dougal

I've heard they've got a good striker by the name of barrowman....

On a serious note though, we missed out on signing Alex Keddie. He's held in high regard by quite a few county fans I know. It's a sad state of affairs really when our feeder club over the bridge have such slim pickings for the NBT.

The same Alex Keddie who can't even break into the first team at Dunfermline

Got to admit i'm pleasantly surprised regarding the amount of women that attend the Caledonian stadium, i sit in the main stand normally and around about me there are usually quite a few, one or two are even quite pleasing on the eye

Before the snipers start firing i'm by no way saying this is a bad thing because i think it important the club welcomes everyone through the turnstyles despite the odd cringeworthy shout

Having said all that my partner hates football and the only time she's being in the stadium was for Elton John & Rod Stewart

You have to ask though do the majority really understand the game and its rules

Have ICT always had a large following of the female persuasion?

Dougal

Whats the point? none of these players are better than we have imo, Gardyne better Jonny? Brittain better than Russell? Vigurs any better than Eric??? leave it out mate.

Leave what out mate???

Where did I say any of them are better than what's there at the moment??

I'm talking about strengthening the squad as we strive towards a sixth place

All three would be welcome additions only a walloper would think otherwise

Can't help but thinking we can use the situation Dross County find themselves in to our advantage

With no manager there players will be at best restless and it's the ideal opportunity to send out our intent even if it's to unsettle them even more

I would like to see us approach Gardyne,Brittain and Vigurs(he shouldn't have been allowed to leave in the first place)

I feel if we don't get in there now we could lose these guys to Hibs

Thoughts?

Dougal

OK I'll start.

Mr B's book is actually excellent and you could ask the mearlach in Church St (aka Leakey's Bookshop) to look for a copy second hand. Sure he's an odd fellow but he's not trying to get rich, he's actually trying to educate you. That's what he does.

Ian Broadfoot wrote 'Going Ballistic' to celebrate our first 10 years and promotion to the SPL in 2004. Probably sold out but maybe somebody at the club could help you out.

Recent DVD called "A night to remember' shouldn't be too hard to find. Think there were 500 made (CaleyD will tell you).

Caledonian FC fanzine as mentioned on these boards a couple of weeks ago. See my homepage.

Thistle fanzine, probably quite hard to find and only ran to about 4 issues IIRC. Excellent though.

Thanks for this info it is much appreciated

By the way i only discovered your site lately and i've really enjoyed reading it and seeing all the old photos etc

Dougal

BACK ON TOPIC..........Not only would any potential shop probably have low sales volumes....ICT doesnt actually have enough different merchandise to warrant an actual shop (to my knowledge)

Thanks for a sensible answer Smee

Hence why i started the other thread regarding merchandise, it seems the club are sadly lacking in this department

Would be good. But ain't going to happen mate

Just sit back and wait for everyone to tell you this has been talked to death and you sould check past topics

Its ok i'm pretty thick skinned i'm used to getting abuse already by the clique

Can you provide a link to previous thread Doresboy?

Thanks

Dougal

The park is always in excellent condition.

Well deserved award.

Congratulations Tommy

I agree i don't think i can remember ever seeing the playing surface in a poor condition

In fact it must be one of the best in the SPL

How long has Tommy been the groundsman?

Dougal

Ok...i been doing some pondering....and got to thinking...we often talk about the amount of fans that leave locally to go and support mostly the Old Firm. But, if they werent about, do you honestly think it would make that much difference to our attendances? If so...how many peeps do you think they rob off us on a weekly basis? Im not so convinced it would make that big a difference

I reckon 300-500 football fans leave Inverness every weekend to watch mainly the old firm and aberdeen but there are more teams as well

Unfortunately in my opinion these fans seem to be very anti-ICT for one reason or the other so there is little chance of tempting them to attend the Caledonian stadium unless their team is playing

What really annoys me is the amount of Ross County fans that seem to be in our city, i haven't got a link but i'm sure there is an official Inverness Supporters club website

Have Ross County always had a sizeable support from Inverness or is this just a new phenomena?

Dougal

Simple Question this one

What merchandise is available and where can i purchase these items?

Is it just me or are such items like gold dust?

Grateful if anyone could list what is available and where it can be purchased

I know that odd fellow that posts here has a book as he trys to advertise it in almost every post he makes but strangely it doesn't seem to be in print anymore Take it there wasn't a big print run?

Do Caledonian and Thistle have books or were there no such thing in them days?

Any info much appreciated

Dougal

I find it unbelievable that we dont' have an ICT shop in the city centre!!

Think of the extra income this would generate to the club

Yes i know there is that decrepit portacabin outside the main stand but it hardly entices punters to enter, other than match days its unlikely they see a soul for the other six days off the week

Both the old firm are giving it a big GIRUY to us by selling their merchandise in our city while we sit back and do nothing

I'm not talking about opening a superstore or anything but a small outlet maybe similar to the size of the Celtic shop

Thoughts?

Dougal

Ok i seem to have further damaged my reputation by this topic:annoyed:

Sorry to dissapoint the ones that have replied on this thread but i most definitely do not have a hidden agenda and i'm not on any fishing trip

Being an outsider i maybe dont have the same local knowledge as most on here

I have no idea who this B Hornell is but it most definitely is not me

I'll admit to maybe have been under the influence of alcohol last night but i'm genuinely interested in all things ICT and the football academy

I dont see either of my polls as failures ,they were valid questions that i never saw asked anywhere else on this site thats all

I'll think or do some research first before i post anything in the future

Sorry

Dougal

Ok whose crazy idea was it to locate the Highland Football Academy in a tiny Ross-shire village?

Theres only one place it should be and thats in the capital of the highlands Inverness

I say we now cut ties with our near neighbours and start raising the doh for our own academy in the city

ICT being the front runners sit round the table with Clach,Inverness City,Inverness Welfare Football Association,Inverness Shinty Club,Highland Rugby Club and the Highland Council too draw up a business plan to submit to the Scottish Government for help with the funding

What we create is a sporting complex which will be the pride of the highlands and be the envy off all clubs throughout Scotland

We sell Grant St Park to a developer and we construct a fully enclosed football ground made off 3G astroturf at the bught and this will be homes too and shared by Clach and Inverness City but will also be available to ICT for training and for hire by the Inverness public

We build an indoor arena that can be used by all the mentioned clubs which will be ideal especially in the winter months

Level off/upgrade i.e new drainage etc all the remaining pitches at the bught

No longer will ICT have long journeys too and from Fort George on inadequate training facilities

I realise this kind of a plan doesnt happen overnight but if carefully adhered too we could have this up and running within five years

Thoughts?

Dougal

and no i'm not the person who you obviously think i am:tuttut:

Dougal

Do you wear an apron at work?

Eh?

Pieman, obviously not.

If thats a deliberate dig about my weight i reckon thats bang out of order to be honest

and no i'm not the person who you obviously think i am:tuttut:

Dougal

Do you wear an apron at work?

Eh?

OK Dougal... your campaign to change the name hasn't been too successful with over 90% voting for the status quo, so it now seems that you now want to relocate instead.

So, given that an extensive study was made of this by Bruce Hare in 1993 and the realistic options in and around Inverness were very limited indeed, where would you be planning to go?

I note that you include the Bught, or another City Centre localtion among your suggestions in your poll, whilst almost in the same breath bemoaning traffic congestion at East Longman. Strewth!

In the absence of a bypass which remains as remote a prospect as ever, how on earth do you propose to get even a bottom of the range crowd of 3500 from the Bught along Glenurquhart Road and many of them then over the Ness Bridge at 5 o'clock on a Saturday? Then think "Old Firm" and double that up to 7000.

But, since you've raised the issue, how about also giving us an overview of how the ICT Trust would fund this, unless you reckon it can be done solely by selling on the remaining 83 years of the East Longman lease?

Finally, could I unobtrusively ask if you have read "Against All Odds"? In particular the chapter entitled "Finding A Home" discusses stadium location issues in some depth and the book hopefully also sheds some light on why, for instance, the stadium design and club name are as they are.

Ive been to grounds in city centres throughout the Uk and Europe many in very built up areas where the crowds are on a lot larger scale than ICT

I personally would like to see a 10k stadium at the Bught similar to St Johnstones but with all four corners filled in

The poster who mentioned the crowd at bonfire night is 100% correct as there are bigger crowds then, than they ever will be at any football matches

A move to the bught would attract at least 500-1000 more than we get at present

Finally i havent read "Against All odds" i find it highly amusing that nearly every post you make you seem to make a reference to it:laugh:

Don't think i'll be rushing out to buy one somehow even if they are still in print

Dougal

Ok our home form is rubbish while our away form is rather impressive

My reckoning being its down to one reason and thats because of the location and design of the Caledonian Stadium

Surely if we moved to a purpose built stadium in the city we would attract more punters through the turnstyles

The present location is not good enough its difficult to get there and its at best cold and windy even on summer days

I'm surprised that ICT were even given permission to build a stadium there due to its proximity to the A9 and the resulting congestion it causes to the road user on match days

I would much prefer a more central location preferably somewhere in the town with seating all around the pitch and not just three sides like it is at the moment

No doubt i'll hear that its a beautiful location and all that but its football we are here to see not to admire the passing yachts or to spot the odd jumping dolphin

Its time for the club to move onto the next level and that will be achieved by moving stadium in my mind

Thoughts?

Dougal

You've never forgiven him for "pengate"

What was this all about?

Yes spill the beans. ICT for me.

Yes AD, remind us about "pengate".

Reading this thread again, it seems obvious now that the OP is on a fishing trip. "Dougal" to "Douglas" is not a massive leap of faith.

Sorry to dissapoint you but the thread was most definitely not a fishing thread and a genuine poll , and no i'm not the person who you obviously think i am:tuttut:

Dougal

Inverness Utd and Inverness City would not be options as both are registered with the SFA already. Highland FC sounds ridiculous (IMHO)

Who and what are Inverness Utd??

You say Highland FC is ridiculous but it aint have as ridiculous as the far too long winded and cumbersome Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club

By calling ourselves Highland FC we might attract fans to home games from throughout the Highlands not just Inverness

For some reason i find highlanders very negative at times and they certainly dont like change:irritated:

Unfortunately changing the team's name won't increase the attendances and if anything the attendances do appear to be pretty healthy so far this season IMO....

Why not?

Inverness has a population of 70k + yet we average about 3500-5000?? i think the attendances are poor and at times not very accurately reported

Ok i'm not an Invernessian but i consider Inverness my home being here for the last ten years or so

I know this is a touchy subject to some on here but i feel its a question that needs asked

Should we continue to use ICT as our clubs name or change it completely to something else?

I ask because the lack of support by Inverness football fans, i think anyone who was there yesterday realises that the attendance was very dissapointing it certainly wasn't 4882 which was reported or no where near it

Why are Invernessians not following there local team in numbers?

A city of the size of Inverness should attract 5000+ at the very least every home game in my opinion

Yes i realise there are busses that leave town on saturday mornings for Ibrox, Parkhead and Pittodrie but i'm not sure how many but i doubt that leads to that many fans?

I know from personal experience whilst out drinking that i've experienced unpleasantness and contempt from pre-merger fans when it comes to ICT, ive even been verbally abused on numerous occassions by them and also Clach supporters just because of the team i chose to follow

My plan is a radical one but i personally would buy out Clach and Inverness City and continue both sides in their respective leagues but use both of them for our reserves and fringe players

I feel the time is right to change the name in an attempt to get the whole of Inverness behind the team so ive started a poll with some ideas(ive still included our current title for fans that don't want change)

Dougal

Edited to say i voted Inverness FC

Yes i have no qualms whatsoever reporting them to any Police force in Scotland

Think thats absolutely ridiculous, violence, personal threats, go for it. Chanting? You're away with it min!!

I don't mind the chanting its the content of the chanting that bothers me

Lucky if there will be 20,000 at this game.

We lost 4-2 last time we were away there in CIS (league) Cup, but we certainly gave a good account of ourselves.

I agree i reckon there will be around 15,000 for this one hardly a glamour tie for the home fans and not great for our fans since its on a Tuesday night

Not the great money spinner for the club that some fans on here think:annoyed:

Yes i have no qualms whatsoever reporting them to any Police force in Scotland