DoofersDad

I agree that we need to avoid a paucity of people standing but it is also essential that those who put themselves forward are prepared to do the work. Assuming all the current Board stand for re-election then we need at least 6 other people standing to have a contested election. More if any of the current Board decide not to stand. Given some of the comments I've made on this forum it is only right that I put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and put my name forward. I'm not entirely convinced by Davie's assertion that it's "fun", but if those elected can all commit to working hard with a shared sense of purpose, then they should find it rewarding.

Not sure about the black "cuffs" on the short sleeve shirt. Makes it look as if someone's died.

From Errearitrea presumably?

Very true. Equally you can rise quickly too. Success requires a group of players to work well as a team in doing what the manager wants them to do. This requires good understandings between the players and trust in the manager. It also requires luck. Teams need to avoid significant disruption due to injuries and they need the rub of the green on match days from time to time. Success is so often built on confidence and that can evaporate after a couple of unlucky defeats. When the confidence goes then there is a risk that relationships break down and it can be difficult to mend bridges when that happens. On the management front one can look at County and say that Coyle was a poor appointment. But he has a decent track record and it would be reasonable to have expected him to do well. County had a solid enough start with Coyle but then lost games they should have won in December and any confidence and belief in the manager evaporated. Had they got lucky in a couple of those games and had a couple of good wins, this would have swung things the other way and County could have been challenging for top six. If you look at their squad you would say they should never have been relegated. It really is a bit of a lottery and that means there is always hope for the un-fancied and less well resourced teams - like us! It's going to be a very tough division next season and if we are going to do well it will be important to keep the togetherness going. It could make all the difference.

Thanks for the big print. It makes it easier for us old 'uns to read!

Yes. I think that would be very helpful. It must be clear to anyone who has read through the various recent threads on CJT that significant work is necessary to get CJT functioning at a level where the Board can be seen as legitimately representing the supporters and where it would be able to defend any challenge of legitimacy in exercising its 10% voting right on the club's Board if there was ever a need. Beyond that, there is much that a Supporters' Society could be doing routinely in working with the club in the mutual interest of the supporters and club. There are 10 places on the Board for elected members and for some considerable time the Board has had substantially less than that. Clearly that impacts on what can be achieved. The more people who are prepared to serve on the Board the more there is that can be done. I am certainly prepared to consider putting my name forward but | don't want to find myself in a position where nobody else new comes forward. Were that to happen, it is unlikely I would be able to make any meaningful difference and I don't want to feel I am wasting my time. There must be others who feel the same way. Meeting to discuss how we feel and to learn a bit more about what is involved might well provide enough mutual support and encouragement to allow sufficient people to put themselves forward to make a real difference. If, after learning a bit more about it, people decide that they don't want to stand for the Board after all, then at least they may be encouraged to provide some help and support in an unofficial capacity instead. I would imagine those on the Board will be grateful for all the help they can get. The more people who are willing to help out in some capacity or other, the easier it is for people to volunteer without feeling that everything is going to be dumped on them if they put themselves forward.

With respect, I don't think the same is applicable in reverse. There are a large number of concerns which led to the calling of the Special General Meeting and these have been well documented in public on this forum in a number of threads. There has been no or inadequate response to these points from the Board or anyone else. Davie made the point that we all knew why we were at the meeting so lets just vote on the resolution. Detailing the concerns would only have served to embarrass the Board members present and nobody would have wanted that, especially as you had the courage to chair the meeting at short notice following the Chair's resignation. It can't have been an easy thing to do and I applaud you for that. Members now need to move on and work cooperatively together in order to drive CJT forward. As for standing for election next month I think it would be helpful for those considering whether to stand to have some clarification from the Board on a couple of issues which need to be understood before the working group tackles the mechanics of calling the election. The first is what Rules are in force and the second is what general arrangements the Board has for elections. As I understand it, there are 3 sets of Rules floating around. One set dated 2005 was approved by the members and duly registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A revised set was approved by the membership in 2012 but never submitted to the FCA. A further revised set has been registered earlier this year with the FCA but without the legally required approval of the membership. These 3 sets of Rules all have different details about how Board Membership is constituted. The 2005 Rules state that the Board may have up to 12 members at least 2 of which must be co-opted members. The 2012 Rules state there can be up to 12 members with up to 4 additional members by co-option. The 2018 rules allow for 10 elected and up to 5 co-opted members. None of the 3 sets of Rules give any details relating to election procedure. All 3 state that members will be elected in accordance with the election policy adopted by the Society (or words to that effect). It would therefore be very helpful if the Board would clarify which set of Rules are in operation and if a copy of the Board's election policy could be made available as an attachment to a response.

Must be. I can't think of another place called Derby in the UK.

People associated with the Ibrox set up just get more and more vile and hypocritical. It is reported today that lawyers for The Rangers have informed the Solicitor representing a man who claims he was sexually abused at Ibrox in the 1980s that he should contact the liquidators as the duty of care is not with the current owners. The current club is happy to take ownership of the record of success of the previous club and it's employees, but not of the actions of it's employees which have caused financial and personal suffering to others. The lawyers in this latest case may well be legally correct in the response they have given, but if so, then surely it is time that the SFA played them at their own game and made it clear that none of the trophies and titles of the previous club belong to the club currently occupying Ibrox.

I agree about Polworth being very different to Vigurs. Vigurs has been outstanding this season but it has to be said that we haven't missed him too much when he hasn't played. He was suspended when we played the crunch match against in form Dunfermline and 2nd placed Livingston. We were very unlucky not to beat the Pars and we did beat Livingston. Trafford seems to be the most similar to Vigurs and had a very good game against Dunfermline. He seems to have a good understanding with Chalmers which protects the defence and provides a bit more freedom for Polworth to drive forward. So whilst we are not going to replace Vigurs with an individual of the same calibre (at the moment) the way we play and the way other players work together means we can still have a very effective midfield. One thing that was evident prior to this season was that when we had a theoretically high quality midfield with Vigurs, Draper and Tansey, they didn't work particularly well together and the team as a whole lacked width. It's not who you've got that matters, it's what you do with who you've got. Robbo's been pretty good at getting the best out of a relatively young and inexperienced squad and I'm sure he will do the same again next season.

If Alloa get promoted then we will be playing them 4 times next season. It makes sense to cast an eye over the whole team.

Got my renewal too. I'll certainly be renewing. I'm really looking forward to next season.

Scottish Premiership club gives rookie manager 4 year deal. Now where have I heard that before?

but he's good at shooting.

Talking of which Ross Tokely and Kevin Munro have just "left" the club. I doubt they will be gainfully employed polishing the silver in Powrie's antique shop.

Who would I like to see at ICT next season? About 2,000 more fans would be good.

There is also the question of how having County drop into the Championship might affect our chances of promotion next season. If County drop down it will be very interesting to see how that will impact on Uncle Roy's benevolence. He will know that to get back into the Premiership he will have to further increase his spending. He will also know that with The Rangers, Hibs and Hearts all back in the top 6 he is never likely to emulate ICT's Cup victory or best ever league position. Being in the Premiership would therefore be a constant battle to avoid relegation. He might, therefore decide to ease off on his investment. I don't see him pulling the plug but I do think it likely that he would cap his spending and let the club find it's level with that. Even at this reduced level of financial support County would be significantly better financed than ICT and would be there or thereabouts for promotion next season. If he decided to increase his spending then they would be favourites for an immediate return. If we are realistic about looking for promotion next season, then I would rather have Hamilton and/or Partick in the Championship.

Regardless of which players stay and which go, the priority for me is to ensure the manager stays. For all the unrest earlier in the season I think he has done an absolutely brilliant job. With very little money and very little time to work with in bringing new players to the club he seems to have unearthed some players with great attitude and promise. Leaving the Foran fiasco aside, Robbo's recruitment has been far, far more effective than Yogi 's despite the lack of money and time available to him. Not only that, but he has instilled a belief into these players and got them playing attractive, attacking football. For all the concern about being in the wrong half of the table for most of the season, I have enjoyed watching the games far more than I did generally in the Yogi years. I remember at the start of the season, Robbo asking for patience and pointing out that most of the young lads he recruited had never played first team football for any club and it would be a steep learning curve. We know the budget will be further reduced next year but money will be released by one or two higher paid players either accepting lower pay to play at a lower level than what their current contracts were set at, or leaving the club. That will release money for more of the type of signings which have been so successful this year. Robbo has a real enthusiasm for this club and he seems to have been able to develop a squad of players who appreciate the opportunity the club and manager are giving them. With Robbo at the helm, we should at least be in the top four next year and the footy should be good to watch.

I'm no fan of Rugby but I do like to see local teams / individuals do well in any sport. I don't know the background to St Boswell's defaulting but on the face of it, it seems quite bizarre.. It is not as though they are the whipping boys of the league. They are in the top half and were contenders for the title earlier in the season. Risking being thrown out of the league seems suicidal for a club which would appear to be in a position many other clubs would envy. It really would be cruel if Highland are forced to play the match and then end up losing, although somehow I think that is highly unlikely.

It’s 140 miles away, but if you listen carefully you can hear all those squeaky bums in Dunfermline.

Surely you can use the space for a bar and a museum with the displays being the decor for the bar. After all, from what I’ve seen there are already some pretty ancient relics in the bar!

Could well be. How long has it been since the transfer of ownership was announced and how many times have we been told that it was just a question of finalising the paperwork! The saga of the stands is indicative of serious issues behind the scenes.

We all have to queue at the turnstiles to get in. Why not have folk positioned handing out slips there? The slip could also have informed people about the presentation. It’s not exactly rocket science.

I wondered about this myself. I've no idea who was organising it but I would willingly have helped as well. I stayed for the presentations only because someone else asked if I was. I was unaware it was happening. Maybe there was an announcement over the PA system but I can rarely make out a word of what is being said. So many simple things about communication within this club that are just shockingly bad.

When there is good news it seems to come out of the blue. When there is bad news it seems that a little rumour about an announcement is let slip so that we can have some time to come up with rather unpleasant scenarios about what it will be. Then when the bad news does break we all slightly relieved that it isn't as bad as it might have been. Whatever is announced I think a consequence will be a seriously reduced playing budget for next year. Just to make that sound not as bad as it might have been, I'll also suggest that we are set to merge with Clach and apply to join the Highland League.