Yngwie

I’d hope and expect that there will be some trialists training with the squad in the next couple of weeks, as usually happens at this stage of the season.

Incredibly he didn’t even get a yellow for it!

Nice story here about when the late Craig Brown phoned Wilson in 2001 to invite him into the Scotland squad and having a good conversation, before it became apparent that he’d phoned the wrong Barry. https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/10902366/barry-wilson-nicholson-scotland-squad-craig-brown-phone-mixup/

I saw it earlier when it was public - a bizarre incident and looked unprovoked. Rather disgraceful behaviour, unfortunately.

Broadfoot was, without doubt, a very good signing for us. Maybe he was signed on footballing merit?

It’s good that we are a club with a chairman willing to pick up the phone to a concerned fan - but it really shouldn’t have come to that if the basic communication and customer service processes were at the level they should be.

No that’s not at all what I’m saying. He’s an idiot who deserved the punishment and condemnation that he got. Hopefully he has learned from it, especially if he ends up signing for us.

That’s not remotely what I said, as I think you well know. Just saying that someone who married a catholic and went to mass is unlikely to have deep seated hatred of Catholics and is more likely to be plain stupid with the sectarian stuff he came out with. At ICT games have you ever felt you are in the presence of hundred of racist gypsy haters? The outdated, ill advised and illegal outcome is the same but I don’t think the underlying hatred is really there, at least I hope it isn’t.

I presume you are unaware that that he married a Catholic? Seems more likely that he is just a bit stupid and over-exuberant in giving certain fans what they want, rather than having genuine sectarian attitudes.

To be fair, we’d have fared better last season if we had a player like Lafferty, Graham or Whyte. We’ve lacked a physical presence up front for years.

Where are you seeing that?

There don’t appear to be many/any easy fixtures in this league!

Well, giving Billy the deal he wants would certainly make sense for Billy! But not necessarily for ICT. Worst case scenarios from the club’s perspective are that we commit a very high wage that we cannot afford in season 24/25, or that our highest wage is going on a fringe player who by then is way past his best. Given Billy’s age, the longer the contract, the lower his weekly wage should be, because a year or two from now he cannot reasonably be expected to be as good and as fit as he is now. Maybe the sticking point is that the player wants the same wage for 2 years as was offered for 1? Whatever is going on, I really hope they can find a deal that works for both sides, but I’m not optimistic.

I’d class those issues you’ve listed as very poor “Customer Service” rather than “Communication” which to me is more about the club providing fans with relevant information. Communication in that regard has also been a failing of course - although I would say it has been noticeably better in the last few months albeit from a point where it couldn’t have been much worse. On the Customer Service failings, obviously this was a busy period and they struggled to cope, but you are absolutely right to make the club aware of how bad it was.

We’ve signed midfielder Charlie Gilmour on a 2 year deal. Was on loan at Cove last season. Was a promising youngster who didn’t quite make the grade at big clubs and was frequently out on loan. We’ve done alright over the years with players like that who are looking to make their mark and establish themselves somewhere, so here’s hoping this works out well for all concerned.

Erm…

He’s entitled to ditch us in favour of our hated local rivals, and I’m entitled to wish him every possible misfortune while he’s there.

He’d be a great signing but I’d expect him to get better offers - unless his relatively subdued performance in the cup final has put other teams off. Here’s hoping!

The only thing better than a late winner is an undeserved late winner! Absolute scenes in our house (all the more because the missus had stuck a bet on 2-1). This was all after I had spent 85 minutes thinking my decision to cave in and pay for Viaplay was a bad one!

Watkins should still be a very good player in the Championship but I cannot imagine that he’d drop down to the sort of wages that we can afford. Much more likely to end up at the likes of the Dundee clubs or County if he stays in Scotland.

Note the request for people to contact Robbo, which means he is still with us.

It’s a good update and an interesting read - the kind of update I think we’d all like to see on a more frequent basis.

Reaching a certain number of appearances often triggers entitlement to an extension (like Billy Mckay has) but with that vague statement it could be conditional upon anything, really. The weather? The price of fish?

Yes that is good news.

Yeah that’s the one, famous for the ‘Brutalist’ architecture of the concrete stand. Caley actually got drawn there twice in the cup in the 1980s and I was there as a lad. 2-0 win in 1984 (but only after Gala should’ve taken the lead but hit the post with a penalty) and then about 5 years later a 2-2 draw followed by a 4-1 win in the replay.