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At Aberdeen last Saturday Tremarco dived close to the goal and headed the ball to safety on the ground whilst his face dived into the turf with an Aberdeen player right beside him ready to pounce. Now that's dedication. Whether he was falling anyway or not, the fact is that he deliberately placed his head forward to get the ball before his roll and that was a spectacular bit of defending.

I was playing for Elgin City under 14s in a friendly match v Banff and Watt walked out of the changing room for them, nearly 6ft tall and with a beard. We straight away said to the ref there's no way he's 14... to which he replied "you're right... He's 12". He signed for Chelsea quite soon after that.

I'm confident - not over confident - but confident. Personally I think we can currently win any game we take part in. Some nice spondooliks were recovered from Mr Hill following Saturday's result. I am glad we are the favourites as we should be. If we tackle this game with the right attitude and the players/team play to their strengths then we will be ok. Football though as they say is a funny game but I think we're in with a good chance of making our first major final appearance and to be fair with the progress made by the club over the last few seasons it would be thoroughly deserved ;-)

Let's hope that Caley D is not asked to assist in any offers as he is the only **** who knows how to spell is name !!

What about this? Has nobody seen it or does nobody care? Obviously I don't mean you Charles Read it already. But to be fair it just said what we already know..the MSM are Unionist to the core..maybe to protect their jobs (a bit like the MPs in Westminster representing Scottish Constituencies who regularly trash Scotland and the Scots, and promote the Union lately), Can't see many antis trying to justify the bias (bar maybe Charles). If we are doing links...... Raise you http://munguinsrepublic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/so-tell-me-again-why-did-gordon-brown.html .http://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/opinion/letters/yes-expect-better.23198310 and http://nationalcollective.com/2014/01/21/all-together-now/ That last is the kind of article I like.....thought provoking but sarcastic/satirical with it!

It was that spirit throughout the team that won the game. Until Butcher and Malpass were very much on Hibs radar, the team had developed that approach in every game. Then in St Johnston it deserted them. As we know it was just after the Hibs AGM when they sack managers and line up the next 'I can do it Rod!' The team have been a bit inconsistent ever since but the manner of the victory has the potential to refocus the targets. Consequentially the Killie game is potentially much harder and whoever plays in it, must adopt the same 'get my body in the line of fire' approach. It is the difference between winners and losers basically.

They may succeed in making Stevenson available but they risk getting players injured before the cup tie. Not too bothered about this.

Last season Hearts bent the rules to sneak (in every sense of the word) a victory over us. This year I hope we use the fact that they are again manipulating matters to give them an unfair advantage as an addition incentive to stick it to them. I have to say, I can see very little difference to the set of circumstances that led to Elgin being stripped of the Highland League title.

Considering we were once in that league dont you think the description is a bit condescending and unfair to the many part time teams that make up the Scottish league system. Fair comment. Having got into rant mode it was an inappropriate choice of word. "Part time" would have been far more appropriate. In that context it is interesting to consider that lads in the Forfar team would have been more likely to be working in the hotel before the match than relaxing in it.

Fair cop, OCG!

Now this is getting tricky!! Brill Raven Meekings Warren Tremarco Draper Shinnie Doran Vincent Williams McKay Subs: Esson, Tansey, Ross, Polworth, Watkins, Christie, Devine Tough to leave any of these guys on the bench after Saturday, but we look like we've got some options to change things late in games now!

One day we'll all wake up and find that Charles Bannerman has put forward some debate. And remember Charles, if you dont like the outcome and you dont like the tartan and the deer and the hills and the weather and the whisky and the patter and all else that you decry about this country then there are plenty buses and trains and even planes and boats heading south.

Good - but Hearts would no doubt put in yet another request for special treatment!

Very encouraging interview with Ross Draper here http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/inverness/261165-ross-draper-targets-europe-and-extended-stay-with-inverness-ct/

I don't care whether Stevenson plays or not - our approach to the game doesn't change. Either way, we've got to want it more than Hearts and focus on the job - do these things right and it shouldn't matter who they put in front of us. Don't do them and we don't deserve to win....

They're understandably well-up for this. St. Mirren more than happy, I'm sure to play them a few days before their semi-final...knowing Hearts will field a team of (even younger) kids! OK! Hearts have the early lead in the mind-games. But there's another game at Kilmarnock yet before we can think about the semi!

Some good points in posts above and I suspect ICT would accept an offer way below £1M. As with all transactions, "value" is a combination of what one club is willing to offer and what the other is willing to pay. An excellent example was Carroll who went to Liverpool for £35M, simply because Newcastle knew that Liverpool had just received £50M for Torres. The flip-side is that small clubs are always more likely to accept a lower offer (hence if McKay had been playing at Celtic, he would be "worth" several million....look at Hooper). The only way the value would rise were if more than one club were interested and a bidding war developed...

I'm agreeing with that. Tremarco and Raven are both rock solid full backs as well as having a good competitive grafting edge to their game (if that makes sense) Shinnie can then be utilised a little further up. He's great at running at folk and always looks a danger cutting in on his left foot.

Hibs.net are technically correct in a Clintonesque legal point of view. All the other bigger clubs he 'mis-managed'!!!! He was sacked at all of them.

How do you know? How can you or any other yes advocate speak for a Scottish government of unknown political persuasion elected years into the future? This just sounds like Alex's wish list politics with his series of "commitments" which no one is in a position to say could or would be delivered. That is presumably as specified in his 670 page publicly funded Toom Tome which must surely succeed the 1983 Labour manifesto as the longest suicide note in history. By the way you seem not to have quoted the section of the linked document which presumably says how you would replace the 4000 (due to rise to 5000 by 2017) direct jobs and the many other indirect ones which would be lost if the Faslane base were to close. Then of course there's the one thing that the SNP say they want to do and they can do now - improve childcare. But they won't because they want to keep that as a carrot to get women to vote yes and they're especially short in that department. The reason, they say, is that they don't want any cash generated by extra employment to go to the Westminster exchequer. Now how cynical is that? Giving their own anti-Westminster paranoia priority over the interests of the women of Scotland. Just as much as you can blithely and so very rudely tell us we will be nothing without suckling on the teat of "Mother England" (Have to say, she's even more bossy, stubborn and self-opinionated than I am....and regarding the similarity of your beliefs, is as irrational as you can be from time to time on this subject). However, if you have some insight into what the consequences of a NO vote in Scotland is going to be .kindly inform us...you may even change our vote. It is up to you to prove to us that the Westminster mindset is going to change, given the current rhetoric from all parts of all UK political parties, rather than denigrating those who believe, very sincerely, that a Scottish Government working for Scotland and the Scots can't possibly be any worse for Scotland than Westminster control.has been over the past three or four decades. I really can't understand how anyone can promote the option of continuing in a Union which, to date has made inequality the main focus of their policies in the last three/four decades......and that aspiration is just about the only one which has ever been met. I don't want to live under a Government which is so personally wealthy that it neither knows or cares how the other half lives.....26 millionaires in the Government do not represent the way I think. I'd not have voted for any political party so mentally impaired as to think that policies, like the bedroom tax,employment of of ATOS to throw people off benefits etc which encourage/force the disabled, the unemployed, the poor to suicide or to using foodbanks (which appear to be the only real growth industry in the UK currently), while reducing taxes for the better off, failing to close the loopholes (which frankly invite tax avoidance in the same way as badly drawn benefit rules provide loopholes allowing a small minority to take advantage) and allowing the employees of our failed banks to gain bonuses of twice salary and calling that a restriction illustrating "we are all in this together"....and despite all the misery they have inflicted on the UK population.they have not reduced the National Debt by one farthing, but are still adding to it annually. But then, of course, I don't remember seeing any of the above in their manifestos......of which I have copies of the key policies , as I do of the Coalition agreement. (and very few have been fulfilled as yet). .Thing is, Charles that if we vote for independence....... firstly, the decision about Trident will have been made, by a negotiating committee which will not just be drawn from the ranks of the SNP.....and maybe even accomplished (though I doubt the time scale will allow immediate removal, especially if Westminster hasn't made contingency plans.) by 2016..... and secondly, despite the YES/NO divide, a majority of Scots want Trident out,as do a large proportion of the rest of the UK, so I hardly think any Scottish Political Party no longer joined at the hip to its UK mother, and who aimed to be elected, would be foolish enough to have rolling back the Trident removal agreement in their manifesto. That the 4000 jobs the NO supporter, Gordon Matheson, is panicking about losing on the Clyde? It must be, because trhe MOD said in 2012 that civilian jobs at Faslane are at about the 520 or so mark. Are the employees in the ship yards incapable of building anything but defence related ships? I can follow any knitting/crochet/cross-stitch pattern....and what else does a competent company need but a pattern and someone of capable of reading it? Will an Independent Scotland never need to build ships? The Clyde didn't always rely on UK MOD defence contracts......and given that the UK is happy to order fuelling Tankers from Korea......why would other countries not be as happy to give the Clyde yards contracts? Just been on the link and reread it...and I see nothing referring to 4000 or more Faslane jobs....but I'm sure you can point me at the paragraph or so to which you refer. I did the usual FIND 4000 in my browser, which threw up nothing on that page. However, even if you are correct, a proportion of the money saved from not funding Trident can and will be put into infrastructure spending in the west of Scotland, which should create more jobs than you claim will be lost. In 2012, the Scottish TUC and Scottish CND funded a study which said that the total reduction in direct and indirect civilian employment across Scotland if Trident was scrapped would be less than 1800. The childcare thing...get real...if they forked out money for childcare, they would be obliged, given their limited finances, to cut something somewhere else. I know you and other Unionists would like that, as it would produce yet another imaginary stick with which to beat Salmond.......and honestly.I agree with the "why remove the likes of free bus passes for pensioners in order to fund childcare and help grow our economy just so it enriches a Government in Westminster which appears to have hands with holes in the palms, given the short time it takes them to waste every darn penny they get" mindset. We are talking, remember, about a Government which has spent a quarter of a million of our smackers on getting portraits of MPs painted.and which spent £10,000 pounds on acting lessons for ministers. It's just a real shame they weren't taught how to act as human beings!

A fair % of Rooneys goals came from the spot too.

Towards the end of the second half, with ICT in command, Ryan Christie "ghosted" past a defender in such a manner that the comment was made "that was just like John White in days of old". It really was great to see - we await much more from young Mr Christie, a future star no doubt. Conor Pepper fought for every ball, like a terrier, a great player and worthy of a new contract - please note Mr Hughes, Mr Latapy and Mr Cameron.

I believe it's true that you don't see an accurate representation of a game and individual performances on TV. Mckay's a far better striker than Rooney IMO, far quicker and has a far better work rate.

Tom Parratt, born in Inverness but moved away at the age of 3 to according to Wikipedia, after playing for Hamilton, Queen of the South and Airdrie United he's back in the States playing for the brilliantly named Wilmington Hammerheads

That was Jamie Hamill. Ryan Stevenson looks like the kind of person who'd shag your wife and steal your microwave.

I think that's a very good point. However, I think it is a question of timing for me. You've got to get the balance right between having the player contributing to the success of the side and selling them so that the club picks up a profit and you're not seen as holding up a player's career. In my view it is too soon to sell now although if the offer was significantly above the club's valuation they would be foolish to turn it down. It is such a gamble though. If he keeps scoring at his current rate his price goes up but if the goals dry up it goes down. Not too many players keep scoring well season after season, so there would be a strong temptation to cash in. Another factor here is what is in his contract. Players have all sorts of weird and wonderful things in contracts and it might be that he agreed to a longer term deal at a certain pay level provided that if an offer above a certain amount came in, he could go if he wanted. Contractual agreements can be the reason for otherwise strange decisions. I've voted for the million for this transfer window but I would expect the club to accept significantly less if Billy wanted away. Mind you, I would hope Billy would want to stay. We have very strong attacking midfield options and it is clear that the new manager wants to play an attacking style of football that plays to Billy's strengths. If he is going to score a hatful of goals anywhere, it is going to be here. He should stay put for a while and really make people sit up and take notice.

With luck it'll rain for the opening and closing ceremonies and the tartan will be covered up by Inverness capes. Pink in a kilt..........yer havin a laugh.

I'm quite sure Hughes will welcome that selection head ache and it will also make the players work all the harder to stay in the team which can only be a good thing. Play well or get dropped.

I'm now feeling very optimistic about the rest of the season after today's win at Pittodrie, no more negativity from me as far as the strength and depth of ICT's squad is concerned given that we still have Draper/Foran/Warren to come back into the mix (An additional striker to would be great though!) nor any more negativity towards Yogi until the end of the season at least, he's now coming across as a decent guy and has not "rocked the boat" since taking over from Butcher indeed he's already given youth a chance to shine with both Polworth and Christie now seen as regular first team players (would Butcher have done the same, doubt it!). With Lattapy arriving next week there's a lot to be positive about and of course we have the semi-final to look forward to. It'll be no surprise if this is going to be ICT's most successful season ever! Oh I forgot were still in the Scottish Cup and almost guaranteed at least a place in the last eight! Been a season ticket holder since 94 and things have never looked so good for ICT so come on no more negativity on the message board until we know how the season pans out! (Worth a try I suppose!)

Just checking back on highlights, and I think I see the selection change made for this match that has changed our fortunes. Dean Brill's choice of jersey, it is something I commented on to my brother and daughter at the last few games. Including and since the win over St Johnstone the game before Yogi took over, Deano wore the grey top against St J, St Mirren, Partick, a win and 2 draws, all clean sheets. In the other games he wore the yellow jersey, and we either lost or Deano had a nightmare game and no clean sheets. Grey top yesterday, win and clean sheet. I say, Deano, bin the yellow jersey.

Our starting line up had an average age of 23.7. United's was 26. Our full squad today had an average age of 23.3. United's was 24.2

He should be in the scotland squad and it annoy's me when the pundits talk about how Scotland have no replacement LB's!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25788497 It seems its offical :)

Fair enough Davie, I appreciate the effort you and your entourage made on your pilgrimage to Hampden but in all honesty I could have told you the outcome long before you even made the journey The Scottish Sun saved the day and if that was a knock on effect from your meeting then fair play Dougal Don't forget to book your bus Dougal, or are you getting a hotel on Saturday night in Edinburgh on your way back from the County game in Killie?

Dougal......You're an ICT fan.....

I've made a few enquiries about rescheduling our preliminary plans for July, and the draft fixture list looks quite tempting. Sun 6 Friendly Clachnacuddin Kingston Tue 8 Friendly Fort William Nevis Sat 12 Friendly Montrose Montserrat Tue 15 Friendly Brora Barbados Wed 16 Friendly Muir of Ord Port of Spain Sat 19 Friendly Arbroath Aruba Wed 23 Friendly Elgin Holguin Sat 26 League St Johnstone St Lucia A luxury cruise liner has been provisionally booked to accomodate and transport the team and the fans between islands, to be paid for by the same long queue of sponsors who are donating to the scoreboard fund. However, with the SPFL insisting that the first game kicks off at 12.30pm on a Sunday, long before even the first Megabus gets in, a fleet of jets is being arranged by CaleyJags Together to get us all over there in time. Red Stripe have kindly offered to subsidise the transport cost of this down to a very reasonable £10 per head. There will of course be a toilet stop at Broxden.

What positivity on this news ....What a lovely refreshing change. I remember dreading when he was playing against us due to his ability as a player ,so if he is half as good as an assistant he will do well. I am looking forward to confirmation of his appointment and him starting as I do believe we need some stability now.