ALSY

I'm a bit mystified too, Gordy. Why the animosity towards the Diggers? Thought it was great in there as usual pre-match, despite how busy it was, Great crack, great staff. Did something happen post-match, CC? Cheers. Been really impressed with the magnanimity of the Hearts fans on P&B too since the game. After our draws against the old firm, the message boards were rammed with supporters of those clubs waiting to tell us how pish we were and how lucky we'd been. They were talking rubbish, but Hearts supporters might have had more of a case to be aggrieved, as they have easily been the best team we've played over two fixtures, and had the better chances on Saturday. Instead, we get realism, rationality, graciousness and a recognistion that organisation and good defending are part of a successful team. Good on you.

Went for the United game in the end because of the overall quality of the performance and goals, and for the sheer unexpectedness of it, but it was quite a difficult decision. The best single moment of the season, I think, was Granty's equaliser againsr Celtic, although I also enjoyed our second at home against Aberdeen: the ball seemed to take forever to cross the line and it was pure euporia when it did.

I wondered about that a bit too, but maybe it says something about his standards: perhaps he realised we were not at our best today and thought that it would be presumptious to do the whole crowd thing, despite the achievement. Anyway, as far as the performance goes, I concur with everything that has gone before. Hayes was anonymous, Cox seemed to be on the wrong side of the ball too much, we couldn't retain the ball at all in the second half, but the defence was immense. Rosscoe continues to confound all the reservations people have had about him as a central defender, and Munro must be one of the most underrated players in the SPL. Superb from both, and Duff also had a pretty good game up against Templeton, especially considering he was booked so early. Truthfully, we were maybe a little lucky to get a point from that game considering the imbalance of possession, but there's no disgrace in that; Hearts are the best team we have faced this season and I could see them finishing above Celtic.

If you wake up early Andrew we are meeting in The Counting House for 09:30 for a fry up and a cheeky pint or three :-) I'll keep it in mind, but it would probably be a disastrous error of judgement. I need to stay awake at least until full time...

I'm aiming to get the 11.30 train from Queen St then heading up to Diggers with Caley Stan. Work night out on Friday, unfortunately, so might be a little fragile.

Could be they've been assured Willie Miller need not be staying on as DOF. Could be . Chick Young is now claiming on Sportsound that Brown will take the job - possibly to be confirmed later this evening. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Willie Miller who pushed for Brown's appointment. There's a strong relationship there as far as I know - bizarrely, Brown was suggesting Miller for the Scotland job a few years back. I think it was either after Vogts' or Smith's period in charge. He said something along the lines of Miller being an excellent coach and tactician who hadn't had a fair crack of the whip. No doubt, as you suggested earlier, the Butcher for Motherwell bandwagon will start rolling if Chick is correct. Please God, no.

Done and dusted and wonderful service as usual! Just pray the train gets through OK now...

Tried a couple of times, but it went straight to mailbox. Thanks anyway. I'll try to remember to phone tomorrow.

Right, I know I should probably be checking this via phonecall or pm to L-G or the club shop instead of cluttering up the forum with this, but time's short and I keep forgetting to check while I'm at work. So, does anyone know if I'll be able to buy a ticket at the ground just before the game on Saturday? I've booked a train to come up tomorrow night, but I'm still not 100% that it'll be running so I've held off buying a ticket in advance. Don't imagine it'll sell out, will it?

Ah. Cheers, Don. B*gger. I thought they'd be fairly easy to get hold of. Wonder if she'd knit me one?...

Excellent story and pictures, mate. Have a greeny. Edited to add: not quite as exotic, but in the spirit of tm4tj's request, I just remembered I had this picture of Arbroathawayday taking the ICT message to Verona in 2005:

Looks good. Can anyone tell me if the 'Contemporary Bar' scarf is just the straightforward red and blue bar design? There's no image available for it on the site. The missus is hoping to get me one for Christmas as the scarf I currently have is too easily mistaken for a Rnagers scarf on the streets of weedge. Might ask for a club tie too - would be a nice wee feature at work.

At least the knots they used to tie it to the stand would have been secure...

According to one of the broadsheets at the weekend - either The Sunday Times or The Observer, can't remember which - the Spain/Portugal bid was the clear favourite, on the first round of voting at least. But then a lot of pundits on the BBC tonight were plumping for Russia. Neither seemed to think England stood much of a chance. I'd like to see a World Cup in the British Isles in my lifetime, but I'd also like to see Russia get it if only because they've never hosted it before.

I'd be suprised if Butcher ended up in this job, although Richard Gordon, as an Aberdeen supporter, is understandably pushing the idea pretty enthusiastically. Milne will have to fork out a lot to pay McGhee off and he'd surely have to offer TB a pretty good incentive both in terms of wages and transfer budget to persuade him to join. Also, would Terry really want to exchange the stability and potential in Inverness for a club that has been such a graveyard for managers over the past 20 years, and where morale is obviously awful and the squad so poor? It's a bigger club, sure, and as he showed by coming to us, Terry isn't afraid of a challenge, but he seems genuinely happy with us and if he is really ambitious for a move to a bigger club then surely continued success with ICT would put him in the shop window for a much more attractive move than this one.

A really good interview - strongly recommend that anyone who didn't hear it should try to find it on iPlayer. TB came across as so enthusiastic about the squad, the players and the lifestyle Inverness offers. He must speak better than just about any manager working in Scotland at the moment. Genuine admiration from all the pundits too - we're definitely starting to get some appreciation for what we've achieved so far this season, from the Beeb at least. The best bit, though, was the compilation of the Sportsound commentaries of all our winning goals, and the equalisers against the old firm: I was dancing about while washing the dishes.

One of the reasons that the Highlands, and Inverness in particular, was such a magnet for economic migrants from Poland a few years ago, was that a superclub in Krakow used to play 'Bring It On Home' at the climax of every night. Rumour has it that its popularity spread to Romania and this is the real reason that Marius signed for us.

Feckin' SPL fixture arangements. Just realised that I could have said I'd been to every one of the games if it wasn't for that Tuesday night match in Aberdeen which I'd no way of getting to. What a fantastic experience it's been though: even though I'm hugely nostalgic about the Paterson era, the last year has been the most enjoyable period I've ever had as an ICT supporter. Don't think I realised how much the team maintaining the run mattered to me until the second Celtic goal went in yesterday. I was utterly gutted. Made the comeback all the sweeter, though: it really did feel like a victory. Totally agree about Lennon, by the way: what an ungracious kn0b. Caley Thistle weren't a threat? Even though they had more shots on target than Celtic? And Celtic's defenders spent all but ten minutes for the second half visibly creaming themselves. I thought Lennon had been quite respectful towards us in the run-up to the game, but as soon as he doesn't get his own way, his true colours emerge.

Jolly good - will look forward to Hayes ripping him a colander of new @rseholes. Just hope Celtic don't get too many free kicks around the box.

Breaking news on Sportsound... apparently the Portuguese refs landed in Glasgow, heard the truth about the strike and got on the next plane home. Two more games probably off. What a massive clusterf*ck. Hope they don't start transferring the refs around in an effort to protect the televised games, or we might find our game is off after all. Looking forward to this game is the only thing that's been keeping me sane over the past couple of days. ..and now they're reporting that the SFA are claiming they still have cover for these guys and that the six SPL games will go ahead. Sheesh.

Cheers for the kind words, guys. Got to admit I had fun with this one. It was actually written last Saturday, hence the lack of reference to the refs' strike. I think I'd have admitted defeat if I had to try to get that into it as well. Your next challenge, Alternative Maryhill, is to do a Dundee Utd preview in the style of McGonagall. "Twas in the year of nineteen hundred and ninety-four When a team from the north knocked on the SFL's door" Yngwie, that's my job! I was actually brought up in a tenement flat in Dundee that William Topaz McGonagall lived in. No kidding. My Dad always reckoned that I talked a load of sh*te because I'd been infected by the place. Poetry, it'll be the death of me. I'll look forward to that, Davie! This one could run and run: 'Previews in the style of...' Hibs preview in the style of Irvine Welsh, anyone? Don't think the swear filter could cope...

What an oik. It was all Earl Grey and Bakewell slices up on the hill.

Great article Mannie. Roy comes across really well. Also, doesn't it make you proud to support a club that has risen as quickly as ICT has while still having had seven players make over 300 appearances for the club? That sort of loyalty and stability is a real rarity in football these days.

I hadn;t realised that. Been to Ochilview before, so maybe one of the others instead. Add Stranraer to the list too.

Great read Davie. Once more into the breach... Just had a wee look at that Angry German Kid thing too: shades of Ian McCall at TCS.