Robert

I agree Scotty, it’s Lineker and his pals that wind me up. It used to be John Motson What a game tonight between Italy and Spain. Sheer class by both teams and you couldn’t grudge either winning. Spain will feel they did enough to win, but Italy will take some beating!

Nice to get a home draw! We had a knack of scoring well against Brechin when they were in the Championship in our first season after relegation, but I’d prefer a game against Buckie. I agree it is time to bin the colt teams and expand the involvement of Highland and Lowland League teams. I’d not extend it to juniors, as I think that was the wrong decision in terms of the Scottish Cup.

I see the hype is getting to breaking point about “it coming home”! I fancy Italy based on what I’ve seen of the tournament, but adopted Denmark as my second team after Scotland following the situation with Eriksen, so I’m hoping for an Italy - Denmark final. The thought of watching the BBC if England win the tournament fills me with dread and, at risk of mixing this with the serious discussion board, will only increase support for independence!

Happy to show support to another youngster, but happy to go with the majority view. Going off topic, I see Aaron Doran and Cammy MacKay on the list from the club, which presumably confirms they are under contract. Would be good to know what their new expiry dates are.

Got tickets for both games at lunchtime. In the North Stand for both. Ticket numbers 220 for the Peterhead game and 186 for the Stirling Albion game, so still plenty space left….,

An interesting one if true. It gives us an experienced player, but whether he is signing to be a squad player or will be a regular starter in place if Devine or Deas will be interesting. I still think we are short of one defender.

“The new channel will also be available for every game of the season to all season ticket holders”. Seems clear to me. But you are right to double check given you are over 500 miles away. Hopefully you get a response soon.

The season ticket announcement implies games will be streamed live and available to all season ticket holders. There was no mention of PPV being available or, if it is, what it would cost. Personally I hope all clubs make PPV available as it was good to be able to view away games last season, but I don’t know how that sits with broadcasting rules, and the pricing would need to be high to avoid reducing actual attendances. It would be counter productive if home fans decided to view the stream rather than attend. https://ictfc.com/2021-22-season-tickets

We certainly could do with a couple of defenders before the competitive season starts. We only have Duffy, Devine, Deas and Harper, although Carson may continue at right back, and it will be a lot to expect of Fyffe and Nicholson to be the only cover for them.

Tickets now on sale for the two home games, with socially distanced unallocated seating in the north and south stands. 1000 home fans allowed only. £10 adults. https://ictfc.com/ticket-info-premier-sports-group-stage-home-matches

This is the link referred to earlier in the thread: https://salarysport.com/football/scottish-championship/inverness-caledonian-thistle/ If accurate, some surprises in it. Brad Mckay was our highest earner followed by James Keatings. Sean Welsh is quite far down the list, and little wonder Toddy was lured away. Presumably Carson and Allardice have increases in their new contracts. What it presumably doesn’t include is any bonuses for wins, appearances etc. For comparison, this is what Hearts were paying: they were paying 21 players more than our highest earner and over £4000 per week to some: staggering! https://salarysport.com/football/scottish-championship/heart-of-midlothian/ Goodness knows if there is any substance to the figures quoted.

Watkins did very well for us once he got established. Probably a better version of Storey!

I agree with the comments above. A lot of fans were happy to see Storey return, as he did well in his first spell here, on loan from Swindon. He moved to Aberdeen but failed to get established and returned here after a spell at Partick. Most if his career goals have been in his spells with us, but he really should have scored more in the last two seasons given his game time. His pace is his main asset, but his delivery is hit and miss, as is his finishing. Vincent has missed game time with injuries, but is a solid midfield player, one that hassles opposition players. He is also vocal on the pitch in encouraging team mates. He will always be remembered here for the cup winning goal. He moved on to Dundee, then Dunfermline before his second spell here. I think he was a squad player with both mainly. If he can stay fit, he could be the more important of the two to you.

Thanks for doing this again Scotty. Just renewed my 3.

Reading the website version, it is definitely an ICT issue. I have heard that Nairn County have a number of cases whilst most shinty games at the weekend were off due to covid. With the younger age group being hit most, it is inevitable there will be cases amongst players as they are not vaccinated and could easily pick it up whilst following the current rules. Hopefully it does not impact when competitive matches start. https://ictfc.com/club-statement-brora-rangers-friendly

Is it a concern that so many first team players are hardly featuring or have not been in the squad so far? Hopefully we don’t have a lot of injury or fitness concerns, as the start of last season was badly hampered by injuries. Off the top of my head, we have not seen Duffy, Devine, Deas, Allardice, MacGregor, McDonald or Mckay in the squad so far.

It looks as though Doran and Cammy MacKay are part of the squad for the new season, so presumably they remain under contract. They possibly signed extensions which have not been announced, or the dates we believed previously may not be correct. It would be good if the club could clarify it to take the uncertainty away for supporters.

Brora information available now too: https://ictfc.com/match-info-brora-rangers-a

Report on last night’s game: https://ictfc.com/report-clach-0-5-ictfc

Same with Cammy MacKay.

Yes, it seems very strange that Mount and Chilwell are having to isolate for 10 days and none of our players are. There was a comment about them having contact with Gilmour in the tunnel. With the rapidly increasing case numbers we are seeing in Scotland (almost 3000 yesterday and 50 in the Highland Council area, the highest for a long time), it would help if there was transparency on issues like this as so many are just doing their own thing now and not following the rules and guidance. It is little wonder given the exemptions being made for test events which no one really understands. It does make me wonder if the 9 August date is optimistic and will need to be delayed.

Three year deals to players aged 32 and 33: seems an amazing decision by Cove, particularly as they both have had injury absences quite regularly. Presumably they had to offer that length of contract to get them. Sounds like Polly will sign a two year deal at Kilmarnock. Hughes had been after him for County but that interest obviously died when he left himself.

Disappointed, but we have hope for the future. After our good start, Croatia outclassed us and the score could have been a lot worse. I was resigned to it before kick off, and it was better to know long before the end that we were going out rather than going out by losing a late goal. Croatia were written off, but they could go far in the tournament. It is the Czech game that did for us, and our inability to score in what was otherwise an even game.

40 minutes to kick off. Excitement building. Can we do it? I really hope so! Come on Scotland!!

Had a dig around the Scottish Government website. This link, updated last week, implies the 2000 capacity will apply once we hit Level 0: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-calculating-physical-distancing-capacity-in-public-settings/pages/events/