Scotty

I am sure that we wouldnt argue that the club needs extra staff in certain areas - but lets not go down the route of throwing them in all over the place because other clubs do it. Lets not forget just how lovely a balance sheet ET maintains every year. :010: :010:

Official site uses the Press Association for stats/profiles whereas we rely on Ian Broadfoot / Bryan Munro :004:

Australia benefitted from the old system by beating footballing greats such as Samoa and others who they stuck 25 goals past etc ..... and actually went from 42nd before the world cup to 33rd after it. The new ranking system seems quite sensible actually and does away with all sorts of complicated scenarios that gave out points for all sorts of reason including the mere fact that the team travelled to an away game !!! ..... (see attachment 1). The biggest thing that will have benefitted Scotland is the fact that the rankings are now based on the last 4 years and not 8. Comparison of Oz and Scotland rankings in attachment 2 [attachment deleted by admin]

As it relates to our own club, I would like to see a situation where the supporters trust liaise closely with club officials to ensure fair treatment for all. This would protect the club from accusations of persecution/victimisation and also protect fans from being treated differently depending on who they are or where they sit. What happens at other clubs/grounds should be of no consequence to us until we establish our own procedures and standards within the framework of the current laws of the land (people in glasshouses... etc). If we do not ensure this law is used only when necessary or when an actual offence has taken place we will drive even more fans away from Scottish football and a club of our size cannot afford to do that. This is not a call to ignore the law, but a plea for it to be used consistently and fairly. We have all heard of instances - reported on this site when it was still official - where individual supporters have felt victimised by certain stewards, or been on the wrong end of over-officious treatment. We have also heard that individuals in other areas of the ground have got away with things that on the face of it seem far worse just because of the differing interpretations of laws or 'rules', what is (or is not) seen as acceptable by different stewards, or simply - in the case of certain groups of away supporters - because there are too many of them for the stewards to cause a fuss. When things are dealt with in so many different ways there is no way anyone can claim that there is any consistency in applying them and unfortunately this leaves the door open for wrongdoers to justify their behaviour by saying 'but he/she got away with it'. I was very vocal when I heard of the treatment one of my friends received late last year, especially as I knew that the accusations being levelled at him were complete tripe. However, no-one came out of this smelling of roses - the fan was upset, disillusioned and embarrassed, the club had no official process in place for dealing with complaints of this nature and were accused of ignoring eye witness reports and condoning a well documented case of victimisation, and the stewarding company and steward involved had numerous accusations fired at them too. If a situation is cut and dried then I have no issue with the offending supporters being dealt with in a manner that is appropriate to the level of their 'offence', but in a situation like this, where there were claims and counter-claims made by all sides, it was a no-win situation and I feel that it would have worked out far more amicably and looked way more professional if there was a procedure in place for dealing with incidents that were disputed. With this new law, there is the potential for a lot more incidents that will be disputed as - in my opinion - when you give 'untrained' members of the public extra powers, those powers will inevitably be abused in the end (by some). My own feelings are that an official body such as the Supporters Trust should work with the Club to try and implement some sort of 'review board' that could investigate situations that were not 'cut and dried' and ensure they are dealt with fairly. The supporters trust amongst all its other functions is essentially a pivot point where both the fans and the club can go to discuss things that are for the benefit of all or where either side can raise concerns that need to be passed to or discussed with the other. The website also has a role to play but only as a conduit or information source. Because of the nature of this or any other website and the large scale anonymity that a lot of members prefer, there is no way we can claim to represent the views of large numbers of fans ... instead, we aim to provide a platform where individual fans can give their opinions, discuss issues relating to the club, or highlight their experiences. discuss ......... ?

Thats exactly my point. Whether it is 2 fans or 2500 fans there needs to be consistency, otherwise the spectre of 'victimisation' rears its ugly head. Whether it is 2 or 2500 you have to treat the people the same even if you have to handle the actual logistics differently. Dont get me wrong, I am not saying that what we do (or dont do) to 'groups' should dictate that individuals get away with racist or offensive behaviour, but if you are going to single out individuals who are misbehaving then you cannot suddenly look the other way when groups of people start singing sectarian songs and then claim its the same treatment for all.

lowest position was 88th in MARCH 2005 highest position (since 1993) was 20th in various months of 1999 and 2000 attached graph courtesy of FIFA website ... kinda makes you realise just how bad Berti was and what Walter has already done to begin restoring the national pride [attachment deleted by admin]

:015: - I have looked at the page view stats and posting stats and despite comments to the contrary, it is still quite healthy and not quite the tumbleweed zone that is being implied. The board HAS been a little quieter over the last couple of weeks but I put that down to 3 things 1. We went 2 weeks without a game due to the break for internationals 2. Our last game before that was a heavy defeat 3. The club have launched an official site, albeit without a forum so our page views are down a little bit as some 'lurkers' will inevitably go there instead To save dragging this topic away from the subject matter, if anyone - including Sandy - wants to start a debate on how we make things better for everyone, please do it on the AG or TECH forums. We ARE prepared to listen to CONSTRUCTIVE comments that have some basis in fact such as the debate on reducing the number of forums. If someone wants to propose a structure then it can be discussed .....

quick - wheres a doctor - we are suffering from an outbreak of positivity on the site that must be quashed immediately :015: :015: :015: :015:

Am I alone in being worried that over-officious stewarding could result in 'innocent' parties being wrongfully accused and perhaps receiving some form of FBO ? We have to watch the use of these new powers closely and I would hope that the club, the stewards, and the police make sure that this is applied consistently across the board otherwise the word 'victimisation' is going to be cropping up a lot in the future.

I think this may be one area where Craig Brewster (and Peter Davidson ?) actually deserve a little credit. Barry was not his old self when CB arrived at the club, but whether it was the inspiration of seeing an old crock like Brew still going at 38 or the training and fitness regime he put in place with Davidson (who is highly thought of in this respect), we are seeing some excellent performances from Barry which definitely seem to merit a new deal for him. Setting up all 4 goals on Saturday cant have done him any harm either.

1 : could be me :003: 2 : North America and it could still be me :003: 3 : IT Administrator for Engineering Consultants who advise clients in oil industry (as well as mining, transportation and other fields) so maybe its not me :010: 4 : Always available :003: ... Rumour is he is an ex-Jaggie : Definitely not me then :017: but seriously though .... If our new chairman can use his contacts to generate external investment in the club then that is great and is to be welcomed. I cant think of the person referred to, but given the nature of the chairman's business, I am sure he has extensive contacts worldwide. I would love to see ICT over this side of the pond for pre-season but thats for selfish reasons !! If I am honest, I am not sure if there is a sufficient market for a "small team" like ICT as people (non-football supporters that is) over here tend to know only Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Celtic, Rangers and (just recently) Chelski if they actually know anything about 'soccah' at all .... perhaps a pre-season trip to Poland might be better given the rapidly changing ethnic diversity currently happening in Inverness ......

Charlie has had an ever increasing role in the coaching of the first team since before he retired from playing so not only did he 'play for' these managers, but he did 'serve alongside' them as part of the coaching setup - maybe not as manager or assistant manager but as part of the coaching staff ......

I would totally agree with that. Also agree with this and can remember having a conversation (separately) with both Charlie and Grassa a couple of years ago ... basically they were not totally happy with the negativity of some of the posters on the site but by the same token werent really too bothered in taking these people seriously as those who rumbled on the most tended to hide behind pseudonyms and would not divulge true identities. Yup - I know our own club get a little annoyed at the negativity of some people on here so can only imagine that viewers/posters from other clubs must think we are all a shower of whingeing bar-stewards

They do check out the site - as do journos, other club officials and people from other football clubs. I am sure Charlie is very similar to his predecessors in noting that it is a minority who dont have faith in him and will just ignore their opinions or take it on the chin if they (sometimes) have a valid point. Charlie knows that he has many more supporters than he has detractors and by the same token I am sure he will be happy to bask in the glory when things go right too !!!

I agree with you Harry - I am 100% behind CC, and have been from the start. I think he will prove to be a great manager and as he learns his trade he will inevitably make (more) mistakes and be criticised for them. However - in my opinion - and that is a very important 3 little words (to us all), some of the criticism is over the top ... Having said that, everyone is entitled to their opinion and for each person calling for his head, there are several telling them they are talking through their erse ..... its called discussion ... and so long as it doesnt descend into a slagging match or become about CC's personal life etc then its a valid discussion. You may not agree with what someone else posts but you have the opportunity to reply to say that. If we wind things back a little, the whole problem that I had about the official site containing a forum is that I could never win. I deleted stuff that was near the bone and the club were happy but users shouted foul/censorship/power-trip or other nastier things .... i leave stuff on and the club are pissed off but some users are happy and some are not. In the end it became untenable for both me and the club to continue as we were. The club have endorsed us as an approved but unofficial site and whilst we will continue to moderate the boards if there is something we think crosses the line, we will also allow more latitude than we could when trying to please everyone as well as the club on an official site. Going forward - it would be nice to think that everything posted would be positive, but thats just not human nature is it ? We all know that there are some posters on here who are positive and like to think the glass is half full etc ... but for each one of those there is also the one whose glass is half empty .....

Got to hope that NO-ONE is fighting it out with Scumdee United come mid season - let them take their rightful place in Division 1 without a fight :015:

The commentary team werent complimentary about either keeper yesterday, although Smith got a far worse report than Brown ... think the comment was something like "A Christopher Lee performance today ... scared of crosses"

Just buy both of them :004: The club history section I mentioned above contains a 'summarised' account of each season in Caley Thistle history as supplied by the aforementioned author and official club historian Ian Broadfoot.

might want to read this section Club Guide > Club History

Football is becoming more high profile in Canada. For years, youngsters of all ages and both sexes have been playing it at school, (estimated 65000 kids in Toronto alone regularly play football). The attraction of footy to the youngsters in Canada is that it can be played as a unisex sport, and that it is relatively cheap to get the gear when compared to whats needed for other sports like hockey, baseball etc. The problem that hits football in Canada comes when the youngsters get to mid teens - until now, there has been no outlet for a talented football player to make a career out of it and they tend to go do something else. With no disrespect to either the Vancouver Whitecaps, or the Toronto Lynx - their level is part-time Highland League and their crowds are low (in Toronto's case because they moved from a university stadium in Downtown Toronto to a place in the middle of nowhere that resembles the Bught 'stadium'.) With the formation of Toronto FC as a new franchise to play in MLS, a purpose built stadium being built in the heart of downtown Toronto, and the potential that players might actualy be able to make a decent paying career from footy - the future for Canadian 'soccah' might be quite positive. now ... if CC can take the lads to play Toronto FC when they get up and running, that would be excellent .... selfish on my part, yes, but excellent nonetheless :003: - I could guarantee a few Canadians who have been converted would be at the game as well as a few who were already supporters !!! As was said earlier in the thread too ... marketing would be ultra important. There are 10s of thousands of Scots in Toronto and surrounding areas, and that number multiplies 10-fold when you add those who 'claim scottish heritage'. There are also loads of other nationalities who, while not supporters of Scottish football, are fervent football supporters - parts of the city came to a standstill during the world cup when Italy, Spain, Portugal, Trinidad and other teams were playing.

True .... but at least on this occasion, the 'junk' mail will be about a subject you at least have a little interest in. Also, when registering, you should have the option to decline offers from third parties or even mailings from the club ..... nobody has mentioned it yet but we also use registration on this site !! - nothing sinister in that either and we wont use (or sell) your info to 3rd parties .... in our case its because we use your registration and 'rank' to decide what size your attachments can be, how many PMs you can send/receive, which forums you can read or post in, whether you can administer any forums, what parts of the main menu on the left you can see etc etc etc .......

To echo what CaleyD said ... probably, but the casual visitor is not as 'important' as a regular visitor on any site. One of the biggest things on most official sites is the drive to create and develop a viable user database that can be used to market the club and its online (subscription) services to those who are interested ... or to use the online generated database to send out other offers such as season tickets, centenary club etc. This type of data-mining for names/details cannot be done without registration.

Hearts look fecked - Brellier ordered off after getting 2 bookings in 4 minutes. anyhoo - hope the result goes our way tonight despite Dobbie's goal .... will probably be tomorrow afternoon in sunny Copenhagen before I find out the result as I am off to the airport right now :003: Hope to bump into one or two of you when we finally reach Inverness on 30th .... will deffo be in the Innes on 31st :drinking08:

not sure if they are going to update as the game goes on - but the official site has this offering ICT V Dumbarton

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