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Well - as per usual - I / We didnt really have to put in much effort to enjoy ourselves off the park. Bristol is a wee bit too cosmopolitan for me but the scrumpy in Bath was worth the wait. Good craic with the Rovers goalie Scotty Davies who gave as good as he got. Brilliant pub crawl on the Friday nite in Aldershot - pubs went down hill a bit after we hit the hill up to the away end - apart from the Royal Staffs - loved messing the brylcreemed hair of the wannabee casual !! Nice wee base as well but hats of to the staff and customers of the Golden Lion (even if half of them were gay!!) - excellent nite, karaoke and a superb Indian to be sick with. In respect of the football it was very much a tale of two cities - Really enjoyed Rovers as it was an attacking game with both teams going fer it - especially in the second half. Hayes made the big difference when he came on with two very well taken goals by Nicky Ross. Personally i thought that there was a lot to take out of this match - thought Shinnie looked a good pleyer and we at last appear to have a footballer in Tansey. Rosscoe and Aldred appear to be bulding up a good understanding but we were alway vulnerable wide in defence - although I thought Proctor did OK at Bristol. Aldershot game - IMHO - was a typical training match and I wasnt actually impressed by either team. To be honest they are stuffy and defensive and possibly just waht we needed but the game never took off. I thought that Proctor AND Gillet were poor and Proc's mistake fer their goal sume up his potential bombscare rating. Tokely and Aldred looked secure enuff and I actually thought that Jamie Stevenson looked quite impressive at times. We were hampered by the performances of Doran and Hayes as they appeared to have turned up fer training. Trying to feed those two much had a negative effect on Nick Ross and foran was left to do far too much running around. We are certainly a changed team in regard to trying to pass our way out of defence and made siome pretty patterns at times but mostly going sideways and rarely looked a threat in the final third - now that does worry me. Tade may sort that out but I would prefer to see Foran a wee bit deeper and picking a complimenting midfield may be a difficult task. Through the scrumpy haze i felt that TB was mell miffed and no feckin wonder.

Honestly the way the government and police are going anyone can be in the firing line, it would be foolish to attribute the problems to only Rangers and Celtic as I am sure most sets of fans are guilty of something that someone else doesn't like, whether it is sectarian or not is another thing. Salmond has spotted an opportunity to cover up our societies flaws and blame just about everything on sectarianism that no one is safe now and must really think about anything that is sung, that includes the use of phrases like 'gypsy b@~tards' and 'sheep sh~+@ing b@#tards' as this could very easily be construed as sectarian even though in the loosest term it is really not. It is all to do with how people percieve things. I mean they were even discussing the merits of arresting people for singing the national anthem depending on when it was being sung, Rangers fans sing God save the Queen at the end of every match, does that mean it's ok for 34 games of the season but not in the 4 Old Firms because it is seen as inflamatory? What if other fans sing Flower of Scotland against Rangers, is that seen as inflamatory as it is in retaliation to them singing God Save the Queen, it has got silly now. I do however feel that it is the Old Firm that have to watch as they are clearly on the radar more than other teams however Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen fans to an extent have a lot of watching to do as well. The other problem with our society is that every parasite of the media and journalism profession love this sort of stuff and the minute something is sung or said they jump on it in a shot and make it twenty times worse and bring it to the fore even more, only in Scotland do we attempt to make things worse rather than trying to help the situation. Sectarianism is nowhere near as bad as it was in the 70's, 80's and even the 90's and yes the Old Firm have made huge strides forward however it is a problem in society as much as football and sadly will never be fully eradicated, it happens all around the world it's just that Scotland is a smaller nation that does nothing to help itself and I includes governments and organisations like the SFA/SPL in that as well.

We all know that CTO users are generous, kind and unfailingly supportive of anything good, especially when there's a football twist to it. Here's your chance to prove it. ICT take on Buckie in a charity match on Tuesday 19th July to raise money for charities connected with Daniel Strong, their keeper's wee boy who has been as ill as it gets and coped amazingly. So your roving reporter has decided that I'll cycle to the game and you can sponsor me by the bucket load. You probably realise, with Livestrong etc, that cycling & charity go pretty well together. So leave your pledge on here so we know what we have donated in this thread and make good your pledge by donating your dosh at your bank, on line or by phone into the Daniel Strong Charity Bank Account that has been set up - Sort Code 800666 Account Number 06019486 It's 109 kilometers from stadium to stadium by the route I have planned and when you put in your pledge, have a guess how long it'll take me. To make it worthwhile i'll give the closest guess or two a lovely wee ICT related present for their efforts. So come on, get this thread filled up and let's show how generous CTO users and ICT fans can be. Oh aye, and if you see me on the road there, give me a toot.

You are dead right that it will never be eradicated if the people who make the law and those who enforce it are spending all their time and energy scrutinising football while the Orange Order with impunity struts its triumphalist way as close as it can to Catholic areas, creating all the tension and resentment that it can muster. Unacceptable though sectarian behaviour at football most definitely is, it seems absurd to concentrate all the energies on football grounds while the Glorious Magnificent Lodge Loyal 1690 No Surrender FTP remains free to infect the community at large with its bigoted filth. A couple of weeks ago, as July 12th approached, I wrote to the relevant Scottish Executive minister Roseanna Cunningham and said largely that. I also suggested that sorting out the Orange Order was a far higher priority than football. I even put it to her that this wouldn't even be a vote losing policy since I couldn't imagine too many of Her Majesty's Bowler Hats and Umbrellas voting SNP in the first place.

But...but... but... he played for Mallorca! Seriously though, going by the reports from the guys on here who were at the games down south - it doesn't sound like he's going to improve the team. Would be better with youth as Sir C mentioned.

I think St mirren and Dunfermline will struggle. St mirren have lost higdon and potter. They may have got teale and Thompson but if one or both of them get injured they've had it! Hibs may struggle to with the loss of riordan and killie may be looking near the bottom as well with the loss of eremenko and taouil! I don't know if being positive is allowed but I do think we will do well this season as Terry seems to be setting us up as a passing side like killie were last season. Here is my prediction for the league: 1.Rangers 2.Celtic 3.Hearts 4.Dundee United 5.Motherwell 6.ICT 7.Aberdeen 8.St Johnstone 9.Kilmarnock 10.Hibs 11.St mirren 12.Dunfermline

I reckon any laws created to tackle sectarianism will affect more non old firm supporters than supporters of the terrible 2some. Imagine the scene at the TCS, thousands of celtic supporter singing "Ooo ah up the 'ra" or Rangers supporters belting out the "billy boys" and a small section of our support start chanting something in retaliation. Are the police and stewards seriously going to treat both groups the same? They'll undoubtedly tackle the smaller and therefore easier problem of the home support whilst turning a blind eye to the away section.