Charles Bannerman

That's the only part of Scotty's post I would disagree with. I would rather say "SOME OF the generation that opposed the merger is lost to us as ICT supporters...." A considerable number of the 226, which was the biggest "no" vote recorded, have become loyal supporters. When I first saw this " Dougal https://m.youtube.co...eature=youtu.be" in TopSix's post #3, it took me some time to realise that this wasn't an expression of opinion but a reference to a video. But hang on. Let's not rise to Dougal's bait. This is far too proud and progressive a moment for Inverness Caledonian Thistle to be discussing the paranoia of grievance-ridden dinosaurs.

Maybe the PR machine should just take a leaf out of the book the Inverness Bonfire or the Inverness Highland Games people regularly borrow from Seville Public library. In other words just pick a random, impressive sounding number like 30,000.

They should have held the final in Seville! But on a more serious note, the important next step, post-final, will be to entice even a modest proportion of what a poster less generous than myself would call the "gloryhunters" (not a term I particularly agree with) through the Caledonian Stadium turnstiles on a regular basis.

One further consideration is that while the marginally interested might make the effort to travel 10 - 60 miles from Paisley, Kilmarnock, Falkirk or Perth, the 175 miles from Inverness will probably be a disproportionately deterring factor.

I think it probably has to be accepted that the majority of Invernessians, in common with the majority of the public at large, are not remotely interested in football in any shape or form. To many, the Scottish Cup Final will be of no more interest than the Buckingham Palace Court Circular and of significantly less interest than who are competing in the next series of Strictly. I sometimes wonder if the football fraternity tends to get stuck in its own wee bubble on occasions and forgets that there is a whole big world out there with fundamentally different priorities and interests.

What about Billy Fury? I don't think he ever made No 1.

I certainly saw compellingly persuasive photos in one of the tabloids. What we seem to have is a mark on one photo which looks like a bite on McAlister's leg at exactly the point corresponding to the position of Ciftci's mouth on another photo of his face apparently in contact with the said leg. On the other hand, as the wee boy who shinned down the school drain pipe right in front of the headmaster said: "It wisnae me sir!"

Oxymoron alert!!!!!!

I met the ever-smiling shop staff having a well deserved early evening refreshment in Wetherspoons on Saturday. They were very upbeat about the day's sales!

I'm really glad someone got a photo of that excellent display at Hilton Primary. That's what it looked like when I passed it around 9am today but unfortunately, when I came back around 4:30pm, most of the balloons had burst, possibly due to the wind.

I hope the Flora scarf doesn't get shat on too badly by seagulls!!

There won' t be any. Not even Dougal?

Agreed also. 3pm Saturday kick offs and an accessible stadium are definitely among the factors which tend to enhance attendances although I'm often disappointed at the limited extent to which a successful team makes a difference here. There was something of an irony in SPFL Chairman Ralph Topping's rant last week about how little they are getting from the BBC for highlights. Apart from the fact that, if they SPFL didn't like the deal they simply shouldn't have made it, if the cash they are getting is as poor as they say, why on earth do they roll over so easily and agree to silly kick off times at inaccesible venues to suit the broadcasters?

On the other side of the coin, the attendances at Caley Thistle's two home Highland derbies were pretty poor this season - 4021 on Sat Jan 31st and an alarming 3741 on Sun October 5th. The corresponding figure for the New Year's Day derby in Dingwall was 4887. 3741 and 4021 would have been disappointing in Third Division days and that must have pulled this season's average down. Another factor may be the randomness of imposed "non-standard" KO times which may create a variable downward effect depending on who the opposition are. So if you add in these unhelpful factors, it's especially good to see any increase in the average - especially against one particular negative factor which I believe has been quite significant this season. Inverness's catastrophic traffic flow. Sure, there has been plenty of adverse comment for some time about the Kessock Bridge roundabout and yes, it remains a total mess. But there is a lot more than that. As the Flood Alleviation Scheme strengthens its claim to become the slowest building of a wall in the history of the world, access to the Caledonian Stadium is among the many casualties. For a start there's the closure of Bank Street (I believe it is due to reopen today?) which is a main thoroughfare between North and South Inverness. This forces more traffic along Kenneth Street, as does the closure of Huntly Street and of course the more recent bottleneck in Academy Street has made things worse still. So..... Trying to approach the Stadium along the A9/ Longman Rd lands you with the mayhem of the roundabout. Trying to approach the Stadium from the Harbour produces all the difficulties originating in Bank St/ Academy St...... but that's by no means all. Because even if you do get to the Harbour the flood scheme has also created the need for more traffic lights there. And if you do manage to get to the game, it will take an eternity to get home again for the very same reasons. You really do have to wonder how much cash businesses are losing as a result of the extreme ineptitude of Inverness's traffic flow arrangements. These include ICT where I have this fear that a number of people may simply not be going to games because of the unacceptable time it takes to get to and from the stadium. I blame those pesky querulous Nats....... Trunk road transport is a devolved power come to think of it!

On the other side of the coin, the attendances at Caley Thistle's two home Highland derbies were pretty poor this season - 4021 on Sat Jan 31st and an alarming 3741 on Sun October 5th. The corresponding figure for the New Year's Day derby in Dingwall was 4887. 3741 and 4021 would have been disappointing in Third Division days and that must have pulled this season's average down. Another factor may be the randomness of imposed "non-standard" KO times which may create a variable downward effect depending on who the opposition are. So if you add in these unhelpful factors, it's especially good to see any increase in the average - especially against one particular negative factor which I believe has been quite significant this season. Inverness's catastrophic traffic flow. Sure, there has been plenty of adverse comment for some time about the Kessock Bridge roundabout and yes, it remains a total mess. But there is a lot more than that. As the Flood Alleviation Scheme strengthens its claim to become the slowest building of a wall in the history of the world, access to the Caledonian Stadium is among the many casualties. For a start there's the closure of Bank Street (I believe it is due to reopen today?) which is a main thoroughfare between North and South Inverness. This forces more traffic along Kenneth Street, as does the closure of Huntly Street and of course the more recent bottleneck in Academy Street has made things worse still. So..... Trying to approach the Stadium along the A9/ Longman Rd lands you with the mayhem of the roundabout. Trying to approach the Stadium from the Harbour produces all the difficulties originating in Bank St/ Academy St...... but that's by no means all. Because even if you do get to the Harbour the flood scheme has also created the need for more traffic lights there. And if you do manage to get to the game, it will take an eternity to get home again for the very same reasons. You really do have to wonder how much cash businesses are losing as a result of the extreme ineptitude of Inverness's traffic flow arrangements. These include ICT where I have this fear that a number of people may simply not be going to games because of the unacceptable time it takes to get to and from the stadium.

I suspect the ref's reasoning may have been - * Not a red card because a goal scoring opportunity wasn't denied. * Not a yellow card for deliberate hand ball because the contact took place when the ball was across the line - in other words was dead. * But a yellow card for unsporting behaviour since the intent to prevent a goal was there.

In that case you haven't been listening properly. I have just checked a recording of the programme and Scott Davie's announcement of the goal and scorer comes within seconds of the ball hitting the net - and that despite the fact that the confusing nature of the goal with the hand ball etc made it more difficult to call than most. I see that your post is timed at 4:23. According to my records, the announcement came at 4:13.

Ticket sales numbers? At end of the day if you're going to (re)produce it's not size that matters but sperm quality!

Would you care to say that again?

Clearly the current combination of European football, the Cup final and Manager of the Year has made it unprecedentedly difficult to find something to moan about!

I suspect that the "Gulp!" may be just the kind of response which is being sought by the publication of sales.

Celtic shop has closed down I believe, due to the rate increases in the Eastgate. It would be a kindhearted gesture for ICT to send Josh Meekings down to give them a hand clearing it out.

Libero.... the title you chose for the thread and the quote above from the OP don't seem quite to square with what you now seem to be saying in post #22.

Was it 11 years ago at this time that ICT fans were stressing over "how are we going to replace David Bingham?"

What a strange thing! It seems that outwith the realms of politics, I have quite a lot in common with Kingsmills! Two very important points from that post. * In terms of balancing the books, or almost doing so, it looks to me as if for several years now, Caley Thistle has relied, for Premiership subsistence, on a series of windfalls ranging from Cup runs to the Muirfield Mills investment to selling the Social Club. This season also there are relatively modest windfalls such as the McKay transfer and Cup money, although how much of that would be included in a balanace sheet to 31st May is another question. In recent years it has needed almost £4 million a season to keep Caley Thistle going. With most attendances in the 3000 - 3500 range, a large amount of other activity is needed to raise that. It therefore appears to me that there is NO room for financial manoeuvre - especially against a big on-field gamble. * Many will recollect the apparent sense of relief two seasons ago when ICT didn't make Europe which, I was told at the time, would have had serious financial implications. I am led to believe that the situation is somewhat different now, but I would suggest nothing like what would justify speculatively splashing out on players in the manner suggested. The history of Caley Thistle (with a single major blooper in the late 90s/ early 00s) is one of measured progress up the ladder in several limited steps whilst keeping the books more or less balanced. Rather than, suddenly and at great expense, trying to forge the club's way through Europe faster than General Patton after D Day, I would suggest that it would be much more prudent to enjoy this debut European opportunity as far as current resources can sensibly permit. Or to cut a long story short..... please don't get too carried away chaps!!!