DoofersDad

I enjoyed that! After the early pressure and going 2 - 0 up it could easily have been a rout. Doran should have made it 3 - 0 just before half time. But at 2 - 0 we were saying at half time that an early County goal in the 2nd half and it could get very tight and so it turned out following one of several very strange refereeing decisions. To be fair to County they then played pretty well for 30 minutes before we came back strongly and Doran made amends with a brilliant low volley. No particular stand outs for me. Roberts doesn't look fully fit and was scared of Tokely but he did show touches of real class. Foran took an early knock and struggled a bit after that. A Shinnie took his goal well enough but apart from that didn't particularly impress. Mention too for Reguero who looked very capable in goals, Pass marks for everyone else with Warren and Meekings becoming a solid partnership at the back. But for me MOTM was Doran who worked really hard, caused a lot of panic in the defense and scored a great goal to settle my anxiety. Thought Pepper and Morrison did really well when they came on and turned the game back in our favour. Well done section E. Helped create a great atmosphere. One of the worst refereeing performances I have ever seen. It would be intersting to hear what Terry would have said had we lost. Only 3 points off the top :ictscarf:

Murrayfield? Fantastic stadium - it would be good to have a proper sport played there.

Nobody is mentioning the return of Munro and Tokely! My feelings are that I am wondering what kind of a reception they are going to get. Both players have been fantastic servants to this club and would have stayed had the manager wanted them and I think they deserve to get a great reception from the home fans. I will despair if the usual idiots boo them. Not just because it is the last thing those two deserve, but booing simply fires players up to play that bit better. We need to make Grant and Ross feel so welcome that they'll be too embarrased to play well As for the game itself, I am really looking forward to it. I am naturally a bit apprehensive but am actually fairly confident we will win. To be honest, a few weeks ago I was thinking we would really struggle in the first Derby and would be clear underdogs. But they are beggining to be exposed at the back whilst we are getting better. I guess it comes down to which team turns up on the day. From today's P&J it sounds as though Terry might start with OTJ now that he is back from suspension. Personally I think the 11 who started against Dundee Utd deserve to start.

It's next year it closes for commonwealth games preparations. We just need to make the most of the opportunities this season!

Will we be favourites as the SPL team? Thinking back to the start of our brief history, it actually seems quite extraordinary that we could be going to play at Ibrox against Rangers and be considered favourites! It is a reflection of how the respective Boards have managed the two clubs and how far we have come in that time. Win or lose, it is something we should be proud of but it is a match which we should have every chance of winning.

Well, that clarifies that, then.

No matter how poor he is, I'm sure Terry is going to say he had a great game.

Never mind about signing him - just make sure he buys a ticket for Friday.

Too early to say if there has been a change. The team has played well early in the season and a great result could have come at any time. It is conceding goals that has cost us. United started reasonably well on Saturday and had they nicked a goal it might have been a very different story. We need to see 3 or 4 good results before you can say its a change. And if there is a change, then is it the absence of OTJ or Shane (and Ross and King?) that's made the difference? Perhaps it is the development of a better understanding at the back which gives a better platform for the team and gives them a bit more confidence. It may have something to do with dropping Billy MacKay to the bench - the lad works his socks off but he lacks that cutting edge. I know where you're coming from though and we've seen it before when forced changes result in finding a team that clicks or a player who is better on match day than performance on the training ground might suggest. We must be favourites to beat County now and that will be the first time we have felt that for several months. However, if we lose with a poor performance we will no doubt have loads of folk here bemoaning all our injuries and saying we will struggle until they return.

More to the point - what music will be coming from the North Stand during the game?

Fantastic! Justin Rose was the key result for me. 3 fantastic long puts on the last 3 holes to turn a one shot defecit into victory. It used to be USA v GB and Ireland but USA used to win too often so the rest of Europe joined us. Perhaps it is time for the rest of the world to join the Yanks to give them a chance.

A couple of questions to ponder 1 Do you think Edinburgh would fully embrace a merged Hibs/Hearts side? 2 Do you think Dundee would fully embrace a merged Dundee/Utd side? I deliberately never included the old firm because that would be too ridiculous to even consider No matter where you go in the world the answer is the same The city of Inverness may well fully support ICT at some point in the future but it won't be in our generation sadly Dougal Bring back the red dots!

The nicest story I ever heard about letting officialdom know of your displeasure relates to the great Yorkshire and England fast bowler Fred Truman. A forthright character and full of agression he was an intimidating figure. The story goes that one day he was bowling at his firey best on a helpful wicket when he got one to skip through low and hit the batsmen on the pad - plumb LBW. Truman turned to the umpire and gave him his usual loud, aggressive appeal. The umpire was unmoved and just slowly shook his head. Truman walked back to his mark giving the umpire a hard glare but says nothing. Fired up by the injustice he sends the next ball down short and fast. The batsman tries to fend the rising ball away but gets an edge which the keeper catches. Truman wheels round and appeals louder than ever, staring at the umpire. Again the umpire is unmoved and shakes his head. Again Truman glares at the umpire on his silent walk past. The next ball is faster still and the batsmen is completely beaten by the pace. The ball hits the wicket; the bails fly over the wicketkeeper's head and the middle stump is ripped out of the ground and goes cartwheeling over the grass. Truman turns and trudges back slowly, looking down at the pitch and shaking his head. As he passes the umpire he says "Nearly got t'bugger that time!" If Terry thinks referees make poor decisions then he is right to express his opinion. He just needs to be more careful as to the where and how he expresses those views.

Think I can reasonasbly take credit for today's fine performance. Had lots to do and therefore didn't manage to make it. Why do they play better when I'm not there? I'll be at the County game so blame me if it all goes pear shaped on Friday. With County suddenly realising that footy is more fun if goals are scored, it could be a good game on Friday. I agree with Dougal that the crowd was disappointing but with the quality of football which was apparently on display today the crowds will soon return. Expect an upseurge in ticket sales for Friday's game.

...at Dumbarton! Clearly the obvious venue.

Whoever we get in the next round will be a tough match. I don't really care who we get as long as someone gets to play Motherwell.

Is there glass in the windows?

Never in doubt.

There is a need for the defence to get match practice to gel better. Allowing the game to go into extra time gives the lads an extra 30 minutes together. This is clearly a sensible strategy and now that they have the extra time together they can start playing to win. Seriously though, I wonder if the artificial surface is a factor? It must take a bit of getting used to and just take the edge off your performance.

I'm sure Terry will have a quiet word with the lads at half time and things will be better in the 2nd half.

I don't think many people would seriously favour a merger if it were to be put to a vote but it is an interesting subject to debate. The argument in favour is that a merged club would be more likely to attract more revenue (for a variety of reasons) and therefore could afford to attract and retain better players. Greater success on the park should result and that in terms should attract more fans etc. Bottom line here is that a merged Highland Hoofers would be expected to maintain itself as an established SPL team in the current league format with failure to be top 6 perhaps seen as a poor season and winning a cup or getting into Europe as a good season. This compares with our situation where relegation may be seen as failure and top 6 being seen as real success - County may expect a little less than us on a long term basis. The down sides though are considerable. The reality is that there is loss of identity for any merged team and particularly if the stadium of the merged team is in another town. A home gate for the Hoofers would be unlikely to be a lot more than either club individually and income from away games would be barely affected at all. Income would be unlikely to be vastly different and the impact of this on team performance would be unlikely to lead to a significant improvement to seriously compete with the Old Firm. We would still have the hordes travelling down to Glasgow to watch the big teams and we will have gained very little. I don't think the American model is relevant. The vast size of the USA and Canada makes the UK model impractical - they are different because they have to be. I think that for most of us the motivation and pleasure of supporting a local team is to feel we belong in some way. Yes, we want to be entertained but we also want to dream. Supporters of small clubs enjoy success all the more when it comes both because it is unexpected and because we feel more a part of that success. It is important therefore to keep the club local and maintain the identity which allows us to belong. Ross County have enjoyed success because they are in effect a merger of the input from small Ross-shire towns and ICT have been successful because of the merger of 2 clubs within the same town. Arguably a further merger could capture a Highland identity but for too many of the potential supporters it would lose the local identity. Highland Hoofers would be a merger too far in my view. Both Inverness and Ross-shire are big enough to sustain decent teams who can play at a decent level and whose supporters can dream of glory and who may just one day see that dream come true. I like it that way.

As our club has a much longer name I think we would need a bit more of our name than theirs. I suggest "Inverness Caledonian Thistle" from us - and "Football Club" from them.

No messing around, please. We need a cup run and the defence needs more time together to gel. If we are comfortable early in the 2nd half then by all means bring on a couple of youngsters earlier than we might otherwise do, but we need to have a strong starting eleven and we need those eleven to start strongly. It's an opportunity to address our weaknesses but without in any way underestimating the side who knocked out the holders in the previous round.

Can't see anyone commenting on County's 40 match unbeaten run coming to an end. What a shame! I think they might start struggling now although they did also manage to score their first SPL goal from open play.

Yes. If you're playing there will probably be a lot of p*ss taking