absent friend

My point, dear sir, is a reply to your very own, as highlighted above.

I trust that all of you with this problem of Bilingual signage do not hire cars when holidaying in the tourist areas of Spain. The thought of all the accidents you will cause trying to read the English translation of the Spanish signage, has me out in a cold sweat! (To think they even make you drive on the 'wrong' side of the road too!) Perhaps another question in the car hire insurance form could be 'Do you have difficulty in reading bilingual signs due to age/eyesight/lack of concentration/too many words for your reading ability?' No doubt your answer will be 'No' unless there is Gaelic on the sign. Anyway, how very much, dare they, in Lewis, Harris or Skye, or elsewhere, use Gaelic words on signage - do they not realise that some folk from non-Gaelic speaking backgrounds could visit! Furthermore, to hint to visitors that Gaelic was ever spoken in the Highlands is unfair as we all spoke English prior to the garrison being established in Inverness, didn't we? History, who cares about history? .

The answer is 1 year ?138000 2 years ?151000 5 years ?227000 10 years ?353000 Not bad security for a ?100,000 loan for us bankers. Eh! .

This would have been at the time the ?100,000 loan was granted. Let's assume the following scenerios and offer your current value of the property now, if the loan had been taken up at that time. a) house bought 12 months ago house bought 2 years ago c) house bought 5 years ago D) house bought 10 years ago. The purchase of the property would take place if the lenders offered the correct terms to first time buyers. It is their presence that triggers off the whole market and unless they are catered for, stagnation occurs. ( I do accept that releasing your current property into the Buy2 Let market has the same effect but not everyone wishes to be this exposed) .

The mortgage rate averaged 11% for the 25 years up to 1990 and circa 60% of that for the remaining period up to now. When the mortgage rate was 16% here - 1990 -the French rate was 6% and the German rate 7% . The problem we had was there were no financial mechanics in place, at that time, to borrow from the above countries for your mortgage. We now have the option to take advantage of Euro mortgages/ $ mortgages - unless they are all to move up to this ridiculous high rate you refer to - if so it takes the Governments of the countries out of the equation (in the main) as it is a Global happening and not bad management. If the rate becomes high and we, the taxpayer, are a majority shareholder in that vehicle are we then to enjoy, what was it ?1000 per minute profit? Bring it on!! I take it from your doom laden stance that you do not see any value in the assets we have bought into and you feel that all bank loans will not be honoured. If that is not the case I fail to see the bigger problem, long term. Lend ?100000, have ?250000/?350000 repaid to you, the lender, over the term, with a house valued at ?150,000 held as security in case of non payment. Bombard the mortgage holder with Loans/Insurance/ travel plans/ ISA's/ etc - plus , of course, bank charges every time they enter a bank! I would say we bankers are on a winner once the market starts to move. Non-Secured loans/Credit Cards are a bigger risk with a bigger interest rate reflecting this and it is unfair to assume that all the people or the majority of people will not repay their debt to the bank. If my faith in human nature is correct and the monies are repaid as per their repayment schedule, our holding in the banks is a sure bet and we as a country are on a winner. As I said above - Bring It On!! .

gosh here we go , Perm anyone from whatever we have left!!! You have no, repeat strikers, otherwise Saturday with the spirit showed , u would have won repeat NO strikers Come again? Well we have no strikers that are striking! I think we should have a friendly game against Elgin or Inverness Ladies and get our forwards to score a barrowload - feel what hitting the back of the net is like and gain a little bit of confidence. Had we an ounce of confidence up front on Saturday we would at least have had a replay. .

Well now, Mystic Meg's chrystal ball has come good! 'DZ will make a mistake!' He Did! 'All the fans believe the utterings of Mystic Meg' They do?? 'Not fit to play in the SPL' MOM anybody!(Not yesterday) 'Mystic Meg knows the players abilities better than the management team' But of course! I suppose one out of four ain't bad or is the ball due an MOT! Costing us money? Perhaps yesterday has saved us a lot of money now that we can concentrate our energy on remaining in the SPL! .

Scotty, I see you had a good young keeper at Toronto that has just been signed in the SPL. (I can't remember the team that signed him) It would be difficult for our club to know of him being so far away unless they were alerted to this or he was being 'introduced' by his agent, with the inherent fees. I would also imagine that our wages, to a Latvian, would be acceptable and we can also showcase him in the SPL, offering a step up into the EPL, if he is good enough. All good selling points for coming to us, with little fees involved. Alerting that club can do no harm, if they ignore it, so be it but you have tried your best for them.

My memories of the BB Concert in the Empire was the skit showing the operating theatre at work! A bright light behind the actors allowed the audience to see the operation, silhouetted, through a flimsy curtain. The fun was the cutting off of limbs by the surgeon- oh, no, mistake! Then sewing them back on but back to front. We were rolling in the aisles as the back to front limbs were flapped around, childish I realise but back in those days we were children and not the grown up teenagers we seem to have now, that find it all 'dead boring'!

Harry, I take on board that we should not get carried away but we only lost to Motherwell due to two, very out of character, mistakes by two very experienced players. I feel we were unlucky to lose that game but I suppose luck has a way of coming back round as we found out last night! We must already be improving our home record, not difficultv that's for sure, and our goals against appears to be at last showing some improvement - so our defence is better. We need some goals - who cares who scores them - but they are badly needed - then we can all buy into the Hype! .

The BBC reporters, last night, were very impressed with him and were recounting the story about him that TB told them. TB was so impressed wih him that he asked his history and it transpired that he is from the Ivory Coast and TB, winding him up, told him he would contact the Ivory Coast and see if he could recommend him for a cap. He is now walking on air waiting for the call!

Well now Mystic Meg, some of us can get it correct without your magic ball!

It would be interesting to see whether any of those who thought it was a good idea to give Craig Brewster even more time are still of that opinion. I am on the board somewhere, after Butch's first two weeks in place, congratulating the forces that managed to urge the move. However I don't see the sense, at a time like this, to fragment the support by opening past differences. We already have one poster who wants the Board to come on here and admit they were wrong - now this thread wants fans on here to admit they were wrong. Accept that the pressure from the fans, if it was that, created a NEW way forward for ICT and lets enjoy it, collectively, as fans. .

Aye, right! Zadi is not doing better than expected - when he was reintroduced into the team we all felt it was a mistake but the management team were obviously aware and had worked on an area with him that has made a big difference - he has been turned into the best left back we have! The posters on here, in varying degrees, accept that he has ably earned MOM title in the majority of games under Butch!! Maybe I am tedious and a tosher BUT I accept Zadi for what he is at this time and have no 'Mystic Meg' predictions to offer re his future footballing behaviour, as you claim to have.

I am just pleased that you are all giving Esson another chance after Saturday's blunder. Speaks volumes for your maturity - if that was an OF keeper their 'fans' would be baying for his transfer! I bet Esson will play out of his skin, just to prove us all correct!

Even the BBC remarked on his 'jogging back, without urgency' to help Rossco- but I am sure Butch will have had a wee word in the ear by now!

I agree 100%. It seems to me that certain posters on here can't wait for Zadi to mess up so that they can be first in with the 'I told you so' comments What a load of tosh - I have been critical cos I simply do not think that he is a full back and I am concerned that he is in a position where he will make a mistake that could really cost us. Long may he continue to flourish but history suggests that his playing well spells are short lived. Castle Greyskull may well tell us if he really has the bottle for the fite. No, what is tosh - the long standing defender made a howler that you would like to see attributed to Zadi, our experienced keeper made a novice mistake that you would like to see attributed to Zadi and all we hear is wait, Zadi will make a howler that could really cost us - what in the heck did the two howlers on Saturday do but cost us and cost us dearly!!! Be sure Zadi will make a mistake, we all do, but for me he has saved us in the past few games when others around him are making howlers and costing us points! But he is the one to be attacked - relentlessly. We have our hate 'Rossco posters' - normally young laddies who are expecting 'Neville' like defending from a player in our wee team but this campaign, which may turn out to be correct if Zadi loses his confidence, is somewhat tedious. .

Is this not Imrie?? Is this not Grantie Is this not Esson Four times MOM!! You have to wonder at critics that fail to see this players ability and continually wait for failure a la Imrie, Munro and Esson! If he had carried out any of the above I wonder if we would have had a reaction? You bet, something like ''I told you this would happen, I warned Terry, I warned you on here'' We don't have a player that is faultless and therefore every player, if you wish, is a target and our big left back is no exception. What a real critic does, of course, is balance the good against the bad and our big boy, right now, is building up a lot of 'good' so is entitled to a little 'bad' at some time. .

I think the days of 'hardmen' have gone from the game, the fact that the playing days of the players mentioned are all memories to us oldies, tells a tale. Modern teams can have an Ian amongst their rank, an annoyance, but as we appreciate there is more of a skilled player than a hardman inside the wee man. I think it is the way the modern game has gone, I enjoyed the old days with heavier challenges being accepted, but the referees are very quick on the cards now and your 'hardman' would miss a lot of the playing season and teams cannot afford this luxury.

If they are under pressure, which cannot be diffused by blame laid at their managers door, as was the case, perhaps this highlights some of the historic ICT problem. The players did not accepted responsibility under Brew, all the play on the park was his fault, a simple miss kick - his training not good enough, his over training knackering up the players so they can't even kick a ball, etc. They have no excuse now and are therefore unable to duck the critics on here. Of course, they will be bad at times, how else are we at the bottom of the league? Of course, the difference between players, ie who to play, is a talking point, there are no outstanding players and the difference is therefore slight, how else are we at the bottom of the league? Butch has to make do with what he has and hope they play at their best and if they do we can put one over EVERY team in the league but Saturday's result perhaps just showed up our frailties. Don't despair, we will stay up and one reason being that Butch will make each and every member of the team be responsible, individually and collectively, even if it does create hiccups along the way. A big difference from the Brew days when NO or little, responsibility was directed at the playing staff because the critics had a scape goat! They must now be feeling pressure. .

Not the first reaction to that particular experience which would actually have occurred to me. Now Charles, me thinks thou dost protest too much!

Is there not a degree of past and future tense in the highlighted area? Would the US or UK have gone ahead if they had your knowledge of the future? I seem to remember the US President deciding, in Iraq, to the worlds press, that the job was done! Not quite the actions of a man with your knowledge of the future! Was the attack, backed by both sides of the house, seen as a long drawn out affair, unleashing internal historic strife between factions? I don't think so - but they did not have your knowledge of the future! I'll never forgive the ICT Board for Butchers appointment... I don't see how anyone in their right mind could argue it was the right thing to do, given the problems that have resulted from that action. HELP, what is he going to do??? Oh now wait a minute, we should all know that if we had your knowledge of the future!!

To dilute this 'head2head' banter, although I applaud both of you, your knowledge of the subject matter and appreciate your differing view points, can we all join in? My guestimate? 3.3 mil/ -10% on todays figure/current 1.1/1 will prevail. 3.3 mil will mask the true figure as many will have gone from our shores - they only came because of easy money. -10% will only harm the more recent purchasers as the historic rise in value will accommodate the negative value issue and also provided the repos are not sold at knock down prices, as in the old days, with the resultant valuations being tainted by the low figure. 1.1/1 will be a reflection of the Euro getting it's bum felt. If individual countries could change the Euro value, believe me, the Irish would be first in line! I'm sure the Punt would not be trading 1.1/1 if it was still in existence. I think maybe there would be a few wet ones in circulation by now. I feel at a time like this maybe the breadth of the Euro is a hindrance and a collective movement could be too little too late. Hence my feeling that we will still have this same ratio in 12 months time. The Positives Due to GREED the market when it returns will come back with a bang! All the punters will be buying up underpriced shares/businesses/building sites in the knowledge that they can maybe double/ treble there holding value in a short period of time, with little risk! The confidence will motivate the buyer/seller of property and they will create a market. The banks, I did mention greed, will be in there to get their fair share of the spoils. AND, todays situation will be reversed, lending will be back/employment will be up/ confidence will be up and so will the base rate, so you savers will be happy punters too!

I also see Byrne managed 80 mins in a thrilling game at Perth, so he must be match fit HOWEVER he ain't getting a game in our team with our MOM.

:thumb04: No .... does anyone else feel we are just waiting for Zadi to make a big mistake?? I think we all share this feeling due to the low opinion held when he was signed and, in fairness, his play under Brew did not move that opinion up the scale. What has happened now is amazing and we either enjoy it or sit on the edge of our seats each time he is involved in the game. I would like to think that we will see him flourish, due to coaching and confidence, into a big hearted, skilled defender with even IHE on his side. Choice on Saturday between Wilkie, Kenneth or Zadi, for the neutral and I feel Zadi would have shaded it. For us, we are still, like IHE, holding our breath at times.