Yngwie

Reminds me of this tweet.

Logan Chalmers is off to Tranmere on loan, his 3rd loan deal from Dundee Utd in 12 months, after ourselves and Ayr.

Ross Tokely’s short term deal at Nairn has been extended to the end of next season (he’s already43!)

0-0 FT. Not a bad result against the league leaders I suppose, and a decent day overall with none of the teams above us getting 3 points.

Disappointed to see that Oakley is contracted until the end of next season. Signing him hasn’t really worked out in the way that any of the parties hoped, so far at least.

I hope our fans weren’t scared off by this fearsome new Arbroath mob!

It would be great to say that we’ve turned the corner, but hard to be conclusive on that when these wins have been against unspectacular opposition. It certainly appears though that we’ve at least stopped the rot, the low point being at Partick where the performance was a couple of levels below what previous depleted line ups had managed. Having Devine and Ridgers back since then could be a big factor, it’s so important to be solid at the back and that often seems to give confidence to the whole team. Also, Henderson seems to have brought some new life into the attack, and having the 3 HL loanees back has strengthened the match day squads a bit, all having contributed. Some grounds for optimism but Queens will be a much tougher challenge and I’m certainly not at the stage where I’m expecting us to win.

Had to Google that reference, what with me being a mere youngster

Just checked and you are right with 4-1 in Nov-96. The 7-0 in the LC was at home.

More likely they’ll argue that a different manager would have won these games more convincingly!

Our previous 10 league goals took 12 matches!

Must be our biggest win at Gayfield? It’s a ground ICT have always hated playing at but we have had good results there recently.

Graeme Shinnie (now 31) has gone on loan from Wigan to Aberdeen.

My attention was caught more by the utter laziness of the defender who just stood and let it happen!

Just had a look, I think it was Billy at Elgin in the Challenge Cup in 2021. Last hattrick in the League seems to be Nathan Austin v Dumbarton almost 5 years ago.

When was our last hattrick?

Incredible result given recent performances.

Well today I’m just glad to have got through a Saturday afternoon without ICT getting beat. Happy new year when it comes!

The only way we could be in truly safe hands given our current predicament would be if we were owned by someone very rich, generous and possessing honourable intentions for ICT. I don’t know any of the Board or major shareholders but I’m pretty sure they would all jump at the chance to step aside and let someone else have a go. Are the current lot doing a good job? Mixed - clearly there are a lot of well documented problems and things that could/should have been done better. On the plus side, we still exist, as a full time club, and have retained the youth setup. Any or all of those 3 core things could easily have gone since relegation, it’s clearly been a struggle to retain them, and it appears to be the case that directors have been putting their own cash in to maintain those things and pay the bills, something that they are not obliged to do. Until I see evidence to the contrary, I am willing to believe that the people involved are doing their best for ICT under very difficult circumstances, but if there are people who could do better I’d love to see them step forward.

Maybe it’s more the case that people are helpfully providing factual information, but you dismiss it because it doesn’t support the conclusion you want to reach?!

And Hughes. Trouble is, if we keep paying Dodds his salary, what do we pay the new manager with?! Has to come from somewhere. The substantial amounts we have had to pay to these ex managers is a factor in our demise, monies that could otherwise have gone into the playing squad. I’m not saying you don’t sack managers, but the money aspect is a big consideration for the Board, especially when we are pretty much broke.

Likewise. Maybe a drop-in session before matches. He is retired as a surgeon but I’m sure keeps his saw sharp.

As has been said before by others, the directors would be acting in breach of their statutory duties if they settled, to the detriment of ICT, the debts of an unrelated company (it is legally unrelated, despite some connections). Doing so would also put us straight into administration, as opposed to the mere possibility that exists. SG has acknowledged that one local company the club deals with is unhappy with the club over, who knows if that is the full story though. In due course, the liquidator should file a report that lists the unpaid creditors and the amounts they were due, so we’ll get a better understanding of the extent to which the unpaid debts were with local businesses.

Yes the only remotely positive thing from that interview was the suggestion of new players coming in. But isn’t is the sporting director rather than Dodds who identifies and secures the targets? Time for Robbo to start proving his worth in that respect. As for how we can fund them - maybe there are players on their way out (Barrett was short term but might there be others?), maybe there are some cheap loan deals on the cards, maybe the new director has put some money in to make signings possible, maybe a combination of these? The line-ups we’ve had recently are not going to win many matches, regardless of who the manager is, so reinforcements would be welcome.

I actually though Dodds had a further year, my mistake, but the point still stands, an unplanned outflow of a five figure sum is money we just don’t have. SG has been very open that the club treads a fine line in terms of cash flow and has relied on a combination of the directors putting more money in and suppliers agreeing to extended credit.