Scotty

pay at the gate or you can order kids tickets in advance : http://www.caleythistleonline.com/communit...hp?topic=4214.0 [posted 15 days ago and stickied on the main forum]

I have been pretty critical of some aspects of the club in recent weeks but on this occasion, I cannot criticise them in the slightest for taking their time and trying to get things right. Not only are the dealing with the future (?) career and livelihood of one of our players but if they decide to terminate his contract, release him or whatever, they will also be dealing with making sure they have followed all the proper procedures under employment laws and that can be a bit of a minefield. As for deadlines .... The club DID NOT set a deadline ... at least not publicly. They issued one press release that said they wouldnt comment until the matter was resolved and the media have done the rest. This is what the Courier said .... "Hart has already been suspended on full pay from training and playing with the club until further notice, although a decision by the board is expected next week, when manager Craig Brewster, who is on an SFA course in Largs, and vice-chairman Graeme Bennet, who is on holiday, return to the club." .... or the P&J .... "Caley Thistle, meanwhile have delayed a decision on the future of midfielder Richie Hart. It was expected that the club would decide today whether to retain or release the player. His contract runs out at the end of the season." no club statement, just paper speculation, and similar stories appeared elsewhere, none of which have had any official comment ..... but what the ****, lets just make the decision today so we can please or piss off a few people on CaleyThistleOnline :tic01:

Why not? TFC are 'owned' by the multi billion dollar corporation - Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment - who have succesfully run a number of sports teams in the NBA, NHL and now MLS as well as TV channels for those sports teams and the venues for those sports teams which also double as concert venues. Each team is run in a different way, depending on the market forces. The Maple Leafs for example are regarded as being almost totally corporate oriented as ticket prices are ridiculous, the Raptors is kind of half and half and TFC has been setup to be very fan friendly and not as "orchestrated" or "choreographed" as other North American sports. Having been present at the birth of Caley Thistle, I have seen a lot of similarities between that and the birth of TFC and if you take away the economies of scale, there are lessons that can be learned from a company with a record of sporting success that spans the last 80 years in a very tough market. Not every idea might fly for ICT, but if there are even one or two gems to come out of it, then dont you agree that this would be a good thing? One final thing ..... despite crowds of more than 20,000 at every game, TFC management and players remind me of what ICT used to be like - very approachable, very fan oriented, and very willing to not only listen to fans but also have a dialogue with them .... whereas many people say that ICT are going in the opposite direction ...... I have thoroughly enjoyed my first season of TFC football, despite the shocking record on the pitch and it seems that other fans did too with an over 95% renewal rate for season tickets !!!

A good thing about threads like this (and others where constructive criticism is handed out) is that although it is seldom acknowledged, people from the club do read them and after wading through a ton of stuff that might be impractical, fanciful or even complete bull**** there is the odd wee nugget that might spark an idea ....... so keep the ideas coming and you never know !!!

It takes as long as it takes !!! At the end of the day, whichever option any of us favour, it IS a mans career and livelihood we are talking about and it is only right that the club look at everything as many times as they need to as well as listening to the player in private.

prices have been on the site for two weeks !!! http://www.caleythistleonline.com/communit...hp?topic=4214.0

I would like them to enable the "Audio/Video Platform Manager" that is available from their website provider so that I could actually watch video and/or listen to commentary from every single ICT game over the net whilst paying them what seems to be a reasonable sum for the privilege. The media rights quagmire is geting worse and you are extremely lucky if you can now listen to commentary from any game most weeks let alone an ICT game. Of all the SPL teams, 5 currently dont offer some form of audio/video coverage and 3 of them (Arabs, Motherwell, St Mirren) probably will do soon, having stopped offering their coverage via internetfootball.co.uk and moving to the platform provided by PTV ..... That will leave ICT and Gretna as the only teams not to offer anything and will mean that the ONLY ICT games you will be able to hear on the net outside the UK in the near future will be ICT V Gretna (H & A), ICT V Hearts (H only), and ICT V Hibs (H & A). Hearts dont block audio from their away games and although Hibs have an offering via Hibs Interactive, they dont block coverage at all, the rest block everything for overseas viewers/listeners.

The club have made a profit in recent years ... one of the very few to do so. TCF - If we lowered the price to ?5 a ticket, we'd be out of business within a year or two. If you very unscientifically pluck some figures out of the air and take an average crowd of 5000, lets assume that 4000 of them have paid around ?20 (allowing for kids tickets, season tickets etc) to get in. 4000 @ ?20 = ?80K, drop that to ?5 and its only ?20K. Caley Thistle could not survive on ?60K less per match x 18 matches minimum which equates to over ?1M per year !!! Like it or not, hospitality is also a necessary evil. Some people will pay more to watch a match in comfort or to mingle with the players or just to support the club (as some do) but again, like the normal punter in their ?25 seat, your corporate fan also needs value for money. I am not sure what it is like now, but when I was last in hospitality it was not worth the ?80 per head we paid. basic meal, slow drinks service (designed to make you consume less presumably), and nothing much in the way of entertainment (speeches, comments, or what you might call "hosting") from the floor - felt more like a high priced works cafeteria to be honest. The end result is that normal fans are becoming more selective about which games they go to because of the cost and so are the corporate types as neither feels they are getting value for money .... so building more seats, adding more stands or any other fanciful ideas are ludicrous and what is needed is to evaluate what we have and see how the club can make it better for all fans. The problem Caley Thistle face is that whatever they do is restricted by the size of the ground. If you have a 20K all seated stadium you can do a lot more with your pricing structure, corporate boxes, trying out new ideas etc etc etc .... but in a 7700 seater stadium its far harder to do something radical as every single seat has more impact on the money you make (or dont). I liked what Toronto FC did this season. They sold one complete section of 3000 seats as the "supporters section" and discounted the price heavily. There are no concessions, oap prices, student prices or anything like that and every single seat is held by a season ticket holder. In that section we are allowed to stand, chant, sing, bring in things like drums, streamers, flags and banners and generally make some noise and mayhem. This section is full for every single game and people are on a two year waiting list to get into it because of the atmosphere alone ! In the rest of the ground, it is a little more sedate and the prices get increasingly higher depending on how close you are to the centre circle. It was $220 in the supporters end and $2500 at the centre circle with plenty of different price points in between. There are also corporate boxes and all sorts of other stuff. In the end, TFC sold over 14,000 season tickets for their first season and could have sold the other 6K too .... except they held them back for "matchday sales" at normal prices ($75) !!! During the game there are things like lucky seat numbers where the whole row might win a slice of Pizza or a match ball for the seat holder and stuff like that and there are also other things that make you feel more valued, not least of which are little giveaways from time to time (supplied by sponsors) So how could ICT use the TFC model ? 1. Offer season tickets at a price that really encourages you to buy and market it aggressively long before the current season ends. If its ?25 for a normal matchday ticket, then offer it to punters for the equivalent of ?15 (no concessions). Offer further discounts on family or child tickets when purchased at the same time. 2. Offer the tickets early ! I have already paid for my 2008 TFC tickets and the season starts next April ! TFC already have my money (and that of 14,000 others) in their bank earning them interest which offsets the cost of the discount. 3. Singing Section / Supporters Section - lobby the SPL to allow standing in a controlled environment. It is not illegal in law (just in rules) and if not policed in a heavy handed manner is not dangerous .... ask the 3K who do it every week at TFC. The atmosphere generated by this section percolates the rest of the stadium and also to the journalists who report on the games and never fail to mention the atmosphere. TFC tickets are now the "hottest" sporting ticket in Toronto. 4. Ambience - The police at TFC games (and in Canada in general) carry guns !!! However, they are far less intimidating to most supporters than SPL stewards who (sometimes) try to bully and harass you for no good reason. The stewards at TFC are there to ensure safety and they do this politely, even when checking tickets or dishing out warnings about behaviour that is too rowdy. SPL stewards could learn a thing or two from them. 5. Improve whats on offer - a couple of grotty hatches serving either lukewarm or mouth-burningly hot Bovril and burnt pies is not really enticing. There's a lot more that could be done. ****, back in Div2 days we could get Burger, Chips and mushy peas at Palmerston in a stall no bigger than the Pie stalls at TCS so its not that hard. It all makes for a better matchday feeling. 6. Get some of the sponsors to chip in for cheap freebies .... so far this year at TFC games we were given seat cushions, stress balls, noisemakers, and for some reason, at one game, a box of spaghetti (not sure about that one but it was wholewheat and quite nice). Apart from the seat cushions that were given out before the game (and ended up on the pitch when we scored) these were all handed out as you left the stadium and you were like "oh, thats nice ..... very thoughtful". At one other game, 3000 people who got to the ground early were given TFC baseball caps (paid for by the main sponsor) ... its all nice little touches that make you feel good or valued ! 7. If you want corporate sponsors or hospitality customers, treat them accordingly. Dont charge them ?80 and give them something worth ?30 so you can make a huge profit from them. give them better value and word will spread and the currently empty spots will get filled up. It would be interesting to know whether Ross County still fill their hospitality suites? for years all we ever heard was people comparing the bad impression of TCS hospitality compared to what they gave you at RCFC. As many businesses use these to entertain clients or good customers, they are not going to want to go back if their customer thinks its crap.

designed by same guy who did the Celtic banners and website header perhaps

Clearly something is not quite right as the 'machine' is not working to its full capability at the moment ... and I chose my word deliberately .... 'machine', the same word we used affectionately to describe Dods. Darren was a leader of the troops, an on field general who not only was very solid for us but knew how to organise the others and while we have often said that one man does not make a team, in Darren's case, one man, or the removal of that one man, can leave a pretty big hole, both in defence and in leadership. We can clearly see why Brew wanted him at Dundee Utd and look back with hindsight and wish we had made him a better offer!!! Granty deserved to be offered the captaincy because of his role within the side and because he seemed to be the best candidate. Unfortunately, his game has suffered and he does not seem to possess the same leadership and organisational capabilities that Dods did. Perhaps he should turn the clock back a little and go back to being a solid no-nonsense defender and let someone else take on the onerous task of the captaincy? When it comes to Zibi / Fraser ... is it the defensive blunders of the players in front of them that are making them nervy or is it a lack of confidence in the keepers making the defence nervy? probably a bit of both ... but whatever it is, Brew needs to get it sorted by trying to bring in an accomplished centre half to play alongside Granty, and a permanent keeper who will push Fraser all the way for the #1 jersey........ the problem of course will always be in finding players like that who are available !!!

no hysteria - just observation my fellow clan member :004:

Up front is not where we have a problem !!! Marius will score (in the SPL) eventually and then hopefully it will be a Dargo-like situation where the floodgates open. Wyness, Bayne and Brewster dont have a problem scoring and as the poster above said, lets not forget that Deano is only 21 and was brought to the club as a developing player not as the finished article. Hopefully both he and Garry Wood (and Rory) may be a potent force in future years !!! In midfield we have a wealth of talent so no big problem there other than picking the right combination !!! Its defence and in goal where the current malaise is coming from. Mike Fraser is a good keeper but made a couple of blunders in his last game. Zibi comes with a reputation for blunders and duly obliged yesterday ... even if he wasnt that bad for the rest of the game. Do we let Zibi play the next game or does being dropped for one game constitute Mike's punishment for his mistakes in his last game? I guess that is up to the manager. I dont have confidence in Zibi but then I dont see him in training so am not in a position to say which one is impressing the manager most. I suspect that neither one is and a keeper to truly challenge Mike is on the shopping list for 2008. As far as the defence is concerned, we have no leadership. The person who posted that we lost this when Darren Dods left is spot-on. Granty is a nice lad and a good player but I cant help thinking his performances have suffered since he took on the responsibility of being captain. Perhaps this needs to be handed to someone else (Wilson?) and Granty can be allowed to get back to being the no-nonsense defensive rock he was in previous seasons. Whatever the cause of the loss of form of the defence it needs to be found and reversed as that is what kept us in a lot of games in the last few seasons .........

There's a few cool ones in there !!!! My top 3 ........ [attach=1] [attach=2] [attach=3]

We definitely need to take something out of that game ...... Many people seem to have a problem with the performances of some of our defence ..... maybe its time to stick a rocket up their *** and change it about a bit? Stick Proctor in at RB, Morgan in at LB and move Hastings into the centre where he was very effective for Canada at the recent Gold Cup. That would leave Munro, Tokely, McGuire and Watt (if fit) fighting it out for one central defensive role and let them all know that no-one is guaranteed a start if they dont perform, and better still, in the case of Morgan and Proctor that they are worthy of a start if they do perform.

I think we are suffering a bit of the "Mark Brown" effect here. We were so used to having a keeper of Mark's qualities between the sticks that we may be over-critical of our current ones ....... Mike is our #1 goalkeeper. He has made a few mistakes this season (which player hasn't?), and paid the price yesterday by being dropped. Zibi had a ropey first 20 minutes and the pundits in the after match post-mortem were highly critical of him, especially for the weak goal. As far as I am concerned, Mike is still #1 but we do need someone to challenge him for that spot and Zibi is not the answer. Why do I say this when he has only had 1 full game? I say it because he has a well established reputation as being blunderful rather than wonderful at any club he has been at. Mike needs to come back in, and there needs to be a stepping up of gears by both him and the defence as they have been just as much to blame as he has for many of the goals we have lost. If he has no confidence in the defence or they have none in him then life gets so much more difficult in both positions ......

quick, delete this thread, there is positivity in it !!!!! this is not allowed you know - according to some, nothing positive is ever mentioned on this site !!!

dont forget the U21 rule :004:

Think it was all light hearted ..... RG was going on about how he's heard him give maybe one or two interviews in the 10 years since he left Aberdeen .... Chick was ripping the p*** out of the newspaper guy rather than Denzil and going on about how much money the newspapers (dont) pour into the game.

Michael has had more than one bad game (or moments in games), the last one was just the worst of them. However, no argument from me in agreeing that Zibi is not the answer and if our choice is between MF and ZM then MF should play every game ! GK and Defender(s) still a priority for next transfer window !!!

I really cant get excited about this match .... cant see it, cant hear it, cant even get radio scotland coverage in between the "live commentary" which is blocked .... think I'll go and mow the front grass ! If the club dont do something to get their act together and take advantage of the video and audio service available to them through PTV and succesfully used by 80+ other PTV sites they are going to see a lot of interest from ex-pats or supporters in other parts of the UK dropping off significantly.

[li]Discuss the game in this very thread right here :004:[/li] [li]Get to the chatroom HERE[/li] [li]See the subs / bookings / report - after the game starts - HERE[/li] [li]At the game ? - Dont forget to vote in the POLL after the game has ended. HERE [/li] [li]See the stats etc after the game has ended by choosing today's game from HERE[/li] LINEUPS ICT [attach=1] ABERDEEN [attach=2]

because no games can be shown live in any part of the uk between 2:45pm and 5:30pm on a Saturday due to UEFA restrictions .

no, it was simply the first !!! Angela has taken the comments on board and tried to add better (more relevant) pictures, the sponsor logo etc and is sending them to us without prompting so she is at least trying to help those who think it to be a decent or good idea ........

David Sutherland said it before and Alan Savage is pretty much saying it again ..... A full west stand will never be built until such time as we can fill the ground for more than OF games ..... and that is spot on IMHO. What is the point of having a stand that costs you money to build, costs you money to maintain, and costs you money on a matchday (even if its empty) when we cant fill what we already have. Its a nice idea, but a waste of money and both of these gentlemen are businessmen who know the value of money. With rising prices, and lowering "matchday ambience" in many grounds (including TCS) thats as good as saying it will never get built..... As for the bar at the ground, the same could apply ... its a "nice to have" but is it an earner? Busy on a matchday, yes, but that leaves another 12 or 13 days every fortnight where its empty. Maybe a little passing trade from the industrial estate if it does good pub lunches but will that make a profit or even cover heat/light and staffing on those days? It certainly wouldnt be a hotspot in the evenings ..... unless the long term entertainment / marina village plan for that part of the longman comes to fruition. the stadium is a good location for conferencing and stuff like that and to my mind thats where the club should consider focussing .... upgrade what we have already, find a location for a permanent and proper club shop within the stadium, and if we build anything like a bar, do it in such a style that it is first and foremost a conference hall that can serve double duty as a bar on matchdays. Look at the corners of the ground ... could they be developed with offices or anything like that? could the current offices at the front of the stadium be moved in there and the space converted into a long thin bar / conference room? Could we cover the wings of the main stand and have the singing section where it was for the Dunfermline game - right in the middle between two home stands ! There's lots of potential ideas - we just need to find the right one that maybe costs a little but can give a lot back in return .....

I wouldnt have either - Denzil still has a better scoring rate - but of the two, Burchill still has the better potential Burchill (27) - 24 goals in 88 appearances since 2005 (Hearts / Pars) [27.27%] Crawford (33) - 27 goals in 106 appearances since 2005 (Arabs, Dons, Pars) [25.47%]