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Apologies if this has appeared before, but I'm not a frequent visitor! Could this be a hint to a new signing?

As an ex-referee I always have a chuckle when the accusation of inconsistency is made. Referee training standards were applicable across the board, from us juvenile refs right up the class ones. We had an annual conference that was open to anyone with a referee qualification - which includes coaches, managers and players if they so wished. Obviously the higher up the leagues you went, the more frequently you would be observed and a report submitted to your local Referee Association. Regardless, your decisions could be held to account at the disciplinary boards held by the local Football Association (so in effect, you were open to scrutiny and criticism from either Association!) and could be asked to clarify aspects of your report. Indeed, I had to do so on one occasion when they called me at my place of work, which I had no problem with. I was unaware of the outcome of the hearing however, which meant I was not aware if my decision was being upheld, moderated or dismissed. Therefore I had no idea if I had made an error but if I had done, then I would have had an opportunity to learn from it. I attended routine referee meetings, although these were not mandatory. Mind you, if you were interested in doing the best you could on the field, then it was advantageous to do so because there would be a discussion on recent high-profile games usually supported with video clips. I believe the meetings were mandatory for the higher grades, as was conference. For us lower league people it was optional. Now here is something weused to do and they probably still do today ? there would be several clips ofgames that some may have seen, but most would not (mind this was before theexplosion of satellite and digital free-view when foreign games were still "exotic"). An incident would be played in real time, thenstopped and the following questions asked: - was it a foul? - If yes, whattype (direct or indirect) - Was it a card,and if so, what colour? - Why? In a room full of trainedand experienced referees, there would usually be a majority in agreement BUTthat still meant there were some who didn?t. Obviously there would be concern if thedifference was ?no foul? and ?red card?, but you will realise that there cansometimes be a subtle distinction between ?yellow? and ?red?. And that was having seen the same incident, onTV, at the same instant. Make ajudgement, now ? don?t wait, don?t consult ? what is it? The point was two-fold ? this was the type ofpressure the referee was under, and a cadre of his peers did not necessarilyagree with the outcome. So who is rightand who is wrong? Law 5. So for those who thinkthe referees are inconsistent, try that exercise yourself with a group of matesand see what the general consensus is ? I am not saying you will be wrong, allI am saying is that you may be surprised that the majority may not agree withyou. But football is not a game run bydemocratic opinion, it is a dictatorship. And unfortunately, no matter how much we trainand develop to try and ensure it is a benevolent dictatorship, there willalways be those who disagree. It is whenthat disagreement becomes endemic and insidious that it leads to what we arewitnessing now. As a final point, I wouldurge you all to do the referee course. Youdon?t need to then go on an referee, but you will be arguing from a position ofstrength and confidence having been through the course. It is really very interesting to have thediscussions surrounding the laws and hear what the trainers (usually class onerefs) have to say about it. There is no closedshop. Anyone can join.

I sadly couldn't make it as Glasgow up on a work night is a bit far. Glad it was a good night for all and Roy is a true legend. As for booing the man who brought down the relegation of our club, good on ya!

Now this could be a rather difficult thread to administrate but PLEASE let it go on the main page - I am looking to set up a reunion of the group of lads who were dubbed the "Caley Animals", revered by the Telford Street masses, gained notoriety which was more often OTT and added on to and on to, gained a certain cult status and had others associating themselves and names added on and on. I know who the originals were. I will also be posting this on P&B and Facebook with a view to a Reunion before the Elgin game. Mantis - can I add yer name as an intermediate contact ? As far as I am concerned we were "naughty" - possibly "very naughty" !! - and we got in more than our fair share of scraps but those were the times (70's - early 80s) and we were no different to the SESH army of today. Plus it bugs me with all the "posers" and anti - merger fans - who associate themselves with a quite exclusive group of "mates" who really had Caledonian FC but also Inverness at their souls. So - let the others join - and here is the first controversy - the original idea of the "Animals" came from maself and "Stormin" Norman Gordon - now deceased - I am totally convinced that Norman was Inverness first and Rangers second and he would have been in Section G and CaleyAway today if he was still alive. Rodger MacDonald fell off a train in 1977 but he was my best mate and he would definitely be standing beside me today. He also was Inverness football through and through. The others are all alive - most are stay aways (but could come back for the Hellgin) but some of the originals are around, and at least 2 go regularly to TCS, but perhaps incognito. Lets get together and show that the "cult" of old Inverness are not as anti ICT as all make it out to be. So - if you proclaim to be an original "Caley Animal" - please post here.

Jew are yi?

Georgeios is very obviously the expert on who's having a bit of banter or not? As for telling the ones who were booing to button it, can you just imagine the response a female would get from them? Didn't realise I was "moaning" - making an observation just like many others do on this forum, which is the whole point of it, isn't it? Apologies for taking a WHOLE day to post my comments - didn't realise there was a time limit on these things? Not really too sure why my comments have peed some of you off so much - too near the mark I expect!

DOH - Do Elgin play in Moray ? Apologies as you clearly are just an Hellgin ersehole. Elgin fan(s) - are ther two of you DOH - I was tellin ya that ICT and Caley are from different eras Caledonian FC is not dead - the Howden End is in the Sky and still lights May I recommend a book by Charles Bannerman ICT dont look at ya as being a big game - it will be a boring walk over and even more tedious with the Moray Tawts singing songs about a club that they think died in 1994. But thanks fer restoring my reputation - first red dots in a long time - unless three of them were from you.

He would be my first choice too, his distribution and composure is better than McCann who at times was very wasteful especially on the break. I think the rest of the back line look more comfortable with Duff at RB also.

I like the idea of getting Israeli ref's in. If anyone tries to issue a death-threat the IDF will bulldoze their house and if anyone retaliates then the East End of Glasgow will be occupied for Orthodox Jews to build settlements on it. I think this would be an improvement. Mazol tov!

I'm sure Johndo will be flattered to think that he was young enough to be a casual Anyway the 1991 lot were HSE were they not? I remember the HSE,they were mental, now all they do is make sure things are done safely.

Israelis!!! I'll get this old one in first: are they Catholic Jews or Protestant Jews?

The ICT Real will hopefully be out in force for this game. Have you still got that flag ictchris?

I think its funny. Here's someone coming on with a bit of banter and some see it as offensive. Scotty can we shut down this site and bring back the 03-06 one. At least those who partook then had a sense of humour.

Here's hoping we don't get a Romanian Ref!!!

Knowing a few of the afore-mentioned 'Caley Animals' I just cant get the vision out of my head. Tonights news headlines: Tanked up on pink gin and Werthers Originals a group of aged former Caledonian FC casuals, known as the 'Animals, today reunited to bring back the old memories of the past rivalries between themselves and their enemies from the City of Elgin. Around eight animals and two from the Borough Brigs Brigade met behind the Highland News offices for a bit of pre and post match disturbance to commemorate the heady days of highland league rivalry of the seventies. Yep!, crossed walking sticks and the clash of zimmer frames reverbrated down the Longman. Police who were called to the scene where hindered in trying to quell this disturbance as they were overcome by fits of laughter at the sight of those aged hooligans falling over as they failed to realise the zimmers were supposed to support them in an upright position.

What an oik. It was all Earl Grey and Bakewell slices up on the hill.

The idea of getting the Caley Animals together in on place is a great one. Is this one of those police entrapment operations?

Why is there only one Monopolies & Mergers Commission?

Indeed, but do you the slipperiest substance known to man? I don't know what it's called, but it's what Les Fridge's gloves were made from.

Not attending to support the Refs is daft. You support ICT not the refs. Get down and support the team Stan my boy!

it wasn't me. i've nothing but respect for what you do.

I use a number of forums for professional and hobby purposes, and this site ranks up there as one that is well moderated, easy to operate and has a decent membership which provides some excellent banter as well as thought-provoking discussions. Registering for me was no inconvenience, in fact I would expect a reasonable site to request it to ensure that those wishing to get involved were there for the right reasons. Not just an internet security measure but one to screen out the really troublesome trolls, although it doesn't deter the really cheeky troublemakers (remember the sheep fan who made a brief appearance earlier in the year and then dropped out again having been well and truly flamed?? ) I regard this site very highly and because of these measures, I would recommend it without hesitation to any ICT fans not currently using it. Fact is, while some of us use forums to a greater or lesser extent the majority of people don't. Making it open access would not improve numbers and indeed, would only damage it for all the reasons already posted.

The wee man is growing in every game and thought on saturday he was outstanding for us. However when he was subbed off i felt it was a real shame like foran and hayes he was only greeted with clapping where as hayes and foran were greeted with a very focal support. About time the boy gets some real vocal backing for the more creative of people on the site please make a song for the lad he deserves it.

I'd put money on them being beaten tonight. Not convinced by Lennon at all. Your not convinced by a guy who has a 100% SPL record? Jee wizz

Who are the scabs? First off this strike could be deemed illegal. The refs association did not give the statutory 7 days notice of impending strike. Second, the SFA and the leagues have agreed to the demands of the refs yet they are continuing with their action. If they do go ahead they could effectively find themselves out of work. As self employed people they are not covered by the same protection as employed people and they will be in breach of contract. Apparantly the Dutch FA have agreed to supply refs. Whilst I have every sympathy for the refs and accept they have a difficult task I think they have brought a lot on to themselves by not being open and honest and by operating as a secret closed shop. I think this situation has to bring about a serious look at the way refs operate. There are too many dubious mistakes. There's no consistency and now there will be no right to critisise them. If I had any clout the first thing I'd do is put together a committee made up of refs, players and managers and their remit would be to improve the game, improve the standards and be the disciplinarians for all refs, players and managers.

The booing was totally justified.

I felt the booing of Brewster was out of order as well. Those booing may say it was just a bit of banter but if you are being booed all you hear is a boo and you can't say "Oh, listen - sounds like a banter type boo, that's OK then!" Whether it was intented as light hearted on the night or not we all know and Brewster will know that those booing don't like him. It was a night of celebration spoiled for some by an ignorant show of disprespect by a very small minority. Some may feel Brewster is fair game for a bit of disrespect but last night was not the time nor the place. The point is that the night was about Roy McBain. Roy invited Brewster to play because he has respect for Brewster from the time Brewster was Roy's manager. And Brewster was there because of the respect he has for Roy. Those booing were therefore showing disrespect not just to Brewster but to Roy by their infantile behaviour - shame on you.

ICT were a first division club in 2000 not a poor struggling third division outfit like Elgin so thats a stupid comparison to make If Terry plays the first team i would be really surprised if the scoreline wasn't at least 5-0 to ICT As for Elgin taking through a large support what rubbish i reckon they'll take 500-600 tops They are lucky to get 500 at home games IMO Elgin should re-apply to the Highland League as their senior life as been one big joke since day one and they bring absolutely nothing to the party dougal Struggling? We're sitting 7 points from the top of the league and our recent form has seen us get 8 wins and a draw from our last 11 games. We're not going to win though and a draw is the best we can hope for, but don't dismiss us as the same whipping boys as previous seasons. After beating us 4 times last season, I bet Livi fancied an easy game on Saturday. Caley fans should know as much as any that you get the gloryhunters coming out for the big matches. When we played Buckie in the Scottish Cup in 2006, the crowd was 2109. I've already talked to people in England who are coming up for this game and people who havn't been to see Elgin since the 80's and 90's who are going. No one wants to miss this, it is easyily our biggest game in my lifetime (although I'm only in my early 20's). In August we took 400 to Tynecastle on a Tuesday night, so I'd fancy double that amount for the Caley game. Our average attendence for October and November is over 600, so I can't see it as being as low as 500-600 as you predict. Come on Elgin

anyone got an Israeli flag? Seem to remember Celtic have a Palestinian one somewhere!

a tad offensive

ICT and Caley and Thistle are one and the same you ignorant Moray ersehole. The only sentence involved is the one that your parents inflicted on you and the evident curse of being stoopid You are so pathetic and really dont have a scooby about the history - try and read up on it before you embarass yerself again. O2B And one minute you say it was a franchise the next its a takeover. DOH

Having read quite a number of your posts now the only conclusion I've come to is that you are a bit soft in the head dougal

Wrong forum mate. I find that typical central belt humour a bit tiring. How many teams have an unbeaten run away from home to match ICT's?