Scotty

confirmed : https://ictfc.com/danny-devine-signs-for-ictfc

Got the same message so I guess they are all being packaged and posted

https://caleythistleonline.com/stats/playerlist.html/ 14 league, 2 challenge cup, 1 Scottish Cup, 1 League Cup.

googled it - and in other pictures it does look massive ... the two platforms between the "small" boat in the middle (and the similar sized yacht on the other side) are both heliports ! https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-23126/le-grand-bleu.htm (Man, there are some seriously expensive dreams to wish for on that site - $3.8m per week for one of them !)

I need to check the coding for the pages we pull in. The original page where we input the data works fine : https://caleythistle.info/CTO/stats-matches.php?

will try to take a look sometime soon ... Chrome just gets more and more broken with each new version ! I never thought I would say this but I find myself using Chromium Edge more often now than Chrome or FF.

Always an emotive subject - and you are right, you could pick up the basic goalkeeper top from Puma for about £18. But that's not an ICT top, that's the basic bog standard 'blank' design. There are additional costs involved for adding the various elements that would be on the official top such as badge, league logos, sponsor transfers etc. ICT would likely not get a huge discount given to us on the cost because we would not sell as much as teams with a bigger fanbase, and we are no doubt paying some form of shipping fees so once all is said and done I doubt our cost is £18 per top. After all that we then have to make our own profit on top of that ..... Football tops are a rip-off, no argument, but ICT tend to charge the going rate and outside of a sponsor or supplier change only change one top per year so not trying to rip off its fans and customers. I don't buy every ICT top, I buy the ones I like and have a decent collection over the last 26 years - maybe about 15 of them .... this one looks good IMHO so I am eagerly awaiting its arrival for both me and the wee fella For reference - MLS tops are even more expensive ... to get an officially licensed 'authentic' as opposed to 'replica' top MLS/Toronto FC top (Adidas) charge a minimum of CDN$140 + tax which takes it to about $160. In GBP that is around £90 and all MLS teams release between 3-5 tops per year, every year .... (Home, Away, GK, plus 'specials' like the Pride top, the Unity top, the Armed Forces Appreciation top etc etc etc). In contrast to my 15+ ICT tops, I have a total of 3 TFC tops since 2007 and instead tend to buy polo tops for around $50/$60. They priced me out of the market for official tops for anyone but my son.

I see it over here any time I am out .... Facemasks are mandatory when you go inside any building in Toronto at the moment and everywhere we go (when we do actually go anywhere) we see people with masks hanging under their nose which is worse than useless. They are technically following the rules by wearing a facemask but they might as well not be. Have also seen people not wearing anything inside some shops and for some reason the staff dont pull them up on it, which is a little crazy as there would be huge fines if an enforcement officer happened to walk in and see that. I take the principle that I have had 4 surgeries in my life and on each occasion my surgeon wore a mask for several hours to do a delicate job. If he/she can do that, and still breath and perform their tasks to a high level and if nurses, paramedics and other first responders can do that as a matter of their daily routine day in day out for the duration of their career then FFS I can wear a mask when I am in a shop for 10 feckin minutes !

I know there are economies of scale but at TFC there is an ever expanding pathway that is leading to great results in the academy and its only the first part that costs parents .... The 4 entry level paths are pay-to-play and fund coaching and other development in the grey part of the graphic. I have my little guy in the first two (or did until Coronavirus shut them all down) and its not cheap!! If he continues to love the game, and he is good enough by age 11 to get an invite he would be expected to continue playing in one or more of the 4 paths but there would be no cost to play in selects. Same applies for all levels after that - everything for the player is paid. Parents do however have to fund their own travel to games etc and these could be anywhere in USA/Canada once you reach TFC II level.

Where there were 3 bodies - SPL, SFL and SFA there are now just two ... SPFL and SFA. The basic prize 'pot' based on finishing position is shared with all divisions but I think you may be right about some of the other extra payments like TV money etc.

As a cancer survivor, I would have no problem wearing the pink shirt, looks pretty decent to be honest and most sports over here have a pink shirt for various cancer causes. The fact that some money is going to the hospice is also excellent as that is a good and deserving cause. If I were to criticise, i would perhaps wonder if it should be a 3rd kit rather than 2nd ? The first and second kits should reflect the club, any other 'special' kits can be event, cause or charity specific. Over the course of a year MLS (and therefore all teams including TFC) have had a 'camo' strip for armed forces day, a 'pride' shirt, a pink shirt for various cancer causes and others I cant recall right now. These are worn across the league for one specific day. If you like it, you buy it, if not you move along ... Edit : I knew I forgot one. This year its the 'unity' kit to promote 25 years of MLS. The kit is a retro style back to the similar kit designs worn by USA national team and other teams around the world 25 years ago. https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2020/02/06/toronto-fc-unveil-new-unity-kit-ahead-major-league-soccers-25th-season // https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/02/05/2020-official-mls-jerseys

from the website : Delivery estimated late July due to delays caused by COVID-19.

Tongue may be firmly in cheek but its a valid point and symptomatic of the cluster**** that is the SPFL management .... the whole thing leaves the SPFL wide open to litigation if people had the stomach (and finances) for it ... you relegate teams based on partial season points ... potential litigation from 3 teams. You decide not to promote teams from lower divisions - potential litigation from 3 more teams. You deny entry to the league for two teams who could get there - 2 more sets of potential litigation ... and finally, however unlikely, and harder to quantify, teams in playoff spots in all 3 divisions could make a case that they have lost out on an opportunity for promotion and the associated financial windfall it would bring to them based on the decisions of the SPFL .... You bully your wayto retain the status quo and everyone feels just a little cheated and that we lost an opportunity. Amazingly, allowing 14-10-10-10 would take away all those litigation criteria in one fell swoop yet it is basically not considered because increasing the Premiership from 12 to 14 would reduce prize money a fraction ... probably not even enough to buy some new silks for the QCs involved let alone the cost of any action itself !! If they had come out with this at the start they could have looked progressive, forward thinking and mindful of making sure their members were not disadvantaged during this crisis. Maybe those in charge of the North Caledonian League who just made a quick and decisive change to their own format should act as consultants to the SPFL !!

This argument comes up every so often ..... The car park is not fully paved because if it was the business rates would be higher and we can seldom afford more cost. The 'shortcut' to the bridge is just that, a shortcut created by fans, not an official road so dont expect the club to do anything they could beheld liable for later. its likely they also dont have any right to do anything on the side of the A9 as that would not be their land. As for entertainment versus upgrade, we need both. If we can find economical ways to enhance the matchday experience and use revenue generated to make minor improvements to keep that experience moving forwards then thats great but we simply dont have the money to upgrade the ground first and hope that it brings in a few more bodies .... Its economies of scale but I get the same thing at TFC. Theres a bunch of gates (probably 20 or more) and all season tickets are now app based on your phone, no physical tickets or printouts .... yet queues are enormous (or were before COVID). This is because there are bottlenecks at the scanning area and also all bags must be searched on entry and supporters checked with a metal detector ... we know this but we still turn up 5 minutes before kick-off expecting to get in on time. From an ICT perspective, if there is something to encourage people to turn up earlier and enjoy added amenities or activities then there will be a fair portion of people who may enter the ground earlier but if people are just coming from the Innes or Caley Club then that last pint looks very inviting ...... Its expensive to convert from existing seats to the safe standing model used in Germany and elsewhere but I think I am right in saying the actual seats themselves are about 50% more expensive so if we did plan something then that could surely be factored in. Another thing that could be suggested - maybe it has been, I dont know - is to have a 'beer garden' or perhaps a 'social distance section' to make it more current !! At TFC we also only have 3 stands !! You have your allocated seat, in my case in the South Stand, but you are free to move to the North End and mingle with other fans, stand to watch the game or have a beer in the beer garden...... guessing we could not get away with the beer garden, but an area with unallocated seating/terracing might be an option ? If the rules dont allow it then we work to change those rules ... while we are in the championship I believe we are allowed standing areas .... ?

I believe that is a possibility as the articles of association for the SPFL say something about being able to expel members if they take them to court or something like that .... dont know the exact wording, but someone did mention it in the discussion somewhere - or perhaps I read it online elsewhere. Bottom line I think is that Hearts and the League are waiting to see who blinks first .... but the outcome in the end, i believe will be that Hearts get a few extra dollops of cash to sweeten the blow (while Stranraer and Partick get ignored) and that things proceed as planned with relegation/promoton Scottish football has really shot itself in the foot yet again and proven that it is still stuck in the early 20th century. It comes from Doncaster down and includes some very small minded and parochial individuals who cannot see past the bifocals perched on the end of their noses. They can reconfigure and rename the leagues as many times as they like while basically staying the same. it does not improve the product, it is not progressive, and it does nothing to develop the game in the country and thereby improve the image and competitiveness of the sport at a national or international level. Improving the product on both those stages could and probably would lead to more investment, interest and sponsorship. We are on a downward spiral, and have been since the 90s yet no-one has the gumption to try and reform from the ground up. This time in history, with a global pandemic on a scale none of us have ever witnessed is/was an opportunity to press the reset button on many things in our lives and the methodologies by which we approach them ... it just seems ludicrous that an organisation who know their model is broken and needs to be fixed wont even pay it scant regard.

Took a chance and ordered the biggest size for me and age 11/12 for my almost 7 year old ..... at worst he can grow into it

Must be a dual carriageway !

There is no such thing as the SPL, but pedantry aside, I fail to see how the monies would have been diluted. The sponsorship model has always been similar .... There's a really high percentage for finishing in 1st or 2nd place of the Premiership then the prize money drops considerably for third. After that it drops by about 2% per position, takes another dive to the amount given to the top of the 1st and then drops by a certain percentage through each position again through the rest of the SPFL. With the same 44 teams the distribution would remain similar and is more dependent on the amount of sponsorship than the breakdown of the leagues. That's assuming the SPFL have stuck to this model that has been used over many years and multiple league sponsors and not changed it for next season. As for the other stuff, personally, I think it is irrelevant as regardless of league setup next season things will have to change. stadium capacity, limitation on max occupancy of hospitality suites or boxes, amount of corporate sponsors, etc., etc., etc., I would argue that smaller clubs who dont fill their grounds or have fewer corporate sponsors might suffer less as creating a space that is workable under whatever the new normal will be may require less effort. For us, with less than 50% capacity used we should be able to space out our support a bit more even if it does mean some people may have to move. That will not be so easy at other clubs who have a large number of season ticket holders. With respect to COVID testing, thats also irrelevant as whatever measures are required will be required regardless of how many teams are in a division.

Sizing clarification would be good. online the ordering options go up to 5XL and with ERREA that 5XL sizing was equivalent to about 2XL for the likes of Adidas, but the PUMA size guide only goes to 3XL. Would also be good if size guide was in a clickable lightbox that could be popped out to view the numbers in a larger size.

I think this story still has a bit to run ... maybe to UEFA and/or ICAS especially after the ruling in France. It may come to nothing in the end but if Hearts do end up in the championship alongside us, whilst seeking any legal means to stay in the Premiership it could force them to lose focus and maybe take a while to get going when things restart. We are notorious slow starters so if we manage to prepare properly and come out of the start gates quickly for once we could do well, especially if the season is indeed shortened to 27 games. Seems I was right about the story having more to run based on lightlamp2's link above. I wish Hearts all the success they can get from this. Not only because it would benefit ICT - and I would be lying if I said that didn't matter, it does - but also because it is the right thing to do. Hearts, Partick, Stranraer, Brora and Kelty are all victims here and no league body should ever seek to disadvantage its members like this when its aim is to foster the game for the good and benefit of ALL of its members. Here's hoping that Hearts are successful and in the process they take down Doncaster and all his useless cronies in the process.

Some players/managers just 'fit' a club. Robbo is one of those. Given the resources he has had (or more specifically not had) he has done remarkably well for our club in his management career and I hope to see him continue in that role for many years to come. You want to sanctify Yogi or Butcher - go ahead. Personally I wont try and tell you that you are wrong. Both had wonderful moments in charge of ICT and have a rightful place in our history. Getting us back to the Premiership, winning us the Scottish Cup - you cant take any of that away. However, also remember that both of these managers oversaw the greatest budgets in our club's history, one to bounce back to the Premiership and the other whilst we were in it. If you want a manager to make something out of nothing using a budget to match then Robbo is your man , and right here, right now, I would rather have him at the helm than any other manager in our history.

That's my shortest away game over here ... Toronto to Montreal is 336 miles using the shortest route. Have made the trek to Palmerston and back the same day a few times from Inverness and that was brutal in a minibus so Annan to Brora would be even worse. Not so bad if they make a weekend of it though.

I think that if we do go up to the Premiership then there is no better season to be unready than next season ..... no-one is ready ! There will be a bigger pool of players available on free transfers than normal, many with a point to prove and our operation on the playing side will already be pared to the bone in terms of wages meaning we may have more wiggle room than some. I would be doing some lateral thinking about now, perhaps seeking out and forging new relationships with other clubs to see who we could get in on loan for the Premiership season if it happens and we are in it. Between who we have, who might be available on a free, and potentially a few quality loanees we could certainly look to finish in a decent spot next season. I wouldnt be planning any European travel for late 2021 just yet but a comfortable 7-12 finish if its 14 and we build from there .... just like we did before.

I got 4 around the same time. One black one is still going strong. The rest, one black, two grey, only gave up the ghost last year.