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As one of the males having the heated discussion (the younger one for the avoidance of doubt) perhaps I should shed some clarity on the matter. The other clearly aggrieved gentleman had removed a flag without request and when asked what he was doing had stormed off like a petulant child up into the stand. I followed him and asked why he had stolen an item of property that did not belong to him. He refused to return the flag proclaiming that it was a symbol of rangers, right wing politics, racism, orangeism (sic) and nothing to do with his football team and that it was offensive to everyone there supporting Inverness. I asked if he would like to move to the side of the stand and have a reasonable conversation out of the way of those around us which he refused to do. I then asked to have our property returned as he had no right to take something belonging to another person, which he refused to do. He then proceeded to rant about how offensive the 'union jack' is in Scotland and that I was displaying the same symbol as people that were attending an SDL rally in Dundee and associating our club with such people. As a British Soldier born and bred in Inverness I have served all over the world proudly displaying the colours of and spreading the message about ICTFC. His proclamation that the union flag which I wear on my uniform every single day and have seen friends and colleagues coffins wrapped in is a symbol of racism is disgraceful and offensive. I work in England, live in Scotland, have a welsh neighbour on one side, an Irish one on the other and identify myself as British, as far as I am aware we are all still one United Kingdom the idea that you can refuse someone's personal identity because of your bigoted preconceptions is bordering on Facism. I was not taken away by stewards, I left having kept calm though out the incident despite great provocation and the stewards were asking if I would like to report the incident to the police which I refused. As to it's relevance to ICT it's red white and blue, had Inverness written across it and our team is currently managed by an Emglishman, has a Northern Ireland international up front, a largely English squad, and captained by an Irishman. We are have a multi national, multi faceted team as we do a fan base, there are scores of fans who have fallen in love with ICT having holidayed in the highlands from England or Wales so to state that we are just a highlands club or just a Scottish club or a northern club is simply wrong.

People spend far too much time in this country worrying about flags.

St. Johnstone played Inverness CT on Saturday. and this is the fans' forum to chew it over. Despite the 4-0 reverse, there appears to be more appetite and more comments discussing an individual taking a flag to the game! You would think the guy was dressed as Hitler with a swastika flag and giving it the Nazi salute while goose-stepping his way back from the burger van! The Union Jack is the flag of this country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That is a fact until or unless there's a miraculous result next November. Yes, Rangers have 'adopted' it as a reflection of their bigoted political ideal but they don't own it. I'm all for freedom of speech and expression. Live and let live.

The thing is as well, as time goes on, the Saltire is starting to pick-up some "political" connotations as well. In fact, I saw a small child in the St Johnstone end carrying one and I was massively offended! Not for myself of course, but for other people, whom I don't know, who might vote no in the referendum! I nearly informed a steward of this child's sickening antics! In all seriousness though, the only problem I have with taking the Union Flag (it's only called the Union Jack at sea don't you know!), is the Rangers-connotations. Any calls that it is racist, bigoted or anything else is just nonsense, but it's sadly some unsurprising classic behaviour from the chip-on-the-shoulder ultra-independence brigade.

There is nothing wrong with frustration and constructive criticism when a negative performance has been witnessed. I do however doubt that it would have been so numerous if not for this antagonising thread.

WTF - Feck the Union Jack debate - this is secretarianism of the highest degree.

It has certain connotations in Scottish football with it predominantly being associated with one team in particular. I have had a couple of St Johnstone fans I know already mention our plastic hun support and going by the previous bigoted chants of these guys they are pretty bang on aabout them. We are a Highland Scottish team playing in a Scottish league and let's not have our fans being associated with the most hated team in Scottish football! There is a Highland identity to embrace instead of looking like tag along huns

lets just forget it these games will happen. The results were kind as well we still lead motherwell and Aberdeen and i believe yes we have been poor but i think we will be more consistent than some other teams this year. St Js will do well again this year but will also lose games as will dundee utd and everyone further down the table. Every tem will take points off each other below celtic and frankly people who thought the title was possible were getting a little carried away but i feel we will still have a fine season and sitting 2nd after 9 games is beyond our wildest dreams

I'm trying to think of a nice way to say please don't come back again...

What an embarrassment. Is this from the same guys who spent the whole game against celtic a couple of years ago singing about fenians, Bobby sands etc and telling anyone who had a go at them that they were 'supporting' their team. Leave it at home or head along to ibrox if you want some like minded fans

No-one else amazed that the longest and most elaborate/affectionate pitch invasion that I have ever seen went completely unheeded by security? Maybe the guy was just too big to take on. I, for one, am going to start wearing my running shoes to games from now on................it looks like great fun!

My interest in this thread is flagging.

As many of us realised long ago, Butcher is many things, but a tactical maestro is not one of them. The team are made to play a certain way from the start and when it's evident that it's not working, nothing is changed and we don't know what to do. There seems to be no Plan B at all. Substitutions are almost always far too late, very predictable and very unimaginative. And what was the sense in throwing Polworth in at the deep-end like that? He was like a fish out of water and was kept on the field for 72 minutes - it was 72 minutes too long. There's no rules against a half-time change, or even a first half change (the French are big on this apparently) and this was a prime example of when one was needed. And what does it say to Greenhalgh who was superb last week, when he doesn't get a single minute, while Nick Ross was poor away from home on the wing yet again? There's no good saying "it was a blip", "they were better than us" and other such cliches , when we've been poor away for four consecutive games now and the tactics have been identical essentially every time. It wasn't "a blip", it was another consecutive bad away performance. But what do we do away from home? With no real Andrew Shinnie character in the squad this year and particularly since Vincent's injury, would a switch to a 4-1-2-2-1/4-3-3 set-up make a difference? We could go back to soaking up the pressure and then hitting teams on the break with Foran sat in-front of the defence, Draper and someone else (possibly Ross who's always been better in the middle IMO) in the middle and then Doran on one wing and then Greenhalgh or Watkins on the other side, rotating throughout the game, attacking teams out wide? With the players we have available, it could be a better set-up than the all too predictable 4-2-3-1.

The voice of sanity speaks! IHE has hit the nail squarely on the head. This is the ICT thread within the "Football and other sport" section of this site. If this was www.chippyjimmy.com or such like, then it might be different. But since it's not, the obviously politically motivated gripe which the original poster seems hellbent on pursuing has no place in this section and should have been made elsewhere - in the Independence Debate thread or better still in General Nonsense. But at least there is one interesting observation to be made about this thread in relation to what it was REALLY started to say. I am referring to the extent to which this politically motivated claptrap seems to be prompting viewpoints on the Union from the silent majority who are now making their views very clear. So from that point of view, and to return to IHE's theme, the starting of this thread has at least provided one thing that didn't materialise in Perth yesterday - a spectacular own goal! If anyone wants to have a rant against the Union, the "Independence Debate" thread is the place to do it - not here! PS - the guy who nicked the flag and wouldn't give it back wasn't a reincarnation of Willie Bell by any chance?

Ha ha Fraz! Maybe I'm an old fashioned parent that believes 8 year old should be supervised?

Apparently he was so upset about the flag he had to get to his mum as quickly as possible for a cuddle.

This is unbelievable! a british flag with inverness on it is not a problem what so ever considering were all british citizens and part of the united kingdom, there's some amount of morons on this get a grip

I'm so confused on this important issue I'm researching just how offended I should be, or not as the case may be...

The saddest thing is that this thread has got feck all to do with football and probably deflects from the more important issue as to what went feckin wrong yesterday.

You don't have talk some nonsense You started this nonsense!

Just seen the highlights, message for Terry n Mo, take the lead football boots away from the players, they don't work. Devine is PYSH at RB, what was TB thinking about!

Is this what having a SNP government has turned this country into - Folk that get deeply upset and offended by our Union Jack flag!

Fixed it for you!

Patrick thistle up next! Don't they lads fly the German flag? Think the ict bigot police will be in overdrive come next Sunday.always looking for problems when there's none.

I suspect that singing "Simply the Best" would not have been considered yesterday by the away crowd !!

I assume that the person who grabbed the flag bursts into tears when they walk past the Castle when the court is sitting and the Union flag is flying. Looking forward to unveiling my Israel-Union Jack-Ulster flag at the County game.

What does a British club having a UJ signify about the club? As DoofersDad says, nothing. What does being offended by a UJ signify? Small mindedness. Im married to an Arab African woman who is very proud of her adopted country and its history. If you think a Union Jack means being racist, get your head out of the Seventies.

We also need people shooting from distance more often. A bit like this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_ebedded&v=zh-2eGezFeI#t=71

I can't believe people have an issue with someone having a Union Jack flag with 'Inverness' written on it.

One bad result in a fantastic start to season. Let's try and stay positive and move on. Perth for some reason has been an unhappy hunting ground for four or five seasons for us.

Thank feck I had time for a few there beforehand!

I was also very offended by the players who made a point of turning up in the strip of Inverness - very offensive to St Johnstone fans, who are profoundly anti-Inverness, especially when they play against Invernessian teams. Why o why can't we all just play in the neutral strip of the United Nations, where each player gets a ball and every touch counts as a goal. Anything else just creates animosity.

What was offensive about the flag?

Who cares?