next season strip?

[CaleyD]

Stocks of the new strip apparently left Italy on Friday and are expected to arrive any day.  No idea of how many "stocks" refer to, but if it is anything like the previous fiasco it might be an idea to get in early to secure one for the start of the season.

[A96]

Last time around stocks of ICT strips left Italy by means of elephant train over the Alps but were caught in a snow storm for several months. With this experience in mind its a pity the club didn't stash them in the plane on their way back from their Italian adventure this time around.

Hopefully they should be available for Christmas. I just hope they will be available for this Christmas and not next!!

[Scotty]

I really do not know why we continue to use Errea. The quality is "decent" but the sizing is a complete lottery. Our home and away tops are completely (and significantly) different sizes for the same 'size' that is printed on the label !!!! We also seem to have a huge problem actually getting stock before the start of the season every single season. I sincerely hope that the club look around at alternatives as and when the existing contract comes up for renewal.

PLEASE NOTE: The Shop URL quoted in a posting above was changed when we moved servers recently. You can reach the new url either from the link on the Official Site or at this link ~ CLUB SHOP ~

[Kingsmills]

I can only assume that the club are getting a very good deal' otherwise they would have surely goneelsewhere long ago.

[Guest kingkojak]

when the current deal expires id like the club strips to be made by Prada or Gucci!  thatd be wicked, innit! 

[918loyal]

Whilst on the subject of buying and club shops?

Why do the photos on the club shop look so amateurish? They look like they've been taken in someones bedroom, badly!

In fact why does everything ICT do appear to be cobbled together half heartedly?

"We're having an official strip launch" - What we really mean is we'll take a (bad) picture of Tokely on the pitch and that's it! Oh we'll also forget to mention anything about the price or where to buy it

"We've launched an online shop" - What we really mean is we've taken bad photos on Morag's old polaroid and scanned them in a bit wonky and you can buy wonderful items such as thankyou cards and wrapping paper, but useful things like season tickets and match tickets................ummm no! That's far too 20th century

Completely agree.  The online shop makes me cringe its that bad!

[Scotty]

Completely agree.  The online shop makes me cringe its that bad!

I assume you mean the pictures rather than the technology ? Having said that, considering they got the technology and the implementation of it provided to them for free that part at least represents good value.

The new site will have a club shop I believe - hopefully they might get a professional photographer in to take the pictures !!!

[CaleyD]

We need a "biting my tongue" smiley  :015:

[L_G]

When we renewed the deal with Errea we signed a 3 year deal.  The reason we are given for late orders is that the big english clubs who put in special orders (cup final or champions shirts) get priority as they are worth more money.  So we are basically binned until they find a minute to get round to our relatively small order.  In my opinion, once they accept the order and give a delivery date this should in itself constitute a contract.  I know in the past there were problems with the strips being ordered late or even outstanding unpaid bills delaying delivery.  This year it would seem to be just simply down to Errea letting us down again. 

They hope to have the strips available for sale tomorrow but not all the stock has arrived yet.  It was initially promised for the beginning to middle of June.

[Scotty]

We need a "biting my tongue" smiley  :015:

Cant find one of those, (thought we had a smilie with tape over its mouth for that but cant see it). However, I couldnt resist adding these new ones

:hail:  :banana3:  :banana99:  :shakebooty:

[CaleyD]

Errea may be partially to blame for the delay, but at the end of the day the buck stops with the club.  I know of one person (a site user) who had intended buying the new strip for both their kids birthdays.  One of those birthdays has come and gone and they had to buy the child something else so that is one lost sale, and I am sure it will not be a solitary case.

At the fans forum Mike Smith told everybody that the strips should have arrived by the beginning of June.  The new strip design was one of the worst kept secrets ever and I have a copy of the design sheet showing it was produced back in December 2005.  At the same Fans Forum, David Sutherland admitted that the delay was partially down to the club not deciding on the final design till the last minutes.  He also told Mike Smith that if the strips were not here when he said they would be then he would be the man sitting in the seat answering the questions as to why.......so, where is the communication from the club explaining the delay and letting us know when they will arrive???

As for the on-line shop, Scotty and I first started chasing proper pics for the on-line shop in December 2004.  I even arranged to go down and take the pictures, I am no professional photographer, but I have a good idea of whats needed to make stuff look good "on-screen".  When I went down to the stadium in December 2004 as agreed, I was told they were having pictures taken professionally and they would be passed on.  This was chased up by us during January 2005 and I twice put our e.mail address directly in to the hands of Trevor Martin who had taken the pictures for the shop and continued to chase this up well in to September 2005 when we finally received pictures which had been taken by someone else.  The pictures received weren't ideal from a technical/presentation standpoint, but they were better than nothing.  We continued to chase the professional pics in to October 2005 but, to this day ( over 19 months later) they have never surfaced.

In short, if the above is any example, I wouldn't expect any proper pictures for current stock any time before February 2008.

[darndarndarn]

any way of seeing how many strips have been pre ordered?

[nude_as_the_news]

Basically, for every fan that wants to buy a new shirt before the start of the season and can't get hold of one, the club are loosing out. Not only does it create bad feeling among supporters but I'd imagine there a lot of lost revenue too. How many fans at pre-season games, kids with parents and so on, will have wanted to buy one?

I've also been checking the online site regularly and, one week before kick off, they're gearing up with mouse mats, balloons, and home socks and shorts that we can't actually see. When you log on and the first thing that greats you is "Pack of ICT baloons", its starting to seem all too appropriate.　

[Kingsmills]

I really wonder about how effective Mik Smith is as Chief Exeutive.

[strathyjags]

I really wonder about how effective Mik Smith is as Chief Exeutive.

everyone has wondered that from day 1,and are still waiting to see what he actually does :006:

[L_G]

The stock that was dispatched last week has now all arrived, but not all sizes were dispatched, so it's a bit of pot luck whether or not they will have your size.  No shorts and socks at all.

I was faced with having a top for one child but not the other, although Errea have managed to make these ones even smaller than the last home tops so my nearly 10 year old daughter needs a small mans size and my 12 (nearly 13) year old son will need a medium mans size.  So whatever size you have in a home top you will need at least one size bigger this year.

[RossP]

Once they are on sale in the club shop, are you allowed to try on a size to see how it fits, before you make a purchase?

All this 'up one size/up two size' talk is a bit of a roulette

[amc]

my 14 year old son got his top today he is slim built about 5ft 10 and had to take a XL

[Scotty]

Once they are on sale in the club shop, are you allowed to try on a size to see how it fits, before you make a purchase? All this 'up one size/up two size' talk is a bit of a roulette

I cant say for certain, but the club shop have allowed this in the past because of this very issue.

I can't help feeling the club are losing out on sales, especially online ones because every year there are no guarantees about the size of the tops. We have home/away that are different sizes and now it appears that the new home top is yet another different size (smaller) than the previous home top .... ridiculous.

If Errea cannot or will not produce a top that has a standard set of sizes that are consistent throughout their range then it is time to ditch them as they are clearly not up to the task. Would any of their other clubs stand for this ? No ? then why should we ... I am sure that there are plenty other kit makers who would be happy to provide the club not only with quality kit but also quality delivery and consistency of product. Our Le Coq shirts were excellent quality and Adidas, Nike, Reebok and Hummel all seem to produce decent tops - why cant Errea ?

I am not the most svelte of supporters but I am by no means the 'chunkiest' ICT fan so there is also the issue that we are excluding a sizeable (no pun intended) section of the support as potential customers and that does not make any business sense. I love the look of the new top, and in any other clothing range (even Errea's own polos, fleeces etc) I would quite happily fit into a XXL or maybe a XXXL ... but when it comes to their replica kits, even XXXXL is a problem so sadly it looks like I wont be purchasing any of the new stuff.

[us2]

If the kids are in the adult sizes will we be starting a topless competition for the adults. I'm looking forward to see all those lovely manly bodies!! Its a bit chilly up here in Inverness for that isn't it. Again you have to feel very sorry for the lovely ladies in the shop.... its not their fault but it seems to go wrong every time.

[L_G]

On a more positve note, I was back down to purchase the top for my son and another delivery had arrived.  This time including shorts and socks.  You can barely get in the shop door.

With a busy weekend and only 1 week until the start of the season the timing couldn't be worse for the shop staff.  There have been a few weeks when things have been a bit quieter where new strip sales would have been no problem.  It really is bedlam.  No fault of the staff they are doing their best under the circumstances.

[Scotty]

No fault of the staff they are doing their best under the circumstances.

Just like to clarify that although my posts about the merchandise were somewhat negative, my opinion of the shop staff has always been positive. My beef is with Errea and their sizing/quality not with the staff

[CaleyD]

As the saying goes....."You can only p!ss with the......." ok, you know the rest  :015:

[tm4tj]

Not sure what all the fuss is about.........Zogg bought his tonight, large........perfect fit, no problem.

[us2]

We got ours before the start of tonights match. The shop was very busy, but the staff couldn't have been more helpful. Scotty I agree with you the ladies are fab.

Back to the sizing Callum is a small 11 and he has a size 40 which one of the ladies  picked out for him and fits perfectly.. It looks very smart and will be washed and back on his back for tomorrow afternoon.

When we hope for a slightly better result.