CaleyD

Aye, takes a week to get moving, two weeks to stop and a turning circle measured in miles instead of meters.

Can't see what he added to it this season!!!!

With regard to the Orange Walk, I have no issue with anyone choosing whichever religion they see fit, what bothers me is that they have this need to want to ram it down the throats of everyone else. You can also bet that their was a fairly substantial percentage of those marching that know very little about the routes of the Walk and just saw it as an excuse to parade themselves through the town in a Rangers top. Not only were they making utter t!ts of themselves, but they only serve to make a mockery of the Walk and what it SHOULD represent. I guess I would likely be more tolerant of it (the Orange Walk) if it wasn't for the fact that it, like the Union Jack, has been hijacked by football neanderthals as a way of winding up and provoking the opposition. One final note, those idiots who turned up in Celtic tops to follow the Walk and taunt the participants are just as bad.

The SPL do not have the power to Grant or Deny anyone a work permit directly. They will however have their own internal rules and regulations with regards to what constitutes acceptable terms and conditions for the sponsorship of a foreign player working within the SPL, just as banks have rules and any other company which holds a licence for sponsoring foreign workers. A Canadian friend of mine who worked in Scotland for 2 (maybe 3) years on a general work permit and who wanted to remain here longer required the bank to write a letter of sponsorship saying that he was in their employ and they didn't envisage that changing under current circumstances in order for him to get that extension. They refused and he had to return to Canada. I would imagine the same rules apply to footballers, they can come here for X amount of time on a general permit, but for an extension they need a letter from club/employer (operating under SPL guidelines) stating they did not envisage that changing within the period of the extension applied for. Given the nature of football and frequency with which players come and go then I'd imagine the SPL have a rather strict criteria for issuing such sponsorship and as was stated at the time Jason Scotland failed to meet that Criteria. Given how backwards the regulatory setup is in Scottish football it is not unlikely (in fact it is highly probable) that the SFL have a different more leniant set of criteria which allowed Jason Scotland to obtain the letter of sponsorship required to allow him to continue working here.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/mappoint.asp

Around £75,000 I believe

The rumour of a move is unfounded, Dynamo are to stick by him for the time being. Some of his team mates aren't too happy though and Andy Stevens has shown his strength of feeling by deciding to retire at the end of the season.

You answered that yourself with.... A concern for Gretna and their fans, nobody else Again, something for Gretna and the fans to worry about, not us The most ludicrous of all the questions, since when did the size of the fanbase determine who should and shouldn't be allowed to play at the top level? It's results on the park that (should) decide that. Again, a very short memory in regard to some of the crap that was thrown at us when we were fighting for our place in the SPL. The exact same complaint that exists about us (ICT) to this day - should we just turn around and tell the SPL that we shouldn't be there and slink off back to the first division? I'm not being fooled by anything, I was one of the fans from another team that turned out for that match in order to support Gretna for the day and a great day it was too. It's really quite sad that some of our fans seem to have so quickly adopted the mindset which we battled so hard against in order for us to get where we are today!!!

What Mileson does or does not do with his money is up to him. If he wishes to bankroll Gretna then thats his decision and to object or put the guy or his team down for it is nothing other than sour grapes. ALL teams at some point or other have relied on the goodwill of a wealthy person or business to get or keep them where they were, us included, so it really is quite hypocritical for us to have a pop at Mileson or Gretna. Our turnover last year was in the region of 2.5 million if I remember correctly. Assuming Gretna end up on a similar level then Mileson has plenty in the bank to see them through well beyond the lifetime of moist of us on this forum today. If thats how he wishes to spend his cash then good luck to the guy. Why shouldn't Gretna be allowed to live the dream? They aren't doing a Livi and generating massive debt as they do it so even if it doesn't last nobody will suffer financially other than Mileson.

The uncertaintly caused by the whole Intertoto thing last year put me off the idea. It seems to be more of a distraction than it is worth with having to wait so long to find out who's in and who's out etc. Pre-season should not be underestimated and although I was of a mind that the Intertoto could be valuable in those preperations I think it's no bad thing we give it a miss even if we could get in.

Kencar, that article sounded like a re-hash of comments made a couple of weeks back. Either that or I am suffering DeJaVu

If you want to make it at this level then you have to put in the work. Coaching etc doesn't come cheap and the club have to focus on those who are dedicated. As tough as it may seem I think the policy is correct.

No fear here, in fact I predict McAllister is going to stick 3 in the net against Utd which will be his coming of age as a first team regular who goes on to be our top scorer next season.

I'll sponsor his agent £1 for every mile he takes during his run and jump. I'll sponsor him a further £1 for every foot he drops at the end of it.

Brave man even moving back to Inverness after his comments....lol

Bit too much to hope it predicts the future?

Phew....thought we were going to go all week without another "Dargo has signed for XYZ FC thread", but in true rumour mill fashion someone pulls one from the bag.

Shearer definitely burnt his bridges when he left ICT as far as I am concerned.

One of those ones that your not too sure where it belongs. Not a rumour, not an ICT Player or someone linked with ICT, but in the context of the question ICT related. Can see why it might have been moved but agree it belongs here.

W-W-W-W-W We are capable of beating all these teams and regardless of everything I (still) BELIEVE

I think far too many people get mixed up between intolerance(hate) and fear, certainly when it comes to race. None of us are born to hate, that is a behaviour which we learn as we grow (mostly from those around us - family etc) and it is therefor something action can be taken against to prevent or get rid of in society. However, we are all born to fear. It's an "animal instinct" if you like, and we all fear what is different or unknown to us. It is only through experience that we learn not to fear (or to trust) what we don't know or understand. As Inverness has grown a lot in the last 20 years, so has it's cultural diversity. Although 20 years may seem like a long time it is still infant status for any society. I don't believe Inverness has a problem with racism but I think that has partly been brought about by modern day society as a whole. When other large towns and societies were developing they had very different 'approaches' to dealing with other cultures and racists, often handling them with separation both physically and by class. That is being stamped out and was beingdone prior to the current boom growth Inverness is witnessing. As a result, Inverness has benefited from being a late developer in this regard. Cultural/racial separation is something we have never, to any great extent, had to experience. Where other towns and cities have had to overcome a race problem that existed for hundreds of years, Inverness never had one to start with and we effectively got to start with a clean slate. In short, people in Inverness are born into a more "live and let live" society. When something happens which goes against that then two things can happen.... People are far more horrified by it and you get extreme reactions to what may well be an un-extreme incident. e.g. A misplaced comment at a football match instantly has some people screaming racist when it may just be ignorance. People take the "live and let live" approach and just let things pass them by. e.g. A misplaced comment at a football match doesn't really put people up nor down. You need your extreme reactions to keep people educated and make them realise that things like racism will not be tolerated, but you just as equally need the more laid back approach to stop things being taken too far and resulting in a society where people are afraid to speak their mind. And lets face it, if we lived in a society where people were scared to speak their mind and stand up against racism and the like in the first place then it would still be something which was viewed as normal and acceptable today. The laid back approach in effect allows those with a stronger more extreme view to have their say and the outcome is normally somewhere below that extreme at a level which is tolerable and acceptable to the majority.

Rory stood out as being a great player in the reserves before making the move up. I still think he (Rory) has potential, but I worry that our system isn't wprking for bringing the best of our young players through the ranks. It could be that more will just fail to make the grade because the step up from reserves to first team SPL is harder to make, or it could be our system needs looking at as something is going wrong when so many lads with potential aren't managing to move up. Has our youth development and any other stages between that and the first team moved on as we've gone up the leagues or has the gap between the two grown? Not intended as a dig at the club or coaches, but if anyone can explain what has/is being done to ensure the whole system moves on as a unit as opposed to the first team romping on and the youth development losing ground then that would be cool.

Not enough teams in each league to warrant 2 up/2 down IMO. And with the razy SPL stadia criteria you'd just end up with half the teams being refused entry or going bust in an attempt to comply - which is a whole other argument.

.....More chance of upsets and more teams to steal points off each other reducing the "6 pointer" factor which allows a team to so easily run away with the league.

I agree that a 16 team league wouldn't be ideal, but an 18 team league would prevent a drop in the number fixtures aswell as going a long way towards reducing the tedium. On the lost revenue from attendance argument - playing 17 different teams at home in a season would reduce the element of picking and choosing which games you are going to attend (i.e. no "have seen them already this season, or we'll see them next time"). As a result it would also, IMO, add value to the season ticket as I know of a few people who don't bother buying one for the reasons stated above (can't be ersed going to see same teams twice in a season). The current setup gives people a reason not to attend matches and a move to a larger number of teams removes that. In a climate where itis hard enough to attract people along, the fewer excuses you provide them with the better. Onthe lost revenue due to increased split of sponsorship, it is my opinion that a larger better structured league would increase interest and be of more value to sponsors which would in turn increase investment on their part. I fail to see why people need to try and re-invent the wheel every time this comes up for discussion. The more complicated you make it, the less people understnad it and the less interested they become.....K.I.S.S.