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Eagle4Caley

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Everything posted by Eagle4Caley

  1. Well we certainly got a good write up in the Scottish Sun https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/1701143/falkirk-0-inverness-0-bairns-lucky/
  2. Can I sit next to you next time I come up (it'll be March though) ...I'm very much a glass half full guy, and always appreciate a good bit of work recognising if players were really that consistently good they wouldn't be playing for us (and I have that same view at Palace, even though they're paid considerably more). I don't think the Tulloch stadium is very conducive for creating a great atmosphere, being so open, coupled with the fact we're still a young team in terms of existance (and thus tradition), and of course get pretty small crowds. When I come up I sit in the main stand and have plenty of people around me that moan for moaning's sake because they've paid the fee to come in. That said it does tend to be a vicious circle, fans want to see honest compentent players putting in a shift, and tend to get behind them when it happens, likewise Players need encouragement and also often surprisingly fragile flowers (but then who enjoys going to work and having people slag you off from the sidelines) so can both be raised up by positive vibes or hide due to negative comments (which are easier to hear in a quiet stadium). However this in not confined to a club like ICT, look at Arsenal their atmosphere at home games is terrible, whereas I also support Palace a team with allegedly the best atmosphere in the EPL (certainly yesterday the atmosphere against Chelsea gave me goosebumps) and is often cited by players as a factor in a good result. Anyway as for yesterday, in many ways i'm quite happy with that result, Falkirk were in those group of teams I saw challenging for promotion, and it seems we were well worth the point orn deserved more. More encouragingly we are slowly sorting a team out of the collection of players we have. Guys like Trafford and Bell, coupled to the guys like Vigurs, Polworth and Tremarco, starting to show their worth, good to hear Donaldson having a decent game... The Pre-season games seemed to indicate that Seedorf and Oakley were useful acquisitions, potential not yet fulfilled, and it sounds like Mulraney's international duty had a positive effect. It will be interesting to compare the points tally over the next 9 games...who knows we might see more Danial Mckay a bit more or find that the lesser spotted Zak Elbouzedi is a real player. I'm up for the away match at Livingston soon, and looking at their form, could be a real gauge on any improvement
  3. From the board statement "The two ladies that run the supporters’ trust and the buses have been vilified by these fans online. (Using) abusive language and expletives and they should never be put in that position. We feel we’ve taken the right action. "They raised a charter against us and said they weren’t coming back. I believe the following week, a number of them went to Ross County and were ejected again. We know who the ringleaders are and they’ve not been discreet online." These aren't real Caley fans are they?...they're idiots (and somewhat unpleasant ones at that) who've attached themselves to the club, and make trouble. Sounds like a very small group, who need to be kept out until, and if they learn some commonsense and good grace. The rest of the young supporters in the group should be actively encouraged to come and make the noise they do.
  4. It's after games like this, that the likes of Edward Ofere, Mutombo, Doumboya are looked upon with a certain amount of fondness... and to think we actually had both Alex Fisher and Miles Storey in our grasp Still a clean sheet!...we can at least savour that Don't worry Yngwie, we still have Seedorf, Elbouzedi and Zschusschen to come back and kick start out campaign! I see QoS had Stephen Dobbie playing for them...I saw him play for Palace against Tottenham in our first match back in the Premiership....f#ck me he was slow
  5. Never too early for some drama!...just look at Palace! 4 games and FdB's a gonna, we have an utterly ***** goalie, I've seen some comical defending, we came out of the transfer window with just one fit senior striker....who's now injured, it's like home from home supporting ICT and Palace...but at least you guys have seen some goals scored by the Caley...Ooh what I'd give to see one from Palace! Must admit I wonder if Robbo's up for it, or whether it's the rest of the coaching staff who are crap. I quite like the tough words from Robbo about the players performances and attitude, although that's usually a short sentence away from 'losing the changing room'!
  6. Interesting to watch the highlights....as someone said they look better than it sounds like we actually played. I'm not really convinced that Warren dived, more like ran out puff and the second challenge was all too much and he fell over, did he even appeal for a penalty? (I don't think you should be booked if you're not appealling) Positives for me seem to be Bell, who looks quite tricky and committed, Trafford is sounding half decent but may benefit from a period of fitness management, Polworth seems to have found his mojo again and OFW is back and sounds like he is at least better than Ridgers. Tremarco is back too, but I would guess having been out for a while it will take some time to get back to where he was last season early on. And we are scoring goals (unlike my other team who have scored none at all in their league) and have either been ahead in a game or have pulled the game back (like against St Mirren/Livingstone). Of the rest it seems Vigurs gives us something for a parts of games, but can't really be relied on to have an impact for 90mins or do the dirty work. My impression of the defence is that apart from individual errors there is very poor organisation or ideas as to who is doing what. I put that down to the coaching, maybe Robbo needs a defensive coach. Listening to peoples views on the defence, I find it somewhat bemusing how easily Meekings was let go, whether this was to do with percieved likeihood of return to fitness, cost of a new contract, an attitude problem...yes he may not be fully fit now, but he could be the difference later in the season...and we seem to be quite happy to wait for Zak Elbouzedi and Aaron Doran. And what has happened to Seedorf, he doesn't seem to have played since he got sent off? Meanwhile Oakley who seems to have been to better option to Baird early on, now seems devoid of ideas and energy, whilst Mulraney doesn't seem to want to play at all. So I think we're all now resigned to the fact that getting back up is looking unlikely this season (was it ever?) ....so now it's all about doing enough to stay up, and I can't believe Falkirk are as bad as their league position suggests.
  7. Pretty much reprising what I've written elsewhere....I'm a South Londoner born and bred, as far as I am aware I don't have any Scottish blood in me (just in my soul!), although one ancestry firm suggested my surname (Lyon) was linked to the Farquharson, it could be tosh but the tartan's pretty! I first became aware of ICT one night listening to the radio, now who were they playing?...ah yes Celtic, in that famous victory. I gradually took more notice of Caley over the subsequent years, having a strange desire to find a Scots team to support (although I once toyed with Partick!), I remember being surprisingly upset that Caley were relegated in 2009. I have supported Palace since I was 14 (I'm 59 now) and once I discovered that Caley also play in Red n Blue stripes that sealed the deal. I first saw the stadium in October 2012 whilst on a tour of the Highlands with my eldest daughter, persuading our guide to take a wee diversion. My first live game was Ross County at home 16th March 2013 (we won 2-1 with Charlie Taylor being brought down for the resultant winning penalty). That first trip really did cement what is now a love affair. My first away game was Charlton in a friendly, I've been to two Cup finals, and memorably did the Celtic cup semi final having watched Palace v WBA on the Saturday then taking a Megabus sleeper upto Glasgow where I met up with CaleyMad for the early kick-off. My wife has been up to Inverness twice with me for matches, we both love Inverness, personally I find a walk along the Ness never fails to stir a sense of wellbeing! My eldest daughter nearly got to see Hearts away with me in December a couple of seasons back, but the match was called off due to high winds. Not being from Inverness the pre-merger stuff is very much alien to me, it's clear there is still a legacy that still seems to affect how some people see the club...that said many years ago Palace and Wimbledon toyed with a merger which definitely raised the hackles of most supporters, and of course the infamous relocation of the Wimbledon to Milton Keynes, and subsequent rebirth of Wimbledon localy as AFC underscores what local loyalties mean to people. I think my work colleagues think I'm ever so slightly bonkers, but they enjoyed the celebratory cakes when we won the Cup. I've never seen Palace win anything (unless play-off finals count). Obviously it takes a bit a planning to come up for games working round Palace home games and stuff, but Easyjet are pretty good price wise. Watching Caley is a strange release, certainly different from the madhouse EPL, I really like the stadium's setting and the weather always seem half decent when I come up (although the Celtic home match last March mid-week was effing cold walking back). BTW I'm sure I mention Palace a bit too much on this site, for which I apologise, I'm quite at ease with supporting two teams, and despite the EPL millions, I see both teams in the same light, not necessarily glamourous, perhaps punching above our weight at times, but any honours or success is treasured, and it's always great to get one over the bigger boys!
  8. Hi SP, I'm a South Londoner born and bred, as far as I am aware I don't have any Scottish blood in me (just in my soul!), although one ancestry firm suggested my surname (Lyon) was linked to the Farquharson, it could be tosh but the tartan's pretty! I first became aware of ICT one night listening to the radio, now who were they playing?...ah yes Celtic, in that famous victory. I gradually took more notice of Caley over the subsequent years, having a strange desire to find a Scots team to support (although I once toyed with Partick!), I remember being surprisingly upset that Caley were relegated in 2009. I have supported Palace since I was 14 (I'm 59 now) and once I discovered that Caley also play in Red n Blue stripes that sealed the deal. I first saw the stadium in October 2012 whilst on a tour of the Highlands with my eldest daughter, persuading our guide to take a wee diversion. My first live game was suitably Ross County at home 16th March 2013 (we won 2-1 with Charlie Taylor being brought down for the resultant winning penalty). My first away game was Charlton in a friendly, I've been to two Cup finals, and memorably did the Celtic cup semi final having watched Palace v WBA on the Saturday then taking a Megabus sleeper upto Glasgow where I met up with CaleyMad for the early kick-off. My wife has been up to Inverness twice with me for matches, we both love Inverness. My eldest daughter nearly got to see Hearts away with me in December a couple of seasons back, but the match was called off. I think my work colleagues think I'm ever so slightly bonkers, but they enjoyed the celebratory cakes when we won the Cup. I've never seen Palace win anything (unless play-off finals count). Obviously it takes a bit a planning to come up for games working round Palace home games and stuff, but Easyjet are pretty good price wise. Watching Caley is a strange release, certainly different from the madhouse EPL, I really like the stadium's setting and the weather always seem half decent when I come up (although the Celtic home match last March mid-week was effing cold walking back). My next match is Livingstone away in November. I once watched their manager score a winning play-off final goal for Palace!
  9. Just testing times all round! Some horrible similarities about our Summer preparations, and the current prognosis for doing well in our respective leagues...only the amount of money involved is different I'm not happy at all that Frank De Boer has been sacked after 4 games, we've become a real joke. We've had a pretty poor transfer window, and we're left with a terrible goalkeeper in Wayne Hennessey, OFW's senior international colleague, and unbelieveably one fit striker...even Caley didn't leave themsleves that short (unless we are talking quality) I can't be arsed to go to the next home game v Southampton since it's on TV, the passion I had has become very diluted....on the other hand I am very much looking forward to coming up for the away game at Livingston in November, by then the team might be motoring.
  10. Surely this sort of faffing around at the back was quite prevalent in the Hughes era...is that a good sign?
  11. I think it's quite possible, to make a lot of noise and atmosphere without resorting to either flares, abuse, damage or intimidation...however some of the later may be linked to excessive drinking. It's great that some young lads are keen to improve the atmosphere at games and show support for the team, but it must be done within the confines of the law, and if that happens generally everyone gets on board. Down in my neck of the woods my other team have a pseudo 'Ultra's group called the Holmesdale Fanatic's and they are part of the reason why the atmosphere at Palace games is considered to be amongst the best, they also do a great job with displays at matches. Just occasionally they (or their hangers-on) get above themselves and we see the odd flare or firecracker going off (but only at away games) this doesn't go down to well with most of the fan base, and forums are usually busy afterwards with for and against. In the end the authorities will win every time so why push it? And there's no bonus points for getting a bad reputation for being bad away travellers, it potential has ramifications for the rest of us. Hopefully the club and this particular group can achieve a meeting of minds and then we can move on. Watching football in a fervent, noisy but ultimately peace-loving atmosphere is the best (when your winning!)
  12. Really lively performance from Ryan Christie against Partick on Saturday, gets one goal, wins a penalty (should have had a second) and provides the assist for the winner
  13. This blunder was shown on BBC Breakfast TV down in London this morning..... given how poor my other teams goalkeeper is (in every game) this made me feel quite cheerful. There was a little bit of a 'my enemies enemy is my friend' feeling about this (as in the Highland's v the Central Belt), but still a classic!
  14. This was great to watch....thanks for posting, must say Celtic Park looks rather mundane after seeing how this ground looks! It may only be Brechin, but a win is definitely a win, along with four goals, a clean sheet and the signs of some sort of balance and players finding their feet.....if only I could say that about my other team, following the score during the game yesterday brought welcome relief and my friend sitting next to me was looking pretty bemused when I also exclaimed "blimey Falkirk 4 nil down at home"
  15. Yes we tend to forget that quite a lot of these players have had very limited careers, and we have had quite a turnover, yet we are hoping that they will gell instantly and give us a promotion winning effort. Given our limited financial muscle we have clearly punched well above our weight in recent years which has raised expections amongst us all that can't be achieved in the short term. We now have very few 'senior' players of which Warren is probably past his peak (and getting injured a fair bit), Raven is I think considered past his (Hughes obviously thought that, Robbo perhaps the same) I think some fans want him in for his experience and that SC goal! That leaves Vigurs and who (?) to provide the foundation and encouragement for the younger players. The situation with OFW seems worse than I thought.
  16. Sounds like Doumbouya was not the worst forward we've signed in recent years after all
  17. The Semi-final was pretty amazing...BUT I absolutely loved the whole Final experience, It didn't matter that we were playing Falkirk, they were the equal of us, and outnumbered us in support. We bossed the first half, but contrived to almost lose the second, those last 10mins were an emotional experience and that amazing winning goal with Watkins doing all the hard work, and Vincent defying fatigue to get up field and knock the lose ball home...FANTASTIC. It was great that I was able to share the day with CaleyMad. One of the best days in my football supporting life... I've supported Palace down here for over 40years and we've lost twice narrowly in the FA Cup to Man U, which hurt a good deal, but Caley winning the Scottish Cup is quite some compensation!
  18. Blimey this sounds like a terrible result, coupled with my other team losing 0-3 at home to a promoted side and my football weeked is as bad as it gets. Strange how last week we seemed to do pretty well but lost, and also had a couple of decent results in the league cup, but seem to have completely gone to pieces today. It's amazing that the summer before last we couldn't offer a good enough deal to keep Miles Storey (which seemed to be the last straw for Hughes, and yet Storey spends most of the time on the Dons bench) and at the end of last season we were too slow to sign up Alex Fisher...that's two strikers that look like strikers but penny pinching could cost us dear. I wonder if losing Ross Draper during the week also knocked a bit of stuffing out of the team. I presume Warren is injured, because I sort of cling to the idea that Raven, Warren (and eventually Tremarco) would be enough as a backline with Seedorf and Mckay to give us some solidity. However losing Tansey and Draper probably leaves us with a midfield that isn't combative enough. I go back to my comments over a year ago about those glad to see the back of Highes because of the 'tikka takka' style of play and endless possession at the back, and the fact they might rue his departure over the coming year. Unfortunately not only have we lost someone who was able to make us punch above our weight, but the board seems reluctant to invest enough in the playng squad to give us a fighting chance of even staying at this level...for all the comments about ego trips, I don't see much cache in being in control of a team spiralling down the leagues. Given that today we could even put out a full bench of substitutes and this being the start of the season, the board is going to have to dig a bit deeper or we are in for a very long winter
  19. You put it so well! Meanwhile back down here we have Coutinho and Danny Rose manouvring for moves, for betterment...same old ***** only the money is different!
  20. There's lying and there's spin (probably two sides of the same coin). I am quite sure the club made the statement about keeping the squad that finished the season as some sort of morale boosting comment, but given the number of players that were on loan, at the end of contracts, or just plain *****, this was hardly going to be the case, and given the change in financial circumstances aka loss of TV money, I am surprised anyone saw this as other than playing lip service to fans hopes. I am sure the board hoped to keep the season ticket prices as they were but were caught out by the fans backlash. TBF the handling of Drapers transfer is very cack-handed, it is almost certain that they wanted RD to put in a transfer request to cover the fact that in the end he was going. Perhaps they are normal people who just want to be liked, but they would gain longer term respect if they grew some balls and just told fans the truth that some wont like. There is nothing unusual in not playing players who might be transferred out. TBF we will only be relevant when we are beating the likes of Celtic, and Rangers and taking a top three SPL spot. I don't see why we are seen as a joke though, we got to the League Cup Final, won the Scottish Cup and were top six for three seasons and qualified for Europe. Are we anymore of a joke than Rangers or Hearts? Yep we are having a poor period but we'll get over it.
  21. Given the stick Vigurs and Polworth regularly get on this forum, is this the end of the world? Raven has been half in and half out of the club for a good year now and he had a few people questioning whether his new contract was worth it last season. Tremarco would be a loss, but he's out for a while, he 31 and has a serious injury to recover from. If Fisher goes to Ross County it shows he's not cutting the mustard at Motherwell, but he's past news for us anyway. Given the turmoil after relegation, a change in manager and board, I'd take mid-table at the New Year...it means we are just off the play-offs. A nightmare of course would be further relegation, but the board have done the right thing in removing the previous manager and have rebuilt the side, I saw somewhere else on this forum that we we getting bargain-basement players, but surely that has been the case for many years with Meekings the only player coming from a club above EFL League 1 status, whereas this year we have players from West Brom, Middlesborough, Aston Villa, yes I know peripheral figures, but we don't buy players for fees or those at the top ofg their game. I am probably the only one that thinks this but given the circumstances the board found itself in at the end of the year, I'm not sure they have done too many things wrong. Obviously communication with fans and generally isn't great (and the handling of some of the players like Meekings and Fisher definitely very phish) but looking over the past few years has anything been different, I guess the beef is that we were promised something better. I suppose you could argue that appointing John Robertson in the way he was was fairly odd, but looking at the options available I wasn't getting that excited either. We are in a period of (and it's a dangerous word) transition, and I guess it could go either way. I have hopes of some good signs, so looking forward to an interest season
  22. You make some good points there AJ, especially about the ages of the new group, which is a positive point, although I had hoped Draper with be the experienced man that sticks everything together. However we have to move on; without the sugar daddy that Ross County appear to have (although they couldn't keep Boyce), we have to act like the club we are, a small team with a low fan base in a league than earns pennies not millions. At least we got a transfer fee for Draper, I don't know whether a combined fee and alleged saving in wages of £200K indicates that we are in a bad way debt-wise or just represents sensible business. The glory days of success cup final appearances and top six SPL finishes are for now gone, the team and the 'spirit' that gave us that virtually gone. Hopeful there is enough potential in the lads we have brought in to become something decent over time and bond together as a group. Importantly many are on contracts longer than one season, and probably one or two will give a transfer fee when they eventually move on.
  23. Considering how hard goalscorers are to come by at any level I think we all rue the way Alex Fisher was treated, first by Foran, and then by our board in the aftermath of relegation, could have been the guy to build our attack on with Oakley and (perhaps) Bell offering something as well. I take heart from the reports about yesterdays game, especially with Vigurs and Calder getting good reviews, and Mulraney and Oakley getting mentions, we probably need a month to pull our sh#t properly together....and a couple of morale boasting wins
  24. Arguably within a squad of 'so-so' players we have a few gems that could make all the difference if they turn up at the same time .... based only on reports that would be Seedorf, plus Vigurs and Mulraney (these two very much the enigmatic types) ... Draper could be the lynchpin to our game, whilst if Polworth were to rediscover his mojo he could be class in this division. The juries out on the four front players Baird (slightly better than Boden?), Zschusschen (the new Doumbuoya? who at least scored a few goals) Bell (who on the basis of one game seems to be raising hopes) and Oakley, who maybe has the best pedigree and the best reports. Hopefully one will kick on and if Tremarco returns fit and to form we have could have some threat. Could be very much a hit-and-miss season, that takes a while to get going.....I see the BBC predicts we will finish 3rd, and end up in the play-offs, we'd take that wouldn't we? (given the pedigree of Falkirk and the end of season from of St Mirren). They also predict Dundee Utd to go up automatically so today will be an interesting reveal of potential. Not sure we are up and running yet so a draw is the best I can see for today....lets hope I have lots of egg on face at 5pm
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