DUFC vs ICT now Monday the 5th!

[GMD11UK]

BBC Sportsound @bbcsportsound

SPL Fixture Amendment: Dundee United v Inverness CT was Sunday 04/03/12 now Monday 05/03/12 at 7.45pm. Due to being televised.

[old caley girl]

Bring on another Caley club evening? Crap news all the same as Sunday would have been so much better.

[PaderbornCaley]

It was the Saturday, then the Sunday, now the Monday. Watch this space for the game being re-scheduled again! Feckin shambles! What a waste of an away day. Still, half day at work me thinks!

[12th Man]

At least the tv revenue will go towards paying for the flood lights

[Joe DiMaggio]

At least the tv revenue will go towards paying for the flood lights

We get no extra revenue from this game being on tv. Makes no difference how many of our games in the league are shown live we still get the same amount of money.

[sotonict]

150 quid down the drain for me

[Yngwie]

Flights booked? Ouch.

[sotonict]

Train up on sat for killie v st johns, train to perth that night then all the gubbings for the sunday and flight back. Nevermind

[PaderbornCaley]

FFS! Now, the game is being played behind closed doors.......

[PullMyFinger]

FFS! Now, the game is being played behind closed doors.......

Link please?

[old caley girl]

Eh?

[LiamInverness]

Was i the only one that got the joke ?

[CaleyD]

It's a ridiculous situation...and one that is only getting worse and will only cause further long term problems to the sport.

I wonder if the decision makers really stop to think about the effect of moving games willy nilly like this? We are all aware of the impact it has on us as individuals and as a result the fans in general. It's bad enough when a game is moved to an earlier kick-off or a Sunday as we all, especially families, have routines and plans which need changing to accommodate. Moving a match to a weekday evening will almost certainly exclude younger kids who will have school to attend the next day....or who can't get off school to allow them to travel. Parents have to leave kids with friends/babysitters if they want to attend by themselves...and the kids, who we should be doing more to bring in to the game given that they are the future supporters, miss out. Even if they are lucky enough to have access to the game on TV, a 7:45pm kick-off means a match goes beyond their normal bed time, so still they miss out.

More than ever clubs rely on fan volunteers for a lot of things. ICT, as with many clubs, have such people doing media duties at matches, videoing the games, selling programmes and 50/50 draw tickets. These people have other jobs and can't just go in late the following day after not getting home till the small hours, nor can they just swan off early to get to games in the first place. Even paid staff at clubs who have kids are severely put upon by the upheaval....and that goes for the players as much as anyone.

But what can we do? The league and the clubs have sold out to TV and are now in a situation where they (TV) call the shots.

Boycott these games? That's like asking fans to cut their own throat....but, IMO, it's getting to the "no choice" stages.

Banner protest? Not really effective when protesting against the TV companies who would just not show the banners.

Complain to Clubs? As I said already, they have long since sold out to TV and are powerless to do anything and just hide behind the "wasn't our decision" excuse. (hide is maybe a bit strong, and not all the current incumbents can be blamed for the situation as it is one they have inherited and almost powerless to do anything about.)

Complain to the league? They'll just tell us that the game would be worse off without the TV money.

Scottish football is, IMO, beyond practical repair...and the roots of much of that lies in the fact that we sold out to television. If Scottish Football was a horse we would have shot it and put it out of it's misery a long time ago. Maybe it's time to stop throwing good money and effort after bad, scrap the current setup in it's entirety and start again...it would almost certainly be a lot less painful than suffering the slow death that is currently taking place. Better to do it now while there's still some interest in the game than spend another 5 or 10 years driving everyone away and their being nobody left to rebuild it when the inevitable happens.

[lukemackay]

for espn are you serious the laziest sport broadcasters on this planet

they bring a table and jody morris half the time and when they dont they sit in a cosy studio in england somewhere.

they are just *****..

rant over

[Joe DiMaggio]

We signed up to the tv deal and happily take the money from it. This includes some monday night games. We are lucky that this is our first and prob only monday night game of the season. We are rarley on tv as it is anyway, especially away from home. Is this the only away game this season that has been moved? Not too bad actually.

[Proctor]

This actually works out quite good for me as I am working in Dundee then so I can get to the game. I wouldn;t have before because I would be working the weekend in Aberdeen. I can totally understand why everyone else would be unhappy at this though.

[PaderbornCaley]

Quote from todays papers.

SPL Chief Execttive Neil Doncaster has applauded the Monday football experience.

"It's a great initiatve for Scottish football and it's one step closer to having all games played behind closed doors. If Dundee Utd use their common sense, they'll be able to close at least two stands. The money they will save from not having stewards making sure all health and safety rules are followed will help them to remove some of their debt. Now, it's just small steps, but it is the way forward."

Doncaster used his succesful spell at Norwich as a prime example.

"As Chief Executive, I oversaw two relegations down to League 1. So many fans stayed away that we could close a FULL stand and not worry about overcrowding. Now look at the state of the club. As soon, as I left, within 2 seasons, 2 promotions back to the Premiership! Fans queing (dangerously) for tickets, stadiums packed to capacity and fans refusing to sit down! Some even waving flags - aggressively! It's a logistical nighmare! My vision for the SPL, is to have all games played with no fans. This will save the tax payer millions in police costs. The amount of viewers watching on TV will allow us to negotiate for a better deal - fans can watch from the comfort of their own home, with safe seating provided and unlimited tea!"

When asked of the dangers of so many supporters holding hot beverages at once, Doncaster pointed out the obvious. "Iced tea and safe seating is the way forward".

Angry supporters flooded message boards. One supporter on 'safeseating.net' called Immortal Howden Ender tried to air his views. Unfortunately due to new goverment legislation, any reference to an 'unsafe standing area' is seen as an encitement to standing. The Scottish Government have notified Lankashire Police. Doncasters message to the fans is simple. Sit down. Shut up.... But i'm listening.

Edited January 21, 2012 by CapitalCaley

[12th Man]

Tv has done wonders for the old firm in promoting their existence.

We will have 5 televised league games in a row starting against rangers, so if locals want to start calling themselves ICT fans for the first time Im all in favour of it.

[Alex MacLeod]

Quote from todays papers.

SPL Chief Execttive Neil Doncaster has applauded the Monday football experience.

"It's a great initiatve for Scottish football and it's one step closer to having all games played behind closed doors. If Dundee Utd use their common sense, they'll be able to close at least two stands. The money they will save from not having stewards making sure all health and safety rules are followed will help them to remove some of their debt. Now, it's just small steps, but it is the way forward."

Doncaster used his succesful spell at Norwich as a prime example.

"As Chief Executive, I oversaw two relegations down to League 1. So many fans stayed away that we could close a FULL stand and not worry about overcrowding. Now look at the state of the club. As soon, as I left, within 2 seasons, 2 promotions back to the Premiership! Fans queing (dangerously) for tickets, stadiums packed to capacity and fans refusing to sit down! Some even waving flags - aggressively! It's a logistical nighmare! My vision for the SPL, is to have all games played with no fans. This will save the tax payer millions in police costs. The amount of viewers watching on TV will allow us to negotiate for a better deal - fans can watch from the comfort of their own home, with safe seating provided and unlimited tea!"

When asked of the dangers of so many supporters holding hot beverages at once, Doncaster pointed out the obvious. "Iced tea and safe seating is the way forward".

Angry supporters flooded message boards. One supporter on 'safeseating.net' called Immortal Howden Ender tried to air his views. Unfortunately due to new goverment legislation, any reference to an 'unsafe standing area' is seen as an ancitement to standing. The Scottish Government have notified Lankashire Police. Doncasters message to the fans is simple. Sit down. Shut up.... But i'm listening.

Doncaster further expanded on his vision for the future of Scottish football. He see's a future where stadia could be demolished and replaced with a couple of portacabins for changing rooms. Without the fans there would be no need for stands and hospitality facilities. No need for toilet blocks or pie shops. Clubs could save a fortune on rates etc if they just demolish the stands altogether and replace them with non-ratable temporary accomodation. There would also be a vast saving in electricity costs. Further savings could be made if the undersoil heating system was extended to the portacabins. When the game was over the excess hot water could be used to fill the baths.

Doncaster see's monday night football as the best way for fans to support their team. He believes there will be bigger supports because the majority of the fans will have to stay indoors on a monday night cos they're skint after the weekends shenanigans. He also believes that clubs will be able to cut wages bills by only paying the players straight time for a monday evening instead of the current time and a half before twelve and double time after when playing on a saturday.

"This will also be good for the country" said Doncaster. "Families will be together all weekend and will more than likely want to spend time out, using leisure facilities etc, thus boosting the economy"

How the fans will react to these visions remains to be seen but for now they are resigned to the couch with a tinny.