Scotty

Wyness was not the worst player on the park against Falkirk(?) when his contract offer was withdrawn. Brewster made a scapegoat of Wyness over a very poor team display indeed. Part of the reason Wyness hadn't scored in four months at the time was due to injury. I think it was established at the time that the contract offer was withdrawn after Wyness' agent came back at the 11th hour and tried to change the deal. This was the one (only?) statement made at the time of the incident that was not denied by one side or the other. True but it didn't stop Brewster citing Wyness' lack of form at the time. I think it was Bennet that cited the agent being at fault. Is Brewster anything to do with contract negotiations? If not, why make a statement to the press about something he knows nothing about? (That said he does make regular reference to "tactics" after games so there'd be nothing new there ) I know it happened a while ago but something still doesn't smell right about the whole thing. Wyness was a settled man, who at a few months notice, upped and left to move to Paisley. Just doesn't add up for me. It was GB that made that statement and as I mentioned, it was the only one I can recall which was not denied by one side or the other. That - to me - speaks volumes. There may be more to it, I don't know, but the fact that GBs statement was not vehemently denied by the agent made it "case closed" as far as I was concerned. RE: Contracts - As far as I am aware, GB handles the contract negotiations, CB just indicates who he wants these negotiations to be with !!!

This is a problem that Kilmarnock are trying to figure out !!! Its not just an ICT problem.

Now 1 point off bottom and 4 off 5th. The only saving grace in this at the moment is that Hamilton have a -9 goal difference and ours is only -2. However, that only comes into play if we actually have the same points as them at the end of the season !!! Wyness was not the worst player on the park against Falkirk(?) when his contract offer was withdrawn. Brewster made a scapegoat of Wyness over a very poor team display indeed. Part of the reason Wyness hadn't scored in four months at the time was due to injury. I think it was established at the time that the contract offer was withdrawn after Wyness' agent came back at the 11th hour and tried to change the deal. This was the one (only?) statement made at the time of the incident that was not denied by one side or the other. Yup, heard that too. I am close to agreeing with this summary. Thats an interesting idea/combination.

Thats the word I was looking for.

Agree with a lot of what has been said on here, especially CaleyD's last post. Just wanted to add my tuppenceworth in on a couple of points. Unfortunately this statement is true. There are quite a number of disgruntled fans whether people want to acknowledge that or not. For many people, their "disgruntlement" manifests itself silently, the Highland way, and there is nothing said, but it can be seen in the gate figures. I don't think we are talking about thousands of people here. We dont have a huge fan base, so its more likely to be a few hundred. However, because of our small fanbase, a few hundred stay-aways - for whatever reason - damages the club. I actually believe the club are aware of this and a few people have recognised that it needs to be addressed. For example, the recent creation of the events committee seems to be designed to make sure events are co-ordinated and dont overlap as thay have in the past and are more varied in nature. That events committee is trying to create events that will be of interest to various demographiics in our support whether that be the "normal" fan, season ticket holders, kids, or corporate sponsors and hopefully they will succeed in bringing in more cash. I also believe that things like Boardroom Banter have been reinstated because some within the club realise communication with fans is abysmal and they want to get back to where we were in lower division days when fans could ask questions or make suggestions, and then receive answers or thanks for their ideas and actually feel valued and listened to. We have asked for this to be reinstated since it ended a few years ago and have always met with resistance. Perhaps we were asking the wrong person, but the last time we asked, the response - as you all know - was a lot more positive than the previous dozen or more times !!! Where I don't believe the club have made any headway is on matchdays. Lets leave performance aside for now - thats a whole other subject - and concentrate on the "ambience". The matchday experience is pretty ropey. We have facilities that are substandard or uninviting (car park, shop, concourse, eateries). We have stewards whose only aim in life seems to be enforcement of a policy that dictates fans are all troublemakers and each and every one should be "encouraged" to behave rather than enjoy, and we have no real "entertainment" before or after the football to encourage people to come along early or to make a day of it. What would I do ? 1. Fix the car park: I understand we can't put tar down because it has implications on the tax payable for the land but surely we can figure out a way to make it less frustrating to get in/out. I heard a couple of suggestions on my last trip home and I think it was Govan Jaggie who suggested on the BB thread this past week, but there is a simple cone & tape procedure used elsewhere that seems to work ... might be worth a try ! 2. Relocate the club shop inside the stadium for match days. There must be somewhere where merchandise can be sold whilst the game is taking place. At half-time people are milling around, waiting in queues etc .... they might buy something if there was a chance. As an internal club shop in the concourse would not be accessible during the week, experiment with a stall or small shop in Eastgate on a short term lease. 3. Paint the concourse to make it appear more inviting, or hang a few classic action shots of the team ... something to brighten up the dull and dingy look while you are waiting for your (burnt or dried up) pie. Add TVs so that you can see half-time results from other games, or show a live feed of what is going on at pitch level. 4. See what options are available for eateries. Is it more staff in the same serving hatches or might there be an opportunity to add more vendors and therefore more variety. If space inside is limited, then why not use outside space (which would also solve the bugbear of "normal" fans who like a smoke and get frustrated when they see hospitality patrons being allowed to go outside). If the club are worried about people getting in without tickets then make it a condition that they have a stub to go out/in. 5. Stewarding needs to be consistent and applied evenly throughout the ground. If away fans are being allowed to stand, then home fans cannot be penalised for the same thing. Stewards should also realise that although we will have the odd ****hole causing bother or needing some additional "encouragement" to behave, the vast majority are customers who are not there to cause trouble after paying what sometimes amounts to a small fortune to get into the ground with friends/family. Treat them accordingly. 6. Entertainment. Every matchday should be an experience that has the potential to last from morning to early evening. Perhaps there might be some mileage in having an inter-school competition each week throughout the season with local schools playing off against each other either before the match starts or in 5 a sides at half-time (or both). Having a school comp before the game would encourage kids and their parents, as well as other fans, to come down early and enjoy. Once the kids have finished playing, give them free tickets to watch the ICT game. Not sure what could be done at half-time but some more varied things perhaps than the flybe challenge. After the game is over, might there be any mileage in playing the reserve games ? Because of distances involved, this is what Toronto FC do and thousands of TFC fans stay behind to watch them (and buy more food/drink). these are just a few ideas on each of the points I highlighted as being bad - I am sure there are many more ideas out there but if the club start remembering that despite its unique nature, football is still a business, and fans are exceedingly "brand loyal" customers they will improve. If not, then crowds will be an issue forever and customers may choose to switch brands (unlikely) or just not buy as much product (whats happening now). I think all that needs be said on this is ...... look at the comments after the Celtic game (a loss but a good performance) or the Kilmarnock game (a nice win) and compare them to this weekend or any other weekend where we suffered a disappointing loss. What worries me is the consistency. How can a team that performs so well in the games I mentioned produce guff the next week ?

When I was back in April, I thought it looked a little run-down (the town centre that is). When I was back a few weeks ago, I thought it was like a ghost town. Admittedly, the roadworks everywhere dont help, but it just didnt feel vibrant any more. I hope the credit crunch and other factors that may be affecting the town centre ease somewhat and it bounces back, but its obvious times are tough when you walk through it.

attendance 3110 ... 270 Motherwell fans.

ICT -V- MOTHERWELL Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, 3:00pm Audio Coverage The Game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan...a/inverness.ram (Worldwide) Open All Mics: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotlan.../sportsound.ram (Worldwide) Livescores BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ext/default.stm SKY - http://live.skysports.com/ScoreCentre/live.html P&J - http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/MatchComm....aspx/Inverness SportBox - http://www.sportbox.tv/football/matchcentr....php?id=1203631 Sporting Life - http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live_match/168040.html Lineups (click for full size image)

In the eyes of the SPL, the team that sells tickets to a group of fans can be held responsible for any bad behaviour from those fans when it comes to dishing out sanctions, fines or anything else. Until that changes, most clubs will accept the levy as its not worth the potential hassle to do anything else.

In the eyes of the SPL, the team that sells tickets to a group of fans can be held responsible for any bad behaviour from those fans when it comes to sanctions, fines or anything else. Until that changes, most clubs will accept the levy as its not worth the potential hassle to do anything else.

we accepted the levy. Several questions were asked about this for next month's Boardroom Banter but I know that one of the major reasons behind it was the fact that if we sold them we would be responsible for the behaviour of their fans.

Surprised no-one has mentioned "Bat out of Hell" by Meatloaf .... It seemed to be a requirement in most older siblings record collections when I was a teenager, in fact I still have it to this day.

QOS (A) @ 2.25 please.

and she was recently on David Letterman and they had a good laugh about ..... "Nairrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn", sure the clip will be on youtube somewhere.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYykI78bBAI

IHE's 40th Birthday party ?

Which raises another question ...... should the UK government not modernise the banknotes and produce ones that say "United Kingdom" which would be far more inclusive of each of the nations that make up the union instead of having them say just Bank of England. Alternatively, if they want to stick with "Bank of England" then maybe they should instruct the Scottish/Irish/Welsh parliaments or assemblies to continue issuing notes, perhaps through a single bank each and recognise these as "legal tender" in the same way as "Bank of England" notes.

whoooooosh

Roy McBain is an enigma, much like Russell Duncan. There are those who watch him in a game and see nothing positive, and yet there are just as many who watch him in the same game and see a good performance or at worst no major problem. Personally - and for the umpteenth time this month - I find myself agreeing with IHE again. When Roy is good, he is very good, and he is usually very good when played in a position befitting his skillset. He is not so good when played outside that comfort zone .... but you could say that about most players. Admittedly I havent seen much of him recently but the only other contribution I can really add to this discussion is that I always felt he looked nervous or lacking in confidence once he crossed the halfway line. He would turn back or look for the lateral pass instead of using his skills to skin someone or have a go. On the occasions when he did skin someone he has looked good and scored goals, but when playing sideways or backwards, he could be very frustrating. All of this, I would say, backs up IHE's contention that a defensive midfield or left back or wing-back role would suit him ... especially if the manager tells him he has confidence in him !

ok. this thread is once again getting dragged off-topic and as stated in the first post ...... The (original) topic was closed for two reasons. 1. The person(s) who the story was about stated that it was false and they did not wish to comment on it further. 2. It is our understanding that there is now an investigation underway into the events of Saturday and we have to tread carefully in case it goes further. It is fine to discuss SPL rules and their interpretations, misinterpretations or areas where they are open to different interpretations, but we are asking users to steer clear of going into further detail regarding this specific incident until further notice.

People can petition all they like but the bottom line is that clubs will continue to capitulate to this ludicrous levy until such time as the rules on how many tickets you are forced to allocate to your opponents is changed. Right now, clubs must supply their opposition with a minimum number of tickets equivalent to 5% of their total ground capacity. They cannot unilaterally say that they are not getting any !!! If clubs decided to sell OF tickets themselves to avoid the levy, the kicker is that the home club is then responsible for the behaviour of the away fans as they allocated the tickets to them. Most clubs baulk at this idea !!!! If the 5% rule was changed, there might be a few more clubs who would stand up and say .... "5% levy, nahh, dont worry about it, we will sell the tickets to our own fans".

how come Morton can arrange a closed door friendly and we cant? Especially with our reserve game being cancelled this week, a closed door friendly would give our reservs/U19s/fringe players a run out and would also allow our own coaching staff to assess him. Not rocket science! Tend to agree .... whats to stop ICT being the big team in this and organising an evening closed door friendly against the likes of an HFL team or Inverness City or someone like that .... its maybe not as "competitive" as an SFL V SPL matchup, but I would imagine it would be competitive enough to assess a trialist or try out a few ideas for set pieces or positional tactics etc.

The topic was closed for two reasons. 1. The person(s) who the story was about stated that it was false and they did not wish to comment on it further. 2. It is our understanding that there is now an investigation underway into the events of Saturday and we have to tread carefully in case it goes further. It is fine to discuss SPL rules and their interpretations, misinterpretations or areas where they are open to different interpretations, but we are asking users to steer clear of going into further detail regarding this specific incident until further notice.

And I think that this juncture probably IS a good place to draw a line under this thread.

I don't believe so. The first post says that "According to todays edition ICT have given a life-time ban to a supporter for the BJK banner". This has been followed up by a link to the relevant website that shows that comment in print. whether the facts are accurate is yet to be seen, but it is a discussion about something already in print in one of the papers. Sorry, cant see where anyone has said that. If you are inferring I said it by mentioning "As I said above, I accept that the lads were trying to be humorous" then please re-read my previous post and the rest of that post. I think I have made it quite clear that this is not my viewpoint.

Our home match against Motherwell is being filmed by a six camera shoot and the full re-run of the game will be shown on BBC Alba (Sky channel 168) on Saturday evening at 7.30pm.