The Mantis

That’s a right battering Mind you if Stirling Uni are anything like their men’s team they’ll be more or less full time footballers with a scholarship to become PE teachers tacked on the side…

Ah well, that was an interesting wee tour of Peeblesshire

The Swan is Shetland's Tall Ship and my brother-in-law is on the committee so I've been aboard a few times. Last week by chance she was in Ullapool getting a new mast so I was able to get a few snaps.

Well you know how difficult it can be when you have a hobby such as photography or climbing or golf and you also have family... We went across on Monday on the Isle of Lewis and came back on Sunday on the Loch Seaforth's first day back after its refit in Birkenhead. Glad to see the doggy bit has been shifted to the stern lounge as they were beginning to take over the whole boat... Where we stay is an hour's drive from Stornoway so I don't go there too often. Mrs Mantis and her sister were doing some shopping on Thursday and it was a chance for the brother-in-law and me to have a poke about the harbour. The Isle of Lewis had a gearbox problem the day before but had just departed at 1430 for Ullapool. I saw that the Heb Isles was meant to leave Ullapool at 1230 with freight and arrive in Stornoway at 1600. As it got near 1600 I checked the app and it hadn't left till 1430 so that put paid to that. Not sure what time the Heb Isles made its final departure on Sunday but it must have been before we got there. I was on the Heb Isles in April to Islay and back for a weekend as it was relieving the regular boat, the Finlaggan, so here's a couple taken at Kennacraig. I remember the sideways launch at Selby in 1985 very well and I think it went straight on to the Uig triangle. State of the art at the time.

Still ploughing my way through “The A Team” epic even including a drive down from Ullapool last night. The Dale Stephen section was excellent and stresses the feel of ICT getting back to being a family again.

Elgin please. 2.0

Depends what you mean. I don’t think we’ve ended up in the seaside leagues because we’re a diddy club. We’ve maybe become a diddy club by atrocious management and by being in Lge 1. The Championship should be the absolute basement for ICT if the club was run by competent, ego-free individuals who recruited wisely. Most of the clubs I mentioned above have been relegated but bounced back just like we did in 2010. We’re certainly a bigger club than Airdrie, Queens Park and Morton, and possibly Livi and Ayr, who are all now a division above us. Admittedly the whole pyramid is riddled with clubs who have fallen from grace. In a ‘sliding doors’ situation, if we had stayed up in 2017, with County going down in 2018, the balance of power would possibly have shifted, although our squad of 2015 badly needed a rebuild, and Yogi/Richie wouldn’t have been capable so we would have had to recruit somebody who was. As Charles says, the election of County alongside us in 1994 was probably unfortunate. I would have had Elgin in rather than County, and that’s without hindsight …

I’m not buying that at all, no sir . We were an established premiership club at the time with the right personnel on and off the field and had finished in 7th place the previous year. We had as much right to be there as the likes of Motherwell, St Johnstone, Ross County, Dundee, Kilmarnock etc, although I accept that most of these clubs, but not all, have been relegated since, and Dundee Utd finished 12th. The secret to staying up is stability which we pretty much had in spades during that period. The Yogi situation upset the whole balance in a precursor of the perfect storm we have witnessed recently. in recent years.

Two games that still rip my knitting nearly 20 years later. 2005-6. We are at home to Partick in round 4. We are in the Premier and they are two divisions below us. We have come from behind and lead 2-1. With eight minutes left, Liam Fox is put through on Kenny Arthur but blooters it straight at the keeper. In stoppage time Paul Ritchie wins Partick a penalty which they convert for 2-2. We dominate the replay but go out after one of the worst sets of penalties ever seen, I.e. before the one at Forthbank. Both the ugly sisters were already out and that was the year Hearts beat Gretna in the final. Even worse: 2006-7 and we are at home to Celtic in the quarter-final. For most of the game we lead through a Bayne strike and Celtic rarely threaten. With three minutes to go we are taunting the disguised Tims in the north stand who are leaving early. Then from a corner, Pressley heads the equaliser and we are resigned to a trip to Parkheid for the replay. Then Kenny Miller hits the winner. With Rangers already out, the other semi-finalists are St Johnstone, Hibernian and Dunfermline.

Beat me to it…

Cheers Don. Didn’t manage up this week which was a shame as I could have gone for 17 quid with Scotrail. Looking forward to the cup game though. I see they’ve done away with the temporary stands.

I saw him a few times during his season at Whitehill, my local team. He had a bit of a rep as a penalty saver.

Missed out on tickets a few times but going to see them in Glasgow in January. Also got 2 or 3 programmes recorded off BBC Alba - if you can get it over there you should look out for repeats. Meanwhile I’m over in Lewis this week so I’ll see if Boydie is hanging around his fishing boat or maybe the Crit (Criterion Bar)

Kelty @2.15 please…

Not sticking up for the Currant Buns but there was no pyramid in 2012.

Can’t see that being the case as I got the same form, and apart from the shares and a season ticket, there’s no way I’ve got any claim on the club.

Bonnyrigg @3.4 pls

Massive disappointment in the end. So much positivity in the bar and in the stand, and the team were excellent first half, or maybe it just seemed that way after a year of sideways crab-like fitba. Great to see a team getting forward on both flanks. Hilton’s goal was pretty much Dumbarton’s only attacking effort of the half, completely against the run of play, but what a worldie giving Musa no chance, although he was allowed too much room to turn. The Sons started the second half much better and I always felt that if they scored first, they would win. One or two experienced pros such as Wallace and Carlo. They stuck to the basics, defended well without trying to be fancy, and hit us on the break. A couple of unforced errors cost us. ICT heads dropped at 2-1 and we never looked like coming back. Fantastic support today and great applause for the team at the end. Rather weird coming to a team with such a poor support when you are used to Championship crowds like Partick and the Pars. Hardly heard a sound when they scored. Big uphill task now.

That’s the kiss of death on my prediction then

Saw this from one of my contacts on Flickr - seen in Dunoon:

Ah but I see you covered yourself by referring to somebody else with a different name

I’ll go for EK v Bonnyrigg DRAW after 90 mins? 3.8.

Forgot to vote last week Probably would have been the same outcome anyway…

Valiant attempt to steer the thread back on topic

I looked for GJ for ages then realised it must be the guy in the black. Must have been a lot of dream rings invested in that sylph like figure since 1988…