MrCaleyjag
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While I applaude your forward thinking and ideas out of the box, is this really what we need right now? Over recent years we've struggled to run a football club let along a side line. This brings with it even more financial pressures which we can do without. For me the whole focus needs to be on the club for what it is just now. If it was a genuine viable option why isn't every other club doing it?I'm of the opinion that even if it was a PR exercise then so be it, however I don't think it was. I do believe it's genuine and laying things out for transparency. They have to do it if they are to attract investors and additions to the board, only a fool would go in blind - I'm sure you know all this anyway. The youth system quite honestly is a luxury we can't afford and given the choice I'm sure we'd all choose to lose it first over the club. If you break it down as well, has the youth setup brought about more benefits than downsides or is it the other way round? We need to be producing one or two players a year of genuine quality to justify the hefty outlay and that's relying on them generating money, even then our recent dealings in the selling market in recent years has been awful except for the sale of Ryan Christie.Often forgotten that he spent two spells with us so we obviously made an impression during the first one, he certainly made an impression on his return that most of us will never forget. Can't add anymore to what has already been said above, great shame that his career ended this way so early but he can retire safe in the knowledge that he contributed hugely to our success and left very little out on the pitch.
Ayr we go Ayr we go Ayr we go..... Saturday 5th October sees Inverness Caledonian Thistle make the trip south to Somerset Park to face Ayr United in the league. At 205 miles it marks the second longest journey ICT and their home based fans face on league business, only seconded by trips to Dumfries. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Supporters bus to Ayr Bus to Ayr leaves Caley Club 8.45 ...Stadium 9.00 ....Sat5th Oct . Book on Facebook or 07462 218717 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBBO55 years young ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mr Caley Jag is our scribe this week with this Preview for you....... On that travel basis alone their fans will undoubtedly be hoping for a better showing than the last display their team put on against Patrick Thistle when they were roundly defeated 3-1 at the Caledonian Stadium, some professing that the team didn’t turn up at all. That defeat brought the team and fans firmly back down to earth with a bang and the reality of another hard slog in the Championship hit home. Form Up until that point the Caley Jags were unbeaten in 6 games in all competitions recording 5 wins and 1 draw while Partick had only recorded wins in the league cup and 2 draws in the league, so form was firmly turned on its head. Our current points total of 13 from a possible 21 sees us sitting in third spot in the league 4 points clear of Dundee but 5 points behind Ayr Utd. In stark contrast Ayr United sit second on goal difference behind Dundee Utd having gone on a 5 game winning run in the league and recording only one defeat at the hands of Dundee back on the 10th August. Somerset Park has become a daunting venue for teams to visit this season and none to date have come up with any answers and walk away with any points. Ayr lost manager Ian McCall to Championship rivals Partick Thistle a couple of weeks ago and it was he who guided Partick to that win over the Caley Jags last weekend. Sandy Stewart is the caretaker boss of the Honest Men and McCall reckons he is the man who should get the permanent position at Somerset Park. He also reckons that Ayr are the best team in the Championship, but their size of squad will curtail their ambitions. Anyway, not his problem now that he has fecked off to the big money at Firhill, bloody wee Jobby. All competitions since start of the League cup on 13th July over 90mins. Ayr: WLWDWLWWDWW ICT: DWWLLWDWWWWL It’s certainly not a game to pick for your coupon that’s for sure unless you’re chasing the odds with the bookies only slightly favouring Ayr United arguably on their recent league form and the fact they are at home. Teams Inverness welcomed Brad McKay and Mitch Curry back to training last week following bouts out with injury and it remains to be seen if they’ll be fit enough to feature in any capacity. If not, they may get a run out against Brora Rangers on Sunday in the NoS Cup final. James Keatings remains out with ankle ligament damage while we await news on whether Tom Walsh will back in the team line up after he missed out against Partick. There’s no new injury concerns since the defeat to Partick unless the weekly mystery injury strikes. Ayr Utd – Life after Lawrence Shankland seems to be doing just fine at Somerset Park. With 5 wins on the bounce, Ayr would appear to have little worries ahead of this encounter. We do seem to be a bit of an Achilles Heel for the Honest Men, but that can't go on forever. Stevie Bell will be another couple of weeks before he is ready and the experienced Mark Kerr is a major doubt. Jamie Adams, Frank Ross, and Andy Murdoch are out with injuries. Other than that I expect United to be on similar lines to the last few weeks, and why not, it's working well. Here's Robbo ahead of the trip to Ayr. Championship fixtures this weekend Alloa Athletic 1-0 Dundee United Ayr united v Inverness CT Dundee v Arbroath Morton v Dunfermline Partick Thistle v Queen of the South ICT News Chief Executive Scot Gardiner sheds some light on the clubs financial situation ahead of the EGM on the 3rd October on BBC Sport Former director Graeme Bennett on what he hopes to hear/see from the forthcoming EGM can be seen in the Press & Journal ICT EGM – 3rd Oct Here's the Inverness Courier story after last nights meeting. On the back of the EGM, there will be a SUPPORTERS OPEN MEETING to be held on Tuesday 8th October, with arrival from 7pm for a 7:30pm start. Trip down memory lane 24th April 2010 Ayr United 0 - 7 Inverness Caledonian Thistle Team: Esson, Proctor, Munro, McBain (Bulvitis 26), Tokely, Hayes, Morrison, Duncan, Foran (Sanchez 64), Odhiambo (Eagle 71), Rooney Scorers: Hayes, Rooney, Foran, Odhiambo, Sanchez, Eagle, Morrison For me, this is arguably one of the best away games I have attended as a football fan and one of the best Caleyjag and I have been to together. Second last day of the season saw us guarantee the title and a return to the top flight at the first attempt under the tutelage of Terry Butcher. Chants of 'shoes up for the Caley Jags' while holding our shoes over our heads was a particular laughing point for me along with being on the pitch after the game calling out for TB to appear and address us. Aye, the sermon from the stand was brilliant! Sad news breaking with the passing of Hugh Crout, the former Caledonian FC President. “His partnership with his close friend, the late Alex Main, as team manager, was a winning combination at Telford Street. He was a real gentleman and made many friends in football, continuing his love for football by supporting ICT right up till the end. The highlight was seeing the club lift the Scottish Cup in 2015. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.” Some more sad news coming from Greg Tansey is that he will have to retire from football due to ongoing injury problems. You can read more on this in the Press & Journal. Greg played a major part in the making of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the Scottish Cup Winners, and he was one of the sweetest striker of a ball in the game. We wish Greg all the best for his future, wherever that will take him. Thanks for the memories Greg. Here's how Greg announced it on twitter....... Every footballer knows when they sign their first professional contract that it will eventually come to an end. Today is that day for me, an injury that I have been fighting for 2 years now has ended my career. On Sunday, The Pat Munro North of Scotland Cup Final against Brora Rangers FC ?3pm kick-off ?️Mosset Park, Forres ?️Adults: £10, Concessions: £5, Stand Entry: £2 Tickets available from the turnstiles on the day of the match (Cash Only) Info ? https://ictfc.com/match-info-north-of-scotland-cup-final-20… If you like a wee flutter, our partnership with FansBet can offer you something. Just click on FansBet to get started. "Remember to select CaleyThistleOnline when you register and you’ll be helping us support ICT fan causes." FansBet are partners with Supporters Direct Scotland and already have many impressive stories of giving back to and empowering fans, ranging from funding away travel, share purchases, backing safe standing projects and many more. You can read some of FansBet’s Giving Back stories on their blog at https://blog.fansbet.com/fansbet-giving-back/partners/fan/ Always remember to adopt safe gambling and responsible policies.I agree with you on this and if JR persists on starting with Jordan then we have to give him the service that his game deserves, if that's getting more balls in to the box from wider positions closer to the byline then that's what we should do. If JR is insistent on playing the same style of football then something will eventually have to give as the two clearly don't compliment each other. Long balls forward to a target man with his back to the goal suits Todorov, from what I've seen, and whipped crosses to be attacked suits Jordan.Everyone is allowed an off day and while I know you're not suggesting that the club change the captain on the back of Saturday, I do think it's a common misconception that your captain always has to be vocal and shouting instructions at players. Knowing how much of a professional Carl is he'll be his harshest critic. It's not just what you see on the pitch either: it's about what happens in the dressing room and on the training field; it's about how the individual projects themselves both on and off the pitch; it's about how they represent the club in a wider vain and not just on the pitch. Their ability to pass lessons onto younger players, interact with the backroom team, handle press conferences and the media after games, the list is endless. If Carl is not the type of player that barks orders at people then that particular role should be passed onto the vice-captain, someone who has different leadership abilities but compliments Carl. On the whole I believe every player has to take responsibility for their own actions and display while in the team and ultimately everyone is different, not everyone is a natural leader nor feel comfortable being vocal towards others. Also others don;t take too kindly to being barked at all the time.Scum is a pretty harsh word to use and doesn't exactly inspire anyone to come along. You'll always get this at football clubs and it will never change. I hate when people leave early but ultimately they've paid their money so can up and go when they want. At the end of the day it's up to the team to do it on the park to keep them coming back especially after the chief executive issues a rallying cry to entice people back. After that I guess it inevitable that we'd get beat.I'll just sneak out the back door then and take my prediction with me. Never again will I be so foolishIndeed even to sort out our deficit but their cash cow has withdrawn his support now so be interesting to see where they go from here, hopefully not to close to us though. Sometimes an injection of cash can be worse if not spent wisely especially if said backer then decides to walk away and take their money with them.£485000 this year on youth development, while admirable, is commercial suicide for a team like us especially given the track record of youngsters coming through in recent years as eluded to by bdu98196 above. Every business expects a return for it's investment and youth development is just that. Any potential investor or savour of the club, if it comes to it, would look to cut departments that make a loss and hemorrhage money so it's only logical that it's viability is questioned. I'm not up to speed with the SFA's Project Brave programme so if anyone is in the know then info would be appreciated but in the meantime do we not receive subsidies from the SFA towards youth development? I'm pretty sure it's not much of anything even if we do. I also think this sums up some of the the issues faced by Scottish football as a whole and why youth development should be nationalised and run, in part, by the governing body. They sit back and take the spoils but expect everyone else to do the dirty work. If a club our size is spending that eye-watering amount on youth development how much are every other club spending annually across the country and what total investment does that amount to? It would be interesting to see the total return on youth development across the board and may go a long way to explain why so many of our clubs are in such a mess financially. It's admirable that Scot Gardiner has spoken out in advance of the EGM to explain a few things but also believe it's a genuine rally call to everyone out their to come along on match day and attend when you can. If laying it out on the line isn't enough to bring people along then unfortunately nothing will.I almost forgot we had a game on Saturday what with all the off-field shenanigans from both teams that's kept everyone talking. Back to the football then should we wish. I'm sticking my neck on the line and predicting that we'll keep our winning run going, certainly expect no less than a point. If I'm wrong then I'll take all the pelters I'm due come 4:45pm on Saturday. I've seen/heard nothing from Partick this season to suggest that we should be fearful of them, certainly my prediction of Gary Caldwell being the first manager to get the dunt was correct, and while I expect them to be boosted in some way by Ian McCall I doubt he's had enough time to really work with the players. While most would have expected their defeat to Celtic on Wednesday it's still a game more than we've played since last Saturday and I think that'll show, hopefully we'll be sharper and less jaded. They'll be more organised but can they produce the extra quality that's needed to improve sufficiently, not for me. Hopefully we can start the game quick and take it to them from the outset. I expect us to field the same starting 11 as last weeks defeat of Queen of the South.If you believe the parting comments of Gary Caldwell we should be fearful of Partick on Saturday, after all I'm sure he said that he set the foundations for the club but then again he was sacked so ...................... It'll take McCall a while to establish himself and make a mark on that squad, Ayr will suffer but the loss of so many of their big players in the summer surely had a bearing on his decision to leave.Welsh sits no matter what, imo he's far better there and can control the midfield more. Doran doesn't have the legs to sit in the middle anymore and if he needs a rest or a breather it's not as noticable when he's in his normal wide position. Storey for Keatings is the obvious choice and hopefully he'll add drive to the attack from the middle and be a perfect runner off/behind WhiteSentiments shared and I would say that's it's something the management team have strived for since they came in. It says a lot now about the squad that we're having this discussion especially at this stage of the season, shows an appetite to be in the team and a desire for the players to push themselves and others. I can't argue with that starting 11 other than echoing the thoughts of others regards Keatings. At times I would swap White with Storey depending on who we are playing if the style of play suits.I'm normally of the opinion why worry about something that you can't influence and while what happens at the EGM, or the outcome of it, can't directly be influenced by me alone, it's not an attitude that sits well with me on this occasion but then what can I do. Indeed if everyone had that attitude then we would be in a far worse situation than we currently are. I like to think that I contribute as a fan when I can all-be-it would love to go to more games, probably all I could do is buy a ticket for each game even if I couldn't go. I would say that's an extreme measure though. That aside it'll be interesting to hear what the content of the EGM is and what it brings in the short and the long term, I'll reserve judgement on why it's been called until I know more information.Tops off his hard work and endeavor for all those years as a player, top striker in his day who justifiably deserves his place among the greats. Everyone connected to ICT should be proud for him and also proud to have him leading the helm, any little bit of positive exposure that anyone connected to the club gets can only be good for our profile generally.
Extraordinary Movement It's a home game this Saturday at the Caledonian Stadium as Queen of the South visit on Matchday 6 of the Scottish Championship with the prospect of an upcoming EGM looming large. MrCaleyJag is your previewer this week and here is what he has to say on the visit of the Queens. As the song goes it has a bridge and a castle and given ICT's recent run of results you'd be forgiven as a home fan in hoping that the Caledonian Stadium can be made a fortress as well. That's certainly the hope of the locals as they welcome Queen of the South on Saturday 21st September. In a fairly drab match last week away to Dunfermline, the visitors managed a plucky 1-0 win through a Sean Welsh penalty in the 87th minute, signs possibly that the team have that extra bit of persistence which they lacked last season that resulted in so many draws. Whatever the reason it was a much welcomed three points especially away from home to keep ICT in touch with Dundee Utd and Ayr at the top of the table. Even at this early stage of the season momentum is key and something that has lacked in recent seasons for the home side. Here's Sean tucking away the penalty last week. Queens make the long trek north to the home of football in the highlands on the back of their first league win of the season last week. A Faissal El Bakhtauoi goal saw the score line finish 1-0 in their favour against a Morton side who had showed indifferent form also. The Queens fans will be buoyed by the result and will be hopeful the win can be built upon. With the prolific Stephen Dobbie in your side, anything is possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RIP Fernando Ricksen who is at peace now after suffering at the hands of MND. He carried this wretched disease with great dignity and courage and is now free from his living hell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What's in store at the EGM will be revealed to all shareholders on the 3rd October and this is the worrying first sentence that will set the tongues wagging; and a following paragraph: "The Board of Directors of Inverness Thistle and Caledonian FC trading as Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (ICTFC) is committed a sustainable future for the Club." "The Board of Directors is convening an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) as an open and transparent forum for all shareholders to be briefed on our current issues and challenges, as well as consider some new proposals and other possible options. This open forum will also permit other Shareholders and potential benefactors to demonstrate their support for the Club. As there have been talks with a number of individuals and businesses over the last few months, it is the Club’s position that in the interest of transparency, the Shareholders should be updated about these talks, (where confidentiality allows) and therefore, an EGM is seen to be the reasonable platform for this." The full Club Statement can be read here https://ictfc.com/club-statement-on-3rd-october-2019-egm So, a rather ominous statement from the club, and despite our apparent run of form on the pitch, it's behind the scenes where issues are ongoing. I don't know what the public of Inverness expect or want, but if they would like to see a relatively successful club on the field of play then they need to get off their arses and get down to the Caledonian Stadium to help fund this. Unfortunately full-time clubs don't prosper with the meagre attendances alone that blight our Stadium. It's the same as any other facility/business 'Use it or Lose it'. Some pleasant news for a change and it's that John Robertson will be inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. There's an article on the OFFICIAL SITE regarding this so it's congratulations to John. Robbo insists it's business as usual on the park and after a steady start to the season we are looking to build on that and keep the pressure on the top two, Dundee United and Ayr United. Inverness sit third in the table on 10 points, just two points adrift of the top pair. We suffered a blow last week ahead of kick off when James Keatings was injured in a training incident with Charlie Trafford the day before the game at East End Park. James has since undergone tests and it appears he has suffered ankle ligament damage and will be out for a few weeks. That's disappointing for James as he was beginning to show his value on the park with goals and assists. Inverness will be without Brad Mckay and James Keatings, both out longer term. Mitch Curry is getting close to being ready to resume playing. I expect the team will be along similar lines to the past couple of Championship games. Sean Welsh could start and the only other alteration that is a possibility would be the inclusion of Nikolay Todorov. Roddy MacGregor is also doing his prospects no harm with his lively introductions. The MATCHDAY PROGRAMME Here's Johnny.................. OFFICIAL PREVIEW Allan Johnston has no fresh injuries to deal with and is confident of taking something from this game. In the first game last season up here Queens came from behind to snatch all three points and he will be looking for more of that determination again. Last season there were two draws and a win apiece. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Other Championship fixtures today, all 3:00pm kick off Alloa Athletic v Ayr United Dundee Uited v Arbroath Inverness CT v Queen ot South Morton v Dundee Partick Thistle v Dunfermline Athletic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you like a wee flutter, our partnership with FansBet can offer you something. Just click on FansBet to get started. "Remember to select CaleyThistleOnline when you register and you’ll be helping us support ICT fan causes." FansBet are partners with Supporters Direct Scotland and already have many impressive stories of giving back to and empowering fans, ranging from funding away travel, share purchases, backing safe standing projects and many more. You can read some of FansBet’s Giving Back stories on their blog at https://blog.fansbet.com/fansbet-giving-back/partners/fan/ Always remember to adopt safe gambling and responsible policies.I feel for you here, a legitimate attempt at a post actually meant for this forum after the last one and somehow the thread goes onto Fort William anyway ?
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