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The way I see it Scotty is that people up and down the country are admitting to things they have not done in pleading diets for their cases to be disposed of sooner, usually with the feeling that sentencing will be lighter. The jury had reasons to find that the prosecution did not prove their case either with regard to the religious aggrevation and the assault. I don't see how you believe we are both right, the cops had nothing to do with pressing for religious aggrivation to be pursued . If anything the PFs office, possibly under pressure of the Scottish Parliament, are to blame for failing to secure a guilty plea on the assault charge and failed to prove their case at trial.

As mentioned in my previous post, I have read reports that the guy was prepared to plead to the breach charge, and also to the assault charge if the cops would drop the religious tag on them ... they would not, so he pled not guilty. The more I read, the more it sounds like the cops over-reached on the charges and just could not prove them. they werent prepared to let go of the religious tag in the charge so the case was not proven. In my eyes, it was definitely an assault, and I think most would agree .... but there is no way any of us can say for sure it was religiously motivated. It might have been, it might not have been so perhaps, not-proven is actually the correct verdict ! I am not sure about where you live but in Scotland it is the procurator fiscal who decides whether or not any parts of the charge can be dropped in return for a guilty plea, not the "cops". I believe, from reports about the case, the jury in this case were given the option of removing the "religiously aggravated" parts of the charge to allow a guilty verdict on assault.

He spent over 100 days on remand, he was not jailed yesterday. The sectarian element was argued and was not proven to have existed, the jury also had the option of removing the sectarian part of the charges to secure an assault conviction. I find it hard to believe that someone who admits having not listened to a 3 minute radio report properly can come out and say they still hope there is scope for someone to be jailed even after a jury, a Sheriff and two legal teams have considered all the facts over a period of four days. No wonder there are so many ill informed opinions on Scottish football web forums.

He was jailed, for 110 days, I know many people with a string of assault charges on their records who have not done a day jail time, John Wilson was not convicted of assault. This case has been blown out of proportion due to the media coverage of it.

Everyone watches the game from a different perspective and all sorts of incidents/performences can have a bearing on the impression of the game which someone walks away with. Sometimes a piece of individual skill which has come from nowhere will stick in people's minds, sometimes a player can do nothing for the whole match but a goal is remembered after the match. Some people like to watch disciplined defensive players, some showboating midfielders, some free scoring attackers. 'Keepers and strikers will do better due to the fact that they are at the business end of the game. It all depends on what you personally take from the game.

It's ironic, and incredible, that football clubs going bust only became a regular occurrence once huge amounts of money started pouring into the game. Prior to the 1990's, clubs generally lived within their means. The movement in money since then is basically: Fans - worse off, paying more at the gate Armchair fans - worse off, through paying TV subscriptions Investors/club owners - worse off, having pumped much of their fortunes down the drain in pursuit of glory Clubs - worse off, most are in debt and run at a loss Players - here's where all the money's gone! Agents - don't get me started. At least the players have talent. Good post, green dotted, I also think that banks have to shoulder some of the blame they were all too eagre to finance clubs so that wage demands etc could be met in the pursuit of glory and are now more than happy to put the squeeze on the same clubs who have borrowed to excess.

I am thinking long term too. Club reduces ticket prices, still needs to pay players now there are a few possible scenarios which could emerge from this. Top earners need to leave to sustain financial equilibrium, increasing the risk of relegation. We were lucky enough to have a squad with enough quality to bounce back the last time, could we do it again? Also, even though we managed to attract more fans through the last spell in division 1 do you think that would repeat? I feel we may lose fans instead of gaining them, as your long term vision would suggest. Keep the top earners, have one or two seasons flying high whilst watching the bank balance turn from black to deeper and deeper shades of scarlet and end up like these guys

With our wage structure being on the bones of it's arse as it is what standard of players do you think we could afford if we slashed the income from gate reciepts? I agree that football should be more affordable especially as a trip from Caithness is required on my part to watch ICT but the football business these days forces clubs to charge more just to be able to survive in the position they have achieved. Going slightly off topic, I see those cheeky blighters from Dingwall are advertising season tickets throught a banner at the Longman roundabout. I do not condone vandalism but it would be amusing to see it tampered with, should that happen. ;)

You are only as good as your last game.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80577921/ Apparently County are looking to get this future keeper signed up.

Does it really matter? He is obviously a kid who is trying to undo some damage that has been done, he has made sure that everyone knows ICT are a good club. Imagine scoring the winner against a semi pro club from an U19 side and then being binned. He must have been an emotional wreck then someone, who he does not know, makes things worse by trying to make out the coaches who binned him as being some sort of demons. Let's just leave the lad alone and hope he makes a success of his football career.

I would imagine highlights will appear here later http://www.livingstonfc.co.uk/livitv.php Can't say it's too bad a result, still unbeaten with a makeshift team and Livy beat Hibs 2-1 midweek.

FT: #Livingston (Ky. Jacobs) 1 - 1 #InvernessCaledonianThistle (Foran) Thanks go to Alan Temple's twitter for updates

85 Mins: Even the kids with no number of their shirts are coming close for Livi. Lewis Turner or Michael Travis goes v. close. Still 1-1

82 Mins: Fizzling out a bit here. But Livi should be ahead; Ross Gray, Russell, Samuel and Deuchar have all come close. 1-1 83 Mins: Nick Ross just blazed over the bar in ICT's only effort for ages. But, as I say, results invariably count for little in preseason No news on subs, sorry

http://lockerz.com/s/118505158

65 Mins: Goooooal. Kyle Jacobs makes it 1-1 with a thunderbolt. Absolute stoater

48 Mins: Might be wrong, but I think Collin Samuel has come on for Livingston. Listed as trialist, and not looking undernourished.

HT: #Livingston 0 - 1 #InvernessCaledonianThistle (Foran)...Not entirely sure how, though. Livi by far the better team. Better credit Alan Temple for the tweets, just keeping us up to date with what he says.

38 Mins: Goooooal Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Foran taps in from a Hayes cross. Typical 2nd-phase-offside/onside-confusion type goal. 0-1.

5 Mins: Keaghan Jacobs turns inside Tom Aldred and curls a nice effort just past the post. A close thing in a, so far, dour affair. 0-0. 8 Mins: Mark McNuly lashes cross across the face, cleared wildly by Meekings - could have gone in. All Livi and Aldred is nervous and wooden 12 Mins: Decent effort for Inverness Caley. Hayes free-kick 20 yards out is somewhat low and miss-hit, but proves awkward, save Jamieson.0-0 22 Mins: Still 0-0 and Stephen Scougall is carried off injured for Livi. The last thing you want in a friendly. David Sinclair replaces him.

Better one here http://twitter.com/#!/alanftemple

Updates here http://www.livingstonfc.co.uk/match/match_updates.php

Quite possible Alex but in the long run our speculation can only go to harm those involved. Looking at Liam's twitter feed he does not bad mouth the club himself but the club's name have been sullied by what he told one of our fans, possibly in confidence, and that could damage his reputation a lot more than it will a club playing at the highest level in their country. People should be aware of how much damage a comment made on the internet can do, whether it was made in frustration, other high emotions or not. Careers stand to be won or lost at times.

Hmmm, young player gets his break at an SPL club and asks a bitter ex trialist for advice, do you really think he'd pass up an opportunity to show what he is made of because he might get dropped on the bus in front of "team mates" he does not really know? A coach at another club asks ICT's coaching staff for advice on a trialist we had looked at previously and is told "he was okay, not quite what we were looking for but the worst thing is if you don't take him on he will bad mouth you all over twitter and get your fans on his side asking for you or your collegues to be sacked" do you think said trialist would get an opportunity based on this reference? caleyrule, you have done this guy no favours at all.