CaleyD

Unfortunately Roy and Hayley can't make it, so no rolls.....I'll be there though.

Technology is what's causing much of the problems we are witnessing...i.e. Television...so not sold on the idea of throwing more into the mix. For a start, where do you draw the line?...... Goal decisions? Penalty decisions? Foul decisions? Touchline decisions? Offside decisions? Handball decisions? Off the ball incidents? Watching the dugout? Distance from ball on freekicks? No matter how much technology you introduce, someone will always claim it's not enough and want more. Why bother with Refs on the pitch at all, sit them in little rooms where they can remain totally anonymous to players and public....heck they wouldn't even have to be in the stadium. Granted, I've taken that all to the extreme but I think people are kidding themselves if they think technology is the answer and we need to be very very careful about opening the floodgates on technology and making the game sterile. What's more, there's little enough money in the game as it is (unless you're a player). How do we pay for the technology and at what level and/or for what tournaments do you insist on it's use? Yes, TV cameras are at many games these days, but can it be relied upon? And, is it any more justifiable to use it in the SPL to prevent a bad decision that might see a team relegated than it is to use it in the 1st to prevent a bad decision that could cost a team promotion? Same principle applies to cup matches. It could very well be the case that TV has already opened the floodgates on technology and/or created a situation where it's the only way to bring the game back into order. It's already killed crowds and created a situation whereby kids would rather follow a team hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away on a box in their homes as opposed to getting behind the local team and attending games. TV (especially live tv) has done NOTHING to improve football....quite the opposite, and the more technology we introduce the more soulless and sterile the sport will become. Sadly, the people involved with and running the game don't have the gumption to being about the changes that are needed and nothing will happen until it is forced upon them...or it's too late. We're kidding ourselves if we think the Ref strike will change or improve anything, all it's going to do is cost more to bring Refs in from elsewhere and the clubs are ultimately the ones who will pay for that. It really is time to rip the whole thing up, get rid of the "jobs for the boys" mentality that is rife throughout the sport, and start again with people, systems and procedures that are fit for purpose. I'd rather spend the next 5 to 10 years rebuilding for the good than witnessing the game slide any further into the sh*tter.

The only problem with taking in "outside" Refs is that they will be asked/expected to operate under the exact same conditions as our own Refs, and as those conditions and operating procedures are as much a part of the overall problem as anything else then the only benefit you get is that games go ahead. If games do go ahead with these other Refs then all we'll get is lines like "They don't know how the game is played up here", "They're from the wrong part of England/Ireland/Wales" or any one of another 101 inward looking excuses where people refuse to take responsibility for their part.

I was looking at additional costs....bandwidth, improved hardware to cope with increased traffic without slowing site for others etc. I also thought 2 or 3 smaller payments might be more manageable for Dougal.

Since you're so confident that opening the site viewing to everyone will be of such huge benefit to our following, we'll agree to change it if you agree to foot the cost for the next 12 months. If after that time we have hundreds of new fans then we'll refund your money....if we have thousands of new fans then we'll refund you double your money. Contact myself or Scotty via PM and we can arrange for you to deposit the funds with us. About £300 should do to start with, if we look like spending more than that we can get back to you.

Whilst the shop unit isn't ideal, the variety and availability of merchandise has much improved IMO.

Got my Christies mixed up for a moment and thought we might get a chorus of Amarillo resonating around the stadium on Saturday!!!

Thanks for the insight. Wish we had a few more people involved in the running of the game/clubs who were willing to be open and honest about making mistakes and working towards solutions.

Most of the press/reports seem to concentrate on the marketing nightmare surrounding the game than the match itself and it would appear they did little to overcome that with all the delays etc! It's a bit like on here some times when people seem more concerned about the quality of the pie than the quality of the game I'm not convinced that North America knows how to "do" football, but I've always been fairly envious of their ability to market and "big up" even the smallest of sporting events...the pomp and ceremony surrounding even college level sport and the "buy in" that generates from the community and fans is, IMO, something we could learn from. From that point of view, it's a little surprising that they seem to have dropped the ball on this one. Had it been American Football, Baseball, Ice Hockey or Basketball, then the whole world would have known the final was on....seems that half of Toronto wasn't even aware of this sporting final. Mixed reports on the actual game itself with some saying it was a great match and others saying it was dire and not worthy of a final....at least that's one thing that seems consistent on both sides of the pond!!!

See Here

It's all a conspiracy, Lennon is so afraid of facing us on Saturday that he wants to heap so much pressure on the refs that they'll be scared to do anything other than ensure a Celtic victory.

You can pay at the gate.

As Scotty says, it has to be a two way street, and I think Refs have brought the current situation on themselves by operating the way they do. I don't agree with them having to endure any abuse, but what constitutes abuse and when is the line crossed? IMO, a manager stating after a game that he thinks a Ref got decision/s wrong is not abuse and should not be subject to punishment/sanctions. It's when Managers, Players or Club Officials take it beyond that with suggestions of deliberate cheating, bias and conspiracies...in effect where they start calling a Refs character and integrity into question...that the line is crossed. If they truly believe a Ref is corrupt, then ranting in post match interviews and to the press is not the way to deal with the problem...but in saying that, if the Refs Association is not dealing with things properly when reported to them then I can understand the frustrations and when you let the problems and pressures build up then it needs to find a way to escape (voice of experience). Players surrounding Refs or pushing their luck when on the pitch should not be a problem...the Ref is in control of that situation and if someone crosses the line they get booked...simple as. Nothing more needs done and it's not a situation that should be allowed to cloud the main issue. I don't necessarily agree with Refs striking as they are, IMO, as much a part of the problem as everyone else right now. Although, again, if the beaks are not doing enough to change things on the officiating side of the process by having a more proactive and transparent system then the Refs are, in effect, stuck in the middle and something has to give. Get everyone in a room and start banging heads together till they all learn to grow the feck up.

I'm just hoping the Ref Strike doesn't throw a spanner in the works for Tuesday!!!

I think we're fairly safe until Bronson starts posting under the influence

Scotty has already answered this part in regards the costs. I fail to see how a free to join forum excludes anyone? If someone has a genuine interest in ICT then they will register, if they are just digging for dirt and/or looking for gossip then registering may put them off. From experience, this stops a lot of selective picking of things from this forum turning up on in places and being used in ways we'd rather not see. I do take a little bit of an exception to this statement, but will put it down to your claims that you're new to the forums and as such are not aware of just how much CaleyThistleOnline and it's members have done since day one, and continue to do now, to promote ICT and help anyone with an interest in the club. Then maybe it would have been best that you stopped after the opening question!!! I've seen nothing to suggest this would be the case. At last count we were sitting at a figure of around 8 Million Page Views per annum (and climbing). I don't know the figures for all the other forums, but from the ones I am familiar with we are doing very nicely in that regard and the figures would suggest that we are doing more right than they are. We could do lots of things to increase our site statistics, but we value quality over quantity. We believe that people see enough of the site as a "guest" viewer so that if they are genuinely interested they will register. If visitors are going to be influenced by anything, then it will be the content and quality of discussion...and that's something we can't do by ourselves. In that regard, it's up to the site members to ensure they are doing their bit to "promote" ICT. Unfortunately we've not yet come up with a system that prevents people from posting whilst under the influence.

Was it not in the Courier or Highland Snooze this week that he has an offer on the table from the club?

Use the filter at the top of the stats page and you can select which competition you want the figures for.

Damn....what a game to have missed!!!

Is there a team in the SPL that is better than us on the counter!!!! 3-1....YeeeeHaaawwww

Don't want to tempt fate.....so I won't!!! How many penalties scored is that for Rooney this season?

Another one off the post for us.....urghhhh

St Mirren to draw with Motherwell

Oh Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Glad we didn't rest Foran

McStay