Dargo is a Saint?

[Harry Chibber]

Sadly, even though people won't admit it, ICT are simply a "stepping stone" club.

Hopefully that will change in the next few years though.

Only for players that use it in this way, the likes of Tokely & Munro have shown that the club means more than just that and I'd have 11 of them on a pitch over 11 Dargo's anyday!

F*ck'm!

[tm4tj]

Fantastic, I am now the most quoted person on this thread.

Rig, you are getting old before your time, pipe slippers and cloth cap spring to mind.........the voice of reason.  My opinion of Dargo is his ego has outgrown him, this holding the club to ransom will hopefully backfire on him.

This isn't a question and answer game.

Wheres sophia, she likes these games.

[Guest wighty01]

Wonder what people would be saying if Dargs did not score anywhere near as many goals as he did - what a terrible signing imagine taking a chance on someone like him - instead he comes comes along and does a fantastic job and all of a sudden when other clubs become interested with better offers suddenly his ego has outgrown him - don't think so welcome to the real world

don't know about you but if i didn't half to work i wouldn't - i work only for the money to pay the bills and if someone offered me twice as much money for the same job i was doing let me think about what would my answer be - sorry I'm loyal to my current employers don't think so why not be big enough and say thanks for your contribution have enjoyed your goals all the best

[Harry Chibber]

Wonder what people would be saying if Dargs did not score anywhere near as many goals as he did - what a terrible signing imagine taking a chance on someone like him - instead he comes comes along and does a fantastic job and all of a sudden when other clubs become interested with better offers suddenly his ego has outgrown him - don't think so welcome to the real world

don't know about you but if i didn't half to work i wouldn't - i work only for the money to pay the bills and if someone offered me twice as much money for the same job i was doing let me think about what would my answer be - sorry I'm loyal to my current employers don't think so why not be big enough and say thanks for your contribution have enjoyed your goals all the best

Football isn't just a job, you don't sit at your desk with thousands of people cheering you on as you process Insurance applications, to play football should be a pivelage and I would give my left and right arm to be in Dargo's position.  He has the chance of making himself a legend, could go down in history with a club discovering it's true potential and instead he has decided to become a journey man footballer looking for the next best thing.  f*ck'm!

[TheresNoEsInBlack]

Every time someone leaves we get this outpouring of anger from some folk.  I don't understand it and its getting boring.  For the players its a job, a career which is much shorter than that of a 'normal' job.  As a result they will inevitably make a number of moves in a shorter space of time.  Think how many times you might change job in your own career.  Managers have to be cut-throat when picking the starting 11 every week and the players have to be the same to get the best out of their career for their families.

The players that leave are not ICT fans like us and should not be subjected to the same rules that we follow as fans because it just doesn't work like that.  They are employees of the club that we pay for and that's where it ends.  It is much easier in my opinion for players like Rossco to commit their long-term future to the club because he has found his level in the game and there are plenty players around who could do a similar job.  With Dargo its a little bit different, there are few top quality strikers and he has every right to go and get the best deal he can.  Who cares that he took his time telling us.  Any one of us would have done the same if we were in his position.

Think positively folks, there are going to be so many excellent players turning out for us in future.  Its not the end of the world that Dargo is gone.  We're going into our 4th season in the SPL and we're not going down any time soon so lets get on with it and talk about who we're going to get to replace him.

I'm looking forward to taking money off the Rangers fans in my office again next season :011:  I've already got one of them to sign a statement that he made saying ICT would never take 7 points off them again in a season.  I was aghast at the outrageous imperialist c0ckiness that only and Old Firm fan could have.  Roll on the first game of the season!  Dying to get it right round them.

[Exiled ICT]

The club made numerous efforts to open negotiations with Craig Dargo throughout the whole of last season and Craig Dargo and his agent refused to even look at them.  The answer was always "We'll talk about it at the end of the season" - not the actions of a man who was even willing to consider an offer from ICT in my book.

Why? Maybe he just wanted to concentrate on playing and not be distracted by long drawn out negotiations.

Added to the above.......

1.  He has apparently made the decision to leave without having decided where he is going

2.  We've heard nothing of any firm offers from anyone else

3.  The "Story" being leaked that his girlfriend wasn't happy in Inverness to pave the way for an easy excuse to depart

....and I think it's safe to say his mind has probably been made up for quite some time - he was simply stalling to....

a.  See how much interest other clubs were showing

b.  Get some press to highlight the fact he was available

c.  Use the offer from ICT to bump up offers from elsewhere until such time as he 2 others interested and could set them bidding against each other to maximise his income

And?

1. Lots of people leave jobs everyday with no definite new job lined up.

2. Just because there has been no contract offers for Dargo in the press doesn't mean that there haven't been any, lots of contract offers are kept confidential.

3. Maybe it was an excuse, maybe it was the truth. It's not a new thing to use the press for your own advantage, and there will be lots more of it happening in the future.

He's played this entire scenario with only himself in mind and we can argue the rights and wrongs of his actions all day long and everyone will read it different and feel differently.  All the "you shouldn't feel like this or that" from others won't change a thing.

I agree with you that everyone will have their own opinion, as is their right, and these will probably never change. But he has to play the situation entirely for himself, or himself and his family. As stated, they might have had trouble settling in the highlands and maybe why he has decided to move with no clear indication of his next club.

[tm4tj]

Wonder what people would be saying if Dargs did not score anywhere near as many goals as he did - what a terrible signing imagine taking a chance on someone like him - instead he comes comes along and does a fantastic job and all of a sudden when other clubs become interested with better offers suddenly his ego has outgrown him - don't think so welcome to the real world

Oh well, why not just go right back to when makind was born and wonder what would happen if Adam never met Eve?

Footballs not just about the money, people like Dargo are turning their back on the area, what message does that spell out to other prospective employees for ICT.

The fact is it has all happened, thats why people are commenting on it, Dargo did sign for us, Dargo scored a lot of goals for us, Dargo got injured, Dargo got better, Dargo never signed a new contract, Dargo thinks the grass is greener elsewhere, Dargo is turning his nose up at a good thing, Dargo is sticking his fingers up at the ICT fans who backed him, Dargo is History. This 'outpouring' is annoyance that another central belter comes North, makes an impression, then buggers off as soon as. This 'outpouring' is annoyance that as soon as players get noticed, the wee team get consumed by the old firm. Aye, you would think I would be used to it by now, but it does not get any easier, and having Dargo stringing us along waiting patiently for him to decide when the time is right to dump us just adds to the annoyance. Some people up here need to go and get some passion training and stop trying to be nicey nicey politically correct all the time, go on, live life on the edge, you might just enjoy it. What is so wrong with players saying, ok, I like Inverness and I want to finish my career here because I am not a greedy little ****** and want more than Inverness can give me? Like that will ever happen, no because we allow it to happen right under our noses. Dargo is under some illusion if he thinks he will be a big cheese at a big club. This was his chance to be that big cheese and he turned his back on it.  

As I typed earlier, thanks for the goals, and bye bye, but don't look for any heroes welcome if you return.

Right, plenty for you all to quote in that little outpouring :blah01:

[chris123]

Speaking of unwelcome returns did anyone else read in the Paper that a certain D.Bingham will be returining to the SPL

Shutup Chris

[Guest pigeon]

NICE TO SEE SOME SENSIBLE COMMENTS ON THIS THREAD. HOW HAS DARGS "ripped the ****" OUT OF ICT WHEN THEY AGREED A DEADLINE DATE WHEN DARGS RETURNED FROM HIS HOLIDAYS THIS TUESDAY. HE ALREADY TOLD CC & GB THAT HE WOULD ADVISE THEM OF POSITION BEFORE SPEAKING TO ANY OTHER CLUBS. THE CLUB WERE ADVISED ON HIS RETURN,AFTER DISCUSSIONS WITH HIS AGENT,THAT HE WOULD NOT BE ACCEPTING THEIR OFFER. IF ANYONE IS AT FAULT HERE IT IS ICT & GB WHO WERE AT LIBERTY TO PUT AN EARLIER CLOSING DATE ON THEIR OFFER THROUGH DARGS AGENT. THIS DID'NT HAPPEN & ANYONE WITH ANY SENSE WOULD HOLD ON TO THEIR DEADLINE TO TAKE STOCK OF WHAT'S HAPPENING ELSEWHERE,AFTER ALL IT IS A SHORT CAREER.

AS FOR ICT'S SO CALLED OFFER OF 2K A WEEK & 60K SIGNING ON FEE. IF THIS IS TRUE IM SURE DARGS WOULD HAVE WALKED BAREFOOT UP TO ICT TO ACCEPT.

IT IS A KNOWN FACT THROUGHOUT THE SPL THAT ICT PLAYERS ARE THE LOWEST PAID IN THE LEAGUE THEREFORE I FIND IT TOTALLY UNBELIEVABLE THAT AN OFFER OF THIS MAGNITUDE WAS EVER MADE. ICT ARE A CLUB WITH GREAT STANDARDS & I PERSONALLY CAN'T SEE THESE TERMS BEING OFFERED TO MANY PLAYERS IN THE SPL OUTWITH THE TOP 4 CLUBS...........A BIG THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION OVER THE LAST 2 SEASONS & HOPE YOUR NEXT MOVE IS AS SUCCESFUL AS YOUR MOVE WAS TO ICT. YOU CERTAINLY WILL BE MISSED. ALL THESE QUOTES "BREAK A LEG" "FXCK'M" ETC ARE IMMATURE & OUT OF ORDER AS DARGS DID NOTHING WRONG AT THE CLUB,ONLY ENHANCING THE CLUBS & HIS OWN REPUTATION.

[Harry Chibber]

F*ck'm!

[Scotty]

ALL THESE QUOTES "BREAK A LEG" "FXCK'M" ETC ARE IMMATURE & OUT OF ORDER

So is typing in block capitals ... its not only hard to read but considered 'shouting'  :rolleyes02:

[TheresNoEsInBlack]

What is so wrong with players saying, ok, I like Inverness and I want to finish my career here because I am not a greedy little ****er and want more than Inverness can give me? Like that will ever happen, no because we allow it to happen right under our noses.

So what do you suggest we do to stop this happening under our noses?  Take Dargo prisoner perhaps?  Make his bird leave him so that he'll stay?  Take away all his rights to live in a free world?  Make him get a tattoo on his erse like IHE's?

All footballers are out to get the best deal they can, get over it man, don't get so upset about it!

[amc]

rumour has it that Dargo will be announced as a Hibs player on Monday :024:

[Scotty]

I dont think anyone is denying that footballers have a short career and need to maximise what they can get - thats is one of the reasons why there is no outcry about Darren Dods who is also leaving. [yes we were pissed off when he announced it earlier in the season, but he has performed professionally since then and goes with the good wishes of most fans].

I dont blame Dargo for saying no in the end, we made him an offer, he refused as he felt he could get better elsewhere. end of story. How much influence was exerted by the "girlfriend who didnt settle in the area" we will never know, indeed that line could all be smoke and mirrors .. but it doesnt really matter, he made a choice ..... in the end.

The thing that seems to be pissing off most folk is the 'time' part of it and we can split the blame here.

I do believe that CD has strung the club (and therefore the fans) along a little bit in an effort to play other clubs off one another to get the best deal he can from someone, anyone (except ICT) and that a decision to move had been made yonks ago. That rankles with me a fair bit and reduces my opinion of a striker who will always be remembered as good as opposed to legendary which would have happened had he stayed another couple of seasons and doubled his goal tally.

However, ICT also have to take some blame ... once again we conducted business in the press rather than behind closed doors and what is worse set and allowed the player to break a number of deadlines (although, do we know if the player was even aware of these deadlines or not ?). We have to be more professional in this manner.

As for the fans, yes we probably are over-reacting, but fans and players have a special relationship ... no matter what anyone else says in this thread, its NOT like any other job. Fans form a bond with players who play for their favourite club and as most fans would never dream of switching their club alliances they tend to get upset and bewildered when their 'idols' switch those alliances ... that is one of the reasons why Rossco is such a legend. He is not the best right back in the country but he is 100% loyal to ICT and we the fans love him for it. Darren Dods goes to DUFC with a grudging respect because we the fans felt he was being honest with us and performed professionally after the announcement earlier in the season but CD, in many fans eyes strung us along which is why he is getting a backlash. Does he deserve it ? probably not, Can we really blame him for his choice ? no, its a short career.

so - as I said elsewhere .... I dont wish him luck as his welfare is no longer my concern .... but I do thank him for his contribution to ICT over the last two seasons.

[RiG]

Are we going to be like this every time a player leaves ICT?  :015:

[Caley Stan]

On the question of whether Dargo strung as along all this time in the hope of getting better offers from other clubs, it's interesting to contrast the reaction of the club (nothing) to St. Mirren's reaction to the departure of John Sutton. Gus MacPherson said:

"Really, all along John has just made excuses. I think John was quoted somewhere as saying he would be a mug not to look at all his options. But, the way things panned out, I don't really think over the last five or six months that St Mirren was really an option for him. I just don't think he wanted to be here."

[Tug]

well im not realy surprised he didn't sign .

writing was on the wall when he moaned about being subbed, the only thing i am a little cheesed of at is that the club seem to have been pinning alot of hope on him re-signing. i wish him all the luck in the world and think that for the last 2 years yes he has been a great player but for me club comes first.

so if you line up against us then do not expect any kind of welcome except hostile. we re-juvinated what was a stagnant career and we have gone the extra distance to try and keep you here ( Granted maybe if we had found a house for you as per blackie it would have been a little different) (surely we could have had a chat to david sutherland. tulloch must have a spare house somewhere  :021: LOL)

personally though i hope you do move south then i have no reason to hold a grudge.

just wish that maybe for once we could sell a player rather than a contract running out. (i know we sold mark brown but only cos celtic did the decent thing and said we will buy him now rather than offer him a contract and wait the 6 months)

i await the critisism with bated breath LOL

[Harry Chibber]

At the end of the day we only need players that want to be here and play for ICT and Dargo obviously didn't want to, I just wish he made his intentions clear from the start.  It is a natural reaction for us to be disappointed that he doesn't show the same vision that we have for the club, all that can be asked is that we, as a club, are matching the ambition of the players and it will be interesting to see what club he ends up at. 

[TheresNoEsInBlack]

As for the fans, yes we probably are over-reacting, but fans and players have a special relationship ... no matter what anyone else says in this thread, its NOT like any other job. Fans form a bond with players who play for their favourite club and as most fans would never dream of switching their club alliances they tend to get upset and bewildered when their 'idols' switch those alliances ... that is one of the reasons why Rossco is such a legend.

I agree with most of what you say in your post, Scotty but I think that the decisions made by an employee of the club on whether they choose to stay or not are based purely on business reasons and in that respect it is like any other other job.  Sure, the fans get attached to players but that feeling is not reciprocated when it comes down to money.  Its the fan's problem if they're going to get upset and annoyed with a player due to the circumstances under which they leave the club (circumstances which we'll probably never get the full story on).  We should get used to the fact that something similar to this is likely to happen every year.

The curse always gets them anyway...  The curse should get squad number 13 since no-one else wants it.  Charlie could get a shirt printed with "CURSE 13" on the back and hang it up in the dressing room as a reminder and point to it whenever he needs to   :001:

[Scotty]

We should get used to the fact that something similar to this is likely to happen every year.

Its has been happening for years and I am sure it will continue to do so.

I agree that some players will probably treat the job like any other job from a business or salary point of view (and we have seen plenty of examples). If I am honest I would also walk if the situation was the same ... in fact, I did !!!

I used to work in IT for the website of one of the national Canadian newspapers in downtown Toronto (on a renewable 6 monthly rolling contract which means no pension/benefits) and got a call from a recruitment firm who offered me an interview for a slightly more senior IT position with what is now my current employers. They offered me a permanent position with pension/benefits and a salary increase of more than 50% over the newspaper job ... the downside, I would have to drive 50Km to work on the western edges of the city each morning instead of taking public transit to downtown. I weighed it up and now do the drive.

However, my point is that football is not a normal job because it involves the fans and the media. There wasn't thousands of people expecting me to stay at the newspaper just because they liked reading the website and saw me as an integral part of it, it was only my work colleagues who were sad and even though I was leaving one of the best media outlets in Canada my departure or any discussions over what they could offer me to stay didnt make it into the newspaper.

In the case of a footballer, we the fans (of any club) have an expectation that our particular club is the best place for a player to be and no-one could possibly do any better ... in fact, why would they ever consider moving !!! Its a mindset based on our own love or passion for our club but the reality as we all know deep down inside is that they can and will make more money elsewhere and if they dont have a deep rooted loyalty to the club in the way that someone like Rossco or Grant does they will probably move as they have to look after #1.

It doesnt make it any easier for the fans, especially because of our own loyalties to the club, and that is why there is a backlash. We admire players who are honest with us - such as Darren Dods or Dennis Wyness (when he went to Hearts) but have a different reaction when we feel the player isnt being entirely honest which is the case with Dargo. Dargo has done nothing wrong - he saw out his contract, waited to the end of the season and considered then declined the new one - end of story - but because it has dragged on a bit we feel like we have been strung along, possibly because the noises coming from the agent were positive ("ICT have made a very good offer") and we then got the big negative wallop a few weeks later.

I agree with you when you mention the circumstances under which players leave the club and that we never get the full story (never have, never will).

There have been rumours about what CD was offered but we will never know for sure. Grassa said at the outset that no-one other than the OF would be able to match what was offered but if he signs for another Scottish team then that is clearly not the case. The club captain who led us to the SPL (Bobby Mann) would have stayed at the club if a couple of very small contract wrinkles could have been worked out but it was alleged the club never got back to him on that so he left. One of our other popular players from years gone by (Mike Teasdale) also had an ignominious exit at the end of a contract when both he and the fans would have loved him to have stayed for another season or two and maybe move into a coaching or PR role at the end of it. I cant help feeling we lost an opportunity there with Mike as he was a very friendly face to the fans and happy to get involved in things off the pitch (first and only player to look forward to doing regular web chats with the fans). He would have made a good PR man or fans liaison.

anyhoo, this is turning into a novel so I will summarise .... We are always going to be upset, bewildered or annoyed when a player leaves, especially one that is a fan favourite but we are more likely to be annoyed when we dont feel we are getting all the facts or are being strung along and this is why Dargo is getting a hard time and Dods is not. Once again, I reiterate my thanks to CD for all he did in an ICT shirt and confirm that I dont care if he does well or not at his next club as his welfare is no longer my concern.

[tm4tj]

Black with no E, I am not bothered, do I look bothered, do I look bothered?

He is now history, we will rise without him. I thought he was fortunate to be in the exhalted position we gave him despite the goals he did score for us. Often disinterested during games drifting in and out for long spells. He did the one thing I did like about him though, and that was put the ball in the back of the net.

What can ICT do about it, at present, grin and bare it, in the long run, find more money to make staying at ICT more lucrative, until then we will have to put up or shut up.

Are we going to be like this every time a player leaves ICT............all depends on how the players treat the paying public. If they act like Dargo or Brown then I may be bothered. Brown for going to sit on Celtics bench and leaving at short notice ( more respect if he went to a club that needed a keeper, like Hibs where he would have been offered a substantial rise and had first team football), Dargo for the unecessary protraction of his departure.

[kencar]

Dargo in press today saying that our offer wasn't all that great and he knows of a club in the 1st division who pay more

[IcyTea]

Dargo in press today saying that our offer wasn't all that great and he knows of a club in the 1st division who pay more

More fool the Div 1 teams, that why so many are in the red.

[RiG]

Motherwell next week apparently  :006:

[gordyfromsneck]

Motherwell next week apparently  :006:

hahahaha 

That's a move up? Div 1 beckons, a la Bobby Mann.

Tell me that is a joke!