Charles Bannerman

Part of the problem is the Central Belt mentality which has an aversion to travelling and which in some cases also has little conception of the world north of Castlecary Arches. Around three quarters of the Scottish population live within about a 40 mile radius of Falkirk (by coincidence Pressley's ultimate stopping place) and have become used to getting to a large number of Scottish destinations very quickly indeed. This is the case to such an extent that I have frequently heard complaints within another sport from the Glasgow people when the national championships are in Edinburgh - and vice versa. There is the additional factor that Scotland only has this single concentration of population which means that those who live outside it sometimes tend not to matter. After all, this is not a new problem. Remember 1973 when works team Ferranti Thistle got into the SFL ahead of the Jags? England is different. The South east certainly has a lot of people but there are also big concentrations in the likes of the West Midlands, the North West and the North East so they are a bit more used to the concept of large chunks of the populace not being close by. I suspect there is something of a cultural aspect to this too, which I believe goes back many centuries to the time when the then Gaelic speaking Highlands became culturally and politically divorced from the rest of the country. I really have found it not uncommon for some people from the Central Belt simply not to understand that "the North" is rather more than some homogeneous collection of communities situated right next door to each other and that we do not in fact live in adjacent mud huts a stone's throw from Brigadoon and see everybody else in the Highlands every day. For instance I have a hilarious recollection of being at a meeting in Glasgow and being handed a letter with the request that I should hand it on to Soandso. The trouble was, Soandso lived in Thurso!!! It is not at all surprising, therefore, that there is either a reluctance to come up here, or players want more to do so, or they do their "time" up here and then go back down south after a couple of years. By coincidence I had a discussion on this very issue with Michael Grant of The Sunday Herald on Thursday. The piece he was researching is on P18 opf today's Sport section and well worth a read.

I can assure you that no local football reporters were harmed in the making of that programme! Rather enjoyed the banter actually and I simply wasn't going to go any further and fudge the line between what I know and what could be considered as speculative... not for Traynor nor for anyone. :thumb04:

Far away?... Inverness from Glasgow? Not really. It's the kind of journey that teams like Inverness, Ross County, Elgin City, Aberdeen and Peterhead do, and further, on average fortnightly. There are actually several even longer trips in the Highland League. It's only a long way if you have Central Belt Syndrome and hence, for instance, have a moan if maybe Livingston rather than Clyde, win a cup replay, which means you have to travel something like 50 rather than 25 miles in the next round. I used to have a lot of time for Partick Thistle in the days when I simply perceived them as a worthy third team in Glasgow, a civilised alternative to Old Firm hype and some of the excesses shown by certain of their supporters. However the extreme bad grace with which Partick refused to accept the natural order of things in the summer of 2004 and simply would not depart in a civilised manner to the Scottish Football League changed my perception entirely. Whay can't Partick Thistle fans just get over it and accept that they are no longer big hitters in the Scottish game? It's a fate which has befallen others such as Raith Rovers, Dunfermline, St. Johnstone, Dundee etc. They have all been in the SPL, were relegated and have remained in the lower leagues and that is something they have accepted with a level of grace which, shall we say, has not been so apparent among a disappointingly large proportion of the Partick Thistle whose views I have experienced. Of course it is not by any means inconceivable that Caley Thistle could also be relegated this season. However I am commenting here on a match which took place last Saturday - ie in the present where the situation is that Caley Thistle are an SPL club of five years' standing while Partick Thistle have spent almost all of the last decade or so in the lower leagues during which period I believe they have undergone three relegations.

Not a nightmare draw for County or Elgin I would have thought. And inevitably on the likes of last Saturday there will be a poor gate when the visitors are a minor outfit from the lower leagues and therefore a pretty weak crowd puller, rather than the kind of SPL club to which Inverness has become used. I would be really disappointed if this kind of stuff was typical of The Herald which I thought had higher apsirations than being West Central Scotland's answer to the Nairnshire Telegraph.

I really think The Herald aspires to be rather more than a local Glasgow paper along the lines of the Carnoustie Guide and Gazette or the Nairnshire Telegraph. It's a quality national broadsheet but on this occasion has failed to live up to that reputation. Apart from the general tone of the article, the bit I actually found most hilarious was the statement Travelling to the other end of the land in January, and the expense this entails... Er.... this is the kind of journey Caley Thistle, Ross County and Aberdeen do fortnightly and Glasgow is actually nearer the "end of the land" than Inverness is. The only problem seems to be that the end of the land Inverness is nearer is the one of which far too many people have difficulty conceiving when Castlecary Arches seem like the north west frontier to them. There does appear to be a very resilient perception down there which mirrors the Aberdonian 1983 timewarp. The difference is that this one involves the delusion that Partick Thistle are still big hitters in Scottish football. Perhaps they should smell the coffee a bit more vigorously and remember that their recent history includes time in the Second Division. No disgrace at all... that kind of thing happens to a lot of clubs - it's just that in this case there seems to be some kind of lobby that finds that reality a bit difficult to accept. Even though it was almost five years ago now, I think a lot of people up here still remember Partick Thistle's "QC in the dugout" mentality during the summer of 2004 when Caley Thistle faced (and overcame) the most vigorous of rearguard actions in an attempt to keep them out of (and relegated Partick Thistle in) the SPL.

Find below, for your information and, if desired, comment, the report on the game in today's (Glasgow) Herald. (Why can't these boys just get over it and adjust to being a well established lower league club?) Inverness CT 3 - 0 Partick Thistle[ mailto:[email protected] ]DOUGLAS CAMPBELL January 12 2009 JOHN Robertson managed a smile as he chatted at the stadium's front door. The defender was being supported by crutches and in a strange manner, his situation almost perfectly summed-up what had just transpired for his Partick Thistle team on the grass. Elimination from the tournament at such an early stage must have been painful for the club's people to endure, but their performance was, in many respects, pleasing and, had a main striker been employed, a rather poor Inverness side may well have been brushed aside. As it was, the main difference between the sides was a little Portuguese gentleman named Filipe Morais, deemed surplus to requirements at Hibernian but thought good enough to stroll into the Inverness starting line-up. He hit the target twice, the first by way of a violent deflection, with the scoring being completed by Iain Vigurs. From a Thistle perspective, the tie started badly with the draw, and deteriorated further. What can a club look forward to having been paired away to Inverness? Travelling to the other end of the land in January, and the expense this entails, while the monetary remuneration against such a poorly supported club is minimal. There were just 1803 paying customers present at the weekend, and a good number of that attendance were wearing red and yellow. The Glasgow lot had been in good voice, briefly, but when Robertson was kicked and hobbled off with a damaged ankle, their decibel level seemed to diminish. A few minutes later, they were a goal down, and when Liam Buchanan, Thistle's main - some would say only - striker, remained indoors after the interval, oh dear. Still, Thistle's passing of the ball here and there was easy on the eye, but when the white of Michael Fraser's eyes in the Inverness goal was noticed, Thistle seemed inept, almost clueless, and in the end an effort from substitute midfielder Scott Chaplain was their only big threat. Of course, if Gerry Britton were to miraculously manage to discard a few years and a good deal of encumbering tissue, he would be just the type of guy to aid his team's cause in forward areas, however he must make do with an assistant-managerial role at Firhill. Having slumped into a chair in the media area, recording devices were thrust before him, but Britton seemed to take little notice. He stated the obvious, of course, Robertson's demise, Buchanan's illness, major factors in the match outcome, but he then tried to be positive, in that there would be no interruption to his team's planning and preparation for an all-out assault on the first division title. Despite the presence of Morais - a player who when given space looks impressive - Inverness, having taken part in the big playground for some time, did not really look convincing. Te paying customers who watch Thistle on a regular basis will hope Robertson, one of their best players for ages, will make a comeback of Lazarus proportion, but three points against St Johnstone on Saturday afternoon would certainly bring a smile to their faces.

As I said in a recent letter to the Courier, now the advertising campaign for The Homecoming has begun, the first of the inevitable string of Nessie sightings can't be all that far away. This just seems to be Highland Year of Culture Mark 2... without the fireworks with any luck. Quite frankly it's a load of commercially motivated pseudoromantic claptrap... sorry, I mean the "Homecoming" NOT the Cup!

The tartan was conceived in 1997 at the time Caley Thistle won the Third Division title and was first seen on the night of the end of season celebration in the Caley Hotel when it was worn by Dougie Riach and Dougie McGilvray.

I walked past my old Primary School today.... it's a University now, of course.

I have been following up Barry Wilson's move from ICT to Queen of the South and in the course of that, Barry has asked me if I would post a message of thanks on this board from himself to the Caley Thistle fans. The formalities of the move will be signed tomorrow and his contract at Inverness, which was to expire on 19th January, will be terminated on January 1st. Barry will therefore be eligible to make his QoS debut v Morton this Saturday and will also be clear to play in the Cup on January 10th since he is not yet cuptied. CaleyThistle fans not travelling to Hamilton on January 17th will have a chance to say farewell to him in Dingwall that day when QoS are away to Ross County. Barry was especially keen that his appreciation should be communicated to the fans, and in particular he mentioned this website where he asked for this post to be made. "They've said a lot of supportive things about me there and I would like them to know I appreciate that. The Caley Thistle fans have been great to me ever since I went there first in 1996 and I really would like to thaqnk them all for that," he said. The statistics are - 353 appearances (bettered only by Ross Tokely and Richard Hastings), 83 goals - bettered only by Dennis Wyness). These goals include the last of the previous and the first of the current millennium, the opener at Celtic Park on Feb 8th 2000, a goal in the defeat of St. Johnstone which won the Division 1 title and an especially memorable lob of the keeper in a Scottish Cup tie at Motherwell.

Just to let you know, I have checked with the club and can confirm that Lionel Djebi Zadi has not been released. This would appear to be a tale that has run out of control since an erroneous newspaper article earlier in the week.

That statement is in effect defamatory. All I have done is to have quoted ICT's Director of Football and his account of the manner in which events unfolded.

They might also pinch your tomato plants.

Rather similar, it seems to me scurrying home of old to St. Andrew Drive and looking anxiously over my left shoulder up the top bit of Laurel Avenue!

I actually make that 2.1739% larger. The alternative to cutting the price by to a fraction of 115/117.5 is to make the product larger by a factor of 117.5/115 (which is an increase of 2.1739% to 5 significant figures) and keep the price the same.

Perhaps if you would care to look at bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland or follow the link to it from the appropriate section of this site, you might get an insight into what has been happening. This is a summary of what Graeme Bennett told the BBC - * At the beginning of the season ICT made extension offers to Grant Munro, Ian Black, Don Cowie and Michael Fraser. *Don Cowie, on the advice of his agent, said he wanted to wait until the window. *Ian Black and Michael Fraser, through their agents, turned their offers down. * Grant Munro, who doesn't have an agent, agreed a 3 year extension back in October.

Cairns, boy! If you get that homework wrong I'm going to belt you! It IS a 2.5p VAT cut, that is 2.5p for every ?1 of purchase price before VAT.... equating to 2.13% of the full pre-cut purchase price. Or are you presenting some semantic argument about what constitutes "passing on" or some such?

To three significant figures, 12th man is actually spot on. At 17.5% VAT, the price is 117.5% of the pre tax purchase price. When VAT drops to 15% it becomes 115%.The new price is therefore 115/117.5 of the old one. That equates to 97.87% - a saving therefore of (100 - 97.87) = 2.13% which is exactly as 12th man stated. Caley D has forgotten that the VAT is actually included in the full purchase price. Go on then D.... apologise to the man!!

I would have thought the best CALEY squad must have been managed by Alex Main, Ray MacKintosh, Peter Corbett... or maybe somebody else before my day, or even before they employed a manager.

I would imagine that this would be unlikely, given that a Highland League team costs a minimum of around ?50,000 a year to run. There are between 2 and 5 clubs interested. If 5 were accepted that might open up the possibility of 2 leagues of 10 but that would have to be approved by the member clubs. Sandy Stables the Highland League chairman also told the BBC that, although he was in no way pre supposing anything Elgin might or might not want to do, he thought they would be welcome back in the Highland League should they wish to apply.

Not without precedent in Inverness. The Caley stand burned down in 1950, the Clach one in 1988 and Thistle in 1995! I've been warning the Inverness City folks to look after the Northern Meeting Park very carefully

In general, a pretty accurate and balanced appraisal. Could I perhaps summarise David Sutherland/ Tulloch's input to ICT? * In 2000 ICT was running a debt of over ?2M which, as Scotty said, could have put it the way of Gretna. David Sutherland to a large extent conceived and created the ICT Trust which miraculously spirited away that debt and took over ownership of the Caledonian Stadium. There is no doubt that David Sutherland's influence with the Bank of Scotland and his ability to make guarantees were central to this. * In 2002 cash flow still was not in great shape. Tullochs, in round figures, injected half a million, mainly through share uptake. However Tullochs have always gone out of their way not to become majority (ie more than 50%) shareholders. * By 2004 Caley Thistle were in the SPL but playing at crippling cost in Aberdeen. The very narrow passageway of rapidly upgrading to over 6000 seats emerged, with a deadline of January 2005. Tullochs largely facilitated and funded the construction of the north and south stands which went up in 47 days, bringing SPL football to Inverness, once again saving its finances and achieving its ongoing status in the top league. * David Sutherland has been involved in ICT for 8 or 9 years now. I think we are still waiting for the predictions of the doomsayers to come about. Indeed the overall effect of his involvement has been to ensure the transition of ICT from a First Division club on the precipice of bankruptcy to a well established member of the SPL, playing in its own home city in fully compliant facilities and which has made a profit in two of the last three financial years. Inevitably Tullochs will have quite rightly had a return on their investment - almosty entriely in the form of the goodwill and positive publicity which their involvement has brought them.

You mean Jimmy Falconer?

It may be interesting to see how this goes down at Celtic Park on Saturday, given the strong Irish links of a large slice of the Celtic support. Antipathy towards the British military establishment on the part of those of an Irish persuasion is, fortunately, receding but has deep historical roots. For instance it was the British Army which put down the 1916 Easter rising with considerable force and which played a large part in its aftermath which in turn led to the War of Independence in the early 20s. The Black and Tans etc from that period were also recruited from ex British World War 1 soldiers. Responsible for, among other things, the Croke Park Massacre, they were hated by the Irish. Indeed the Gaelic Athletic Association (hurling, Gaelic football etc) for decades discouraged its clubs from competing against representatives of the British forces or police and the GAA also for a time banned "British" activities such as rugby. (Now thankfully the Irish play rugby internationals at Croke Park while Lansdowne Road is being redeveloped.) In World War 2 the Irish Free State maintained complete neutrality and rebuffed an attempt by Winston Churchill to get them involved. Then, of course, there was the role of the British Army in post 1969 Northern Ireland with Bloody Sunday etc. It therefore wouldn't surprise me if at least some people with a (non unionist) Irish background didn't have a great deal of sympathy for anything relating to the British Military, irrespective of how fundamentally worthwhile it is.

Pea and Ham, from a chicken? Now that's clever! ...."no.... that'll pee the pea and ham...." (There aren't actually going to be too many on here who have a clue what we're talking about here!)