CaleyD

ok, so if my reading of the whole situation is correct, he has signed a pre-contract that will see him here at the end of the season and the club are trying to arrange an immediate release with Cowdenbeath so he can join us now. Probably explains why all the reports so far have been conflicting.

They are only allowed to pay 2 players more than the capped amount and wages in excess of $400,000 must be paid by the club and not the MLS.

I think Mad Vlad and all the (currently) laughing Hearts fans will be left with a bit of egg on their face with this one. Some Facts....... 1. Webster terminated his contract with Hearts under Article 17 on the basis Alex mentioned above. This made him free to sign for anyone else. 2. Webster moved to Wigan on an International Transfer Certificate on 30Th August 2006. This proved he was a free agent. 3. As per FIFA Articles and ITC can only be issued "providing the player is not under written contract to a Club, is not suspended from football for disciplinary reasons, and has fulfilled all obligations to the former Club." This proves that he had severed his contract with Hearts and fulfilled any remaining obligations. 4. As per FIFA Articles an "ITC must be issued free of charge and without any conditions or time limitations." This proves that no restrictions could have been placed on his signing for Wigan 5. As per FIFA Articles a player can be registered with 3 teams in any sports season, but can only play for the first 2. This proves that their is nothing preventing him from registering as a player through Rangers. Although depending on dates, could prevent him playing (see below). Taking items 1-4 above into consideration, there is no possible way that Hearts can claim ownership of Websters registration Even under item 5 above, Websters contract wiTh Hearts was terminated on June 30th last year. As the new season doesn't start until after that date then Webster was not registered with Hearts for the Season 2006/07. That means his first club was Wigan and his second club would be Rangers. Also, there is nothing in any of the FIFA articles which states that a player cannot return to play in the same association within 12 months after exercising his rights under Article 17, which is what seems to be the basis of some of the arguments in support of Mad Vlad's actions. In short the Lunatic Lithuanian is blowing smoke out his Erse - although it is funny that he seems to be giving Rangers and the SFA a bit of a runaround :015:

May can leave if she likes, didn't rate her much anyway :004:

I wouldn't take the cut in pay personally :015: Harry, they only play 8 months of the year £128,000,000 / 5 = £25,600,000/33 = £775,757 A Week 5 Day Week & 8 Hours a Day? £19,393 an Hour :015:

Call yourself a real fan :014:

Which is probably why we manage to land him (Dargo). Comes a time when you have to cut your losses, I don't want to see him moving on, but in the grand scheme of things it's probably a sensible move for the Club. And who knows, if he does ok on his loan spell, remains injury free and finds old form, then we may offer him a position back here again.

8 Games last season due to injury and only 10 this season - As much as I like the guy and think he has what it takes to play at SPL level, we simply can't afford to have players with recurring injury problems on the books long term.

I don't think people are blaming CC - just stating that the fans shouldn't be his first/only port of call when it comes to pointing the finger. Yes, the fans can do their bit, they can "Big Up" the product etc. The problem is, it doesn't matter how good you tell someone something is, if it's out of their reach financially, then they ain't going to buy it and they certainly ain't going to buy lots of it.

I think this may be, in part, down to the fact that he now has Morgan chasing him for his place. Prroof Positive that competition for places on all areas of the pitch is needed

The same works in reverse - whats the point in increasing prices if you reduce crowds to such an extent that it negates the extra money taken from tickets. We are (currently) 5% down on average attendance compared to last season - when you add on any lost revenue from "other" sales, such as programmes, merchandise etc - then it is unlikely that income will have increased in this area.

And Wyness/The Club had admitted that Wyness had talked to Hearts at the time.

Surely that last sentence kinda confirms it. Remember the Press Release that said Pele had signed a 5 year contract??? All articles I have read so far give conflicting information about the stage of contract signings, so we'll just wait and see something a little more concrete :016:

And it's all just speculation with Mark Brown at the moment - what's the difference?

Taken from www.cowdenbeathfc.com Also, according to soccerbase he has 11 goals to his credit this season

I didn't think it was possible - how they made the Angry German Kid video EVEN FUNNIER!!!! Clicky Clicky

for dessert.

We can discuss the good and bad ideas round in circles all day (and we have done on these forums ever since we got into the SPL). It's the fact that the club have done NOTHING to try an entice more people through the gates that gets me. If they had tried out some stuff and it hadn't worked, then fair enough, at least you could say they were trying, but they aren't. I don't think our price increases for this season and the 5% drop in average home gate (to date) are just coincidental. In fact, I would wager that if you did the maths taking into account money lost from those "missing" fans from programme, half time draw tickets, club merchandise sales etc then the price increase will have actually reduced income instead of increasing it - no point increasing prices by 2 or 3% if it's going to cost you 5% of your customers. Even if you take the Main Stand out of the equation (as I believe it is all but sold out with Season Tickets) - The North Stand prices are still ludicrous, and so is the effort people have to make in order to benefit from the cheapest possible prices - the club should be making it as easy as possible for people to get the best possible deals, not vice-versa. And with not having a City Centre ticket outlet, then it's not exactly convenient for people to nip in and buy tickets in advance to get best prices. CC and players say that they want bigger crowds to be cheering the players on at home and this would possibly help improve performance - I say that they should be looking just as hard to the club to encourage that as they do to the fans.

I covered that point in my post - it all depends how serious his request to be relieved really was. IF - and I know it's a big IF - he doesn't really want to go to Ibrox, then the handling of it all so far (in the public eye) gives Smith and the SFA a win win situation. Smith gets to stay in the Scotland job without losing face at Ibrox for turning them down flat and the SFA get to look like they aren't the pushover everyone thought they would be.

Gringo, was

failed miserably

the vatican.

BUCK

Time and again we hear the "If more fans came to games we could afford to spend more" line coming out of the stadium, and there's no doubt that is the case. However, the blame for this cannot be placed squarely at the feet of the fans or the general population of Inverness. The club need to be doing more to encourage people along instead of constantly having a pop in the press, lets see some initiatives that will put bums on seats instead of the same old 'no-brainer' statements.

If he had become a bit complacent in training it was likely down to the fact that he wasn't getting a sniff at the First Team - a bit of a catch 22 for CC. For any player - a message to buck up or be shipped is probably the only real option in these circumstances. If a player has a real desire to stay and earn his place then he will respond, if he doesn't then he's probably not worth any further effort and your aswell to get him off the wage bill. Fortunately it seems Morgan has responded well and I fully expect him to go on and secure a more permanent place in the starting 11. Unfortunately if thats the case then it could spell the end for McBain. Whatever happens I wouldn't be suprised to see one of them moved on during the summer.