The Mantis

Yeah along with Seedorf he was probably the only player to try threading a pass instead of just punting the ball in.

Apologies Scotty, haven't paid yet. Working on my iPad as my computer with the invoices on it has gone to the repair shop. I think I have 2 invoices. Off to The Netherlands on Wed for the women's Euros so hoping to have my desktop back by then. You can budget for me renewing later or you can resend.

The one in his back garden?

I won't make any of the friendlies this year but I'm not bothered about how the players react to playing HL teams in what is usually a glorified training session. It must be a bit surreal for them. Last year we got all hot and bothered about Richie's team in the friendlies and then the shyte hit the fan when we started playing for real. We just scraped through the league cup group before getting humiliated at Alloa and the same at Firhill. See (some of) you at Forthbank.

YouTube: ICT and The Pars coming out, 2005 A few memories and photos of East End Park before I head off to the Women’s Euros in The Netherlands where I hope to be blogging a few reports from the Scotland games. As usual I hope the Pars supporters will excuse any glaring errors. I try to use my own photography on these blogs and I apologise for any images not bearing my personal watermark as that means I have nicked them off the internet * Some perspective – although I have spent many a pleasant afternoon on the terraces at East End Park, none of them compares to The Stranglers backed by The Skids at the Kinema in 1978 Formed in 1885, the Pars have traditionally been the big club in Fife, with a European pedigree, although they have recently spent 3 seasons in the third tier (League 1) following a period of administration. The stadium has been their home since their formation and they were elected to the League in 1912. Their most successful period came after Jock Stein became manager in 1960. They won the Scottish Cup in 1961 and again in 1968, while reaching the final in 1965, and again twice in the noughties. They have won Scottish Football’s second tier 4 times. In 1969 they reached the semi-final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup, beating West Brom before going out to Slovan Bratislava, who went on to beat Barcelona in the Final. Construction of the 3000 seat Main Stand in 1962. The overall ground capacity is about 12000, depending on who you ask…Checking back I see that I first went there in April 1969 when I was still at school. On the Saturday Rangers had been demolished 4-0 by Celtic in the Cup Final which ended Alex Ferguson’s Rangers career, after he failed to mark Billy McNeill at a corner in the 2nd minute. Not so well known is that Fergie fell over in 33 minutes when he had a chance to equalise from a rebound! He was dropped for the Monday night when Rangers drew with Dundee at Ibrox in front of only 6800, and didn’t appear in this game on the Wednesday. Rangers still had a Fairs’ Cup semi to play against Newcastle but poor Fergie didn’t feature in either leg. Fergie, of course, had joined Rangers from Dunfermline for £65000, a record between 2 Scottish clubs at the time. On to the Wednesday night and 11700 turned out to see Dunfermline and Rangers finish their league campaign. The Pars could have finished level with Rangers if they had won but their goal average was far worse. In the end Rangers won 3-0 to finish 4 points ahead of 3rd placed Dunfermline and 5 behind champions Celtic. In a day when the reputation of Scottish football was much higher than now, the teams are worth a mention: Dunfermline: Martin, Callaghan, Lunn, Fraser, Barry, Robertson, McLean, McKimmie (Renton), Edwards, Gardner, Mitchell. Rangers: Neef, Johansen, Mathieson, Greig, Provan, D.Smith, Henderson, Jardine, Penman, Johnston, Persson. Amongst the Scandinavians there were a couple of Fifers, Willie Johnston and Billy Mathieson, in the Rangers side, and Johnston scored two before half time, while Penman added a late 3rd. By the following March Rangers, as was their habit, had moved on to the next big-money striker, £100000 Colin Stein, who put them ahead, but it was to no avail as another Rangers “reject”, George McLean, belted the ball past the Girvan Lighthouse, Peter McCloy, for the Pars’ winner after a McLaren equaliser. The Pars featured pretty heavily at the end of the 67-68 season. Rangers had led the league for most of that season but they had drawn away at Morton which was to set the nerves jangling. On April 27th Dunfermline beat Hearts 3-1 at Hampden to win their second ever Scottish Cup, in front of 56000, with goals from Pat Gardner (2) and Ian Lister, while John Lunn’s own goal counted for Hearts. Meanwhile, even though it was Cup Final day, there was a league programme on. Rangers lost 3-2 at home to Aberdeen with an 89th minute goal, which effectively made Celtic champions on goal average, even if they lost at East End Park in their final match. However the match on the following Tuesday ended 2-1 to Celtic, in front of a ground record of 27816, many of whom watched from the floodlight pylons and enclosure roof. Unfortunately there was one fatality that evening and many injuries. Another healthy away following – Falkirk visit in 1994: McCathie scores as Clydebank are beaten in 1995. The next few photos are from a match in September 1995 where Dunfermline beat St Johnstone 2-1. I went along to a Scottish Cup tie with a Ross County supporting mate in 1997. County were soundly beaten 4-0 and, in true ‘wee club’ fashion, as the Pars scored the 4th, the County fans were actually jumping around at the news that ICT had conceded a goal in their cup tie at Inverness. The next time I went the end terracing had been replaced in 1998 by two spanking new 3000 seater stands, the Norrie McCathie at the West End facing the traditional away stand at the East. So this was 1999 and we ICT supporters were pinching ourselves as our 5 year old club had reached tier 2 of the Scottish game, and was competing on an even keel with the likes of Falkirk, St Mirren and Dunfermline. ICT had found the first season in Div 1 hard going, and on the opening day they were humbled 4-0 after having Barry Wilson injured and young centre half Andrew Allan sent off. The week before Christmas ICT were back at East End, having scraped together 5 wins in the league, and for much of the game they gave as good as they got. However their hearts were broken in injury time when Andy Tod thumped home a header from an Owen Coyle cross. Two months later history was made with “SuperCaleyGoBallisticCelticAreAtrocious” at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup, and the Pars were promoted at the end of the season with ICT a creditable 6th. Pars fans may not want to read this, but the Falkirk support in the East Stand was swollen by a couple of busloads of ICT fans in January 2000 after their game at Ayr was called off at short notice. The deadly rivals served up a 2-2 draw with some great strikes. Since then I have witnessed 6 draws and 3 ICT wins at East End. The photos below are from a dull 0-0 draw in 2005 on the Pars’ short lived plastic pitch. Pars legend Craig Brewster is playing for ICT here. Only one of the 6 draws produced a goal glut and that was in August 2011 with both clubs in the SPL. Andy Kirk twice put the Pars ahead with Greg Tansey and Johnny Hayes equalising. With 7 minutes left, Tansey looked to have won it for ICT, but big mad mental Martin Hardie saved a point in the 90th minute. And so on the eve of the new season, the clubs prepare to meet in a league match for the first time since 2010, after being 2 divisions apart for a spell. A year ago ICT fans were optimistic about the new season as their Premiership squad, under Richie Foran, came to town and beat the Pars 5-1 in the League Cup. With hindsight, this would be pretty much our best result of the whole season (apart from taking a point against Celtic and beating Rangers in February) as we ended up relegated on the last day. I’ll be reporting in a couple of weeks from Scotland Women v England in Utrecht. TTFN. View the full article

YouTube: ICT and The Pars coming out, 2005 A few memories and photos of East End Park before I head off to the Women’s Euros in The Netherlands where I hope to be blogging a few reports from the Scotland games. As usual I hope the Pars supporters will excuse any glaring errors. I try to use my own photography on these blogs and I apologise for any images not bearing my personal watermark as that means I have nicked them off the internet * Some perspective – although I have spent many a pleasant afternoon on the terraces at East End Park, none of them compares to The Stranglers backed by The Skids at the Kinema in 1978 Formed in 1885, the Pars have traditionally been the big club in Fife, with a European pedigree, although they have recently spent 3 seasons in the third tier (League 1) following a period of administration. The stadium has been their home since their formation and they were elected to the League in 1912. Their most successful period came after Jock Stein became manager in 1960. They won the Scottish Cup in 1961 and again in 1968, while reaching the final in 1965, and again twice in the noughties. They have won Scottish Football’s second tier 4 times. In 1969 they reached the semi-final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup, beating West Brom before going out to Slovan Bratislava, who went on to beat Barcelona in the Final. Construction of the 3000 seat Main Stand in 1962. The overall ground capacity is about 12000, depending on who you ask…Checking back I see that I first went there in April 1969 when I was still at school. On the Saturday Rangers had been demolished 4-0 by Celtic in the Cup Final which ended Alex Ferguson’s Rangers career, after he failed to mark Billy McNeill at a corner in the 2nd minute. Not so well known is that Fergie fell over in 33 minutes when he had a chance to equalise from a rebound! He was dropped for the Monday night when Rangers drew with Dundee at Ibrox in front of only 6800, and didn’t appear in this game on the Wednesday. Rangers still had a Fairs’ Cup semi to play against Newcastle but poor Fergie didn’t feature in either leg. Fergie, of course, had joined Rangers from Dunfermline for £65000, a record between 2 Scottish clubs at the time. On to the Wednesday night and 11700 turned out to see Dunfermline and Rangers finish their league campaign. The Pars could have finished level with Rangers if they had won but their goal average was far worse. In the end Rangers won 3-0 to finish 4 points ahead of 3rd placed Dunfermline and 5 behind champions Celtic. In a day when the reputation of Scottish football was much higher than now, the teams are worth a mention: Dunfermline: Martin, Callaghan, Lunn, Fraser, Barry, Robertson, McLean, McKimmie (Renton), Edwards, Gardner, Mitchell. Rangers: Neef, Johansen, Mathieson, Greig, Provan, D.Smith, Henderson, Jardine, Penman, Johnston, Persson. Amongst the Scandinavians there were a couple of Fifers, Willie Johnston and Billy Mathieson, in the Rangers side, and Johnston scored two before half time, while Penman added a late 3rd. By the following March Rangers, as was their habit, had moved on to the next big-money striker, £100000 Colin Stein, who put them ahead, but it was to no avail as another Rangers “reject”, George McLean, belted the ball past the Girvan Lighthouse, Peter McCloy, for the Pars’ winner after a McLaren equaliser. The Pars featured pretty heavily at the end of the 67-68 season. Rangers had led the league for most of that season but they had drawn away at Morton which was to set the nerves jangling. On April 27th Dunfermline beat Hearts 3-1 at Hampden to win their second ever Scottish Cup, in front of 56000, with goals from Pat Gardner (2) and Ian Lister, while John Lunn’s own goal counted for Hearts. Meanwhile, even though it was Cup Final day, there was a league programme on. Rangers lost 3-2 at home to Aberdeen with an 89th minute goal, which effectively made Celtic champions on goal average, even if they lost at East End Park in their final match. However the match on the following Tuesday ended 2-1 to Celtic, in front of a ground record of 27816, many of whom watched from the floodlight pylons and enclosure roof. Unfortunately there was one fatality that evening and many injuries. Another healthy away following – Falkirk visit in 1994: McCathie scores as Clydebank are beaten in 1995. The next few photos are from a match in September 1995 where Dunfermline beat St Johnstone 2-1. I went along to a Scottish Cup tie with a Ross County supporting mate in 1997. County were soundly beaten 4-0 and, in true ‘wee club’ fashion, as the Pars scored the 4th, the County fans were actually jumping around at the news that ICT had conceded a goal in their cup tie at Inverness. The next time I went the end terracing had been replaced in 1998 by two spanking new 3000 seater stands, the Norrie McCathie at the West End facing the traditional away stand at the East. So this was 1999 and we ICT supporters were pinching ourselves as our 5 year old club had reached tier 2 of the Scottish game, and was competing on an even keel with the likes of Falkirk, St Mirren and Dunfermline. ICT had found the first season in Div 1 hard going, and on the opening day they were humbled 4-0 after having Barry Wilson injured and young centre half Andrew Allan sent off. The week before Christmas ICT were back at East End, having scraped together 5 wins in the league, and for much of the game they gave as good as they got. However their hearts were broken in injury time when Andy Tod thumped home a header from an Owen Coyle cross. Two months later history was made with “SuperCaleyGoBallisticCelticAreAtrocious” at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup, and the Pars were promoted at the end of the season with ICT a creditable 6th. Pars fans may not want to read this, but the Falkirk support in the East Stand was swollen by a couple of busloads of ICT fans in January 2000 after their game at Ayr was called off at short notice. The deadly rivals served up a 2-2 draw with some great strikes. Since then I have witnessed 6 draws and 3 ICT wins at East End. The photos below are from a dull 0-0 draw in 2005 on the Pars’ short lived plastic pitch. Pars legend Craig Brewster is playing for ICT here. Only one of the 6 draws produced a goal glut and that was in August 2011 with both clubs in the SPL. Andy Kirk twice put the Pars ahead with Greg Tansey and Johnny Hayes equalising. With 7 minutes left, Tansey looked to have won it for ICT, but big mad mental Martin Hardie saved a point in the 90th minute. And so on the eve of the new season, the clubs prepare to meet in a league match for the first time since 2010, after being 2 divisions apart for a spell. A year ago ICT fans were optimistic about the new season as their Premiership squad, under Richie Foran, came to town and beat the Pars 5-1 in the League Cup. With hindsight, this would be pretty much our best result of the whole season (apart from taking a point against Celtic and beating Rangers in February) as we ended up relegated on the last day. I’ll be reporting in a couple of weeks from Scotland Women v England in Utrecht. TTFN. View the full article

Shame you're Mackenzie and not MacGregor...

I don't think he'll mind if I tell you it's Boat of Garten.

Hmmmmm...

Yeah they're into this cafe society now.

Wait till she sees how podgy and middle aged Yngwie looks.

If it's the 26 August game, chances are I can pick you up. There's even a chance of Naelifts and his motor coming out of retirement for games like this so don't go booking anything just yet.

You might get a lift from one of us Lothians based guys.

Unused sub in both Liverpool ties.

Is this not Roddie's son?

Yeah a couple of hibbies told me he could be brilliant on his day but often looked a bit lazy and not willing to put in a tackle. Missing the derbies against County obviously.

Less rain.

Would have liked to see Parky back. Think he's in Edinburgh just now - I've seen him sniffing round Spartans a few times.

That’s my season over. It started away back on July 2nd when I was missing my fix badly enough to go along to Cliftonhill to see Albion Rovers lose 3-1 to Motherwell in a friendly, with torrential sunshowers coming along every 15 minutes to test the leaks in the old stand. Since then I’ve seen Internationals with Scotland (men and women), Premiership in Scotland, England, Portugal, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Faroes, Highland League, U20 Development, East and West Juniors, Northern League in England, and meanwhile tried to keep tabs on Whitehill Welfare and ICT. I nearly called a halt after the Junior Cup Final last week – I like a few weeks off to get away from football, even briefly. But I saw more fixtures go up and decided to go for an 87th and final game of 2016-17 and make it a day trip to Largs for something a bit different. I managed to tempt my missus along for company on the drive with a meal out as a bribe, so we set off early in the afternoon and covered the 81 miles to Largs in dull, showery weather, although the forecast was for an improvement later. When we reached Largs we hopped on the Calmac ferry Loch Riddon which was just leaving for Cumbrae. If you’ve never been over, it’s a 10 minute hop to Cumbrae slip but another 3 miles into Millport by connecting bus. We had planned to walk to Millport but the weather was still dodgy. Arriving in Millport we discovered The Wedge, which is reputed to be Britain’s narrowest house… Feel free to avoid the next bit as I slide into ‘Sunday Post Reader’ mode. Next door was the Round Island Cafe which I can highly recommend for their coffee, scones, and a great selection of craft beers from the Tempest Brewery amongst others. Quite a few cafes and pubs in Millport but I’d be surprised if this one was beaten. Although it was a Monday, it was mid June and Millport was pretty deserted I thought. The only sign of life was a huge party of foreign youngsters who had hired bikes. I then had to keep my part of the bargain as Mrs Mantis is a keen geocacher (don’t ask), so we spent an hour or two ferreting around the town for caches. I did discover that there’s a Howitzer Gun from WW1 which lies partly buried under a wall on the shore and nobody’s 100% certain how it got there. There were actually two and the best guess is they were just used for foundations. By this time we had to get going back to the ferry slip. The other vessel, the far more modern Loch Shira, quickly took us back to Largs. Here you can see it coming in with Largs in the background. By this time it was only two hours to kick off and the tension was mounting (OK, I made that bit up. Largs were playing Auchinleck in a meaningless end of season game and down by the ferry terminal Largs was just getting on with its business). We headed into Nardini’s who, at the back of their famous cafe, have the Ristorante 1890. For the record, I can recommend their Gamberi (King Prawns with spicy tomato sauce and baked bean mash) and their Pizza Parmigiana. Also the amazing ice cream and Italian coffee. The Moretti was welcome too. So… half a blog and we haven’t got to the fitba. Barrfields Stadium is a 10 minute stroll from Nardini’s cafe. Along the seafront, turn up Beachway, into Brisbane Road and there it is, a proper wee gem of a ground. Ancient terracing in a huge oval, a barrel-roofed stand, and…. ok, a 3G pitch. After a feed like that, there was no way I was trying the pies. Largs Thistle were formed in 1889. Their main claim to fame is winning the national trophy in 1994 when they beat Glenafton at Ibrox. They were also runners up to Linlithgow in 2010 at Rugby Park. In recent years they have yo-yo’d between the top divisions, coming up to the Premier last season as runners up to Cumnock. A year later, and they are yo-yo-ing back down again. Thistle have been playing at Barrfields since 1930. In the early days the ground is said to have held crowds of 9000, although the record is given as 6512 v Clydebank in 1952-3. The stand can take 800 and the new carpet dates from 2012. A notable former manager is Erik Sørensen who played for Morton and Rangers, with probably the most prominent former players being Gordon McQueen and Tommy Turner. So here we were on a Monday night in mid June. Thistle’s final fixture of the season and everybody bustling about selling raffles, programmes and pies. And a weirdo from Midlothian paying his £6 to stand amongst the Ayrshire stalwarts. Relegated Largs were playing Talbot who were destined to finish 4th unless they won by a barrowload so it was a dead rubber. Talbot rested players with Wednesday’s Cup Final against Cumnock in mind. When the teams came out I got them mixed up as Largs were in the black and gold, but the penny dropped when I caught sight of manager Tucker Sloan wearing no 7, 52 years young and counting, and realised Talbot were in their blue change strip. Tucker lasted a creditable 80 minutes before being subbed. Talbot seemed to have the edge in the first half as Sloan hit the post, and you could imagine if they got their noses in front that would be that, but I felt that after the break Largs went for it and could have won.However it was a game of very few chances and defences on top. Wilson missed a good chance to break the deadlock for Talbot but it ended goalless. It was a nice evening for football and I actually enjoyed the game and the surroundings despite the lack of any real excitement. I estimated the crowd at about 180. Highlights do exist. View the full article

That’s my season over. It started away back on July 2nd when I was missing my fix badly enough to go along to Cliftonhill to see Albion Rovers lose 3-1 to Motherwell in a friendly, with torrential sunshowers coming along every 15 minutes to test the leaks in the old stand. Since then I’ve seen Internationals with Scotland (men and women), Premiership in Scotland, England, Portugal, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Faroes, Highland League, U20 Development, East and West Juniors, Northern League in England, and meanwhile tried to keep tabs on Whitehill Welfare and ICT. I nearly called a halt after the Junior Cup Final last week – I like a few weeks off to get away from football, even briefly. But I saw more fixtures go up and decided to go for an 87th and final game of 2016-17 and make it a day trip to Largs for something a bit different. I managed to tempt my missus along for company on the drive with a meal out as a bribe, so we set off early in the afternoon and covered the 81 miles to Largs in dull, showery weather, although the forecast was for an improvement later. When we reached Largs we hopped on the Calmac ferry Loch Riddon which was just leaving for Cumbrae. If you’ve never been over, it’s a 10 minute hop to Cumbrae slip but another 3 miles into Millport by connecting bus. We had planned to walk to Millport but the weather was still dodgy. Arriving in Millport we discovered The Wedge, which is reputed to be Britain’s narrowest house… Feel free to avoid the next bit as I slide into ‘Sunday Post Reader’ mode. Next door was the Round Island Cafe which I can highly recommend for their coffee, scones, and a great selection of craft beers from the Tempest Brewery amongst others. Quite a few cafes and pubs in Millport but I’d be surprised if this one was beaten. Although it was a Monday, it was mid June and Millport was pretty deserted I thought. The only sign of life was a huge party of foreign youngsters who had hired bikes. I then had to keep my part of the bargain as Mrs Mantis is a keen geocacher (don’t ask), so we spent an hour or two ferreting around the town for caches. I did discover that there’s a Howitzer Gun from WW1 which lies partly buried under a wall on the shore and nobody’s 100% certain how it got there. There were actually two and the best guess is they were just used for foundations. By this time we had to get going back to the ferry slip. The other vessel, the far more modern Loch Shira, quickly took us back to Largs. Here you can see it coming in with Largs in the background. By this time it was only two hours to kick off and the tension was mounting (OK, I made that bit up. Largs were playing Auchinleck in a meaningless end of season game and down by the ferry terminal Largs was just getting on with its business). We headed into Nardini’s who, at the back of their famous cafe, have the Ristorante 1890. For the record, I can recommend their Gamberi (King Prawns with spicy tomato sauce and baked bean mash) and their Pizza Parmigiana. Also the amazing ice cream and Italian coffee. The Moretti was welcome too. So… half a blog and we haven’t got to the fitba. Barrfields Stadium is a 10 minute stroll from Nardini’s cafe. Along the seafront, turn up Beachway, into Brisbane Road and there it is, a proper wee gem of a ground. Ancient terracing in a huge oval, a barrel-roofed stand, and…. ok, a 3G pitch. After a feed like that, there was no way I was trying the pies. Largs Thistle were formed in 1889. Their main claim to fame is winning the national trophy in 1994 when they beat Glenafton at Ibrox. They were also runners up to Linlithgow in 2010 at Rugby Park. In recent years they have yo-yo’d between the top divisions, coming up to the Premier last season as runners up to Cumnock. A year later, and they are yo-yo-ing back down again. Thistle have been playing at Barrfields since 1930. In the early days the ground is said to have held crowds of 9000, although the record is given as 6512 v Clydebank in 1952-3. The stand can take 800 and the new carpet dates from 2012. A notable former manager is Erik Sørensen who played for Morton and Rangers, with probably the most prominent former players being Gordon McQueen and Tommy Turner. So here we were on a Monday night in mid June. Thistle’s final fixture of the season and everybody bustling about selling raffles, programmes and pies. And a weirdo from Midlothian paying his £6 to stand amongst the Ayrshire stalwarts. Relegated Largs were playing Talbot who were destined to finish 4th unless they won by a barrowload so it was a dead rubber. Talbot rested players with Wednesday’s Cup Final against Cumnock in mind. When the teams came out I got them mixed up as Largs were in the black and gold, but the penny dropped when I caught sight of manager Tucker Sloan wearing no 7, 52 years young and counting, and realised Talbot were in their blue change strip. Tucker lasted a creditable 80 minutes before being subbed. Talbot seemed to have the edge in the first half as Sloan hit the post, and you could imagine if they got their noses in front that would be that, but I felt that after the break Largs went for it and could have won.However it was a game of very few chances and defences on top. Wilson missed a good chance to break the deadlock for Talbot but it ended goalless. It was a nice evening for football and I actually enjoyed the game and the surroundings despite the lack of any real excitement. I estimated the crowd at about 180. Highlights do exist. View the full article

Could we try a County/ICT half and half friendship scarf...

Thirded. As Yngwie says the critics were in a small minority and if anything some of us didn't always stick up for him often enough, usually feeling that he was big and ugly enough to cope with it himself

Betfred announcement is the same, posted by RiG on League Cup thread.

Couldn't be better. Can't make Falkirk or Brechin but we play them in the league anyway. 18th and 29th are perfect for me as we're away 19th-28th, watching the Scotland Women at the Euros

Uncle Roy will sign him just to rub our noses in it.