ALSY

I'm with Kiltarlity and Bronson here. Bullock took the abuse in good part at first and some of the banter was really funny but a few guys behind the goal kept it up for half the second half, and some of their comments were completely inappropriate. Remember that as well as there being children in the crowd, statistically it is likely that there were a significant minority that have sufferered some sort of abuse as children. They don't need to be reminded of their experience or have it trivialised just so an opposition player can be wound up. And please, don't come back with "Well they shouldn't go to football matches / they should sit in the stand if they can't take it" - going to a game should be about enjoying the football and supporting the team without being made to feel uncomfortable by persistent comments about sensitive subjects such as paedophilia.

On the basis of yesterday, Wood. I don't necessarily think Rory lacks hunger, but Wood certainly looked sharper and more effective with the ball at his feet. We should hold our fire on sending ANYONE out on loan, though - even if the work permit comes through, Niculae has a bad injury record, and Dean and Bayne being injured so early is ominous: if either is rushed back too soon there is a gretaer chance of a recurrence.

Surprised no-one has made more of the other substitutions - Zander was excellent, Black looked a class above as usual but I also thought Cowie made a huge difference when he came on. He was solid, used the ball well, got it out to the flanks far more than Hart or Mcbain (before he moved wide in the second) did, and also got forwrd well on occasion. About ten minutes from the end he made an excellent diagonal run to the edge of the box, took a long ball from Joinville beautifully and set up a decent chance for Garry Wood. This is the first time I've seen him play, but on today's evidence I think we could do worse than him and Black in the middle, with Rankin pushed wide. This would also give us a bit more height in midfield. Wood also looked a real prospect - matches Rory for size, made intelligent runs and in just two or three touches looked trickier than Rory with the ball at his feet. If Bayne doesn't make it next weekend then it might be worth pitching him in against the Huns: like Zander, he doesn't seem to lack confidence. As for the rest? The regular defenders were fine - thought Caff did very well at right back - but am unsure about Joinville. He seemed to mistime an awful lot of headers, was a bit clumsy when tracking back and looked isolated - perhaps Granty should have talked him through the game more. He did show some nice touches in the second half and won a few more headers, but whether he is reliable enough as a defender in the SPL I just don't know. The midfield, allegedly our strongest area, was a big disappointment in the first half. Wilson and Rankin both looked tentative, didn't use the ball nearly as creatively or effectively as you would expect against a second division team and (although someone always says this at the start of every season and he proves them wrong) I thought Wilson looked off the pace. McBain in the first half seemed to be the holding midfielder more than Hart, and he didn't have any real presence. Hart ran about a lot but wasn't effective. There was no imagination and no penetration. And in the attack, Wyness was anonymous in the first half but came on to a game in the second with some lovely touches and good linking play, and Rory worked hard, had at least one excellent shot, but as we saw last season, did not seem to have the speed of thought or ability with the ball at his feet to trouble good defenders. To sum up, on the basis of the first half I was really fearing for us next season, but by the end of the second, thanks to Sutherland, Cowie, Black and Wood, I was pretty excited.

Just watching Andrew Marr's History of Britain there and I think I caught sight of a clip of Tony Blair playing football against a team of girls in what looked like our strip from around '96-97, on a ground that looked v like TCS. Can anyone confirm? Was this part of the pre-'97 election charm offensive? Or am I suffering from close-season withdrawal and hallucinations?

Report in today's "Herald": "Inverness Caledonian Thistle are in talks over a pre-season friendly against Qatar. Charlie Christie's side have been approached by Errea, their Italian kit manufacturer, over the possibility of playing the Middle Eastern nation during next month's week-long trip to Italy." Qatar's current Fifa world ranking: 83. 8 places below Wales, 11 above Canada.

I agree - in fact I'd like to see him get more of a run in the Scotland side - but although Aberdeen fans were talking about his potential for a long time, he wasn't really given much recognition outside Aberdeen until he took on the responsibility of the captaincy. Dods has been great for us, but I think he's sometimes been given too much credit for the success of our defence while we've been in the SPL, partly because he has a higher profile as captain and partly because he's more of a known quantity to central belt journalists having been at Hibs and St Johnstone. Grant may be less "imposing", but his tracking back and last-minute interceptions have saved us in an awful lot of games, and I'd argue he's at least as good as Anderson or Stephen McManus with the ball at his feet.

Wasn't Barry involved in the Raith Rovers team that led Bayern Munich at half time in the Olympic Stadium? That wouldn't be a bad wee fixture... :004:

Good article. For me he's been our most impressive player in terms of consistency since we came into the SPL and I think he's been a bit overlooked by the sports media in Scotland. It's good, too, to hear from a player who is clearly ambitious yet seems committed to the club rather than talking about moving on to get recognition. Making him captain would raise his profile and perhaps, if we can start challenging for a top 6 place, he'll start to be talked about the way Russell Anderson has been talked about for a few seasons now. Breaking into the Scotland squad is always going to be difficult, but you never know - Weir and Dailly are coming to the end of their careers. Still lot of competition - Anderson, McManus, Caldwell, possibly Kennedy and Broadfoot now - but he's one of the few players we've got that I think still has international potential (Black and Sutherland being the other possibles).

Hopefully Rangers away. Always good to start the season with a stick-on 3 pointer. :004:

amc - surely one of our great strengths is that the continuity in the squad has led to an excellent team spirit and a level of trust between players and management that most clubs can only envy? Recently players that have been on the fringes (Hart, Caff) have comeback in and done excellently. If the squad is disrupted by an influx of new players, surely such players will finally lose patience and want away? There's also no guarantee that any players we can afford will be any better than those we already have. The flipside, of course, is that the existing players might become complacent if we don't make many signings, but there's been no evidence of that so far. I think the club's approach is spot on.

We shouldn't put too much emphasis on this top 6 finish - depth of squad & finance are always going to make it difficult for us to break through there. I'd be happier with another 8th or 9th and at least one good cup run. Was heartbroken when another day out at Hampden was snatched away from us by the Neanderthal and little plastic Kenny Miller. Next season ICT = CIS Cup champions. Believe.

No place for Hastings among the heroes after his best ever season for us? Or Wilson? Fair play to Hart too for apparently excellent form in the last few games - great to see a player determined to win back and keep his place.

We could always ask Elton to stick Watford in the back of his limo...

Ah. So they are. That's the last smartarsed comment I post.

Do you think Parkie always refers to CC as "Manager Charlie Christie" whenever he speaks to the media?...

Wilson less effective recently? I thought he was outstanding on Sunday - rivalled Blackie for MOM imho. If Roy's fit, same line-up as against Celtic. If not, put Hart in on the right and play Rankin wide left. Marcus as an early sub if that's not working.

Sorry if this is being negative IHE, but I think the reason we tend to show well against Celtic in particular is because they try to play a passing game instead of killing the game or lumping it up the field. This means we get more time and space when we're in possession and our best ball players - Rankin, Wilson, Black - get the chance to build moves and show what they can do. When we play a team that don't have any real flow we too often get sucked into doing the same - hence why the games against Aberdeen are invariably keech and why that game against a Hearts team that barely knew each other two weeks ago was such a godawful spectacle. With our strikers out we don't have the players to grab the half-chances that crop up in such games. Unfortunately I can see a lot more 0-0s in the run-in.

Black WAS fantastic and I agree his substitution was probably the turning point. To give Charlie the benefit of the doubt, though, he'd conceded two free kicks after his booking and was pretty late and high with the second challenge - my mate & I were worried he might get a second yellow for that. Suspect Charlie was thinking the same, although he did leave him on for a wee while after the aforementioned tackle. Incidentally - same team for next week please, CC.

Not sure if Black would have added anything on Saturday - in fact the way Kingston created space for himself might well have tempted Black into one of his late challenges. I thought all of the midfield did OK, in particular Duncan, who would be the obvious choice to make way for Black. HOWEVER, given that Rory didn't seem to have much strength or imagination up front and McSwegan's probably not got 90 minutes in him, does anyone else see any wisdom in giving Wilson a run up front against Motherwell, pushing Rankin out wide right and restoring Black to the middle? Wilson did OK for a few games up front in our first season in the SPL, and under Pele a few seasons before that.

We could gripe about this for time immemorial and it won't make any difference. HOWEVER... How, given our goal difference compared to the Midden's, can Kirk Broadfoot make the B squad when Grant Munro has never been mentioned? And why is Ian Murray in the main squad having done feck all all season, and Barry Robson's name isn't anywhere? Depressingly for an ex-Aberdeen player, McLeish seems to have developed central belt myopia very quickly.

Train, bus, foot, pogo stick... just make sure you get there! Bring this one on. Hearts in disarray, none of the players know each other, ICT on the up... I foesee another bit of Roscoe juggling on the edge of the penalty area before he launches one into the top left corner. Where are the Inverness fans gathering?

Of those I've seen play, Willie Miller.

Guess this answers my post on the 'forwards, or lack of them' thread...

Chris, if you're on foot it's a bit of a hike, although the scenery's better than most urban walks (apart from the Kaunas scarves flooding towards the stadium). Assuming you can find your way to Princes St from St Andrews Sq, just walk right up the length of it and continue on down Shandwick Place & West Maitland St until you get to Haymarket Station. At Haymarket take the left hand fork, which is Dalry Road and which eventually becomes Gorgie Road. Tynecastle sits just off Gorgie Road. It's a good couple of miles at least, but there are a few decent pubs on the way. Alternatively, a 3, 3A, 25 or 33 bus from Princes St will take you right up Gorgie Road. Or, most simple still, take the train instead, get off at Haymarket and walk the last mile (Dalry Road, Gorgie Road etc). One of the better grounds to visit, and the walk back's well worth it if you've just pumped them...

If the situation proves desperate, I heard on Sportsound last night that Tam McManus has been released by Falkirk and is therefore available outwith the transfer window. His name's been mentioned on this board before but has generally been dismissed because of his off-the-field discipline and failure to fulfil his potential on it. However, would there be a case for offering him a short-term contract (assuming he doesn't still think he's worth more than we can offer)? We are, after all, the "second chance club" [© M. Brown.].