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You already live in a pretty free country. Struggling to see what more freedom there will be. Is a Scotland in closer ties with the EU than the UK is willing and with the Bank of England as the keeper of it's monetary union really independant? If England changes the interest rates, Scotland will have to jump but with less consideration paid to it's needs. And with such a large competitor next door, will Scotland become a much less desirable place to do business? It's not about blind bravehearts but about fiscal sense. It's not so simple, so I'm undecided. For me, it's mostly about a more representative government. That's why I'm much more in favour of devo-max and even more increased federalism. Power at the most local level. Below that of London or Holyrood. So, neither option especially appeals. The case isn't simple for me, so I'm still undecided. Freedom from living under a government that the country did not vote for, that is run by and for an elite that grows richer and more powerful by the day. Freedom from sending our children to wars that mean nothing to us, from spending billions on those wars and the weaponry they require; freedom to decide what your own economic and social priorities are; and the freedom to take responsibility for those decisions. Those kinds of freedoms.

Very entertaining final game yesterday against Motherwell which ICT eventually won 5 - 4. Mothwerwell took the lead but ICT came much more into the game towards the end of the first half and dominated most of the second period. Well took the lead with a penalty which was initially saved but had to be retaken because of encroachment. The retaken spot kick was again saved but the Well player followed in to score. Harsh on the ICT keeper who made two terrific stops. ICT were soon back in it and raced into a 3 - 1 lead. All three goals were from horrendous Motherwell defending. The first and third goals were the results of free kicks being lifted into the box and, as mentioned earlier, Motherwell simply did not appear capable of defending any crossed balls. Both set pieces lead to very easy goals for ICT. In between those strikes there was some awful defending at the back. One of the Well players, who does not look U16 at all, got into a right mess and played the ball past his own keeper who was now stranded out of his goal which was unguarded. The wee no. 8 for ICT was on the ball in a flash and calmly stroked the ball into the net. ICT scored their 4th when the impressive no. 9 was played in behind the Well defence and although his first shot was blocked he followed it up to dispatch the ball into the net. Well struck back with a superb team goal. Some quick passing down the ICT right carved open the defence and the Well player found the net with ease. ICT made it 4 - 2 with the pick of the goals coming from no. 14 for ICT. He strode onto the ball from just outside the area and unleashed a half volley into the roof of the net. Very good finish. However, Motherwell were able to grab another couple of goals to ensure a nervy finish. Their third came from poor defending by ICT at a corner. Unable to clear the ball eventually found its way to a Well player to poke it into the net. And Motherwells 4th cranked up the pressure on ICT. A superb defence splitting pass allowed one of the Motherwell youngsters to lob the onrushing ICT keeper to ensure a nailbiting finish. Really enjoyable matches to take in. ICT can count themselves very unlucky not to have won the group after conceding a last minute equaliser to Sheffield United. Had they kept them out then they would have gone through as group winners. Some good players on show as well. I don't think most of the guys kept the same numbers throughout the tournament, maybe they did, but on the final day I was impressed with the lad wearing no 16. who I was later told was Ali Sutherland. He looks a bit like Aaron Doran but seemed to play as a box to box midfielder as part of a midfield two. He was solid defensively and had endless energy to get up and down the pitch. His ball control was excellent under pressure and, although he didn't display much skill, he used the ball wisely and kept play ticking over. My pick of the ICT lads from what I saw. Also impressive was no. 9 who I think is called Chris Blackett. He seemed to score most of the goals (based on the information on the Aberdeen Sports Village website). Quite tall, very strong forward. Excellent at holding the ball up and bringing others into play. Hopefully we'll see some of these guys in the first team in the years ahead.

Just to correct a small point in your post Laurence, and without meaning to seem personal, as you may think, Scottish fans, and I was one, did not riot at Wembley. The definition of 'riot' is: a violent disturbance. Scotland won the game. The fans invaded the pitch at the final whistle and in the euphoria a set of goalposts got broken and some turf found its way into peoples pockets. There was no violence and no intent to harm or maime. Just a few thousand happy fans celebrating a great win.

In light of Ross County charging £20 to watch the Man United kids team and more prominently Bournemouth charging £60 (though a very reasonable £55 for season ticket holders!) to watch Real Madrid, if ICT were to announce a "glamour friendly" against say Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan etc. and it was to feature their star players, how much would be willing to pay and where would you draw the line? Would you be willing to pay £55 on top of your season ticket, to watch ICT getting pummelled by Ronaldo and co a la Bournemouth? I don't think I would be and charging anything over £20 for a meaningless friendly (no matter what the standard of opposition is) is a scandal IMO.

Many of these highlight reels etc being produced by clubs throughout Scotland are being done by volunteer fans who are working with little or no budget. I can assure you that fancy graphics are way down anyone's list of priorities.

its pretty evident who the spl side is and who the 1st division side is. looks like we dominated most the play and they scored through a couple defensive errors. came back though, great to see that with the new players coming in and a couple leaving that we still have that capability.

I'm quite glad that the club avoid falling into the trap of "Glamour Friendlies". Especially during the pre-season when it's more important that the team are concentrating on preparations for the competitive matches. If it were deemed appropriate to play a "big name" club, then it should be as part of those preparations and priced in-line with any other of the pre-season training games. Any club looking for a fee to play us should be politely refused. It's quite clear that Ross C*unty v Man U was nothing more than a means to rake in a bit of cash....although I have to admit that it was better than last years "Give us £20 for feck all reason" scheme.

The £2 difference between this and the Rovers game clearly made the difference. He'll be playing 10p Bowling soon :)

The words Titus Bramble, Gary Caldwell and very talented together

I am paying £30 to watch Sagan Tosu v Sydney FC here in Japan on Wednesday. Cheapest seats in the main stand. Alessandro Del Piero will be there, albeit not at his peak. But some people paid a lot more to watch Elton John at ICT and he's rubbish at football.

the reason we dropped more points than every other team in the league last year, from a winning position, was because we did try to park the bus. even in your own example we dropped points because we were parked too deep. we need to be more patient, it won't happen, butchers sides have always defended leads with a ridiculous siege mentallity. foran is as much too blame as terry is, whenever he's at the back leading the line, everyone else around him gets desperate. players can't get rid of the ball quick enough, they'll pass to anyone to avoid taking responsibility during the self imposed siege, including the opposition.

Wrong! If it was boring, nobody would watch it. It doesn't particularly appeal to me either, but you are wrong to again express your personal opinion as fact.

Charles, not true. Test cricket is the pinnacle of the sport. As an analogy I suppose you'll agree that the only track event worth watching is the 100m as it's quick and exciting. The 10,000m must be rubbish as nothing happens for almost 25 identical laps before they sprint for the line......

Yet he won CTO player of the year