bdu98196

Which for me falls firmly at the footsteps of both the club (board) and its inability to engage with local community. Most or almost every club has some kind of presence in their town centre, but we fail to capitalise on this. Its been said before there are basic steps being missed Ticket kiosk or pop up shop in town (utilising the empty retail units or areas such as Falcon square - especially on match days) Without wanting the town to look tacky with posters and banners, simple lampost style flags with the club logo/branding in a few places - show a presence A good social media presence both standalone but also tied in with the local community, such as community groups, local press, even the tourist board & council Most important make matchday an experience worth talking about!!!! For example - Getting over these sole sourced catering contracts (lets not even open that can of worms ) to open up outside the stadium with local food stalls, some music or entertainment and even local beers etc. Longterm traders pay a fee or % to have a pitch which will hopefully make money but also fans want to turn up a bit earlier and enjoy being around the ground - The internal catering may suffer a little but overall during the game fans will still have no choice but to buy from there. The summer has now passed and we are heading towards the time of year that its cold, wet, catering is bang average (at best) and fans feel the club don't care. The fan numbers will probably stagnate or drop further regardless of on-field performances (unfortunately) excluding the occasional 'big' game. There really are more negatives reasons its hard to counter argue as to why the 'fair weather' fan wont come leaving just 'die hards'. Its a sad state of affairs but businesses need to learn from mistakes to grow, adapt and survive yet for years the same issues have been cited with minimal changes or improvements.

The issues of footfall have been discussed to death elsewhere on here (some really good threads and posts worth searching for), but the reality is that even as you suggest the club get established and challenge for Top 6 every season there wont be a significant numbers increase (remember when we were in the Premiership) - the big issue is the lack of connection between the fans, club & city and the inability of the club to effectively take advantage of success and positives to use as a marketing tool to draw 'new' or 'lapsed' blood into the stands.

Lets hop for some positive outcomes from this meeting which gives some answers and avoids - another badly constructed thread on here from a 'board member' begging for money as part of a fans scheme without having any structure or competence to answer basic fans questions - that was frankly embarrassing for all parties - lengthy fan debate whether complementary tea/coffee or cola is a good use of club funds - explanations whether opportunities tendered such as the catering (or any other club service) gave peak return or whether due to nepitism the club got screwed to help a fellow board member or associate (at that time) potentially benefit That's some of the 'peak' banter I recall from the last financial discussions the club engaged with fans

While there were cuts, its not surprising that debts are not improving - afterall we have more experienced players than I expected this year (I had expected a lot of the youngsters in the squad and a more ruthless cull or seniors & experience) coupe that with the footfall isn't increasing, don't need to be a maths genius too see numbers don't align.

With the Dundee clubs out we are probably favourites so let's hope the club use that as motivation for the players and we handle the 'pressure' associated

Lets see what happens this wknd and if there is a repeat, although I doubt many Morton fans will take the long trip up. Last think we want is it all kicking off and main standers having to get out the knitting needles and socks stuffed with Werthers to wade in and defend themseleves!!!!

Don't see why it wouldn't be unexpected for there to be pavements on the underpass section of the roundabout, however that will all depend on whether there is a plan for traffic lights or not, otherwise as said the cycle path would likely divert to the steps and ultimately the road under the bridge. I'm assuming there will be a public council consultation session on this matter in due course? Looking at the roads & distances, its likely that the new routing by the time you were to walk under and round will be not that different to walking down and under the bridge. Much like now, if the council were to be questioned on the matter they would say that crossing the carrigeway is not condoned and that there is an alternative (safe) route in place which many choose not to use.

The Challenge Cup has a place but its also a failed opportunity for a lower league competition to be done better. Generally clubs within this comp are out of the LC & SC early doors so its great it provides a platform for those clubs and fans to maybe win a trophy, something they would otherwise miss out on. Where it could be better utilised is by having group stages similar to LC - afterall we are in mid Aug, all but 1 team outwith the Premiership are out of the LC , which is common most seasons. Therefore have the CC with some additions from HL & LL plus the colts but excluding the teams from elsewhere with groups and keep it regional and give the fans some games on midweeks and LC wknds for the next month or so while we still have good weather. This gives the opportunity for more game time, teams to gel and also a bit of squad rotation which can only aid youth development.

I'm not sure what message you are trying to make? Is it that you think that the away day pricing is unfair that its not consistent across all clubs - in which case perhaps, but much in the same way as home pricing clubs can do this based on supply & demand to maximise their return regarding bums on seats - I'm pretty sure that for every division there is a SPFL price capping limit / structure for away tickets? if you think overall football is too expensive, then substitute football for other live entertainment means such as the theatre, music events and then visit those every 2 wks and you will see that on balance football is probably competitively priced or in some cases underpriced - what occurs is that (without wanting to delve into a class system) - football is deemed a working mans game historically therefore people still expect it should be priced cheaply whereas the other options mentioned nobody cares about as are often seen as irregular of 'treats'. Reality is those days are long gone and football is an entertainment industry and has to be priced to reflect this - lesser prices, means lower income therefore poorer players and quality. The higher up the divisions you go the more football costs to watch, unfortunately if you want to persist with following your club then its something that has to be accepted and as an individual work within your means, whether that's attending less games that you'd like, only doing home games or walking away as a fan to go watch lower division/less expensive football such as HL if you need a Sat live event fix.

Sorry Alan, disagree with you there. While I'm not against offenders getting a second chance - footballers even at this level, like it or not are role models for kids and as such need to behave in a manner fitting with the responsibilities. I think personally that the club has a duty to protect itself and supporters from those who have committed serious crimes which IMO should be those exhibiting violence, or be of a religious or sexual nature. Had he been charged with a low severity motoring conviction or stealing some Werthers then perhaps it would be a different situation. I'd like to think our club & board for all their faults have an ethical and moral code which would dictate that and not just look at the opportunity to financially exploit the individual or an already unsavory situation for greater success and possible gain (even though I get where you see it as a business sense perspective).

Same old. Only youth we've ever really persisted with game time or invested to develop into seniors already had footballing names to proceed any talent.

Hardly unexpected, season on season we are slowing reducing the creativity in the team due to loosing our best players. Given the budget cuts that align with that it will never be like for like and a steady reduction until we either plateau at a level or we find a bargain gem to turn it all round - peaks & troughs. The most hope we can have is that as the weeks progress the team will start to gel and new players understand their role and team-mates - bringing better unity and the confidence to express themselves to create based on the strengths of those around them. Least this being early on there is plenty time for recovery but also gives the wake up call to the club and fans that we are not going to be title contenders without a huge amount of work and fortune. Its clear that the level needs to improve and now everyone knows it.

Dundee Utd Dundee Morton PT ICT Dunf Qos Alloa Ayr Arbroath Dundee teams fighting for top spot Morton the surprise package with DH in charge ICT & PT fighting for the final play-off spot Ayr to collapse and QoS likewise if Dobbie is injured - either of those could end up in the playoff spot along with Alloa Arbroath to push hard, but just fall short into the automatic drop

If that's the case then its just a dodgy go by IMO - although if you are released from an employer I'm not sure how you can still accept payment from that source without technically still being in some form of employee or at least have a legal affiliation. If we found The Rangers or Celtic had used a similar tactic to let youngsters play for a club there would be outcry that the bigger clubs are just finding ways around the rules against colts joining the league set up. I'm not against what ICT are trying to do and I see the positives in the younger players getting game time, however it may open a door and start a precedent which other clubs may follow at which point those in glass houses and all that!!!

Obviously the suggestion of a colt team was rejected and clearly there cant be rules stating how many loan players can be at a HL club or indeed from a single club but its clear ICT are using the FW desire to improve as a vehicle for essentially a colt team. While within the rules it does create a precedent and will we now see other clubs locally or wider Scotland looking at the HL as a opportunity to flood with youngsters to the detriment of these clubs own player development. We all know theres no limit as to how many players clubs can loan out but there needs to be controls as to how many any club can take onboard regardless of league.

Some of the comments here are mental. The league has yet to start so using form and capability on some half hearted pre-season games is foolish and reality is the league cup equally offers limited insight as teams take time to gel and not all clubs are equally serious about progressing rather than just more warm up game time. Anyone can see that DUtd have recruited well and added real quality with proven backgrounds, Dundee too have experience and a team with strong top flight experience. It's clear they are the 2 favourites which although may not come to much any suggestion that either club, squad or manager is weak would be foolish as both have the financial backing to still strengthen both this summer and in Jan. Ict have to go into this thinking there is a chance based on previous campaigns but we need to gel quickly and work out the best way to play moving on from Polly going. We can't afford the number of draws in previous years and need to hit the ground running rather than chasing if not realistically it'll be play-offs again.

This is fishing even Dougal would be proud of ?

Explain? In which way has OFW shown a lack of respect to the club, broken the clubs trust and failed in his loyalty? I would suggest that if anything its some fans and the club itself that has betrayed these. For a club which is poor at communication, its certainly done well to spin senior players as greedy and problematic in contributing to the clubs financial plight. I wonder if Draper, Raven & Warren hadn't accepted being forced out and walked elsewhere whether the same treatment would have eventually bestowed them?

Fully agree, heavily slated on here which is unfair. A victim of his own success getting a bumper contract from a generous board as reward for making it into the Wales squad at the Euro's (that's no feat to be dismissed), only to be dumped from the squad and sidelined due to the terms of that contract. Being portrayed by the very people that gave him that contract as being greedy and somehow a contributor to the financial predicament of the club is a sentiment far too many fans have lapped up. Hopefully he gets a chance at Hamilton and gets back to knocking on the door for his national team - clearly Rice saw enough in him to think he's a worthwhile option and I'm sure he is more heavily qualified in the subject than many of the Championship Manager experts on here.

Conspiracy theories. Jesus. Its like message boards for west coast clubs on here these days. Decisions go both ways but most folks only remember the poor ones. Simply this year had we played better in some games and had less draws or better concentration in latter stages of the games we wouldn't have been in the play-offs. There may be the odd contentious decision but over the course of 42 games we failed to be good enough to gain promotion to the Premiership.

Theres a new seer in the house ?

Tony Andreu - a player who has in the past shown he can score goals but seems to have jobbed about and stumbled the last few years. The sort of guy and career we have history of rebuilding. I recall when we signed Anier and I at the time thought we should have been after Andreu.

His role and capability was to play in goal on a football park, if the management didnt offer that opportunity there really is not much he can give back - and contractually certainly not his salary. So long as he turned up to train and did as asked then he fulfilled his obligations. But I agree its best for both parties he moves on and gets back playing as this last 18 months have just stalled his career.

The amount of negativity on this board towards OFW is unnecessary. The guy has done nothing wrong other than honour the contractual terms he was given and mutually agreed with the board at the time.

Chance of Premiership football and more money without having to uproot his family for another few years - no brainer really. Did a decent job but by no means a stand out - we may yet see RC having a clear out and see who may be available to take this way. Its a chance to free up some cash for us and freshen things up with a few new faces into the existing nucleus which is no bad thing, so long as its not Vincent or Woods FFS.