DoofersDad

Let's hope they stay over there.

Once you've read that the blog in this link makes an intersting read. Just whose interests are Duff and Phelps looking after? - As if I didn't already know the answer! http://www.twohundre...nt.net/?p=19040

Hope Rangers fans have that date in September in their diaries.

Oh dear! And we were getting on so well just a few weeks ago. :love02:

It is commendable that there are so many people falling over themselves to defend the club over Tokely's apparent departure but let's get a bit of a reality check here. Of course we do not know what Tokely has been offerred or exactly who has said what to who and how the communication has taken place, but let's just reflect on what we do know. Ross Tokely has served this club better than any player in the club's history. He has a record number of appearances for the club having played and excelled in all four divisions. His contribution to the club is unlikely to be equalled. He deserves to be treated with respect. As players age there comes a time when despite their best efforts they can no longer play at the level the manager requires. Regardless of what I and many others may think, it appears that the manager thinks Tokely has reached that stage. Money is tight and a reduced offer may well be all that the club can afford even if the manager still thinks Tokely has a role in the side. The fact that Tokely has seen fit to speak to the press about his position shows that he is not happy with the club. Regardless of the detail of what has actually happened, this is not the way he would have liked to leave the club. This is how it should have happened. Well before the end of the season, the manager calls a meeting with Tokely. He acknowledges his superb contribution and loyalty to the club but tells him that finances are tight and difficult choices have to be made. The manager tells Tokely that he is trying to strengthen the team and that he would not expect Tokely to feature regularly in the following season. Consequently the best offer that can be made is significantly less than his current contract. He tells Tokely that he will understand if, in the circumstances, Tokely was to turn down the offer but he really would like him to stay. He also says that Tokely is much loved by the fans and if Tokely did not want to accept the offer that it would be good to have the position finalised by the end of the season so that an announcement can be made and the crowd can say "goodbye" to him and he to them. Tokely considers the offer and is not happy. He goes back to the manager and argues his case that his loyalty and committment deserve more. The manager expresses his sympathy but says that this is the best offer he can make. Tokely considers further and decides he can't accept it. He speaks with the manager and says that he is keen to play regularly and therefore reluctantly will have to turn down the offer. A statement is prepared and the manager says what a fantastic player Tokely has been and Tokely says what a great club this is and what a great guy the manager is. Tokely captains the side in the last home game of the season He is subbed 5 minutes from the end and leaves the field through a guard of honour of his team mates and to a standing ovation. After the game he does a lap of honour and the fans all bow down in homage. Tokely is a legend. There surely can be no doubt that he has not been treated with the respect he deserves. And before I get pounced on, let me say that I do support the efforts of this club but the management of this will deserve more respect from me and from others if they behave with a little more dignity themselves.

It's not just from Inverness, Dougal. I don't much see the buses from Inverness heading down to the Central Belt, but I'd be surprised if there were less than head down from Caithness and pass my bus on the road to Inverness on match days....or the ones I know head to Glasgow etc from Moray and ignore the existence of Elgin City. Don't understand it myself, unless it is a case of not really being a football fan at all, but just wanting to be someone who can say they support one of the two biggest teams in Scotland, have a drunken day out and, if lucky....or unlucky..... a good fight into the bargain. And how do the fans of Wick Academy view your jaunts over the Ord to watch one of the two biggest teams in the Highlands? I would like more folk living locally to watch ICT rather than other teams, but let's just respect their freedom of choice.

He may have had an offer deadline extended but is the old contract still in place? Is the club currently paying him? If not, he has left. That does not mean that he couldn't still accept the contract offer that remains open. If it does it will simply mean that he has re-signed. If he does sign then that will be a great signing for the club - he has plenty of experience and I have heard great things about the lad.

And presumably if Rangers go back to court again the legal expenses will come from the fund which should be being used to pay the creditors they have cheated out of millions.

If he's 28 then at least Warren shouldn't be a complete rabbit

I fear there is more chance of the current management naming the South stand the Ross County Stand.

I have to agree with 12th Man here. A lot of people are far from happy with what is happening at the club at the moment. Nobody is disputing that a lot of people are working hard for the club, indeed, their efforts are greatly appreciated but people have opinions and have every right to express them. Of course, a forum such as this will always have a small minority who are deliberately contrary but increasingly we are seeing folk who are the bread and butter loyal supporters of this club expressing significant concerns about a number of issues. When that happens the club should sit up and take notice. The club cannot afford to lose its support and therefore needs to understand their concerns. It may be that some of the concerns are unfounded and criticisms based on a misunderstanding of the facts. In that case, the club should enlighten us. CD says "all others can do is sit behind a keyboard, criticize and do feck all but leave those who are trying with a feeling of "why bother?". Those of us who sit behind a keyboard are not doing "feck all", we are offering opinions and making our views known. Those who sit behind a keyboard are also, by and large, fans who give concrete support to the club by paying week in and week out for a product which, quite frankly, is somewhat overpriced for the quality provided at the moment. Far better to do that than keep our opinions to ourselves and simply stop watching the team. And "why bother?" Because it is clear that those who are expressing concerns (or making criticisms if you prefer) are doing so becaue they care about the club and demonstrating that they do by taking the time to get behind a keyboard and tell you. Also, as far as paid staff are concerned, I expect them to "bother" because we , the paying public, pay their wages.

Returning to the field with a bandage round his head after a head knock at Tynecastle a couple of years ago and a supporter starting the chant "there's only 2 Terry Butchers"! Sadly such "oneness" with the manager seems somewhat distant now.

Mmmm. I wonder what the size of cut Foran had to take with his new contract? The other interesting thing about Foran's early contract deal is that as the captain with a new contract, he should surely have been central to working with his team mates in persuading them to stay. One assumes that the manager wanted all the players offered new contracts to stay (except Tokely, of course) so this sorry saga doesn't seem to say a lot for the persuasive powers of the captain.

That to me sounds like Butcher wanted him gone. It certainly does. Of course there comes a time when people have to move on, but if the manager believes that a player has reached that stage he should release the player and acknowledge the contribution the player has made to the club. This is particulary true in Roscoe's case because nobody has ever made a greater contribution to this club. To force the player to leave by offering a derisory deal and then telling him by text rather than a face to face meeting that there would be no better deal is both cowardly and shameful. He has chosen this route because he did not want the same hue and cry that releasing Munro created. His inability to man manage is demonstrated by yet another major misjudgement both of his assessment of a player and how to deal with the situation.

Absolutely right. Attendances in England are generally keeping up and in many cases improving. People would turn up if the product was right. Of course, there have been times when ICT have played attractive stuff under Butcher but in general it has been pretty grim stuff and many fans have been voting with their feet. There has been plenty discussion on this forum about the quality of football on show this season. Part of that may be the calibre of the player we can afford but it is also down to tactics. It is Butcher who stopped Tokely going on his rampaging runs up the park and Butcher who stopped Munro using his long throw. And, yes, I know we got caught out from time to time when the guys did that but we enjoyed watching it and Tokely's scoring record perhaps suggests the tactic paid off more often than we got caught out. I still feel that Butcher has done quite well results wise since he's been here so he must be doing something right. Unfortunately, he is also getting a lot wrong. The coming season will be make or break time for the manager. It will be his 4th season with his team and it will be fair to judge him on how we do both in terms of results and the entertainment value provided. There are some who expect top six but to my mind that is unrealistic. I think finishing no worse than 9th would be a realistic expectation of where we would expect to be with a manager in his 4th year but frankly I will be both surprised and delighted if we achieve that. Looking at the way last season went and how the closed season is progressing I'll happily settle for 11th and really don't care whether County finish above us or not. We must be favourites for the drop. Come on Terry, prove me wrong!

I agree. I doubt we will ever see his like again. I remember thinking when we first won promotion that he would struggle at the higher level but each time the club took a step forward, Ross rose to the challenge and worked ever harder and harder and strengthened the various aspects of his game. I am really sad to see him leave because over the last few games of the season I think he proved he was still one of the best players at the club and had at least one more year in him as a first choice defender. That is not sentimentality - it's based on watching a real pro go about his craft. His record number of appearences will never be beaten and I very much doubt that any player will ever show the same level of committment and passion for the club. He epitomises everything good about the rise of the club from a new club finding it's first tentative way in the 3rd division to becoming an established SPL team. If we can't name the stand after Ross, we will never be able to name it after any other player.

At least someone else has signed a contract - and it's a 2 year deal at that! But I would much rather have kept Hayes, Tansey, Tokely, or Tade than MacKay. He's not a bad little player and might do well at a lower level but I remain to be convinced that he is SPL standard and his strike rate needs to improve dramatically. At least that's the high ball into the box tactic confirmed again for next season. I'm in a funny mood tonight - I wonder why? Better sign off and go take my Prozac.

:rotflmao: More chance of ICT winning the SPL.

Any thoughts for the January transfer window?

It's pathetic. Those who have not signed clearly don't want to be here. If they do sign it will only be because nobody gave them a better offer. If what Kenny Cameron said is true that good progress is being made with identifying replacements then there would be no need to give those who haven't signed more time. It is noticable that other clubs are signing players who were with us last year and who we wanted to keep but there is nobody new who wants to sign for us. There is no evidence that there are players lining up to come North. Extending the deadline tells the world we have nodoby lined up and that we are desparate. I know Terry has unearthed some good players in the past and he may manage to again but the signs are not good at the moment. I will be surprised if we end up with a squad as good as we had last year and I think most will agree that we actually need a squad that is better. So, in response to another thread, yes, I'm worried.

Heard on the radio today that the administrators are saying that the club has sufficient funds to recommence paying full wages to the higher paid players who earlier agreed a wage cut to help the club. If those funds are available then why are they not paying their creditors?

If his signing for Aberdeen is dependent on a medicial after his holiday rather than before then there's a fair chance he'll not be signing.

It's good Charles, but surely it starts "Ex Gers stopper"!

There is no reason why they should hurry. If the offer is on the table until a specific deadline then why rush to sign if there might be a better offer from elsewhere coming in before the deadline? Still, you're probably right!

I think a crucial point is being missed here. Whilst the rules would stop Rangers taking the SFA to court to argue against what it might feel to be an unfair application of a power that the SFA actually have, it is surely right for Rangers or any other team to challenge the SFA in the court when the SFA have acted outwith their remit. I assume the court took this view too as otherwise they would have thrown the case out as being outwith their jurisdiction. It is analagous to employment contracts where your terms of employment may preclude you having any legal representation in disputes with the employer over terms and condidtions but you would have every right to challenge your employer in the courts if you felt that what they were imposing was contrary to employment legislation. Having said that, I would have thought that both the SFA and FIFA would take a dim view of the approach Rangers took. Regardless of the legal nicities here, there is a clear expectation that representation to the judicial panel would be the first line of approach and only when that failed would legal action be considered appropriate. I must confess that I have not followed this in detail and apologies if Rangers did actually try the judicial panel first. I am sure Caley D will keep me right on that.