clacher_holiday2

The pull of the EPL is hitting clubs in all countries, including England and Scotland. The closest league side to me is Plymouth Argyle and I have never once seen a kid in an Argyle shirt, its all Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal. In Scotland, traditionally it was Celtic and Rangers who would suck up all the support from the towns around the country but moving forward they will suffer from it aswell, their perceived 'big club' status doesnt hold up today with people of all ages having instant access not just to the games but to fans of other clubs via social media. Historically people would only ever interact with other football fans at work or in the pub, it made sense to support the Old Firm with their universal printed media coverage or your local side who you will have greater access to. 3 years ago when we last had an Old Firm derby, there were bugger all armchair fans out in the pubs for it, yet when Manchester United play Arsenal or any other SUPERSUNDAY event takes place, theyre packed out. The printed medium is dead to an entire generation, in favour of a globalised news network and communications, where finding something to talk about or somebody to wind up over a football game is just a button click away. You can watch any top level game at home for free and talk about it online, nowadays you can go to any pub and find folk to talk football with, in my eyes these people are supporting a TV program rather than a sport but it has proved to be the peoples choice. It wouldnt shock me to see more football shirts for EPL clubs sold in kids sizes around Scotland than all Scottish clubs, its the same globalisation people accept happily when they talk about their favourite music, tv or films. Nobody expects people to only listen to Scottish bands, irrespective of their quality but purely because they are Scottish, so why should we be expected to bother with Scottish football just because its local? This has been a running thing for me for 4 years now but the only hope for Scottish Football is Summer football pretty much immediatley, we need to be playing the 3 months a year without the English Premier League on TV and we have to start now before we turn into the Irish league. There is no way for us to compete with the billions in marketting the EPL as a brand offers, so we need to re-align ourselves to the best 2nd tier position possible, which to me is summer football.

Ryan Christie would be an ideal candidate for one of these 'buy then loan back' deals I hate, yet seem to happen all the time these days.

Scottish Premiership Sa 09Aug 2014 Hamilton 0 - 2 Inverness CT W Scottish Premiership We 13Aug 2014 Inverness CT 0 - 0 Dundee D Scottish Premiership Sa 16Aug 2014 Motherwell 0 - 2 Inverness CT W Scottish Premiership Sa 23Aug 2014 Inverness CT 1 - 0 Celtic W Scottish Premiership Sa 30Aug 2014 Inverness CT 2 - 0 Kilmarnock those are this seasons results so far. Scottish Premiership Sa 03Aug 2013 Inverness CT 3 - 0 St Mirren W Scottish Premiership Sa 10Aug 2013 Dundee Utd 0 - 1 Inverness CT W Scottish Premiership Sa 17Aug 2013 Inverness CT 2 - 0 Motherwell W Scottish Premiership Sa 24Aug 2013 Celtic 2 - 2 Inverness CT D Scottish Premiership Sa 31Aug 2013 Inverness CT 2 - 0 Hearts W Scottish Premiership Sa 14Sep 2013 Kilmarnock 1 - 2 Inverness CT W Scottish Premiership Sa 21Sep 2013 Aberdeen 1 - 0 Inverness CT First 7 games last year up until our first loss. To me those results are more impressive, the Celtic Draw, Motherwell and Dundee United wins stack up werll considering how the league ended up. Plus the dropped points v Celtic away from home, having gone 2-0 up, is far superior to the 0-0 home draw with Dundee this term. As I say though, 4 points from our next 2 matches and we will be further ahead than we were last time, so we can't do much more than what we're doing already.

I was about to ask if this had been our best start to a SPL campaign ever but last years was superior, just. This stage last year we had 4 wins and 1 draw (away to Celtic 2-2, our only conceaded goals) and a goal difference of +8, we then beat Killie away 2-1 before going down 1-0 away to Aberdeen. Our next 2 games are away to Partick and at home to St Johnston, 4 points from those and we'll have done better than last year, has to be a short term target. I've been really biting my lip this past couple of weeks about how impressed I've been for fear of jinxing it. Hughes hasnt totally won me over yet but the clean sheets are a major plus in that direction.

Nothing short of 60% ball retention will be acceptab;e. The league doesnt matter.

Superb result, happy I lost 20quid betting on Motherwell.

I've said this before but you have to consider the benefit to us in the long term of allowing players to move on to bigger clubs or better leagues in attracting promising young players from elsewhere. A selling club that develops talent has to actually sell players or the masterplan doesnt work, especially given the perceived downsides of asking a young player to move a million miles away into the frozen wilderness to get a game. You have to be able to tell prospects over a contract signing that players X, Y and McZ all signed similar low income deals but we provided a proven platform that eventually leads to big money elsewhere. If you hang onto guys until they become totally irrelevant or we try to nickel and dime buying clubs in transfer negotiations then the rest of the current squad will be more reluctant to sign extended deals and new recruits will be more reluctant to take the gamble on us.

Stevie MAy is better than Billy. If we were offered 300k I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.

lol@county. just noticed

If it was ever going to be then it wouldve been on MFR or a Dundee station, doesnt look like theres any interest tonight.

Any radio coverage for this besides the BBC?

I've not checked elsewhere but Birmingham seem awfully generous at 19/20 on Skybet to beat a side who could only take Fleetwood at home by 1 goal, considering Birmingham have had a decent pre-season so far.

I'd sooner wear that horrific commonwealth games outfit than the begging rags the no voters lining the streets and underground in London covet lol

is he a good honest laddie though?

Think thats going to happen, not one person has messaged me asking for it lol. 12th Man, you have my address already.

The buildings in Dundee arent lying all over the street lol

No chance its going on ebay, even for a charity auction, I do want the shirt myself but I know theres many more deserving of the prize. Even if it raised a couple of hundred quid in a charity auction (at the most), what good will that do a local charity? Not much. I/We need to figure out how best to decide where its new home should be. I'm open to suggestions.

A bit cosy for my tastes but I'm sure somebody will take you up on this generous offer

Birmingham is without doubt the most miserable and derelict City on this island. Cracking fixture though.

Quite a few but I am too polite to name them. Another suggestion would be to give it to one of the overseas fans who rarely if ever get a chance to watch games other than on TV or Internet links. Id much rather let somebody who has suffered for the cause claim the thing. That means lots of travel, not being retired, being anti-hughes etc lol Im a mere 500 miles away myself.

This could get complicated. Give me a few hours and I'll figure out the best way to find the most deserving person of the signed shirt.

Theyre the last people I'd give it to auction. Tbh its a rare thing so I'd rather it went to the most deserving person rather than the person with the deepest pockets.

I doubt that'll be topped. What other animals have people taken to the football this past year?

I appreciate that 12th Man but the shirt should go to somebody who deserves it more than me, its not the sort of prize that comes up on here very often . So who on here went to the following matches? October 2013 Sat 5 A St. Johnstone League 0 - 4 January 2014 Wed 1 H Ross County League 1 - 2 February 2014 Sat 8 A Stranraer Scottish Cup / 5th Round 2 - 2 March 2014 Sat 1 A Celtic League 0 - 5 Sun 9 H Dundee Utd Scottish Cup / Q-Final 0 - 5 April 2014 Sun 27 A Celtic League 0 - 6

Seems to be my kind of luck these days. Superb stuff. As much as I'd love to own it, I've hardly been the most loyal fan over the past couple of years, there will be a more deserving owner. How about running an auction on here, with the money going towards a local charity? Do any of you know somebody with a real hard luck story who would be cheered up somewhat by the shirt? Would there be any interest? If there isn't likely to be interest, then I'll have it for sure lol. I might even bid in an auction myself.