DoofersDad

Big result. It was nice to get a bit of luck with the referee's decisions for a change, but regardless of how much Aberdeen bleat (and they will bleat a lot) we were the better side. It was a good team effort and we showed more desire to win throughout the park. We do so much better when we adopt a more "up and at em" approach and look to get forward. Too often in the past when we get in the lead we tend to sit back and defend the lead. Tonight we kept pressing forward and got a 3rd, after which Aberdeen wilted. A great night's entertainment!

HT 0-1 FT 1-2 ICT Vigurs Opp Rooney Time 32 mins

I'm probably a bit like you and whilst my gut feeling is support for continued membership, I don't really know enough about it to say which way I am likely to vote. There are undoubtedly areas of significant concern. What is annoying me at this stage is that it looks as though Cameron is going to make as much of a farce of this referendum as he did with the Independence one. It looks as though he will be agreeing some sort of a package to put to the electorate and will then seek a very short campaign which will give us no time to debate the issues. This is the other side of the incompetence coin to the Indy referendum when there was no package but we had for ever and a day to debate it. It is a very complex issue and it seems to me that we should be allowed some reasonable time to come to grips with what is involved and to consider the implications. I note what you say in your final paragraph and it is to your credit that you will cast your vote on what you think is best for the UK. But unfortunately the SNP are not following that principled position and have already muddied the waters by making it clear that they think it would be "outrageous" (the First Minister's word) if Scotland, as part of the UK, were to come out of the EU if a majority of the Scots voters votes to stay in. She has stated it is the kind of scenario which would justify the Scottish Parliament to call for a 2nd Indy referendum. What this has done is to stir up supporters of independence to vote to remain in the EU simply because they see it as the best strategy for gaining independence. Some who are quite anti the EU take the view that the UK as a whole is likely to vote to leave, so if Scotland votes to stay there will be a better chance of independence. Once Independence is won, they argue, they can then campaign for an Independent Scotland not to be part of the EU. Of course, if, because of a strong Scottish "yes" vote, we remain in the EU despite the rest of the UK voting to come out of the EU, I guess that Ms Sturgeon will just shrug and say its democracy! So whilst the debate should be just about whether it is in the interests of the UK to be in the EU or not, the Nats have already hijacked the debate. I fully expect them to continue to muddy the waters and if they do, then I think some serious Nat bashing would be perfectly in order. If the Nats behave themselves then perhaps we can have a proper discussion on the issues that matter.

One of the major concerns for me in all of this is that the focus is on branding rather than on the quality or the entertainment value of the football. This has increasingly been the case in recent years as the "European Cup" has morphed into the "Champion's League" and we have the group stages which clearly generate a lot of money but which often tend to produce some rather lack lustre games. All it does is give more games to the privileged clubs that reach that stage and ensure maximum exposure of the big brands. And then what is even more outrageous is that some of the clubs which fail to progress in that competition get a second bite of the cherry in the Europa League (group stages and all). From a fans perspective, I would rather go back to the old format where the champions of each nation played home and away against one team in each round. Same with the Cup Winners' Cup. In that way all countries had the same right of entry as as any other and where, if a top team had an off day, smaller clubs could come through to win. The 3rd competition (once the" Fairs cup") allowed a few more teams from the bigger leageus a taste of European football which is fair enough. That system almost guaranteed the big clubs European football each year but also allowed the likes of Celtic and Aberdeen from Scotland and Villa and Forest in England to seize their opportunities and win major European trophies against the odds. That would just never happen now. Not only is it the way the competitions are structured, it is the way the money is distributed that makes it so hard for other teams to break into the big time. Television money and the exposure television brings means that as soon as decent players emerge from smaller clubs, they are snapped up which makes it increasingly difficult for the smaller clubs to compete. Of course, there will always be circumstances where smaller clubs emerge to upset the apple cart (such as Leicester City this season) but in the longer run, the big brands will become increasingly dominant. Unless a way can be found to revise the structure of competition and the distribution of television money in favour of fairness, then we will continue this trend towards branding and away from diversity.

I guess there's no Celtic supporter who can do the maths or they would have been whinging even more loudly about how unlucky they have been with the draws in recent years.

At the end of the day, the TV companies want to broadcast what the public want to see. And the companies who spend their billions on advertising will pay more if more are watching. This is an international business and the fact is that TV audiences worldwide want to watch the big clubs and the best players. Given that the audiences for the big money games are not actually in the countries where those games are played, the wishes of the fans who actually go and watch the matches simply don't get a look in. The gulf in wealth between the top clubs and the rest will get ever wider as will the gulf in wages between the top players and the rest. But that seems to be life. It happens in the film industry and the music industry and we, as consumers, fuel this imbalance by buying the products. It's not right but I don't see things changing any time soon.

I agree, but if that were part of the deal then I imagine the TV companies would not be paying as much. Swings and roundabouts or a gun to the SFA's heads, whichever way you want to look at it.

That's nice of you to say so. A bit off topic but as fate would have it, I once had a very brief conversation with Lenny Henry. He and his post Dawn French lady friend were in the security queue just in front of us at a small overseas airport. When we got through security they were standing around looking lost and he stopped us and asked us where the airport lounge was - not exactly a lot of laughs there either! But to be fair, I think Sir Lenny would be able to make a pretty good sketch out of the SFA QF draw farce. It would probably end up with all 5 ties being played in Dudley.

That's right. It's a bit like losing your virginity. It may not be your greatest performance but it is the seminal moment (so to speak), which gives you confidence in what you can achieve in the future.

At least we are spared a semi against an Edinburgh side played in a "neutral" venue in Edinburgh.

I believe they have rules they have to follow and they have made them to follow the same principle as if a game has to be abandoned. If you are winning 5 - 0 and it is abandoned with 5 minutes to go, you start at 0 - 0 and play the game in full. But surely, only the SFA would think they actually need rules just in case they **** up something as simple as pulling 8 balls out of a bowl. Given the long, proud history of the Scottish Cup, why oh why can't they just do it the traditional way with numbered balls? It would then be almost impossible for anything to go wrong - unless, of course, someone from the SFA was drawing the balls out, in which case there would be a high probability that they would pull out more than one at a time.

"I've got the Celtic ball - now where's the Morton one?"

One must give great credit to East Kilbride who were well organised, composed and fit enough to keep going to the end. Having said that, Celtic were utterly pathetic and managed only 5 shots on target. Both goals were very scrappy. Whislt Celtic never looked like losing, had one of those scrappy goals not gone in (or hand Griffith's handball been spotted) or had East Kilbride been able to sneak one, it would have been interesting to see how Celtic coped with the increasing frustration. A Celtic loss would have been one of the greatest ever upsets, not just in Scottish football but in world sport. In truth, we really weren't that far away.

Surely the whole purpose of CJT is to have more togetherness between club and fans. As this is fans website, surely the first place to put notice of the AGM (and anything else, for that matter) should be here. By all means, use other social media outlets to spread the word, but keep this site as the default site for all communication - and inform all members that this is the case. Even if I had received notice of the AGM (which I would have been interested in attending) I would have been unable to go on the 19th. However, can I make a suggestion that a separate forum for CJT be set up on this site so that all members can be informed when appropriate? A further advantage is that it would facilitate discussion on anything CJT wanted the views of the wider fan base on. In addition, a more visible presence on this site may encourage a few more folk to volunteer to help out. The concept of "togetherness" requires good communication but this is not something CJT seems to excel at. I have just been on the CJT website out of curiosity and even their own website gives no mention of the forthcoming AGM In fact, it gives little mention on anything and the most recent event detailed under "member events" is a hospitality package for the game against Kilmarnock - on 11th August 2012! I don't wish to appear critical because I appreciate that people give up their own precious free time to get involved in these activities. My suggestion therefore should be helpful in allowing CJT to communicate with fans, be they CJT members or not, simply by posting on here. Nobody should then have any reason to say they have not been informed about something.

It is actually pretty worrying. Apart from Sho-Silva we have departed company with Lopez, the promising Callum Ferguson appears to have disappeared from the face of the earth, young MacRae is not ready for this level yet and Foran is not going to regain the speed and sharpness for a striker role even if he can re-establish a place in the side. Despite all this, Ali Sutherland has been put out on loan to Brora which does suggest that Yogi was confident of bringing someone in. Indeed, a couple of weeks ago he seemed quite upbeat about the chances of getting someone in, perhaps on loan, by the end of January. Clearly nothing has happened and with Fisher injured, there is really nobody else in the squad who can lead the line. Sure Mutombo can score goals, but his strength seems to be playing wider and creating space by taking defenders on. We are far too heavily dependent on Storey. I am not yet at the stage of starting a "bring back Andy Barrowman" campaign, but I am definitely worried.

A: He plays through the pain.

HT 1-0 FT 2-1 ICT Tansey Opp McDonald Time 21 mins

Exactly. It does not mean "wants". There is a big difference. Suppose I'm in the pub but have to drive home and someone offers me a drink. I might want a pint of IPA but I will choose a soft drink. Greg chose to stay at ICT. That is not to say that he is not content to be here (till the end of the season at least), but my bet would be that if the Dons come back in the summer with an offer in line with any contractual stipulation, he'll be off. He's probably my favourite player so I hope he stays. Anyhow, whatever went on behind the scenes, Greg remains an ICT player for now and I am sure will continue to do the club proud through his efforts on and off the pitch.

It is because if we sign players in positions where we already have adequate cover, there is less money available to attract players into the positions where we don't have adequate cover.

SP It's Doofer's Dad. I don't know how many Doofers there are out there, but before Doofer's Mum gets the rolling pin out, I can assure you I have only fathered one of them!

No. I don't buy it. The statement says that Tansey "elected" to stay and thanked him for his "integrity, honesty and loyalty to the club". When you think about it, this is very strange language to use. If the agent acted without Tansey's knowledge then you can be sure that Tansey was made aware of what was going on as soon as anybody on this forum got wind. If he didn't want a move to Aberdeen then he would have been on to his agent and the club in a flash and any "deal" would have been dead early in the day. However, if the agent's approach to Aberdeen was an inappropriate approach, then when the club met Tansey later in the day to try and persuade him to stay, Tansey might have revealed information which made it clear that his agent had acted inappropriately. After all, if the club was aware of any inappropriate action on behalf of the agent then negotiations would have stalled at the initial offer. Tansey might have told the club that his agent knew he would be interested in a move to Aberdeen if it meant more money but was not aware any approach was in any way inappropriate. The club may well have told him that in the light of the inappropriate nature of the approach, a deal was not really on or they may simply have offered Tansey a bit more dosh to stay. My scenario fits the wording the club used in their statement. It doesn't say that Tansey wants to stay, it says he elected to stay. And if it was a question of his agent acting without his knowledge, why would the club statement make any reference to his integrity and honesty? If he wanted to stay and his agent was playing silly beggars, what on earth would he have to be honest about! And if he had been persuaded by his agent to go along with an approach which (perhaps without Tansey being aware) was against the rules, then part of the persuading him to stay may have been the very sound advice to get shot of the agent. My take on this is that Tansey would like a move to a bigger club but was persuaded to stay on this occasion. I would also think that Tansey may have seen his agent's activity as flying a kite to an extent and that he is actually perfectly happy to stay here for the time being. Hopefully his form for the rest of the season will mean that any offers in the summer will be more substantial than Aberdeen's.

What odds of a County cup double?

I agree but there should be at least an acknowledgement to a request for info. A short response along the lines you say would be appropriate - without the "knob" bit.

This doesn't ring true to me. Yogi has gone on record before saying that if a player wants to go he won't stand in their way. To then resign because the Board failed to stand in the player's way would be an untenable position. The BBC article seems to suggest that McInnes and Yogi were negotiating as though it was as good as a done deal. I read that as Yogi being accepting of the fact that the player was leaving. If he expected Tansey to go, might not that be the reason agreement was reached with not one, but two new midfield players? What seems more likely to me is that our Board felt Aberdeen had obtained information about the contract inappropriately and therefore felt Aberdeen should pay above the release clause amount. The Board would have been right to insist on a meaningful sum here to give the message that they are not to be seen as a soft touch. Given the lateness of the approach there was then not time to thrash out an agreement. I suspect that Tansey would now be an Aberdeen player if his agent and Aberdeen FC had not tried to shaft us. I think a general policy of not standing in a player's way provided we aren't shafted in the process, is a sound basis on which to do business.

No, but it's good for getting a chip of your shoulder.