Scotty

..... and the SFA have chosen to exercise their right to do so. Its not a week-by-week decision, its a decision made, ahead of time, for the whole season although the SFA have set a few exception dates (for Scotland games I think). Nothing can be broadcast on TV between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on a Saturday unless its on one of those exception dates. Theoretically you could have a kickoff up to about 12:45 on a Saturday and still have enough time to get it finished before the 2:45pm blackout comes into effect ... that extra half-hour might have been quite useful for an early kick-off especiailly if bus or train times need to be taken into account. I did not realise that only Scotland, England and Montenegro actually applied these rules .... This article gives a decent overview https://www.lawinsport.com/topics/articles/item/what-is-the-black-out-rule-in-football-and-is-it-lawful

I have no issues with anyone being on here using a pseudonym unless they are disrupting the forum itself or breaking our site rules. We have had players, staff, and directors on here over the years as well as local and national media people, and each is entitled to read/browse the forum for info/opinion (as most do) or to publish their own opinion which might sometimes be controversial if they used their own names. It could also be taken as club policy when its just opinion and ultimately could be used in a disciplinary fashion by SFA/SPFL in the same way they have used twitter or facebook comments when something is said. Some 'out themselves' and say who they are but others prefer to remain somewhat anonymous as is their right. I dont see anything underhanded in any recent posts by board members.

I know I keep banging on about it, but the Scottish Championship really is a compelling league. As we enter the final quarter of the season, all ten clubs have something to play for. Inconsistency has been the dominant theme as teams go from periods where everything goes in to ones when they seem to have smashed a mirror over a black cat whilst walking under a ladder, or vice versa. The table is so tight that some teams who were in the promotion playoff hunt a month ago are now looking over their shoulders with trepidation, whilst others who appeared set for a relegation dogfight are now dreaming of nicking a top four spot. The latter group include Dunfermline, who in mid-February lay seventh, just three points above bottom spot in a total mess following Allan Johnston's departure. Luckily for them his replacement, Stevie Crawford, has proven the most unlikely saviour since the disciples went to the wrong stable at the start of Life Of Brian. It also helps to have a centre forward in form; step forward Aberdeen loanee Bruce Anderson, clearly scarred for life by his parents' decision to give him a name that it is impossible to say without putting on a dodgy Australian accent. Young Brucie, as surely everybody must refer to him by law, is taking his revenge on society, or at least that part of it that stands between goalposts in Scotland's second tier. An in-form striker can only take you so far though, particularly when the rest of the squad is so thin that home fans at Palmerston have started taking their boots with them in case they are required on the bench. I give to you Queen of the South, who as recently as the end of January bodied Dundee out of the Cup on the back of Stephen Dobbie's goals. It's tough enough for any forward to score more goals than his age; for a 36 year old one to do so two months before the clocks change is mental. A fifty goal campaign for the veteran wasn't just a possibility at that point, it was odds-on. And then it all went, er, south. An extraordinary 4-0 demolition of Ross County in mid-January has been followed by seven straight league defeats; Dobbie's last league goal came in the first of those seven. Saturday's loss at home to Caley Thistle was marred by goalkeeper Alan Martin giving home fans the bird when the half-time whistle went. He was substituted at the break because "of a back injury" according to manager Gary Naysmith. Aye. Sure. So the Doonhamers have essentially swapped places in the table with Dunfermline. The problem is that, at the business end of things, there are now teams directly below them that have form and momentum. Falkirk and Partick Thistle are both finally reaping the rewards of their 'sign an entirely new team for our entirely new manager strategy'. If they haven't quite reached Dunfermline's Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds levels of giddiness, those two have at least moved into It's Getting Better territory, though with the duo set to clash next weekend somebody is going to suffer a rotten climbdown. There are exceptions to the incredible ups and downs that has permeated this division, all of which seem to exist north of the Tay. Caley Thistle are so determined to become the definition of mediocrity that physicists are concerned the universe could implode with shock if they moved either above fourth or below sixth in the table. They last won consecutive league games in September and have mastered the unfortunate habit of playing up to strong opposition and down to weaker ones. The trouble is that whilst they could argue that they have deserved at least a draw in all six league games they've played against Ross County and Dundee United, they haven't actually won any of them. They have knocked both out of the cup at least, so if John Robertson manages to drag them into the playoffs after all - by no means a certainty if Dunfermline keep going like this - and cons the players into thinking it is a knockout competition, they might pull off a miracle after all. As for their neighbours, "County have been crap for months" bewailed one Staggie friend of mine recently...with his team sitting top of the league. The thing is, the concept of form doesn't seem to have actually reached Dingwall. If football is indeed a results business, Ross County have got it down to such an extreme art form that Tracy Emin is nodding with approval. It's not that they haven't been playing well at times, it's just that it seems that ninety per cent of the time it doesn't matter. After an hour and a half of football each weekend, it turns out they've won. It's just one of life's certainties and there's no point fighting it. You just know that every single person in the country put Ross County 2-0 Greenock Morton on their pools coupon last weekend, though part of that is because Jonatan Johansson is so risk-averse away from home that even Jose Mourinho would accuse them of being too negative. They've actually scored more than once in only three of the Finn's twenty-four league games in charge. Boring your way to survival is certainly a bold strategy, Cotton. We'll see if it pays off. And then there's the tangerine-coloured elephant in the room. While many of the other Championship clubs have more highs and lows than the characters in Trainspotting, Dundee United fans are the ones most likely to be found on the Scottish moors lamenting the hand life has dealt them. "It's s**** supporting United! We're the lowest of the low! The scum of the f***** earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever s*** into civilization! Some people hate Dundee. I don't. They're just w*****s. We, on, the other hand, are a division below w*****s." Win, lose, draw or whatever, United seem in a state of perpetual crisis regardless. Given that Rangers: The Banter Years has dropped markedly in quality during its seventh season, we should be grateful that its Tayside-based spinoff continues to trundle along nicely despite yet another overhaul of the cast. Replacing Csaba Laszlo with Robbie Neilson was expected to result in a change of direction but the decision to stick with the tried-and-tested formula has proved a ratings hit. The games United do win seem to be mostly the result of collective embarrassment, as if the players' own self-respect forces them to occasionally perform somewhere close to their potential. However the shame wears off after a while and then it's back to their baseline, which appears to be to play as if everyone is still at the stage of needing nametags so that their teammates remember what their name is. To be fair, Neilson did sign eleven players - literally a new team - in January. But six weeks on from the end of that window one is entitled to suspect a degree of coherence. Instead United fans have been 'treated' to two weekends of watching their team toil for an afternoon, somehow against all reason find themselves in a drawing position, only for the football gods to take offence to this and part their central defence like the Red Sea to gift first Caley Thistle and then Partick Thistle deserved injury-time winners. Whereas Partick made a plethora of signings because they gutted their squad after relegation, and Falkirk brought in a gazillion new players to replace the donkeys that Paul Hartley had rounded up, United's squad is striking for the number of players under contract who have in the past few years been very competent at this level or above, but who have been discarded by Neilson in favour of new recruits. The temptation to spend those shiny American dollars was maybe too much to resist, but it might not have been unreasonable to look to the new coach to coax these players back to their best, rather than chuck them on the scrap heap. And sure, it might be that a Govan Witch Doctor cursed Tannadice in 2015 so that any player that wears the strip instantly becomes a haddie, but it's more likely that Mark Reynolds lost a yard of pace a couple of years ago and can't manage without it, and that Mark Connolly was only good when Manu Pascali babysat him through games at Killie. Neither have improved on United's previous options in central defence; after they were schooled by the just-out-of-retirement Scott McDonald at Firhill there was sufficient evidence to suggest they are actually a downgrade. Meanwhile further up the pitch United added to their attacking options with Cammy Smith, Aiden Nesbitt, Peter Pawlett and Osman Sow. All players with a bit of pedigree, but how do you play all four in the same team? Your guess is as good as Neilson's, which tells you that not nearly enough thought was put in to the recruitment drive. At least having new American owners means they probably don't need to worry about the financial implications of a fourth successive season at this level, but whilst a playoff place is pretty much a certainty getting through them is another matter. There's still the enticing prospect of a final between them and their struggling rivals from along the road, where we can be certain that the most positive thing that could be said about the victors would be 'that they were the least crap'. Neilson still has eight games to mould United into a decent unit and to build up enough confidence to put them in good stead for the postseason. But as it stands Arabs have good reason to fear they're headed for another year in this particular circle of hell, or at least for two more trips to Dumfries, which is pretty much the same thing. For the rest of us, it is compelling viewing, even if it is in the same way that you can't take your eyes off a crashing car. And if that doesn't sum up the Scottish Championship then I don't know what does. Lawrie Spence has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly. View the full article

... with the SFA officially taking ownership of the stadium next year and QP moving to lesser Hampden then this makes sense. All marquee games and internationals should take place at the "National Stadium". I used to go to quite a lot of Scotland games and it was quite an adventure (in a good way that has fond memories) .... The trek to Hampden in the afternoon, the game, the journey back up the road on the overnight train [with what seemed like a never ending wait at Perth for the mail/papers to get loaded], getting home around 4am and grabbing some milk of the Stratton Dairies float from Jock the milkman ... then off to work around 7am !!! It still holds a special place for domestic football too. Who can forget our journeys to Hampden over the years. Loads of memories and loads more to come hopefully

You are absolutely correct and this is one of the reasons fans are concerned as we have seen a huge number of very good backroom staff leave over the last year. No argument there. Our club has always been at its best when fans and club have worked together in harmony. That is not the case right now even if some on both sides are trying. You might be surprised at how much fans DO know about what it takes. Perhaps not all ... but more than you seem to think ! It is also - as another poster notes - something that most of us dont need to know and instead elect a board of directors to govern whats needed to ensure everything is run for the good and benefit of the club. absolutely. Something our current chairman promised on day 1 and has never delivered.

*** VOTING IN THE POLL ABOVE IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WERE AT THE MATCH ONLY *** If you were at the match, please use the poll above to vote for your top 3 players. As a bit of fun, we have also added an option to rate the referee .... Please make sure you vote for 3 separate players. If you make an error, let us know so we can fix it. PLEASE ONLY VOTE ABOVE IF YOU WERE AT THE GAME Anyone caught trying to cheat the system WILL be banned from voting in ALL site polls...this is your only warning. **NOT at the game ?** As a result of requests received, we have made a slight change to how these threads work for site users who watched the game on TV or listened to the full game live on the radio ....... You too will now be able to cast your votes, but should do it in the thread below, and NOT in the official poll above. Just list the three players of your choosing and award 5,3, or 1 point(s). You can give the ref a mark if you want too ! These votes will NOT be counted in the official total, as we only count votes from those who where actually at the game, but it IS a way for you to participate in the process .... which many people asked for .... a happy medium we hope !!!!!

2 up now

Scotty HT: 1-1 FT: 2-2 1st ICT: White 1st Opp: Dobbie Crowd: 1677 CDN Girl HT: 0-0 FT: 0-1 1st ICT: Polworth 1st Opp: Austin Crowd: 1502 SOS HT: 0-1 FT: 1-2 1st ICT: Polworth 1st Opp: Dobbie Crowd: 1777

Scotty : QOS/ICT draw @ 3.20 CDN Girl : Clyde @ 2.10 SOS : East Fife @ 1.83

THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Queen of the South -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW Sat March 9th @ 3pm, Palmerston Park, Dumfries Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO COVERAGE BBC Sportsound BBC Sportsound [UK Only] LIVE TEXT (ONLINE) Sporting Life BBC VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS TO FOLLOW Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC

Usually there are three sides .... each person's version .... and the actual truth ! This is the press release issued when she was appointed : Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC is delighted to announce the appointment of a Chief Executive to provide strategic leadership and advice to the Board of Directors as the club restructures and looks to become a more community-focused club. Mrs Yvonne Crook is an experienced consultant whose skills in business development, branding and marketing are seen as hugely valuable assets as the club strives to attract new investment and operate in a more business-like and sustainable way. Mrs Crook is the owner of View Marketing and a founder and director of Good Highland Food Ltd, which she runs with her husband Mike. She has also held strategic advisory positions for several destinations and visitor attractions in Scotland including Loch Ness by Jacobite as well as Perth Racecourse. Not sure "hemorrhaging cash" is quite the right description as we had been somewhat stable for the few years prior to that and the accounts, while never overly encouraging in any part of our 25 year history were not as bad as people are making out. We were a Premiership team, operating on a premiership budget with some costs we could not control and others that we might have been able to control better (that is ALWAYS the case) .... However, given that we had just been relegated, then a problem with cashflow would be expected to be the case in the coming year regardless of who was in charge. Last time we were relegated it instantly cost us over £1,000,000 on the balance sheet. Some of the challenges we faced last season could be laid at the previous board (contracts) but not everything .... and lest we forget, the "previous board" did not resign en-masse. Our current chairman was part of that board and changes took place over time with some stepping down and others appointed to their current roles. Its also not rocket science to know individuals will be leaving the business ... last time we were relegated the "previous board" cut our staffing to the absolute bare bones to offset costs so its not a new or novel idea for this to happen. The fact of the matter however, is that most of the resignations quoted in the article are not redundancies or sackings due to cost-cutting but individuals making the choice to end their employment with ICT for other reasons. I know the reasoning behind at least two of those from the horses mouths but cannot speculate on the others. The ones I do know about have absolutely nothing to do with cost cutting. The item in red concerns me ... especially given the quote earlier in this thread that the company she was quoted as being a founder/director of is now apparently doing the catering at the stadium and according to those who sampled it, it is of lower quality than what was there before. What was the tender process? Who appointed this company? Did the founder who was also our CEO remove herself from the discussions due to a clear conflict of interest? While she may have been involved in the stadium discussions (or not?) I dont think she can take credit for it. The stadium deal was ready to sign long before she appeared on the scene and the couple of years of posturing, machinations and additional discussions that took place before it was finally signed have done nothing except pad the legal costs. We have yet to see the details of this foundation, how it is to operate and what governance is placed around it. Its a great idea in principle, but as can be seen from sheepslagger's comments on other threads recently, a lot of this is still in the idea stage. It may have been her idea, and I would say that it is a good one ... but its far from the finished article. Financial position is not improved as far as I can see it. The accounts, delayed until the stadium ownership was sorted, and could be included on them as an asset, are horrendous and come with an auditors warning never before seen on our accounts. As I said above, it was not going to be an easy task regardless of who took it on after relegation but to say it has improved is overly optimistic at best. £810K loss IS within her tenure. She was appointed in May 2018 after helping the board for the previous 6 months (as per the press release). That means she was around since November 2017. I will agree once again that we do not need a CEO. No-one who has performed that role in the history of the club has shown it to be a crucial position at ICT. I would also agree with you regarding the serious questions and hope someone does ask these at the AGM. If I were still living locally I would be standing there doing just that. I would also encourage everyone to look at the ballot paper sent out and consider carefully before rubber stamping the options listed. Exactly !!

If this were a front page article I might agree with you .. but its an article by their chief football writer who typically has decent content despite the rag-like content of the paper itself. (a bit like Bill Leckie and the Sun). Which part of his story is incorrect ?

I will give her her due in one respect ... she did not call me up at home (in Toronto) at 5am on a Saturday morning asking me to remove a critical post from CTO !!! If she had, she would have got the same response as he did !!

Pressreader makes it easier to read and an even scarier story : https://www.pressreader.com/uk/scottish-daily-mail/20190307/283424897907476 . If true, this woman eclipses Mike Smith with consummate ease in terms of potential damage done to our club. If indeed true then good on the directors who rejected that ultimatum and good riddance ! This is another reason why we should not have a CEO meddling in football affairs. what does a CEO (any CEO we have had) know about the footballing side of the business. Nothing. I would rather have a Director of Football and a Director of Business on the board who managers responsible for each part of the club report to. Let them do their jobs on a day-to-day basis with governance in place to make sure everything is fine. Robbo and the Academy head would report to the Director of Football and whoever is the commercial and stadium managers would report to a Director of Business ... Looking at who we have lost, that's quite a number of good people and it seems she only fell when trying to oust yet another good person with a long history at the club in a part of the business she has no f***ing clue about. The more I re-read that article, the angrier I become at both her and the method by which she was installed in her position !

100% agree The matchday stuff is fine and usually pretty interesting, but outside of that, on a day to day basis any increase in presence seemed to be focused on shoutouts to companies that did some work for the club and got mentions - perhaps in lieu of a small discount? Not exactly enthralling or engaging and certainly not award-winning as we had been previously ! We have had 4 CEOs (or equivalent role with different job title) over the years and to be honest I am not sure what any have brought to the table in terms of justifying their positions or raising/saving more money than they were costing. Debbie and Morven were at least pretty likeable folk and I certainly had a number of run-ins with Mike Smith, but as I said above I cant really comment on anything other than my personal dealings with the most recent incumbent and those were far from positive. In fact, these were negative enough that after 25 solid years of sponsorship and free or low cost service provision to the club we literally want nothing to do with the commercial side. Thats no reflection on the sales staff themselves who are excellent, but the leadership. As Satan has asked ? Out of all the promises or goals that were mentioned back at the start of her tenure, what was actually achieved during that time? and at what cost both financially and in terms of relationship with fans and other sponsors? I am sure she worked hard and had ideas, and some may have found her very pleasant, but none of those things put money in the bank. Do we actually need someone? We have had 4 people take on that role - with different job titles at times - over 25 years and none of them have been a roaring success. A stadium manager and a senior sales executive reporting to a director rather than adding an extra layer and having them report to a CEO who then reports to that same director seems to have been sufficient for the majority of our existence. If we are going to replace her are we going to advertise the job this time and have an actual job description and pick the most suitably qualified candidate? Do we actually need someone? As I already said, some of our most productive years have been with good people in charge of sales and running the stadium without the title of CEO. People prepared to roll their sleeves up and do it themselves. They already did over the festive season did they not ? I must admit to finding this a bit strange too ... why jump now, just ahead of the 25th year celebrations ..... and the presentation of the accounts for scrutiny at the AGM !

A Caley/Thistle or ICT connection is irrelevant IMHO. Business acumen and the ability to find, develop and maintain meaningful relationships that generate revenue or further the reach of ICT is far more important. I actually question whether this position is required or not. A club of our meagre resources may not be able to sustain that expense. Depending on which former chairman you speak with, it is seen as either a good idea or it is something that can be done by some combination of sales staff and directors thereby saving a significant yearly salary. I have no idea how she performed on a day to day basis as my only dealings with Ms Crook were on email - when she chose to respond - and based on those interactions I personally do not have a positive opinion on her presence at the club. These were not fan or CTO communications, they were business related ones, and to ignore people who are not only service providers but also sponsors, customers and shareholders is bad business.

Cheers AM. watched and enjoyed. What a belter from Chalmers !

Scarlet - you do realise that this is about 50 FEET x 30 FEET (1500 square feet). Thats one hell of a piece of glass ! You do have a point though ... perhaps there is a way for the club to come to some agreement with CaleyD and display it - mural-like - somewhere in the stadium and put it behind perspex or something to protect it ..... after they have negotiated using it at Hampden again of course ?

Scotty HT: 0-0 FT: 0-1 1st ICT: White 1st Opp: Clark Crowd: 5600 1st Yellow Card: Brad Mckay CDN Girl HT: 1-0 FT: 1-1 1st ICT: Austin 1st Opp: Pawlett Crowd: 5102 1st Yellow Card: Tremarco SOS HT: 0-1 FT: 1-2 1st ICT: Polworth 1st Opp: Safranko Crowd: 5407 1st Yellow Card: Pawlett

THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Dundee Utd -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW Sunday 3rd March @ 3:30pm, Tannadice Stadium, Dundee Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO COVERAGE BBC Sportsound BBC Sportsound [UK Only] LIVE TEXT (ONLINE) Sporting Life BBC VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS TO FOLLOW Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC

I remember that one .... as kids, when there was a little bit more of it left, we always used to pretend it was the remains of a viking longboat

Scotty : Airdrie @ 2.10 CDN Girl : Stenny @ 2.15 SOS : Clyde @ 2.30

Peter Pawlett sent off

1-0 : Nicky Clark penalty after a foul by Donaldson ?

Scotty HT: 0-0 FT: 0-1 1st ICT: White 1st Opp: Safranko Crowd: 3988 CDN Girl HT: 1-0 FT: 1-1 1st ICT: Austin 1st Opp: Pawlett Crowd: 4222 SOS HT: 1-1 FT: 1-2 1st ICT: Polworth 1st Opp: McMullan Crowd: 4123