QOS- GAME OFF

[Scotty]

I carried on with the family and made it to the stadium - and to the shop before it closed to buy a programme and a mug - unfortunately the mugs had all been sold - but the very kind lady in the shop gave me a used mug so that I could have a memory of our visit.

As I made my way back to the car - I mentioned that we'd come from Wales for the match and another very kind lady from the club gave my family and I a quick tour of the stadium - which even my wife and daughter enjoyed immensely ! We're all fans of ICT after that !! And I'll do my best to try and come back sometime in the future !

now that is customer service !!! well done to the 'ladies' :025: :025: (although I hope the mug was washed before you got it)

[Charles Bannerman]

why the pitch wasn't inspected earlier, and if it was, why the decision wasn't made then.

What can't be established from the verifiable information at hand is whether or not ICT requested an earlier inspection and if so why it never happened, whether their was an earlier inspection and no decision was made or if it's all just one big screw up.

Sorry to deprive you of another conspiracy theory opportunity Donald but if what I wrote at around 2:30 on Saturday hadn't already made these questions irrelevant then I can only refer you to Scotty's impeccably accurate account a few posts above this one. The only detail of that which I cannot personally verify is what was said by Chic or by anyone else on Sportsound that afternoon since at the time, having spent much of the morning at the "scene of the crime" (maybe I should withdraw that since it will only encourage Donald :025: ) I was shopping and lunching in Morrisons. I have on the other hand heard reliable accounts of what was said and much of it does not appear to correlate with what I saw at the scene. At this point I don't think I want to say too much more about what has become a live and running issue.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Charles Bannerman

[Johnboy]

At this point I don't think I want to say too much more about what has become a live and running issue.

OMG!

You mean this one could run and run?

[hounddog]

Why on Earth would QOTS have wanted the game cancelled ?

injuries perhaps? We know Lilley was out but perhaps there were one or two more who were doubtful that we were not aware of (especially on a 'hard' pitch)?

All I am saying, as witnessed by a number of people who started to arrive at the ground either to work or to cover the game for the media, is that the QOS boss did not appear to be that perturbed that the game was called off after the inspection. In fact, he appeared to be dead set against the ICT suggestion of waiting for a further inspection closer to kick-off when the game might realistically have gone ahead. The 'real' reason for his stance is perhaps only known to Mr Chisholm but to come out on the QOS website and spout an opinion that was diametrically opposite to his actions is complete bullshit.

We are great at blaming ICT for things, and they give us no end of opportunities to do so but on this one they are not at fault and the crap spouted by Chic Young and then Gordon Chisolm is unwarranted and unprofessional.

Game should have been called off Friday end off. stop trying to deflect criticism of our club silly gamble switching ush on Friday hoping game would have been on money we can ill afford was now wasted. It should have been put on on Thursday the loss of income from hospitality etc and gate money will hopefully teach us a lesson

[Snow]

As I made my way back to the car - I mentioned that we'd come from Wales for the match and another very kind lady from the club gave my family and I a quick tour of the stadium - which even my wife and daughter enjoyed immensely ! We're all fans of ICT after that !! And I'll do my best to try and come back sometime in the future !

Superb response from 'the ladies' at the club

Hope you make it to a game before too long, WelshRef.

[Yngwie]

Game should have been called off Friday end off. stop trying to deflect criticism of our club silly gamble switching ush on Friday hoping game would have been on money we can ill afford was now wasted. It should have been put on on Thursday the loss of income from hospitality etc and gate money will hopefully teach us a lesson

And calling it off on Friday as you suggest would not have resulted in any loss of hospitality and gate money?

:025:

[hounddog]

Game should have been called off Friday end off. stop trying to deflect criticism of our club silly gamble switching ush on Friday hoping game would have been on money we can ill afford was now wasted. It should have been put on on Thursday the loss of income from hospitality etc and gate money will hopefully teach us a lesson

And calling it off on Friday as you suggest would not have resulted in any loss of hospitality and gate money?

:025:

Having the vision to look at the weather forcast and knowing that the ush needed to be on earlier would have meant the game being on and not loosing out on hospitality having the game called of means we are loosing out on gate and hospitality money with the game now having to be played midweek. sometimes we run like a diddy club.

[Scotty]

Having the vision to look at the weather forcast and knowing that the ush needed to be on earlier would have meant the game being on and not loosing out on hospitality

The overnight temperature on Thursday night was below the effective range of the USH, switching it on earlier would have had very little if any effect other than costing money. USH is not a magic cure all for wintry weather and hard pitches, it has optimum operating conditions too and once you go outside those conditions you dont get the expected result !

having the game called of means we are loosing out on gate and hospitality money with the game now having to be played midweek. sometimes we run like a diddy club.

Presumably that is one of the reasons why ICT club officials lobbied the ref hard on Saturday to do a further pitch inspection an hour later .... they wanted the game on and felt the extra hour would have meant the pitch was playable. The referee declined. It is not the club's decision to call the game off, the referee makes that decision, and in this case did so despite the protestations of one of the two clubs involved.

I know its easy to blame ICT for absolutely everything that happens at the TCS and some people are very good at that, myself included (when I feel it is justified), but FFS, they cannot be to blame for weather and the decision of a third party with no connection to the club other than the fact that he will be working on their property* for 90 minutes that day !!!!

[* - i know, different debate, stadium ownership etc !!!]

[CaleyD]

Someone may be able to correct me if I am wrong, but do ICT not have pitch covers? I seem to recall reading/hearing about us loaning them to C*unty in the distant past when we were away and they were at home, but I can't find anything to confirm or deny that.

[Charles Bannerman]

Someone may be able to correct me if I am wrong, but do ICT not have pitch covers? I seem to recall reading/hearing about us loaning them to C*unty in the distant past when we were away and they were at home, but I can't find anything to confirm or deny that.

I believe they were sold when the USH was installed. They are only effective down to about -3. As I recollect County have had their own for a number of years - perhaps 10 or more? I can recall a number of occasions over the period when County have done their best with them but they quite simply can't cope with some nights. I also remember about 10 years ago County experimented with bubbles of hot air - but only once! The ultimate solution - and I believe it has been tried although I can't remember whether it was as part of County's titanic battle to get their 1966 game v Rangers on or during Jags' 29 postponements in 1979 - is lighting fires on the park! Anyone prepared to phone Tommy and make that suggestion for this weekend?!

While the referee was doing his inspection on Saturday soembody did make the point that in the event of summer football, pitches could become just as hard.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Charles Bannerman

[CaleyD]

Thanks Charles....was a definitely a distant recollection so wouldn't surprise me if it were over 10 years ago :025:

[+DoofersDad]

Maybe this is a stupid question as I am not up with the technicalities here, but is there any reason why covers cannot be used with the USH? Covers on their own will protect depending on the material, thickness, temperature, extent of wind and the time the freezing temperature persits. But if used with USH then presumably they would help prevent the heat escaping and therefore might allow thawing even when the air temperature was a lot colder than the usual limit for USH. It's the same principle as heating your house - if you have no insulation then it is hard to keep the house warm and hellish expensive to do so.

As is often the case, the problem on Saturday was only with a small part of the pitch sheltered from the sun, so depending on the state of the pitch it should be possible to target certain areas for heating and/or covering. If this dual approach is possible then covers could allow the USH to be on for a minimum of time thereby saving money.

[Johnboy]

Apologies if this has already been highlighted. I've only just noticed it on the official site.

Club Statement

[Yngwie]

Someone may be able to correct me if I am wrong, but do ICT not have pitch covers?

We did, but when Bobby went to Dundee, he was allowed to take his shorts with him.

[Johnboy]

Hardly a detailed reply to Fraser's comments on the postponement from Chisholm.

See here

[TopSix]

quote from the QoS website:

"Even the Queens' 'stay at home fans' had their say on the 'Websites'. Said one, "Waiting until 11.30 this morning?to call the match off was stupid. They just had to listen to the weather forcast on Thursday to know that the game had NO CHANCE of going ahead. Again our travelling fans have been 'screwed' by complete and utter stupidity".

Added another, "This whole fiasco has been really messy to say the least and once again I feel for our travelling support". And yet another stressed, "At a time when Scottish football? is at an 'all time low' is it any wonder that attendances are dwindeling as fans are sick of being misled by certain clubs".

Ouch.

Maybe 'Chis' and the 'stay at home fans' could have contributed towards the massive costs of having the undersoil heating on for an extended period before the match.

I find their official website quite amusing at times. I reckon it's some witty Standard Grade pupils from a local school writing the 'articles'.

[Scotty]

Apologies if this has already been highlighted. I've only just noticed it on the official site. Club Statement

see post 163 and/or front page of this site :025:

Hardly a detailed reply to Fraser's comments on the postponement from Chisholm. See here

and interestingly no denial or confirmation of comments that ICT wanted the game on but he was not too bothered (allegedly). If he was so concerned for his team's fans, many of whom would be well up the road by 11:30 perhaps he could have added weight to the call for a pitch inspection an hour later and the ref may have considered it !!!!!

All in all its a mess and ICT and QOS bickering does no-one any good .... maybe the SFL or the SFA should look seriously at the issue as a whole and put some form of robust policy in place since virtually every team has been in the situation of having fans half way (or further) to a game when its called off ... we were even 28 minutes into a game once when it was called off :025:

[hounddog]

Having the vision to look at the weather forcast and knowing that the ush needed to be on earlier would have meant the game being on and not loosing out on hospitality

The overnight temperature on Thursday night was below the effective range of the USH, switching it on earlier would have had very little if any effect other than costing money. USH is not a magic cure all for wintry weather and hard pitches, it has optimum operating conditions too and once you go outside those conditions you dont get the expected result !

having the game called of means we are loosing out on gate and hospitality money with the game now having to be played midweek. sometimes we run like a diddy club.

Presumably that is one of the reasons why ICT club officials lobbied the ref hard on Saturday to do a further pitch inspection an hour later .... they wanted the game on and felt the extra hour would have meant the pitch was playable. The referee declined. It is not the club's decision to call the game off, the referee makes that decision, and in this case did so despite the protestations of one of the two clubs involved.

I know its easy to blame ICT for absolutely everything that happens at the TCS and some people are very good at that, myself included (when I feel it is justified), but FFS, they cannot be to blame for weather and the decision of a third party with no connection to the club other than the fact that he will be working on their property* for 90 minutes that day !!!!

[* - i know, different debate, stadium ownership etc !!!]

Understand where you are coming from Scotty and know that ush does not thaw a pitch once the frost was already in the ground so was rather pointless in putting it on in the 1st place.

do you know if the club have left it on for the Ayr game or has it been turned back off.

anyway although our club has to shoulder some of the blame hopefully lessons will have been learnt.

[hounddog]

Why would QOS pay for hotel and travel and want a game called off someone putting 2+2 the gether and getting 5 and trying to deflect any blame. anyway it's time to move on its happend and its done with l.

[caleykid1994]

Why would QOS pay for hotel and travel and want a game called off someone putting 2+2 the gether and getting 5 and trying to deflect any blame. anyway it's time to move on its happend and its done with l.

Maybe they heard the Inverness lasses were easy and wanted to try a John Terry or Ashley Cole!?

[hounddog]

[quote name='Top Six Next Year' date='Feb 22 2010, 11:53 PM'

Ouch.

Maybe 'Chis' and the 'stay at home fans' could have contributed towards the massive costs of having the undersoil heating on for an extended period before the match.

I find their official website quite amusing at times. I reckon it's some witty Standard Grade pupils from a local school writing the 'articles'.

[Yngwie]

Inverness Thistle failed.

That's the most sensible thing you've said.

[Charles Bannerman]

inspection 9.30 Sat morning failed.

How simple do I have to make this and apparently several other aspects of this issue for you?

There was NO 9:30 inspection on Saturday!

[Scotty]

Why would QOS pay for hotel and travel and want a game called off someone putting 2+2 the gether and getting 5 and trying to deflect any blame. anyway it's time to move on its happend and its done with l.

no-one is saying they wanted the game called off .... just that their manager was (allegedly) not that upset at the referee's decision to call it off. but you are right, its time to move on, plenty more threads to misinterpret :P

[Huisdean]

Why would QOS pay for hotel and travel and want a game called off someone putting 2+2 the gether and getting 5 and trying to deflect any blame. anyway it's time to move on its happend and its done with l.

no-one is saying they wanted the game called off .... just that their manager was (allegedly) not that upset at the referee's decision to call it off. but you are right, its time to move on, plenty more threads to misinterpret :P

Totally agree with Scotty that it is time to move on with this topic. However, as a parting shot, this situation again highlights how some of our support are only too happy to name call the club for this postponement and it saddens me that so many take great delight in attacking the club at every opportunity. Not for one minute am I suggesting the board/club have been blameless on other occasions but on this occasion, for anyone to blame the club is utter nonsense. What I would like to see happen from this incident however is for the SFL/SFA to explain the referee's decison to call the game off if, by all accounts the condition of the pitch was improving all the time and it was playable by 1500. As QoS were already either here or almost here and the fans probably almost here, then that would have been the most sensible decision. It really beggars belief that organisations like the SPL/SFL/SFA continue to treat fans in this way when attendances are dropping like a stone and football is dying on its feet.