CaleyD

Nothing to make my mind up over. First off, everyone played within the "rules of engagement" that were being laid down by the Stewards on Saturday...and given the easy nature of the stewards it would have been easy to take things too far with songs/chants etc, but that didn't happen. Secondly, there was no foul mouthed, over the top and unnecessary songs/chants...and given some of the stuff that's been aimed at Imrie in the past I was half expecting it...had that happened then Stewards would almost certainly have intervened, but it didn't and they didn't. If fans go to games and read the situation, realise when they have over officious stewards or whatever and deal with it by trying to avoid confrontation, then there's no need for anyone to ever be ejected....and if ejections do happen when fans have been trying to do the right thing and aren't ripping the pish, then you can be sure that whoever is huckled off will have the support of everyone. Had any steward waded in on Saturday, and fans didn't react as they have reacted elsewhere by being abusive in return, and anyone had been ejected, then I would have been the first to stand up in their defence. However, had a steward waded in and fans attitude got nasty in return and they were then ejected then it would have been their own stupid fault....not because of the rights or wrongs of the ejection, but because they should know by now what's going to happen when they react in that manner. It's all about using a little bit of savvy, and as I said, credit where it's due because fans had the savvy not to take advantage of the situation on Saturday and everyone had a great time....and so long as we the fans continue to do that, then it creates a far better platform from which to complain when stewards do get heavy handed.

Not sure I buy the idea of comparing the scenario to that of teams from other leagues not being able to progress up (or down) within the season, but I get where you are coming from and would say that the difference is that the SPL under it's current setup is preventing that movement within the defined season....if you want to play the season within a season card then you surely have to look at the idea of scrapping all points at the split and everyone playing from scratch...as happens after each Golf Tournament...never going to happen in football. Although looking at Golf at a model, we could operate a handicap system based on league position from the previous season to help tighten things up a bit!!! The scheduling for top 6 bottom 6 is as much of a lottery as the odd/even split in terms of predicting who's where and having a very quick glance back through the records I don't think they have ever got it right and because they take into consideration the previous seasons home/away game counts as well then it would be pure luck if they had a season where everything worked out even. Split and Equilibrium are never likely to be used in the same sentence regardless. You may not have as many 6 pointers at the end of the season, but what you do have is ALL teams playing for league position (barring a run away season for someone top or bottom). You're never going to finish the season with a 6 pointer at the top anyway because the SPL wouldn't allow it. They went out of their way to prevent it this season as it would have involved both of the OF, but even if it was only one of them and a.n.other they would likely have steered away from it. What we got instead was two teams fighting for the title against two teams with nothing to play for....and look at the results!!! With my suggestion it would be no worse. As 12th Man says, the OF are unlikely to accept that the other half might get more home advantage when they meet than them and that would kill the idea. It shouldn't and they should expect no more or less than what the rest of the league have to put up with, but they won't....that was one thing that hadn't crossed my mind.

Fluffy Sheep always gets a smile....even the police and stewards were laughing yesterday and wondering wtf!!!

Seems like 10 team idea has been dropped as Doncaster finally realises it's not got enough support...meeting next week to discuss a 14 team league proposal instead.

The point of the split is that the SPL don't want a 44 game season and the split takes that down to 38. I'm not advocating the split and of course I would love to see a larger league, but I don't think we are going to get either any time soon. If we have to keep the split, then let's do it in a way that keeps competition going throughout the entire league for the whole season....sure that would be better than the status quo? There's been comments from both sides of the OF this season that they're playing each other too often (7 times this season), so I'm not sure you would get that much resistance from them to a setup which gives 1 less match. We have the police pushing for fewer games between them and the SPL have said that things like creating fixtures and having to avoid an OF end of season decider causes a lot of problems, so they should support an idea that potentially avoids that scenario. In terms of league position, we may the only one effected this season, but other teams have been in other seasons so I'm sure it's not just us who cares. What's more, imagine a scenario like today where two teams are fighting for the top and the potential of them playing against teams fighting to avoid relegation....more than just two of the teams out there with something to play for would create far bigger interest and, potentially, far more interesting matches.

This could get uber ugly for Killie

Would be more interested in hearing why you think the idea might be flawed...it may well be that there's something in the idea that I am missing, but random throw away comments don't help to highlight them. And, FWIW, I don't drink and post

Have to admit that I too found myself feeling a little emotional at the end of todays match. These guys were more than just players at ICT and whilst I accept that football can involve tough decisions, it doesn't make it any easier and thoughts of looking to the future etc just don't seem to cut it tonight.

To the lads today who were leading the singing....that's exactly the point I was trying to get across to you on the last thread. Fantastic atmosphere, good craic, no unnecessary songs/chants (well one, but not sure who it was and it was quickly drowned out), no giving the stewards any grief and a credit to yourselves and ICT.

I came up with an answer to the problem with the split which actually solves another problem...more on the second problem at the end. The problem with the current split is that teams in the bottom half cannot climb any further than 7th and top half drop below 6th. You then have the argument about our situation where our points tally would have taken us to 5th....and the counter argument that it's maybe in part due to "easier" competition in the closing games. So, how do we get a split (to maintain fixture numbers) where teams can still move freely up and down the table without the easier/harder games argument? Well, you don't split it top and bottom..... Instead you take the league places after 33 games and you split into two groups of odd placings and even placings. Those in places 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 & 11 form one group, the rest another group. This means that the level of competition across the remaining 5 fixtures is spread across all levels and as such you can justify allowing teams to move freely up and down the ladder based on the points they earn. The other problem it (likely) solves is that you don't have the worry of an OF title decider (Police don't want it, SPL are scared of it). As they are going to be, more often than not, 1 & 2 after 33 games they will be in different groups. If they are 1 & 3 then someone is splitting them and any OF match isn't likely to be a title decider so a lot less tension involved.

In the current economic climate no business can afford to turn away business (as long as it's economically viable) so I would say that anyone who has a genuine case/reason for needing something like a 10/12/15 game voucher book or whatever would be best to contact the club (possibly best to speak to Laura in the shop) to discuss the situation and see what can be done. I'm sure that so long as fans are not ripping the erse out of it or taking advantage then they'll be only too happy to try and help. Also, by contacting them they will get a better idea of where the need lies and what exactly people want and won't have to guess at it. We like to harp on about the need for the club to communicate with us (and things have and continue to improve in that regard), but we also need to communicate with them (properly) so they know/understand where the demand for things such as this lie.

It was 2-1 each at half time....not sure how it finished.

Spoke to the guys down at the game today and whilst a little disappointed that the tradition of having someone complete an E2E every year has been broken, the spirit hasn't and I believe the Highland March will now evolve into something better for the future with new focus and aims. When we left them they were heading off for a well earned dram or two and I'm sure we'll get their stories in due course. Unfortunately they were also prevented from doing the lap of honour at Hamilton, police denied them and the excuse given was a clamp down on security following the events at Tynecastle the other night...a ridiculous decision and a total over reaction, IMO, and the only negative in an otherwise great day.

I read that as nipple points the first time and thought wow, a Rooney goal can really do that for a lady?

And in the other 35 languages?

What's the Bolivian for Agent?

Was very much a closed doors event...they even had security there to enforce it. Their was some suggestion that this was (in part) a regulatory thing...something to do with the fact that as soon as you have one spectator it then needs to be registered/sanctioned as a match Sure it was probably more to do with stopping other agents getting in on the clubs initiative. I'm sure anyone who was that interested would have found their way round to the layby on the A9

All that effort to post an image, and that's the best you could come up with?

Tried calling Chambers today and the number is not connecting so looks like stories that it's closed are true. Have been told the Tap Room is a good alternative and the Vaults didn't come highly recommended and apparently has a bit of a reputation as a trouble spot (can anyone confirm?) Tap Room is "family friendly" so we'll likely just head for there.

The Guy has been charged with breach of the peace and assault, both aggravated by religious prejudice. See hear That's fairly meaningless at this stage. He'll have been hit with the heaviest possible charge as a matter of course so as to ensure they can get him for as much as possible. Easier for the Procurator Fiscal to do that and then back off on the charges than it is for them to have charged him with a lesser offence and then try to increase the charges. So, to summarize. The guy in the Hearts top standing in the Hearts end at a Hearts home game running on to the Hearts pitch to attack the manager of the team playing Hearts may not be a Hearts fan. And the people sending live bombs and bullets to a group of people (not just Mr Lennon), each one with Catholic/Celtic/Irish connections, may not be religious bigots. Keep it up, Poirot. Already conceded the fact that it looks very likely (practically certain) he's a Hearts Fan. Time will tell on the second point, but yeah, they may not be. P.S. I'm not much of a Poirot fan, he relied far too much on the assumption that certain types of people committed certain types of crimes...far more befitting of your take on the situation. I far prefer Sherlock Homes, and as he once said....."It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data."

The Guy has been charged with breach of the peace and assault, both aggravated by religious prejudice. See hear That's fairly meaningless at this stage. He'll have been hit with the heaviest possible charge as a matter of course so as to ensure they can get him for as much as possible. Easier for the Procurator Fiscal to do that and then back off on the charges than it is for them to have charged him with a lesser offence and then try to increase the charges.

Fair Do's....small point in the grander scheme of things anyway.

Well he had a Hearts top on, so a wild guess he is a Hearts fan. The fact that you do not like Neil lennon does not make you a bigot, but in this case there is overwhelming evidence of a widespread, cowardly sectarian campaign against Neil Lennon and other Catholics in this country. Partaking in or tacitly approving of this campaign probably does make you a bigot. Continually being in denial of the existence of such a campaign and continuing to place the emphasis on the target of the campaign, the worst by a mile in the history of Scottish football and a national disgrace? I'm really not sure what that would make you. Think you need to check your facts on the wearing of a Hearts Top as it has been reported that he was NOT wearing any Hearts colours. Whilst I wouldn't deny that there are sectarian elements at force in some of what is going on, a lot of it is pure assumption. It's assumed the bullets and bombs are from such elements, but no evidence yet exists to prove this. Rightly or wrongly he's also disliked for many other reasons and whilst it doesn't in any way justify the attacks/threats etc, it could be any one of a number of other things that's been the trigger. As a species, we don't like things we can't explain or square off in our heads and I think it's dangerous that we simply lump everything under the sectarian banner because it somehow allows us to bring reason to it. That's not denying that there's a problem with sectarianism and bigotry and these things could well be motivated by such, but let's not go making assumptions before we know all the facts and making it look like a worse problem than it might actually be.

Do we even know that this guy was a Hearts fan, or what motive he's given for the attack? It seems to have just been assumed that he was a Hearts fan and he attacked Lennon because he was Catholic and any other reason is nonsense because their can be not other reason for disliking him and everyone who dislikes him is sectarian or bigoted!!!

As the club allowed Golly, Duncan, Munro and McBain to be presented with a token of our (the fans) gratitude for service over the years after Wednesdays game then I've resigned myself to the fact that their will be no change of heart on the matter.