Wanderer

Surely we wouldn't mind if Dundee won (providing we win of course). Dents RC's challenge and keeps us hunter and them the hunted.

:022: Outstanding. One of the best.

Used to be a warning when somebody had posted something while you were quietly browsing through Soccerbase with your tongue sticking out and your mobile phone calendar scrolling back trying to find a midweek date/home game/loss combination... ...ach I was bored waiting for room service to arrive.

Thought we'd done something like this before...

Confident they'll do the job tonight so don't mind suggesting it might be: Scottish Premier: Inverness CT 0-3 Falkirk 26-10-2005

I'd probably buy that shirt. Excellent design. I agree. One of the few designs that actually hit the Barca mark of old. Bring back the stripes!

C'mon RiG, tell us what you really think...

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' 'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.' 'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

What's an 'indepedent' club? They pedal to all games?

A compelling, honest, account of a troubled life. Unputdownable as has been said. I had to to cross-check with Broadfoot but I'm sure he got the date wrong when we went top of Div1 for the first time. Mind you, given that he'd slept in and missed the team bus to Falkirk that day it's maybe not surprising his memory is a bit fuzzy. :D What a waste of talent. William Hill and Arthur Guinness the only winners. This book should be required reading for all Youth players. With Feb 8 and the memories of that night on the horizon I wish Steve, the man that made it all possible, all the best for the future.

Naelifts yesterday above Val D'Isere ...actually a hill near Peebles.

We edged it in terms of shots on target and dealing with the underfoot conditions. I thought both teams did a fairly reasonable job of keeping it on the deck. MOM: Foran - creative, brought others into the game, spotted the gaps, accurate, tenacious. I think he got booked by Mantis a couple of times mind.

Camera laddie in bother

If he has any sense he'd try to find some coaching/managing experience in the Highland League for a couple of years then come to us with some idea how to run things. (Also, we might have forgotten about the QoS debacle by then! :021:) 9 out of 10* 'legends' that return to manage their clubs crash and burn in less than a season... *according to research done in a pub.

I predict the first half of your pie will be mouthwatering and full of promise. Half way through it will inexplicably go cold and the second half will completely miss your taste buds. Some of it will not even finish in your mouth. The overall feeling will be disappointment, frustration and hunger. Next day several regular correspondents will be on this site demanding we sack the caterer... :tonguecheek:

Hope not...it was good to meet you DD! Barry made a meal of the tackle. End of story. He probably didn't imagine it would get the player tackling him sent off but equally he probably didn't know it was RF on his heels or that the player tracking him was already on a yellow. It was instinctive and I've applauded him 100 times before for doing the exact same thing in ICT colours. Fair play. I was watching Barry fairly closely as the 'banter' unfolded from our little patch afterwards. He was shaking his head during a lot of it and as has been said I think it did put him off. Some of his crosses/passes were just plain sh!te thereafter and definitely out of character. I'd say the chanting fell on the side of reasonable behaviour and helped subdue at least one QoS threat that might have ended up costing us more points. His body language at the end was fascinating. I think he wanted to come over to the stand where we were - he was almost the last player off the pitch - but settled for a 'what can I do?' shrug before leaving. GJ's account of his meeting him after makes interesting reading. What a bind the poor lad must have been in. Regime change at ICT will come sooner or later. I'm not going to speak for the 100 or so at Palmerston but nothing happened there that put me off the idea of Barry returning to ICT in a senior non-playing capacity. Once a legend, still a legend.

Agree with that up to a point. Rooney is, without doubt, yer archetypal target man. And a good one at that. Add to this his energy and willingness to run for the cause - late into the game on Saturday he was running from side to side harassing the full backs - and we have a player of considerable merit. My worry is the amount of time he is spending with his back to the opposition goal. As a target man he was marked by 2 central defenders and had no choice but to lay off the ball backwards. The ball movement was Defender>Lone Striker>Midfield/Defender (over and over again). You could see Hayes and Odhiambo moving wide but Rooney rarely used them. The ball invariably ending up with a player only too happy to hoof it. Rooney is spending too much time in the centre circle, back to goal, trying to pick out a free player; too much time and too often, the Queen's defence had it worked out fairly quick. If this, like Tokely's signature clearance to a non-existent inside right, is an explicit management tactic then roll on the new regime. We must learn how to mix-up our attacking options during the game, and not just switching Hayes from wing to wing.

A cracking blood n thunder encounter today. The 'troubles' kicked off early doors as a few agricultural tackles resulted in handbags. The fact the ref didn't have the cahones to book a player from both sides early on and get it over with meant it was open season. Still, great entertainment. Queens had the best of the opening 15 minutes. Esson had a fantastic game today. Commanding his box, excellent distribution - his kicking is immense - and a save in the first quarter hour that kept us afloat. Our re-jigged defence was looking reasonably ok with Proctor and Lionel seeming to slot in without too much bother. Lionel was certainly roughing up a few of the Queens players (which caused some of the friction) but had none of the bomb-scare moments I've been reading about. Hayes opener was against the run of play and was really his first proper foray into the opposition box. He got lucky with the first tackle, the ball ran nicely for him, and it was a class finish inside the far post. Cox, Foran and Duncan came into the game a bit more after the goal but I'm afrain Odhiambo doesn't look like he fits anywhere in this side. Adam did his best to hold up the ball and was a general nuisance to the opposition defence. It was end to end up to the break but there were few efforts that really tested the keepers. This was a tackle fest and a few last gasp efforts kept both sides interested at the break. The small band (120 again?) of ICT supporters sang their socks off throughout. Well done guys despite the jobsworth 'security' hassle. The bar at the main stand is a great throat loosener! Into the second half and it was still good entertainment. Barry Wilson got one of the biggest cheers of the day and was the story of the second half. Foran trailed him for a few yards as he ran diagoanally across the park. Going nowhere and with a good number of players between him and goal Richie stretched for the ball and Barry - as Barry does - caught his foot and went to ground. In itself not a bookable offence, but maybe it was for persistent fouling, or backchat but off Foran went. At this moment we all started singing 'happy birthday to you' to Mrs Gringo as the Gringos left to catch their train and I'm sure a few of us must have missed the free kick as it ended up behind Esson. Duncan and Lilley had a set-to as they tried to retrieve the ball, another melee and once the dust had selttled we were down to 9 men with the gaffer already in the stand. 9 v 10 but in all honesty they really pushed hard to the end. A Sanchez cameo, then Imrie got a run and made some really good incursions. But it was the persistent booing of Barry wilson that was perhaps the story of the day. "Hall of Fame...yer having a laugh", "Cheat cheat cheat" were some of the kinder remarks. At the end he kind of wandered over to us and gave a little shrug as if to say 'what can I do?' A point apiece, which isn't really satisfying for either side but probably a fair reflection of the day.

Just a word in praise of the stewards yesterday. 120 away supporters wasn't exactly the toughest shift they'll ever have to put in but there was no bother/remarks/eye-balling as a fair few of us stood throughout the game. Damn it, they just ignored us... :P

Another bad day at the office...It was like deja vu all over again. My first shout at KO "It's 90 minutes this week lads" obviously not loud enough! Unlike last Sunday I thought the 2 sides were more evenly matched. At least we huffed and puffed and gave the appearance of trying although, as has been said, Partick played much deeper than Dundee and space for runners was at a premium. Esson had at least 2 (or 3) class saves in the first half and the fact we spent time singing his praises demonstrates it wasn't just our forwards getting the chances. Our goal, from a Hayes free kick which found the danger area, was a fair reflection of the play up to that point. 120 ICT fans singing well and not a peep from the 2000 Partick supporters in the first 45 minutes. Second half we looked disorganised, lacking confidence and all too willing to hoof the ball back to a grateful PT defence. "Keep it tight for 10 minutes" I was thinking, the rest is history. The PT fans suddenly woke up and, perhaps thakfully, we couldn't see half of what was going on in the b0llock freezing conditions. First part of the season we didn't know how to play in the first half, now we've got that cracked it seems the players think the job's done at HT. These players are full-time professionals aren't they? GET IT SORTED TERRY.

Can't agree with that my insectoid chum. Giving the players or the management team any hint that I was satisfied with that capitulation would have been hypocritical. 2000 of us knew what was coming before a single kick of the second half...but our management team hadn't bothered to prepare the players for it. An 89th minute double substitution demonstrated a complete lack of strategy or awareness of how to change things as the players tired. There was ample opportunity at 2-2 to make changes...45 minutes of excellence means nothing today.

Plethora only ranks fourth in the official OED chart... 1. A Barrowman 2. A hoor 3. A gamut 4. A plethora 5. A shedload

First the positives: getting to stand at a football match, Foran's energy, the persistent commitment of several players, the impact Hayes had when he came on, the breakfast at Ballinluig, the compilation CDs from Mantis and Naelifts. And now the rest: We were pish in most areas. Our defence looked like it was playing together for the first time, Bulvitis is plainly not suited (is it a communication problem?) Our midfield was squeezed by a RC's well-organised set-up, Foran worked his socks off but all around him was static. Players chasing the ball like anxious 11 year olds. It was hardly surprising that when the back four tired of passing it across the line with something less than confidence, the inevtable hoof resulted. I've said it before (and here it is again) but Rosscoe is clearly seeing a forward making a run in his head that is simply not happening on the park. As for Bulvitis' clearances...Stephen Hawking would have been more accurate. With the overall lack of penetration being provided from further back it was hardly surprising the offensive efforts were unsophisticated and energy sapping. A heavy and hairy pitch didn't help matters. We made chances, sure, but I was having difficulty after an hour remembering a single save McGovern had to make. Imrie found himself tucked away in the full back's pocket for the first half, a discomforting position that brought out the petulant side of him and he was effectively out of it. Rooney went looking for the ball and wasn't able to get into dangerous positions enough to make his presence felt. I think it was a penalty and fair play to Adam for (eventually) netting it at a time that could've really given County a nervous 10 minutes. The fact it didn't and they were far more composed in that last period said it all. We were beaten by the better side.

Sylvanian apparently

Not from where I was sitting. Malpas and Butcher were never sitting on the bench at the same time, either one of them always up shouting instructions. Foran gave Butcher some back on one occasion. Poor wee Imrie got bawled at to get to the front post for one of our corner kicks, he was looking back at the dugout and running there at the same time just to make sure he got TB's instructions right. Result: the ball went 20 feet over his head ("It was a dummy run" - Butcher). Nevertheless what impressed me most, apart from the workrate in heavy conditions, was the movement off the ball. The Ayr defence were AWOL yesterday but still, credit to our players for exploiting it to the max. We played into the wind first half and any hoof up the park wasn't getting any sort of penetration. From memory the 4 first half goals all resulted from passing moves (rose tinted memory specs, I may not be 100% correct with that claim). So whether it was TB who ordered them to try and keep it on the deck or they figured it out themselves, I wouldn't want to speculate The game plan was out of Pele's book of tactics. When we went 2-1 up I thought: here we go this'll be 4-5. Score if you want we'll just score one more! It was quite refreshing. By the way, chant of the day for me was "We know how you're feeling" to the Ayr fans at 1-5.