Scotty

the phrase smoke and mirrors springs to mind .... as a poker player, do you show your hand to your opponents ?

We had a wide split of users who were either for/against Charlie Christie when he was appointed and there was still a wide split when he resigned. I was and always will be 100% supportive of Charlie's time as the manager of the club. He made some good decisions, he made some bad decisions, but every decision he made, including the decision to resign was always done with the good of the club at heart. So on to Brewster .... no he wasnt my first choice, and for various reasons, he probably wasnt my second, third or fourth choice but the fact of the matter is that he was given the job by people who know both him and how to run a football club better than I do (or have at least given a good impression of that over the last 14 years). Although he might not have been first choice on my list, it appears that many of us - myself included - may have had our judgement skewed when we bought into the spin about Warnock and others when the vacancy arose. However, none of what happened in that tumultous time was Brewster's fault. Because of that, he came to the club with many people disliking him for various reasons, some of his own making (previously leaving, DUFC record etc), some because of people's respect for CC and disappointment at his resignation, and some because the aforementioned spin made fans believe we had settled for second best. Since then he has probably had more negative scrutiny than any other ICT manager in history. Am i sure he is "still" the man for the job? As I said above .... I didnt think he was the man for the job in the first place and a couple of months into it I would have to say "I dont know". However, much like Charlie, I do believe we need to give him time before making a judgement. We have seen (or in my case heard) some good games where we played well, we have seen some bad games where we have played crap. A lot of us dont believe he makes the best use of substitutions or tactics but at the end of the day its dead easy being an armchair manager isnt it. So what will help me decide ? I will be interested to see how he reshuffles the pack in the next few games after last week's nonsense. That will go a long way to showing his ideas. I will be interested to see if he learns from each game and starts adapting his tactics during a match rather than doing like for like substitutions 10 minutes from the end. He did try to do that last week by bringing on Barry at HT but I think quite a few of us think he got it wrong ... however, at least he did try. I will be interested to see if he can get our players to play the ball on the deck where we have ALWAYS been better rather than go for the constant hoof (although he's not the only ICT manager guilty of that). I will be interested to see how he approaches the transfer window and who he might bring in (and get rid off). Someone commented that he hadnt even started looking. I have it on reasonably good authority that this is complete bull**** ! Now its time to give the guy a chance ......... One final thing to remember though ..... ICT may be a sporting organisation, but there is always a lot more politics going on in the background than most of us will ever know about and perhaps some can handle that a bit better than others !!! :004:

On the radio he said he said he (Tokely) was completely out of order - he let his team-mates down, he let the supporters down, he let himself down... From memory I'm pretty sure he also described him as a disgrace as well.... I kind of formed the opinion he wasn't best pleased with him... :023: see match report or this link ..... http://www.caleythistleonline.com/images/s...L_101107_CB.mp3 when asked about the red cards he had some sympathy for Bayne and then said "... and the second one from Ross Tokely is an absolute disgrace. He's disgraced his self and his team-mates, let them down badly, at a time where we'd a mountain to climb with ten men ... "

fair enough ... on all three :004:

1. He's 36 so only a short term solution. 2. He already turned us down. 3. This article seems to dispel that rumour.

What gives you the right to tell people to stay away from this or any other website just because you disagree with their views ? This IS, always has been and always will be a supporters site and the conversation on here is no different to many conversations you might hear in the stands during a game or in cars or pubs after the game. The only difference is that here it is written down for a wider audience to see. Over the years we have seen thousands of posters come and go - some always positive, some always negative and some who give out balanced opinions on both sides. When things are going well people come on and praise the team and likewise when things are not so good the post-mortems begin. In fact, as the club climbed the leagues, the board of directors, wanting to keep in touch with the fans were even happy to name us as the official club site for nearly 5 years. There were many factors that precipitated this site's (amicable) reversion to unofficial (fanzine) status and from my side one of the main ones was the plain and simple fact that when the club was promoted to the SPL they were going to be under intense scrutiny for absolutely anything that was posted on "their" website and the forums would have to have been either closed down or censored so severely that it would amount to the same thing. I did not want this as I have always tried to allow people to post their opinions with the minimum amount of intervention from the site "owners". Some posters may not agree with the amount of moderating that happens (although it is a lot less than some believe) but whether the post is full of praise or highly critical, we will not stop people from debating their varying points of view with other posters unless it happens to break one of the rules we have established over the last 14 seasons. The club, players and management dont always get things right and I would suggest to you that if you are one of those head in the sand "everything's always perfect", "the club can do no wrong", and "if you criticise you are not a real supporter" kinds of people then it is you who should consider staying away from the page so that others can have a balanced debate !

If Italy get a penalty you need to use all your poltergeist hunting powers to make the ball move just as its taken :015:

Can they do it ? YES !!! The two games against France show we can get results against the best in the world Will they do it ? Thats the big question !!! I bloody well hope so and will be urging them on from in front of a screen somewhere with all my might ... but as much as we have seen great results against the French and others, we have also seen shabby ones like the loss to the Georgian youth team so anything can happen !!! I will settle for an 87th minute goal with furious defending for the final 3 minutes of normal time and 3 minutes of added time .... Scotland to win it 1-0 and the country to be pished for a week !

If I were to pick who I thought was our best manager then I would have to agree with many and say Pele. As said above, he laid the groundwork for what followed and the managers who came after him have reaped the rewards in most cases. However, arguing stats is always a circular argument as you can manipulate them to say whatever you want within reason ..... for example ...... If its on overall games (and you exclude caretaker managers) then Baltacha won 32.50% Paterson won 46.77% Robertson won 53.66% Brewster won 34.00% first time round Christie won 33.33% Brewster has won 41.67% second time round Brewster has won 35.48% overall in both stints so that would make it Robbo, Pele, Brewster, Christie, Baltacha in that order .... if its on best ever seasons (and you exclude caretakers or seasons where the manager had less than 1/4 of the season) then 94/95 - Baltacha won 32.50% 02/03 - Paterson won 66.67% 03/04 - Robertson won 61.70% 05/06 - Christie won 41.18% 07/08 - Brewster won 41.67% so that would make it Pele, Robbo, Brewster, Christie, Baltacha in that order .... if its on worst ever seasons (and you exclude caretakers or seasons where the manager had less than 1/4 of the season) then 94/95 - Baltacha won 32.50% 97/98 - Paterson won 38.64% 04/05 - Robertson won 28.57% 05/06 - Brewster won 32.00% 06/07 - Christie won 32.56% so that would make the best Pele, Christie, Baltacha, Brewster, Robbo in that order ....

would take a lot more than the 700K that is in this story !

The problem with soccerbase is that they sometimes get it wrong !!! For example, John Docherty was never manager of ICT on his own ! When caretaking duties were happening both he and CC took on a joint role and they omitted the first spell when Robbo left ! Here are the CORRECT managerial stats up to and including last weekend. click on an image to view it in a larger size [attach=1] [attach=2] [attach=3] [attach=4] [attach=5] [attach=6] [attach=7] [attach=8] [attach=9] [attach=10] [attach=11] DSM00.gif_thumb DSM01.gif_thumb DSM02.gif_thumb DSM03.gif_thumb DSM04.gif_thumb DSM05.gif_thumb DSM06.gif_thumb DSM07.gif_thumb DSM08.gif_thumb DSM09.gif_thumb DSM10.gif_thumb

His mistake was leaving Bayne on the park. that was the accident waiting to happen which was then compounded by Rosscoe's folly. Perhaps he should have made two half-time substitutions and the game might have turned out differently !!! At any rate, hindsight is wonderful and what is done is done and we will never know what might have happened if he had done things differently .... I only hope he has looked at the whole game and his own decisions in it, acknowledged to himself at least that he may have made an error, and learned from it .....

are you sure you didnt get it right the first time :015: :015: :015:

I hope we do see the real Marius very soon as we definitely need someone to spark the side to life in coming weeks. Whether he is getting assists or not as debated previously, doesnt really matter as it is clear that he does seem to bring the best out of Denzil who is banging them in when paired with MN as opposed to others. However I am sure the fans would like to see him bang a few of his own into the net, get rid of the mounting pressure to score and be able to settle down and play like the former international player he was and future international player he wants to be.

Lets be honest, we could fill Hampden three or four times over this weekend and pubs and clubs all over the country (and to a lesser extent the rest of the world) will be jammed to the rafters with "loyal Scotland supporters" .... and most of them will tell you they stuck with Scotland through thick and thin, even in the Berti years ..... and the majority of them are talking out of their erse !!! There are those who are telling the truth and if they havent got tickets then thats a shame but much like joining the supporters club of your club side to make sure you get priority tickets, there are ways to ensure you get priority tickets for Scotland games too .... methods that people didnt bother about during the Berti era as tickets then were about as rare as a stewarding complaint at the TCS. If these folks didnt join the SC or the travel club then thats their lookout, no-one else's If you have a ticket for Hampden, whether its your first or 100th game - well done, its gonna be some game. I went to almost every game at Hampden from about 84-87 but then work took over and I havent been since but I would love to be there for this one. I will however be there in spirit (or should that be spirits) as it is being shown over here live on normal TV. Its being shown on an Italian channel so chances are the commentary will be in Italian but that wont matter ... especially if I head for Scallywags and watch it with other "Canadian" Scotland fans like I did for the first France game ... that was some day, a 3 storey pub with England 0-0 Macedonia showing on the ground floor (and costing the fans $20 to watch as it was PPV), Scotland 1-0 France showing on the second floor for free as it was on regular TV and Ireland losing to Cyprus on the third floor .... The place was absolutely hoaching and the Scotland fans were wearing an array of Scotland and/or club colours ..... we were the smallest group (only about 50 of us) but we **** near lifted the roof off the place when the goal was scored and again when the final whistle blew ........ more of the same please :003:

Tokely is an ICT "legend" and quite rightly so given his loyalty, the number of appearances he has made, and his hard but (for the most part) fair challenges over the years. He has made "errors of judgement" before - I am sure many of us could list them, starting with the game in Ayr a few years ago - but to deliberately punch an opponent on the side of the head in an off the ball incident is inexcusable and deserves punishment. There's no need for a witch hunt, I am sure Rosscoe knew almost instantly that what he did was wrong, given the comments in the press, I am sure his fellow team-mates also let him know how they felt in no uncertain terms, and given the manager's comment about dealing with it internally, I am sure he has got tingles in certain parts of his anatomy as we speak. The biggest punishment for him will be losing his place in the side to David Proctor, a player that Brewster seems to rate very highly and who, it has to be said, despite DUFC fans opinions didnt let US down when he played for us before. I have a feeling that Proctor will come in and do well while Ross is suspended and I would be surprised if the SPL doesnt slap an extra few games on top of the automatic ban which may mean Proctor has a chance to establish himself in the side the same way as Dods did .... Ross' problem may then be getting back into the side at all .........

nothing in life is ever that simple. 100% "don't know"

not available outside UK ..... :007:

woohooo ...... The game is on "normal" tv this weekend here in lumberjack land :001: :001: :001: :001: For those on this side of the pond, the channel is TLN (http://www.tlntv.com/soccer.aspx) but I am pretty sure that the commentary will be in Italian.

Have I missed something. see match report on front page for text of comments given to the Scotsman after the game.

As a player, when the ref is giving everything against you and you know it then you dont bump your gums to him at every chance as its not gonna do any good ... you need to think "**** you, I will show you" and then proceed to take it out on the opposition by scoring goals he cant disallow or call back for a foul. If you lose the head or try to intimidate him then there's only going to be one winner and thats the guy with the cards ! In this situation, the red mist can easily descend as it did on Saturday but these guys are supposed to be professionals and should be able to focus on the job in hand and let that red mist pass. By all means get fired up but focus in on the game not on trying to clock one of the opposition or pointlessly arguing with officials. For Bayne to continue in the same fashion that already got him booked was stupid, for Roy to get booked for going ape**** at the linesman and then tempt fate by continuing afterwards was stupid, for Rossco to do what he did (I havent seen it but am relying on the comments by users who have) was absolutely ludicrous and deserving of internal punishment. However, as the manager in a game like this then CB also needs to give himself a shake. Bayne is getting it big style from the ref and the manager in his after-match interview pretty much said that he thought he would be sent off if he continued to play the same way .... no **** sherlock !!! So why take off Black and not Bayne? Black was probably the one player with the potential to control the midfield battle that the manager conceded in the same interview that we had well and truly lost. That is crazy. Bayne should have been replaced at half-time with Niculae and maybe, just maybe the outcome might have been different ! Thats not an excuse for Tokely's behaviour but a scenario to say it might never have happened had the manager got it right in the first place !

Is it ? I have been present at games where I have stood and applauded them off the park after a glorious victory OR defeat ... I did it because they tried their best. However, I have been present at many games over the years where they didnt appear to try at all for whatever reason and that is infuriating. Although I wasnt present, Saturday appeared to be one of those games I may have been a little harsh given the result on Saturday but I had a bad feeling about this game ever since I read an article about ICT "aiming high" and the fact that the Well defence was small in height and hadnt had a clean sheet since the opening day of the season ..... i thought, "oh ****, route one hoofball" ..... and that is what it was. Much has been made of the lift the players seemed to get when CB came back but on Saturday it was back to the heads going down and worse still a big breakdown in discipline by more than just one player. Tokely will get the brunt because he got sent off, but he was not the only one guilty of a lack of discipline in that game. As hinted at in other threads something appears to be wrong internally and whatever it is, it needs to be sorted out before it tears our club apart. I dont know the details of what it might be or whether it is players, management, coaches or other figures at the club but from rumblings I have heard there is indeed strife like never before seen and it is doing nothing to keep the players motivated !

Radio commentators said something similar - when 2nd goal went in they talked about frustration and anger and said it might be more productive if that was directed at playing motherwell off the park than at the officials. They also thought Roy McBain was extremely lucky to stay on the park when he had his go at the linesman, got booked, then went back to have another go !!!

How do TFC achieve such a loud and excitable support? by following items 1 & 2 ..... 1. The team arent that good at the moment but most of them bust a gut to try and win each game so you cant fault people who give 100% 2. The club actively encourage the noise, store the banners for people and even liaise with the noisy supporters groups There is a third reason and we will see if that dwindles as years go by (not next year though - 99% renewal rate on season tickets) ..... Despite opinions to the contrary, Toronto IS a "soccer city" as there are tens of thousands of immigrants of european, asian, african, or south american origin whose favoured sport is football and also thousands of canadian supporters who have played the game growing up in school (by far the most popular school sport). These people have all been starved of seeing any decent football for years ... TFC's first game this season was like a big sigh of relief !

if we were playing next week I would have said "duh" ... considering Bayne will be suspended ... but as we havent got a game next week I will be a pedant and say you mean the 24th ?