CaleyD

http://ictfc.com/news/team-news/1147-hughes-hits-a-double

Just to clarify something regarding the scouting at ICT....as I understand it. Marsella was not the only scout, he was the chief scout. What this meant was that ICT's other contacts would highlight potential targets and Marsella would then spend time travelling around to have a look at them for himself before giving the nod to TB on the ones he thought were worth consideration. Yogi has added a few of his own contacts to that network and I believe there's 2 or 3 people he trusts in the same was as TB trusted Marsella. Only time will tell on how effective the setup remains, but with Yogi looking inwards as well as outwards then hopefully we'll see more opportunity for our own youngsters and a reduced dependence on bringing players in from afar.

Doubt it would be as much as £500k. From some old figures I have the winners used to get in the region of £110k prize money, a television fee of about £100k and 37.5% of the gate (after VAT...so nearer 30% in reality). Those are from the CIS sponsored the competition and it wouldn't surprise me at all if it's less now there's no commercial sponsor. You'd need a crowd of over 60k to take us anywhere close to £500k based on the above figures. Should also be noted the the league cup only pays prize money on elimination and not per round as the Scottish Cup does (assuming it's not changed). This means that there's no payment for semi final and then another payment for reaching final.

There was a shove, but it was hardly done with any malice. It's no more than what any of us would do if someone backed in to us in the street in order to stop us having toes trodden on or being bundled over ourselves. Looked to me like the Crawford Allan appreciated that fact and just got on with the game so talks of being a target or it deserving of a booking/card/sending off are quite ridiculous, IMO.

Theeagle reminds me of many Ross County fans. Clearly isn't getting any real satisfaction from following his own wee team (Alloa in this case) and has become obsessed with all things ICTFC. Unfortunately he doesn't have the strength of character to understand or accept his new found love and to justify hanging around he presents himself as a troll.

Bite me

Here's the version where we edited the music volume a bit for you ya grumpy old bugger!

Yes.

Some recent video outtakes and behind the scenes footage....

Thanks. I have to admit that I was quite surprised to see us rank so high, especially on the UK Index where we out performed clubs with whole teams of people who are employed solely to manage their social media and budgets that would dwarf our entire club turnover....before you take account of their other media & marketing personnel & budgets. Would also like to say that whilst I might be the man on the front line of the Social Media accounts, if it wasn't for Andy Johnstone & Don Johnstone* (videographers), Peter Paul (Photographer), Jack Davis & Davie Balfour (Previews/Reports/Interviews etc) and Iain Auld (Interviews) then we wouldn't be able to provide the content that fans enjoy, talk about & share. The challenge now is to maintain/improve our position. You can be sure everyone else will now be chasing us, so we have to continue to up our game!!!

Hibs can't afford Marley Watkins.....or any of our other players for that matter.

Pretty sure Marley Watkins is signed till the end of next season.

A personal invite from Yogi to join him & the players for an evening of Chat, Mulled Wine & Mince Pies on Tue 17th Dec from 6pm till 8pm in the Sports Bar.

Oh, you meant that we lived within our means? Yeah....God forbid any team should do that!

I think there's a requirement to have some kind of GK coach in order to qualify for a certain coaching standards which, in turn, opens up additional player development funding...although I'm not entirely sure of how it works.

2+2=5?

We have two very capable and experienced keepers in Esson and Brill who will doubtless be keeping the younger lads right....so no panic, IMO.

I think it's the reason County are losing these players...some of them outside the transfer window and some of them leaving without other deals secured during the window...that should be of most concern. The last time we took in players during the January window due to current squad not being good enough was the year we sacked Brewster. All other short term January signings have been to cover injuries/suspensions. Failing to sign sufficient quality at the start of the season and then having to spend heavily in the January window is not a policy...it's digging yourself out of the mire. Can't imagine those signing the cheques and running up County's debt will tolerate that, or have it tolerated by the fans, for much longer.

If he didn't relocate, then it would have been a fair drive back and forth!

St Mirren have improved greatly from our game against them in August and it was clear that the plan in the first half was to throw everything at us on the break to try and get an early/first half goal. We defended well without the need or desire to throw everyone behind the ball and were still creating opportunities for ourself at the other end. As St Mirren decided to lose their legs a bit towards the end of the first half we enjoyed the best of the last 10 to 15 minutes...and that continued in the second half where St Mirrens fast forays forward were much reduced in number. Ryan Esson's heart must sink every time Brill plays as he was outstanding yesterday and, despite the pressure at times, remained fully composed and did nothing to cause the players to lose confidence in him. A few of the guys looked like they were trying a bit too hard and looking for the perfect shooting opportunity...but que sera. They'll settle under Hughes now and get back to their usual selves. Marley Watkins gets more and more exciting every time I see him play and despite initially giving Dean Brill my MotM, I've changed my mind. The lad is an absolute joy to watch with the ball at his feet and his strength on the ball and ability/determination to win it back on the odd occasion he does lose it is second to none within the squad. I'm not normally an advocate of extra long term deals, but we should be offering Marley at least 5 years.

I did say "available" (twice). He crossed himself off the list before it was even drawn up.

I can 100% confirm that Levein and Hartley were willing to come in on a joint managerial roll but we turned them down because Hughes was willing to take the job on £50 a week. Wonder how many people miss the sarcasm?

I can agree with you on that one

So, by your logic, the people in the middle weren't really in the middle...they were mostly people leaning towards the negative but have now come to terms with the Hughes appointment? You do realise how ridiculous that sounds, right! I was at neither extreme prior to the appointment and would have been happy with quite a few of those who were suggested to have been in the running. Did we get the best available? On the basis that we only offered the job to one person and they accepted, then yeah, I trust that Kenny Cameron and the board appointed the best person available....and that makes me very happy.

I must have missed the part of the question on that poll which asked for strength of feeling in regards to who people wanted. It's also very dangerous to assume that just because someone gives a preference means they aren't/wouldn't be content with an alternative. I'd suggest "The Hughes Poll" where 77%+ of those who voted for a neutral/positive option is more telling of the wider view of the fans....even allowing for the fact that it will be skewed by people with a perceived grievance in regards his appointment who are far more likely to express a view/opinion on it (fact of life).