FoolPhysio

So is it less a case of what was said and more about the manner in which it was said? I'm with those who think that sticks and stones are (relatively) harmless, it is all to do with intention. In most cases it is due to a general ignorance and so no amount of complaining will change it. Some of it is gentle ribbing and banter as long as those giving it out are willing to take it back. And some is deliberately set out to insult. So by not getting insulted makes you a better person than they are. Mind you, calling a player a useless t055er is OK (and in some cases warranted), but there is no need to point out their skin colour since that makes no difference to how talented or capabable they are. Neither is their nationality.

Do we publish our accounts for general public or do you need to get them from Comapnies House?

Sorted, like your style man! :D

Fairy nuff . . . so there are 6 games left, and we are "only" 4 points ahead, and others have had much bigger points advatnages and watched them melt away (snigger) but c'mon . . . have we not shown that we are capable? Are we not changing from canter to gallop at just the right time, when the objective is in sight and we KNOW we can do it?? Yes, it will be sackcloth and ashes should we fail but but not only are ahead AND on current form the strongest contender. This isn't mis-placed optimism. I BELIEVE!

I had big doubts about Terry and June, based mainly on past record coupled with the distraction of the Scotland job and I agree, since that has been taken away it is no coincidence that our fortunes have changed. I also agree that it is personal for Butcher - like (or perhaps even more than) the players, there is always one eye on what else is out there and where next to progress a career, and football like many other industries is one where you are only as good as your last job. Butcher will be looking to add promotion to the SPL on first attempt as a major qualification on his CV. Question is, will he stay with us once we move up or will the next Rangers / Celtic (nae likely but . . .) / Aberdeen / Hearts etc etc vacancy tempt him away - or even move to the English leagues?

I BELIEVE!

Quite right - cautious optimism is all very well, but we ARE an SPL team. We've proven it before, and we will prove it again. We just have to make sure that when we get there next time we stay there!!!

Lets look at ICT as the model for what RC can achieve - a place in the top flight and the boost in income that it can provide. In order to get there ICT had to look and act more as a professional club, in order to be taken seriously by the SPL and SFA as contenders and not just as relegation fodder doing the perpetual yo-yo in promotion / relegation / promotion ad nauseum. But were we ever likely to make a significant increase in our fan base to go along with it? Answer, no, not really. So income may have increased a bit due to our ability to not only enter but stay in the SPL for an extended period, but we also needed to be conscious of the fact that we could get relegated as in fact did happen. The mettle of both the club and the fans has been tested by the determination to go straight back up to where we "rightfully" belong, and I feel we are all doing our part to achieve it. The point here is that the Club had to factor in that the core support is the principle source of income, but it is not just what we bring in to the club but our share of much larger fan bases which we gained from the SPL. As pointed out in other threads, our spend had to be tempered not in what we are earning now, but what we may be earning next year and beyond - exactly what any sensible business should do, along with provision for continegencies by putting surplus aside and not splurging it all. But football is no different from any other business. There are those who plan ahead and are able to thrive, those who plan but become victims of circumstance, those who plan but get tempted by short-termist thinking and those whose whole basis is short-termism and want it all now, not later. And we can all name clubs who fit into all of those profiles, just as we can name business in just about any industry who are similar. And there are businesses that we think of as customer focused and those we think are simply wanting to take what they can get - question is, is the former more successful than the latter? Dross C*unty could learn quite a bit from us, if they chose to do so, in how we have managed to move from two moderately successful Highland league teams into being consdiered as SPL regulars - we must have been doing something right, even if there were mistakes being made by the Club in underestimating the effect that certain actions and decisions would cause dissatisfaction if not disaffection. Fact is, while the regular attenders and stalwarts felt they were being treated less as friends and more as consumers, ICT profile overall was being boosted and I know from speaking to other clubs fans that there is a genuine soft-spot towards us, and that comes mainly from the interactions they have with our fans. How much of that is the Highland sensibility and how much is the lack of generational animosity that other more established clubs have built up against each other I don't know, but we are what makes this club great and I think that they (the Club) are now realising that. But to maintain reasonable income we need to be in the SPL and the longer we were out of it, the harder it would be to get back and the less likely we could stay in even when we did. We ARE an SPL team currently taking a one season trip in the First Division - if C*unty wants to be like us, they'll need to get into that same way of thinking!

2 more goes, scored 276 on 3rd attempt with 2 wrong. Fastest answer 1 sec, longest 3 secs. Might be able to add a few more points on overall total but it looks haaaaard to improve on!

273 points at first attempt, got 3 wrong though

Thanks for that mate. Gave it a try though and there doesn't seem to be a way to narrow it down to location. I'll give it another try, but if anyone wants to reply to this thread just to say hi that would be excellent! :D

Just a thought but . . . are there any other ICT fans over here in Furry Boot Town doing the missionary work amongst the heathens? Because my kids are still a bit wee and I have them over weekends I cannot really manage to those games but if there are fans travelling to mid-week games setting off from here or here-abouts we might be able to arrange a car-share or something? Even just knowing some fans in the area who have regular-ish meetings would be nice - never know, there might even be an Aberdeen equivalent to the Innes!

what a pr!ck possibly the first time in about 10 years someone has got me with an april fool... take a boo son take a boo Aye, me too . . . and I thought I was "fool" proof!!

Just found that out too, some players went over the 19 points threshold, raging.Looks like its a fine and we lose 3 points and county get them. As long as we are only losing the 3 points from the game, and not any more, it is all still to play for. Could do without losing money though . . .

Where did you get the intel from?

I'm sure that is a mis-spelling . . . and if it is then take out the "almost" ;)

I don't get to any games - I get my kids at the weekends and they are 2 and 4 year olds, both with the attention span of amnesic goldfish. I live in Stonehaven, 15 miles south of Aberdeen. Can't wait to get my older lass to a game though, and I want her first experience to be a Caley one. Next time we get drawn against Aberdeen (Cup this year or next season in the League :huh: ) then I might be able to take her along by herself. Two are just too much of a handful . . .