Caley

If a hotel was struggling because of a steadily declining number of visitors it might spend some money to make the place more appealing and therefore attract more guests, or it could lower its prices. On the other hand it could do nothing and hope for the best. Nobody is suggesting building a 4th stand in order to increase capacity, it is in order to increase amenity and therefore make TCS a more attractive place to visit.

I would only back the building of a 4th stand if the pipeline(s) could remain where they are. I'm not sure how far the club have explored the possibility of building a new stand, say of the same design as the north and south stands. I do fail to see why some think building a 4th stand is such a hilarious idea. It would make the ground a much more appealing place to visit. There are plenty of people who are put off going in bad weather, and sitting in a west stand would give protection from the prevailing wind/rain which generally comes from the west. Do the doubters have any better ideas to try and halt the slide in attendances? I'm not saying let's build the thing tomorrow, but if it is feasible (given the pipeline problem) then is it too much to ask to ASPIRE to build a 4th stand? And who says we have to make all the money back on it anyway? Sometimes you spend money on something purely because you want it! Let's imagine we had a couple of good cup runs, got some luck in the transfer market and so had the 750k in the bank. Would you build the stand then? Or would you spend it on players that could get us into the top 6 for a couple of seasons? Or what else would you do with it to get the lost fans back?

I didn't assume we would get through, that's why I used words like "potentially" and "hopefully". I'm not 100% sure the pipeline would have to be moved either as the footprint for a semi-permanent stand is pretty much the same as what's there already on the west side of the ground. Again, I didn't say 60k "profit", I said "revenue". Of course there's costs involved and that's why I chose the words I did. And I know we haven't sold out the stadium against the OF for a few years but that's because the home end isn't full. There's always extra demand from the away support, you only need to see how many OF fans can be found in the main and north stands. I appreciate your reservations, and I a 4th stand will probably never happen, but it's still worthy of debate.

The bottom line for me is the ground is unfinished. We should at least be aspiring to complete it by stating our desire to build a 4th stand and doing a rough costing. Even if it was a structure like our north and south stands costing about £750k that would do. Potential TV cash from the cup replay and hopefully the Celtic tie could see us 20% of the way there already. I know people will say "What's the point, we can't fill the other 3 stands anyway?". Well even if it's just got an extra 1000 OF fans in it 3 times a year that's an extra 60k revenue p.a. A better atmosphere and more protection from the elements are other compelling reasons for building it.

Different pipe I am afraid ... The one I refer to is the national gas transmission line that takes gas to the whole of the north ... Oh I see. There must be two pipelines in the area then as the GPSS line to Kinloss/Lossie follows this route too. Sorry if I'm going over old ground here (didn't read the previous discussions), but what was the outcome of the debate about how these pipelines would affect the building of a fourth stand? Would it/they have to be rerouted first?

Regarding the gas pipeline, it is owned by the MoD and takes fuel from a depot in the Longman out to the RAF bases at Kinloss (or it used to) and Lossiemouth. I can't see how this would cause a problem though as the footprint for a smallish stand wouldn't be much different to the existing structure on the west side of the ground. If we could afford it I say build it. It would make such a difference to the ground in terms of atmosphere and protection from the elements. Problem is we'll probably never have the cash to do this.

Very petty and immature Alex Dougal Not too sure how that's petty and/or immature, Dougal... The way it reads to me is that until Saturday's match is over, DD is still a caley thistle player, so why wish him all the best before he's played his last game...?? He's fishing. Ignore him.

Leave any farewell messages you like for David Davis on this thread because I know for a fact he reads it!

I don't know if all the praise he was getting has gone to his head, but he's coming across as a right big-time Charlie on Twitter mow. Seems to think he's too good for ICT these days. He's done a good turn for us but I think he should GTF today and not be considered for Saturday's game.

Well they won't be using the "high tide" excuse this time as low tide was at 11:07am! Don't really see the point in calling it off at 11:30 as a lot of Saints fans would either be here or close enough. I know their supporters buses had already arrived. Couldn't they have given the pitch more time to see if it would drain? Or is our pitch drainage so bad that there would be no point? This is getting quire embarrassing!

Right now I'd be more concerned about getting Hayes to sign a new deal. IIRC he is out of contract at the end of this season and could sign a pre-contract with another club any time soon.

What I was referring to was using the West Terrace again, which had a capacity of about 1500, split 50/50. That's where the 750 extra OF fans figure comes from. For OF games the South Stand is always full with demand for tickets such that some OF fans choose to sit in the home end. I don't think selling 750 extra tickets would be a problem for these games. The average 100 extra for other games was just a guess, but I'm sure we would get more away fans if they could stand up watching the game. I would leave the other 3 stands as they are. The West Terrace is only a few steps high, so why not propose this as our "safe standing" pilot? It is an intrinsically safe place to stand and watch football because it is so low. These expensive safe standing systems are intended for much larger structures. Doncaster said they would look at each individual case on its merits, so why not give it a go? Wouldn't really cost anything to put the proposal to the SPL.

In a scenario where we were the only club to do this for next season, I can see us attracting a lot more away fans to experience standing at a SPL match again as most of these fans have been watching football sitting down for a decade or more. Plus we would also be looking at an extra 750 or so OF fans 3 or 4 times a season. If the non-OF games brought an extra 100 fans on average for the "standing at a match" experience then that's almost 4000 extra away fans over the season @ ?20 average price = nearly ?80000. We'd be daft not to do this.

County's plans are to build a 2500 seat stand in the jubilee "away end" which will take 10-12 weeks to build, so probably the same as the ones we have behind our goals. They also plan to put about 1500 seats in the existing jail end.

Clicky

I think this will be the set-up and team with the exception of McKay for Tade. Tade to come on with 15 mins to go if needs be.

There would be little point in Davis returning to Wolves if McCarthy's bid to take Emmanuel Frimpong & Francis Coquelin on loan from Arsenal is successful. Even if it isn't, moves for other midfielders are likely. The other option for David would be a loan move elsewhere, but if he's enjoying his football here, and Wolves are paying his wages anyway, his preferred option will be to stay here I think.

You know what Sean? . No wonder no-one bothers with it any more. Unless we are winning.

With our season going in to reverse gear and Andy Murray losing today, I think it's time we all cheered each other up. Post all your funnies here. I'm going for this one which has made the Go Compare ads somehow more bearable. No point moving this topic elsewhere as hardly anyone is bothering with this page never mind the others.

Some great memories there Bridge_Ender. I was at Ochilview that day in 1996, we took a hell of a pounding from Stenny in the first half. Thommo's screamer in the second secured us a place in the next round...Rangers at home (played at Tannadice). The goal that will stay with me forever is Iain Stewart's outrageous chip over the County keeper in our second ever match at TCS. Dunno if anyone still has a copy of it but it was captured on TV.

Hayes' goal on YouTube here. Better look quick before it gets pulled for copyright reasons blah blah blah.

This is definitely the best start we've ever had to an SPL season. Our all-time record in the SPL after 14 games is: 2004/05 Points 12, GD -9; 2005/06 Points 17, GD -2; 2006/07 Points 19, GD 0; 2007/08 Points 13, GD -12; 2008/09 Points 14, GD -6; 2010/11 Points 24, GD +8; In the past 6 seasons the teams who were in 6th place after the 33-game split were: 2004/05 Motherwell, 43 points; 2005/06 Aberdeen, 48 points; 2006/07 Hibs, 44 points; 2007/08 Aberdeen, 44 points; 2008/09 Hibs, 42 points; 2009/10 Hearts, 44 points; So 44 points seems to be the target to aim for. 1 win in 3 between now and the split would give us about 42 points and if you toss in a few draws then a top 6 finish is very achievable this season. I think we'll do it. Any doubters?

4 days younger...

I hope he didn't dive. I would rather not cheat and we draw/lose than cheat and we win.

It doesn't take the brains of Albert Einstein to work out that either Dougal is clueless Dougal is a merger refusenik who is passing himself off as a poor English sod who thinks he can do a better job than the yokels, whilst attempting to wind up said yokels as much as possible.