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In some ways is this a potential reflection of how far Scottish football has fallen in reputation that a single sponsor can afford 3 SPFL teams especially when its not a major corporation.

Its good to see that the cup defence by the holders is ignored by TV for an all lower league tie.

Thats why I dont like the idea, while ICT may benefit from being favourites in a group, its just yet again a monopolisation for the biggest teams - kind of like the structure of the Champions League or Euro/WC qualifiers. If its regionalised and each group has 5 teams with one being a 'big' club it wont be long til the same matches are repeated regullarly due to the limited numbers of clubs to start with. If anything I would like to see an open draw for the groups regardless if we had to travel to Stranraer or Berwick or even got 4 SPFL clubs, then it has the potential to throw up a surprise and increase media and fan interest.

I'd like to see the club use the window to offload some of the under achievers if it will free up money for other players to come in, my opinion is we shouldnt waste money trying to extend Sho Silva as he's never been fit to play and if there was a way to remove other crocks or under achievers such as Wedderburn, Mutumbo, Vigurs, Lopez we should consider it and bring in players fit and ready to play, but not be looking to offer them new deals yet. Storey needs to stay but also disappointed we havent secured a few established players on deals yet before they can be approached - Vincent, Draper, Williams, Brill, Doran, Raven, Fon Williams - I'd like their new deals tied up before the window and a priority ahead of any of the above listed players.

Sounds like typical Scottish football trying to create an overly complex structure and model. The lower league teams already play regionalised in the Challenge cup, so think another regionalised format will be too boring for many. The groups need to be an open draw, where potentially you could get a group of all SPFL or anotehr or lower league - fans wont turn out if its a big boy plus 4 minnows. If they really want the League cup taken seriously it needs a Euro place for the winners and it doesnt indicate the games should be less spread out with the final completed before winter break which I think it needs to be.

^ Pointless playing that formation if its to give Storey support as we constantly see Polworth and Vincent fail to get forward into the box and tend to pass back or across, the only player other than Ryan (who is now gone) is Williams and we dont play overlapping wing backs. If Storey is to be supported then Williams has to be played further forward.

Fon Williams, Tansey, Storey, Ofere all been successful and signed by Hughes, Mutumbo, Roberts and Sho Silva they have been injured most of this season so its hard to form a fair judgement so they may yet come good afterall Vincent spent almost a year out when he joined and is now showing what he can do. Agreed there have been some players who have come in and been nothing more than squad and struggle to break into the starting team its not all been negative. Its always going to be hard to find players consistently of a constant calibre without spending money or being patient we see that with teams like Motherwell & D Utd. For me a disappointment is not being able to get a player like Nick Ross to stay others like Watkins, Shinnie, McKay we had no chance due to the offers on the table.

Stirling Albion/Cumbernauld Colts v Inverness CT That'll do, an away tie but winnable.

Great news for continuity, is this official then?

I wasnt aware we had tried before as part of the Ryan deal, maybe now Celtic may be keener to get rid especially if he is starting to disrupt the dressing room? Pay him to sit there or part pay him and have him out of the picture? Although I do agree its unlikely especially given the player doesnt seem keen on the local climate lol

I think we need Williams further up the pitch, he has the pace to support Storey and go past players, too often at LB he stops and then Vigurs never pushes far enough on. We no longer overlap from the wingbacks this season but I dont know why? Fon Williams Raven Meekings Warren Tremarco Draper Tansey Polworth Vincent Williams Storey

I thought overall we performed ok , Storey did a good job and we can see his pace being a tool for us to use but the support getting up with him is too slow. Vigurs and Polworth gave the ball away too often and were too many time caught in possession but considering the contribution their replacements made they were the better option. I will give Mutumbo and Silva the benefit of just being back from injuries but for 2 players we have seen little off this season they did nothing to impress. Celtic look a poor team and we should have taken more from them if it wasnt for bad defending. We need to start doing more in the final thrid and providing greater support to Storey. Looking around yesterday and all the mdeia focus, we could do worse than ask Celtic about Stokes on loan in Jan. We only have Storey and I doubt Ryan will be back heres a player who might grab at the chance to prove Ronnie wrong and win a move elsewhere next season - plus Yogi knows him and how to get the best out of him.

Draper being offered a 3 year deal, which is great news. Looking to keep the Warren, Meekings, Draper, Tansey unit together will be a fantastic achievement by the club and in my opinion the nucleus of the team that we can build everything and everyone else around. Perhaps a sign JH is about to sign for a similar timescale.

Fon Williams Raven Warren Meekings Tremarco Tansey Draper Sho silva/Mutumbo Vincent Williams Storey Put in Sho Sliva or Mutumbo into the midfield for a bit of pace if either are fit if not then Vigurs will need to start. If Warren isnt fit enough to start then we play Devine. celtic will play a 2nd string as there will ne huge pressure to win at least one Eruopa league game, but they have a weak defence and a poorer team than last season. Its a game we should go out to try win, being a home game and us still being up and down with consistency then a win could be the confidence booster for a good wee run heading into the festive period.

Might not be a problem as Storey as yet isnt commited to being here beyond Jan, so if Dani does get a reprive and stays then he may get plenty opportunities to repay that faith and make ammends for the mistake.

Positive news and maintains continuity at the club where he can continue his plan for building and movng forwards, wont be long until he is one of the longest serving managers in the league such is the nature of football, not often managers get 2 seasons far less 2 contracts lol. Although I'm sure there will still be a number on here finding negatives in JH staying, or the board conduct with contracts, or Yogis accent or whatever they can criticise.

Realistically I doubt it will happen this time as said it really only benefits Celtic and the brand appealing to the Irish populus overseas, but this is a concept the EPL have totued for years - games in USA, Asia, Australia etc, anyone remember the concept of game 39 a few years back. It never happened then, but with the influence of money in the game and desire for mass appeal and marketing its only a matter of time before the might of teams like Chelsea, Man U, Man C, Liverpool etc get their way probably at a similar time to Real Madrid, barcelona, Bayern etc - UEFA will bow down and allow Eurpoean football to go global. Either that or the Champions League circus/Atlantic league or some other concept that the top dogs can get a slice of the cash from will surface. Will this benefit Scottish clubs other than the OF as usual, its unlikely. Teams like ours and the rest who have no political pool will only appeal to a minority of local expats and would ultimately cost more to the clubs than the effort is worth. Sadly as much as trying to make ICT a global brand would be amazing and help the finances, we cant even make it a dominant brand in our own town which is where we need to focus.

Can we not buy tickets at the gate?

Being honest this is probably a convinient error by a player which will be used as a reason to rectify an error by the management and club signing and paying for a player who isnt up to standard and is appearing an expensive mistake. Whether we agree its morally or ethically correct to keep or get rid, football is business and perhaps the club look at it as a way to cut their losses and move on. Would this have happened if it was a star player like Christie, Warrent etc - probably not as they have market and club value, but sadly thats the unfair way business and life is.

Possibly a fortunate move for the club where a player who has looked very poor could end up with a terminated contract without any payoff if in breach of clubs code of conduct etc. The club will have to investigate properly but if guilty then he could be gone in time to free up salary for new blood in January?

In some ways I slightly get agents for players as they are commodities bought and sold, plus they are young so could be exploited due to naivety, however are they needed for a manager? If regular man can negotiate their pay rises and employment then surely football managers can too. Yogi must know what he wants paid, who he wants in his backroom team - from a club stance its can we afford it, all an agent does is take commission and make everyone believe he is acting on the best interest of his client.

Good 3 points taken from a difficult place to go and a team with a new manager. Leaves us now just on ther verge of top 6 and 1 behind our high flying neighbours that seem to be getting plenty media credit. All this still with an understrength team, so the signs are good. Hopefully the break will allow for some players to recover if not the next few matches could be a backs to the wall struggle.

We finished 3rd last season, won a cup and they played together almost every game then, so I think the answer is yes. While they may have a dip in form where Draper hasnt had the best of starts this season and Tansey is now starting to play well, the fact we have a new keeper and unsettled defence with our captain and leader missing, couple that with the misfiring options ahead of them in the midfield and upfront its not condusive to letting them settle into their normal games as they are trying to create and also defend covering the whole pitch end to end.

Good news and probably the reason we got him, he gets game time and starts when fit and we get a player on a wage that is probably lower than his previous clubs to allow him to keep his place in the national squad, which he has and deserves based on performances with us, although is his contract not up at the end of this season? Will that affect any windfall as his parent club, especially if he signs pre-contract?

Sorry, I disagree, football is not a normal business its entertainment and in this line of work fans pay the money, therefore pay or heavily contribute to the wages and in doing that we are entitled to know what we are paying to see on a Saturday. If the club dont want to divulge then thats fine, but they cant expect fans to keep paying to see an understrength team and poorer quality fare becuase we have no idea if or when we may see our top talent again. Nobody is expecting fully detailed personal information of each injury or personal absence but to know if a player is injured for 1 or 2 weeks, or 6 to 8 months is as a curtosy. If these guys want full privacy then they shouldnt have a public job in the media and entertainment industry - the club cant ask us to pay our money yet not be transparent as to what we will see. if I go to the cinema I at least know the actors in the film, whether good or bad after that is irrelevent I attend because X or Y should or has the capability to be good and football is no different.