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Glover

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Everything posted by Glover

  1. Regardless of the ins and outs, it's a great thing for our U18s to have a player who will have been coached and trained in a very different setting. Such diversity can only be good and will also reduce any humdrum - positives all. A two-year deal does depend on his father's visa length being honoured, and a renewal once turning 18. He can work, given he will assumedly be on more than a visit visa (i.e. 6mnths +) but only his BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) will say so on the front what it allows. Likely 20 hrs. It was mooted in 2015 to restrict the dependant visa but no evidence it ever materialised. This is the Home Office - all bets are off.
  2. Yes, as JW says, P&J also say "Machado, 17, previously played for Red Bull Brasil in his homeland but has relocated to Scotland due to his father’s work commitments. After impressing on trial at Caledonian Stadium in recent weeks, Machado has done enough to earn a deal with the Highlanders and he will be added to the club’s under-18s squad". As an U-18 dependant of his (presumably tier 2 visa holder) father he can work as he wishes, and his father can extend his visa once he turns 18 too.
  3. The days of humble hosts (Parkinson, James) have long gone. We don't get much so I will take it from wherever it comes from, especially if it relates to Gary Warren. I thought the Castle Tavern story was good at the start? There doesn't seem to be any repeat of the Open Night that the club held this time last year, so I will take my connections where I can - podcasts from Somerset and all!
  4. I waited weeks for Man City docu 'All or Nothing' on Amazon Prime today - and this is better! Lots of behind the scenes stuff and life in Inverness. Great find!
  5. ELITE PROGRAMME: Aberdeen, Celtic, Hamilton, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Rangers. PROGRESSIVE PROGRAMME: Ayr United, Dundee United, Forth Valley Football Academy, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Partick Thistle, Ross County, St Mirren, St Johnstone. PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME: Dundee, Fife Elite Football Academy, Greenock Morton, Queen’s Park. ADVANCE YOUTH PROGRAMME: Alloa Athletic, Airdrieonians, Elgin City, Livingston, Montrose, Queen of the South, Stirling Albion. [Elite clubs play each other three times and face progressive teams once. Progressive clubs play each other, elite clubs once and performance sides. Performance clubs don’t get to play against elite clubs]. Dundee advertised the following posts in order to just try and get the Progressive Performance level award (statement from board after being put in tier three): Head of Academy (Full Time); Head of Professional Programme (Full Time/U18 coach); Head of Youth Programme (U13 – U16) (Full Time); Head of Football Science and Medicine (Full Time); Head of Children’s Programme (U11 – U12) (Part Time); Head of Player Recruitment (Part Time) When they were told they’d missed the boat, they stated the only full-time position would be Head of Academy. Elite level according to DUFC costs more than the UEFA solidarity payment from CL/Celtic £370,000 and Partick put it at £600,000. This is all in addition to Measurable Performance Outcomes (MPOs) that also look at first team appearances of players from the youth squads and then those players getting Scotland caps. Also, clubs at elite need to have a full-size indoor pitch/arena. Part of Project Brave is the JD Performance Schools which are, according to Malky MacKay, a huge investment. They get 90 mins expert coaching everyday by a resident SFA coach at their high school between S1-S4. I have made a map of these.
  6. Apologies for double posting: I would like to say to give young football players in the North of Scotland the fullest opportunity I applaud and am excited about. Not only that, the U17s achieved a huge amount and it is a real boon for the Highlands and ICT in general. We have an U18s now that are on the cusp and if they can break into the first team in good numbers I feel that will be the key to unlocking a resurgence in the support. I will keep Project Brave comments for the UK football section, as this thread is rightly discussing ICT having the best U18 squad about ?
  7. Charlie Christie's vision of a first team to be largely made up of youth (a quota of a 'minimum of five') is what it is and will be what it will be. But in terms of spend, yes. Someone other than the club is paying the Head of Youth, the Academy Director, the Head of Academy Operations, the 11 on prof contracts and the coaches, auxiliary staff and the operational costs over the year for six youth teams (I won't add in allocated costs of the support it gets from first team - coaches, admin, auxiliary etc). The Chairman said, of the U17 success it '...is a demonstration of our huge commitment to youth development'. If Livingston have just last week followed Falkirk in abandoning its participation in Project Brave because of the financial commitment then I doubt they'd have done that if it was only a 50k loss. In terms of direct commitment, ok it's 100k-ish spend give or take, but clubs are actually in for much more than that and thats why Livi, Falkirk (eventually others) realised the commitment is 200k + at Progressive level a year and without any hope of getting to Elite (needing a full-time Sports Scientist, Head Of Recruitment, Performance Analyst, Head of Children’s Programme, and home and away fixtures).
  8. Not a lot. Certainly less than it costs to run Project Brave for a year (or to be more precise - the academy). I am absolutely behind the structure to bring players from the North through - Donald Alex Morrison for one - a Lewisman - that’s definitely piqued my interest. The odds though of having a Premiership team on this route is unlikely, but would be wonderful. The trade-off is to have a mid-table Championship team with a strong local contingent in the first team, or a Premiership team with ‘inspired purchases’ a la Marsella. The vision of course is to have local players reach the Premiership - and why not! Perhaps though we might be waiting more than two seasons for it.
  9. JR with Adam Sturrock @Adam5turrock on ICTFC website. It's pretty harsh. A bit nonplussed - It can't be a sloppy goal if its a mistaken penalty award? Regardless, If the problem is as the interview said, poor attitude, a lack of motivation, effort and complacency that is indeed worrying. The last comment that the 7 players may not play again for a long time is also worrying - that's the entire sub bench and there's no-one else. Second goal is poor, it was too easy to get that ball across the goal - in hindsight, yes, perhaps Calder could have been more cynical to stop the momentum of Smith, but the ball in was too easy and such a ball is really hard to defend when tracking back to a dangerous ball.
  10. The FAs of England and Scotland once bailed them out did they not - before materialism needed peddlers, I mean, marketing and advertising executives... - in exchange for eternal separate associations. I can't recall where I read it sadly. Anyway, England and FIFA have become too bitter a rivalry and that sadly has meant any move from England's FA is seen as an attack for the sake of it, or to get the WC in England or take control of FIFA etc. and we are the poorer for it.
  11. I liked the comment to the team lines on ICTFC Twitter: 'It's coming home' ? We had 5-6 senior players more last year. Can't have our cake and eat it.
  12. Their 'U21' was effectively an U18, as I suspect was many of the teams in the top half of the colts tier. Kind of pointless having them in unless they actually have to field mostly players over 20. Scottish cup run for money (kind draws) - no cash in Betfred or IrnBru - and fresh legs in the league. Don't have the depth to be doing Betfred and IrnBru for hee haw.
  13. Avaricious and rapacious - seldom do I get to take these words for a walk. Sadly, it is what we don't know or hear about that will be even worse...I will not be watching Qatar 2022 and hope sponsors with any semblance of ethics will have fled from it by then.
  14. JR's comments in the DUFC programme imply that local players or 'ones of our own' are more likely to be abused than those from outside the area. I can see Caleyboy's point in not wanting to give oxygen to this but the fact remains it is on BBC, CTO, Twitter, ICTFC website and now in the programme (albeit digitally). I hope it is not a case of familiarity breeding contempt, we will likely be seeing many more local, home-grown players. I think the only positives from a negative is that these people were identified by the club and the stewards, and support, will be more of a mind to draw attention to this, or other such abuse (but hopefully need not) and the rest is as bdu98196 says.
  15. The club could also take their lead from those fans around who obviously feel this is reprehensible behaviour. I imagine the club will release a statement now it's been reported/discussed here, on Twitter, on BBC, and in replies to their Twitter feed. Hopefully such a statement will reflect the almost unanimous condemnation from the vast majority of fans and the desire to ensure no repeat of what is a moronic but isolated incident that has received the response it has. Additionally, recognising that such abuse will have come from an individual or small group attending, who are not at all reflective of the 1500-2000-odd long-term supporters in attendance, and echoing the desire - already stated by fans - to make those responsible stop and also be identified and sanctioned is likely to be issued today or tomorrow.
  16. The automatic season ticket gates are to replace staffing (eventually). The online ticketing and printing will replace walk ups and lead to zero hours catering and stewarding (as clubs can pin exact attendance to ratio needed). Catering will soon be from vending machines. It’s the same as is being seen in supermarkets, cinemas, airports, and such like. Sadly programmes are the price to be paid: progress for the sake of progress.
  17. We have invested very heavily in the youth side of the club, and I imagine the plan is to a) have a first team made up of mostly local players b) sell the most promising to pay for that investment. Assuming that the cost of lower league players in the English game continues to increase it could be a very shrewd investment to have a large number of capable and promising youth players to be signed by the Premiership and League One teams (or above). At the current level of investment the club should be looking at raising 500k - £1m per annum this way. A lot depends on getting the U17s, U18s successful year on year and then standing out in the first team and catching the eye of teams like Aberdeen or Hibs or Celtic even and perhaps further afield. The Ryan Christie model. It is a huge achievement to win the U17 league and now continuing that into the U18s. Here’s hoping they are knocking on the first team by 2020 and join the current group who will have become first teamers by then.
  18. 35-50% of what happens on the pitch is completely random according to analysts. Good coaching can possibly make that closer to the 35%. It’s one thing to be absolutely livid at the opposition or ref, often irrationally so, and generally accepted - but it is another thing entirely to be livid at the player(s) of your own team, never mind beyond that. Following a team in Japan, where Torres now plays, I observed fans who would chuckle or say ‘awww’ when their team’s player messed up royally. In British football we obviously have a different culture but even at Stamford Bridge last season I was pleasantly surprised by the individual praise put on a struggling team by individual songs and chants, and included their now departed manager. Football is conducted at a frenetic pace, and the pinball variety we have makes it even harder. Not to mention that good players can really struggle in teams where they may not have the same calibre around them. Polworth is our only star player, what with being the runaway assist player of the entire league last year. Disclaimer: I wasn’t at the game, granted, but perhaps remembering that 35-50% of the time players are simply dealing with chaos and chance, and that will be frustrating to a player who perhaps feels more pressure being the sole or minority Invernessian, would temper things a little.
  19. Scottish football is closer to the leagues in Ireland, N Ireland and Wales than to England. However 10,000 season ticket holders is not bad - Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen have that and OF obviously a lot more, 40,000 and 50,000. Beyond that, it’s a tough old slog for all. There is very little to cheer - 20 years since a WC qualification and even by chance we should have produced a half decent player - yet Gary McAllister is the last half-decent one and Gordon Strachan before him. Duncan Ferguson maybe. Rangers debacle, Celtic were it not for Fergus McCann, Hearts, Hibs, Dundee Utd all floundered/floundering and Aberdeen’s perennial dip pre-McInness... Added to that the demands of people on time, on finances, and the options available - not to mention the materialism - that has challenged the social capital or social currency of being a season ticket holder or regular attendee at football games. But it is like Japan, the falling population there has meant house prices have plummeted in rural areas and public services have become manageable. Perhaps there is opportunity in decline. More younger players, home grown, and thus more attention on training up local kids to play a part in the club. All credit to the club - you cannot fault the commitment to a young player wanting to have the opportunity in the area. That longer-term, locally-focused approach is visionary. However, change management is a synonym for ‘in hindsight’. What the club needs to say is what it has, in my view, designed in the boardroom - not the chance of promotion - but the chance to see local players come through and try and fight to get into the Premiership. I’m not sure the club has invested in a squad that is as exciting and robust in terms of promotion as Mr Rae indicated in the ‘Get Behind Your Team’ release. I would prefer that we were honest, that these players are on a wage not incomparable to a skilled worker (i.e. closer to us the fans) and that we are in a fight between Championship status quo (Qos, Morton) and one good season (Livingston). But not that the club has invested in a squad that is odds-on for promotion. How can that be true if JR has cut £1m from the playing squad. That’s having your cake, eating it, and then some, for the board to sell promotion. Of course, that is the line - as it has to be - no politician ever won through giving the electorate the hard truth or brutal reality - and many lost it in trying to do so. But as we have all seemed to accept Scottish football and the money and the Championship and Inverness support is less than Worldy, why not forego mincing words - we are likely paying our first team players £600-£700 quid a week. That is not much for very highly skilled and talented people. Regardless, it doesn’t separate us from Hamilton or Livingston by much. However, Ross County (Brian Graham) and Dundee Utd and Partick will have the edge. I just wish the ‘get behind your team’ rally or cry came from a place that admitted we are far away from odds-on but closer to QoS (or even Ayr with Shankland) than Dundee Utd or, dare I say, County. I think that acceptance would allow us to reevaluate the contracts to pie companies from central belt and really create a renewed sense of them v us, North v South, Highland v Lowland spirit that pulls people in rather than say we are close to this or near to that. If we are financially precarious after cutting a £1m and being given £900,000 then why not admit it? My summary would be that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but maybe a dose of reality woud shake things up to greater effect.
  20. I think it is accurate to say that. Season tickets (approx.) for young fans: Under 18s: ICT, Falkirk and Dun Utd are all quite high with charging U18s £200-100. Dunfermline and Partick are at £100, but Ross County is £40. Under 16s: ICT is at £100 as is Dun Utd, Dunfermline. The rest are half that and under...but Partick is free Under 12s: Most clubs have token fees (£5 - £20 or free for all areas) but ICT in main stand is £50 but free for North stand, Ross County is £5 for all areas. Ross County have said their season tickets are 10% up on last year which is quite something considering the drop.
  21. Rejoicing a 16-0 win over Fort William puts us on par with...Brora. One more and we could have bettered Peterhead. (Disclaimer - I'm an Abrach).
  22. Lochaber No More ?. Rothes beat them 11-1 a few days ago. 16-0 is great, well done - humiliating a team on their knees who aren't, by their own admission, HL standard. We shouldn't be revelling in this. Or maybe a sign to come.
  23. I really like this. Yes, once you take away the glamour and razzmatazz of Premiership football, Niculae-esque signings and Scottish Cup success, what are you left with. 1000-1500 fans. I will not write, ostrich-esque, what that level of support warrants. I will say that we are approaching a QoS and Morton model, and despite that, if Livingston can do it, then why not. The finances are worrying. Again, I'd prefer not to go there.
  24. There is very little income at the club. It makes less than a million and maybe closer to 500k than 1m or at least in between those figures. Is it then fair to say the club has always been run at a loss, but that the non-playing staffing has increased while the income has withered? I’m thinking Project Brave, Academy, Executives? The board will not be drawing a salary. I don’t know where the money has gone, is my short answer!
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