FAO George Fraser

[TSTtiger]

On this matter I don't care what's best for our club, our board or whose interest this serves. A 10 team league is bad news for the fans and football in general, and it'll be a sad day if it happens.

[robbylad]

Radical change is required in Scottish football. I think that was the gist of the Mcleish Report.

Taking two clubs out of the SPL and putting them into the 1st division is as far from radical as you can get. It's a total joke!!!!

[Scarlet Pimple]

Trim Charlie's beard? What a thought.

Good gracious, you would have to trim his hairline as well to create balance and then gentleman Charles would resemble an Easter egg!

I am , of course, hoping that said scribe will retaliate in kind so that I can have a good laugh to lighten the load of sadness and woe that is upon us as a result of this issue having been so contentious.

George Fraser is a very intelligent and able man and, from personal experience,I know that he has a good heart. His understanding of what is best for the fans will, to say the least, be full and acute. No blame should be attached to him or any other member of the Caley Thistle Board for what follows. He is set now between a rock and a hard place where nothing that he now decides will attract universal praise. The least damage that he will see after the dust settles will be, in my view, a situation where he successfully so arranges his decisions that others follow to nmake sure that the minimum number of teams remain at 12.

The more I hear, the more I find the presence of Celtic and Rangers in the SPL as a big, smelly fly in the ointment. Their influence and the negative effects they have on all remaining clubs is grossly disproportionate to the amount of value they bring to these clubs. Without them, the league would be more competitive and fair and all clubs would have a better chance of remaining solvent and passionate about their game. Toadying to their financial plans and schemes means that the other clubs cannot work within their budgets and cannot therefore have all their energy directed to providing what the fans actually want to see on the park.

England doesn't want them and maybe they have outlived their usefulness in Scotland.

The present setup, financial and otherwise, does not work IMHO. It is not as vibrant as it could be and there is litle incentive to produce attacking football and thrills for the fans in the current situation of relegation and promotion. Fear, tentativity and caution rules the roost when upbeat , forward-looking rules and situations should be fostered instead of the stultifying ones currently in place that often cause more trouble than they are worth. e.g the offside trap--how can anything be more counter-productive and negative than that? And then you might see more originality and endeavour and a lot more thrills for the fans.--e.g. greater end-to-end stuff.

And I also think that Chas should offer his face for shaving in a public place for a small donation , with all funds gathered going to either the Overseas Ex-Pats pension fund or the Inverness Caley Thistle's Indigent Reporters' Trembling-pen Society.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Oh, and by the way, Neil Doncaster, IMHO , is not a leade,r he is a facilitator.

He facilitates whatever flies best in the pevailing wind.

And that wind is NOT the wind of change --merely the hot air of adjustments suitable to those clubs who have the most influence in Scottish football...no names, no packdrill, like!

You will get no change out of Neil Doncaster, if for no other reason than the fact that since he has only been in his new job for a short while he will be in no rush to give up his office, his salary and his perquisites for really radical, rollicking change.

Passive resistance and no movement forward, resulting in an even more stultifying Status Quo, will be the order, if not the odour, of the day. He knows which side his bread is buttered on. For sure, he is well aware of what his mandate is and was undoubtedly aware of it prior to, and after, he was hired--crudely put it ran something like this from the beaks.."we are looking for a facilitator, who will not make waves and who understands that business is business and the strongest influence in the Scottish game comes from Glasgow. We want you to be as inflexibly flexible as possible, dangerously dynamic as you dare not to be, as palpitatingly passionate about REAL change as a Thistle is which wants to change into a toadstool; and then some!

Folks--don't lose all hope. With a bit of luck Terry will be in charge of the Scottish game at some time within within the next 30 years and hope springs eternal in the human breast doesn't it? Translation : "We are screwed!"

[TheKnowledge]

Here, it can't just be me that thinks getting another 4/6/8 teams in the SPL will lead to the filth thumping more teams, more often? I ken the dons got pumped by Celtic, as did we in the league cup but, if you get more teams in, there will be even less money going about, which would lead to EVEN worse players playing in the league. If you want a fair system, you need fairer distribution of the money, like the NBA, NHL and NFL. That's never going to happen, so it's never going to be fair. The idea of getting more meaningless games, to develop young players isn't really based on sound logic. Just set up a bunch of friendly's then. No pressure. All clubs are free to develop their own players at any point, and getting relegated is not the reason why it's not done. Look at Hamilton, they had a couple of their own youth players keeping them in the league until they sold them, because they need the cash. Less teams, more cash, hold on to your youngsters for longer. Hibs have produced plenty players that made the first team, as have Hearts, Rangers and Dundee UTD. A lot of their players have made the Scotland squads as well. Going to 10 teams does mean teams like St Mirren, Hamilton and St Johnstone will become yo yo (not like homeboys, but like up and down) teams, but it's sport, this happens. So, no, I don't think anyone should be boycotting anything.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Unbelievable - do you seriously think that Uncle George is a muppet ? Our board have shown great strides forward in the last 18 months and there is no way that they would sell our souls for such folly, even if they were enticed with any form of lucrative short term proposal.

And will you be going to Grassa's new pub for a pint IHE?

"It's time to play the music

It's time to light the lights

It's time to meet the Grassa in the Muppet Bar tonight"

[dougal]

If you decide to go along with the charade that is Donkey Doncasters restructuring of the league I personally will not return to TCS until you are no longer part of the set up in Inverness. I believe that a 10 team league will be to the detriment of football in this country and this club. I will not pay good money to watch the club I love die. Do the right thing George.

I detest that man who hides one thing in the depths of his heart, and speaks for another. Homer

I bet this has got Mr Fraser panicking

Comedy Gold

dougal