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Well, I'm following in Laurence's footsteps on this forum as an Englishman in his 60s (but not as old as Laurence!). I live in the shadow of empty dark satanic cotton mills near Burnley in Lancashire and am, in fact, a supporter of Burnley and watch them maybe at half their home games. In the 90s, I was a regular visitor to the Highlands, doing the Munros (big hills) and when I approached Kessock Bridge, I would see your ground and be uplifted that I was only an hour from Ullapool, my favourite bolt hole. I started following your progress through the leagues and decided that it was time to watch ICT. I therefore dragged my missus to both Rangers (draw) and Hearts (win) and then it was time to see them at home so I slotted in a visit on my own during a hillwalking trip to see Dundee U, under Levein, win 2-0. The highlight was the fact that Dundee supporters came out from hospitality late for the second half and didn't know they had scored in the first minute of the half until one of them got the score on his phone! Last year, with the wife, I did matches at Dumfries, Kirkcaldy and Ayr (7-0!) and we finished up pictured in the Daily Express, stood in the centre circle after the match. This Wednesday, I'm dragging our caravan to Dunkeld for a couple of days, then up to the Moray Firth for just over a week. On the morning of 14 August, I'll mention to the wife that Celtic are in Inverness and find 2 tickets in my pocket! I've enjoyed the banter at the games as much as the football ad I enjoy the lack of theatrics which is crippling the game down here. My favourite player is Roscoe Tokely as he's the same height as me and nearly as old. I'll finish where I started by mentioning Laurence. I thought his avatar was Johnny Rotten (sorry you youngsters - before your time!) but now I realise it's a certain SPL manager in a rather bloodstained England shirt!

Hi Today is my birthday by the way - born 1st August 1943 I took my train from Aviemore to Inverness at a quater to one, turned up at Inverness about 40 mins later, It was raining quite hard, being on the mean side ( no taxi ) I decieded to get a bus. Nobody could tell me were I could get one. Eventually I was directed to a 25x , who dumped me on the highway opposite Medceded Benz showroom. Still pouring down, I walked towards the Caledoneon stadium. Spray from passing trafic and puddles on the pavement didn't help. I had to negociate the roundabout, Notice said " high speed trafic, cross with care ". I have an old Rugby League injury which means my knee is sore, so running is not my strong point. I stood by the road getting covered with spray untill suddenly a gap appeared in the trafic and I went for it. I then proceded to walk to the ground at a sedate pace. On my left side a salt distribution depot, surounded by railway lupins, and thistles, not the nice traditional Scotish thistle but an ugly corruption of this plant, on the other side a beautiful seascape second to non of views from any British soccer stadium. I puzzled in my own mind who could give planning permission for a football ground acessed by an high speed road, with no flyover. I never cease to be amazed. On arrival at the ground I entered the stadium, for the first time, never before had I been into any sort of stadium in Scotland and I was quite impressed. I was puzzled by the names on seats, and I wonered where to sit, worried that the owner whose name was on the seat, would have a claim on it. I did eventually sit on a seat marked David Cameron, which I thought had a certain irony, as a life time member of Labour and the trade unions , I had to smile. I chatted to a couple of supporters of Queen's Park, we were discussing the history of the club. I was amazed at the fact that all the players were totally ameteur. It was mentioned that if it had embraced professionalism in the old days, it would probably be a top team in Scotland if not Great Britain, throughout the ages. The game set off , Queen's looked busy, and Inverness looked rusty. An early atack showed no 18 to be tottaly out of position on the left side of the midfield, he certainly looked like a squre peg in a round hole. In fact in the first attack, he gave the ball away in a sloppy manner which put Queen's immediately on the counter. The first 20 mins I thought it was hard to think which team was in the higher division, which players were paid, and which were ameteur. I suppose the strenth of the Inverness defence , was the difference. I was particulary impressed with the ability of the left footers in defence , No 3 ( very one footed) , and No5, who for the life of me should not be taking throw ins. No 18 although playing on the left side can't kick at all with his left, and kept wandering out of position. His positional sense was very poor. He did however looked dangerous in the middle ( Diago Forlan like) when he ran with the ball. He also like to take set pieces, a feature he should forget. The three goals were well taken, especial y lthe one scored by the defender that I thought was real class. The strenht of the ICT players showed towards the end as the willing Queens Park players wilted. I remember thinkinking they will have to play much better than this in the SPL, or they will be cut to ribbons. On occasion Queens Park did break through the ICT defence but failed to score, This could have been more serious against better oposition. My view having seen many games in England at all levels that the standard is better than the conference. About as good as league two. A couple of the ICT defenders could get a game in a Championship side. Something that did puzzle me was the ICT goalkeeper, threw the ball right handed, but kicked with his left. Having said all the above I know the players are still not mach fit , and there are injuries, but they sure have to improve to survive in the top flight. Just an opinion , but I have watched the game now for over 60 years.

During the Merger in the mid 90s, one of the burning issues was a Members' Club. The alternatives at the time to were either Caley and Thistle Trusts to perpetuate the memory of the original merger partners or a Unified Members' Club. At one point, Caley were all for a Members' Club since the Rebels thought it, and hence certain aspects of football club life, could be dominated by them. Thistle, predictably, were a lot less keen! However it progressively became apparent that a Members' Club would not benefit Caley in the way some had hoped so the Jaggies took the idea on board and one was formed. One of its important functions was in effect to be Trustee for the shares related to the considerable assets which Thistle and Caley brought to ICT. A rough estimate tells me these would have been, gross, in excess of £1.5M but legal fees at the time of the merger and possibly tax would have had to be deducted. Initially these were reflected in a 50% shareholding on the part of the Members' Club but as this input was diluted by subsequent uptake of additional shareholdings and with the agreement of various club meetings, the [percentage shareholding has also progressively been diluted down and currently stands at something like 10-12%. However a few years ago, the Members' Club was disbanded and its functions in effect transferred to the then newly former Supporters' Trust which now also holds that particular element of shareholding. So in effect, ICT has been there already but now runs a Supporters' Trust which has done a great deal of good for the club.

IHE just posts shyte when it comes to rumours and trialists .

I think we should get GMS as he would be a brilliant rotational player and he is very young which could lead to a future sell provided he doesn't get injured too often

Will this be before or after Robbo and Duncan Shearer become ICT's management team, the Niculae case is settled and the signing of Darren Huckerby?

In his post match interview Terry said "Richie Foran and Jonny Hayes had scans today and they are now clear to push on for fitness" which to me sounds like they could be a few weeks away from being fully match fit.

A decent performance, more of a pre-season friendly than anything. A few moments of excitement, although more were found in the half-time entertainment than the game itself. I hope they keep that on, seeing the wee lad dummy the ball about 15 times before fluffing it was fantastic. Was that Max Johnson in goals at half-time? Nice if it was. Out of the new boys, Blumenshtein looks like he has enough in him to take control of that spot behind Rooney, McCann looks strong enough at right-back, with enough awareness to let his lack of height be a non-issue and Innes did look the part when he was on. Did Innes get injured? He didn't feel his thigh/foot, didn't go down at any point, and looked more angry at being subbed than anything else. Man of the Match - Odi scored one and caused havoc with his pace when introduced. Odi is the new Rooney unless the ginge starts to pull the strings again. Cox can share this award, he was superb. The new Ian Black. We are not quite the full article without Hayes and Foran. Really hope they can get some game time before the Celtic game or it'll be sit-in and hope they don't score for 90 minutes.

Which one ? Bennett or Sutherland

Job done. We never got out of second gear, but then we never really needed to, especially after the gift of a second goal. I do hope we look a bit sharper at the back when we play Celtic though! At times Munro, Tokely and Golabek looked like they were moving in slow motion. Difficult to tell how bad the injuries to Innes and Munro are - Innes pulled a thigh muscle, while Munro I think had a gash on his foot...his sock was blood soaked as he went in at half-time. Sanchez and Blumenshtein together? Not for me. One or the other, I think. Neither did anything to stand out. MOM for me would be Lee Cox, who put in a superb shift to go with his goal. Anyway, it's a definite improvement on the Montrose game from last season.

We have teams participating in the Umbro Dublin Cup this weekend. Coaches could be scouting but more likely just taking in a game when they have the opportunity. I think Charlie C might be over there in his youth development capacity, could have been him at the Bohs game.

Is the swering trying to make it funnier?

Oh dear .

good news if we get him good player :)

YES YES YES!

Is it 2 nil or are you half an hour after everyone else ?

Marlon King, an agent and a minder are all booked in to the Kingmills Hotel tonight !! :_shocked2:

------------Tuffey Tokely Innes Munro Gillet Odi McBain Duncan Hayes -------------Foran ----------Rooooney