Kirishima

Maybe Butcher will change Ross Tokely, maybe he will become a new Bobby Mann or Darren Dods, ...in time. A nice passing game for ICT would be good, if there were any passers in the team, if TB had Black, Cowie, Rankin, Robson, Morais, Kerr, then im sure the ball would be on the deck more. As it is, there is not enough players to build up moves with silky passes...to employ such a strategy would give opposing teams the chance to start wave after wave of counter attacks. I hate long ball as much as anyone, but I can see why TB has little option but to use it. Mark Brown, Darren Dodds, Bobby Mann, Barry Robson, Filipe Morais, Ian Black, Don Cowie, John Rankin, Dennis Wyness, Craig Dargo. 10 players, who, at the top of their game, were gems. TB has the luxury of none of these, which is not his fault. He can only work with what he has got. We can't live like Aberdeen, we have to be realistic. We are a top 3 div 1 side, who have a good chance of promotion, but have an iffy squad, so we should expect hiccups, mini-disasters, but give them a 5% boost by being behind them, that included Russell.

Obviously the break hasnt done them any good. The sooner Ashley leaves the better, he is a joke of a man, almost as big a joke as Dennis Wise. Keep Taylor, Nolan, Guitterez, and get shot of the rest, bring in young geordies, and take 3 years to get back.

You Tube is blocked here (as is facebook)...just my luck. Good idea tho

Ahhh! Cant believe im going to miss this!! What a fantastic idea! Hats, gloves, boots off to whoever organised this. Sounds like a great night. Exactly the kind of thing to attract fans!

Terrible result. Motherwell are certs for relegation after their fire sale, and buying MF. See you on the way up!

Ha ha, very apt pic. Anyway, hope people can keep us informed about the names of the trialists, its bargain basement time and the biscuit tin is being tapped! I still think we can bounce back and win the league with the squad we have as we are the most stable team to have gone down from the SPL in years. Good to see the net is being cast wide, but i still think England will have the most riches.

Its a farce, to be fair, its not Livvy's fault, it's the SFL. Its about time that some sort of vetting was put in place, Airdrie, Gretna, Livi, Hearts, can any sycophant with a large credit rating get a club and drive them down? Massone is a few sandwiches short and I feel for the Livi fans.

ICT Dundee Partick Dunfermline QOS Morton Ross County Ayr Raith Livingston (after entering administration) I believe...the experience of many SPL years will be more than Dundee's Galacticoscots

A lot of the final judgement comes down to attitude, and how they get on with the group. Football islike any other group of employees, you live in each others pockets, and one bad apple can spoil the bunch. Id imagine they have bounce games from the off, so there will be plenty to see.

Genuine post, and Papalazaroo has actually met Mike Smith, so there is more validity to his post than, uh, mine, having never met him... Most of the issue is that he keeps himself very much out of the public eye, and as such people aren't able to see what he is doing day-to-day. I think that is where any misconceptions may stem from. Its perhaps a PR thing. I was impressed to see he had stayed on, after taking a pay cut and a less grand title, so perhaps the OP has a point. It would be an idea to get an interview either in the programme or from BB?

Pleased, of course, that it does cross the mind of the club to keep us informed and that we are a part of the club. Sceptical, that it wont be the norm. The club have a history of starting and stopping, BB for example. But positive, undoubtedly, and big thumbs up to George Fraser.

Absolutely, if the club come across as open, genuine and honest, genuine being the key, then yes, i believe many would be satisfied. But this lack of information, connection, its not just tardiness, its a policy, which is why it gets up peoples noses so much

Very true Absent friend and Scotty. I think that the situation will be much clearer a few games into the season. A few things I feel positive about to arrest my descent: TB and MM 100% Simon Cox No firesale on the horizon No debt Promotion challenge Derbies This website and the posters The drive for ICT volunteers. There! Im not all doom and gloom :D

Hopefully it would be a team from Canada, 4 times vs RC already this season. It would be very interesting too.

Phew! The club dont owe me anything. I did use the keyword "some people." What it comes down to is that if the board were perhaps a little bit more communicative, particularly after relegation, with some sort of statement, comment or otherwise, this wouldnt be an issue. But it's the apparent blase nature that comes across, whether it is a fact or not. 2 goals has nothing to do with it. Look, i realise that there are 2 camps here, the "wait and see and let's look for the positives in the meantime" and then there's "IHE and his dour doomsayers, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth." I would reaaly prefer to be in the first camp, truly I would. But my optimism is all but chipped away, sorry but that's my prerogative.

Yep, most of their players are based in Japan/S.Korea. I think that it will be difficult to sell-out any N.Korea games at the world cup, i mean, what are the visa relations between North Korea and South Africa...tee hee.

Not sure you even read my post, but anyway. No that's not what I was asking for, "a bit of contrition" was what i said. And upstairs, for most, is analogy for executive management, so again, not a case of reading, but reading things into it, Sorted. Now that's clarified, whats your point?

I promised to be blunt and direct on this thread and this thread alone, so here it is. Some people would like to see a bit of contrition from the board. I think its owed. They have been incredibly aloof and the inability of them to even eat a crumb of humble pie sticks in some people's throats. DFS spitefully attacks DJS and those around him and the club seem to think that is par for the course. The club have got themselves dragged into the courts, but hey ho, new titles for all is the order of the day. Might be dropping 200k, the 200k many were banking on giving us the advantage in the SFL, ach, money isnt everything. The club is relegated, but let's just keep all the high-earners upstairs, but lets get shot of ourpromising players to our rivals, nae bother. Our man with the plan is away at the U21 championships, when others are beginning pre-season training - its ok, its good for us, Scotland, everyone! I think people are beginning to really think that the board is not worth their salt. That is not healthy. But alas, the board needs not the people, just the cash from the season tickets. Sorry, but it's a football club, not a lawyers office, and we aren't secretaries.

Let me get this straight, ICT allegedly offered Niculae 80k as a signing on fee, and then allegedly 148k of the tranfer fee as claimed by the Sunday Times newspaper. Should the allegations prove to be true, 228k goes out the door, excluding legal fees. And no sell-on clause in the contract. Wow, no wonder they were so keen to try and keep this schtum. .

That would be a particularly nasty sting in the tail if ICT had to shell out 200k plus legal fees. I would be expecting a few searching questions if it does go against us.

I also think they would be mad to pass up on this. This would be the creme de la creme. It wouldnt affect the attendance either. We shall soon see.

Pre SPL everything was sunshine and light. Pre-Brewster return infact it was all sweetness and light. Then, fans began to be critical - the club became more insular - things escalated - even more insular - fans even more critical - and so on. The problem is that the club were unwilling to accept any criticism and/or respond to it. The only time they did was to chastise us, like naughty schoolboys/girls. Im not telling anyone what they dont know, but it's time for a real change of heart, a shift in focus, a clean slate. This can be achieved in many ways, but at the very least they need to communicate. How many fans really can say they feel wanted, "part" of the club, rather than just suffered. And im not expecting the club to remember people's birthdays or shake every hand, but c'mon, they do next to nothing. There's only so long they can use Boardroom Banter as an example of how they communicate with the fans, heck, they censor more than China does!

Yes, not great timing. DFS aside (he can call himself El Presidente for all we can do about it) the others should be announcing news of what they are sacrificing rather than what they are gaining. Let's face it, it's one big jolly for the lads.

To be blunt, there are a few people who would like to see some people in executive management resign. Specifically, Graeme Bennett and Mike Smith. There are others who believe that is counter-productive. The fact is, they are on massive salary packages that the club can ill afford. Yes, this line of reason may be seen as negative, but it is not, it is completely logical, natural and understandable. Whether it is the correct course of action is another matter. Personally, I think that the club could do without both. But it's a hot topic so I won't be arguing its merits. IHE: take a look at British Airways, they are asking employees to work for free, and the Chief Exec has graciously forfeited his monthly paypacket, all 60k of it. Face it, we live in a world where the pursuit of money is matched only be the pursuit for more of the same. Our attachment to posessions is our ultimate flaw.

Things should pan out something like this: The SPL forward a fraction of the 3m to the clubs, based on a sliding scale, to avoid clubs entering administration. Meanwhile, they will have their lawyers in discussion with the administrators, working out how to get the 3m (or as much as possible) from a new buyer. Alternatively, if ESPN step in then this will see the money be released, which is most probable. The SFL are free to negotiate a deal regardless, and BBC ALBA will be getting this as ICT and Ross County are in the same division now. All in all, next season, it may be easier being in Div 1. So we should feel lucky to be relegated. Perhaps the board knew this all along, and was part of the plan....IHE?