CaleyD

I'll accept Europe is out of reach....when it actually is out of reach. Until then....bring on the *insert obscure european team name here*

Very surprised nobody has posted this article featuring Gary Warren yet.... http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/Warren-bought-in-to-Hughes-Total-Football-10042014.htm If I was being cynical, I'd say it was being overlooked because it didn't fit with certain views...!!!

Probably because it was scored in April...!!!

Head over to the SPFL Goal of the month video on YouTube at http://youtu.be/ZiIuBhL-D1s Leave a comment voting for Liam Polworth (Goal E) and let's make sure he gets the March 2014 Goal of the Month.

If all decisions had been given then their goal would have been chalked off for high feet and we would have had a penalty of our own at the other end..... ....by my calculations (assuming penalties were scored) that would have given us a 3-1 victory instead of just 2-1.

I very much doubt he was punched twice in the face before defending himself , if that was the case don't you think the aggressor would have been charged and not Richie ? You must have missed the bit in the report that said CCTV footage backed up what he said. Just because it's reported in the press doesn't make it true , if that was the case he would have denied any charges and the PF would have thrown out the case before it reached court . Thanks, was hoping you would say that. Bookmarked for future reference

I very much doubt he was punched twice in the face before defending himself , if that was the case don't you think the aggressor would have been charged and not Richie ? You must have missed the bit in the report that said CCTV footage backed up what he said.

St Johnstone lost somewhere in the region of £200k+ I believe.

I'll have you know that Yogi lets me pick the team every week.

Keep in mind that they had to do it twice because they screwed it up the first time.

To be honest, I've not checked into it myself, so it may well be inaccurate. The way it was explained to me was something about moving a qualifying position from the cup to the league being a discretionary process that would need signed off by UEFA as opposed to it being a process set in stone.

You must have missed the line in my post that reads "Slight tangent in response to remarks on negativity/criticism and not at all in relation to the quoted posted" My comments were not directed at you in any way....I just couldn't be ersed starting a new post.

I've never got the impression that Yogi wants to abandon the attacking game...far from it. He just views the squad as having the potential to play it on the deck with a bit more pace and style than his predecessor. He's been saying for weeks that it's all about finding the balance and that balance was found in the match in Dingwall. The challenge now is to use that to build confidence in the squad and have them believing they can do that on a regular basis. I don't think he has tried to change things as much as some people make out...although he has had a lot of change forced upon him through injury, suspension and schedule. The exact same thing happened to TB and will doubtless happen to us again in future. The difference now is that we have almost a full squad that has some match experience and is ready to take to the field when called upon. We also have a manager with more than one idea as to how the team can be set up to either overcome problems with injury/suspension or counter opposition tactics. Did anyone else see the fixture congestion coming back at the start of December? That is when Yogi would have been forming his plan for the remainder of the season. Not saying you can't/shouldn't deviate from that plan to react to stuff that comes up, but there's little to be gained from doing a complete u-turn on it. All that does is put doubt in the mind of your players...especially if you have their buy-in and belief of the new stuff your introducing. We don't know that playing any differently would have yielded better results...in fact the only evidence we have on which to base any real thoughts on that is previous seasons and massive dips in form at the turn of the year were a regular occurrence under TB using the "don't change a thing and keep shoe-horning players into unsuitable positions" philosophy he adopted. If anything, logic shows that without change a dip was highly probable...on that basis, is not better to at least try something different in an attempt to achieve a better outcome? Had we not had a managerial change we could very well have been sitting in the exact same position as we are now. Some would be arguing that TB had run the course with us and couldn't take us any further, others would be hammering him for failing to adapt/change to the situation, others would be defending him on the basis that we're punching above our weight and were in top 6 for second year running....blabbidy blabbidy blah. (Slight tangent in response to remarks on negativity/criticism and not at all in relation to the quoted posted) All that discussion around are the team playing the best, are they set up the best, should the manager do this or that, the manager is the best thing since pre-sliced bagels etc is all fantastic stuff...and it;s what I used to enjoy about partaking in the forum. These days there's an almost constant underlying tones of vitriol, abuse, personal digs and damn right nastiness which is either aimed directly at other posters or at the manager, players, club, CJT...everything basically. Anyone who thinks for one second that such things fall within the bounds of constructive criticism is seriously deluded. We seem to have slipped into a world where people don't know the difference between abuse/critique and CTO becomes more and more of a cesspit every day as a result. I withdrew my assistance as a moderator/admin on the forums partly because of pressure of work elsewhere and the difficulty from trying to wear too many hats....but what to give up was made easier because my conscience and personal standards meant I was no longer comfortable supporting the direction that things were heading in. I don't read and/or contribute to the vast majority of the forum any more because it's not a nice place to spend any time. I find it quite literally sucks the life from me...and I say that as someone who used to get a great deal of motivation and encouragement from a lot of the discussions that took place.

Was speaking to Robbo about this a couple of weeks back and he was telling me of a study done in regards the physical impact to players playing on artificial surfaces. From what I understood, teams who play regularly on them pick up fewer injuries than they do on grass and they quickly overcome initial problems...mostly lower back aches resulting from a firmer surface. In regards to what players prefer....they all want to be playing on a good consistent surface and there doesn't seem to be such polar views on whether that must be grass or an artificial surface these days. Advancement has not only been made in regards to the playing surface. In-fill has also evolved and causes no more problems (in terms of burns/grazes) than a sand based pitch. The underlying structure on which the surface is laid is also a lot different than it once was and it's no longer just a carpet/underlay type setup. IMO, with artificial alternatives being what they are now then it should be a no-brainer. The biggest obstacle in balancing the books for a lot of clubs is the cost of having a pitch/stadium which is only generating any significant revenue on 30 or so days a year (at best). Additional revenue from rentals, plus money saved from renting training facilities and facilities for use by youth teams etc would be a healthy 6-figure sum. You also open up options like having other sports using it (ICT Hockey Club, ICT Rugby Club, ICT Shinty Club etc)....then factor in the possibility of having a sports bar/cafe that could (potentially) be open 7 days a week...and from a business perspective it would be crazy not to seriously consider it.

I may be wrong, but it has been mentioned to me that (whilst unlikely) UEFA do not have to honour a Europa place for the team finishing fourth.

Define "Mad" because there's every chance I might qualify under certain parameters. Be careful people don't start singing offensive songs about you then Don. Wouldn't be the first time...lol

I've not branded a single person a hypocrite for voicing their opinion on the chants...only those who expect others to make official approaches to the club/CJT on their behalf when it would have taken the same effort to write an email directly. In regards to my criticising (or not) the chants people are accused of partaking in. It's not a discussion I wish to get into (publicly) with anyone posting on this thread. CTO (the forum side) has never been an official communication channel for the club....so those posting on here are NOT (directly at least) giving those at the club their views. In regards to people being lazy hypocrites....they should let their conscience be their guide. Some people who have posted on this thread have (and still do) lend extra support in a constructive manner, others are not in a position to do so...none of them have tried to twist, or appear to have taken offence with, anything I have said.

Following discussion between both clubs and acting in the best interest of the players, tomorrow's U20's match versus Hearts at the TCS has been shifted to a 2:00pm kick off. The club have asked that I pass on their apologies for any inconvenience caused by this change.

Define "Mad" because there's every chance I might qualify under certain parameters. Glad you finally managed to find something that spurred you into life and encouraged you to become an active and valued contributor.

I bet you even signed up a new email address and everything to register a new account to post that....I appreciate the effort you've gone too, makes me feel really special.

Fair do's....maybe that is something that needs to be looked at on a wider basis. Stewards don't tend to be very discreet when you talk to them and if seen pointing at people then I can understand how that could be as bad as confronting people directly if they see it.

You sure you were listening to the right players as our game was on BT Sport, not Alba! Not sure what will happen with the pitch over the summer, but the club are painfully aware that it's not in the condition they would like it to be. I heard a while back that the groundsman wants to go to plastic. It might suit the game that Hughes wants to play, but it wouldn't be my preference to be honest. Why's the pitch taking such a battering this year by the way? I don't remember seeing it look so poor in a long time as it did at that Stranraer game (looking a bit better recently mind). Top surface of the pitch (about 2 inches) was replaced last summer. As I understand it, when you do that you're advised not to play more than 25 games on the surface over the following season. By playing U20's games on it (and with training on it as TB insisted on doing) it went beyond that pretty quickly. Moving U20's games to another pitch also means we lose out on money from the SFA as they don't pay as much "development" money if you don't use the same pitch as the first team....something we've had no choice but to do lately. With the advancements in artificial surfaces I don't think it would be a bad thing. Doesn't really matter what we think of them, it's what the players think. In terms of cost, I don't think there's much between digging up the complete pitch to re-do it from scratch and putting in an artificial one....but that's kinda academic when you don't have the funds to do either!!!

It does seem a little strange, but without having the full facts it's hard to make an informed comment.

Wouldn't be surprised...not as if they don't have form for using them at these games and will have been watched very closely. It's something we can really do without and if we hope to have things like police free games (which save the club a lot of money) then it needs to stop.

You sure you were listening to the right players as our game was on BT Sport, not Alba! Not sure what will happen with the pitch over the summer, but the club are painfully aware that it's not in the condition they would like it to be.