buckett

Black was very raw when he came up here. He quickly built a reputation for petulance and a poor attitude. This was, however, balanced by his skills and ability. Now he is clearly working on his temperament. It won't happen overnight but he is obviously aware of his weaknesses and the need to work on them and he is progressing. It would be foolish to dismiss him as a loose cannon and cash in when he is probably now on the verge of conquering his afflictions. Wouldn't it be galling to see him finally achieving greatness, but with another team, because we wouldn't give him time?

Spot on, Clacher, but bear in mind it's never too early to make a prediction! In the HL days I always had a soft spot for County - they were probably my favourite 'other' team, along with Clach, strangely enough. So it was a bit of a surprise when I realised just how much the County fans HATED Caley. It seems they saw us as their rivals, something we could not reciprocate as our rivals were the 2 other Inverness teams. And I think we all hated Elgin City. (who will eventually overtake County in the SFL - you wait and see!)

It was always apparent that whichever of the 2 Highland teams reached the SPL first would thrive to the detriment of the other. This now seems to be the case and sadly for County, I think that our attendances might benefit from their eventual relegation - who wants to go and see 2nd division football when there's SPL fare just down the road? There was never going to be room for two SPL teams in the Highlands, especially two so geographically close together and I think it is only a matter of time before County find their level in the second division. If they had won promotion to the SPL instead of us then we would now be in a very difficult situation. Come to think of it, if they'd won promotion to the 2nd division in their first SFL season, which they very nearly did, that could have set the trend for a complete reversal of the situation we have today. I predicted Ross County's subsequent decline some time ago on this forum (or it's predecessor) and suggested that Elgin City might well overtake County in the Scottish League. Sadly for County, as Elgin City lift themselves off the bottom of Division 3, it's all starting to take shape.

Swearing (from which I exclude the use of the prefix "homo" - what does it imply anyway - homo sapiens? homo erectus? homosexual?) at football matches can be a very emotive subject for those with kids. Personally I think that anyone who swears in an environment where children are present is guilty of social pig-ignorance. There really is no need for it. Is it really that difficult for people to express their emotions without resorting to the use of f's and c's? Don't get me wrong - I swear quite fluently myself, but only in appropriate company. And yes, I know they hear much worse in the playground. But generally speaking adults avoid swearing in front of kids, and kids know it is wrong to swear in front of adults. Until they hear adults at football matches swearing at the top of their voices!

Yes, I remember the merger one - not really so suitable for a family sing-song though. Thought you might be able to enlighten us further about that particular meeting CB - I remember hearing about the hanging basket alternative and being quite horrified by it, as I'm sure, were a lot of Caley Thistle supporters!

Quite agree - far too long and complicated. How about this one then - it's sung to the tune of "she'll be coming round the mountain" and relates to a historical quote from a person during a council-level meeting prior to dishing out nine hundred grand towards the new ICT stadium as he/she sought to suggest an alternative way of increasing the profile of Inverness, and was first aired as an impromptu chorus during a 3rd division game at Telford Street: You can stick yer hanging baskets up yer a**e, You can stick yer hanging baskets up yer a**e, You can stick yer hanging baskets, stick yer hanging baskets, Stick yer hanging baskets up yer a**e!

Ferk's sake - don't tempt me . . . . . . ! :006:

Kind words indeed Scarlet, for which I thank you, although I will not discount the possibility of the presence of a piece of Pimple Irony in there. And good to see you got the point of my post where some dismissed it as just another merger thread. Yes we did have a bit of history, eh? I must admit I came in with all guns blazing – probably a form of defence against the inevitable newbie initiation rites. Maybe I was right, maybe I was wrong, but it sure was exhilirating. I'm older and wiser now, and like to think of myself as a bit of a serious poster – a sort of thinking man's Charles Bannerman, although there's still a place for a wee bit of controversy now and again! :001: And when you get yerself across here to a Caley game, the person standing next to you in the Innes Bar buying you a post-match drammie might well be Old Buckett!!

Well, no, Charles – it was on another thread that I was made aware of continuing sensitivities over this matter. The thing is, if you look at the number of posts on this thread, you will see that it is still a live topic and when the thread has run its course, it will fade into obscurity until someone else sees fit to raise the subject again on a new thread. But please, Charles, don't fall into the trap of trying to stop people posting on subjects they feel are worthy of mention, purely because you don't. This is, after all, a democracy! And perhaps before commenting on someone's post you could have the courtesy to read it properly first!

This old Thistle thing has cropped up again. For over 10 years now, fans have shouted "CALEY" from the terraces and the stands. It is maybe not politically correct, but how often do you hear people shouting "THISTLE"? Perhaps we should stop being so sensitive and accept that, whereas the history of the club's merger is safely contained within the official name, the nickname of the club, i.e. the name that people will shout and chant, and by which they will refer to their team, is and always will be "CALEY".

I think some of us are over-estimating the intelligence of those who make this hand signal. Whether it is "technically" a red hand salute or a nazi salute is immaterial to them - it is done purely to cause offence.

Hmmmmm. :006:

Hadn't really been watching the time but I knew there wasn't long to go. Then somebody behind me shouted "Only 3 minutes to go. Don't panic Caley." Then my world caved in! I can sorta see where these gloryhunters are coming from. Doubt if OF supporters spend nearly as much time as we do feeling as thoroughly p!ssed off as I do tonight! :008:

im not having that as an excuse, if the nazi party set up shop in inverness would you join them because they were your local party. If I was a nazi, why sure I would, rather than joining the Glasgow nazi shop. But I'm not a nazi. If you'd lived on Ibrox road, or whatever it's called, since the day you were born, I'm pretty sure you'd support Rangers. It would be your local team. Unless of course you didn't like football! Don't get me wrong - I hate Celtic and Rangers too. But you've got to accept that even they have got genuine football supporters.

I suppose it just goes to show that the raison d'etre for Rangers is religious bigotry. And Celtic too, I suppose. Perhaps a few people do support Rangers and Celtic as their local team. But I would suggest that anyone old enough to decide for themselves, without connections to the relevant parts of Glasgow, who supports either of those two teams, does so for reasons of religious bigotry.

Depends how you define success. For example, is success for our particular "small team", SPL survival year after year and perhaps the occasional cup run? I can't think of any "small teams" who have won the SPL recently, or indeed the English league. Perhaps Gretna is what you may define as a small team with a big team mentality - successful in that they reached the cup final last year, and will probably win the first division title. But that's a pretty small-scale success, due more to Mileson's millions than any big-team mentality. Big teams succeed, small teams can only hope to survive - I'm afraid that's the way of it!

Can't explain the "small team mentality" though. Unless, of course, it's because we are a small team! :006:

18 teams would be better in my opinion, or even 20. 38 league games in a season would be reasonable. 30 hardly justifies the wages the players are on, though I doubt if they'd complain. And rename the SPL, Division 1. And call the remaining 22 teams Division 2. A return to sensible naming of divisions would be appreciated. Just look at the English League now to see how ridiculous it can get - Premiership, First, Championship - how many other ways are there of saying "best"?

Not me though. During the European tournaments I break with my "hate OF" tradition and give my backing to whichever Scottish teams are in the competitions, genuinely hoping they prevail. Strangely, I could never do that with Elgin City when they were (quite often) the sole non-league representatives in the Scottish Cup, although admittedly I was young and foolish then! Incidentally I have noticed, during European nights, people on these boards openly hating Celtic in a Rangers way and similarly hating Rangers in a Celtic way, if you see what I mean. Ha! I know who you are!!

Seem to remember there was a TARDIS at the junction of Fairfield Road and Kenneth Street, and one at the back of Woolies. You just don't see them anymore!

-Who has; the team or the supporters? Whilst the team is continually changing and evolving, unfortunately many of the supporters are not. Caley supporters and, to a lesser extent, Thistle supporters, were used to their team winning, and always challenging for the title or whatever cup competition they entered. A bit like Rangers or Celtic supporters but on a smaller scale, and within the confines of the Highland League. Few if any of the current crop of ICT players were involved in Highland League domination and are now doing what is necessary to survive in the SPL. Many supporters, still remembering the glory days of Highland League Championships are reluctant to accept that our team is playing at a much higher level now - a level in which they can only hope to survive for now and are unlikely to dominate for a very long time.

Sorry Alex - clearly I misunderstood how you wished this thread to progress. When I saw the title, it reminded me of a quite amusing thread a wee while ago, regarding Rossco's supposed superhuman abilities. As they say, "Beam me up Scotty!" :015:

A roast horse and a sack of tatties, washed down with a barrel of red! :003:

Went to see Fish there many moons ago. (I know - I could have gone to the Market to see fish!) Remember being astounded at the social pig-ignorance of the "stewards". Good concert though - he was quite entertaining once he left M*****ion!

Swamptrash - Wasn't that one o' them thar yee haaar blue grass bands way back in the 80's? I remember going to see a lesser known band of that type called Kith and Kin somewhere in the north west Highlands and they were absolutely brilliant! And to keep it on topic, I was thrown out of Dillingers once. :024: Twice, come to think of it!