Leaderboard

Shhh...don't mention Remi He's been class ever since he joined us, and I was amazed he stayed with us over the summer, but says much about him that he wanted to [there is a bit of the Marc Guehi about him in playing style and presence]. I hope he has hitched up to a nice Inverness lady who will influence him to stay if we get promotion

I guess you could add LA Galaxy, Colorado Rapids, Chicago Fire FC, New England Revolution, Portland Timbers, Philadelphia Union, San Jose Earthquakes and Columbus Crew to the list. Some of the names make sense based on where they are or their club origin, but surprisingly, 23 of 30 MLS teams have 'normal names' either with FC / SC in the name or prefixes like Inter, Real etc. New York Red Bulls rebranded this year to match the RB teams in Europe so are now Red Bull New York.

Given we had temperatures of -30 this weekend then I have to add Toronto Blizzard to that! They were an NASL team that started life as Toronto Metros in 71 then became the Blizzard in 1979 until the league folded in 1984. They are seen as the (tenuous) origin of TFC that followed in 2007. Looking at the former players list on Wikipedia they had Jimmy Bone, Drew Busby, Peter Lorimer, Jimmy Nicholl, as well as - and I kid you not - Roberto Bettega & Eusebio (in 1976). The USL is also home to a few belters of names ... Tampa Bay Rowdies as previously mentioned are still on the go but my favourite in that league has to have been the Rochester Raging Rhinos, later renamed Rochester Rhinos - perhaps they calmed down - who ceased operations last year ... Other classics include: Boston Bolts, Charleston Battery, El Paso Locomotive (where Nick Ross ended up), Long Island Roughriders, New England Mutiny, Portland Bangers & the Portland Cherry Bombs. Full list here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Soccer_League_clubs Thankfully in (most) of Canada the names are sensible ... In the CPL there is "Forge FC" from Hamilton which is/was nicknamed 'Steeltown' so the name of the club makes sense. That's about as exotic as it gets unless you count Atletico Ottawa or Halifax Wanderers. Drop down into the semi-pro leagues and you get a few interesting names including Edmonton Scottish who apparently were founded by Scots immigrants in 1909 but again, most are traditional names with either some prefix or FC or SC tagged on the end.

I thought we were really good yesterday and could easily have doubled our goal tally. Solid at the back and with good interplay in midfield to set up a lot of chances. After scoring early it looked certain we would get a 2nd before long, but chances went a begging and slowly East Fife began to believe that they might get something out of the game. Then Allan came on and we immediately looked more threatening again and it was he who gave us breathing space with a curling shot which left the East Fife keeper rooted to the spot. Zimba will be disappointed not to have been on the score sheet but he provided 2 assists. His 2nd was a delightfully weighted little flick on back to Allan to set him up for the shot. It was good to see a good number of shots being taken rather than trying to walk it into the net. A good few flew a little wide or high but it looked to me that players have been told to shoot to get it just inside the post rather than simply "on target". What was disappointing was that the crowd was down on our last home game against Alloa. If people missed the game so that they could watch on TV a game played by men with funny shaped balls, then you definitely made the wrong choice.

Scottish football has been enriched by the Campbells. Really looking forward to the final game against them this season if only to hear Dick's post game analysis. The complete opposite to Derek Adams. That said, what a contrast it is to be an ICT supporter this season. Another great win yesterday.

Sheffield Wednesday Forres Mechanics Inverurie Loco Works Third Lanark

Some of the old names also give you an idea of how the game was played in the old, old days - Wanderers, Rovers, Rangers, Casuals, Strollers. Wouldn't be able to play like that nowadays! The various Athletics must have thought they had an advantage.

After a first half of missed scoring opportunities it was in the end a comfortable and deserved victory over an average opponent in EF. Whilst AlfieS was MoTM (deserved IMO) and Paul Allan’s goal was the pick for me, I feel a word is merited for Remi’s performance and all round contribution yesterday. It was a great tussle he had with the big lad Oladipo (No 25) and came out the winner more times than not. Oladipo was good at holding up the ball, had good feet for someone his size, and if better served could have tested our defence more. Remi can easily play at a much higher level. A good test for him would be the Championship. Thou the attraction of playing back in England may be appealing I hope he says around for next season. I suspect some admirers are already thinking about what package would be required to attract his attention. I know every player is ‘for sale at the right price’ however Remi (for me) is a player that we need to retain if possible . bc

What’s refreshing this season is our home league form. We’ve won 9 and drawn 1 of 11 games, taking 28 points out of 33. It’s a long time since we’ve been able to think of “fortress Inverness” but this season we can. In our last four home league games, we’ve scored 14 and just conceded 1. Long may it continue.

A good win for the women today.

https://hamiltonacciesfc.co.uk/