Good ole Setanta........

[CaleyD]

Our match against Rangers scheduled for Saturday 19th January has been changed to Sunday 20th @ 2pm

Source

[us2]

Getting really fed up with these changes as I work on a Sunday and whilst I appreciate the club gets money out of setanta I really am wondering whether my season ticket was a good buy or not.....

Thanks for the advance warning though Caley D I will have to see if I can swap shifts.

[+Gringo]

Quite....total pain in the padded ***. Setanta GTF.

[Guest WynessLegend]

Quite....total pain in the padded ***. Setanta GTF.

But, we'll keep their money?

[Guest birdog]

Quite....total pain in the padded ***. Setanta GTF.

But, we'll keep their money?

EXACTLY there are people on here settling for us having a mediocre team and management because we don't have the money to improve and then there are people complaining that we have to move our fixtures to earn money :024: what in the name o' the wee man do our fans want? Life is full of sacrafices get used to it.

EDIT-

As a rule of thumb perhaps when looking at the fixture list you should maybe think to yourselves that if you see a home fixture against the Old Firm or Aberdeen there is a 75% chance that it will be changed. I would say that it has been pretty standard practice since Setanta started pumping cash into the SPL. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

[Joonya]

I read in the paper that the december celtic ficture has also been changed!!!

[jaggedthistle]

Do you know what it has been changed to?  I read that it was on 16th December at 2pm.  Is that still right????  I need to book the time off work!!!  :017:

[+Gringo]

what in the name o' the wee man do our fans want? Life is full of sacrafices get used to it.

3 p.m. Saturday football for a start. As for sacrifices I reckon I make more of these in support of the team than many others. We don't all live within spitting distance of the ground and some of us have to make travel plans way way way in advance. It kind of pishes me off sometimes when a fixture is moved and I have cancel my trip north.

As for looking at the fixtures for possible TV games......Didn't quite work when we played Partick Thistle and Ayr Utd in the Cup did it. Yes, I know that was Sky on those occasions but its the same result.

[Guest birdog]

what in the name o' the wee man do our fans want? Life is full of sacrafices get used to it.

3 p.m. Saturday football for a start. As for sacrifices I reckon I make more of these in support of the team than many others. We don't all live within spitting distance of the ground and some of us have to make travel plans way way way in advance. It kind of pishes me off sometimes when a fixture is moved and I have cancel my trip north.

As for looking at the fixtures for possible TV games......Didn't quite work when we played Partick Thistle and Ayr Utd in the Cup did it. Yes, I know that was Sky on those occasions but its the same result.

So you are saying that you would prefer the club turn down desperately needed money in order to accommodate your schedules?

[CaleyD]

It's not just one person birdog, it effects many people.

I understand that the club are not going to turn away money from Setanta, but I don't think it would be asking too much that Setanta get the finger out at the start of the season and make a decision as to what games they are going to want to show and when.  At least that way people would be able to plan ahead properly.

Aside from those in Gringo's position (and there are quite a few) consideration also needs to be given to those who purchase season tickets on the basis of having looked at the fixture list and calculated they are value for money.  Will the club be willing to refund a portion of the season ticket cost to those holders who are unable to make the rescheduled matches.....I very much doubt it.

ICT fans are not alone in these grumbles...it effects every club and every club is guilty of the constant take take take without giving a moments thought to the people who are being impacted upon time and again.

Money is important...but so are the fans and this whole nonsense with changing fixtures needs to be better balanced....not just at ICT, but across the SPL as a whole.

The Celtic fixture was changed to the 16th at 2pm...as far as I know or can find anywhere that has not been changed again.

[MacBandy]

Quite agree, no problem with S-anta having a say in the fixtures but why can't they do it before the start of the season?

[Joonya]

So you are saying that you would prefer the club turn down desperately needed money in order to accommodate your schedules?

lets not make this personal. I fully understand where Gringers is coming from as I have been in the same position myself when I lived in Coventry.

Many times we have travelled 26 hour round trips to follow ICT, only for games to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, problems with transport or stadiums falling apart (Parkhead sticks out here). But these siuations are unavoidable and sometimes uncontrolable.

Sky produce their TV schedules for matches once the fixtures are issued, and it is only towards the end of the season you see more of the big games changing to accommodate TV. Setanta don't appear to use this tactic and it only leads to complete inconvenience to many people - myself included.

Not every employer provides 9-5 monday to friday workings, meaning many people have no other option but to book time off weeks, sometimes months in advance to be able to attend such fixtures.

[+Gringo]

So you are saying that you would prefer the club turn down desperately needed money in order to accommodate your schedules?

Yes... :001:  I thought football was a spectator sport not a ruddy TV show.... :004:

[Guest WynessLegend]

So you are saying that you would prefer the club turn down desperately needed money in order to accommodate your schedules?

Yes... :001:  I thought football was a spectator sport not a ruddy TV show.... :004:

How very 1970's!

[+Gringo]

D'ya know, I look forward to the day when ICT get drawn away to Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Cup and you've all booked your flights to Ireland and booked your hotels etc and then, a week or so before the kick off someone changes the date so those at home can sit down on the fat erses and watch it on TV.

I have no problem with live TV footy, really I haven't, but when they change fixtures at sort notice it kind of gets my back up especially if I've made plans to travel. People like Airlines and Hoteliers will not refund your money just because someone from Setanta, Sky or the Beeb et al wants to broadcast the game on a diiferant day.

Until the day they come up with a hard fast rule over TV soccer dates I will remain a '1970's old git' and complain when my teams fixture gets moved when I have made plans to travel.

Oh...and by the way......

Setanta GTF. You still owe me ?120 from last season's game when you moved it to a Monday night FFS.

[Guest birdog]

D'ya know, I look forward to the day when ICT get drawn away to Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Cup and you've all booked your flights to Ireland and booked your hotels etc and then, a week or so before the kick off someone changes the date so those at home can sit down on the fat erses and watch it on TV.

I have no problem with live TV footy, really I haven't, but when they change fixtures at sort notice it kind of gets my back up especially if I've made plans to travel. People like Airlines and Hoteliers will not refund your money just because someone from Setanta, Sky or the Beeb et al wants to broadcast the game on a diiferant day.

Until the day they come up with a hard fast rule over TV soccer dates I will remain a '1970's old git' and complain when my teams fixture gets moved when I have made plans to travel.

Oh...and by the way......

Setanta GTF. You still owe me ?120 from last season's game when you moved it to a Monday night FFS.

Gringo, I do understand your annoyance but you have to accept that the TV deals are very lucrative for small clubs such as ours.

As for the UEFA cup example you give, it is my belief that Uefa set down certain dates when these matches must be played and these are announced at the time of the draw. "ties to be played on XXth/XXth of Xxxxx" So just book off all the dates.

As for shifting SPL matches it is very rare that our matches would be televised unless it is versus Aberdeen or the old firm. The only other way I could see our matches being shifted is if we had a good run and were pushing for Europe then a match against our closest rivals may be shown. In any case I think Setanta give plenty of notice for the televised matches and I don't think that they can make the decision for all matches to be shown in the pre-season otherwise we may be stuck with watching teams who have suffered a dramatic drop in form on the previous season.

The moral of the story is don't book your flights until the TV schedules are published. I hate the OF but they are hit by re-scheduling far worse than we ever will be.

[+Gringo]

I must admit I don't fly up very often but when I do it is booked way in advance to claim the cheap tickets. Booking a flight with only four weeks notice is just no good for the cheapo's. Yes, Setanta do give about four weeks or more notice and yes I am very wary of the OF and Dons fixtures. I mentioned earlier about our two cup replay fixtures at Ayr and Partick, who'd have thought they would have attracted Sky TV? Tell you what Birdog, I'd hate to be an OF fan as I wouldn't be able to make any plans at all so I'm thankful for that at least.

[Guest birdog]

I mentioned earlier about our two cup replay fixtures at Ayr and Partick, who'd have thought they would have attracted Sky TV?

As you say they were cup replays and given that these are played before the next round so usually after a draw you have 3 days to 2 weeks notice of the arranged date and you have stated here that 4 weeks is not enough time to take advantage of cheap travel please enlighten me on how the shifting of these fixtures has any relevance to this discussion. I know that with the railways and most airlines you have the ability to exchange the dates of a full price ticket up to 24 hours in advance, sometimes a small fee is charged but it's usually nominal.