CaleyD

Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing!!!

I get the feeling this is more about you being uncomfortable among a crowd of strangers than any worry about the stigma of going to a game on your own. All I can say is that sitting at home listening on the radio when you could have been witnessing important results and big moments will leave you regretting your decision if you decide not to go. I speak from the experience of having missed our 1st Div Championship Season the last time around due to comparable reasons.

For me, I think it has to do with the fact that Butcher has now managed to undo most of the damage that was done by Brewster and we are back to having a squad who are out there battling just as much for each other as they are for themselves......we finally have a team playing with a bit of heart and self belief again. We are, once again, tapping in to that "extra something" that allows a team to become more than the sum of it's parts.

Always thought we were capable if we could get the team playing as a unit and with a bit of fire in their bellies. I had wondered if that had taken a little longer than hoped for and we'd left ourselves with too much work to be done, but it would appear not and whilst still very "nervous" the team fill me with more and more confidence every game.

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Think they'll struggle to see anything like what's been generated in past years. For a start there's less competition for the TV rights so that will have likely dropped, add in the effects of the current economic climate and sponsor prize money is likely to be down, advertising down, attendances down. You then factor in the loss of one of the old filth and attendances take a second hit. Still reckon they might get somewhere on the upper side of ?300k, but ?500k is a bit of a pipe dream...IMO. In saying that, I wouldn't be complaining if whatever the figure is was coming to us and it has to be seen as a major bonus for C*unty's bank balance.

Holding people in the concourse areas is counter productive to solving the problem of congestion.

Oh go on, put a smile on your puss and give the team a compliment for once you miserable sod. I promise, it doesn't hurt and it won't kill you. :004:

Ok, let's save a bit of time here. The North Stand will tell the Main Stand they don't make any noise. People will say they don't make noise because people look funny at them for it. Others will tell them to just ignore the ones who stare. We'll get the odd dig about some people in some sections being idiots. Not being allowed to stand will come into the conversation somewhere. Others will complain about being in allocated seats. We'll have "Highland Mentality" mentioned. Over zealous stewards will make an appearance. The thread will then fade from peoples interest and drop off the page before being replaced by the same discussion in 4 or 5 weeks time.

I have a feeling that once Sanchez manages to get a couple of balls in the net then the floodgates will open and his contribution will prove just as vital as every other player during the run in.

The "Throw Out" was not the fault of Golly. Sanchez indicated that he was going to run to the corner and then bluffed his marker (and Golly) by running towards the edge of the box instead. A minor blip in an otherwise great game.

An official communication on the subject of "Stadium Ownership" is fairly imminent.

You talk as if Community and Business cannot run in tandem and that you have to cut off the community in order to achieve success!!! Of course clubs are businesses, but they operate in an environment which is pretty unique to sport, where the customers are also fans (many of them shareholders) and, like it or not, if you fail to treat them as if they are part of the "business"...i.e. "Community"...then you soon drive them off and without them you no longer have customers and the business goes to the wall. As I said, just take a look at what happened to us the moment the club started to put up barriers between club and fans and started with the whole "We must operate like an SPL Club" and fans are nothing but customers attitude. What did we gain from our 5 seasons in the SPL by doing business in this manner? Absolutely nothing, and relegation put us right back where we started, probably further back as the realisations sets in that the club needs the fans to be more than just customers and now has one hell of a job ahead of them to repair the damage that has been done.

In a nutshell.....bollocks. Just look at how dramatically the wheels fell off at ICT when they turned away from their "community" roots and started treating fans as nothing more than a customer. This might surprise a lot of you given the views I have expressed in recent times, but ICT will come back bigger and better than they have ever been and it will be because they are working to restore the "community" aspect that they lost and have missed so much for the last 5 years or so....and when we get back to the SPL we will benefit greatly from holding on to that and not allowing it to slip again.

Voting now open.

This has been raised on here before (I think) as I do have a note of it on my "Fun Fundraiser Ideas" list and the Trust are due to go over what we'll be doing in that regard for next season and it will be put forward then. One thing I will add is that we (Supporters Trust) are always on the look out for people to assist with these things and the more people we get involved the more we can do. Getting ideas is great and keep them coming, but if people could also offer up some time to assist with the running of them then that would be even better.

If we maintain current form then we are on target to win the league and people are calling for changes to the way we're playing? Bizarre!!!!

It's not the cost, or even the length of notice....it's the fact that absolutely no consideration was given to the knock on effect, or realisation that their might have been any knock on effect. Not even so much as an apology or a "hope it's not a problem but I've made other arrangements". As for the "It's only 4 quid"....well if it's only 4 quid then why not do the right thing and make the offer to pay it? Having run buses in the past and having ended up hundreds of pounds out of pocket over a season because of people who think there's no issue with calling off for no good reason after booking seats then yeah, you're damn right things like this make me angry.

Not really the point though. Nothing annoys me more than people booking seats on buses and then pulling out at last moment with no real reason. No thought given to the fact that someone is doing the organising, sorting out costing etc...and could well be left out of pocket. Fair enough, if some sort of emergency had come up, but a smug "I'm getting a free ticket and lift so you're not needed any more" posting has pressed a button. The worst thing is, it probably didn't even enter their head that someone will end up having to cover the cost of the seat or spend time finding a replacement. On this occassion it's covered, but that doesn't make it ok to do it.

Kieran, give the Social Club a call 232533 is the number (I think).

caleyfan4ever, I hope you still intend to cough up for the seat on the bus that has been booked for you!!!

Don't think so RiG.....even the announcer had to apologise at the start for losing his bit of paper, and then apologise again because the "gramophone" was broken....quality banter

Was good fun doing Twitter with pictures this evening. First attempt at it and apart from my phone refusing to play ball just after the penalty it seemed fairly successful.

When you speak to people, it seems to be very much a case of being scared to get carried away. That's probably in part down to what happened last season and also the fact that when it comes to ICT there's a general feeling that we (the fans) don't feel able to trust them not to screw it up. People are scared to be too optimistic, scared of getting carried away...and that's just a product of where we are as a whole at the moment. The team are getting it right (for the most part) on the pitch, but feelings are being tempered by what's (not) been happening off it. I think the optimism is there and I think we saw a bit of that on Saturday because despite the turgid football on display the fans remained very much behind the team for the full 90+ minutes and their was little evidence of them turning against the team as might have happened not so long ago. I don't think the forum is all doom and gloom, but we do have a small handful of people who feel the need to try and p*ss on any signs of optimism shown by others by posting the same thing over and over again on every thread and after every second post....ignore these people and the arguments they generate, and the forum takes on a whole new light.