Sneckboy

I'd somehow missed that about Hereford United folding! Although I don't follow the English game too closely. Jeez. Always sad when a football club goes under. (except Rangers, obviously)

I'm glad you mentioned that as I had no idea how much refs were getting. Current match fees - Premiership £840; Championship £195; League One £150; League Two £150 The proposal 'on the table' for the refs is an increase to £240 for Championship games. As it stands, taking charge of a heated Edinburgh derby pays £195 - but Hamilton v Ross County in front of 2,000 punters (for example) is worth £840!

Yeah! UEFA allow artificial pitches - except for the final. That actually happened a few seasons ago when the Champions League final was played in a stadium in Moscow which had an artificial pitch. It had to be replaced, with a grass pitch for the purpose of one game! Regarding injury statistics, there have been studies done on this and the results seem to be consistent. Generally, injuries were more prevalent on the old style AstroTurf, 1G and 2G pitches, than on grass. But, since the advent of the modern 3G and 4G surfaces, there is no evidence that they cause any more injuries than grass. However, it was noted that there is obviously no data for 'long term' effects on players from always playing on these surfaces. Yet, I'm sure some players find it more physically demanding to play on artificial surfaces and often players nursing ankle, back or knee injuries are often reluctant to play on the perceived harder surface. Interesting times ahead, if the club are indeed looking seriously into this option. I'd be fascinated to hear Dougal's opinion as I remember he was quite 'outspoken' about this earlier this season - hoping Hamilton and Kilmarnock would be relegated!

Andy Barrowman has moved to Dunfermline Athletic after leaving Morton.

Even if Inverness, Dundee United or Aberdeen finish runners-up, it'll still be significant, as the last time a non central belt team managed that was over 20 years ago!

'19' by Paul Hardcastle was no. 1 in the Top 40 the last time a club outwith the Glasgow duopoly won the league. Very few folk under 40 years old will remember anything other than a Celtic or Rangers win - that's staggering! Although, I can't see it materialising, I'd 'celebrate' another club breaking the stranglehold. It would be a shot-in-the-arm for Scottish football. But, I do understand how others see it differently. For example, RiG, RossP and others who are based in the Granite City. I used to live/work in Aberdeen and appreciate the Dons fans can be insufferable at the best of times!

That's so disappointing! He had really found his scoring boots out there with Cluj. Although, they're unlikely to challenge Steau Bucharest for the title, Tade's goals have helped Cluj up to currently 2nd place - and he's 2nd top scorer in the Romanian league. Can't see him having any difficulty securing a new club.

Thank you. That's probably what happened! I would have viewed the 'first' one (Scotty's) b4 6pm and got nothing but then the match-report 'insert' worked - as it was after 6pm! It's a funny-old-game when 'folk-in-Canada' (Scotty) can watch highlights before we can in Scotland! Can you imagine us watching Toronto games on YouTube and telling Scotty he must see the opening goal when it eventually becomes available in his area? No...neither can I!

Great match summary from RiG. Cheers. I won't need to watch the highlights later! Actually, I got that clip to play, whereas, the previous clip, kindly posted by Scotty didn't work for me... Got to concede the pitch looked lovely. I'm slowly coming round to the idea of artificial pitches. They're so much improved from the original versions of the late 80s. As for the game, wonderful win - two well taken goals, and another comeback win! Although, I can see a similarity in the Gazza goal, the way Chick Young was 'going on' you'd think it was a precise replica! I have to disagree with AlexJones on the penalty. I've played it back at frame-by-frame and Raven certainly takes the guys legs and doesn't make contact with the ball. His reaction was telling - instantly 'walking' - and he deserves credit for that. But I still think the sending-off and penalty is such a double-whammy. In my view, a professional foul outside the box should be a sending-off and free-kick. Bu, inside the area, then a booking and penalty-kick should suffice. It's not 'sour grapes', as I realise that Raven would still have been dismissed under the 'rules' I'm suggesting. But, well done ICT - a fabulous start to the year - 100% in 2015! Top-Six is virtually booked now. A gap is opening up between the leading five clubs and the rest. Despite a nauseating Dons love-in on Sportsound on Saturday afternoon, little do these pundits realise that if we secure a place in the top 5 this season, then only Celtic and ICT will have achieved that level of consistency over the past 3 seasons. Many assumed our bubble had burst - but it clearly hasn't - we were just having our usual xmas break! And to be fair, nobody at the club, or indeed on here were particularly hitting any panic buttons. 41 points is already more than 7th place at the end of last season!

Cheers Andrew. Yeah, Alex MacLeod mentioned it somewhere on the forum - Tansey's okay for Dundee United but will miss the St Johnstone game!

Highland League Martin Bavidge (Inverurie Loco Works 2-0 Clachnacuddin) Zander Sutherland (Cove 1-1 Brora)

Don't get meringue, he was a good player before injury struck!

The 'laughable' Alex Neil will be doing some laughing of his own after quadrupling his salary at Norwich! John Hughes has been in the Inverness job for little over a year, but is now 6th longest serving in the Premiership and 16th longest of the 42 managers in the SPFL!

Great link, Renegade - quotes and everything. Indeed, RiG was right - but those words in Rene's link from Raven are encouraging!

What does 'reportedly' mean? I assume Twitter?! Not a 'source'. However, RiG, doesn't post to sensationalise, so it has to have some credence. Worrying, if true.

Just realised that Tansey's booking takes him to 6 for the season - I assume a one-game suspension. But for what game? Probably not the Killie game, but more likely the following match?

Had a feeling he wouldn't get kept on - I only saw him for a grand total of about 5 minutes in two late sub appearances so can't judge him too much. But his lack of game time suggests he maybe wasn't quite up to standard. Still, nothing lost and the short-term deal was correct rather than a contract to the end of season. That now leaves us with a first team squad of 20 players - 11 of whom are signed up until, at least, the end of next season. Signed up until the end of season 2016-17: • Gary Warren • Richie Foran • Greg Tansey Signed up until the end of next season (2015-16): • John Hughes - Manager • Russell Latapy - Assistant Manager • Dean Brill • Aaron Doran • Danny Williams • Ryan Esson • Ryan Christie • Carl Tremarco • Ross Draper • James Vincent Signed up until the end of this season (2014-15): • Daniel Devine • Graeme Shinnie • Nick Ross • Marley Watkins • David Raven • Josh Meekings • Billy McKay • Liam Polworth • Lewis Horner • Jaime Wilson (Development Squad) • Kane Hull (Development Squad) • Jason Brown (Development Squad) • Struan McArthur (Development Squad) • Blair MacLennan (Development Squad) • Calum Howarth (Development Squad) • Chris Brown (Development Squad) • Ali Sutherland (Development Squad) • Stephen Rennie (Development Squad) • Cammy Mackay (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Chris Blackett (Development Squad) • Daniel Hoban (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Calum Ferguson (Development Squad) • Ryan Baptie (Development Squad)

I read as "there has not been as much interest in my player as I hoped so I'll make it look like there has". If there was genuinely a huge amount of interest, I think the agent would not be sating this. Agents are just leeches taking monet out of the game and putting nothing back in. You paint a good picture there regarding agents. It's all water lilies under a bridge as far as I'm concerned.

That's a very valid point - I've updated the spreadsheet to include the deducted points.

Was he really 'easily the smallest player ever on our books'? Even from the five players listed here, I'd have Zander as the smallest - but the memory can play tricks!

Interesting trivia question I got asked yesterday - and got wrong! Quite simply, Which 3 clubs have never been relegated from Scotland's top-flight? Aberdeen, Ross County and Celtic!

Queens Park tried a 'similar' initiative at the weekend to coincide with their return to Hampden after the long break due to the Commonwealth Games. Although, I don't think it was 'pay what you want', but rather much reduced admission prices. The expected 500 gate was dwarfed by the 2,000 who turned up! Anyway, as Kingsmills suggests, aiming for 6,000 would be great. Although, with minimal away support, mid-week, it may be on the ambitious side. Incidentally, do the away fans also get the 'pay what you want' option? As a yardstick, we've played St Johnstone midweek before...twice A Wednesday night game attracted 3,000 while a Friday fixture saw 3,700 attend. I can understand the Friday game having more, as some folk would be off-work the next day and included the game (with a few beers before) as the start of their weekend - possibly 'going out' after the match too. As a traditionalist, I prefer football to be on a Saturday at 3pm, but if it's to be either Fri/Sun I prefer the Friday option for the reason above - a bit of a buzz to start the weekend, as opposed to the rather 'flat' feeling of a 12.30 kick-off on a Sunday, knowing there's work tomorrow. Just my opinion as I like a drink before and after games. (and during, if that option ever becomes reality)!

Yeah, particularly as he's an Inverness lad - and similarly Polworth.

The top-flight, in its current format (12 teams) is now in its 15th season. Possibly enough to use average points as a guide to final finishing places? Not just for us obviously, but for any club. As these are averages, it could a guide to where a club is likely to finish if they maintain their current ratio. Yes, I admit it's a rough guide - and flawed by the split (shown by the best-of-the-rest 7th placed average tally being higher than the average for 6th) but it's an interesting table. Our 38 points from 20 games is a fantastic return of 1.9 points per game. Our best ever ratio of 1.53 would 'ordinarily' be sufficient for 4th place but 'only' secured 5th - and our worst (0.97 points) was worthy of 11th, rather than relegation. If we maintained our current 1.9 ratio - on average, we could expect to finish 3rd (72pts), although the vagaries of the league demonstrate that it could be good enough for runner-up, but also 4th! The shaded blue areas on the graph are what we've already surpassed in this campaign. Just a bit of fun - let's hope I'm not tempting fate!

Signed up until the end of season 2016-17: • Gary Warren • Richie Foran • Greg Tansey Signed up until the end of next season (2015-16): • John Hughes - Manager • Russell Latapy - Assistant Manager • Dean Brill • Aaron Doran • Danny Williams • Ryan Esson • Ryan Christie • Carl Tremarco • Ross Draper • James Vincent Signed up until the end of this season (2014-15): • Daniel Devine • Graeme Shinnie • Nick Ross • Marley Watkins • David Raven • Josh Meekings • Billy McKay • Liam Polworth • Lewis Horner • Jaime Wilson (Development Squad) • Kane Hull (Development Squad) • Jason Brown (Development Squad) • Struan McArthur (Development Squad) • Blair MacLennan (Development Squad) • Calum Howarth (Development Squad) • Chris Brown (Development Squad) • Ali Sutherland (Development Squad) • Stephen Rennie (Development Squad) • Cammy Mackay (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Chris Blackett (Development Squad) • Daniel Hoban (goalkeeper) (Development Squad) • Calum Ferguson (Development Squad) • Ryan Baptie (Development Squad) Signed up until January 2015 • Ibra Sekajja