The Hammer

I guess it depends on which side of the fence you sit on. Having one big group makes it very stark what is happening. In England the Premier League U21 teams can partake in the League 1/League 2 trophy (whatever it's current name is) but they rarely get out of the regionalised groups of 4. I suppose it gives young players experience of what it will take to make it in the game (and coaches a better insight as to who may have the ability to do so), and for those 1st teams involved the chance to rotate players and give minutes to those not currently starting in the league, or coming back from injury. I can see both sides but have no strong opinion either way - probably fall on the side of not having B teams involved if push comes to shove.

Some great stories here, from locals and not so locals. Thanks to those who have contributed so far.

Happy birthday Scotty, have a great day.

Well, if this was a poor match, as a new fan, I look forward to seeing some good ones. The match being on TV offered me my first opportunity to see 90 minutes of ICT. Although the matches were on at the same time I watched this, without knowing the score, after seeing the West Ham v Spurs match. I enjoyed this one so much more, and not just because the result was what I wanted. Although there weren't many clear cut chances created there was always a look to advance the ball in an attacking fashion quickly - actually a pleasure to see! I thought that in the first half most of the good intent seemed to involve Callum McLeod getting forward (perhaps because he was on the side nearest the camera, but that's the way it seemed) and in the end he thoroughly deserved to get the winner and was a clear MoM for me. Alfie Stewart looked very good and was a reasonably close second. I thought Joe Chalmers sprays the ball about well, but later in the second half when he was put under more physical pressure didn't handle that so well. Liam Sole looks dangerous and exciting, but on Saturday his end product needed to be better. The defence (and keeper) worked well as a unit and although there were one or two dangerous moments for Cove, I didn't ever really feel that they were going to be able to get the better of the back 4 (plus GK). The general consensus on here does seem to be that it wasn't a great performance but the job was ultimately done. For me, it was much more of a "good watch" and I'm thirsty for more.

Loving that. Just ordered one.

This could turn into a bit of a ramble... I've been on CTO for the best part of a year now. I've searched the forums but haven't found any posts where members explain why they came to be ICT fans. It struck me that as the club is only 31 years old there can't be anyone who (like many clubs fans) have been a supporter for generations. I do appreciate that there were two clubs before with a rich history, and I guess most will come from one of those two backgrounds but there has to be some who have made a choice. I've read Charles Bannerman's book "Against All Odds" and have no intention of dragging up any acrimony from the time of the merger, just wondering what made you choose ICT? For me, the seed was sown 20 years ago when I took a summer holiday in the Highlands (a 10 hour drive from where I live), although that seed took a long while to germinate. I've been a West Ham fan since April 1980 (I did it for a bet) and held a season ticket for 26 years, some of which I travelled home and away every week supporting the team (over 800 matches and 42 current English grounds visited, plus another ten or a dozen no longer in existence). It was against this backdrop of visiting football grounds that travelling up the A9 and seeing a stadium, that you could see into, right next to a main road took my attention [the only other one that springs to mind is Walsall next to the M6]. After this if it ever came up in conversation about having a Scottish team, ICT woud be who I "claimed" although I never really followed any results, just the occasional glance at the tables. I regularly listen to "The Price of Football" podcast, and in the late summer of 2024 heard Andrew Moffat from "The Wyness Shuffle" when he was on as a guest discussing the club's precarious financial position. I then downloaded and listened to a number of episodes of TWS, chucked a few quid in the pot of the crowdfunding effort, joined the ICT Supporters Trust and bought a shirt in an effort to try and help the club survive (clearly I'm no Alan Savage, but every little helps, right?). Administration then hit and I was invested in the survival battle, both on and off the pitch. I gave up my west Ham season ticket at the end of 2023/24, so following the ICT results from afar helped fill Saturday afternoons, and still do with few Premier League matches at 3pm on a Saturday. Maybe I've been lucky in my short time being invested that I didn't really have to endure Big Dunc's tactics, and have only known Kell's gameplans. That in itself is like a breath of fresh air to the, frankly quite boring Premier League down here. OK so the players may be more technically gifted but the "Guardiola" possession tactics that everyone seems to want to employ are dull. I'm really keen to get to some ICT games this season (maybe the 10 hour round trip to QoS next weekend will be my first). The crazy thing is that a plane to Inverness, match ticket and B&B are no more expensive than a train to the London Stadium and a match ticket, such are the PL prices. Anyway, enough of me, what's your story?

Many thanks Robert, I'm away to click on the video now....

Thanks Scotty. No subject and no text with just an attachment is always a red flag to me. I did notice the address seemed legit, but there are some clever bad guys out there so you never know.

This morning at 7:49 receved a email that looks as if it has come from the ICT Supporters Trust ([email protected]) which is the same as usual emails. This one had no subject and no text in thebody of the email, just a single attachment (ictst1.mp4) which appears to be a video. I say appears as I am not planning on clicking on it. It 9:15 I received another, the only difference being the subject is "Video from the ICTST Board - watch this space". To me this is screaming spam. Has anyone else received them, if so do the Trust have a cyber security issue?

If they do I don't think it will be as this seasons away kit. Part of the launch tweet yesterday said "We hope that our supporters will love the new look, and we are excited to reveal the away kit next week. Both kits stand as a testament to the club's ambition and progress."

As a former season ticket holder at an English Premier League club, TV matches were a real problem for fans. Getting to Newcastle away that TV moved to 12:30 meant a 5am start which isn't much fun at the time, even less when you blow a 3-1 lead and lose 4-3! Having home games switched to somewhere from Friday night to Monday night and anything in between makes you even more unpopular at home when arranging family gatherings! In my last two years as a STH I think I had maybe 3 or 4 Saturday 3 o'clock kick offs in total. TV games are good for advertisers and armchair fans only. Like Gringo, I hope the QoS away game in September doesn't get moved as that is the closest to me and one I have earmarked to try and get to.

I would have loved to have had a two legged tie vs West Ham in the next round. Sadly us hammers fans had to put up with (and lose to) Astra GooGoo two years in a row in the Europa League instead. Astra are no longer in existence.

Does anybody know why the club's YouTube channel has been wiped of all content? I had a notification come up on my phone for the goals from Tuesday but by the time I clicked on it yesterday it just said "content is now private" and looking at the channel there are no videos there whatsoever. Seems most odd.

For quite a while I predicted 6th. Right now I'd bite your hand off for 8th.

This is a real dose of "reality" after the last updates from BDO which seemed relatively positive. It seems to me that the ball is firmly in the court of the shareholders/former directors concerned and the fate of the club is extremely reliant upon them playing ball to enable a new owener to take control. Depressing news.

For a few weeks now I've believed that 6th place was achievable. Looking at the table today I would be disappointed if 5th wasn't reached by the season's end. It seems unlikely, as Robert said, that an 8 point gap to Alloa can be closed down in 8 remaining games, so the playoffs may be out of reach, but with some luck and a following wind (and a win over Alloa) who knows.

Hi James, What is your YouTube Channel - I'd be interested to see your video when you upload it?