Charles Bannerman

Thanks to Fraz and Yngwie for the much needed reality check!

16 minutes ago, bughtmaster said:

Perhaps then C B we could do with having some good reporters up here that will assist the cause of our Club.        

It is not the function of a reporter to "assist the cause" of a club. It is the function of a reporter to report events, be they positive or negative. What you are describing is more like a PR operative.

10 minutes ago, bughtmaster said:

What you say has some truth in it but you seem to be missing the point I am trying to make here. It is up to the Club to do the work and make the news interesting enough to get the media more  onside whilst at the same time as giving the Fans the feel good factor from seeing that the are supporting a newsworthy and appreciative organisation.

No, I'm not missing your point BM - merely testing the temperature of the water with a bit of Devil's Advocacy. I actually spent years unsuccessfully cajoling Kenny Cameron about the need to adopt a higher media profile and I have to say that the poor public perception of the club when last summer became unhelpfully obvious as a result of the long term absence of same.

To summarise my real position a bit more clearly I would, however, suggest that if Caley Thistle and Ross County are going to receive such a significant media presence, then it does become that much more difficult to justify much additional coverage for what are generally much lower levels of football, right down to the kick and rush of Walfare/Amateur. It also follows that there isn't all that strong a case of coverage for coverage's sake - such as in the Nationals where, if they can't find Old Firm stories, it's said they just make them up.

2 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

Whether ICT's crowds are falling is neither here nor there.  The crowds watching ICT are still significantly higher than those watching any other sport and there is a correspondingly greater number who don't regularly attend but have an interest in reading about the team.  Of course, when athletes in other sports have success at a high level then it is good to read about it, but what these athletes get up to when not in these major competitions is of little interest to all but a pretty small number of folk.  Using your argument in another context, you might argue that the film review section  should use more space reviewing some foreign "art" movie with a single showing at Eden Court and which just happens to have won a prize at the Cannes film festival, than the latest Bond movie with multiple screen showings at Vue.  

As for County.  If anyone wants to read about them they can buy the "Ross-shire" (or Caravanning Monthly).

Using the numbers argument also, of course, concedes that Football would need to give up much of its space to Bowls and Angling. What this discussion does raise, though, is whether the club - which, unlike a newspaper which has an obligation to all, only has an obligation to those who are interested in it - should be doing more either to create its own coverage or to direct the attention of its supporters to whatever already exists.

As for County, I'm not sure it's possible to be quite as sanguine about them as that given that they are a higher league club based just 15 miles from Inverness and with a large number of supporters in the city.

Just now, DoofersDad said:

But not ones which regularly attract crowds of 2,000 +.  I'm with Bughtmaster on this one.

That was the response I expected, so let me indulge in a little more Devil's Advocacy by first pointing out that crowd levels are just one of the things that are well documented as being in freefall here so it's interesting to see the Achilles heel actually used as a defence. The crowd issue at the Caledonian Stadium has been one of decline which in turn has been one of the main causes of recent financial difficulties. Then there's the unfortunate issue of relegation to the second tier while another club in the immediate vicinity, which has large numbers of its supporters based in Inverness, remains in the Premiership.

There therefore also emerges the case, given their league status and support levels in this city, for an increase in coverage of Ross County, alongside the performers who are operating at World, Commonwealth and European levels in other sports which are rapidly improving.

Before I stop holding the Bunsen burner to the lump of sulphur, I'll also suggest that maybe it's something of a Scottish thing where the lion's share of media coverage goes and is expected to go to a sport which we are not actually very good at. 

50 minutes ago, Row S said:

The Courier spends more time claiming to be the saviour of the city centre and unfairly shaming property owners, so not enough time for covering football matters.

There are other sports to cover in the area - with performers operating at a higher level than in football into the bargain. 

2 hours ago, CaleyD said:

Scandalous really, if there's nothing for them to report on with ICTFC they should just leave the pages blank!!

Or, in the best traditions of Noel Edmonds' Crinkley Bottom Gazette, a back page banner headline reading: STILL NOTHING MUCH HAPPENING AT THE CALEDONIAN STADIUM.

1 hour ago, CaleyD said:

The club haven't held any press since 1st February...that I'm aware of.

That's my recollection as well, Don. There was no match to preview or report on the weekend just past and none to report on the weekend before that. Presumably the space has been used for things that have been taking place.

What a wonderful example of using the exception to attempt to deny the otherwise overwhelmingly obvious. And then there's the complete red herring of quoting crowd size to make a point about on-field performance. In any case, having attended both the Clyde and St Johnstone home games in that cup run along with with several others at that time, the only "sell out" I ever saw was St Johnstone. It's amazing how more rose-coloured the Howden End has become over the intervening years and I am, of course, certain that the entire alleged 4000 Perth Travel Club were also regular Telford Street attenders, but every single one of them has since steadfastly refused to darken the turnstiles of the Caledonian Stadium.

It's been out of print for more than 15 years, so nothing to plug? It went free online here in 2011.

29 minutes ago, Caley Stan said:

Charles, you're probably right on all of those points. I was pretty young at the time so can't put that side into historical context (i only saw Caley win the two trophies you mention), but I just felt that there were a lot of very good players in that squad (if not the best squad in the league then surely the largest budget?) and Sergei failed to turn them into a decent team. The atmosphere around the club obviously didn't help. 

Stan - your observations were probably pretty spot on but that Caley side's quest for trophies was frustrated by Ross County under Bobby Wilson who then launched them very successfully into the SFL and by Elgin and Huntly under Steve Paterson of whom no more needs said on here. That all these sides were so good at that time 1988-94 probably also contributed to the SFL election of CT and County in 1994. 

If you take a look at the Prequel chapter and Chapter 1 of Against All Odds in the revised online edition on this site, you'll find the background in more detail.

10 hours ago, Caley Stan said:

On Sergei, worth remembering that he had a full season with Caley in the Highland League prior to the merger and failed to win it with what was, by some distance, the best squad in the league.

Was it really? I would argue that Caley had been in decline since about 1988 when they won their final HL title at the last gasp. All they produced after that was the Qualifying Cup in 1991 and the North Cup under Baltacha in their final weeks in 1994. Meanwhile, Elgin City and Huntly under Pele and Ross County under Bobby Wilson played more dominant roles.

In fact, I would also suggest that Caley's decline and lack of success in these years was a significant factor in the club agreeing to merge with Thistle (which had also been in decline over the same period.) Had Caley continued to pile in the honours after 1988, I think there would have been a stronger desire in 1993 to go it alone.

7 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

RANK means "Disgusting, gross" So now you know - RANK means "Disgusting, gross" - don't thank us. YW! What does RANK mean? RANK is an acronym, abbreviation or slang word that is explained above where the RANK definition is given. So it can only be Terry Butcher.

I suppose it all depends on whether you are using the word as an adjective or as the imperative of the verb.

10 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

 standing under the elm trees at Telford street 

Lucky you didn't catch Dutch Elm Disease!!!

1 hour ago, old caley girl said:

Sorry Rene I agree with Kingsmills here re Baltatcha. Richie Foran worst for me with Brewster in his second spell not far behind 

I'm also with OCG and Kingsmills, although I also agree that neither was much good (Sergei and Richie I mean.... not OCG and Kingsmills ). There are a number of factors in mitigation for Baltacha, not the least that he had to take a new club in its very first season into the national leagues with an entirely part time squad, mainly from the Highland League. It has been correctly said that, even though he had had a season with Caley, bottom tier SFL football was pretty well foreign to Sergei, but this was also new to the club environment he was working in as well. Add to that a complete lack of money and all the hassle that was going on in and around the club, and you have a pretty challenging managerial situation so a mid-table finish maybe wasn't all that bad. Remember also that by the time the Pele transformation kicked in, about 3 months into his debut season, apart from Pele's huge personal qualities, most of the internal hassle had been resolved and he had had around £100K to spend on Stewart, MacArthur, Teasdale, Thomson and Ross.

As for Foran, OK he was faced with the Premiership not Division 3 but he inherited the guts of a squad which had won the Scottish Cup just over a year before he took over and which, by historic ICT standards, was having money simply thrown at it. What RF inherited was also an established Premiership scenario whereas SB's team had just been put together (OK, with ex-Caley players, albeit not from an outstandingly good side by Caley standards, as a backbone) and were starting from scratch.

This is a little bit like comparing apples and oranges, but I think the balance of the evidence finds in Sergei's favour.

As for Brewster 2, I have never quite got my head round that. CB did fine first time round here, but when he came back from Dundee United, his own playing contribution notwithstanding, he just wasn't the same manager.  Did something happen at Tannadice when he was there? Well we know it did, in the form of a player revolt, but I have always been of the view that Tannadice is a very strange place indeed and a managerial graveyard, or rather scaffold, and I believe that the longstanding difficulty there originates from boardroom level.

4 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

An 'anniversary game of our first ever game' would be a friendly against St Mirren. Perhaps, to add authenticity, we could stage it in the car park of the Telford Retail Park.

You would need to bring in portaloos. Could even paint them black and red 

35 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

Edit - I started to suspect it was Cove rather than Fort - it was actually Cove after a replay, 2-2 followed by 1-1.

That would have been back in the days when Cove were indeed pretty duff..... before somebody started throwing silly money at them.

Tonight, 31st January, is also the first anniversary of one of the worst outcomes in Caley Thistle's history - the notorious 3-0 defeat at Hamilton which, apart from being a rotten result, also set something of a "tone" for some time to come.

Interestingly enough, on 31st January 2017 and 2018 respectively, Caley Thistle by 3 points and Ross County by 6 were both bottom of the Premiership, both having amassed 17 points. However a year ago, ICT had 15 games left to try to save themselves, while as of tonight, Ross County have only 13. This means that County now are in a numerically poorer situation - three points further adrift and with two fewer games left - than Inverness were one year ago.

On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 7:49 PM, Adamskibeats said:

It stands for the percentage of that teams games that go over 2.5 goals.

Thanks ASB. I'm now off to ponder the concept of half a goal 

2 hours ago, buckett said:

Pretty sure it was Caley they put out though, in Inverness. 

That may very well be right. All that I remember from Fort's earliest days is a 1-0 home win over I think Clach in their very first Highland League game in August 1985 and a similar scoreline over Thistle, or maybe Clach again? in the Qualifying Cup. There could have been something against Caley as well.

5 hours ago, buckett said:

Fort William also has a thriving Rugby Club which no doubt competes with the Football Club ("Soccer" is not in my vocabulary!) for accounts for potential players.

Fort William FC's moment of glory was when as a non-league team, shortly before they entered the Highland League, they were drawn against Caley in a cup competition (North of Scotland Cup? Scottish Cup?)

They humped us at Telford Street, putting us out of the competition. I think the score was something like 1-4.

Can anyone verify that with something more reliable than my ageing memory?

I seem to remember Fort putting Thistle (or was it Clach?) out of the Q-cup back in the 80s, but that's as far as I can go. Lochaber Rugby Club have actually been in decline in recent years and now play down in West Division 3. On the other hand, this is very much shinty country, with hill running and mountain sports also big counter-attractions.

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 6:59 PM, Northern_jaggie said:

Make no mistake, we are one of the form teams in this league right now.

Could someone please explain the significance of the percentages and if necessary their red and blue colours in the right and column. I do realise that they represent the fractions 1/3, 2/3 and 1/6 and are hence probably related to the six games played, but they don't seem to correlate with anything obvious and I'm not sure either what the "2.5+" heading means.

2 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

Its an indication of how poor the Championship sides are this season in terms of quality. Previously we have seen Hearts, Sevco & Hibs storm the league. 

I would maybe look on it differently and suggest that what we are seeing now is more representative of what should normally be expected just outside Scotland's top league of twelve. I don't think it's valid to make a comparison in terms of Hearts, Hibs and Rangers. They are fundamentally big clubs by Scottish standards which got themselves into trouble through their own mismanagement, although in Hibs' case compared with the other two, it's less easy to see specifically how that happened. Had these three not shot themselves in the foot, they would never have been in the Championship in the first place.

So which of the four possible permutations for next season do Inverness fans think is the most likely?

Both Highland sides in the Premiership.

Both in the Championship.

ICT in the Premiership and County in the Championship?

County in the Premiership and ICT in the Championship.

29 minutes ago, IBM said:

Feed the meter Charles  I thought there was a maximum 3 hour stay, I would not risk feeding the meter myself and would never be in town that long 

Yes, there is a maximum three hour stay, but you can get that without either having to pay £4 without getting it back or spend £50 in the shop - if you are in a position to put in 3 separate £1 coins at hourly intervals and redeem each with a token purchase in the shop. The camera clocks you coming in and out and is set to 3 hours while the "wee man" who has been restored to patrolling duties and isn't even there all the time, is only looking for vehicles with invalid tickets. In any case I don't see anything in the car park rules to stop that since the customer's patter of shop usage must be their own decision.

I never have need for the full three hours but, quite regularly, I go into the café for breakfast and to read the paper and redeem my first ticket against that, stick a second ticket on whilst on my way out so I can go down town and then redeem that one against a sandwich for my lunch on the way back.