Garrincha

The updates on the meeting are very helpful. If we don’t go up this year, we obviously need to cut the cost base, unfortunately. Caley need to keep the community coaches, in my view, as links to schools and kids seem essential. The development squad and youth structure are surely linked. Pretty much all the current development squad came via the youth system. It would be possible to stop the pro youth system and keep the development squad going for a year or so, but that would be it, unless we then took in players released by other clubs, as the conveyer belt would stop. On the other hand, the current development squad system has probably done more for the Highland League than for Caley. If you look at the development team that won their league three years ago (I think it was about then) - then if they are playing professionally at all, they are all in the Highland League, at Forres, Strathspey and Rothes, I think, other than Jamie Wilson who was at Rothes but is now in Australia. The players released this year seem to be in the Highland League as well. A previous poster suggested putting development players out to the Highland League, I think to cover costs. As far as I understand, Highland League teams generally pay their usual rates for new players to Caley, and the players get their bonuses from the HL club. Caley must surely be paying almost all of the wages for the boys on loan to Fort. So, it gets them experience of adult football, but probably doesn’t do much for costs. If we go up, everything is fine, at least for a while. If we stay down, and we want to compete with other teams, we’re obviously going to have to prioritise the first team squad. And that must surely result in some depressing decisions.

I went to the Rothes game. Decent Caley performance, given it’s the second preseason game, against a pretty strong Rothes team. Rothes still had players on holiday, so only two on their bench and Daniel Hoban played in goal for Rothes. Carl Trenarco was good, and George Oakley put in a good shift. Aaron Doran was in the game quite a bit, and Daniel MacKay was full of running. Several familiar faces in the Rothes’ ranks: Jamie Duff at CB, recent Caley U20’s Ally Stark playing centre mid, and Jamie Wilson also played the whole game for Rothes. A passing team - they never panicked, very few long balls other than some long diagonal passes that gave the Caley defence some trouble. Rothes could have won it at the end - the impressive Rothes forward beat the full back, rounded Cammy MacKay - and missed an open goal. Good trip, good evening, donations rather than a set entrance fee, and a warm welcome - including from the midgies. I love pre-season. Everything is still possible.

There is an SFA programme that gets kids an SVQ - type qualification, although I don’t know how much value it has. The University idea is interesting - Stirling do a football scholarship. Not the same thing, as you play for the University, but it does show you can have links between football and education. Some Highland League teams still help to arrange jobs, but I think these are to produce a living wage - don’t know what happens to the job when you leave the club.

I’m not sure Polwarth’s ‘body language’ is much of a guide. I saw him playing aged about 14, and he had the same slightly hunched run, looked gloomy, but had a fantastic game. On the other hand, at that age, Ryan Christie looked like an enthusiastic Labrador puppy, chasing absolutely everything. The degree of abuse Polworth receives, must depend on where you sit. There’s a bloke near me in the main stand who shouts at him, but he shouts at several other players who he also seems to dislike. On the other hand, he’s also generally against keeping the ball, and in favour of lumping it long - and when they do, he shouts at Baird for his ridiculous failing of being shorter than the opposing Centre Backs. So, he shouts his opinions at most things and Polworth is just one of a long list of apparent irritants. If they can do it, players must be better off ignoring the crowd as far as possible.

The skirmish between Kellacher and Polworth is probably symptomatic of general tensions. These are all decent footballers, or they wouldn't be playing at this level. When performances don’t come, mistakes are made and results drift away, it must be very frustrating. And, of course, the players don’t get win bonuses, which must hurt. I was more worried about the bust up than anything else in the game. We really can’t afford discord - we need players and coaches on the same wavelength, and preferably not hitting each other.

The next round is against Forfar. The starting line up looked like the full time U20 players, but quite a few school aged-looking subs came on for Caley as the game progressed. No team lines tweeted, unfortunately, and no announcements at the game. I thought I recognised Daniel Hoban (gk), Alasdair Stark (captain, RB), Mitch Foy, Ryan McRitchie (CB), Aiden Wilson and Kieran Chalmers (centre mid). Andrew Macrae was at the game but not changed, so presumably still injured. Given it was the first time they must have played together, I thought they did well.

Or possibly 5-1!

6-1 FT

Daniel Hoban and Ally Stark are the oldest players on for Caley. I think they're both 19.

3-0 half time.

I'd be happy with a solid mid-table finish this season, with a relatively settled team to build on for next year. This has been a huge team turnover - new players, new manager, less money. We were unlikely to replace like with like. If John Robertson can settle the team down, get them playing together and keep us up comfortably, I'll take that as an acceptable season - not what I'd like, of course, but better than things look now.

George Oakley and Mark Ridgers both signed, according to the BBC this morning.

Kingsmils, the Caley starting 11 were as on the team sheet list above. Mitch Foy was the only sub used, coming on for the injured Davidson. If you were asking about the Forres starting 11, they were Knight, G Fraser, Groat, Moore, L Fraser, Pollock, MacPhee, Duncanson, Howarth, R Fraser and Soane.

I was there early enough to get a team sheet. Caley- 1 Esson 2 Raven 3 Chalmers 4 McKay 5 Warren 6 Leitch 7 Polworth 8 Draper 9 Davidson 10 Oakley 11 Elbouzedi Subs 12 MacDonald 14 Lawton 15 Stark 16 Chalmers 17 Foy 18 Wilson 19 Ridgers (GK) No 23 for Forres was Callum Howarth, who used to be with Caley.

There are quite a few ex professional players in the Highland league, not all of whom are sliding towards retirement. There are also ex-youth players from Caley and Ross County. Some of them looked decent last season, although it's difficult to judge for sure because of the varying standards of the opposition. Certainly worth a look.

I talked to a relative of one of last year's U20's. She said that all of last year's third year U20's had been released, including her relative. She'd heard that three of those who were second year U20's last year had agreed one year extensions for season 17/18 - Daniel Hoban (goalkeeper), Andrew MacRae (forward) and Alasdair Stark (defender). As far as she knew, the four youngest U20 players, who were in the first year of a two year contract last year and who still have a year left of their contract, are all still at the club.

3-1 was the final score.

John Hughes was at the U20 game at Grant Street tonight - although it's anyone's guess whether that means anything or not.

Very sorry to hear about the Deveronvale Player, Bad enough in any game, but perhaps even worse in a pre-season friendly game. I hope his recovery goes well.

I agree with caleyboy. Nick Ross didn't get as much game time as he'd want - if you've been a first team player that long, and you're not starting, you're bound to want to move. In the newspaper interview, it sounded as if that was what Paul Hartley offered to him, If that happens, it may well be a good move for him. It would be good to see him push on - although hopefully not when he's playing against us.

Shaun, there's discussion on this in the 'trialist' thread. Wedderburn passed the ball well, and was very strong. Roberts scored a good goal, and looked fairly sharp. Harder to tell with Hooper, I thought - he seemed a bit off the pace at times to me, but he might look different if he has a few games under his belt. Two of the U20s came on towards the end of the game - Mackay for Esson and Stark for Meekings.

caleyboy makes the point that most boys do not end up as professionals, and of course he's right. I doubt you could decrease the number of youth players in the system, however, without beginning to have combined age teams, or missing out age groups, which would mean Caley would not meet the required criteria to take part in the national youth system. I'd also note that quite a number of ex-Caley youth players seem to sign for Highland League teams, or other local sides, so I don't know if they would feel they had wasted their time by being in the youth system- we'd have to ask them. I'd look to the fact that Caley's U17s won their league in 2014/15, which, according to the fixture list on the ICT website, included St Johnstone, Ross County and Dundee. So, in playing terms, we must be turning out youth teams at least as able as those clubs. There may be an issue, I guess, of whether U20 players make the move to first team players, but as others have noted in this thread, we do have recent evidence that at least some players are making the leap.

That does sound shameful. If anyone knows who they are, I hope they tell the club. Shouting at ball boys is pathetic, and the abuse sounds dire. People are responsible for their actions in football stadiums. just as they are in the street.

It was 1-0 until the 82nd minute, according to the SkyBet site.

Re the query from Ross P about the Denis Law Soccer Tournament - the Under 17's are playing in a tournament in Germany in a couple of weeks. As far as I know they're not going to Aberdeen for the Denis Law competition. Probably too much for the coaches - some of them are in Portugal at a tournament this week. They must get their summer holidays some time!