DoofersDad

There's no likely about it. If we lose to Hearts then we have 9 points and at best, a goal difference of plus 5. In groups D,E and F it looks as though the 2nd placed team will do better than than that. It is also perfectly possible in groups A, B and G and I would expect the 2nd placed team of at least one of those to do better than 9 points and plus 5 goals difference. In Group D, Dunfermline and Dundee should win both their remaining games. If Dundee beat either Brechin or Peterhead by more than one goal then they will have 9 points and their goal difference would be plus 6. In Group E, Ayr and Partick both have 9 points and play each other. A draw assures both progress. Ayr have a goal difference of plus 9 and Partick plus 5. If Partick take anything out of the game then both will have a better record than us. In Group G if Motherwell either beat Clyde or draw and win the penalty shoot out, they will better our record. Queen of the South have played all their games and have 9 points and a plus 7 goal difference. In Group A, County have to play Arbroath tomorrow (which they should win to go onto 9 points) and then Alloa at the weekend. If Alloa take anything out of that game then they will better our record. Whether County could afford to lose narrowly to Alloa would depend on their margin of victory against Arbroath. In Group B both St Johnstone and Montrose have to play Forfar. One would expect to Motherwell to beat them to top the group but Montrose would come second on 9 points if they also beat Forfar. Currently they have a goal difference of plus 1. Whether they pip us would depend on how much they win by and how heavily we lose In Group F, Livi should beat Berwick to top the group with 11 points. But if Airdrieonians beat Hamilton then they will have 9 points and a goal difference of at least plus 6. The one scrap of consolation is that it is impossible for the 2nd placed team in group H to reach 9 points. Based on that I would suggest that if we lose to Hearts then we probably won't qualify. But as you say, at least we will know whether we need to take something out of the game or whether we can actually afford to lose and, if so, by how much. Things will be a little clear tomorrow night.

HT. 1-0 FT. 2-1 ICT. Doran Opp. Nisbet Crowd 886

The player may have been put on the bench and then brought on as a sub to give him a bit of game time and so that the management team could assess the player a bit more in a competitive environment. Had he not been available another player of similar ability would likely have been available if required. It is not going to make a significant difference to the side in the way that starting with a big name signing whose registration is not complete might do. It is also worth noting a comparison to a situation where a player is retrospectively cited for a red card offence missed by the officials on the day. In these cases, a team inappropriately has an extra player on the park for part of the game which clearly is of advantage to that player's team. Whilst the player may face a ban, no sanction is taken against the club even though the benefit to the club is significantly greater than that of bringing on an ineligible player as a sub. I therefore feel that anything other than a fine for fielding an illegible player would be unduly harsh where there is no evidence to suggest it was no more than a honest mistake.

I think the VAR system has had more positive than negative outcomes and on balance must therefore be considered as an improvement. But why oh why can't the football authorities swallow their pride and accept that the Rugby Union authorities do things so much better? If there is doubt in a decision let the video referee make the decision from a less pressurised and more informed position. If players contest a free kick decision just move it on 10 yards or instead of just awarding a penalty award a penalty goal, It would soon stop some of the appalling, disrespectful antics we see on football pitches. We complain (rightly) about the standard of referees, but who in their right minds would want to be a football referee when they are treated with such disrespect on the pitch and get so little support from their employers.

Excellent first post. Welcome to CTO Hugh!

Not just a red card but a head butt!

HT 0-2 FT 0-3 ICT Polworth Opp Sheerin Crowd 384

I think that's a bit harsh. Whether there are bigger issues or not, the fact remains that improving the match day experience is commonly held up as being an important fact in trying to maximise attendance at matches. There are a number of aspects of the match day experience which could be improved and these will be of varying importance for different people. Car parking arrangements are one thing which certainly could be improved. Just because there may be bigger issues does not mean we cannot address other issues too. As far as I am concerned, folk should be warmly encouraged to put ideas forward.

We often complain about refereeing at ICT games but it is a great shame that two refereeing errors changed the course of the game. Certainly there was some terrific football to admire but I can't help thinking what the result might have been had the referee not awarded the free kick and the penalty which gave the French a grossly undeserved half time lead. I suppose one can forgive the referee for the free kick when he was conned by some skilful and probably well rehearsed cheating by Greizmann, but the award of a penalty was simply farcical. The VAR system has been generally positive but there is no way that was deliberate handball and the fact that the referee took so long to make his mind up should have told the referee that it wasn't clear and obvious as required by the VAR rules. France came out and played much better in the 2nd half and scored 2 excellent goals but you can't help thinking that it might have been a very different game in the 2nd half had it been level at half time. Full marks to Croatia though who pushed to the end and played top quality football throughout. My fears for this world cup have been well and truly been put to bed. It has been really good and there have been good reports of the atmosphere and visitor experience outside of the grounds too. Putin will be a very happy bunny. There may have been a large number of goals from set pieces but there have have been some wonderful goals from open play too. It's been a good World Cup.

HT 1-0 FT 2-0 ICT Tremarco Opp Megginson Crowd 1449

I think a sober reflection of England's performance will demonstrate that it didn't quite live up to the rather belated hype. There is certainly much to be positive about with a very young and inexperienced squad playing in a rather more adventurous way than has been the case in recent years. Players like Trippier and Maguire were outstanding and there was a good understanding through the team. Whilst Croatia ended up as worthy winners, England could and probably should have been 2 or 3 up at half time. They were much the better side in the first half but a failure to be clinical in front of goal during that period will have cost them a place in the final. Their frailties at the other end were displayed when Croatia came more into the game in the 2nd half and began to show the kind of form that swept aside Messi and co in the group stages. I suspect that had England made their 1st half superiority count, France would have shown up their defensive frailties a bit more clinically on Sunday. The forthcoming Euros will perhaps give a better indication of how good this England team can become, but I think they have demonstrated enough to suggest they will be a real force in the years to come. As for Sunday's final, I think France have got that bit more quality up front and I expect them to win in normal time. It would, however, be great for the game if a country with such a small population could win the biggest competition in the world. Should be a great game.

F***all's coming home.

I think it is inevitable that this site has become less vibrant over the last 2 or 3 years. It is a reflection of the downward fortunes of the club since the Scottish Cup win and a brief European adventure. Not only does that sap enthusiasm, it also polarises opinion about what the appropriate expectations for the club are and some folk simply don't like listening to views which are very different from their own. I had a look at P&B a while back and was surprised at just how poor it is. Following Dougal's OP I have been dipping in and out of it and it hasn't got any better. It does, however, have the advantage that it allows fans from different clubs to read and comment on each other's threads. There are also reasonable threads about wider football and other topics which allows discussion with a wider group than possible on here. It therefore has its place. But if you simply want discussion around your own club then CTO is a far superior medium in which to do that. CTO has so many advantages in terms of it's structure, functionality and quality of discussion. Maybe the mods here get things wrong from time to time, but the thing is that all people should be able voice their opinions or ask questions without being subjected to some sarcastic or abusive comment from some know it all with far more ego than respect for others. Of course there are people on here who some will find irritating in one way or another, but this is a club specific site and one of the joys of it is that it provides a platform for all. If you don't like a particular poster then settings allow you to ignore them or you can simply scroll down to the next post without reading. We are very fortunate to have such a well structured and well run site. Long may it continue!

Same for me. And also for the manager to continue with a positive and attractive style of play. Where this takes us is anybody's guess. We have a small squad and regardless of how good they are and how well they gel together as a team, all of that can be turned on its head with a bad run of injuries. We have seen before how we have struggled with 4 or 5 regulars missing but also how we can go on decent runs when able to field most of the first choice 11. Our success also depends on the squads and fortunes of the other teams last year. Every year this division finds one or two teams doing better than expected and others less well. One hope (rather than an expectation) is that Aaron Doran gets back to his best. After his horrific injury he has put in a lot of really hard work to get himself back in the side but he has yet to show the same speed and sharpness that he did before. He's still young though and maybe a combination of continued recovery and experience will help him become a really effective player at this level. I think the lad deserves some success and I think the club deserve it too for the support they have given him and the faith shown to give him a new contract. Fingers crossed.

Speaking as one of the new CJT Board (and, I would emphasise these are my personal views) I see nothing at all wrong with CJT members airing their personal views in public. Indeed, I think it is good that they do if it stimulates debate. CJT's purpose is described in it's rules as "to be the vehicle through which a healthy, balanced and constructive relationship between the club and its supporters and the communities it serves is encouraged and developed". Included in the objects to achieve that purpose is the phrase " by being the democratic and representative voice of the supporters of the club". It is difficult to see how we can do that if we do not ourselves encourage and participate in debate. The concept of being the representative voice of the supporters is important. Whatever our own views may be, our rules require us to be representative. That means listening to what the supporters think and in some cases this may mean that CJT as a Board take a formal position different from that of the majority of the Board members. Board members are democratically accountable to the membership for their actions But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The new Board has only had one meeting and the most important business there was to agree to invite the 3 people whose submissions were slightly late, on to the Board. Two accepted and one declined. So two of the Board members have not yet had the opportunity to attend a meeting and some of us are still to meet each other. Despite that, Don has provided an update following the first meeting which states clearly that work has already started on getting the 2 key issues of communication channels and membership properly functional. Work is also going on to ensure the procedural side of things is consistent with good practice and above all, the law. Only when these bits of infrastructure are properly in place can the CJT Board be in a position to legitimately represent the supporters. And remember, this includes being the custodians of the precious 10+ % voting right at club level. It is therefore very clearly in the interests of supporters who want the supporters' voice heard at club level, to support the CJT Board in getting the infrastructure properly in place and in encouraging debate. As a new Board member who had only met one of the the other Board members before, I am really quite excited by the potential for this new Board to develop a Supporters Society with an effective and representative voice within the club. But it can't be done overnight. To use the vehicle analogy in CJT's purpose, I'm afraid we have inherited a vehicle that has been in a bit of a car crash. Work is currently going on behind the scenes to do the major repairs necessary to get it through the MOT (AGM in December). If we can achieve that, then we'll be back on the road. Personally, I see the main role of the current CJT Board as getting the Supporters' Society (CJT) up and running again. Where we go from there will be up to those elected at the AGM.

Maybe the Board will do that - especially for you!

No.

Succinct.

Whether a game against Premiership opposition is necessary or not is, of course, down to the management, What surely is not necessary is to choose to play it at a time when a World Cup Semi Final is live on TV. It is in that sense that I am referring to this as a totally unnecessary bit of work.

That's not the point. The players are being asked to do a totally unnecessary bit of work on an evening when they don't normally work and when the management know that the players would rather be watching the semi-final and that the crowd will be pitifully small because of the other game. Bear in mind as well that the game is related to the players trade and they can learn from the game. It is difficult to see what is to gain from this match. One thing it certainly won't do if it goes ahead at the same time as the SF is enhance the relationship between players and management. That seems to me to be a really important consideration at the start of the season with new lads coming in. Renegade's suggestion is an excellent one. My one concern is that the bar might not be able to accommodate every one. I've no idea whether it would be possible to show the game on a portable big screen to allow supporters to watch the Semi-final from the stands, but having the two games back to back could make it a rather good summer's evening festival of football. Might give the players and management the chance to mingle with the fans and use it as a great PR exercise.

To be honest, I can't see the players being too happy about it either. What footballer would not want to watch the World Cup Semi-final? In any case, we have 2 matches scheduled the day before so presumably all the squad will be heavily involved in one of those two. So I'm not sure what benefit this game would be to us so soon before the Cove game just 3 days later. Seems like a really bad idea all round to me .

Apparently Steve Marsella is the goalkeeping coach for the Philippines

Fingers crossed, but I can't help fearing that there will be some serious trouble . I ought to be anticipating a feast of football and, as an Englishman, having a hope that Southgate has breathed some fresh life into England and that we may progress fairly deep into the tournament playing attractive football (for a change) . Sadly, I don't really feel that enthused. I'm looking forward to the game against Cove on July 14th though.

As an Englishman I have to applaud a magnificent performance by Scotland, particularly so as England fielded a very strong team. All of Scotland's top order batsmen contributed and then the bowlers stuck at it when it looked at one point as though England might knock off the runs with several overs to spare. As Kingsmills says, this really shows up the idiocy of the ICC. Cricket really needs more teams playing at the top level for the game to survive, but I guess in the short term, the ICC are (like other sports) being dictated to by the TV companies. Hopefully they will both reflect on the impact a game like this would have on viewing figures had it happened in the world cup.

Before we have an agreed song for the team to run out to, it would be useful to have a PA system that allowed us all to hear it properly.