Caley Mad In Berks

At the last home OF game (Rangers, end Feb), the North stand was less than half full. The main stand wasn't full either and my guess would be that those in North stand could have fitted into main stand, albeit using the uncovered wings.

Who is Ryan Watson who played at Buckie yesterday? Is he one of our youngsters? Or have I missed a signing in all the comings and goings recently?

Yes, well done to Mr Cameron for sticking to his word and voting the way the vast majority of ICT fans wanted him to. I think it is now up to all us fans to do our bit by attending a few more home matches to alleviate the revenue loss (from TV and gate money) that is bound to occur because of the Rangers debacle. I certainly plan to get north more often in the coming season.

If this is true, what a plonker Black is. I've lost all respect for him.

I hope you're right Mahonio. Ferrer is in the form of his life, and having beaten Murray in their last two meetings, will be full of confidence. But I thought Murray played his best tennis of the tournament in the last set and a half against Cillic, so he too should be full of confidence. Should be a good match, with Murray just shading it, I hope!

Renegade, you really are a bundle of fun.... No doubt if all the newcomers had been on the short side you would have complained about them being too 'lightweight'. Having said that, I cannot say that I am happy that all the replacements seem to be coming from the lower reaches of English football. We'll be more like Conferance/EFL2 United than Inverness C T, and I find that a shame. No Highland, or much Scottish identity in the team at all. But if we are not producing enough quality youngsters ourselves, and our limited budget prevents us signing seasoned Scots on longer contracts, I don't see what Butcher's alternative is. I am by no means Butcher's greatest fan (just the opposite in fact) but I am prepared to give all the new guys a chance, whatever their height!

Is it only me, but I am sick and tired of the whole Hayes "where will he go " saga. I just wish he would make his mind up and feck off, wherever its to, if he doesn't want to stay with us.

As you ask, imo St Johnstone, and probably Ross County.

I've read Kenny Cameron's statement on the club website, and I suppose as one might expect it is very non committal at this stage. However, rather than EMail him and find that my Email ends up in his Spam folder, I have today written to him and posted it first class to let him know how I feel about things, strongly advising him that for the integrity of Scottish football, he should vote 'No' to the 'Newco' being admitted directly to the SPL.

OP sums up the way I feel about it too. In fact it seems so straightforward and just that it should be this way (ie Newco starting at the bottom), that I can't think of any fair minded supporters of any team wanting it any other way. Lets hope that the voting chairmen feel the same . No doubt there will be pressure on them to vote for Newco being allowed straight into the SPL but I trust they will stand firm. Will we see how they all vote?

When, if ever, has a potential signing, with an admittedly humble career to date, caused so much interest on our forum? I like what I've read about Warren so far. I hope he signs and I'm sure we all want him to do well. I've not seen him play, although, when I'm not travelling up to see ICT, I watch a fair bit of lower league football down here in south Englandshire. Last season I saw Exeter (my favourite English team), Wycombe, Aldershot, Crawley, Basingstoke, Maidenhead, and probably two or three others I can't remember off the top of my head. Generally the standard is quite good, and many of these sides would give ICT a decent game. This has been proved in the last couple of pre seasons, where our record against English lower league opposition is not good. I think only Stockport we managed to beat, failing to beat Fleetwood, Yeovil, Bristol Rovers and Aldershot! So I'm optimistic that Warren will turn out to be ok, as Gillet from Barnet was, and not like some of Butcher's notable failures (Aldred, Stratford, Gnapka etc). Time will tell, But, I repeat, I have a good feeling about this one.

I suspect he will be very much a squad player and bench warmer for them, as he would probably have been for us. Still sad to see him go with a bad taste in the mouth.

Feck me IHE, you must be taking your medecine again - a sensible post, and one most of us I think would agree with if we were honest to ourselves.

The more I hear about Warren, the better I like him. Hope the rumour that he is joining us is true.

Yes, from a wage point of view, and standard of play, I wouldn't be surprised if Conference was about right for us. I wouldn't turn my nose up at potential players from that division. We got Gillet from Barnet who only just missed being relegated to Conference again, this season. Arguably he has been one of our best players. I certainly hope he signs on with us again. So there is every chance that the odd, affordable, gem can be found in the lower reaches of the EFL

I can't agree with the Salesman analogy. I worked in a predominantly sales orientated organisation for years. Sales targets increase year on year and it would never be acceptable to come in with a massive underachievement in year 3 after 2 good preceeding years. So on that argument alone, Butcher would be out. If I were doing his annual appraisal for the season just finished I would definitely score him as having failed. Clearly he had set an objective of creating 'his own' team. The Munro decision was a massive mistake which I'd be surprised if even Butcher would not now acknowledge. So if we now look at who is left from 'his own' team, who do we have left from all his imports, whether they were loanees or signings? Currently, I think it is Meekings , McKay, and A Shinnie off the top of my head - not much to build a team around for the coming season is it? However, I do realise that lack of money is a major factor in attracting new players. But whoever the players are, I just wish he would concentrate on the coaching side and get them playing football. I'm sure we are all fed up with the long ball punting upfield to a loan striker. Also, surely he needs to aim at some stability. I doubt if he fielded the same team two weeks running last season, when all his chopping and changing smacked of panic rather than planning. So for me I'm afraid I think Butcher is lucky not to have been punted and I would be telling him that it is definitely 'last chance' time for him in the coming season.

I think Rodgers is well capable of managing Liverpool, but whether the owners are prepared to give him time is another question altogether. In my view he would need at least two seasons to get Liverpool back to being a top 4 side. I think Lambert at Villa will do OK in the short term. They couldn't do much worse than this season, could they? Money needs to be spent so I think his longer term success will depend on how much he gets for new players. I think both Swansea and Norwich will not do as well without their current managers, but may just do enough to avoid relegation. What happens to Martinez now? Will he be content to spend another season at Wigan? Where could he go? It seems to be only Chelsea of the bigger clubs who could be in the market to change managers. Personally I think De Mateo has done more than enough to warrant that job but who knows what goes on in Abramovich's head?

Says a lot that he prefers Stevenage to us and Motherwell! Good luck to him. I liked him but always felt he had a bit more to offer which rarely came through.

Absolutely no sympathy for him, even though he is Scottish. Thought he was churlish and ungracious all season. The way he handled the Suarez controversy was a disgrace imo.

No doubt all his many critics on here will be pleased. Frankly I think he could still do a decent job for us as a squad player. I wish him well wherever he ends up.

Well done lads. Sounded like a hard fought win. And Craig Brewster leads Crawley to automatic promotion. Well done to him too.

Many of my pals are season ticket holders at Reading. They have been able to renew their season tickets, seniors admittedly, but in the best stand, at £250! Fantastic value seeing they are now in the EPL. Makes ours look really expensive, by any comparison.

No fingernails left now. Starting on the toenails. Fortunately I had the foresight to trim them before the game and have them here in a little bowl in front of me.

Will Butcher leave subs till 90th minute as per usual?

It really is a shocking record, one we should be ashamed of. As IHE said a few posts ago it is not just the red and yellow cards themselves, but the impact they had on subsequent games as well. I don't know if the club fines offenders but they surely must do something draconian so that we don't replicate this unenviable record next season.