Caley Stan

That was a lot of fun. Didn't look like it was going to be early on as Ayr cut through us twice in the opening 10 minutes - really smart goalkeeping from Ridgers saved us on both occasions. By the time Sean Welsh went off injured the game had settled into the kind of attritional midfield stalemate that turned out to be perfectly suited to the skill-set of Charlie 'Harum Scarum' Trafford who went on to have an excellent game as did Vincent alongside him. I didn't get a great view of the first goal but it seemed that a Rooney cross found Vincent in the box who knocked it home (?deflection) while White was on the ground - Ayr fans are claiming he was offside and intefering with play. We kicked on from there and were the better team for the remainder of the half. 

Ayr went at us at the start of the second but we defended well on the edge of our box. Donaldson grew into the game after a shaky start and sparked what will surely go down as one the best moments of the season when he lashed a clearance up the line shortly after the hour mark. I assumed that it was going out for a throw-in and would've been happy enough with that outcome, but as the ball crossed the half-way line we were shocked to see Shaun Rooney lingering around the touch-line, comfortably further forward than any other Caley Thistle player. "What's Rooney doing there?", was the first reaction, but Shaun knew exactly what he was doing  - he pulled the ball out off the air, drove past his opposing full-back and steamed on into the box without ever considering anything other than cooly slotting it past the keeper. Wild celebrations ensued. 

Ayr kept coming at us, there was a bit of desperate defending and another couple of very good saves from Ridgers but we had the better chances on the break (McGregor took a touch too many when through on goal just before Rooney's majestic moment, James Vincent missed a sitter when clean through after) and ultimately saw the game out through sheer fight and desire. 

White picked up where he left with Ayr last season - they really can't handle him and while he didn't contribute much on the ball, I thought he was key to getting us back in the game by unsettling the Ayr defence. IHE will be on shortly to disagree. Storey had his best game so far, playing wide right and finding more space than anyone else seemed able to. But today belonged to Rooney - that boy definitely has the makings of a 'Highland Hero'. 

41 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Can I refer you to the post by A sofa in San Tropez on page one of the Chairman resigns thread. Explains exactly how we are keeping doors open prior to soft loans being written off. I think what club are saying is this is unsustainable in the Championship long term. 

If you are local come along on tuesday and ask exactly that! 

The post you're referring to implies that the providers of said loans are preparing to take control of the club. Why then, this EGM and the dramatic language that surrounds it? Is it just a PR exercise to prepare the ground for them to scale down the youth system when they come in?

Did anybody at the meeting ask how we managed to maintain the playing budget and youth programme into the new season in spite of these massive losses?

That's what doesn't add up for me. We're into our third season in the Championship and we've got rid of the dregs of the Premiership wage bill - everyone contracted at the club will have signed on Championship terms. We know what being in this league means for our turnover and yet.....

....we still felt able to recruit 5 experienced players over the summer without making cuts to the youth programme or accepting bids for existing players. 

The previous chairman felt secure enough to make those decisions, presumably in the knowledge that he wasn't putting the future of the club at risk.

Perhaps there is a 'knight in shining armour', and maybe this EGM was only an exercise in transparency to the extent that it ensures everyone is privy to the distress of our 'fair maiden' before he rides in to the rescue.

Jobby

https://ictfc.com/proud-ness-and-inverness-caledonian-thistle-fc-announce-partnership

I see from this article that the original plan was to have it flying for the weekend of the Proud Ness march, but given that homophobic language remains prevalent in football grounds and gay footballers remain unable to be open about their sexuality, I think there is good case for keeping it there. 

I'll be writing to the club to put forward my point of view and will include the very important point made by IBM above. 

Where has it gone?

9 hours ago, Gringo said:

the wee swear words crept in which wasn't good...

We'll try and get RiG to tone it down a bit - he gets a bit carried away sometimes. 

A 5-0 win for Fort William in the Scottish Cup today with all 9 of our boys involved. Would be hilarious if they made it to the 3rd round and got drawn against us. 

We had complete control of that game without having to exert ourselves too much. Welsh and Vincent in the middle of the park were joyous at times. Queens were abysmal.

Memories are confusing. I've got this Hastings free-kick down as a first-half goal in a 6-1 win against Albion Rovers. He admitted afterwards that he was aiming for the opposite corner and never scored from long range again. 

Turning the draws into wins with options from the bench - that's been Robbo's mantra - it almost worked at Dens and today he pulled it off to perfection.

A tight game, a shyte game - lots of those in this league - but we defended well throughout and changed the whole pattern of the game with early subs. I won't describe the chances because there weren't any but the defence was superb and MacGregor and Welsh on the ball were a joy towards the end - I hope to see them both start next week. 

Neutrals and Pars might see these points as a steal but we might prefer to see them as a promotion winning side being smart enough to know how to get them. 

On 9/11/2019 at 11:26 AM, Satan said:

Thestevekelly always brings a smile to my face, good to hear his 'art ' used in the pods...nice touch.

We got his permission to use it and he was really sound about it. The song was written to the music of an old Stetsonhead song 'America' so we really should get a round in for Ali Dooner and the rest next time we're in the Market Bar. 

No fun for the away support but I'm sure Robbo will be delighted to have another chance to put out a second string side in a competitive game on our own pitch. 

On 9/3/2019 at 10:47 PM, Robert said:

We won it in 2018!!

It was a glorious afternoon and the best moment of the season. When you're stuck in this league there are few better things you can do than win the Challenge Cup. 

3 hours ago, alternative maryhill said:

the nature of podcasts is that they're audio only

Be thankful for this fact lizi -you really wouldn't want be looking at our mugs for over an hour. 

We're going to miss out on our own Euros 

The captain was terrible and even if he hadn't been we don't stand a chance with that back 4. All over the pitch it was a really bad performance for 80 minutes. Obviously we were never likely to get out of this group after Kazakhstan but a draw would've at least kept a flicker of hope going for the next round a matches. Now we face meaningless games with piles of call-offs until the end of March when the serious stuff starts. Anyone fancy us to beat Norway and Serbia?

2 hours ago, Scarlet Pimple said:

bet these guys went with Charlie to the Academy

Some of us survived Baillie at The Zoo. 

5 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

As said prior, it has to get to 5 episodes before it becomes available in Spotify...

We could get around this by recording a couple of short promos in advance of the next  one. RiG could do a wee special on why he thinks Jordan White is lazy. 

The highlights are a bit flattering but we definitely created the better chances, especially in the last 10 to 15 minutes. A very obvious change in style without a target man and even when we brought the big guys on it was to get the ball out wide and put crosses in rather than hitting it long early. None of our front 4 really got into their stride in this game - Keatings in particular was disappointing, but Robbo had the options on the bench to change it - something we didn't have at all for most of last season. The midfield 2 had a much better balance and McCart stood out at the back. Overall, even though it wasn't a great performance, I left feeling more positive about the season ahead than I did beforehand. 

As per Mantis, I've got a lot of respect for the work White does, but he's not a decent goalscorer at this level - the stats say so. 

You also have to ask which level the goals were scored at. 

What's his goals per game in the Championship?

Will this be accessable from outside the UK?

8 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Sumtimes you don't know what you've got till its gone - It may be utter gash but it may be the complete opposite.

Big Yellow Taxi for Trafford. 

I applied for all of the Hampden games plus the semis and final - got 4 tickets for the last 16. 

Will be weird handing over cash when I don't know what the game will be - might've preferred the group tickets given the chance of Scotland being involved.