Council Juice

Falkirk, a team I'm sure many would expect to be top half this season, are 4 nil down at home v QOTS! The championship will have many twists and turns especially in the early part of the season. I don't expect them to be down there all season though.

If Robbo doesn't fancy him that's fair enough. It's his prerogative as a manager who is paid to win football matches and is in a profession where he might be only a few bad results from the sack. He has to make the calls that he thinks are best. However if Raven is fit and available he should really make the most of him while he's still here. He might not have the legs to canter up and down at full back but perhaps he could fill in at centre half or in midfield if required as Ross Tokely did towards the end of his time at the club. I for one think he'd be quite suited on the right as part of a back three. He's started today and we're 4 nil up at the time of writing.

I believe a relegation release clause basically just means that he's free to leave without compensation if the club get relegated and another club offers him a deal. It's not a contract termination. He'd be perfectly entitled to sit out the rest of his deal unless the club choose to release him, and they'd probably have to give him a severance package. At the moment it seems he's essentially placed himself on gardening leave. His contract is being paid but hes not really involved. Mind you, I don't know how that sells himself to other clubs as a model pro.

Alex Cooper gets his first for ICT!

It's still early days. Sometimes players don't automatically show their best from day one. Billy Mckay took about a year to become our go to goal getter. Remember Eagles and Hayes were signed at the same time. Most in pre season thought the former was the one going to be the one to watch. Turned out Hayes was the star. He might find he's better suited in time to being a left sided centre back than a full back. Sometimes a players best position only becomes apparent through trial and error.

Coll Donaldson confirmed. 6 Months.

Is he injured or is this just until he learns how to play?

Not too downbeat. Certainly an improvement on last week, even if that was probably one of the worst displays perceivable. Morton have had a good run of form as well so today was always going to be a tough encounter. I'd have obviously liked the win but if it's the beginning of a turnaround then I'll take it.

I presume that's in the print edition because they only have him as on trial as of yesterday online

Maybe we should start up a new thread and post any questions there? Take the most popular questions along. If any overlap merge into one question etc. Also as someone above asked regarding other Q and A formats. We did used to have an ask the board segment on here (think it ran the last time we were in 2nd tier) but it fell by the wayside. It always seemed to be something that the admin and mods, like Scotty, used to have to chase up the board. I'd like to see the board actively ask fans forums and fan groups for their opinions and questions. Even if only bi annually.

Interestingly 15 players (including loans) have now left the club and 12 new signings made. That's a huge turnover of playing staff by any means. I think we all need to give the new boys time to settle in. So much for keeping the squad together Eh?

Charlie Trafford signs on a three year deal. Reportedly a 2 plus 1 year contract. Reports that Coll Donaldson is on trial but no word on any contract. Ivory Lawton not to be offered a deal.

If what you mean is that KC wasn't very good at keeping to a stringent budget and struggled to say no to the manager when they kept asking for more then I'd probably be inclined to agree there. Once the budget is thrashed out and agreed upon it is then up to the manager to find appropriate talent in that budget range. It did seem quite often last season that the chairman was very generous in trying to get Foran out of a hole. As for giving him a 4 year deal in the first Place? That was ridiculous no matter who it is getting the job, never mind a rookie. 2 years initially and then extend it at end of the first season if deemed worthy.

While the challenge cup may not be the most glamorous, or the most lucrative in terms of prize money and revenue, it can be a good opportunity to rotate the squad a little and if we do well, like win it, it can act as a springboard towards the rest of the league campaign. Players tails go up and such. I find myself not even looking at the website for information tbh. If it can't even keep a match date, time and venue up to date then it becomes almost pointless.

- OfW- - McKay - Elsdon - Warren - - Raven - - Seedorf - Vigurs - Trafford - Calder - - Baird - Oakley -

Obviously the chairman/board sets the budgets but it's the manager that identifies the players who they can get for that budget. And whilst the chairman might block a signing because of financial reasons "sorry we can't afford him" it's clearly undermining a manager if they are having a say on signing the player due to quality. "NAH sorry boss he's guff." Generally the money men will trust the managers/coaches/head of recruitments judgement regarding the player and then try to ensure the contract falls into the budget. They might go back and say he wants "x" to which they all might come to agreement he's not worth that percentage of the player budget.

Any official website has to up to date and accurate. Breaking news such as signings should be announced on site before there's anything near a media tip off. And any necessary changes regarding departures needs to be kept on top of. The process should be a statement and then have the media team remove any necessary material straight away. If anything pictures should be removed before the announcement is published. Getting new signing news via digging around secondary journalistic sources shouldn't happen.

I've got to agree with RIG there. The final decision on signing players has to lie with the manager. Especially considering that he'd be the one to assess what he needs and if those being looked at are suitable. If the chairman doesn't trust the managers judgement then you'd have to wonder how the manager got the job. If the manager asks for a player to be signed and the club can afford it they have to go with it. If not its a relationship that won't work. However If I remember correctly that when Hughes was signing utter nonsense like Lopez and complaining that he didn't have the resources to sign an adequate goalscorer, it was in fact Cameron who located Miles Storey. Not Hughes. In hindsight it's worrying that one of the most successful signings during his tenure was done by the chairman. I'm baffled how we're able to offer 3 year deals in the championship. Most teams generally stick to 2 years, as a) it presents less risk, you don't want to be stuck with a dud for 2 years or pay a contract up to release them. No budget room. and b) it motivates the player to earn a new deal. Contract extension clauses can always be added if they prove successful. When Butcher was signing players most were brought in on 1 year deals initially. We didn't actually lose many of them at this instance. It was usually at the end of their 2nd deal. The longer term deal that Draper got has earned us 100k. So that's a positive. As for Raven, if his wages are an issue, and he's still capable of delivering on the pitch why not offer to swap his remaining 6 month contract with a 12 month deal on lower wages and appearance money? As someone settled in the area having a years contract, despite earning less, might be favourable.

I personally thought OfW had a positive impact in his first season here. Unfortunately last season the defence was woeful and he struggled with 2 very restricting injuries for a keeper which really impacted on his overall form. Certainly overall as much as a positive impact as Jordan Roberts anyway.

Hopefully the Dunfermline game acts as a watershed and we can push on and at least challenge for the playoffs once the new signings settle in. Unfortunately we've lost most of our spine and 3 of the other remaining players are out injured. Which makes it all the more bewildering that we won't use Raven. Surely a bit more game time gets him match fit and in the shop window if he's still surplus. At the very least utilise his services until his contract expires in January (unless he has an appearances extension clause in his deal) and we've long term injuries back.

Is £228k a year really a lot for what is being paid for. I'd have thought rental rates for a building that size would be significantly more. Or at least they would in Edinburgh. I've not much idea of the current Inverness business rental market. Maybe this is really why we've been "donated" them. The rates have now more than covered Tullochs costs of building the stands and maintenance. It's essentially paid off.

Had Malpas been brought in to help sooner we might have stayed up. All ifs and buts now of course.

I know Danny McDonald has been appointed General Manager so that the CEO role and this could be separated. I don't know if it's more a business side of things or entails the DoF role in the same type of way that Adriano Galliani did at Milan. What I'd like to see is a model whereby one person links all sides of the football operation so that they work seamlessly with one another. Make ict an attractive place to develop young stars of the future and as a next step for emerging talent. A model also needs to be found to capitalise on successful players who are departing. Far too many star players have left for nothing making it extremely hard to replace them adequately. Hopefully with different voices on the board these things can be looked into.

So who's this new Romanian international that's coming in then? I'd still like to see someone in a DoF role. Although maybe not Grassa. He's had his time. I've mentioned him before but I think CC would be quite suited to that role. He's got a long term connection to the club. An affinity with the club and lives locally. He'd be in for the long haul. He's articulate and intelligent. Has a good bond with fans. Has football knowledge. I'm not saying it has to be him but he ticks a lot of boxes for me. We need someone who could combine a DoF/head of recruitment/head of youth development type role. Someone with a model and general oversight of the football side and scouting. Leave first team football to the first team manager. He still has final say on players. However the DoF is the one doing the graft of inviting players for trial. Collating scout reports etc. I think it's high time that the club developed a model of football business. A philosophy that generally dictates signings and youth development up to the first team. Hopefully the new board recognise this as the last few years have just been a continuous run of false starts in that regard.

Personally I'd look at a 3-5-2/3-4-3/3-4-1-2 formation of sorts. back 3 of Raven, Warren and Mckay, your wing backs being Seedorf and Calder atm. Vigurs anchoring the midfield from deep playmaker role. At the moment Polworth is the only real option in there. Front 3 of Bell Baird and Oakley. Swap one of them for a midfielder in certain games. If this Charlie Trafford arrives and can do the business it would be nice.