CaleyD

As I've said several times already, the emergency services had not given any instruction to the SPL about lack of resources. Whilst I appreciate services may well have been stretched in the central belt, conditions in Inverness were not that bad and their would almost certainly have been no trouble providing personnel for the match....in fact, I wonder how many officers ended up with little/nothing to do as they had been rota'd on to work and ended up not being needed. With police depts already facing the threat of cuts, having the SPL wasting man hours will not be helping.

10,000 people travelled on mountain roads to Scotland's Ski Areas on Sunday from all parts of Scotland and beyond. Should the ski areas have stayed closed to stop these folk travelling for their own safety and to prevent any possible incidents that the emergency services have to deal with? Steady on ski freak. The general point you make may well be relevant but you have grossly overstated the figures. The official statistics I got from Cairngorm Mountain on Sunday afternoon were 2000 for both Saturday and Sunday. Nevis Range quoted 800-900 for the weekend. These are official figures released by the resorts. Glencoe was closed and I doubt if the Lecht and Glenshee would have made up anything like the difference between reality and what you are attempting to claim. Perhaps you should have a word with your colleagues at the BBC then, Charles. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11912090

No, Johnboy, they had some issue with a flag which had "Loyal Army" on it. A flag that has been around for some time without causing any previous issue I believe.

AndyCam has you all beat hands down with his montage "watch this space"

Decision keeps on getting delayed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport....whether that's down to them still looking in to anything or the fact they've just not got round to it yet, I have no idea.

Talk to the hand

Why is it "commendable and sensible" to encourage people to travel to an ice hockey game, but ridiculous to put on a football match and have people travel to that?

We weren't due to play on Friday and you don't have to go through/cross the Tay Bridge, Forth Bridge or Auchterarder to get from Dundee to Inverness. A9 was not closed at Dunkeld, but the A822 was closed from the A9 junction at Dunkeld and the A92 was closed for a short while due to an accident after a speeding driver ended up on his roof (could happen in any weather)....is that sufficient evidence that I have actually been keeping an eye on things, or do you still think I'm sitting here making it all up?

Why so surprised at my stance? Two things are annoying me in all of this....the early decision and the fact that decisions are being made on the grounds that people don't have the wherewithal to think for themselves. The SPL thought they knew better than everyone else when they called the game off so early. No severe weather warnings had been issued for the weekend at time, the police had not advised them to postpone games on the grounds of safety or lack of resources...nothing. Clubs had not even been consulted, nor had any rasied any issue with getting pitches playable. This is not conjecture on my part, Blair confirmed it all in his interview with the press on Wednesday or Thursday. It was his decision, "his decision alone and it was the final one". There was absolutely no basis for his decision other than what he believed...as I said, when did the SPL become experts on such matters? The decision did not have to be made then and nobody was pressurising them to make a decision. They could/should have issued a statement saying that if weather persisted then games could be under threat. That way people can decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to risk buying train tickets etc...although as I said before, most people will have already purchased tickets to get the cheaper deals, so the timing of the call off will not have helped them anyway. This would then have allowed them to make a more informed decision on the Friday with a more accurate picture of the forecast and having consulted with the police and other services as necessary. The whole "not enough resources to cope" is nothing but pure conjecture and there's absolutely no proof or precedence to show that going ahead with football matches during periods of bad weather results in additional emergencies. It's naive to think that those who might have travelled to the football will have spent the day sitting with their feet up and not gone out over the front door instead. Had the SPL given the "early warning" statement instead of the blanket call off, then there's every chance that our game could have gone ahead. As I said, I have been keeping an eye on things, and it would have been perfectly feasible to get from Dundee to Inverness and back safely, and nothing in any of the "expert" reports were indicating that would have been any different. Routes were open, roads were clear and being treated etc. Of course, not all Dundee United fans would have been travelling from Dundee, just the same as not all ICT fans live locally....but where do you draw the line? I don't want to turn this into a campaign for a winter shut down, but if the SPL are going to be taking such widespread, soft decisions on when a match should and should not be able to go ahead then we'd be as well shutting things down now and not even considering any more matches for the next 3 months.

Travel conditions were no worse yesterday than they were last Saturday. I'm not trying to make light of the conditions, but I do think there's a lot of misinformation and scaremongering going on. Winters are nothing now compared to what they used to be, vehicles have improved, roads have improved...yet somehow it's more dangerous than ever to venture beyond your front door. Also, when did it the SPL become the weather/travel experts, and when did we start looking to them for travel advice? Blair already admitted that he made the decision himself earlier in the week and it was not on the advice of the police. As I can be called on to drive anywhere at short notice I tend to keep an eye on what's going on with road conditions at this time of year and we had nothing more than the usual "if you must travel, do so with care" messages until late last night...and even then it was warnings for untreated roads/routes. There was nothing to have prevented Dundee Utd and fans from that part of the world travelling up and back safely yesterday. As for the whole Tesco/Eastgate argument...of course people will travel there anyway, it's been safe enough for them to do so. What's more, unlike the SPL they don't presume to know better and give people travel advice, they open their doors and leave it up to individuals to decide on whether or not it is safe for them travel.

On what basis was it the correct decision? The roads were no worse yesterday than they were last weekend.

Think that's the second time this season I have agreed with you, Johnboy...and it's not even Christmas yet!!!

That wasn't my point...my point is that if someone gets the one verifiable fact in their entire statement wrong, what's the chances of the rest of it being accurate? It's nothing more than the usual drivel that gets spouted around every time a manger is moved on and people are scrambling to find/name a replacement.

For a start, Butcher has 18 months left on his contract.

Cue the mass hysteria based on the ever expected "My mates grannies dogs last owner who got knocked over by a hoodie on a skateboard bumped into the cousins of the guy that lives two doors down from someone who once worked in Tesco's and overheard Butchers doctor telling the lad stocking the shelves that he once enjoyed an Ice Cream at the Beach in Aberdeen so he must be leaving to go manage them" type rumour.

I've been giving that lecture on here for years

ICT do a lot more than they get credit for, and I think that's the downside to our laid back and friendly approach to things....we're crap at singing our own praises and often don't make the best of the publicity we could draw from things. When I say ICT, I mean everyone, not just the club.

Kids and grown ups love it so, the happy world of Haribo.....which one is your favourite?

Aside from the fact that I think his answer would be fairly obvious, did he not say on Sportsound that he wasn't interested?

No, USH was only installed when we were promoted to the SPL.

Even if the club know that turning the USH on 72 hours in advance will make no difference, failure to comply with the rules/guidelines and "frozen pitch" being the reason a game is off will mean they risk a fine. If they do turn it on and the game is still called off due to "frozen pitch" then that's tough chit on money lost running the system. Every pitch is different due to soil type, drainage conditions, location etc and having a blanket set of rules for all does not work. Clubs aren't going to intentionally jeopardise games....cashflow is everything to clubs and postponements cause HUGE problems in that regard. Why would clubs risk losing thousands of pounds postponing a weekend fixture and replacing it with a mid week one? Let the people who know best, the groundsmen, decide on what is best for them. I've just read Blair's comments/justification for the early call-off where he claims "a couple" of clubs are upset by it and I know for a fact that it's more than just a couple of clubs and that travelling clubs are every bit as hacked off as home clubs because nobody wants fixture congestion and they certainly don't want to be travelling mid week. Everyone, other than Blair, seems to be baffled by the call-off. Clubs were not consulted and only heard about the decision at the same time as we did when the press release went out. Police, from what I understand, had not issued specific advise and/or orders to the SPL about allowing fans to travel and Blair seems to be distancing himself from that by saying "I cannot speak for the police...but". Conditions are not ideal, but they are not forecast to be any worse than they were last weekend. The only fans that will have lost on train tickets etc would have been those booking in advance for cheaper fares...the call off did not come soon enough to prevent them having already spent the money, so holding off would not have caused disruption to many more than it already has. Blair has jumped the gun, IMO, and should have done no more than issued a statement saying that postponements were being considered...at least then people would have been able to make decisions for themselves and a sensible, educated final decision could have been taken after proper consultation with all the relevant clubs, police and authorities.

USH is effected by ground temperature and the forecasts we generally read provide the air temperature and it's very hard to use one to determine what the other will be. Different USH systems also have different ranges of effectiveness, but I have a figure of -6 in my head for our system for some reason (perhaps read or heard it somewhere before). Despite temperatures being almost constantly below zero, our pitch was not frozen. This was partly due to the snow acting as a thermal blanket and the USH being on at a low level to enhance the benefits of that frost guard. Even pulling up the forecast showing temperatures of -11 for Friday didn't phase our groundkeeper or cause him any concern about our ability to get the game on. It's also worth noting that USH is designed to protect against frost and not dispose of it once it has already set in. SPL rules/guidelines state that USH MUST be turned on 72 hours prior to a game in wintry conditions, but no allowance is made for the fact that once frost has set in and temperatures remain below freezing then chances of it getting a pitch defrosted is slim....clubs are effectively being asked to burn money for no reason. What's more...cheaper to run, easier to install, less damaging pitch protection systems which clubs could have running almost constantly during weather like this are not considered "adequate pitch protection" by the SPL. ICT will have burned thousands of pounds worth of oil this week and are now faced with a decision as to whether or not they now turn off the USH and allow the frost to set in before having to make a decision at the weekend on whether they should risk doing what they did this time around to ensure the pitch will be ready, or go by the letter of the SPL Rules/Guidelines and leave it till mid week before doing anything and face an almighty battle to get the pitch defrosted...with no guarantee it will work and the risk of a last minute call off for a frozen pitch...that's if the SPL don't postpone fixtures again early on. Add the potential for mid week games to be thrown into the mix, games that will be played in the evening when temperatures could be even colder, and when volunteers to clear the pitch are not so readily available as people are working etc etc and the whole thing turns into an even bigger farce. "Experts" are predicting a hard winter with little let up and the SPL have just set a low bar for calling on postponements. Travel conditions are being touted around as the reason (although I've seen no firm confirmation of that) for the early call off. Yet, ironically, the only game not to be called off so far is the Alloa v Peterhead match, a match which will require people to travel right through the middle of the worst of the conditions!!!

Apologies for the delay in adding the following message, been out all evening and just home. Kenny Cameron has asked me to pass on his thanks to everyone who had volunteered to assist this weekend and the club have also issued the following statement.....

Was as bad as that for those who travelled down last weekend, and as I said, no hint of any decision to call the game off on the grounds of "fan safety". As for the forecast....we all know how reliable they can be!!! SPL will be left with a lot of egg on their face if SFL matches go ahead.

Soft southern barstewards....was no hint of games being called off last weekend when the ICT fans had a 12 hour round trip to Glasgow in the snow.