Row S

Vincent virtually anonymous yet again tonight and also culpable at losing the ball in the build up to their first goal. What a waste having Ross and Christie on the bench. Not looking forward to seeing the blunder for their second.

I'm going with a 3-5-2 as follows: -

Brill

Warren - Devine - Meekings

Raven - Tansey - Foran - Christie - Shinnie

Watkins - McKay

Subs - Esson, Tremarco, Pepper, Ross, Draper, Evans & Doran

I've been saying it for weeks now that Draper flatters to deceive and Vincent can't keep up with the pace in games. Both lose the ball too easily which puts pressure on our defence. We also need to tighten up in defence so I would like to see three at the very back with Raven and Shinnie playing a dual role as wing-backs breaking down attacks from the opposition and supporting our attacks. Foran has to play the main anchor role in midfield and young Ryan has done enough in his last three games as sub to warrant a start.  

A massive thanks from me too. They deserved much more than 7000 fans turning out for all their efforts.

Brill

Raven - Devine - Meekings - Shinnie

Draper - Foran

Watkins - Tansey - Doran (if fit) or Ross

McKay

Subs: Esson, Tremarco, Williams, Christie, Ross or Vincent (if Doran isn't fit)

After yesterday I will definitely need a "stimulant" of some description to get me into a positive mood. A few stiff drinks in Glasgow before the game is a must therefore.   

Cup final places up for grabs, some players need to be rested and suspensions to contend with, so I'd go with:

Esson

Pepper - Warren - Devine - Tremarco

Doran - Polworth - Foran - Shinnie

Ross

McKay  

Subs: Brill, Raven, Meekings, Williams, Vincent, Christie & Greenhaugh 

Rest him on Wednesday then bring him back for the final.

Was it not Foran's decision to play towards the bridge end from kick off? He won the toss, said switch round, placing Brill with their fans behind him then United kicked off.

Poorest all round performance all season. Schoolboy errors bad enough but Collum's shocking decisions on the penalty and red cards rubbed salt into self inflicted wounds.

So much for Devine getting a game today too. He should have come on for Josh after his injury.

I know the home support was down in numbers but no way was it less than 1000. More like 1800. 2100 Arabs there.

I still think our 7500+ could out-sing the Furryboots glory hunters esp when we go 2-0 up in the first half. They just think they only have to turn up to win it.

Slippery Roy got the Co#nty numbers up by giving his 3000 employees and their families free tickets and buses for the 2010 SC final. We don't have such a benefactor.

Changing tack slightly, when will our cup victory parade take place?

Did we not manage near 7000 at our first Scottish Cup semi v Dundee in 2003?  

 

What were the 11 sites? Why was inshes never given serious thought, where matalan is? Personally i think that would have been a good site, right in amongst housing, shops etc. a good base to expand future support

As is the one from Row S, this is very perceptive post which has sent me into the bottom of the wardrobe to find the copy of Bruce Hare's report which Fiona Larg gave me when I was writing the book, in which I didn't list all 11. But these are - Stratton Farm, East Seafield, West Seafield, East Longman, The Inshes, Drumossie, Cradlehall, Castle Heather, Torvean Quarry, Holm Mains and Beechwood. The short list was - Stratton Farm, West Seafield, East Longman and The Inshes. That then boiled down to Stratton and East Longman and the rest is history.

Seven departed at the first hurdle for reasons ranging to sheer impracticability (Torvean - see Renegade's post) to cost of land and probable resident opposition (Inshes). I imagine that the Matalan site comes under Inshes and I also don't know what the local plan might have been saying for there, given the way things have developed since 1994.

 

Regarding the Bught area, I think the problem of getting traffic in and out would have been insurmountable and will remain so until this new road goes in. Just about everything would have to go over the Ness Bridge and along Glenurquhart Road which are already a nightmare.

Row S is absolutely correct in saying that Stratton Farm scored highest - but not initially! The matrix which Hare produced clearly shows East Longman as the leader and that was the case in his interim report. But come the final report (with, one suspects, some lobbying from INE who wanted to kick start the Golden Mile) Stratton had miraculously taken over as the leader. 

 

I know there is an ongoing viewpoint that a new stadium site should be considered, but I really can't see a viable alternative to the current arangement - even though Hare's report did stress that East Longman's attraction depended on moving the travelling people and the salt store, which has never been done.

 

Charles - Your excellent record keeping has brought it all back to me. As both a supporter and a town planner it was a great exercise to be involved in.

Stratton Farm emerged as the preferred choice in view of the best access to the trunk and local road networks for away and home supporters' traffic. It was also on a bus route with a frequent service. 

You may recall that the new road connecting the stadium to the harbour under the Kessock Bridge did not exist other than as a dotted line in the Council's Local Plan in 1994. A share of this eventually had to be included in the cost of the stadium development. There was also some doubt about the landfill gas situation at the East Longman tip and the limitations of the gas main (which restricts the width of the fourth stand). 

The Inshes site was allocated for community facilities and a park in the Local Plan - church, health centre, fitness club, Inshes park etc but then got permission for retailing as well. The Bught area would only have been possible if the West Link of the SDR had been in place.

I also remember the point being made at the time that as the club did not have "Inverness" in its name why did it have to be within in the town boundary?   

Stratton Farm scored the highest score in the feasibility study carried out in 2004, which I was party to. As such, it is still my first choice. It is also jointly owned by a former chairman and current director of the club together with two directors of Nairn County.

My mate appears to have hold of a 49 seater bus and a driver so has contacted CJT in order to get a comms out to anyone on a waiting list to fill it. there are 5 of us in the group already so we have 38 spare seats.

 

Looking at £10 a head return so might be able to take a few more bods down the road!

Sounds great. We're on that list (2 of us) but have heard nothing further from CJT since Saturday night so count us in.

3-0! We only won 3-0! If we had shown more composure in their box it could have been 7. We were immense tonight and that was with Vincent and Draper having a poor game too. If Marley had been on earlier...

.... Close thing between Foran and Shinnie for MotM.

I disagree. I just don't see what he brings to the team. He loses possession too easily and commits some clumsy fouls. His attempted shot in the first half was unreal.

3-0! We only won 3-0! If we had shown more composure in their box it could have been 7. We were immense tonight and that was with Vincent and Draper having a poor game too. If Marley had been on earlier...

.... Close thing between Foran and Shinnie for MotM.

 

Fraz said that "you may have to walk to Celtic park from a coach stop too". I cant see that this walk will be significantly longer than the one from Bellgrove as I thought that supporters' buses normally park quite near the ground.

So, is that a definite no to more buses being run through CJT to the final? If so we need to start looking for an alternative and I am now concerned that we might miss the opportunity to get on the first (and possibly only) special train. No official word from CJT yet.

I never said that about walking from the bus. ETA> I presume that you weren't on a semi-final bus where it was a good 10 minute or so walk to Easter Road from where they parked?

 

I certainly never said that there will definitely be no more buses. All I've done is laid out the facts as they currently stand.

Advice is that the best value and easiest way at the moment is the train. Which is heavily subsidised. If the walk is a major issue you could perhaps club together with another couple of fans and get a cab. Wouldn't be more than a few pounds between you.

There are still spaces on the train.

 

Hey Fraz, I think we are both straying away from the main issue here. It's not about the walking distance etc as all I want to know is whether more buses are going to be laid on. My preference is to go by supporters' bus and I am currently on the CJT waiting list for two places on a bus. However, if it is confirmed that no extra buses are being run then I will happily make alternative arrangements, train, car etc. What I don't want is to miss out on booking a place on the 09.00 train while I wait to hear whether or not extra buses are being run.  

Fraz said that "you may have to walk to Celtic park from a coach stop too". I cant see that this walk will be significantly longer than the one from Bellgrove as I thought that supporters' buses normally park quite near the ground.

So, is that a definite no to more buses being run through CJT to the final? If so we need to start looking for an alternative and I am now concerned that we might miss the opportunity to get on the first (and possibly only) special train. No official word from CJT yet. 

All the more reason to go on a supporters' bus but if no more than 10 are being run and these are all full............ The dilemma now is how long should we stay on the waiting list for a bus before it's too late to try and get a seat on a train?

No word on extra buses then?

Will SPT put on enough trains to get fans from Queen Street to Bellgrove in light of more than just special train fans likely to use that service.

Better to watch highlights on line. At least we weren't on last tonight. I'm usually struggling to stay awake for our game to come on.

I agree about the so called pundits. Thompson defends the indefensible again. Nevin is an annoying wee **** anyway, just like Billy Dodds.

Ordered tickets at stadium this morning. Have to wait a week before we get them in our hands though.

On most match days this car park is normally off limits to fans. They usually lock the gates well beforehand so it is surprising a number of cars got trapped in there last night.

Also I have to say that the parking habits of a lot of fans out on the adjacent roads (pavements and verges) at the Courier building is pretty disrespectful to pedestrians. Many are illegally parked around the junctions. If they parked like that in a residential area they would be booked by the police or wardens. There has been a few near misses with pedestrians trying to cross over the road perpetrated by illegally parked vehicles opposite the New Century House access. It is only a matter of time before someone gets knocked down or the police take action as they did on the verges on the A9 approach to the stadium.

Much better although they have still included part of that corner normally kept for away fans. Here's hoping we can get enough folk to expand to the upper tier too. 

Esson

Raven - Devine - Meekings - Shinnie

Foran - Tansey

Watkins - Vincent - Ross

McKay

Subs: Brill, Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Doran, Williams & Christie

Less that four weeks to go and still no arrangements made public. Hopefully we will know what our ticket allocation is early this week and when they go on sale. We really need to start booking buses and Scotrail need to decide if they are laying on extra trains.