CaleyD

I believe so (2 home games each), and I also seem to remember us having extra fixtures televised in our first 2 seasons in the SPL, so we've done ok out of it in that regard.

I think "hatred" is taking it a bit too far....booing or heckling of players who have left is all part and partial of what fans do, and I don't think we should look upon it as anything more than a bit of banter. It certainly shouldn't become any as personal as "hate".

I'm fairly certain that Setanta do pay a fee to home clubs over and above the sponsorship money. It was certainly like this in the past and was designed to offset the potential gate losses from the game being shown on the box. From memory the fee was not entirely insignificant either with a 6 figure sum of round ?120k coming to mind. I remember in the "Ask the Chairman" article we did 2 seasons back that I put it to Alan Savage that we should perhaps look to using that additional revenue to offset ticket prices for matches in an attempt to get the best of both worlds (i.e. the extra TV money and bums on seats), so I'm almost 100% certain it must have been the case back then.

The fact is that attendances and season ticket sales appear to have dropped and the club, as far as I can see, are doing very little to find out why, let alone taking action to rectify the situation. So far, the only "solution" seems to be to throw up more advertising boards to try and offset the loss. Maybe they are doing things "in the background", but when the biggest problem is your public image, then you need to be telling people that your working on things and demonstrating that your taking action. What's the good in doing things to improve a situation when you don't tell people about it? It's getting to the stage where people have more reason NOT to attend than they do to attend. On their own, each reason might seem small and insignificant, but when you start adding them all together then it's plain for all to see that there's a problem and it's getting worse, not better. I used to feel that, as fans, we were listened too. The club might not always have taken the action that we wanted, but at least you felt that they had taken your points on board and given them consideration....we don't even have that now. The club need to learn to start listening and communicating again, or not only will they not have the funds to improve things, but they won't have the funds to even maintain things as they are at present.

Not quite, but I have been looking for a decent sized copy of the Thistle Badge for a while now, so I'm just going to steal that one.....thanks

It would appear that if Brewster wants to get another look at him in a Match situation then that would be an ideal opportunity. Also, looking at the rules regarding playing Amateurs, it would seem that they can play. However, it's not a possibility in the case of Wagaluka as he has played professional football in the last 30 days and is currently registered with another club.

As per the SPL Handbook.....

I'll hazard a guess that they are using a template which has that badge set as the default for the opposition and it's simply forgetting to change it. I've done it on here as well, I even had Hamilton and Hibs mixed up on our Next Match/Last Match modules on the front page here for a couple of days last week and nobody pointed it out These things are easy to overlook when you have a lot to do and are in a bit of a hurry.

You just have to look at the number of people who prefer going to Away games to see that the "Matchday Experience" at home just isn't appealing to people these days. I had use of a Season Ticket last year and I still had Saturdays where any excuse was welcome to not bother going to a home match, I went to games, but it always felt like a hassle to do so....yet on a few occasions I changed plans and went out of my way so as I could attend Away days. For this season you can add to that the fact that I'm so p****d off at the way certain things have and continue to be done at the club that I wouldn't give them the steam off my last turd, let alone any cash. It's been like that for me for a few seasons now, but my passion for following ICT always won out over my other feelings....however I don't know if that will be the case this season. I've listened to both home matches on the radio so far and will likely continue doing so until there's vast improvements in the way the club is run and I feel they are actually listening to the fans. I'm not going to be contributing towards the wages of people who treat us (the fans) like something they scraped off their shoe and who view us as a necessary evil. If that means that my financial contribution to football ends up in the pockets of the opposition, then so be it, I know I'm not the only person who feels this way and I just hope that those with the power to make the necessary changes wake up and take notice that people are now starting to vote with their feet before any real damage is done.

What's his name, and where does he play currently?

Yeah, our badge is/was very expensive to have reproduced due to the number of colours and the small details meant reducing it in size for things like stitched garments was extremely difficult. So from that point of view it made sense to have it simplified. I'm of the belief that it should have been reworked totally and their should be some artwork kicking about the stadium for a redesign of the badge that was done a few years back. It went so far as having professional drawings/graphics put together for it but then seemed to fall off the radar. It was a shield shaped badge with a Celtic stylised Eagle on one side and a Celtic stylised Thistle on the other.....looked very smart.

4ize....tell us what your really think

If a player is out of contract he can register himself as an Amateur and then be signed by a club on a professional basis. As far as I am aware anyone on Amateur papers cannot turn out to play in the SPL...in fact, if memory serves me correct I don't think Trialists can even play league matches in the SPL these days.

ajs....Rankin was "out of favour" long before Brewster appeared back as manager.

The ICT Badge had a bit of a makeover a while back and I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of the original file for the newly revamped version....... Whilst the "Original" is far from perfect, there's something not quite right about the new one, but I just can't place my finger on what it is.

I don't think Rankin lost any sleep whatsoever with regards his move to Hibs.

Imrie off for Djebi-Zadi - Strange substitution, or looking to add a bit of bulk to the left hand side of the pitch?

Caught appealing for offside again by the sound of things.

I bet he read my statement last night about him not being as effective when playing off the right...that showed me...barsteward

Shock horror....technical problems with the ICT game on the BBC.

Djebi-Zadi certainly looked the part on Monday Night and if he can repeat that kind of performance in the SPL then he'll prove to have been a very shrewd signing. Whether he can be as effective at Centre Back nobody knows, and nobody knows if Brewster is even considering trying him out there in the SPL. To suggest he is useless just because he might not be able to fill a gap he isn't signed to fill is like saying that we shouldn't play Black because he's crap in goals. Fans are, rightly IMO, frustrated at the lack of signing a Centre Back, but let's not take it out on Djebi-Zadi by slating him when we've seen very little of what he has to offer just yet.

Certainly bring him in as a coach....but I still think he could also do a job on the pitch for us.

Mann is not the most mobile of players, but he dealt efficiently with a young and sprightly Liverpool team with utmost ease....I don't think he even broke sweat. As I said in the match report...his ability to be in the right place at the right time and to calmly put a foot on the ball to stop an attacker, then pick out a man anywhere on the pitch and deliver an inch perfect pass has not been lost since he left us, and that is something we are sorely lacking. Could he do that week in week out in the SPL would be the question, but if anyone was going to whip him in to shape then it would be Brewster. Even if he couldn't last 90 minutes, he'd still be handy to have to bolster the squad defensively, and those around him could learn a helluva lot about how to read a game.

Regardless of whether he thinks he has another season in him or not, it doesn't do any harm for him to keep his registration active "just in case".

If we are to believe everything the club tells us, then they haven't been on a constant search for a Defender. Only a few weeks ago they told us they wouldn't be bringing in anyone else at the back, and it seems that it's only the realisation that without Munro we really are screwed at the back which seems to have brought the subject back to their attention. Any Manager half worth their salt would be sitting down with a piece of paper and looking at how things would be under certain scenarios from the get go, and if we are only looking now at how things would be with the loss of 2 Defenders to suspension/injury then it really is quite worrying...especially with less than 10 days left till the end of the transfer window. AS I said, it wasn't the fans that said they weren't looking....the club said it themselves.