IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER

LOL

Fer fecks sake. Last post from me on this thread. The whingeing and the angst is giving me more of a feckin headache than the constant noise of a dog barking or was it a seal and the apparently obnoxious chants. Only one answer for it - one double, double voddie coming up.

Good to see the forum buzzing again. Lots of divided opinions on here. No doubt Yogi will defuse the situation stating that as long as GS is an ICT player that he will be considered for selection on merit as with everybody else. My stance may be old fashioned and sentimental but hey ho. Unfortunately football has become a business. But I am certain that GS will give 100% whenever he pulls on the shirt. Our squad is not big enuff or good enuff to sacrifice him. And Tremarco really has learnt from GS and by far the most improved player this season. Plus he and Shinnie bossed the Hamilton game and suit each other.

Warren and Draper are both heavy duty and have the feel of leadership. BUT their indiscipline is worrying. I would pick from Deano, Raven or Tansey.

Shall I delete Derek Adams ?

I have just noticed that I did not include him in the Hamilton Smileymometer !! It must have been an unconscious seer moment !!

I feckin hate this pre contract nonsense. If I was in charge I would have him playing permanently in the Under 20's. There was a time when deals like this were all done behind closed doors.

Why do I not even have to check if that date is correct

A feckin hypocrite.

Excuse me

OOPS sorry - just noticed it said CULT.

???

SEE NEW SIGNATURE

Could you make a table showing all these games in date order and provide the scores, scorers and attendances please.

Are you suggesting it was the feckin jeggies

FIRST HALF SECOND HALF

SO you are to blame for the shortage. Go and support feckin Wigan.

As you may see from my match report I though that wee Billy had his best 45 minutes in a long time yesterday. Same again except for probably the keeper is simply a no brainer. Wonder if Deke will sit in the North Stand next week ?

The Inverness Courier Headquarters End and the Travelling Peoples Accommodation End (although that may be apt fer the next home game )

To be honest I - believe it or not - focus as much on the actual game and may have learned to block out any surrounding abuse. Plus the voddies may have an effect as well !! I did not think that the "abuse" of McGovern and Imrie was any different to games in the past. I would have to concede that it may be different for families and that is why I have always advocated family sections for both home and away fans. And if we are talking about singling out individuals then I would have said that there were a few of them. I would admit that I joined in with a couple of the chants as did 50-100 others. And it is fair to say that we had a fair number of first time attenders but unfair to say that they were the source of the abuse

ANOTHER AGONISING AFFAIR AGAINST ADMIRABLE ACCIES There was as much chance of seeing a goal in that first half as being served in one of the local hostelries. However I was later advised that the local publicans had feared an influx of Old Firm fans due to the Cellic playing early doors and Sevco getting postponed. Anyone we managed to squeeze in to the Tap to raise a dram to Frank McAvoy and Alex O'Neil. If you had been doing a pay at half time to define your entertainment rating then 10p may just have been feckin accurate !! To be fair to Hamilton I thought that they bossed the first half whilst not really looking like a threat. To be fair also we did look solid at the back throughout and it was a couple of indisciplined moments of our making that jangled the first half nerves. Deano had one of his moments after 5 opening minutes when he clattered Meekings with an attempted clearance sclaff. The other was yet another needless booking for Gary Warren but the spirited Jesus Garcia then sent a free-kick over the bar. Fortunately the much derided Imrie also sclaffed his chance as well. Forgive me if I am wrong but our only efforts were both from Greg Tansey and only one was on target and did not exactly test Pinocchio McGovern. Deano to be fair redeemed himself holding a decent strike from Tony Andreu. And then they sold out of feckin pies before the half time whistle. Yet again we came out in the second half like men possessed. I am really not sure what happened in the first 45 but we looked like we were going for a 1-0 on the break. We hardly put two passes together and then we play them literally off the pitch. Some of the passing and especially the movement was a joy to behold. Canning looked very nervy and perhaps the onus of player manager may be too much for him. His slip let in wee Billy and although Pinocchio saved well that was the cue for a change in the bossing. Grant Gillespie saw appeals for a Hamilton penalty turned down early in the second period but that really was the only scare we got from then forwards, Wee Billy then showed another side to his repertoire and set up both the goals - the second being as good a team effort as I have seen in a while. On 53 minutes Wee Billy looped a pass towards Graeme Shinnie, whose his shot rebounded off both McGovern and Gillespie before nestling in the net. It may have been slightly fortunate but it was well deserved. Pinnochio then prevented wee Billy and then turned a Meekings header wide. With fifteen minutes to go we made the game safe with a delightful passing move. Again wee Billy and Ross Draper were the architects - combining down the left to provide an inviting cross that Ross duly slammed past a helpless Pinnochio. Draper possibly could have scored himself but he laid it off to Nick Ross. It was noticeable that the second goal heralded a stampede of departures from the away end as the Old Firm hangers on decided to leave and head for the Buckfast shop. And two eminent gypsies left early doors as well from the midst of the away support. Substitute Aaron Doran passed up a late opportunity to add gloss to the scoreline. But to put an absolute damper on the day Deano collapsed, under no apparent pressure, and it looked like he had jarred his knee. It was more worrying that it took almost 4 minutes to treat him and he was carted off on a stretcher. That also gave rise to the biggest cheer of the day for the return of the Esson. Lets hope Deano's injury is not as bad as once feared but I would say the we are extremely fortunate to have Ryan as back up. So we had seven shots in the second half with six on target, 60-40 possession and four corners. We only committed five fouls over the 90 minutes and, irritatingly to me, two of them resulted in two more needless bookings with Draper following Warren into the book. I even thought Brian Colvin had a good day at the office. I will leave it to Yogi to sum up the day - "I didn't enjoy the game .. There was a real apprehension before the game. We were getting a bit complacent and it showed in the first half... Second half we got back to what we're all about. Even if it wasn't a great performance it showed me the spirit and that's what got us the win. They were the better team in the first half and played some nice football. In terms of us getting on the ball and making things happen that's the worst I've seen us for a long while...But, credit to them in terms of still keeping that clean sheet... We're punching well above our weight. Our main goal at the start of the season was to stay up. I'm serious.. I'm just lucky I'm working with a bunch of boys that want to improve as footballers. We've got a happy, spirited team. It's all about getting results and if you're getting results your job is made easy". That must be the first time that I have wholly concurred with the closing statement from one of our managers SMILEYMOMETER DEANO To be fair he had little to do but did his job when asked - GET WELL SOON BIG MAN RAVEN A quiet day at the office. Did not really notice him that much. MEEKINGS Again effective and nearly scored with a cracking header. WARREN Again solid but I do wish that he would cut out the needless fouls which lead to needless bookings and needless suspensions. TREMARCO Humble pie time fer moi !! Excellent performance and that included coming forwards. Much improved an my MOM WILLIAMS :smile: Another who was quietly effective and played in a more defence minded mode. And possibly suffered from the performances of Tremarco and Shinnnie and our preference to play down the left. DRAPER Excellent "holding" display but the same negative comments as Warren TANSEY Reminds me of a modern day Gary McAllister and that IS a compliment. ROSS Not quite sure what his role was but will give similar comment as to Williams. Did he take his goal well with calmness and assurity. McKAY Poor wee Billy must have been as frustrated as the fans in the first half but showed in the second that there is more to his game than goalscoring. And his constant movement was a joy to watch and relive.

I spotted this well known hooligan in the crowd yesterday. Was it him ?

Can anybody lend me 5p.

The Howden End was immortalised in the early 1970's. I do not know who exactly coined the phrase but it was at a time when the home ends in many of the big grounds had names that linked into the singing sections and the "lads". Cellic had the Jungle and Rangers had the Copeland Road, Aberdire had the Beach End but out of England sprung delightful names such as the Shed, the Kop, the Stretford End, The North Bank etc. if any one person drove the Howden End it was Norman Gordon who designed many of the hooligan type badges which revered the Howden End and songs arose from there. It became our territory, it became our identity, it became a name of pride, family and togetherness. There was no comparable end or section in the Highlands. Borough Briggs had the side section with it's stoopid fencing separating the two sets of fans although the Staigo were the best organised hooligans. I can't remember when the Jail End came about but we used to stand in on many occasions. Unfortunately my immortality was cursed on me many hundreds of years ago but my recent life span links me to the most endearing piece of tin wonders EVER. The end however was always the gathering place of the faithful. The Howden End is in the sky - the Howden End will never die - it will live on for ever.

We got 3,000 v St Johnstone the last time we played them on a Tuesday night - full fare! And 3,700 on a £20 Friday fixture! Hate to rock-the-boat but I think we should have been looking at higher than tonight's attendance! Great effort from the club - but the apathy around Inverness is apparent. Fantastic win tonight - made a very decent Perth club look decidedly ordinary! And was the weather and road conditions comparable - was there a bigger away support ?