt a little and of course the head can go down. The article talks about how he wants full time football ... if he wants it enough, then perhaps he is motivated to work hard and achieve it. Give the lad a chance and hopefully it works out for us (and him).
  12. Scotty
    We will see ... Over the years we have had equal measure of turning jobbers into decent players for us - who then return to being jobbers when they move elsewhere - but we have also signed some out and out duds who never live up to whatever potential someone saw in them. There is a key phrase in that article for me and it is 3 simple words - "reignite his career" . The lad was playing for Celtic as a youngster and had played for Scotland youth before having to drop a couple of leagues after Hamilton so he's clearly not a bad player. However, that fall from the top level has got to hurt a little and of course the head can go down. The article talks about how he wants full time football ... if he wants it enough, then perhaps he is motivated to work hard and achieve it. Give the lad a chance and hopefully it works out for us (and him).
  13. Scotty

    Sponsorship

    Scotty replied to lizi's topic in Caley Thistle

    last communication 9th July 2021 from Mavor and Keith with the invoice for Cammy Harper's home shirt and Lewis Hyde's home shirt (for younger players it was cheaper so just noted we would get a 'gift' as thanks not a shirt). No word on 2022/23 season or on the pickup/availability of 2021/22 items although we did get a thank you email when we paid the invoice
  14. Scotty
    Canada thought they would be the team who had the longest wait to get back in ... 1986 was their one and only appearance. 2022 is shaping up to be controversial though ... First the CSA (Canadian FA) scheduled a game against Iran for last weekend, without realising there are still some pretty raw and emotional diplomatic issues around the downing of Ukrainian Flight 752 in 2020, given that 55 of the 176 killed were Canadian citizens and a further 30 were Canadian residents. Then after they hastily rescheduled the opponent to be Panama, the team promptly went on strike due to issues over how the association plan to distribute the qualification monies from the world cup. The association - who could rival the SFA for parochialism - have offered a mere 10% of the millions in unexpected windfall payments to the squad and there is also disparity in how they treat the men's and women's teams as well as views on development monies. The teams are asking to be treated equally and for the prize fund to players to be set to 40% (in line with other top 50 nations apparently), and for the CSA to ensure that for Qatar the team's families do not have to pay their own way to the tournament (also standard for other nations). What should be a triumph for Canada in getting to the world cup, and then in potentially hosting about a quarter of the games for the next world cup in 2026 is rapidly descending into a farce that Ernie Walker would be proud of. https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/canada-mens-national-soccer-team-game-vs-panama-cancelled-amid-wage-dispute/
  15. Scotty
    Agree - and its not just at concert time. When we are planning a trip, which most recent visit excepted, is typically 6 or more months in advance, I could typically rent a house for a month for less than the cost of booking an average hotel room for a week. As a family we do prefer to do the whole AirBnB or VRBO thing and have some go-to rentals in Inverness that we check first ... but we also take a look at hotel offers and the costs are insane so they are quickly discarded. Does seem a bit top heavy on the face of things but all good points you raise. Provided the outlay is generating growing income and improving services then so be it ... we have never operated at a profit, always relying on a cup run or wealthy directors putting in a few pennies here and there. If we can use sponsorship, advertising board sales, and other non-football or non-matchday revenue generators then the outlay for staff to bring those deals in and make our offerings more professional may be worthwhile as that in itself may help get us closer to balancing the books. I am not going to crucify anyone on reducing an expected deficit in the middle of a pandemic when all of these things are challenging even in normal times but we do need to be mindful of it. Its a bit of a broken record, but if there is one area we are still lacking it is communication at some levels and there is no excuse for that. The club have their own website and social media to get things out there, they also have many other fan-based organisations or outlets that the as well.
  16. Scotty
    Good luck to Ukraine against Wales. By far the better team for large spells of this match. Thought Scotland were poor in the first half and - not because he is former ICT - I thought it was only when Christie came on and the midfield got more of a grip of the ball that our performance got better. Almost a grandstand finish, which would have been just like Scotland to do things the hard way, but unfortunately (like ICT in the STJ game) when you commit so many forward, you run the risk of conceding that late killer goal. Hope they do the business against the Welsh (no offence to Wales) and then light up the tournament at the end of the year. If they get there I think they will be a lot of people's sentimental choice and seem solid enough to do well. Oh well, at least Canada qualified so I have that to look forward to, and hopefully for Scotland to get to the 2026 world cup and maybe be based in Toronto!
  17. Scotty
    I think you nailed it from a fan perspective. (For me) it is all about the day out with the actual match being just a part of that. If you are going to go to the football then you are going to go whether its on TV or not in most cases. You might choose not to on a wet and windy night in January, but that decision might have been the same whether its on telly or not. If there is an ICT game on a Saturday afternoon but Celtic -V- anyone is live on TV then I am still going to the ICT game As I said in earlier posts, I could/would argue that removing the blackout could actually be better for some clubs. You may miss out on one or two folk in the local area who watch on telly, but you also broaden your potential viewership to a wider audience, in our case of users from the central belt and beyond as well as those outside the country who wouldn't go to the game anyway. If you can reach a critical mass so that it pays for itself then anything on top of that is just gravy
  18. Scotty
    @No Shin Guards - if you have an issue with how the site is managed, lets discuss this in another thread or via message system. As noted, by a couple of our mods, you are closing your own topics according to the site logs so no-one is shutting you down. However, your methodology and phraseology are familiar to me so lets not pretend here! As mentioned, you do bring some interesting points to the discussions, so lets focus on that, and not the misguided attempt to manufacture censorship that is not in existence.
  19. Scotty
    The 'leadership' of each supporters group at TFC have regular meetings (all groups at once) with the club to talk about things that are planned, or things that have arisen that need discussing. On the club side they get the "south end" filled for every game with flag waving supporters, banners, noise and smoke, all of which the players like and which is great for the marketing folks to use when advertising the club. They also get to tell us what "suggestions" or edicts have come down from MLS to the clubs. It was MLS who banned the streamers at corners for example, not the club. It was also the league who keep changing the bag policy which is now see-through bags only, no backpacks and a few other restrictions. They will also discuss any incidents that might occur which need resolved and where possible give the supporters group the ability to self-police to an extent. On the supporters side the club have done many things. Over and above making the sections all standing, where flags, banners and drums are encouraged, that have also assisted with the technical aspects of hanging TIFOs (which the supporters groups make), they have trained people up on the safe use of the smoke, they have allowed supporters groups to somewhat manage their own sections right down to season ticket level. For example, in an effort to stop touts getting tickets, all season ticket sales in the 'supporters section' are passed through the supporters groups to verify membership in the group before being processed by the club. This year, as they seek to get fans back in the ground post-pandemic, they have also created a supporters pub in a section of the stadium. Again, this requires membership of one of the supporters groups and the beers are $6 instead of $14 which is standard stadium price! Its not perfect and there are moments - on both sides - but for the most part it does work well.
  20. Scotty
    All of this reminds me of TFC early years L-R : The burned pitch I mentioned earlier. Unofficial Flares. 3 pics of corner kick madness in the first season (not allowed to do that anymore)
  21. Scotty
    The club have non-exclusive rights to broadcast their own games worldwide, subject to any local rules regarding UEFA (or other regional FIFA affiliated organizations) blackouts. The SFA have always requested that 3PM-5PM blackout period on a Saturday, hence why anything on telly then was before or after that time. This means that while the club could theoretically broadcast to Ireland, Europe, North America, Australia, they simply cannot do it within Scotland thanks to that SFA request and within England thanks to the FA request. While I would love them to broadcast to Canada on a Saturday, the cost to provide that service would far outweigh the potential revenue so there would be no benefit to them unfortunately. spot on.
  22. Scotty
    Agree it is good to see the club engage with them. From experience at Toronto FC I can say that this works for both parties when both sides are engaged. If one side disengages then that's when problems begin. There will always be numpties (on both sides) but provided the requests from both sides are sensible and rules are understood and followed, and any problems are discussed rationally, then it can work really well. The question about the roof was addressed in the interview with CEO. With the concerts going on at the stadium over the summer, and the stage being in that area, the cost to add, remove and add back were prohibitive. Would be nice to see it happen though once concert season is over and whether or not the design of the roof or indeed the placement of the stage could take account of occasional concerts.
  23. Scotty

    Sponsorship

    Scotty replied to lizi's topic in Caley Thistle

    and yet there is the opposite side of the coin with an article about Section 94 that gives some hope to the club working with fans and fostering this whole 'together...NESS' cliche ... seems like a bit of a disconnect somewhere in the mix between these two areas.
  24. Scotty
    Cant speak as someone with Asthma or any other respiratory condition but from personal experience, the "official" smoke used at Toronto FC nowadays is absolutely not as acrid as the smoke from flares or smoke bombs when it was unsanctioned and it also seems to dissipate faster in the air. I am assuming there were specific conditions or H&S considerations for the official smoke. Having said that, it does still hit the lungs if you are in amongst it so for an asthmatic it may not matter whether the smoke is sanctioned or unsanctioned. Those flares are brutal. Marine or road flares burn at an insane temperature and as you said, they are designed to still burn in water or on a rainy road so the only real way to put them out is to dump then in a bucket of sand. Most people who smuggle them in don't bring a bucket of sand so throw them to the touchline when they get too hot. I have experienced one flying over my head at an early TFC game and I was lucky .. these things drip like candle wax and if it gets on your skin you are pretty much guaranteed 3rd degree burns. I did not get any on me, but a woman closer to the pitch did and she got burned on the leg. It was a big story over here when combined with the $40K cost to replace a section of the pitch and directly led to more stringent security at TFC games (and an alcohol ban in our section for several years!)
  25. Scotty
    The carer by the look of it : According to this page with single game tickets : https://ictfc.com/prices and also this page that shows half-season tickets : https://ictfc.com/2021-22-half-season-tickets-on-sale-now New season ticket prices due to be released shortly according to the CEO so you may want to wait a week or two to see what's publicised for 2022/23 season.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy