CaleyD

I'd imagine the visiting attendance for 2nd fixtures would drop considerably...and whilst I haven't checked, I'd confidentially bet that it happens every season. Look at St Johnstone...they normally bring a fairly healthy support, but had next to nobody there last Sunday. It's one of the problems of playing the same teams 3 or 4 times where people decide "I've been there already, I'll not bother again"....and one of the strongest arguments to be had for increasing the size of the league. Would also be interesting to compare how many of those 1st or 2nd games were on TV...something that can also has a large impact on visiting crowds.

Absolutely. Let me make it totally clear.....my post was made with a little tongue in cheek!!!

All gone quiet over here?!

Whooosh central on this thread. I clearly made my remark very carefully to include the word "premiership" in full knowledge that some people would jump on the fact "we got 58 points in 05/06"

He would have access to the figures....so I very much doubt he is kidding himself, or others. What's to be gained from that?

Have a word with Charlie Christie about that. See my reply to RiG.

Scotty...you're in Canada and they're not a real Country anyway!!! The China deal makes it Global and hopefully one day, maybe in our life time, that will be expanded upon.

With the exception of the U16 ticket in the family enclosure (which has conditions attaching and limited availability) then the prices for match day home and away concessions in the North/South stand are exactly the same....and better than many other grounds.

When did we get Craig Brewster back? To my knowledge....Brewster never managed us in the Premiership

Signing the manager that's taken us the furthest ever in a major cup tournament and secured the highest premiership points tally ever.

I would Imagine all the higher ups of subway have the final say 6 figures is alot of advertising for 5 stores! With many franchises you're allowed to use the name provided you dont use it to the detriment of the parent company. So probably dont need a final say from higher ups. 6 figure sum (£100,000) is not actually a lot if said 5 stores are doing good business. I don't know the full details, but trust me when I say that Subway scrutinised ICTFC every bit as much as we did them before the deal (which had to be sanctioned by Subway head office in the US) was signed off. Whilst the primary exposure for them as a brand will be in Scotland (and it is that "budget" from which the sponsorship has come), they also recognise that our games...and thus their brand...will also appear globally. Something I think we forget/play down ourselves at times. Subway has been involved with the club for a while through one of the main community initiatives, but this takes it to a whole new level and I'm personally quite excited about the opportunity to be working with the brand to improve and build upon things like the matchday experience, promotions, cross-marketing etc. I see it as being far more than money in the pot....the real value will be recognised from having a sponsor you can work with to deliver all the aforementioned and stuff we've probably not even thought about yet. Here's a wee video that Auldy did with Liam....just in case you think I'm blowing smoke up yer ass!!!

Over the years the club have tried various forms of ticket discounts for games at all times. It actually frustrates the hell out of me when the club do straight forward ticket discounting because, quite simply, it does NOT work....never has worked, not likely to change any time soon and, IMO, actually just ends up costing us money. IMO, you could half the prices for every game and you'd struggle to put an extra 500 average on the gate. What the club are doing...more than anyone else I can see...is making it more affordable for youngsters/families to come to games (free if you're under 12). However they are fighting a bit of a losing battle on that one as well because it's a struggle getting adults/parents to take kids along to games. They'd rather spend £40 on a computer game and stick them in front of the TV than spend the day taking them out to a game and spending time with them (a deeper society problem than just going to the football). It's also become harder for schools and kids/youth organisations to take them along to games because they rely heavily on volunteers or staff. They can't get the volunteers because there's too much red tape involved and they can't afford to be paying the staff....even when they are being offered free match tickets. Caley Thistle is probably doing as much as it can to keep the game as affordable as it can. Yeah, there's maybe a bit more they could be doing to improve the matchday experience as a whole (out with the 90 minutes of play) and hopefully that will (continue to) improve. Football alone cannot fix what is a problem with society. However, as a sport and certainly Caley Thistle as a club, do more to try and offset and improve things than any other (comparatively speaking). e.g. I doubt there's another club in the UK that will be delivering programmes/classes in over 180 schools in the next 12 months....like we will be. What's needed is for the community to do a bit more to support those efforts. Not just financially by buying a season/match ticket or merchandise or whatever....but with some real investment of time and effort in championing the positive community benefits that are and can be achieved through Caley Thistle as a club and football as a sport. It could be something as simple as taking the time to post something positive on here (or elsewhere) instead of constantly focusing on the negative. Take your child along to a game, or if you already do then encourage them to bring a friend. Next time you're at your kids school/club ask them why they don't take advantage of the free tickets on offer and encourage them to do so. If you're involved with a group or organisation (adult or child) then suggest a day out at the football....contact the club if you do as maybe there's some deal that can be done. I'm not having a go. I'm just suggesting that we all stop for a moment to think about whether we can offer our assistance in regards some solutions instead of just sitting making lists of things we don't like and/or want changed. I've said it before on here....ANYONE who thinks they or the club would benefit from a chat only need call or email and they'd be welcomed in to do so with whoever it's best for them to speak with.

You could have just said "home"

Strangest thing I remember seeing during the whole sage was a Partick fan who'd phoned/written in to one of the newspaper "opinion" columns (possibly the Daily Record) to claim that we should be denied promotion because people from Inverness speak funny.

You seem to have fallen into the trap of thinking our new home shirt is going to be red and/or blue!!!

All about maximising exposure.

It would be nice to think so Alex but THEY have decided not to renew. To get high value shirt sponsors you need a professional commercial / marketing department - something we just do NOT have. You were saying?

The club do phone people.

That's my point though. We all know that clubs, not just ICTFC, face a difficult task in increasing crowds so why waste time debating on whether sales are up or down when it will be fairly obvious come the start of the season if there's a significant change?! Surely the benefit is to be had from directing that discussion and effort into trying to increase the number regardless of what it is/was? Re LCF Ticket Sales.....because it takes focus away from the football (especially ahead of a major final). The "any publicity is good publicity" thing is a line often trotted out by people who screw up and try to justify or play down their error...I've tried using it myself in the past!!! If the PR person is good then they can often spin it or turn it to their advantage....but it certainly shouldn't be used as tactic or excuse to intentionally pass off information which you know will be twisted or used negatively.....god knows we (football in general) get enough of that already. Take a look at any national paper and work out the % of football articles that are positive in nature...very low. There absolutely should be a flow of information between club and fans and I champion, promote and work on improving that position nearly every day. However, it has to be managed and accepted that sometimes there's nothing to be gained from giving some information purely for the sake of it, especially (as I've said already) when it is only used to distract from the more practical and beneficial things. Of course, sometimes you have to deliver "negative" news...and I'm not for one second suggesting that stuff be brushed under the carpet purely on the basis that you don't like what you have to put out. Again, it's all about managing it. As for the 'if you don't tell us you must have something to hide' angle....nice try, but I'm pretty much immune to that line these days... It's entirely possible that the club could change their stance from previous seasons and publicise a figure (it's not my decision to make)...if they did though, I wouldn't be expecting it after the first week of sales.

I maybe overplayed the "non-issue" card a bit....but it certainly wasn't anything more than a few people making a personal stance, which they are quite entitled to do, and which I feel the club handled very well by clarifying their position. The unfortunate thing was the number of people who weren't ST holders who promised to buy and then didn't. Stuff like that ultimately does more harm than good and only gives reason for genuine concern to be overlooked in future.

To my recollection, the club have never released season ticket sales numbers...and it's the same with many other clubs. Not sure how/why it would/should influence a persons decision on whether to buy one or not either. We had a situation with the League Cup Final where I was getting phone calls and emails several times a day from press/media asking if the club were going to release a figure...and the only reason we could fathom for the interest was because they wanted to use it as a stick with which to hit the club by drawing comparisons on supporter numbers between ourself and Aberdeen. We have this obsession in Scotland with crowd sizes and supporter numbers...and using them as a tool to deride the opposition...that I don't see anywhere else. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying people should have no interest in the subject but the important thing is what the club is doing to try and promote season ticket sales and releasing numbers, IMO, isn't a required part of that equation. Whether numbers are up or down doesn't matter, we should all be focusing on what we can do (individually & together) to make them even better. The discussion on whether the club are doing the enough or doing the right things comes up regularly, especially around this time of year and generally ends up caught in an infinite loop of people shouting that prices need to be reduced and a counter argument that reducing prices doesn't increase numbers sufficiently to counter the lost revenue from such a reduction. Personally, I think it's pretty remarkable that despite ever increasing costs and reduced league/cup income the club have managed to freeze prices and maintain the free kids tickets. The club may be wrong and there might be a case for releasing numbers which goes beyond satisfying curiosity and giving lazy journalists info which would be used to construct what amounts to little more than unhelpful non-stories. Would be interested in hearing that case if it exists. FWiW...I'm not privy to the numbers either and tend to try and avoid having such info (or any info I don't need to allow me to do what I do for the club). That way, the finger of blame can never be pointed in my direction if there's a leak...lol.

Some people would rather see the team do poorly to prove their opinions right than risk ever having to accept they were wrong...on that basis, withdrawing support (financial and otherwise) only helps protect their own position....and when the club continues to thrive regardless, they can just disappear from the forums for a while and hope it's forgotten. When the boycott of season tickets was on two years ago (all about another club) I bought an extra ST and sponsored another player while other people withdrew financial support. My support of this team and club is as strong as ever and all my points are made with forethought. CaleyD you seem to post on the forum now only to shoot down other posters or posts against company line. There was no boycott two years ago....was all just a lot of noise, mostly from people who weren't season ticket holders or regular attendees. If there was no boycott why was the "Early Bird" scheme extended after the SPL vote so in the chairmanship words " It was only fair to ST holders who had shown concern about the clubs stance on the Rangers issue." Or was this just a figment of my imagination? I would say that was the Chairman handling a situation perfectly....it meant that nobody who had made threat had any additional excuse for following through. Threatening to boycott and following through on such actions are two entirely different things. As I said...there was no boycott. Without getting into a petty argument, if everyone had renewed why extend the scheme? If people did not renew until after the vote and then did was that not a boycott or a protest. Because there was nothing to lose from it and, as I said, it removes the potential for those mouthing off to have even more reason to do so. Anyway, we're getting way off the point here. I'm not, and nor did I, ask you to justify your position. I responded to OCG with a personal view on the situation and that's clearly struck a nerve...hinting that your conscience maybe has a wee issue with your own publicly stated views? It does seem a little unusual that someone who put such faith in the club previously has all of a sudden changed heart on that. Especially as the club have, as far as I can see, done nothing to demonstrate they are any less honest, upfront and trustworthy today than they were a couple of seasons back. In fact, I would say they've done more in the time since then and now to demonstrate that they're honest, upfront & trustworthy than at any other team in the past 10 years. In short, I can only conclude that you simply have a personal dislike for John Hughes and all the other stuff is pure whataboutery and a weak attempt to justify that view. Nothing wrong with not liking or taking to someone, it happens in life sometimes. I just don't see the need for you to try and paint the club and those working for the club as being dishonest, uncommitted and untrustworthy because of it. Most of the players have publicly stated their support for John Hughes and/or demonstrated their faith in him by signing contract extensions. You have yourself stated that you think the players are honest and committed, so regardless of your own personal opinions (based on newspapers and media reports) you should have a bit of faith in the players thoughts and opinions on the man?

The only person I see with over expectations is John Hughes and his "Barcelona" and " Educate " comments. All I expect is honest players being played to their strengths. I don't expect too much and the "Club of our size" is a false argument. We are similar to 50 per cent of all Premiership clubs and all I expect is honesty and commitment. I have posted about Yogi's comments just after he took over and other subsequent interviews. So just to reiterate all I expect is honesty and effort. As I said its your choice. I personally do not see lack of commitment, honesty or effort from the players? Can you give examples? Who mentioned players? Can you not just clarify what you mean then? I have huge reservations about statements made by our manager about not changing what isn't broken, good game plans and educating players. No-one has clarified the position of the under 20 players released, Evans, Cooper and a few others although rumours say they have been released. This is what I mean by honesty. I will plead the 5th about commitment but I have my reasons for saying this also. I have no problems with the honesty or commitment of a single member of our playing staff and apologise if that is how it came across. As I understand it, U20's players are under contract until the end of the month. Discussions may have taken place with players, but I wouldn't expect any statement from the club on who is or isn't being offered extension until then. As you quite rightly point out...at the moment it's just rumours. I, personally, avoid trying to make decisions based on such things. The pleading the 5th thing makes me smile....thought you were all about being open and honest?

Some people would rather see the team do poorly to prove their opinions right than risk ever having to accept they were wrong...on that basis, withdrawing support (financial and otherwise) only helps protect their own position....and when the club continues to thrive regardless, they can just disappear from the forums for a while and hope it's forgotten. When the boycott of season tickets was on two years ago (all about another club) I bought an extra ST and sponsored another player while other people withdrew financial support. My support of this team and club is as strong as ever and all my points are made with forethought. CaleyD you seem to post on the forum now only to shoot down other posters or posts against company line. There was no boycott two years ago....was all just a lot of noise, mostly from people who weren't season ticket holders or regular attendees. If there was no boycott why was the "Early Bird" scheme extended after the SPL vote so in the chairmanship words " It was only fair to ST holders who had shown concern about the clubs stance on the Rangers issue." Or was this just a figment of my imagination? I would say that was the Chairman handling a situation perfectly....it meant that nobody who had made threat had any additional excuse for following through. Threatening to boycott and following through on such actions are two entirely different things. As I said...there was no boycott.

Some people would rather see the team do poorly to prove their opinions right than risk ever having to accept they were wrong...on that basis, withdrawing support (financial and otherwise) only helps protect their own position....and when the club continues to thrive regardless, they can just disappear from the forums for a while and hope it's forgotten. When the boycott of season tickets was on two years ago (all about another club) I bought an extra ST and sponsored another player while other people withdrew financial support. My support of this team and club is as strong as ever and all my points are made with forethought. CaleyD you seem to post on the forum now only to shoot down other posters or posts against company line. There was no boycott two years ago....was all just a lot of noise, mostly from people who weren't season ticket holders or regular attendees.