Tichy_Blacks_Back

Dundee Utd through and St.Mirren 0-1 up at Ayr - yer man Dargo

United already 2 up against Hamilton so appear to be well on the way to the quarter-finals - would want to stay clear of them in the next round if we get through today against Morton

Sky Sports article - pleasant change someone who appears to want to come north to play football Hogg hails Butcher hook Chris Hogg has revealed Terry Butcher played a decisive role in his move to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The 25-year-old sealed a move to the SPL outfit on transfer deadline day following his release by Scottish rivals Hibernian. Hogg made 172 appearances at Easter Road and was the Hibs captain for a period but is set for a new challenge with Inverness. And the defender has hailed his new boss as the main reason behind his decision to join Caley Thistle. Hogg said: "As soon as he found out I was away from Hibs, it was his enthusiasm and desire to bring me here that won me over, his desire to want to work with me and make me a better player". "I want to give him everything I've got over the coming months. Hopefully we can have an enjoyable time." On the switch to the Highlands, he added: "For me, it's all about playing football. "I'll go anywhere as long as I'm playing football and enjoying it and that was a big factor for me coming up here. "It gets me away from Edinburgh and the memories I have down there and gives me a fresh start and a clean slate and time to refocus the mind and get going for a new club and giving this club everything I've got until the end of the season."

Two more goals last night in a 2-1 home win against Sivasspor

QoS home win @ 2.62 - ta

Even with the recent results we have still have managed to cling onto 5th spot but are under a bit of pressure to get a top 6 place with several teams in the hunt. You have to think that Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Killie will get 4 of those. Dundee United have several games in hand on the others and Motherwell, St.Johnstone and Aberdeen are all also in the hunt along with ourselves for that more lucrative top 6 spot. There are nine games to go: February St.Mirren (A) St.Johnstone (H) Hibs (A) March Motherwell (H) Dundee Utd (A) April Celtic (H) Kilmarnock (A) Hearts (H) and a home game against Dundee United to be rearranged. So that is 5 Home and 4 Away to go and after the 3 February games out of the way we will be finishing with 4 Home and only 2 Away games. With our recent home form I am not sure if that is a good thing although I am hoping it will be. Top 6 is still a possibility but a good points haul in the next four games is critical.

TICHY BLACK'S BACK HT: 1-0 FT: 3-0 1st scorer ICT: Rooney 1st scorer Opp: Lyle Crowd: 3,214 CAL'S THISTLE HT: 2-0 FT: 3-1 1st scorer ICT: Foran 1st scorer Opp: Kean Crowd: 3,101

my thoughts also when I first saw the squad

Scotland Squad Goalkeepers: Bell (Kilmarnock) Gordon (Sunderland) McGregor (Rangers) Defenders: Bardsley (Sunderland) Berra (Wolves) Caldwell (Wigan Athletic) Hanley (Blackburn Rovers) Hutton (Tottenham Hotspur) Danny Wilson (Liverpool) Mark Wilson (Celtic) Midfielders: Adam (Blackpool) Bannan (Aston Villa) Brown (Celtic) Commons (Celtic) Dorrans (West Brom) Fletcher (Manchester United) McCulloch (Rangers) Morrison (West Brom) Forwards: Maguire (Aberdeen) Miller (Bursaspor) Naismith (Rangers) Snodgrass (Leeds United) Includes 12 EPL players and 8 SPL players

As I see it with MacDonald and Hogg on board that takes our first team squad to 28

Hogg potentially good signing and I think Terry and Mo will get him back on his feet

It will be interesting to see what Kilmarnock get for Sammon from Wigan

Looks like Liverpool have got both Carrol and Adam

Isn't Hogg ex-Ipswich?

Hamilton have signed Tom Elliott (Leeds Utd - released) until end of season

The Dons loan deal for Lowe has fallen through due to the number of injuries at Blackburn

Not bad odds still - I went each way at 50/1 at the start of the season - was the same odds as for a League Cup victory but that didn't turn out so well

An interesting read - a more detailed report from Al Jazeera.... Al Jazeera Report

Below is an article from this morning's Gulf Times. There were rumours going around the stadium last night that there were fans with tickets locked out. The same thing happened to me at the Emir Cup Final (equivalent to the Scottish Cup Final) last season but my solution has been to turn up early for any big game now. It looked like this problem had been mostly resolved through new electronic ticketing and seat allocation etc throughout these finals but it looks like it hasn't gone away. The stewarding last night (although they were there in numbers) was weak and many spectators were just sitting where they wanted and eventually in the section where I was the stewards just gave up trying to get people to move. The problem is once you have a large amount of people in the stadium who don't have a ticket or the correct tickets (not sure how that has happened with the new controls in place but it has) then you are always going to have a problem controlling this type of thing. Can you imagine the kind of problems you would get if this happened at a major World Cup match or even worse at the Final. It appears last night the solution again was to just close the gates and call out the riot police to quell anybody looking to cause any trouble because they can't get in. I am in fact surprised this has even made the news as it is usually just hushed up - I suspect because of the magnitude of last night's game it is something that couldn't be ignored this time. I wonder what Mr Platini and Blatter made of it from their comfortable seats in the VVIP area. Ticket problems disappoint fans Thousands of football fans were disappointed at being prevented from entering to watch the Asian Cup final between Japan and Australia at Khalifa Stadium last night despite having purchased tickets prior to the game. Ticket-holders expressed their disbelief at the situation and made clear their anger at officials who claimed that ?it is full inside?. Fans could not contain themselves as they could view spare seats from outside the stadium. ?We were some of the first to arrive when the gates were shut -- no-one had a clue what was going on,? said one angry British fan, ?it was utter chaos and I feel really sorry for the Australian and Japanese families trying to get in as this is one of the biggest games they would ever get to see their teams play in.? ?That was horrendous,? said another fan. Fans clad in Australian and Japanese shirts and flags waved their tickets in frustration, visibly upset at being turned away despite arriving more than half an hour before the kickoff. ?If you arrive with plenty of time before the match, you expect to be allowed in,? said one Australian fan, ?I was really looking forward to watching this game live, and now I am really angry.?

Woops I meant 2015.... 2015 AFC Asian Cup Finals

Japan beat Australia 1-0 aet at Khalifa International stadium in the Final in front of a crowd of over 37,000. Australia had several chances to win this match but several good saves from the Japanese keeper and misses from Harry Kewell meant a well executed 108th minute left foot volley from Lee sealed it for Japan. Japan have now won a record 4 titles - in fact more incredible when you see that it is also 4 out of the last 6. In Friday's match at Al Sadd stadium South Korea beat Uzbekistan 3-2 to claim 3rd spot. Final Placings: 1st - Japan 2nd - Australia 3rd - South Korea Fair Play Trophy - South Korea Those three have all qualified for the next tournament which will be held in Australia in 2005. Well done Japan in what has been a good tournament.

Dunfermline away at 2.10 - ta

Celtic sign some common bloke

According to the rumour mill this morning they are on their way out here to Al Jazeera Sports. This has been the basis of a joke doing the rounds since this story broke but who knows it could actually happen. Life mimicking comedy now that would be a change.

TICHY BLACK'S BACK HT: 1-0 FT: 2-1 1st scorer ICT: Rooney 1st scorer Opp: Blackman Crowd: 4,345 CAL'S THISTLE HT: 0-0 FT: 1-0 1st scorer ICT: Foran 1st scorer Opp: Vernon Crowd: 4,072