CaleyD

Is that a Pavaroti in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me???

The more I read the more I discover stuff that makes me nervous. According to the Mainz site... If he had an option for a 2 year extension then why did he not take it up/was not allowed to take it up? Reading more from various sites it appears he suffered at least 2 different injuries in his time with Sporting Lisbon which seem to have haunted him since - one Ankle injury and one Knee (ACL) injury - possibly the reason he wasn't able to take up his 2 year extension at Mainz? Source - UEFA.com article from 2004 Source - UEFA.com article from 2004 (diff article from above) Source - some obscure Greek football trivia site 2001 Chinese Official Olympic Comittee website - article from 2005 I know we signed Dargo despite fears of his recurring knee problems but it was for a heck of a lot less money than we are looking at here and it looks Niculae has suffered a catalogue of injuries and continued problems with a knee AND and ankle (his left ankle non the less, which is even more worrying when you consider he is left footed)

I heard the interview this morning also. His opening line "Once I have control of the club I will do what I like with it" :017: He then went on to say that by building new training facilities he would attract other teams like the Deveronvale's, Wick Academy's etc to use it.....even Inverness!!! The guy certainly seems to be living in cloud cuckoo land in terms of what he expects his money to buy, from what I understand he is looking to take approach 30-35% of the club by buying up the remaining shares for £400k, then making a move to get 51% or more. He then talks of holding a share issue to give the ownership of the club back to the fans in the same was as Rangers did. :029: Regardless of the sums of money he is offering up I'd be very nervous about letting someone that talks and comes across the way he does anywhere near my club. For Elgins sake I hope he is just the money man and he has another brain working in the background keeping him on track. Elgin certainly have the potential to be a far bigger club than they are and they seem to have had no shortage of offers from people who want to invest heavily in the club. If they are sensible they eill hold out for someone who at least lives on the same planet as the rest of us.

I caught the tail end of a piece on the radio earlier and it sounded like someone had just pledged £5 Million to Elgin in order for them to emulate Gretna and take them to the SPL in 5 years. Did I catch the story right and has anyone got any more info - can't find anything online anywhere.

I can't make up my mind whether this would be a good move or if everyone is caught in the hype and lost the plot. On one hand we barely have two ha'pennies to rub together (we do ok, but £200k can't be too far off our annual operating profits), yet we're looking to blow £4k/week on a single player. That part of me would rather see that money invested more wisely in the club and players, more Dean McDonalds who are young, talented and are driven to prove themselves and make a name for themselves in football. Niculae has been there and done that, he has past form but the last couple of seasons haven't been great and part of me can't help but think he just views us as an easy option to revive his career or make a bit of cash trying. On the other hand, he has the potential to move the team forward. We saw what one player did for Falkirk last season and practically had them safe by Christmas and going strong - should Niculae live up to that potential and bag a few extra goals it could push us up a league position (perhaps realistically challenge for top 6). It could also see us through to a cup semi or final. All that would bring in extra income, justify his wage (possibly more) and even if we were to get nothing when he moved on we could still have made money from the deal. I'm all for taking a bit of risk and pushing the club forward, I just wonder if this one is a bit too much of a risk and whether it has any real long term benefits. For me I'll probably be swayed more in favour of any deal that is done IF the club take steps to try and protect their investment but I still can't help but think that £200k/year could be better spent.

:017:

Fewer games shifted to midweek evening would mean less use of floodlights AND happier fans.

What's your point caller?

Training Top

Despite my initial reservations over the caliber and standard of player I thought ICT were capable of gaining interest from a lot of these links are very positive. Grassa and CC have certainly stepped up to the plate and it is quite possible that they will prove me wrong. If they do so then I'll happily eat some humble pie. With the addition of Dean McDonald and the possibility of a couple of foreign faces added to the mix I am rather excited about both our prospects for next season and the kind of football we will see the team producing.

The club have taken pre-orders in the past.

Stone - but only if my diet goes to plan :016:

Here's hoping McSwegan sticks to the coaching and out of the kitchen then :015:

I believe Mantis may have watched them play. :tic01:

Would have been more than 10 years ago because he was only a year or two younger than me and I turn 31 in October.

As far as I am aware there is only 1 of the new away shirts in public hands with the old sponsor logo on and that is the one which was auctioned at the Supporters Trust bowling evening and was signed by all the players. Had I thought about it at the time I would likely have went higher on my bidding as the strip will be fairly unique in that sense and nobody else is likely to have the new away strip with the old sponsor. The new strips (normal and Ltd Edition) will have the new sponsor on so I fail to see where the issue is, surely you don't expect/want to get the new strip with the old sponsor???

I love the guy already :021:

He was a chit player anyway, never rated him :tic01:

My tuppence worth :001: It's a pity you can't make the conference as you may actually be surprised by just how much action Trusts are trying to take with regard to the financial situation of their clubs. Many are slowly increasing share holdings in clubs in order to get a larger say and many are actually giving substantial sums of money to clubs with a clause on how it is spent. Some Trusts have all but taken over the Youth and Community Development at their respective clubs to remove part of the financial burden. The difficulty for Trusts as I see it is that when they invest cash in their clubs they have 2 options. They ask for shares in return and then have little say over how the money is spent as it then comes under the control of the Directors (until such time as they have a shareholding that gives them a true voice at the club) or they donate the money on the understanding it is spent in a specific way, which means they can't demand shares in return. Some clubs are far more co-operative on this front than others and are giving Trusts the best of both worlds by allowing them to finance for a specific issue and get shares. The Trust movement is gaining a lot of influence within football - some clubs are embracing this, some of them are fearful of it and seem to be fighting it to a certain extent. The one thing I am confident of, and that is that Trusts are a positive move for football, not just for it's fans but for the clubs and sport as a whole. The above is a pretty broad overview, but you have clubs on all levels of the scale. From the likes of Dundee who would have gone to the wall had it not been for their Trust - to ICT who are (at present) in the fortunate position of having formed a Trust at a time when the need for financial support of the club is practically non-existent. Morton is probably the best example off the top of my head of a Trust which, from what I can gather, has all but taken over the Youth and Community Development. Not only have they continued the efforts of the club in that regard but they have expanded it greatly. More info is available on the Supporters Direct website at http://www.supporters-direct.org/ The Magazines I mentioned in my earlier post can be downloaded at http://www.supporters-direct.org/englandwa...htm#newsletters They also have a blog at http://supportersdirect.blogspot.com/

Off Topic :32: :blah01:

Darn - they both called tails. We'll have to do it again. Nothing on any of the football news sites to confirm if/when an offer has been made, but the talk all seems positive and apparently Gillingham won't be asking much for the guy despite him still having a year left on his contract.

My boot scootin' baby is drivin' me crazy My obsession from a western - my dance floor date My rodeo romeo, a cowboy god from head to toe Wanna make you mine better get in line 5-6-7-8 Always confuses the chit outta me when they start swapping the numbers around. Leave them as they are it doesn't matter at the end of the day.

Flip a coin

EPOS = Electronic Point of Sale - Which basically means he could be talking about anything from electronic turnstyles to a new cash register. The club already have an EPOS ticketing system already and it should be able to handle ticket transfers. It also only needs a minor modification to make ticket sales available online but that's a different argument :001:

Was Grassa that was quoted as saying no offer had been made yet.