Kirishima

Dalneigh Caley, what possible reason would you have to attack Pele in this way? The man who has given all ICT fans the best memories by far, and is probably the sole reason we ever got near the SPL. I can understand a County fan saying this but never an ICT fan. Anyway, imo success as a club manager does not mean success as an international manager. In my opinion the tp three things are: 1. Motivation 2. Tactical know-how 3. Knowledge 1. Motivation - Walter Smith 2. Tactical know-how - Walter Smith/ Craig Brown 3. Knowledge - Jim Jeffries/Walter Smith/Craig Brown So, WS it is.

If every kid played football at school, after school, on the weekends, then there wouldn't be a problem There are two problems: a) we dont have many boys (4m population, aging population) b.) Boys here prefer to play PS3, Nintendo DS, XBox, World of Warcraft. In my mind, there is a clear link between size of population and hours spent playing football. In China, all kids play basketball. 1.3 billion but can't beat an egg. Japan, all kids play baseball. 127 million, can beat Scotland. USA, Basketball, Baseball, American Football, 300 million, mediocre. Most of the worlds greatest players played football 12 hrs a day. If Scotland wants to have the next Didier Drogba or Maradona, we have to scrap school, ban TV and video games, and just have our kids play football solidly. The best teams in the world will be from developing nations where football is number 1. End of.

It's only right that the club slims down wherever possible. Hopefully, the club is not in the red... is it?

First, in the rumour mill we have jaggedthistle sacked topic on the basis of absolutely nothing, and now a complete twisting of words to stir up people. Don't start crying wolf, as it undermines the site, and fools others. Hrmph.

This is a wind up, surely? Part time? That would be the beginning of the end.

Likewise, and I'm glad that Scotland had the foresight to boycott the tournament in protest. :)

Agreed. The rules should be in place before a ball is kicked for that year's campaign, so that every team can potentially work towards that goal. Doing it 2 weeks before the draw is ridiculous. I think they have lost a lot of face over this. There is no justification for this, each team worked as hard as the other team, indeed the smaller teams had to work harder. I do think it was done to stop a Slovenia v Ukraine / France v Portugal scenario in order to give a helping hand to the "attractive" teams. That, for the World Cup, is unfair. I'm mad as hell and i'm not gonna take it anymore!

15 years ago if I'd known that the hard work put in by so many people to get us into and up the leagues would be undone by the actions of those in charge of the club over the past two or three seasons I would have been far from delighted. We have come a long way, but instead of consolidating our position and trying to grow and develop to the greatest extent possible for us, we're going backwards. This is what I object to Spot On WoC

:) ah, did i miss some irony there, ah ****

I understand what you are saying, but football is all about being the best you can be, about playing to win, about never settling for second best. Ask any manager worth his salt and he will say that if you go onto the pitch not expecting or trying to win, then, you're not a footballer. And in the same vein, we should not be restricted in our ambitions by the past, our size, or anything. I take no comfort in looking back to the past and accepting our position just because we are "small" (Vitriolic...fever...taking...over...)

No I'm not. I don't know what ground work they did or didn't do but they didn't do anything any team relegated from the SPL has done before them. I don't see anything wrong with trying to get the fans to get behind the team and show their support by snapping up season tickets. Again, how were the club meant to advertise season tickets this season? :) To be fair, I can see both points here. Yes, the club had to say "bounce back up" as to say "get cosy mid-table" would have been a tad off. However, they may have hammed it up a bit too much, and despite having a parachute payment, no cash was made available for TB, and here we are dishing almost the same out in contract disputes that could have been avoided if they had a bit more gumption. If the question is, "The board have talked the talk, have they walked the walk?" then the answer is most definitely no. Is that their fault, yes! (they could have avoided the 200k we are shelling out and bought better players, or at least like for like. ICT is perhaps 50% of what it was and there has to be a reason.) (my most vitriolic post for many a moon)

Undoubtedly, but what's next, giving them a one-goal head start, knee-capping the weaker teams striker, setting off their fire alarm the night before (all ludicrous suggestions, but not far removed from this) Those teams that got into second position don't deserve to be hobbled. If FIFA stands for Fair Play, an even playing field and equality, why are the smaller clubs getting penalised. I know that seedings happen in every cup, but play-offs shouldn't be like that. Im outraged, but should i be?

Can anyone please explain why FIFA, on the 29th September, decided to seed the play-offs. In all that is fair and just, how, why, did they do this. I feel disgusted... is there something i'm missing?

Dunno...can't see it unless home form becomes solid. only 7 pts, can change easily within a month. But it requires ICT to go on a run, and the teams above to falter. Can't believe RC are top...

woooooo.....

Twitter is banned in China, as with Facebook, You Tube, Picassa, .... open all mics for me. Sitting with a beer, pizza ordered. Just watched Raith highlights, seemed to have some slick counter attacks, and some direct running, more of the same hopefully!

Yep, seems about right. I would hope the board can drop this. It's clear that the money is owed. It's getting embarassing now.

Of course he did it for the best reasons!! A wise man is not always an old man SP. It was all in a days work for Stevico, quite literally. He did his job well, as ICT signed him. Had he done his job badly, he would have introduced a one-legged, half-blind lethargic sloth. Instead we got an international player who played in a major tournament. The fact that ICT mishandled almost everything after getting the DVD is their fault, not Stevicos.

Not the best publicity. David Sutherland and Graeme Bennett have together cost the club 133,000 quid. Had they a) kept their traps shut and :( played the waiting game then the outcome would have been very different. And why oh why didn't they get a written request? Dropped the ball spectacularly. I wish Fraser would let it go, they board made a hash of it. Not impressed at all by throwing that money away. The club is going backwards, on and off the pitch. Not the news to lift our spirits. Pah! (edited for additional info )

The open day, boardroom banter, volunteer programme, and club/CTO communication has all helped to make the board and fans move closer.

Everyone who paid to get into the stadium has a right to be there. Doesn't matter if you are asleep, swearing, moaning, criticising, applauding,singing, silent, or whatever. As long as it doesn't get the club into trouble with the SFL, then it's not an issue. Not every fan will sing. Fair enough. They are usually the majority. There is usually 1/5 of the support who sing, chant, etc at a club. At ICT it is about 1/20. That is what makes our club unique, for better or worse... I do think there is a Highland thing in it, as one poster mentioned before, but that it is just a fact of life, and they are no less of a supporter than the vocal ones. I do think that we need to take a look at the readiness of the support to start shouting negative things. (and i've been guilty of this in the past). I really think that our away form is not a coincidence. It'snot so much that there are more songs, but that there is less negativity. The players must feel more at ease away from home. Now, the big thing is, are the home support big enough to try and be positive outwardly for the players sake, and consciously keep the negativity inside them, for the pub afterwards. Forget song sheets, how about sheets with these words written on them: "you'll get it next time (name)...chin up" "Keep going lads, it'll come" "You can score (name) we know it" "Keep your head up (name), next goal's yours" Heck, i know it sounds corny, but if you can try, for a second, to imagine what the player would respond better to, then surely it's clear that there has to be a shift in attitude, a conscious decision to change the support method. Something has to change is right, but maybe it's the fans and I include myself in the group of people who are negative and quick to moan.

Here is a little list of truths: Players hate playing at home because they don't feel any support/get negative vibes. Butcher had no cash to replace international players such as Black/Cowie Our parachute payment went to cover marius's pay-off The squad is unrecognisable from what it was two years ago. There is no core. We aren't getting promoted this season Almost everyone is out of contract january/end of season Now Butcher's signings are going to take a while to be seen as failures or successes. And what manager has a perfect signing record? Certainly none that would ever be interested in the ICT job. We don't have the scouts to find us gems, so Butcher has to do his best to find players who want to play in the back of beyond, for crap wages in a division that is of a very poor standard. And players like Cox and Sanchez were getting praised just a week or two ago. I can totally understand people being frustrated, but waving the white flag and giving up is hardly the way. There have been some real highs (cup final) and some real lows (Partick/RC/Dunfermline) but overall id say we are doing about 50% ok...just gotta get behind the team, through thick and thin...but it's easier to fit the stereotype of dour heilanders. It's transition time.

I saw the photo of the hanball/penalty...blatant or what!!?? Who hatched this plan? Let's just say Columbo or Poirot needn't bother getting out a map. What a dumb-ass idea.

Mike Smith is just doing his job. And trying to protect the club from fines, bad press and to some extent the fans from being arrested. Basically, he has to do this because of the laws of this country. If you can't understand that then the old saying "you can't reason with the unreasonable" seems fitting. The whole situation sucks, and this is a pandora's box. I know CaleyD urged against tit for tat, but i reckon that the stewards, Mike Smith and the police are going to be very busy with complaints from ICT fans. I fear for the future of football. It's getting the heart ripped out of it because of PC politicians, and the types who complained at the stadium. Long gone are the days of the flat cap, standing terraces. It's now like snooker.