DoofersDad

I don't think Bell lost interest. He always seemed to give 100% as far as I was concerned. He certainly started the season more effectively than he finished it but I think there are 2 reasons for that. Firstly, playing with Baird suited him. Baird was also small and so our style of play reflected that with balls played on the deck. The emergence of Oakley and latterly Austin changed the way we played and Bell seemed to play a little wider and deeper when paired with them. The second reason is that defenders became more effective in simply bullying him off the ball. He's a lively player and has an eye for the snap shot at goal. He's OK as a squad player at this level but I'd definitely rate Oakley, Austin and MacKay ahead of him.

John Terry did a decent job at Villa this season and he’s 37. I don’t think Warren is quite the player he was but I’m not sure it is an age thing. He’s not been the same since he came back from his leg break in my view. Always gives 100% and always will but I doubt that he would always be in Robbo’s starting lineup next season. I don’t see Warren as a bench warming sort of player so if he wants to move to secure regular games then he has that option

I see that Liam Dalgarno, the chap behind the local Subway franchises has joined the Board. https://ictfc.com/news/club-news/2221-liam-dalgarno-joins-the-ict-board I can't comment on the appointment other than to say that a Board of only 4 Directors was certainly too small. Hopefully this is a positive move for the Club.

I wonder if fans of Liecester City have this kind of discussion?

I first thought he was like an Austin Allegro - wouldn’t run for 20 minutes without breaking down. Then it was Tracy Austin - delivering more than first impressions suggested. I’m now thinking he could be a Jane Austen - quietly developing into a classic. I think a combination of Austin, Oakley and MacKay will cause opponents a lot of problems next season.

If we can't afford him then he's over-priced. He scored a few with us but he's done nothing either before or since. Apart from his spell with us his career record is 12 goals from 124 appearances. Just 2 goals from 33 appearances with Partick. It may be he would be keen to return in the hope of re-igniting his form, but if he came here it would need to be on our terms and not his.

Thanks. If my own pharmacological support isn’t enough I’ll give you a call.

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?

Buns in the oven in a convent! Surely not!

Where I live there is no chance of getting fibre any time soon. But I do have experience of TalkTalk. They consistently come bottom of customer satisfaction surveys and with good reason.

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.

I hope it does bring in a lot of cash to the treasury because a lot went out of the treasury in terms of security costs. The whole route of the carriage procession was lined on both sides with police with roughly every third one clutching powerful automatic weapons to their chests. And that was just the visible security. I don't know if this was a response to what was seen as a viable specific threat or whether it was just reflection the general level threat felt to exist. Either way, it was a sober reminder of how fragile our peaceful, democratic way of life is. Whatever you may feel about people getting into positions of privilege and influence as a result of who their parents are rather than because they have earned it, the fact is that the British Royal family are hugely popular and events like royal weddings bring a lot of joy and happiness to millions. In their day to day lives the senior royals do a lot of good work, much of it very much behind the scenes. And the young royals are increasingly getting involved in more challenging issues. If the most deprived in society can feel that the most high profile and privileged people in the country genuinely care about their plight and want to to something to help then it can have a profound effect on people's lives. I think that Harry and Megan are going to be a very effective team in developing this positive aspect of the royal family. The security at their wedding reminded us that there is evil lurking in our society, but as the sun shone on the cheering crowds and the happy couple, the joy and goodness of people shone through. Long may that continue.

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.