Scarlet Pimple

Thank you very much gents. These pics are appreciated. The team looks fit! Morgan has a determined look about him and a strong athletic appearance. Nice clean-cut white strip. Very Classy! Looks like most of the squad has had a run-out now and , like another poster, I feel, good about the way things are likely to go this season. Charlies efforts in strengthening the squad, plus those of Management in supporting him, are very positive moves and this could be our most surprising and best SPL year to date. No kidding, the oracle has sent me a wink and a nod and I am just passing it on. In fact unless my reading of the message is wrong a great win in the opening match with a capacity crowd cheering on the team is a definite possibility. Asking Canada Bob for good odds.... :022: :sillywave: from Canada.

Nice one Cyril..... :002:

Unbelievable. I think Scarlet is about to have a heart attack. :029: If I would not walk down to the bottom of Dunain Road about 1952 to watch the Queen drive along Telford Street in her limousine from The Castle of Mey why would I fly 3000 miles to see Beckham. :029: Thinks, I would not even go to the match in Vancouver against thew Whitecaps which apparently has been schduled for this Spring. And I cannot imagine why he would fly to Toronto when he could come to Vancouver first which is much more beautiful and is just a hop skip and a jump-o jet away from L>A> as the Fokker Wulf flys.....eh? I mean the humidity in Taarannno must be something awful at this time of year. :crazy07:

I hear that the L.A. Galaxy highly-priced seats are now dubbed ....the "Posh" ones.... and are available on a first come first served basis only if Milady does not turn up on match day to claim hers for her Hollywood pals. Choice comments from the riff raff in the cheap seats are rumoured to be about to ..."spice"... up the atmosphere on match days too. :002: Never mind the Diver, Scotty, don't forget the Whitecaps, they are heroes too.. mon... :015:

Very succinctly put Scotty. :022: I have virtually given up trying to find a way to get any kind of coverage. It used to be blanked out if Rangers or Celtic were involved but now it seems (the blanking) appliest to overseas listeners to most games leaving only a few small crumbs of broadcasting to fans like you and I in Canada. It really is disappointing in this modern electronic age especially when I too am willing to pay a reasonable sum of money to access showings and particularly when it seems a no-brainer that fans like us pose not the slightest threat to their revenue stream. By the way, last season I got involved in FootyLive.com and ended up being hosed -so be careful about these sites--that one in particular only supplies links to sites that are supposed to stream video , not the video streams themselves, but most of the links never seem to come up with anything. And the video I did manage to see was poor quality and buffered very frequently or was lost for a long time etc. then came back for only a short time before the problems started up again. :029:

Alex Quebec is one of the Eastern Provinces of Canada and many residents are bi-lingual speaking both French and English.Only in the remoter rural districts do you get French speaking "enclaves" apparently. There are, however, certain prominent Quebec politicians who have done everything in their power to devolve the Province into what amounts to their own country (i.e not part of Canada) and came close to succeeeding several years ago . Recently the "new" Conservative Government of Canada under P.M. Stephen Harper has bent over backwards to favour the French in terms of largesse, calling them a "distinct" society to try to flatter them and so forth but the populace is quietly accepting Federalism, and the benefits that come with it , more and more and devolution will probably never be a realistic option and will fade away. Don't forget that the French in Quebec are also Canadian citizens and are very talented people and wonderful to speak to and mix with, but favouring them at the expense of other Provinces has , it seems, been a national Federal Government pastime for as long as I can remember--the aim being to garner the 75 Federal seats that are up for grab at Election time and if the Government cannot get some of them they can't achieve a majority in Parliament If the province did quit Canada they would have a very hard time doing trade with America since I doubt very much if the Americans would deal with them in French so that would leave only France to deal with... LOL? No, they know which side their bread is buttered on but Anglos are always welcome in Quebec and Quebecers in the rest of Canada and there is no problem with the different languages or the mixing of French and Anglos whatsoever....and no terrorism! Besides going there would be a good chance to brush up on my school French .... :014:

Reticence, political correctness et al here in Canada is the problem as far as this is concerned. Most younger immigrants to this country learn English but many , many, immigrants get stuck in ethnic enclaves where not a word of English is spoken. The politicians, both Municipal and Federal, desperate for these immigrants' votes not only overlook this stuff but encourage this kind of inherent isolation by allowing crap like Chinese Street signs to be put up in the main Chinese enclave of Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver where I first landed when I came to B.C. many years ago. In that Municipality there are even Malls where, I have been told, caucasians are not welcome and may be refused service. In North Vancouver and West Vancouver where residents are in the upper income brackets ---in West Van it is more like stratosphere brackets----- the residents are from many countries, e.g.strong Iranian or Iraqi communities comprised of people who have have fled the mother country , keep a low profile and do not draw unnecessary attention to themselves. These rich people are still very clannish with their own folk t hough and , although Canada is multi-racial country, the melding of the different ethnic "sects" (for want of a better word) is more of a conscious effort on the part of a lot of people rather than an actuality. I completely agree with the comments in that email --I also received the same email from a pal in Eastern Canada and as far as I am concerned, and a few buddies of mine, if any such problem occurred here in Canada I would have the whole family of a convicted terrorist deported just so that other budding terrorists got the no uncertain message that their whole family will be removed from the Good life we give to them , as opposed to the other life they had before in their mother country which apparently did not suit them too much when they were there. Just a thought.. :020:

Deffo and right on mate. :002: :021: Whatever!

Mrs Paulibee--we have never met ...but I like you already. :016: Scarlet :015:

We had a male and a female hamster once. They were real characters and had very different personalities. So much so that when they died we sobbed. The male, Orange, was so energetic that if he came to a door and could not get through it he ate the carpet in frustration. Sometimes all you caught sight of was his little fluffy a..s going up in the air attached to his legs, in desperation to succeed. The female, Oreo, was the opposite and did not like to go out. We did a stupid thing ; we allowed Oreo to run around outside and she picked up some kind of disease, bnecame very sick indeed and in pain and we had to euthanise her.. Soon after Orange died also. The life of a hamster is about 2 years maximum but they are fascinating critters. :019:

So what was the Romanian match score again? :016:

Personally speaking eh do not give a monkey's.....what the media thin :crazy07:ks. ICT are great! S.P. :crazy07:

My spies tell me that L.A. Galaxy management have already set up several matches abroad (Japan?), England, worth incredible amounts of money (try $60 million). As a business investment he will probably pay off handsomely. But I can hardly imagine that poor form will be overturned overnighjt even if the team has had a couple of players on the injured list of late. :023:

Well, I am sure that Mr Gordon would be happy to read your comments. But he probably would have to put a few years in at any other club befrore thinking about moving on. Anyway the deal with Sunderland is, to the best of the Pimpernel organisation's knowledge , well & truly off. :029:

Hearts are apparently playing coy with Sunderland who want Craig Gordon for a lot less than the ten million asked by Romanov. It appears that he wants a minimum of 5 million pounds at least paid up front before he will negotiate in earnest. The word from Englandterre is that Gordon's reputation is very high--there and anywhere in Europe and his talents are well recognised. So whether Romanov changes his approach, or Sunderland up the ante big style, his tenure at Tynecastle could be very short. Sunderland are stated to be a massive club with a very positive but understated attitude to future success with the feeling being that they won't be long in coming to the fore in a big way. Unlike his counterpart at Hibs, McNeil, who had a disastrous U21 run it seems that Craig can do no wrong and literally is going from strength to strength.--good for the Scotland team as well. :011: :003:

WELL i AM GLAD THAT THIS THREAD ENDED ON AN UPBEAT NOTE.I needed a good laugh after watching the Scotland U21 performances. Downright embarrassing no less. Cringeing is not a good feeling..... :010:

We all grow with experience ..which usually means advancing age too , unfortunately. Growing confidence will lead to greater relaxation, a greater sense of his own capabilities and limits and a more evenly balanced approach. Good luck to Charlie on all levels. Now, if only Scarlet would toe my line more often and stop being so darned independent- minded the Pimple household would be a more fulfilling place for me by jings! And for him but he is too yopung to really understand. Sigh! Life gets tejious. IHE have you got a free appointment next week to see S.P. in a wee clandestine meeting.... :016: :002:

Well, you certainly are getting the crowds in Toronto, Scotty. The venue for the recent U20 Spain V Brazil match was at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby here in B.C. and the commentator quoted a capacity of 10,000. They must have put in more bleacher seats to get it as high as that. The average Whitecaps game apparentlyattracts about 4000 with a stadium capacity for normal operations of about 7,000. Scotland were indeed dire and very disappointing. A Scottish journalist said in his blog that the Scottish lads were more intertested in girls than in developing their game. Watching the likes of Japan and Chile was a revelation. Total ball control with the players always looking confident and comfortable when they got the ball. Scotland has simply languished in complacency and on this display here in Canada must face the anguished fact that they are way behind the standards of development of other nations. Perhaps the fact that most South American boys grow up in poverty may have something to do with it but they certainly work very hard on all their skills from a very young age. They also love the game and it shows. Being a master is important to them, not so for the Scottish boys I am afraid. :020:

Yep. I am left wondering if youy will have any players of note still on the team at the commencement of the new season? :023: Poor Hibs,--changed days.

You know what they say --"you can't keep a good man down". Good luck Robbo. :sillywave:

Hi-larious! :015: Hi from Canada.

IHE--oh you are awfulk , ...buit I like you. Even if the w and a are swapped the remark still stays unacceptable but since we know that you are pulling all oor leggs we will sniff and mnove on. I think he is small enough, nippy enough and goes like stink enough to bamboozle Dodsy when they meet! Hoch! Hoch!. And Clacher, I have to admit you may be close to the truth although I would never give anyone a -8 for expressing an opinion. :003: Sophia is just a young lady fer heven's sake.

At this stage of ICT's development it is an agonising decision. But exciting.....eh? But you sure must praise the ICT Management for at least considering the issue and not just giving up without trying. However it does remind me of my dreams based on my dreams rather than the brutal reality of my financial position . Now I want to buy an apartment and hold it as an investment with a tenant's rent supposedly buying it for me. The problem is that the price of houses here in Vancouver is so high now that the rent one can get is less than the combined cost of completing the deal (lawyers' fees, property transfer tax ,etc) and the added cost of annual property taxes, insurance, repairs and monthly Bank interest. My heart yearns to have a go since I have never achieved a darn thing worth anything without taking a risk but my head says"No". If the money to be earned or secured from the Flybe deal is anything of value perhaps some of it could be used to offset the cost against what actually is a non-guaranteed, indeterminate, value of the player to the club.His past record may appear to be great but is his salary based upon his future success in scoring goals or just a weekly lump sum paid in the hope of success. If the risk is too great he could be offered only a six-month contract which gives him the option of working very hard , scoring goals or assisting other players to score, or see his dream of going to a bigger club evaporate at what could turn ouit to be not too huge an investment for ICT. The downside of all this is the possible negative effects on the other players ....but...t hey could also see a short-term deal as a novelty and something to learn from. My heart then says "yes" go for it , but......my head says "no". :011: :024: What do you think ?

Agree with Caley D emphatically. Canny does it. ICT has been, and hopefully will continue to be, on this right track. :011:

The Pimpernel organisation has been active in the last few days and the recent announcement about Porter going to Motherwell has stunned our clandestine staff since all reports indicated a more Northerly flight. But Wick Academy has assured their supporters that their loss will not affect their passionate desire to win their League this coming year. Porter himself seems to be a fine young lad, filled with reminiscing thoughts of boredom in the South and lots of common sense about his future not a jot alleviated by the pangs of conscience he must have suffered about leaving his poor club in Limbo. Same old, same old. Meantime , back at the ranch , Mini-Mac , aka Dean MacDonald, appears to be a small but chunky and very interesting signing. He appears to have a very cool head in the proximity of the goalmouth which will be an asset which may well further his career at the Longman in ,...er..."spades".That is ,if he can overcome his implied and rumoured desire to go home every two days instead of settling down in Inverness as soon as possible and getting on with the job not to mention his commitment to ICT and his career in general. Sigh.. As stated earlier, same old , same old. I mean would it not be just cheaper to fly his Mum up to be by his side in this critical phase of his career amongst the savage Picts? Turning to other parts I must ask IHE if he will consult with either his oracle or his Mum since the grapevine is ripe with the rumour that critically-acclaimed Ernie from Wigan has turned down a generous offer from ICT on the grounds that he could not understand the Highland Accent or indeed the contract on the table which unfortunately was handed to him from across the other side of the table and therefore with it being upside down he thought he was reading Gaelic. This setback really unsettled him and he now wants to stay close to his Mum alsdo. As stated same old, same old. .. :023: