Robert

Thanks for keeping this going Gringo. I’ve just seen the final table: two in a row, which I’m amazed at given I normally back ICT to win. Looking forward to another close battle next season, and hopefully some new players enter.

I’m very disappointed that the club didn’t do the bites so presentations couldn’t take place after last night’s game. Last year was the same so it looks like a pattern. Harper gets my vote for player of the year. Depending on the age cut off, he’s my vote for young player too. If he’s too old, it’s a hard pick given the number of loans, so it would be Bray for me. Why we put him out on loan still bemuses me.

I stand corrected. A pity we won’t see him up against Carson…….

I don’t think Gardyne has featured much for Montrose. I don’t know if he is injured or whether anything else is causing his absence.

Jordan White for Ross County and Robbie Thompson for Spartans today. Kirk Broadfoot for Morton last night.

Two flaws there though: 2 years ago we had 6 finals in the promotion play offs and came up short, last year we lost the final. This year……? It may only be 2 finals. If it’s 4, we need to not fall short again.

May 2022: promotion play offs. Within 45 minutes of promotion. May 2023: looking forward to Scottish Cup Final on 3 June. May 2024: at real risk of being 180 or 360 minutes from relegation. Progress??

Quite a comfortable win tonight although the first half was poor. I thought Morton were a disgrace with some of their tackles and mouthing off, not to mention Broadfoot’s provocative goal celebration. Thankfully the ref cottoned on in the second half and belatedly started dishing out cards. It made me glad we didn’t appoint Imrie as I’d hate to see us playing like that. Credit to Harper for keeping cool at the penalty and the strikes by Boyes and McAllister both looked good. I think we’ve all been resigned to this for some time, and we are actually going into the play offs in decent form, with 10 points out of the last 15. Four big games ahead to save our season, and maybe also save our club. I just hope Ferguson has seen enough of MacGregor in his short game time to start him on Tuesday. For me, the problem stemmed from all late goals we conceded earlier in the season. At one point, we’d shipped 12 points (if my memory serves me right) to goals in the 80th minute or later, largely as our tactic was to try to defend what we had (very unsuccessfully!).

I’m cautiously hopeful we can get a result tonight, but also worried that Queens Park win at Airdrie.

Let’s forget our off field woes and concerns and get behind the players tonight, doing all we can to help them to do our bit by winning the game.

Montrose @ 2.40 please.

HT 1-0 FT 2-1 ICT Mckay Morton Oakley Crowd 2317

There wasn’t a lot wrong with the penalty on Saturday. It was low and not too far from the corner. To me, a good save rather than a bad penalty. As someone said above, their goalie has saved the last four penalties he has faced. We are not in this mess because Billy has had a couple of penalties saved, and he should not be being singled out.

Yesterday I noted Cillian Sheridan and Sean Welsh for Queens Park, Ross Draper for Elgin and Ali Sutherland for Brora.

Firstly, credit to the large travelling away support who were noisy throughout the game. Just a pity about the idiot verbally abusing Samuel in the first half due to his Dingwall connections: totally uncalled for. The game was disappointing. We were the better team throughout, but our inability to turn possession into goals was our undoing yet again. I need to see the Dunfermline goal again as an awkwardly placed pillar obscured my view but it looked like an unchallenged header. Our penalty was a bit soft but we couldn’t capitalise on it. We were much better after Pepple came on and he took his chance well from a difficult angle. We had a few shots but didn’t really test the goalkeeper. I felt there was an urgency amongst the team but it turned to desperation as the game went on, highlighted by an argument between Ridgers and Boyes about who would take a free kick deep into stoppage time. It is out of our hands now and we need to focus on beating Morton on Friday and hoping Queens Park don’t win.

He was great for us, but I feel his time has passed. Some of his antics last season were unprofessional (punching an amateur Western Isles player, for example) and he’s not endeared himself to HL clubs in general. Does it also mean he’s no longer coaching our youth teams?

That’s a very fair comment. It highlights why getting involved with the Supporters Trust is important for everyone who cares about the club. The Trust has made it clear that it won’t invest in shares without commitments from the club, and the commitments sought will have to reflect the views of its members. I know some are sceptical but, I’m my opinion, the recent growth in membership if the Trust and the resulting influence it can bring to bear can only be positive.

If I’m reading this right, those 5 teams need to achieve bronze status by 1 July as current exemptions expire then (bottom on page 2 but I gave up during page 3!): https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/Membership Criteria Letter 2024-25 31 October 2023.pdf Also, more from Buckie confirming they missed the March deadline for a waiver: https://www.buckiethistlefc.co.uk/news/president-statement-2847887.html

We need to assume Queens Park will win at Arbroath, so nothing less than a win will do for us to keep things in our own hands for the last game. We need a performance like last Friday, with the difference that we find the back of the net rather than the woodwork or any part of the goalie’s anatomy. I’m down for this one and really hoping for an enjoyable evening after winning three points in the afternoon. Now really is the time for everyone to step up and ensure we retain our Championship place.

Substitute Airdrie, Cove and Peterhead for Annan, Bonnyrigg and Spartans. They tightened the rules this season so the established clubs have some time to comply.

This: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/11172/sfa-club-licensing-manual-2024.pdf Enjoy the read! This gives the current classifications: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/11752/240424-club-licensing-awards.pdf Reading the SPFL announcement, Buckie ignored the issue and could have made the standard had they acted. All very poor.

Partick @ 1.91 please.

HT 0-1 FT 1-2 ICT Billy Mckay Dunfermline Kane Crowd 5235 Joker please.

This is the wording of the Chairman’s letter to sponsors, with contact details removed: I am writing to you today, firstly to thank you for your backing of our football club, and secondly to appeal to you to kindly continue that support. As I am sure you are aware, we have recently and very disappointingly, had planning refused by Highland Council for the installation of a 4 acre battery energy storage farm on the site of the former Fairways Golf Course, the reason given was due to loss of green space in a private green space area of 200 acres. This is despite the fact that one of our many important and impactful Caley Thistle community projects involves the complete resurrection of a significantly larger green space adjacent to Inverness Royal Academy, which is a ten acre site that will be used as a community hub for the city and beyond, promoting physical and mental health wellbeing for thousands of people both young and old in the Highlands. Our quest to seek planning permission for the battery farm has now been escalated to Scottish Government level and it is our strong expectation that the Highland Council’s decision will be overturned on appeal but this will take a number of months. What this means is that we face significant pressure on our cash flow. To that end, I am writing to all our sponsors to ask if you would be able to help us through this situation by renewing your advertising with us slightly earlier than normal. If you are able to renew by return, it would be hugely appreciated by everyone at ICTFC and will not only help the club continue in our current form, but it will also allow us to continue the great work we do in the city and beyond, especially as we enter our 30th anniversary. If you can help us, we would be able to thank you for that support by offering a 15% discount on last season’s price for an early renewal. If you can help, please contact our Commercial Director Keith Haggart, either on his email address of ——- or by mobile ——-. Finally, as ever, on behalf of myself, the Board of Directors and Executive team, it is a privilege to serve our football club and we thank you for being a part of the club which has represented the city so well in the last 30 years.

The cup final was on 3 June so would revenue for that not be reported in the year to May 2024 rather than last year? I read on here some time back that the cup windfall was used to repay Directors’ loans. I don’t know if that was an informed comment or speculation.