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Would relegation be such a bad thing??


Harry Chibber

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First of all I feel like a hypocrite writing something like this because I haven't been to a game since we got beat 3-0 a Easter road, mainly due to having more commitments but to be honest for the first time, well ever really, I can't be arsed spending +?20 to watch 11 prima donnas run about just to collect their fat wage packet at the end of the week.  There seems to be no passion, no ambition to push the club on to the next level.  As soon as relegation wasn't likely the team stopped giving a cr@p and it's hard to blame them when they really have no chance of winning anything.  Since we got into the SPL the only time I have seen a player give 100% is when they come up against the old filth and that is usually motivated by the TV cameras or the chance that the OF might snap them up... nevermind the +4k fans that have paid the admission fee.

Obviously relegation isn't a reality thanks to Gretna imploding and IMO getting exactly what they deserve... but that's another topic... anyway......

It's been an incredible 13+ years, watching ICT work our way up the divisions the proper/honest way (unlike Gretna, Livi etc.), paying reasonable wages to honest players and competing for titles/promotion and cups.  It seems, to me anyway, that after putting in all the hard work from the board to the pitch now we finally made it to the SPL that the cherry tastes bitter rather than sweet... we are really playing for our survival every season and because we are concentrating on preserving our SPL status we haven't had a decent cup run in god knows how long.  Our players are never out the papers with contract 'issues' and as soon as we go on a bad run of form the manager is slaughtered by our fans. 

The other week I went along with a work colleague, massive Dundee fan, to watch the Dees take on Stirling Albion and apart from it turning into a goal feast I was jealous of the lower division football.  I miss competing with teams that are on a similar level at the start of the season, almost every team playing to win each match with everything to play for, ridiculous +5 score lines, cheaper tickets, better crack, younger players getting their chance to shine and when a gem comes along getting maybe 2 seasons of his best before he gets snapped up by a team with better resources. 

It might just be a lull we're going through at the moment but it seems to be the same every season when we miss top six, we'd be as well not turning up for any fixtures after that. I'd personally prefer we were back playing in the lower divisions where the dream of making it to the SPL was far more attractive than the reality

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Thought about this more than once this season while sitting through another yet depressing performance. As an "away" rather than a "home" supporter, I kind of enjoyed the smaller, more die-hard atmosphere you got in the SFL, and the greater variety of trips - places like Dumfries, Perth, Kirkcaldy, Ayr, even Arbroath at different times when we were in in Div 1. Rather that than trekking to Fir Park or restricted view at Celtic Park yet again.

However, I worry about the impact it could have on the structure of the club. We've grown and developed sensibly rather than doing a Gretna or a Livi, so in theory we should be able to cope with going down a division, but could we cope with a sudden, big loss of support? Pretty alarming to see that Livi had only a crowd of 751 for a game earlier this season - they always had crowds of a similar size to us when they were on the up. I hope we wouldn't lose that sort of support, but if we had a first season back down like Dunfermline this season, or like Partick have had in the past, then it could happen. If we had to make cuts and sell a lot of players, would we be able to get in good enough quality to ever get us back up again? On the basis of our history so far, we wouldn't be able to rely on our youth set-up to produce players that'll do it for us.

And of course, the grass is always greener. No doubt by November of the first season back in the first division I'd be sitting in the rain at Palmerston watching a 2-0 defeat and dreaming of Tynecastle...       

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well cheaper season ticket.

we could play ross county and win

we could see more away games

looks like there are a few benefits.

but we could loss players.

money

and some pepole might not support caley anymore.

so there are pros and cons!!

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Guest McConnachie

Of course its better to be in the SPL, We were winning more in the lower leagues which is maybe why people are missing it. Getting to play the big teams in the cups was always amazing too but now we're playing the top teams week in week out the cup isn't as attractive unless we get drawn with Ross County or Livingston (always good to beat them) Realistically we are a top of the bottom 6 side and it'll be hard to go that extra mile without keeping the squad intact and bringing in some decent signings.  Hopefully next season we can have a good cup run and maybe get to Hampden again.

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Of course we all look back with nostalgia to when we were a 'wee' team, playing and sometimes beating the 'big' teams.  I somehow think it would be different if we went back down again.  The SPL is where we are and where we deserve to be, even if it will be a continuing struggle to break into the top six.  Relegation, I fear would be the start of several years of lower league mediocrity.

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"Would relegation be such a bad thing??" YES,absoloutley,take it from me,relegation is a BAD thing,speshly from the SPL,which undoubtedly is a joke, but a joke i'd rather be sharing in as the financial implications when you dont get the joke are crippleing. Dundee continue to stumble on due in the main to being reletively well supported,but i fear for the implications the longer we continue to operate outside the top flight.If ICT went down, I,m not convinced they would have the hard core support to maintain the operating costs and would enter a downward spiral which is very hard to stop.

Sadly,survival is all it's about these days  :007:

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"Would relegation be such a bad thing??" YES,absoloutley,take it from me,relegation is a BAD thing,speshly from the SPL,which undoubtedly is a joke, but a joke i'd rather be sharing in as the financial implications when you dont get the joke are crippleing.

Well said Heilandee.  There speaks the voice of experience.  I'm sure you're right.  The longer we can stay in the SPL, even struggling, the better

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I for one wouldn't drag my sorry erse along to the TCS to watch 1st division football.

Why not? It's a strong division, always a chance of getting to see a good competitive game! I suppose you would just be one of the gloryhunters we would lose if we got relegated  :001:

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Guest birdog

I for one wouldn't drag my sorry erse along to the TCS to watch 1st division football.

Fecking glory hunters they are everywhere.

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Why not? It's a strong division, always a chance of getting to see a good competitive game! I suppose you would just be one of the gloryhunters we would lose if we got relegated  :001:

Gloryhunter..?

Yeah... I'm totally obsessed with the dream that is a Top Six finish...  :015:

So would you be more likely to come along and watch them in Div 1 than you are at the moment..?

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Guest birdog

Why not? It's a strong division, always a chance of getting to see a good competitive game! I suppose you would just be one of the gloryhunters we would lose if we got relegated  :001:

Gloryhunter..?

Yeah... I'm totally obsessed with the dream that is a Top Six finish...  :015:

So would you be more likely to come along and watch them in Div 1 than you are at the moment..?

I would be no more likely or any less likely, I have attended every match I could make from our days at Telford street, I have held a season ticket for most seasons. I certainly would not give up going to football just because we had dropped a division or two, I am not in it for watching high standards of football I am in it because I love ICT now and Caledonian FC before the merger. When I say you are a glory hunter I mean you are obviously only in it for the glory of playing in the SPL otherwise you would be arsed to go to any match regardless of the opposition.

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Well I'm sometimes accused of being Mr Nostalgia but even I can see if you're not in the SPL, you're nowhere.

If St Mirren, Falkirk and Killie can play there then so can we.

But some people need a reality check about the top six. Realistically Scotland has 2 clubs that could play in the English Premiership and 3 who could play in the Championship. So most years, if these clubs are not being mismanaged, that's 5 places filled up in the top 6 before a ball is kicked.

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Why not? It's a strong division, always a chance of getting to see a good competitive game!

You've just answered your own question. Seventh place in the First Division is much worse than seventh place in the SPL. If we were to go down, we could stay down for years and that would do our club more damage than perpetual SPL mediocracy.

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It was a rhetorical question  :015:

And maybe those of us who remember going to HL games at Telford St have more of an idea of where we came from and are less likely to be put off by lack of quality in the opposition! I'm not saying I want us to be relegated, I'm just saying that it wouldn't put me off supporting the team if we were.  :017:

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Guest birdog

It was a rhetorical question  :015:

And maybe those of us who remember going to HL games at Telford St have more of an idea of where we came from and are less likely to be put off by lack of quality in the opposition! I'm not saying I want us to be relegated, I'm just saying that it wouldn't put me off supporting the team if we were.  :017:

:clapping03: :clapping03: :clapping03: :clapping03:

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It was a rhetorical question  :015:

And maybe those of us who remember going to HL games at Telford St have more of an idea of where we came from and are less likely to be put off by lack of quality in the opposition! I'm not saying I want us to be relegated, I'm just saying that it wouldn't put me off supporting the team if we were.  :017:

I was using your quote to answer the general question of the thread, not to defend fairweather supporters.

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Why not? It's a strong division, always a chance of getting to see a good competitive game!

You've just answered your own question.

I was asking JB why he wouldn't go to Div 1 games, the general question on this thread is "Would relegation be such a bad thing?"  :023:

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Relegation would be a very bad thing indeed. Don't forget that we were losing ?300,000 a season in the first division. The running costs of this club are twice what they were then so even if we were able to trim the wage bill signifigantly even one season in the first division with a parachute payment of ?250,000 compared to the ?900,000 or so we get in TV and sponsorship money now would be a heavy financial burden  combined with much lower gate receipts and commerecial income.

More than one season in the first division would see payers leaving for the financially greener fields of the likes of Perth, Greenock and Dunfermline making a swift return to the SPL less and less likely.

So, despite the fact that this has been a trrible season we're still getting crowds in excess of 7,000 paying over ?20 a head three timesa season for home matches with the Old Firm. We're able to pay players ?1000 a week inclusive of bonuses and we are able to sustain and prudently increase our income stream. If we want full time football in nverness then the SPL is the only place to be.

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Guest birdog

I think, but I may have misread, that Mee would, like myself, prefer to watch an ICT team who go out and play with pride regardless of which league they are in at the time.

I would prefer, in the ideal situation, to watch ICT struggle mid table in the SPL as long as the team put the effort in. But if this is not possible then I would rather watch a team fighting for promotion in one of the tightest leagues in Britain (Div 1) at least then I could leave the stadium think maybe we lost but at least the team worked for the wages which our admission fees have financed. Sure beats a bunch of so called SPL players running about a park going through the motions.

Also the finances of the club do not worry me so long as we do not go down the Gretna route. I am happy to pay SPL prices so long as I get a return for my money. Who cares if we can't afford top class players if the so called top class players we have don't have the commitment?

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