The Mantis

Billy Dodds. You heard it here first.

Boo!

Not been at a game there since the Caley days but looked in on the way to Mallaig a couple of years back. Gate was open and I just wandered in. Not sure whether the place could be secured or not.

As long as it's better than the last time we had an away support there If the league hadn't been suspended in March 2020, Arbroath away would have been our game the next day.

Great news. 7th march is etched in my memory. 2-0 defeat at Alloa. Then we had QoS in midweek at home and it was all stopped on Fri 13th...

Why, who’s getting shot?

Ah, but a week is a long time in politics, so a couple of weeks in football is much longer…

I was over that way on Sunday, took Mrs Mantis for a drive. Caught the Waverley a couple of times. This is the much discussed hybrid ship Glen Sannox which is back at the Ferguson yard. The handover date is now being forecast as April-June next year. Also went to Largs which was hoochin. Huge queues for this ferry to Bute, because the second boat, the Loch Riddon, was lying off left at the far side of the pier, having broken down on Saturday...

I don't think you'd have any problem getting them online, maybe different if you turned up with the ICT gear. I considered going up but I've got quite a lot on on Tuesday so don't fancy a drive up to Aberdeen and back at the tailend of it.

I think you're spot on. I no longer have a season ticket as I find that going up and down the A9 the same day has lost its appeal. I tend to stay over now if I make the odd home game, or else take the train on one of those cheap deals. The streaming was a great idea for fans like me as I actually saw more of the team than in recent years. But I can't see that streaming of live games is a goer in the long term - it was a stop-gap during the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic. It would more or less kill the game as a professional sport. But the clubs/SFA/whatever won't tolerate it anyway - we'll have to revert to a ban on live games while other games are on. Delayed streaming won't work for me either - I can't be ersed watching a game when I know the result, and in the case of ICT, I can't resist getting the score anyway by whatever means.

Couldn’t watch the stream as we were on the way back from holiday but going by the stats we murdered them. Was a bit concerned at the lack of goals at ht, last season it would probably have ended 0-0 with maybe a bonus point. Maybe this year we can get out of the group, 5 years since we did I think.

I see what you did there.

One to tell your grandchildren about when ICT are in the Champions’ League.

Oh I think it was a great idea, as it let the Juniors see the world outside their parochial wee enclave and led to the setting up of a proper pyramid. As ICT Paisley says, the Juniors are nearly extinct anyway.

Cove are now selling tickets for the game on the 20th. Capacity 500, £10/£5. It does say home supporters but I can’t see any obstacles to ordering.

Storey’s always been a headless chicken IMO. During his first spell the young team sang about his magic hat. If it existed at all, he must have dropped it somewhere along the A96 when he moved to the Dons.

Lord of the Isles at Armadale a couple of weeks ago. Same day as the Glenachulish.

Going up Thursday teatime sailing, it'll be long gone. The lasagne will be long gone by the Summer Isles.

Very nice but will she fit the link span at Ullapool? More importantly, is the lasagne any good?

The signs were there at half time despite the euphoria of our late goal. I think Clarke has taken us forward, but he doesn't seem to be able to react when changes need to be made. They were ripping us apart in midfield after they sussed us out after about 15 minutes. A blind man could see that Modric was given too much freedom. I think Armstrong needed to go off at ht. Also they must have identified O'Donnell as a weakness down our right. He can defend but hasn't much idea in possession. I've even seen calls for Roooooney! But Patterson looks a great prospect for the future. And we do have our best crop of young players for many a year. From a selfish/ICT point of view, Ryan Christie's career has probably taken a step backward with the decision to start him against Chechia. As a result of a poor first half, and being replaced by Adams, who probably should have started anyway, Ryan only gets 45 mins out of the 270, whereas if he'd been used as a sub, he might have had a decent 25 minutes, missed out to Gilmour against England, then possibly got back in last night. I hope he gets his move to the Premiership based on what he's done over the long term.

To me it’s a real puzzler working out where it went wrong. I would blame Lennon, but he took over near the end of 2018-19 and Ryan had a great season 2019-20. However this season he’s made pretty much the same number of appearances, though has scored a lot less, everybody seems to agree he wants away and you’ve got Celtic fans offering to drive him to Burnley or whatever.

His career may have taken a bit of a dunt after that, if the reported interest from the likes of Burnley and Norwich has cooled. With hindsight, Clarke should have started Adams and Dykes, and used Christie as an impact sub. There was no way he was starting at Wembley after being part of that disaster.

That's why Prog was invented. Duku - great signing and a bit of a shock

That'll do for starters. Hope he settles quickly this time.

What, the Taylor Swift one?