CaleyD

Highland Marchers will be doing a parade around the pitch tomorrow and have a banner with some song words on....calling on the BENI to lead the way when they get round to the North Stand and cheer on the guys who will have walked about 145 miles from Falkirk.

IHE joined the troops last night and is out on the road with them this morning and keeping spirits high. A welcome addition at the point in the week when tiredness can start to take it's toll on the sense of humour. He's walking in the kilt, which will do no harm to vaseline sales, and a fresh application on the downhill sections has him gliding along like a cross country skier...lol. Blister count among the troops is suprisingly low, and other than fatigued legs, everyone is in good shape.

Another 22 miles chalked off yesterday, which is incredible when you add in about 4000ft of ascent and descent. Gringo Jr taught an important lesson on why u shouldn't jog in middle of road with headphones - managed to get bus to within a foot and blasted the horn...who knew a highland marcher could jump so high...lol. Anyway, another early start with troops on the road by 8.15. Wonder if we'll go swimming again tonight...lol

Everyone safe off the mountains and troops have reported it as the toughest 9 miles ever done on a HM and has slowed them down a little...lol

I left them this morning at the foot of the Ochils with an 1800 foot ascent ahead of them. After finishing 45 minutes ahead of schedule last night they are aiming to finish in time for the footie at 3pm today!!!

The troops are about half way through tonights leg and going strong despite the thunder, lightning and torrential rain!!! Great send off from everyone at the Game and only 135 miles till they're home...lol

Wilson, Wyness and Nicluae (on an extended contract) :001:

I was a Caley Fan pre-merger and my loyalty carried across with the eagle to the new badge and the new club. I don't feel any need for rivalry with pre-merger Thistle Fans other than the occasional bit of light hearted banter with the two of them. :tic01:

Forum Rules I'm sure the usual opportunities will exist for people to get Autographs, and perhaps if someone from the Testimonial Committee is reading this and have maybe overlooked it they could perhaps plan it in to the day and have an area before and/or after the game where fans can go to get them.

You've nothing to worry about in regards Rory being picked as a Forward as he's actually been selected as a Midfielder.

Not so strange....I think we often "spot" the same things, it's just that from time to time our opinions on the cause/reason differ.

I know I said on another thread that it was my last dig at Marius...but I can't help myself as I'm obsessed That wasnt a dig. Do you think that their levels of performance has merited the call ups ? Now where did I put that fishing Smiley? :blah01: Seriously though.....in the case of Rory, I think his performance in the reserves more than warrants his call up to the U21 Squad. Had he been getting a call up to the Scotland first team then I would perhaps be questioning it. Without going through each player individually I'd imagine there's a fair few in there who are not regular starters for their respective clubs. As for Marius....I think the Romanian Coaches perhaps realise that in the right system then Marius is worthy of inclusion...and as you've said yourself, not playing him in the right system has hindered his club performance this season. I don't think he should be rejected from a National call-up on the basis that his clubs manager hasn't clicked to the fact that he needs to be playing as far forward as possible and off the last man. Would you expect or be happy to lose out on a promotion because your line manager wasn't making best use of you in your current position, or would you want to be seen as someone who had talents which weren't being fully utilised and give you the chance?

I know I said on another thread that it was my last dig at Marius...but I can't help myself as I'm obsessed

If you put every other aspect of his time with us so far to the side other than what he's done on the pitch then there's no doubt in my mind that Marius MUST be kept at the club unless someone came in with an offer we simply couldn't refuse. That is my opinion based on what I have seen on the pitch, the fact he's been constantly improving and also the fact that with a full pre-season working with the squad and getting to know each other properly etc then I feel he'd be more than capable of providing 18 goals next season. Of course, it's not that simple in the minds of many people...... Despite what you believe his salary to be, we've already had a couple of statements from the club saying that he's bought and paid for and budgeted in to next seasons plans. Granted if we moved him on then it would free up wages for a couple of other players to come in, but where are we going to find someone of Marius' ability for lesser money? We've seen some unrest in the dressing room, and that has been partly attributed to the fact Marius was on a higher wage, but we look to have come through that. We've "suffered the pain" of breaking the wage structure and to let him go now for anything other than financial (getting a big fee) or football (getting a cheaper replacement who is as capable) would be cutting off our nose to spite our face. It would mean that all the troubles of this season would have been for nothing. We struggle as it is to bring in players due to geography, why oh why, when we find someone who likes it here, who's playing ok and who is in no hurry to leave do we seem so intent in shipping him out the door? If it was me who was making the decision, I'd have Marius in and I'd be offering him a 1 year extension in order to protect our investment, because you can be as sure as anything that if we don't and he stays another season then he'll have a stormer of a season and when it does come time for him to move on we'll end up with diddly squat. Marius was a ballsy signing by ICT and for me this is the first major test of the new Chairman to see if he has what it takes to carry it through and take full advantage of the opportunity that's staring us in the face.

That's some list of Creditors!!!! Thought this entry was a bit of a hard neck..... In all honesty, after Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise have been paid (I believe they get first dibs and payment in full?) then it's unlikely anyone else will see a penny.

Driving again....not even remotely fit enough to walk anything like what these guys do even though I'm much fitter than I was last year. Got a new job lined up for when I get back and going to get myself back to the gym with the aim of doing at least part of the walk next year......that's if they'll let me retire my driving duties :015:

Think our kids prices for the family section are very similar to that RiG....in fact, I think we probably had some of the cheapest, if not THE cheapest tickets available in the SPL for the Family Section, and not just for the kids.

Hibs, Falkirk, Hearts, Aberdeen & Dundee Utd are already on sale and Celtic & Rangers are already taking renewals.

As I've said elsewhere, Rory is rated far more by professional coaches than he is by his own fans. I'm probably "on the fence" with regards to the lads ability and whether I think he'll break through to become a first team regular, but as Alex said....someone see's something in the lad, and maybe Billy Stark is on to something with selecting him for the midfield. Just a pity the game is midweek and at the furthest away SPL Stadium or I might have been tempted to make the trip. Also good to see that the team isn't as dominated by OF youngsters as we're used to seeing.

I'll have you know that I don't have a single grey hair in my head :015:

I treat both with equal measures of apathy.

Not to mention the fact that you only get half a seat!!!! :015:

Maybe they can read your mind.....time for some evasive action

Fat with Grey Scruffy Hair

If it's who I think it might have been then you better hope he hasn't seen the comment about him being Fat with Scruffy Grey Hair or you might just end up with a boot up the Jacksee at the next game :015: