Stevie

Well, what an amazing result today ! Newtonmore 6 -0 Kingussie ! Definate 2 horse race now, looks like it will come down to the Fort William v. Newtonmore tie later in the month. I still think the Fort will win it, but Newtonmore will be absolutely desperate to get their first title in a long long time. Charles, did you go to the game today ?

Fear not Mahonio, you have a fellow tennis lover here, both in terms of playing and watching. I'm a Rafa fan and Fernando Gonzalez too, although as a very patriotic Scot I always want Murray to win, no matter who he plays. Do you play, Mahonio ?

Billy Reid's Hamilton have faced Terry Butcher's Inverness, twice in fact, at the tail end of 08/09. So saying Butcher was still settling into his job. The good news is, Hamilton failed to beat us. The bad news, we failed to beat them. Both matches 1-1.

Sorry Charles, you'll need to excuse me but I'm not 100% sure what you mean. If you mean how much of a set back to the Fort was the defeat to Kyles on Saturday, then yeah it must have been a huge blow but the Kyles can beat anyone, on their day. Still see them winning the league though.

So far it has been - but that might well change. Since 1984 just three clubs have won the League (or the MacGillivray North league pre Premier League) - Newtonmore in 1985, Fort William in 2008 and Kingussie on the 24 other occasions. Fort's record in the Camanachd Cup over the last 8 years or so has been superb but they only have that one league victory. Alex - I trust you know that Fort lost 2-1 at home to Kyles in the league yesterday when a 3 goal victory would have put them top? I have to say I thoroughly enjoy reporting on Shinty. In particular the people make you feel so welcome (not that this isn't the case elsewhere, but Shinty is outstanding in that way.) As you will be aware Charles this seasons league is developing into a really interesting scenario. It looks to be a two horse race between Newtonmore and Fort William and indeed the two of them meet in Fort William at the end of the season, BUT Kingussie have still got them both to play and if they win their games in hand they could well snatch it ! If I were a betting man though I'd put my money on Fort William.

Aye I love the shinty. A lot of my school mates went on to win Camanachd Cup medals with Kyles Athletic. After a decline, thankfully they are back and a force to be reckoned with again

I was wondering how our club will perform in the SPL, and I must say I feel this team, if they stay together, will most certainly be safe. The last time we got promoted I didn't feel particularly confident that they'd stay up. In my mind this team is stronger physically and could challange for the top six. So folks what team did you prefer, the 2004 or the 2010 ?

I'm the same as you, old caley girl, I couldn't post on this thread until it was official ! Like the rest of us I knew it was done and dusted but I just couldn't post. I actually had written a reply on this thread but I wiped it before hittin the ADD REPLY button. Well done TERRY BUTCHER & all the management and players. A FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT in what I think is a very tough league.

I've had a wee look at my forum history and can confirm that I've been a believer since late October To be perfectly honest, previous to this I wasn't. I didn't like the team El Tel was putting out but once Rooney & Duncan were given a sustained run, I was a lot happier ! No, the more I think about it, I've got to be honest and say as much as I was happy with our team since the autumn, I really don't think I believed until Dundee went in to freefall a couple of months ago. :D

Falkirk for me. It'll be very interesting to see what unfolds over the next couple of weeks, I reckon Calderwood & MacPherson will ultimately have too much for Pressley. :huh:

Fantastic season ! Oh and yeah, I admit I was a Butcher doubter, but in fairness, when I was, the team selections were pretty poor, Stratford persistantly playing ahead of Duncan, Rooney not getting a fair chance etc. Cheers though, Terry and Maurice, for playing a good team to the best of their ability. Can't ask for any more ! Absolutely Delighted ! :allhail:

I think 16 is definately the ideal number but there is no way that 30 games is going to generate enough revenue. After giving it much thought I think that perhaps the best option is in fact going back to a top ten with 36 games. One team automatically goes down and 9th place plays off with 2nd place in league two. League two has ten teams too. League two would be extremely competitive, more so than now obviously, because the top league is currently 12. I think the fear of dropping down to the second tier wouldn't be as bad as it is at present because it would be so competitive. We know ourselves that dropping down isn't as bad as feared, in fact some fans actually don't want our club to go up. With an even stronger 2nd tier it would be better still. Leagues 3 and 4 the same format top team up and 2nd in a play off. Not ideal, Iknow playing each other four times but we're a small country and there is no perfect way. WE MUST, THOUGH GET RID OF THIS SPLIT SITUATION, IT'S A JOKE

I see that our players sent The County players a good luck card before the game and that Russell Duncan gave the County players a bottle of champagne on Saturday night. Nice touches. It shows the rivalry between the 2 is a very different, type than those in Edinburgh or Glasgow

An extra and unnecessary layer of overpaid politicians and apparatchiks .... wads and wads of useless bureaucracy and red tape.... massive subsidies for French farmers..... getting told what to do by a bunch of foreigners.... I remember, as a kid, when de Gaulle said "non" to the UK's initial application to join the Common Market in 1963, various Highland Division veterans of my dad's acquaintance who had waded ashore in Normandy soon after D Day were very quick to use the word "ungrateful". I sympathised with their point but now realise that de Gaulle was probably doing us a favour. Mind you if the girny old git had realised that he would probably have said "oui" instead. I'm impressed with your knowledge of the French language Charles ! B)

Must have missed that !! Why the feck would they man to man mark Eric - MacFarlane was simply in the holding midfield role and Eric just so happened to be in his area most of the time. I wish that it had happened as it would have made more space for us. Eric practically marked him feckin self. Well it's most definately the way I saw it IHE. Why wouldn't they mark Odhiambo ? He's playing too deep to be picked up by a centre-back but he needs to be attended to, as he's one of 4 of our attacking players.

I don't disagree with what you guys are saying re Eric, but as I mentioned on the matchday thread, Morton decided to put Neil MacFarlane on Odhiambo, and generally when MacFarlane man marks someone he tends to be succesful ( remember he's a former Hearts veteran with bags of European experience)

You forgot Eric did you not Actually I thought Russeldinho was good and he burst a gut to set up Rooooooooooney for no 2. I actually felt bad about the Duncan comment after I wrote it :( , I'm a big Duncan fan, I just felt he was that bit quieter than normal, I maybe just didn't see his contribution though, to be fair. You're right Eric wasn't great, but he was always in for a hard night as Neilly MacFarlane, shadowed him for an hour, MacFarlane has a tendancy to be very good at this.

Well as far as I'm concerned, thank goodness it's no' the Q.O.S. game that they are out for. This, for me, is a tougher one than the Pars game. I must admit I didn't really rate Cox earlier in the season but now, he's most definately a vital player in the team.

Poor game but I enjoyed it none the less. Morton and the Hearts guy (witenveen) in particular started well, but a good goal from Richie, after good wing play from Jonny Hayes, must have dampened their spirits. I must say it was way short of one of our better performances but so saying, I thought most Caleyjags were good. Russell Duncan, for me, unusually had an off night, Procter wasn't up to much either. The rest did okay. Jonny Hayes tormented them and certainly in the second half, when we looked more comfortable, Rooney's hold up play was top class. Golly had a good night too, he pulled down one of their strikers, when through, but for me it wasn't a clear cut scoring opportunity therefore a sendin off would have been harsh. After Saturday I thought our defense held up well, for a split second though I thought Morton were going to score with a header but the ball smacked Rosscoe in the face, he didn't know much about it and was clearly hurt, thet apart they didn't really worry us. Tell you what though, we did like to lump the ball up in the air for Rooney to chase !

Well if that fact isn't a wake up call for everyone, it should be ! I'll never take anything for granted after that dreadful day last season. I'm thourghly enjoying the situation we're in just now, can't wait for the next match, but I still suspect we're gonna have a cup final to contend with against Dundee in the last game of the season.

Just back home from Inverness (a wee family break ) That game will live with me forever, maybe the football wasn't that great but for excitement it was unparalleld. Foran was superb, he was so focused he was screaming at a ball boy to retrieve the ball and obviously it must have dawned on him that he was being a touch unreasonable to the wee fellow so he started smiling and laughing to him, priceless. It wouldn't surprise me if at the end of the season, we look back and say if it hadn't been for Richie's overhead kick we wouldn't have won the league (hey I'm no' counting my chickens btw, just saying) Like others, I felt Russell Duncan's absense had a bad effect on the team, thankfully the bulk of his critics (and there used to be plenty) have seen the light and appreciate him for what he is. The scenes after the 4th goal......absolutely brilliant !! Aye, it was a great wee break.

I'll be there, probably with my son and his mate. No drinkies for me I'm afraid though, shouldn't imagine I'll get to Cappielow until after 7. I would think I'll probably be the only Caley Jag approaching the ground from the west, so shouldn't imagine my taxi services will be required.

I'll tell you, a few weeks ago I would have loved the opportunity to have a final day shoot-out v Dundee. Not now though. Greed is taking over and I WANT THE B U G G E R WON A.S.A.P. To think of having to play Dundee and win (or even draw) makes me come out in a cold sweat. Maybe it's memories of a year ago v Falkirk, maybe it's the fact they've got the Griffiths guy who is a matchwinner. Keep winning !

Like most I can understand Smee's feelings but I'd rather Inverness Caledonian Thistle were 2nd bottom in the SPL than top of the 1st division. My son said to me after he saw the score last night, " looks like the Caley Jags are going to be in <FIFA 11> now Dad", and like Scotty says we'll get live games on Sky and ESPN again. It's the fact we will be (should we win promotion !) in the public eye again. I desperately want ICT to get in the top flight again. I must say I also think it's great for Scotland as a country when the Highlands are represented in the top league.

I know this thread title is "I BELIEVE" Well to be perfectly honest with you all I'm just staring at the league table and I CAN'T BELIEVE IT !!! What an incredible turn around. We ain't there yet but it's looking good. Huge credit to Butcher and all staff. I've got to admit that looking back to October and I have to say I DIDN'T BELIEVE we could get to this position, but in fairness Butcher had to change things, and he did.