Tichy_Blacks_Back

Morton @ 1.67 - ta

Ditto

Oldham are a decent club and he has a manager who actually wanted him. Played today against Stevenage. One of three ex-ICT players on show in that game with the other two scoring. I think he will do well now the contract issues are behind him.

Tansey and Morais scored for Stevenage today in 3-4 defeat to Oldham

Top of the league (for now) ;-)

Good start to the season :-))))

3-0 - nice

H-T 0-0

Hayes scored the first SP goal for Aberdeen seemingly

You can see the headlines now 'Tor born to score' or 'Tor hammers County'

Tichy Black's Back HT: 1-0 FT: 3-0 1st ICT: McKay 1st Opp: Thompson Time of 1st Goal: 4 min Cal's Thistle HT: 1-0 FT: 2-0 1st ICT: Warren 1st Opp: Thompson Time of 1st Goal: 16 min

1. Raigmore 2. Inverness 3. Late 70s @ Kingsmills Park 4. Doha, Qatar via Aberdeen, Manchester, Essen, Frankfurt, Sofia, Varna, Cairo and London

Troll-tastic - in fact a lot of trolling going on tonight ;-)

Nice little fenced area for the pitch. A decent start - hopefully the on pitch performances match it.

Black for Gers in 0-4 win in the Harry Fish Cup

Andy Shinnie scored again for Birmingham in their 2-1 friendly win over Hull City Shane scored for Elgin in their 2-0 Ramsdens Cup win

How did we get here - a Scottish monarch (James VI) the son of Mary Queen of Scots grsaped his opportunity and stepped into the void left by Elizabeth I when she died without an heir. He moved to London in 1603 and after that was never that keen to return. Here was a man who was more than a little driven to set up a single nation and a single parliament under a single monarchy (although at that time Scotland was still far from being a united nation). Now those were the days of gunpowder plots, backstabbing and spin on a par, if not superior to, modern times and European religious power struggles that meant that unions and unity of the type that he (and several others in powerful positions both north and south of the border) believed gave the increased power, protection and wealth that they sought - complex times indeed. But looking at the bigger picture of the time after centuries of Scotland being eyed by the English powerhouses there was now a Scotsman in the big seat (something I assume many today would also be delighted about). The fact though is that the majority in Scotland did not want any union outside of the monarchy. Following James VI's (now number one in England in more ways than one) failed attempt to create the Union he so desired their were many attempts at regular intervals over the next 100 years (1606, 1610, 1651, 1670, 1689 (and in 1657 under Cromwell a union style pseudo-parliament that also included representatives of Ireland actually sat)) to put it into place. Then came the Darien disaster and those who sought the Union that would bring increased wealth and political strength had their opportunity. The Darien scheme was a Scottish money making adventure that makes some of the failed modern day exploits seem tame in comparison and its affect once it cratered on Scotland and its people is another discussion all together about those who were the perecived leaders in the country at the time. When it did finally crash in 1700 it along with the other politics of the day opened the door for the Unionists both north and south of the border to force their way in and get what they want. in 1700 if you look at the monarchy the seat of power had moved firmly to London and those in power had a bigger agenda to be played out than to worry about the opinions of the people of Scotland (especially those in the north of the country). In 1706 the Union with Scotland Act was passed by the English parliament and then in 1707 the Union with England Act was passed by the Scottish parliament. And that was it and on the 1st of May the Union was in place and 306 years later it is still in place. It was driven at the time by economics, personal wealth and self protection of those who had influence (not your man in the street). It also allowed several other Acts to be put into place that would shape the face of religion in Scotland (and the throne) as well as dictate the events of the first half of the 18th century that would in reality have the greatest affect on the future of Scotland and its people after 1746. Looking at the others that form part of what was the British Isles - Wales had been brought on board in 1535 and Ireland became part of an enlarged Union in 1800 when their decision making process moved to London. In 1922 the infamous 'stepping stone' to independence was obtained and the Irish Free State (now RoI) was formed. A bloody conflict then ensued in an internal power struggle and in 1931 full legislative independence was obtained. In my heart I would like to see a fully independent Scotland but the head is not convinced that all the economic questions have been adequately answered by those who are leading us down the road to change. Also what will happen to all those 'Union' facilities and services that are in place now. How will they be broken down and managed going forward. If all those who currently live in Scotland are prepared to accept potential economc downturn and hardship then it is worth accepting but I do not think the for and against picture is any where near as clear as people want to make it out to be with so much spin and scare mongering afoot that I would not be surprised to see a 'No' vote coming out on top. I will be watching with interest from afar.

Not surprising really. I have sponsored players for the last six seasons but this season it is time to cut back a little for a number of reasons. Many people will also have to make similar decisions and I suspect more will be pay at the gate or make advance ticket purchases for specific games as that seems to make the most sense for many in the current climate. Now having said that If the football on show is free flowing and high scoring then good attendances will result. Would be interested to see the stats for total attendance, average attendance and total full season tickets over the last 10 seasons to see how they compare.

Scored a record equalling 59 yesterday in the 2nd round of the Boise Open in the US. Great round and he speaks with a slightly more American drawl when interviewed by US commentator ;-) Well done - hopefully goes well in the next two days and the rest of the season.

A lot closer than he probably realises. Considering the historical (and geographical) links between Scotland and Norway I have always been surprised that we have not seen more players from there playing in the SPL over the years. Didn't even mad Eric try to create some modern day Northen Alliance between Scotland and Norway a few years ago in his quest for world domination. Maybe he will turn out to be our 'maid of Norway' just hope he fairs a little better in the long run. If it actually materialises this could be a sound bit of business and you never know we might get a few more visitors from across the water both on and off the park.

If true hope he is along the lines of a Tore Andre or a Jan Aga. Seemingly called 'Toby' but Tor Bjorn has a better ring and as Tor means goal in German that's a good start ;-)

Why not - it gives you hope Joanna ;-)

Not a good result for rhem tonight. They could give Hearts a run for their money this coming season.

I thought back in the day it used to be called FTTH - is this some sort of new spin or just a fibre/copper mash up for the last few metres?

Graham Bayne scored the winner in Arbroath's 1-0 win over Partick Thistle. Nice to see he is still scoring goals after the injury problems he has had. I also didn't realise that he had played two games for Wick last season and scored on his debut.