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"The ICT Thread - The Championship Years"


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It was stated last night that 3 players have told the club that they won't be renewing their contracts next summer. Donaldson is a certainty and I expect White is another as well given that he was quite keen on a move to St Mirren a month or so ago. Wouldn't be surprised if the third is someone like Walsh and McCart who will no doubt have a good few clubs after them.


Uncle Roy says hi.
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It was stated last night that 3 players have told the club that they won't be renewing their contracts next summer. Donaldson is a certainty and I expect White is another as well given that he was quite keen on a move to St Mirren a month or so ago. Wouldn't be surprised if the third is someone like Walsh and McCart who will no doubt have a good few clubs after them.


Donaldson and Mccart would be massive losses, not going to find 2 centre halves as good as them in a hurry.

Would be gutted if Walsh left but with his performances I’d expect it.

Not really fussed about White tbh
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8 hours ago, Central Belt Caley said:

 


Donaldson and Mccart would be massive losses, not going to find 2 centre halves as good as them in a hurry.

Would be gutted if Walsh left but with his performances I’d expect it.

Not really fussed about White tbh

 

Surely dropping those 4 salaries between January and the end of the season would be a fair contribution to the deficit?

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On 04/10/2019 at 13:06, RiG said:

Is there a breakdown anywhere of the (approximate) costs of the various levels of PB?

I can't remember where I read it, but apparently once you add in all the new coaches/facilities you need, its just shy of £600k in the first year, and it's possible that might increase. That was for us to make the middle tier. I'm sure the reported funding you get from the SFA isnt even half of that amount.

That's from memory of something I read, so wouldnt be taken as gospel.

On 06/10/2019 at 02:48, Dele said:

Again, I'm struggling here. How can you "not be heading for admin or going bust" but your own club admit they lose £800k a year and need £250k to get through the season?! 

Their net debt in May 2018 was £450k, from what I can find. Not sure their latest accounts are visible yet.

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We really find the atmosphere at home games so dreadful it really spoils the experience especially when taking kids along. I look at Ayr’ standing areas and wonder if anyone else thinks it could be a good idea for us on the A9 side of the pitch? I know its probably just creating more empty spaces in the stands but I have great memories of standing at the Howden End and Kingsmills as a kid and can’t help thinking it would help. Also lets play a decent song when we score a goal it might just instigate a sing along. We vote for the chorus of Toby Michael’s League Cup final song.

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There’s a YouTube account uploading clips from the early 2000s, some fantastic games and players in there.

 

Edited to add -it’d be helpful if I said that the account is called Football Archives. Clip of one of my favourite ever games below

 

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2 hours ago, ICTChris said:

There’s a YouTube account uploading clips from the early 2000s, some fantastic games and players in there.

 

Edited to add -it’d be helpful if I said that the account is called Football Archives. Clip of one of my favourite ever games below

 

 

That was a magnificent afternoon. I’d forgotten the pitch was in quite as bad a state as that - makes Bagan’s control for the third even more impressive.

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On 11/10/2019 at 08:22, RiG said:

Episode five is out now for your listening pleasure:

https://thewynessshuffle.podbean.com/e/the-magic-roundabout/

Once our IT support recovers from another Scotland induced hangover we'll try and get this up on Spotify as well.

The only criticism I can make is that I think it's recorded (or uploaded) in too low a volume.  I listened with headphones when I was out on Friday and at times I had to really concentrate to hear what was being said.

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2 minutes ago, Highland Capital said:

The only criticism I can make is that I think it's recorded (or uploaded) in too low a volume.  I listened with headphones when I was out on Friday and at times I had to really concentrate to hear what was being said.

Out of interest, is that something you've noticed with the previous podcasts too, or could it be to do with @RiG having to Skype in on this occasion? I've only listened back at home, with very little background noise, so I haven't noticed it being particularly low, but it would useful to know if it is an ongoing thing that we should try to remedy. 

We have taken a bit of criticism on CTO for the use of bad language (from posters who have otherwise been complimentary, to be fair), which surprises me a bit as we're pretty restrained and mild-mannered on the whole, imho. 

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Just now, alternative maryhill said:

Out of interest, is that something you've noticed with the previous podcasts too, or could it be to do with @RiG having to Skype in on this occasion? I've only listened back at home, with very little background noise, so I haven't noticed it being particularly low, but it would useful to know if it is an ongoing thing that we should try to remedy. 

We have taken a bit of criticism on CTO for the use of bad language (from posters who have otherwise been complimentary, to be fair), which surprises me a bit as we're pretty restrained and mild-mannered on the whole, imho. 

It was a wee bit prevalent on the Dunfermline game podcast too but both sounded fine coming through the laptop.  I had my phone volume up as far as it would go and I was still struggling at times.

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2 minutes ago, Highland Capital said:

It was a wee bit prevalent on the Dunfermline game podcast too but both sounded fine coming through the laptop.  I had my phone volume up as far as it would go and I was still struggling at times.

The sound quality on the Dunfermline one was definitely poorer than on the others, due to a combination of lower-tech recording and more background noise than usual, but I'll mention the fact that it sounded low on the most recent pod too, in case that's something the producer can do anything about. 

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4 hours ago, Highland Capital said:

The only criticism I can make is that I think it's recorded (or uploaded) in too low a volume.  I listened with headphones when I was out on Friday and at times I had to really concentrate to hear what was being said.

Cheers mate. We'll see if we can sort that out for the next one. Hopefully no need for anyone to phone / Skype in which might help...

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12 hours ago, RiG said:

Great news indeed.

After a bedding in period, the positive signs were there for all to see so I'm delighted to have the chance to see James Keatings flourish.

On the other hand, the absence of Tom Walsh is a mystery to me. Have I missed a bulletin?

 

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I posted this on CTO, thought I'd repost here.  No I do not have a lot on tonight, thanks for asking.

In a couple of months the 2010s will be over.  What would the ICT Team of the Decade be?

I think it's obvious that the 14-15 team would be the basis of the XI.  I'll play a 4-2-3-1 as that's probably been the most heavily used formation during the decade.

Goalkeeper for me is pretty obviously Ryan Esson.  He was a solid keeper for the start of the decade and although he lost his place to Dean Brill around the time the team really took off, I think Esson is the best option ahead of Brill.  The other regular keepers have been Mark Ridgers (regular since 2017), Tony Reguero (regular for a season in 2012) and Owain Fon Williams (2015-2017) - I'd rank them in that order.

Defenders, I think you have to go with the cup winning season's back four.  Left back, Shinnie is clearly the best player we've had at that position, Tremarco is a good player in the second tier and has been a great servant but he's clearly behind Shinnie.  Right back, Raven is again clearly the best player for the longest period during the decade, regular from 2012 until 2017 and being a top player during that period.

Central defenders, for me Warren and Meekings were our best partnership.  Both were excellent bread and butter defenders but Warren was an underrated ball player and his ability to take the ball out and pass was important for the development of that Butcher/Hughes side.  I remember when we beat Celtic at Parkhead, he was so composed and controlled on the ball it really helped us withstand the pressure we did face.  Meekings was really athletic and quick, from what I've seen of him since leaving injuries have piled up with is sad as he was a really top quality defender.  The other options are club legends like Grant Munro and Ross Tokely, both of whom played early in the decade.  I just think Warren and Meekings are higher quality and did it for a sustained period of time.  Coll Donaldson is perhaps the only player from the current squad who could get anywhere near this XI but I don't think there's a case for him to be in there just yet.

The '2' sitting midfielders, I can't see past the cup winners Ross Draper and Greg Tansey.  Obviously, Draper has left and signed for our local rivals but that's really our own fault for bollocksing up in 2016/17.  From the moment he came in he was a destroyer with massive phsycial presence and was able to dominate teams in the top flight.  He was man of the match in our first ever cup final and scored the opener in the first ever top flight Highland derby.  Tansey showed glimplses in his first season with us what he could do but in his second spell he really showed it, blossoming with a better team and being able to really impose himself on the league.  A threat from set pieces and from range is so valuable as well.

The '3' attacking midfielders begins to get a bit more interesting.  The middle player was a problem for us for a long time, with guys like Eric Odhiambo and Dani Sanchez playing there but never making it their own.  However, for me it's a straight up fight between Andy Shinnie and Ryan Christie.  Shinnie basically played a season and a half for us, played 55 games, scored 19 goals, received a Scotland call-up and a nomination for Player of the Season.  Christie was also pretty fleeting, breaking into the side in 2014, then becoming integral in 2014/15 before leaving in 2015, loan cut short through injury.  For the central position I'd give it to Shinnie, I don't think Christie was as good in 14/15 as Shinnie was in 12/13.  If it were a real team you'd obviously play them both but for the sake of argument and having to choose I'd put Christie on the bench.

For the wide attackers, you've got a lot of excellent players over the decade.  Early on Richie Foran was a dominate player playgin on the left of a '3' and was a huge factor in our promotion.  He dropped back to play deeper in midfield as his career progressed but he was a great weapon from 2010 until about 2014 , after which the injuries just piled up.  You also have Jonny Hayes, who was dynamite for us in the promotion winning season and then in the top flight.  He's developed into a more defensive player as he's got older but he was a huge threat and carried most of our attacking threat in season 11/12, without him then we'd have faced being dragged into relegation discussions.  Aaron Doran has to be in the chat as well, for a few years he was one of the leading assist providers in the top flight, a really dangerous player.  Marley Watkins also deserves it for his heroic 14/15 showing where he played all across the three and up front as well for a confusing period when we basically had no strikers (remember that?  We sold Mckay and then waited two months to sign Ofere and in the meantime just played with a winger up front and still won the cup and finished 3rd).  He was probably a better athlete than Hayes or Doran and was a threat with his pace, aerial ability and superb technique.  I loved him but both Hayes and Doran did it longer.

I'd probably redo this every time I try but now I'd probably go with a '3' of Foran on the left, Shinnie in the middle and Watkins on the right.  In a real team you'd play Christie somewhere but in terms of the best players and biggest contributors I'd put those three.

Up front, it's really a two horse race between Adam Rooney and Billy Mckay.  Rooney played a season and a half in the time frame and scored 37 goals in 61 games.  Mckay played for a lot longer period and scored 66 goals in 145 games.  Mckay had a deadly run though with 23, 18 and 10 goals in his last two and a half seasons.  I'd say Mckay was probably a better all round player and was a better team player than Rooney but Rooney was deadly.  It's a tough one but I'd shade with Mckay as he did for a longer time period.  The only other strikers we've had who've scored significantly are Miles Storye with 11 goals in 15/16, Gregory Tade with 9 in 11/12, Ofere scoring 5 in 7 in 2015 and Jordan White and George Oakely both scoring 7 and 8 since we got relegated.   I don't think anyone would seriously put those guys in a decade team.  Special mention goes to Alex Fisher though, who scored 6 goals in the last 7 games in the relegation season after not getting a chance for months despite being fully fit.  Thanks Obama Foran.

So there you have it, my ICT team of the decade.

---------------------------Esson-------------------------

--Raven---Meekings----Warren----Shinnie---

-----------------Draper------Tansey------------------

----Watkins--------Shinnie-------Foran-----------

--------------------------Mckay---------------------------

Subs

Brill

Donaldson

Doran

Hayes

Fisher (just to stare at Foran shaking his head whenever he meets his gaze).

What would your 2010s XI be?

Edited by ICTChris
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Great news indeed.
After a bedding in period, the positive signs were there for all to see so I'm delighted to have the chance to see James Keatings flourish.
On the other hand, the absence of Tom Walsh is a mystery to me. Have I missed a bulletin?
 
Fucked a metatarsal on other foot, same injury as last season, same layoff
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