The Hammer

I can't make head nor tail of it. Both were deserved red cards. Neither intended to do what happened. Both were "out of control". Both (unwittingly) endangered their opponent - Balogun turning over the ankle as he couldn't halt his momentum and Quansah's leg bouncing up off the top of ball. I really struggle to see how they can be viewed differently from a punishment perspective.

2026-27 Away Kit Launched - ICTFC The away kit has dropped today. I can't make up my mind if I like it or not.

I think now England should appeal against the Quansah ban. When the appeal is turned down they should then put FIFA on the spot and ask them to clarify what the difference is. If FIFA should un-ban Quansah then it would need the moral high ground to be taken and him not be considered for selection. Not one person outside of the USA wanted anything other than a resounding Belgian victory. Teams should be aware of this feeling before considering an appeal on red cards yet to be issued in this tournament.

Agreed, but when I see decisions like last night I live in hope that VAR can become a force for good in the game and continue to refuse penalties where the player is clearly on the way down before any contact is made, which would help drive it out of the game (especially in conjunction with yellow cards for the diver). Sadly, when you see former refs like Keith Hackett on X/Twitter saying it should have been a penalty you have to doubt that things will get better until the qulity of refs gets better and I won't hold my breath for that to happen.

It looks to me from the photos that the sponsor logo may actually be part of the shirt rather than stuck on. If that is the case then clearly it won't fade, but also probably means that there won't be an option to buy an adult size without it.

When West Ham signed Issa Diop he was "French", but then again Declan Rice was "Irish" when he signed, so I guess it cuts both ways.

Ha ha, that was exactly where my mind went when I read it too.

This is a very salient point. It also applies to England to a degree. With the Auld Firm's dominance of the league they are always trying to get above the other. To this end they recruit overseas players. The Scottish players then are spread amongst the Auld Firm benches or other teams, but crucially get little European experience. Top Scottish players of the past would often have moved to England (Dalglish, Souness, Hansen, Jordan, McQueen, etc.), but with the money available to English clubs now, they too are looking for a higher quality player abroad, leaving fewer options for Scots (and Irish, Welsh and English) in England. With this as the backdrop it'll be hard to buck the trend as what the best players are lacking is experience against high quality opposition. As I said at the start the same actually applies to English players, the depth of top quality players is not great. Even if you have, say, four top quality players - if they aren't testing themselves against better players regularly they won't improve anywhere near as quickly as they could. Whilst Norway may be doing OK now, how long will it last when Haarland retires (or goes off the boil) - their second string got thumped by France. Denmark were in the same qualifying group as Scotland but weren't good enough to win it. Ireland didn't qualify either. I don't know the answer, but I do know that it won't be easy to come by. Perhaps a domestic quota on overseas players is what is needed (for all national teams), but I don't see that happening any time soon.

I hope they do both come back for another year. Promotion certainly helps with the recruitment as they can stay in a good environment that they know and are settled in but at a higher level. Win win for everyone. I have to say though that while I really like Bavidge, if we could only get one it would be Stewart. I think he has the potential to be a really top player. Don't get me wrong Bavidge will have a good career, but when it's all over in 15 years or so I don't think he'll reach the same heights as Stewart.

At the time you wrote this I would have agreed with you. I know relying on results from other games is never a great position to be in, but those other results have been terrible (and partly unexpected) from a Scottish perspective. It is now highly unlikely that Scotland will progress. FIFA's "tie-break" rules have had a very detrimental effect on comptetiveness of group games to the end, and the scheduling has certainly worked in the favour of nations playing for a third place spot later in the tournament. To my eyes (I didn't watch the Morocco game) Gannon-Doak has been the stand out Scottish player.

I think that just about summed it up. Scotland certianly gave it more apparent effort than England did on Tuesday night, but then I suppose Brazil didn't just park the bus. I do hope that the other results mean Scotland can get through. It's still eminently possible, but equally results could go the wrong way (who'd have thought South Africa would beat South Korea) and there are too many variables to predict at the moment.

It'll be the law - gambling and U18s etc. The test of ethics and sponsor influence wil be if there is an option not to have it on adult shirts. I personally like a bet and have no problem with it, but there are others who don't on principle or who have addiction issues (either themselves or famiy members).

Well the badge surround has gone and looks better for it, but it's hard to see if it's embroidered on or not. I assume all kids kits won't have the sponsor, but I wonder if the adult sizes will have the option not to have it on principle - I know for a fact that West Ham offer the option with or without the betting sponsor but not sure about other clubs with similar sponsors? It will be interesting to see what other merch is available - I do like the grey hoodie that Graeme Shinnie was wearing in his recent interview on the club YouTube channel.

It does look a little short of striking options at the moment. I do always think, though, that a world cup delays the transfer market activity. OK so ICT probably aren't looking to directly sign a WC player but when these players move it does tend to have a knock on effect down the leagues as other players move on and become available.

Is Bar 94 open only to Supporters Trust members or can anyone go in? I am a member, and will be renewing next month, but am considering attending a match in August with some non-members. Is there an age restriction on entry?

Fixtures are what they are - we have to play everyone home and away twice, but to start at home, finish at home and be at home for the new year fixtures is good news.

Now there's something I can get on board with! Indeed, my head this morning is telling me that I did participate quite fully at the pub last night.

I tend to agree with this. No, probably not. But, with the bloated tournament such as it is, the next game against opposition of the quality of Croatia or better is not likely to happen until the last 16 and momentum by then might (or might not) give the confidence to overcome. Personally, I'm struggling to get into this WC so far. As yet I've only watched two full matches (England & Scotland) and the second half of Brazil v Morocco. I've seen the goals from maybe half a dozen other matches. Maybe when the group stages are over it will grab me a bit more.

I decided to stay up (sort of). I had unintentially nodded off on the sofa between about 9 and 11:30 then woke up, watched the remaining Brazil v Morocco match then sat and watched the Scotland game. It was light when it finished so I took my dogs for their morning walk 4:30-5:30 then went to bed for a few hours.

This - in conjunction with the ticketing system - should be almost foolproof in identifying the ticketholder (or at least the ticket purchaser). From there it's surely down to any club/SPFL/police initiatives to determine effective punishments and, by extention, deterrrents. Clubs could lead the way - having their own policies - regardless of these lenient punishments dished out by the SPFL. In England a (countrywide) stadium ban and criminal record seems to work pretty well in the main.

Having been in Prague three years ago when West Ham won it I can fully understand how their fans will be feeling, it's quite a surreal joy. Well done to them, and enjoy the Europa League next year.

Just announced.

Oscar MacIntrye is the real surprise here for me. The others I can all see reasons why the club may choose to part ways them, but with Oscar I can only assume the descision not to sign an extention/new deal would be down to him.

I haven't looked at their accounts (perhaps thats something to do over the summer) but in addition to the plastic pitch hire as already mentioned perhaps they are just really good at getting in sponsorship income and corporate dollar. I guess part time clubs also have a lower salary cost base.

Not specifically ICT, but it is relevent to ICT so hopefully alright posted here. For anyone interested in such things, here are the average crowds in League 1 this season, with each team's biggest and smallest crowd. Not surprisingly ICT were far and away the best supported, and also were the opponent for three of the other clubs biggest crowd. East Fife were the biggest draw to two other clubs. Despite having the lowest average Kelty were not the lowest crowd for any club when they visited. Cove were the opponent for Hamilton's biggest and smallest crowd of the season. ICT's lowest crowd was bigger than every other club's best crowd of the season. Average Largest Smallest ICT 2306 5029 v Hamilton 1792 v Peterhead Queens 1034 1413 v Montrose 495 v Stenny East Fife 739 1348 v ICT 553 v Montrose Peterhead 696 927 v Queens 479 v Alloa Alloa 615 809 v ICT 509 v Cove Montrose 587 1082 v East Fife 260 v Peterhead Stenny 544 1096 v ICT 384 v Montrose Hamilton 476 696 v Cove 238 v Cove Cove 471 695 v Peterhead 240 v Alloa Kelty 417 745 v East Fife 242 v Cove