Scarlet Pimple

Walter or Stool? Pigeon..

The above heading comes from the very popular Johnny Carson show that ran for years and years on U.S T.V.but went off the air a good whiley ago. But here is an article I have just come across in my trolling of the SPL site concerning an interview with our last Manager, John Hughes.http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/37216822 Very interesting stuff, Not sure I like his comments about Richie though. Not overly critical but a tad condescending.Judge for yourself . Seems like he may just be regretting parting ways with ICT......good luck, laddie I say.

IHE : I have eloquence. Ummmmm. .... De temps en temps.

Yes. As someone remarked on another tread even a win could, theoretically, catapult us up to top four provided the other teams did poorly. Strange old game isn't it? Like a good horse race where the top horse is a poor starter but warms up and shows why the Jockey doesn't use a whip. Class in action. Went to Hastings Park racetrack in Vancouver just once in my past life, put down $100 in bets all told and won a $100,. Totally satisfying day out watching great, sleek looking horses going by at speed in the sun. But the big heart usually wins it--courageous rides don't need to be whipped, only urged on. It's a professional game and the participants know what is expected of them. Soooo ....Richie will do well if he inspires them and encourages them .

If with ICT, who are they and what will their salaries be? Also where will the money come from? Will the club let go of some players as well?

What do you think about these offerings? 1. Richie needs to show the fire and determination that he showed on the park. That is, maybe he needs to go at the players verbally now. They are not children after all and a stiff pat on the bottie can often wake a player up to see that more work, drive and effort is a must in this division. 2. Are the main players mentioned, like Vigurs, etc., a bit afraid to get stuck in and play harder to get the ball? Frantic if necessary.Last season players in his position might have felt more secure with a more experienced team beside him to pick up on his mistakes and help each other out . If so (and I am grasping at straws really I admit) then Richie has to take them aside and warn them that he has no other resources and they have to work harder and contribute more. i.e "this is desperation time, you guys and so I expect a much higher standard of effort and encouragement throughout the team..... stop being lazy and hanging back etc. etc. Whether these remarks are earned or disliked ,or not ,what options does he have to motivate the experienced players? Not been there and just asking.

Overseas, but still thinking: Price?..at the rate of exchange for Canadian Dollars of about $1.7 per pound , 25 pounds would mean I could only go occasionally since a pensioner's income must be doled out carefully in dollops. With a bad back to boot that probably means that I would have to go for the 30 quid ($51) which means maybe every 6 months for a special game. My wife came home a few weeks ago with a $150 grocery bill for that week and I nearly fainted. The $50 is about half a modest grocery bill for two people and our lovely black feline whose sense of smell is acute, so, if she doesn't like the smell of the tinned meat then it all has to go south. Fattish and fussy, like. Richie - stoic on the sidelines? So what? If that's his style, and he is respectable , who is to say that there is anything wrong with it? Maybe he is fuming inside but wishes to show composure and control on the outside. At the Vancouver Whitecaps games the Manager always has worn a spiffing suit but it has been so hot recently that he has changed into a tieless shirt and looks cool with a nice pair of slacks to match. He doesn't engage in histrionics but always still seems to be in control. Prior to the season opening I had an uneasy feeling that inexperience and youth might affect outcomes. So we surely had better be patient and continue to show support to the Manager who is bound to need time to make desirable changes and achieve better outcomes without unnecessarily antagonising and demoralising the team. I note Dougal has re-appeared from some kind of darkness and is bent on making unnecessarily negative remarks. His references to Caley D are completely unacceptable since the latter is just as entitled as any other poster to say what he thinks about the crowd and the match, etc, without someone sneering at him. If this poster had done only a fraction of the work Caley D has put in, and still does in spades, for this club for donkey's years then he might be in a position to criticise Even then there is such a thing as diplomacy. It's called "you'll get more with honey than with vinegar." At least so people tell me.

Wow- sounds great to me. What I have wanted for years and was what I was pursuing direct with the club when I first contacted the Board Chairman at least 9 years ago, to point out that it would be a godsend for us overseas fans, especially in a modern era, and was very favourably received. The price? Just ask me to sign on the bottom line. That's sums it up for me. Fantastic and dedicated work, obviously, so a hearty thank you from the Western hemisphere. I do not like the BBC for their policy of stopping all broadcasts of this type to any overseas destination for whatever reason, since I thought they were supposed to be the provider of well-informed and well researched news on every front to be freely disseminated to the world. 'Nuff said on that .

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36943472 Scott Brown seems to have forgotten the existence of ICT in these new times..is that goo0d or bad I wonder?

Ross P. A useful crowd attendance. Thanks for the info. Just been reviewing the game video. Great video and so clear. I must say the Caley strip looks very fresh and a real standout like the play which at times seemed to be unbelievable -- controlled possession and calm confidence exuding from the players. The Partick game may turn into a cracker.

Must be the heat over here the noo -- 85 degrees yesterday- goes to the head and sends you off topic a wee bit. So my apologies. But Scotty is right I think. It could have been HSBC, or even HBC, on the large building signs. Not HBO of course which is , as he states, related to T.V.

What was the crowd figure?

It's probably the manufacturers doing the orders for the large clubs with thousands and thousands of supporters. If so, we probably just have to live with it. Money talks.

IBM , I do believe that it once did -----as Hong Kong Banking Corp. I remember seeing tall buildings here in the Vancouver area with HBO on the top as an advertisement not that long ago. We have a district called Richmond here in the city which once was home to about 12,000 anglo-saxons when I first arrived to live there. Now there are well over 100,000 Chinese residents and as a result he Municipal Managers decided to put the street signs into the Chinese language. It confused me for ages when suddenly it started to appear in the different context on the T.V.

Since Willo Flood has been released by Aberdeen would he fit in to our midfield. Apparently he may have had other plans but the Dons praised him highly for all his work. Would his salary be too high? Would the Dons need to be compensated.? Would he be regarded as over -the -hill? Is he coming quickly to the end of his career-? I still think he has gas left 8n the tankand has tons of experience but...? IA very good and skilled performer IMO. Rarely was he ever robbed of the ball when in possession.And has a fierce shot (for such a slight -framed man). I always enjoyed watching his dynamism. Views please?

Hi Fool Physio. I didn't know that..smile. Mind you the craze had not actually started in my young day in the two years I spent in the RAF doing my National Service. This was at least 60 years ago and the times sure have changed in that period.

Interesting!

Missed poor old Scarlet, Bughtie. Not even a mention in dispatches? You clearly know all your P's and Q's though and my A. B. C's could easily be yours if you become a changeling and after you have dotted all your "I's". and crossed your "T"'s. OOPS! Just had a senior moment, -- time to rest.....zzzzzzzz.!

Yes. Passing back to the goalie (or even one back passing across field to the other back) is now an increasingly common, irritating occurrence in the MLS in North America. It almost always seems to me to be an avoidance of responsibility, a lack of attacking zeal or a lack of self-confidence. But what's wrong with at least blootering it up the park fifty yards, rather than passing the ball backwards which will never score goals and could put the goalie under pressure if he flubs it?

Early days though, Bughtmaster. Both the team and Richie Foran must be given time to get to know each other in their selected positions, settle things down and get the road-map arranged correctly (metaphorically speaking of course). Route 1 being clearly marked as : A. You have the ball. B. the goal is right there ahead of you and C. Go for it and don't turn corners, or pass back ever.

ICTPaisley-I've given you a + tick for the diligent research you've obviously undertaken.Good stuff. Abbreviation of many headings and titles nowadays into letters only has become the unfortunate new "mod" theme I'm afraid.Whether this is a "youngster thing" or just a sign of the times that we are all so pressed for time I have no idea, but to me it seems more like a creeping disease. Maybe the abbreviations just fit better into the now almost universal cell phones or something. But when it gets to the point that in newspapers or flyers or tickets, etc, it seems more and more to be little else than a reflection of just laziness on our part and you don't even know what half the abbreviations mean then it's time to rethink this and maybe simply go back to using the English language as intended for communication. In the RAF many years ago if you were selected to go for tests to see if you had the qualities they were looking for as Potential Officer Material, then you were then described as a POM. Beyond that I have no memories of abbreviations being any type of an issue as it is now. Comments?

Both strips are good looking , except................. I would have preferred the home strip socks to be one colour of blue, which is classy, and not with all these stripes which tend to make the lads look like they are sporting the get up of a circus clown. The away kit looks sensational and would have been even more so had the pants been red.

I agree, Jagster!

The only reason that Rice may be disliked by the players could be if he speaks too sharply to them and they refer to these admonishments among themselves as "Rice Crispies."

I share IamtheCaptain's views on the Irish Link. With an Irish Manager in place at Inverness and young lads in Ireland with tongues hanging out waiting to be seen and recognised and actually signed by a British Club (i.e ICT in this case) it's a terrific starting point for an enduring and very productive future relationship that makes all kinds of sense. Let's face it, the stature of our club has increased over the years and any ambitious young man can be made to see the opportunity for prominence in the pond of Scottish football as opposed to the much larger and diverse English pond as being of greater advantage to the furtherance of their careers. The lack of funds in the club, to allow us to sign established local players, is not necessarily a bad thing if, and when, we foster a very strong bond with a good overseas connection like that in Ireland. Then, as our roster of Irish , hand-picked youngsters grows, we can perhaps blood the more experienced up and coming boys in the first team more and more frequently. It will require hard work for the officials of Caley Thistle but the end results and rewards can be excellent for both connections, here in Inverness and also in Dublin. At the same time, not forgetting the home-grown players, that extra edge of competition can also spur them on so that the opportunities for advancement increase as their work rate and enthusiasm is fostered rather than stifled.