Charles Bannerman

Excellent resume of the 70s (and a bit beyond) which were a golden era for the Jaggies from the moment King Willie arrived in 1971-72 - paid for with ?150 which Jock borrowed from 15 different people including his father and himself paid ?3 a week. A question. The Thistle team which won the League in 87 went undefeated until the very last game at Peterhead. But from what you say there, was the Jags side which also won (retained) it in 73 (the year Ferranti got into the SFL), in the same position? One small correction - the Falkirk Cup tie in 1979 went ahead at the 30th attempt. It was postponed 29 times. Jimmy Calder as striker! Wonderful days! He was substitute striker at Celtic Park in 1985! Must remind Baillie next time I see him what a miserable old git he was!

In effect he was told he was leaving "by mutual agreement". He agreed!

This topic has been split off from the LOYALIST MARCH topic as it is a separate thing. The loyalist march topic was about a march in Inverness, these posts are about attacks in Ireland .... as exemplified by the Loyalist nutters in Northern Ireland who are now turning on the Romanian refugees in the hope of hounding them out? They've even vandalised a local church which gave the Romanians shelter. It's exactly the same mentality and Orange Lodge arrogance as they employ against the Catholics.... a vile sectarian mindset. It makes me feel quite sick that people like that should claim to declare "Loyalty" to the country of which I am a citizen. This is the BNP marching to the strains of Danny Boy. As I said much earlier in this thread, why didn't they just let the whole of Ireland go its own way in 1921? That might at least have given some of them who needed it a taste of what it's like to be an oppressed minority and tarred them with their own brush. But what we're seeing here is quite simply the "Loyalists'" Romanian version of the Famine Song - "Communism is over, why don't you go home". (PS - this is the view of someone who was "brung up a Proddy" and who has only ever been inside a Chapel for three Catholic funerals. That, by the way, is a "crime" which former Lord Chancellor Lord MacKay committed once and was chucked out of the Free Presbyterian Church - the Highlands' answer to religious intolerance.)

It's called satire, birdog - on a subject which lends itself ideally to that particular device!

Ooeerrr... Jiings, Crivvens Helpmaboab...time to make a sharp exit to avoid getting nicked by the Pr**dy Thought Police then! Now where's the best place to hide? :P I know! :P Blend into the crowd at an Orange Walk! Plenty coming up with July 12th just over a month away. They'd never think of looking there! OK. Better get the right "camouflage" equipment from the Orange Shop then. They do a great bargain in Walking Kits. You get a black umbrella, a bowler hat, a bottle of Buckfast, a flute, a "one size fits all" sash and a toilet roll (based on the obseravtion that people on these parades always seem to walk along as if they've just done a great big whoopsie in their trousers)....all for the knockdown price of ?16.90! Sorted! Whew! :019:

And now the Kaka (Kk) has been surpassed by the Ronaldo (Rn) 1Rn = ?80,000,000 = 1.43Kk. Looks as if Madrid in the last few days have spent about 3 years' GDP of your average Banana Republic.

I have been thinking about this statement and do you not think that in taking this course of action the Government at the time would have been doing no more than shifting the problem to someone else to deal with? Very few things about being British make me proud but the fact that the British government will defend the sovereignty of it's people is one admirable trait they do have. It is my understanding that the majority of Ulster residents at the time wished to remain under British rule and abandoning them would have been a poor decision, similarly abandoning the people of the Falkland Islands would have been an equally poor decision. I do not believe that if the whole of the island of Ireland was handed over back then that Scotland would have less of a problem caused by the Irish question because the people of the South West of Scotland have had links to that island for centuries and there would undoubtedly have some form of uprising from the protestant community in Ulster leading to a civil war on the same scale as we have seen in the past and sadly re-emerging now, do you honestly believe that Scotsmen would not have gotten involved in said scenario in the same way that they have with the decision that was made then? I wasn't aware that a reply to this was solicited until it was referred to on a completely different thread. When the British Cabinet met in Inverness Town Hall in 1921, they had two options. 1) Let the whole of Ireland go its own way which would have resulted in a Protestant minority in the North being discriminated against. 2) Do what they did, which has resulted in a Catholic minority in the North being discriminated against. 1) would certainly have led to some kind of armed Sectarian post separation struggle in the early 1920s. There was no perfect solution to this problem. 2) did lead to an armed Republican versus Republican post separation struggle in the early 1920s (the Irish Civil War) AND a further 30 years of Troubles in the late 20th century. I am sure that the British Government, had they chosen 1), hence saving 30 years of late 20th century grief, could have created the option of allowing any Protestants who didn't like it there to come over to the UK. They could even have set up their own communities.... perhaps "New Larkhall"? Alex... if they ever did manage to clamber ashore at Fort Augustus, having jumped in at Dores, I'm sure the participants in this straightforward "historical celebration" would have been delighted to have sought rescue at the former Fort Augustus Abbey, despite their disappointment at there no longer being any monks to greet them. You never know, better still maybe the monks' cellar would still have had a stash of bottles gifted by their old colleagues at Buckfast.

I have't posted much on the "ICT" forum here for some time. This is partly because of a clash of interest with my journalistic activities (especially in the "goldfish bowl" of the SPL) but also to a large extent because the tone of the whole thing has changed so much for the worse over the last five years or so that this is something I would no longer want to be associated with. However I am, belatedly, prompted to do so now by some of the content of this and other related threads. It is a strange irony that the higher Caley Thistle went in Scottish football, the more carping, whingeing and discontented the tone of some comments became on this board. It is also worth noting a corresponding shift in the identity of the regular contributors involved over the period. Caley Thistle has been an amazingly successful football club which took Inverness from the Highland League to the SPL in a decade, kept the city there against all expectations for five years, and did so in a manner which was within its means and leaves the club debt free. This season the club was eventually relegated by the smallest of margins (of which more in a moment.) Inverness Caledonian Thistle has been one of the major success stories in Scottish football but yet there are still fans who appear to make it their life's mission to spread discontent, to a large extent through the medium of this forum. This has already been suggested by the likes of "absent friend" and also "mainstander" whose earlier intervention on another thread seemed to precede an unprecedented period of silence from one of the more notorious dissidents. On this forum there has been a constant (albeit unrepresentative) stream of people who seem to think they know how to run a business better than the Board, how to run a football team better than the manager (whoever he may be) and how to play the game better than the players. The arrogance and self satisfaction frequently shown is breathtaking! But of far greater concern is the effect that the rantings of this unrepresentative minority have had on those who are doing their best to make Caley Thistle the best they can. In the course of business, I find myself behind the scenes at the Caledonian Stadium two or three times a week. I speak extensively to people who work for the club, on and off the field, and I can testify to the demoralising effect that the rants of a hardcore of discontented knowalls have had on these people - even though they are perfectly aware that they are simply the delusions of a disaffected rump. It can't be very pleasant to come into your work in the morning to the awareness that a cabal of discontents, most of whom do not even have the moral courage to use their real names, continue to snipe at your best efforts and to undermine your honest attempts to do your best for Inverness football. Now let's return to the wafer thin margin by which Caley Thistle were relegated. There must be so many factors which, if they turned out only slightly differently, would have resulted in survival. And indeed one of these must be the demoralising effect which the constant public comments of a handful of the unenlightened had on the morale of the employees at the sharp end of ICT's survival bid. Perhaps these snipers should now examine their consciences and ask what role THEY actually played in what has just happened? Under the circumstances, the term "supporters" seems singularly inappropriate here - it might be far better to ask who the REAL "Muppets" are? PS - anyone inclined towards the "Well I pay my money and I'm entited to my opnion" reaction need not bother responding. This argument has been well overwhelmed by the sheer crassness of what we have increasingly had inflicted on us here in recent years. PPS - anyone tempted to suggest that I am not entitled to an opinion since I don't actually pay for entry to the ground should not bother replying either since it will be like water off a duck's back.

Gordy.... if you remember, 1 Marius = ?400,000 (sterling equivalent of 500,000 Euros at the time of transfer to Dinamo.) At an exchange rate of ?56,000,000 to the Kaka, that makes 1 Marius worth 0.07Kk. Presumably there are also lesser denominations such as the Tokely, the Vigurs and the Kellacher. I am told that the smallest denomination of all is the Fort William Defender. In this afternoon's currency markets the Fort William Defender reached parity with the Zimbabwean Dollar.

No, but since I posted the original I've also become aware of another very large currency unit... the HPE (Heathmount Pint Equivalent). Since the Heathmount installed its Peroni tap, the HPE more or less seems to have drifted towards parity with the Kaka. Over on the other side of the river the standard currency is the CCVL (Caley Club Vodka Lake). 1 HPE = 25 CCVL. School lunch today by the way (without any HPs or CCVs of course) cost me 0.05 microKakas (uKk)

In 1923 it took about 50 billion German Reichsmarks to buy a postage stamp. Before the Euro arrived, there used to be around 2000 Italian Lire to the ?. Today's exchange rate for the Zimbabwean dollar is 37,456,777 to the $US. All prime examples of very small units of currency, but now football has created its own currency unit at the other end of the scale. It is called the Kaka (Kk). One Kaka (Kk) = ?56,000,000. It certainly makes the rest of football look good because Rangers' debt, which I recently saw reported at ?104,000,000 would work out at less than 2 Kakas. And when you express what it cost to have a Romanian international striker playing for you in the SPL, a mere 0.00007 Kk a week sounds like a real bargain! Talking of the SPL, it looks as if they are now on a shoogly financial peg following Setanta's apparent inability to come up with their latest instalment of 0.054 Kakas. I am sure that ICT will now be hoping that the SPL will be able to pay them their Parachute Payment, estimated at around 0.005Kk. In the financial world, RBS's recently revealed annual losses of ?24 billion quickly convert to 4030 Kakas (4.03 KiloKakas). An even bigger currency unit is the "Team of Kakas" (TKk). 1 TKk = 11 Kk so one TKk = ?616,000,000. RBS's debt therefore equates to 366.4 TKk. Oh, and by the way, there are 33900000000000000 (3.39 x 10 (to the 16)) Zimbabwean dollars to the Kaka.

Stop it! You're bringing back nasty memories, but if it's any consolation to you, I have jarred Dodo more than once about it over the years and suggested it was all his fault!

Do you work for Livingston or something? :D

I believe he was and in fact I have a recollection that he told me on one occasion that he had played, among other teams, for Citadel. I remember deciding to try and get some of his recollections of that on tape for the BBC but he died before I could get it done. Next time I see his son Dodo (notorious for having caught tetanus from the Academy/ Millburn field in 1967 and in consequence causing the whole lot of us to need jabbed) or his daughter Jackie I will make a point of asking.

The best one I've heard so far is OWEN COYLE for Celtic Park. So Coyle takes Burnley into the best and most lucrative league in the world and within a couple of days wants to chuck it all in to go to... CELTIC?! :P No, no, Owen Coyle has just made a huge career leap within the last couple of seasons and has landed in the real big time... completely missing out the kind of level Celtic are at.

The first half of that quote is, quite frankly, embarasingly absurd. But let me more briefly deal with the second part first. What the HELL do you think qualifies you to dismiss the defensive lineup of an ex international defender as "crazy"? Your self perseption when it comes to football expertise (including how the Boardroom should be run) is alarmingly delusional. But to return to the first part. It is simplistic in the extream to blame relegation by a couple of goals on the last on-field misfortune we had in the season. Yesterday's game would not even have mattared had... (among other things) Jamie Duff not let Offiong in.... Foran made a better job of shooting past Mallow.... Rangers only scored 3 rather than 5 if Michael Fraser had had a better game.... Falkirk only scored 2 rather than 4 had the ref seen that the first one was offside, leading to a collpase... Barrowman not missed several sitters.... ther defense properly picked up the cross that led to Motherwell's equaliser.... Lionel not made perhaps just one of several booboos.... etc etc etc. Is it just football that you see in terms of black and white and straight lines? So has IHE allowed this thread to drop?

I'm surprised so many of these people are able to do that, given that they all seem to be stuck in a pre-mobile phone era.

With relations like that, who needs enemies! I understand there is a parody on Pie and Bovril of the Norwegian commentator's "Winston Churchill, Maggie Thatcher..." rant. I feel privileged to have been singled out for a place in that particular litany.

You're a teacher aren't you, fully refreshed and reinvigorated thanks to study leave. You should be able to hop to the ground? :D :D :D :D

Scotty... I have now checked with Sport in Glasgow and I'm afraid it looks a bit Desperate for the Diasporate. There is no internet coverage outwith the UK and there is no Open All Mics coverage at all. Realistically, with only three games on at 1230, before you even consider that only one of these means anything (unless one other produces a highly unlikely result) it's difficult to see how an Open All Mics would be viable. As far as the lack of commentary outwith the UK is concerned, my understanding is that the BBC's inability to provide it solely relates to a prerogative which Falkirk Football Club has opted to exercise. The upshot would appear to be that, apart from Setanta(?), it is not possible to follow this game live outwith the UK. (Is it legal to have a webcam with an open mic pointed at a TV showing Setanta?)

I haven't looked at the Sunday schedule since, quite frankly, I'm not all that interested. As I've said above, the three frequencies will be used for the three games on Saturday, with no Open All Mics.

Diasporate.... :021: Perhaps this weekend "Desperate" might be a better word to use. By the way, did you know that Channel 4 is introducing a new drama series about middle class Jewish women in suburban New York. They're going to call it "Diasporate Housewives".

There wil lbe live commentary on Caley Thistle v Falkirk on 92-95FM (94.0 in the immediate Inverness area.). 810MW and 103.5-105FM will carry the other two games. As a result there will be no Open All Mics. I don't know what the arrangements for the Diasporate will be on the internet since I don't know what constraints, if any, Falkirk operate outwith the UK.

Is the gent in the suit on the far right by any chance Butch Sinclair?

That would be Ian Lister who is President of Inverness City and does a roaring trade for them selling their Lottery tickets. He's a former player of one or two biggish Scottish clubs, including, I believe, Dunfermline and St. Mirren. I know him because he's (now this is as complicated as the Ladies of the Harum of the Court of King Caractacus) the partner of the mother of my daughter Jenny's boyfriend who is Gary Miller who plays for City. :D