Many of you will have noticed the recent change in the sites banner. This is because CaleyThistleOnline.com would like to be among the first to congratulate Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC striker Marius Niculae on his inclusion in the 23 man squad who will be representing Romania in the UEFA Euro 2008 campaign.

Marius is one of the few players currently playing in the SPL that will be taking part in this competition so whilst he is over there flying the flag for Caley Thistle, we thought it only right that the fans here at home (and around the globe) fly the flag for him and Romania and extend our support throughout the tournament.

Marius Niculae joined Inverness CT in July 2007. However, at one stage it looked like the man who's CV boasts past teams such as Dinamo Bucarest, Sporting, Standard Liege and FSV Mainz may not have been allowed to playi n Scotland when his initial application for a Work Permit had been refused. The Caley Jags have never been a team to give up that easy though and the fans through their weight behind the appeal which saw his application accepted at the second hearing.

Straight off the plane and with no real pre-season under his belt Marius was called into immediate action and made his first appearance for the club on 11th August 2007 at Fir Park against Motherwell FC. He never scored in that game, but we wouldn't have to wait too long to see him finding the back of the net when he slotted away 2 goals in our 3-1 League Cup win at home to Arbroath.

Scoring 2 at a time seemed to become his party piece and he repeated the feat against Hibernian, Kilmarnock and Gretna....leading us to victory on each occassion.

His professional attitude and obvious class quickly lead him to become a favourite among the fans, and he cemented that relationship during our home match agains Kilmarnock on the 19th April 2008 when, after scoring, he proceeded to leap the barrier and kiss the Romanian Flag of a fan which contained the words "Marius is Magic".

When Marius came to Inverness he stated that one of his ambitions was to refind his form and make a return to the National Team...with 29 caps and 13 goals under your belt for Romania, we hope this is the first in still many more to come.

Everyone here at CaleyThisleOnline.com hopes to see some more of the Marius Magic during the Euro 2008 Tournament, and we'll all be glued to our TV's when Romania kick off their first match against France on 9th June.

Join in the Euro 2008 Chat on the Fans Forum