CaleyD

Deffo don't think he is getting the credit he deserves. Have seen several references along the lines of "he bundled the ball in" etc. Would have been easy to chase in and just belt the ball in that position but it was a pretty well composed little flick over the keeper from a tighter angle than it first appears.

what is the average gate these days? About 6'6" tall and 2' wide

Suprising that everyone has interpreted the use of the word "Frustrate" as meaning we are going to sit tight and hit on the break. Surely it would be far more frustrating for Rangers if we were to go out all guns blazing and get the first goal (and perhaps the second aswell)???

We don't always see eye to eye Sandy, but I agree with your sentiments regarding the quality of the article in question. We (IMO) have passed the stage where any match we play against any team in Scotland should be considered a David and Goliath match up. The article comes across as being written by someone who has spent the last 3 years (or more) on planet Mars and has little comprehension of what we have achieved/continue to achieve.

All people added to the list will be given access to Gringo's diary to see which matches he has planned to attend. This is to ensure they have the maximum amount of notice possible for when they will be required.

From the man who was complaining not so long ago that we already had too many forums :006:

Sure I read somewhere (Daily Record?) that he was going to be getting somewhere in the region of £5000/week in total with the largest portion of it being funded by some kind of book deal.

M8: JUNCTION 26 UPGRADES TO BARRIERS BRING SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS Starting at 8pm on Friday 6 October, new safety barriers are being installed on M8 at junction 26 (Braehead) and drivers should be aware that the necessary traffic management will affect journey times. The works, part of an on-going programme of safety improvements, include doubling the height of the barriers at junction 26. The existing barriers have worn over time and this upgrade ensures that the new double height barriers being installed meet modern safety standards. These works are the latest phase of a programme of safety improvements delivered by Amey on behalf of Transport Scotland. Other work, completed earlier this year, included replacement of the central reserve and upgrades to other barriers in the same area. During these works, traffic will reduce to two lanes in either direction and all slip roads remain open. Traffic restrictions will be removed before the busy commuter period on Monday morning. Drivers should leave plenty of extra time to make their journeys. This is particularly important for people travelling to the Scotland v France match at Hampden Park on 7 October. Bruce Donaldson, Amey’s unit manager for south west Scotland said: “Throughout the works we will maintain two lanes during the busiest periods but, with a number of events taking place around Glasgow, we strongly recommend drivers plan ahead and leave plenty of time to get through the traffic management”.

:blah01:

That was my precise response to my boss when asked if I would be interested in driving supporters buses for OF fans. Think he thought I was joking to start with :015:

Just a reminder that each poster is responsible for their own comments made on this forum. The allegation made in this statement is pretty serious and I would also highlight that we (the site owners) would be legally obliged to provide the club/authorities/police with any and all information we have pertaining to the identity of any person making such comments/allegations. If they are true and you can prove it, then you have little to worry about. If you can't you may want to reconsider your comments and remove them from the forum yourself.

Designated seating is also an SPL rule. All tickets the club sell MUST have a seat number on them, thats not to say that you have to sit there of course, and other than the "Big" games their is plenty of room to move around so no excuse for sitting like Johnny No Mates just because your ticket has a specific seat number on. Also, I wouldn't want to see designated seating abolished. Defeats half the purpose of buying a season ticket which many people do to guaranteee their seat in a certain area or next to (away from) certain people.

reads like it should be to the tune of Mambo #5 Was thinking that, or it'a a version of BtB I'm not familiar with (highly possible....honest!!!)

When did we sign Ferguson Harry? :015: :015: :015: Wilson!! I obviously have the up coming Scotland game in my head Letting your true colours show their Mr Chibber :024:

Found the perfect bus - Biiiiiiiiigggg Bus All we need to do is find 74 people willing to pay £400/seat +fuel and we're laughing.

I never once suggested that the old system was adequate. The discussion at the time was with regard to people saying that they simply could not hear the PA in certain parts of the Stadium and it was suggested that some of the speakers were not working when I knew for a fact (at the time) that they were. Discussions then developed in to our differing opinions on the solution. As it so happens the alterations/additions made to the PA system did improve things (a bit), but it is still far from being up to the task, which is as much to do with the setup as it is to do with the poor choice of equipment. I believe the additional equipment was purchased from and on the advice of the Music Station and they seemed more intent on selling the club a cd deck & amp to improve things than they did on the additional speakers that were added.

I was one of those who was touting him for the left wing right at the start of the season, but it would seem that he tends to drift/get drawn in to the middle far too easily for him to play out there comfortably, and if a player is comfortable then you aren't going to get the best from them. He also doesn't seem to link up too well with Hastings, again coming inside any time Hastings makes any kind of move down the wing and being left without proper support/link-up. These things seem to come more naturally to Morgan and I was glad to see CC mention that he is being pushed to claim a place on the left. Not only do I think this will create more danger from us down the left but it will give Rankin a chance to prove himself in the middle of the park. One thing I have noticed lacking from Rankin that he seemed well acclaimed for in the 1st Div was having a pop from distance, would like to see him doing more of this for us with Dargo/Bayne chasing down the shots to pick up on any spilled/loose balls.

Don't like the idea of short term fixes for positions where we already have players/cover. If the guys we have aren't considered fit for the job then they should bve shipped out before replacements, be they loan or permanent, are taken in. Personally I think we have the players we need (on large) and we just have to work on playing a system/formation that best suits them.

We do offer coaching sessions to younger kids and I believe our Hotshots programme is extremely succesful. Players also visit the primary schools etc so these things are being done. The problem lies in the fact that they don't seem to attract too much press attention.

The clubs contribution towards the new stands and payment for the USH would have already offset the additional income figures mentioned by Kingsmills so I don't believe we really have too much to fear in terms of keeping the books balanced.

It's not just about the money though, or it shouldn't be. What about the things that are being sacraficed like the traditional Saturday afternoon match, taking your kids/grandkids etc along to watch a match, a pint with mates before and after the game - basically the whole culture that goes with being a football fan. Thats what is slowly being erroded. They got rid of terracing, stupid league setups to benefit the big clubs and generate more income for them, they slap FBO's on people for getting a little carried away, they move matches to unsuitable times, even block BBC from transmitting some games outside the UK on the radio. ALL for a few quid in the bank. Just look at how much going to a match has changed over the years and ask yourself honestly if you think it is all worth it and where you think it will all end??? And rather than talking about how the additional money will compensate for the drop in attendances would you not prefer initiatives which encouraged people back in to the stands supporting their team where it matters most - afterall, the team can't hear you cheering if your sitting at home in front of your TV.

How much extra do people really think this deal is worth to us? The increased package agreed with Setanta only puts an average of £300k/year in to the pockets of each club. Thats only equivalent to an extra 1000 people through the gates for each home match. Plus, if you take in to consideration that we are losing the BoS sponsorship at the end of this season (with no obvious signs of a replacement) which is currently worth an average of about £200/250k per club. Then factor in that the BoS are the leagues biggest creditor overall and are likely to start pressurising clubs to reduce debts and repay what they owe - then just exactly how much better off will we be really? Not Much, if any - if we are lucky we will be in the exact same financial position as we were before this new deal, except we have all the additional grief of games being changed right left and centre. You could argue that we would be well and truely in the chit if it wasn't for the new Setanata deal. Personally I would have rathered we waited another season in to the old Setanta deal and had secured new sponsorship before we sold our soul and I would also have far rathered we had gone down the road of putting effort in to increasing crowds in order to generate additional revenue rather than a TV deal which only serves to damage attendances. The whole thing is self-defeating and any work being done by clubs to increase their gates is immediately undermined by the volume of televised games and the shifting of matches to obscure and ridiculous times during the week. I agree that it's not just the TV deal which is causing problems and that we do have to give people a better overall league to watch, but so long as the SPL keep trying to bandage things up with short term fixes the changes that are needed may come too late or leave us in the situation where the whole thing has sunk so low it will be near impossible to rescue. Also found an interesting quote from Setanta's head of production regarding the Monday Night thing and I get the feeling they were aware all along that Friday Nights were never going to be a reality.

"No Student Prices" - I'd read that as your getting in for free :015:

Harry, it may not be so bad if they WERE working with each other to make a success of things, but the truth of the matter is that these decisions are made with little or no fan consultation. And the only reason they know they can get away with that is because they know that the vast majority of fans will simply bend over and take whatever shafting they are dealing out. The very fact that the SPL agreed to a deal which aimed at showing matches on a Friday Evening without consulting with all relative parties (police included) is ludicrous. Now we are faced with a situation whereby we could find games being changed and played at almost any time of the week, not only that, but it is not going to be the likes of the OF, Hearts or Hibs who are seeing their games shifted to mid week, it is the smaller clubs who will be made to suffer the inconvenience whilst the big guys continue to reap the rewards of having their games played at weekends with maximised attendances AND raking in the lions share of the additional TV money. It would maybe be a bit easier to accept if it was a fairer system and the clubs being inconvenienced were offered a larger slice of the cake for the trouble, but it's not, and it never will be so long as their are attitudes out there that come away with the "we just have to accept it" line.

Clubs survived before the advent of these big TV deals from the likes of SKY and SETANTA - in fact, you had far fewer cases of administration etc and far fewer "save our club" campaigns. The fact of the matter is that clubs got greedy and continue to do so. As I stated already, we managed just fine on the revenue we had last season and even had a couple of hundred thousand in the bank at the end of the year, why then do WE need the additional revenue?? I know the answers I will receive to that - "Grow the Squad", "Get Better Players" etc etc - but look at the price we are paying for these things. I was just as happy to follow ICT in our Div 1/2/3 days as I am now and was just as happy following Caley in the Highland League before that. Yes we should aspire to play at the highest level possible, but I am fast coming to the conclusion that the price you have to pay for that is far too high. It's really sad to see so many people on here resigned to the fact that TV money is a necessary evil and we have to just accept it regardless of the cost.