buckett

Quoth SPL_Jaggie: "Every year since joining the senior football leagues we have improved by at least 1 place."

Could be wrong but I thought there was one season in the first division when we ended up in a lower position than in the previous season

Or was it just that, for once, we ended up in a lower position than Ross County. Jeez, what a beamer that was!

I think I know what Brew means - it's a traditional thing in industrial cities and towns like Glasgow, Liverpool Newcastle and Dundee to name some, where workers were given Saturday afternoon off to watch their local team. And football was probably the main topic of conversation as it was consequently their only outside interest. Places like Inverness never really had that background.

However it doesn't really apply now as yer average docker is more into fashion and Coronation Street. I think Inverness is just as much a football city as any of the others.

Incidentally, Charles B., I didn't realise Rangers had been around so long. Some political message there maybe. . . . . ?

Currently, England do not produce the best managers.

How far down the Premiership do you have to go till you find a team managed by an Englishman?

When was the last time a Premiership-winning team was managed by an Englishman?

Incidentally, on the subject of 1966, does anyone remember the general feeling then? I seem to remember everyone wanting England to win, and being delighted when they did! (I refer to people around me in Inverness). If that was the case then attitudes have certainly changed, perhaps due to 40 years of having it rammed down our throats by the English media in a most arrogant manner.

Back then, of course, the UK was still a fairly united nation - it was only 21 years since the war had ended.

For a big country, England really have a pretty poor record of world cup wins compared to other countries of equivalent population and size!

Wasn't it Dillingers Night Club that introduced the concept of bouncers to Inverness, all those years ago?

I remember they were universally hated and their very presence seemed to incite aggression and bad feeling.

On my very last visit to Dillingers I ended up in a group hug with 3 of them as we all rolled down the stairs towards the front door. Hilarious from a spectator's point of view, but bloody painful from mine, especially after we reached the bottom and I realised how hopelessly outnumbered I was.

A good kicking later I was informed that I was barred for 3 months.

Well, I wasn't exactly ticking off the days!

I am not always proud of what I did in the past, but it was all good education.

And yes I hated bouncers too. Now I just feel a little sorry for them

It is by no means certain that Livi will be relegated.

All they need to do is average 4 goals per game without reply.

And for Dunfermline to lose every remaining game.

And then of course there's the legal option, if they can prove that St. M's stadium is not up to SPL standards. . . . .

Yeah. Adjust yer horizontal hold!

v. East Stirling in nineteen oatcake (3rd Division) - a hooruva lot of injury time and 3-1 down after ninety minutes. Somehow we equalized but everyone except me and a coupla others had gone home. It was almost SUPERnatural. Anyone else here witness that one?

I remember laughing - just couldn't believe we'd equalised. Everyone seemed to be laughing!

Oh yes, and a great big GIRUY to those part-timers who left early, for whatever presumed reason, and missed the goal.

Ha!

I can confirm that he made a gesture which could be construed as a GIRUY Brew!

Clearly we can't finish any worse than eighth in the league now and are looking good for seventh. With a higher points total than last season our team continues to progress, and contrary to those who bemoan the fact that we didn't make top six, I'm happy that we have developed at our own pace and have set a target which we can realistically surpass next season.

Well done, ICT!

Not the best game and I agree with the other comments.

For me Dods and Hastings stood out, the latter's confidence has come on in leaps and bounds, and you always breathed easy when Dods got the ball.

Wilson impressed too - tremendous workrate but faded a bit towards the end. Dargo was always a threat, and Tokely, without doing anything particularly brilliant, was always there or thereabouts and epitomised the spirit of the team.

And that, incidentally, was the first ICT win I've seen this season, even although I've been to most home games. Just wish I lived a bit closer to Sneck though!

There's only room for one SPL team in the Highlands. Ross County had their chance to get into the SPL but blew it 2 seasons ago. And again this season.

ICT will now prosper to the detriment of Ross County, who will eventually slip down the divisions as their supporters desert them in favour of their local SPL team.

Elgin City will eventually overtake Ross County and may even reach the First Division some day.

But, like Aberdeen, Elgin City isn't really a Highland team.

(And Aberdeen is east of the Highland Boundary Fault. Not north!!)

Cooking whisky - can't remember what make, Whyte & Mackay probably.

Luverly! Whisky is SOOOO good.

Malt is even better, but an unnecessary luxury.

Whyte & Mackay does the job adequately.

I'm a cooking-whisky connossieur!

Football Manager 2006 indeed!

You young 'uns know fork all!

In my day we had Sensible Soccer. A proper game that were.

And it didn't do us any harm.

MP3 indeed!

You young 'uns know fork all.

In my day we had RECORDS. Big solid lumps of plastic, they were.

And it didn't do us any harm.

Quoth ICT:

"The size of the TOWNS you mentioned are similar to Inverness, but with the exception of Perth they all have far larger "catchment areas". eg. Dunfermline, Kirkaldy and Glenrothes are all over 40k population and are within 20 mins of each other. Falkirk has an immediate catchment area of over 100.000."

The Highland Region, which can reasonably be considered to be our catchment area has a population of about 250,000. Then there's the Western Isles.

I stand by what I said, but respect your opinion nevertheless, ICT. There are numerous different methods of defining the catchment area.

Nice user-name, by the way. How did you manage to get that one uncontested ya jammy sod!!

I once knew a fellow who claimed to have been the ducks of Crown School. Despite such an absurd statement, he wasn't stupid at all - quite clever in fact!

Population-wise, our catchment area exceeds that of teams like Falkirk, Dunfermline, Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone, the last two having finished in the top 4 in the last 10 years. (Seem to remember St.J finishing 3rd recently).

So there is no reason why we can't do likewise.

I've no doubt our gates will improve over the years as a new generation of INVERNESS fans emerges and having pioneered a sensible wage structure, it is surely just a matter of time before other teams will be forced to follow, putting us on a more level playing field, so to speak.

Bigger crowds would be consistent with a better team and improved wages, generally speaking.

If we survive in the SPL for another couple of seasons, then we can realistically look to consolidating a mid-table presence for the years ahead with the occasional foray into the top 4.

(Oh yeah, and this is my first post on the new site.)