DoofersDad

I don't think you can make any assumptions like that. My guess is that the vast majority of ICT fans who will be voting "No" in September would agree with JDM's post. The point here is that we are a football club and not a political organisation. If we were playing in Europe then it would be fine to have flags which made it clear to others that we were Scottish / British fans but in a domestic competition you have to ask what the point is of flying a national flag. What message is it giving to those that see it? One thing is for sure, it does not give any message about the club. OK, so someone might write Inverness across it but that is not what people see. They see the flag. IMO there is no reason to have a flag other than an ICT flag.

Told you, you were wrong. In fact we only needed to slip down to 2nd place for the negative posts to emerge.

Sounds as though it inspired a tier 3 level performance.

With the way the other results went, a win would have put some distance between the top two and the rest so it is disappointing that we have been soundly thumped. Sounds like a real reality check here. We got off to a flyer because we had a settled team which apart from the keeper and Vincent knew each other from last season. Other teams are beginning to gel and there will be no easy games from now on. Celtic 3 points clear with a game in hand and I would expect them to run away with it now. The rest of the the sides are all capable of beating each other and I am sure all will have good runs and bad runs. We can always dream but we need to be realistic and accept that for a club with our resorces a top 6 finish represents an excellent season. We have to expect days like today but overall we are still doing very well.

Getting a wee bit off subject here, guys. The thread is about the treatment of Tam Cowan and not the merits of women's football per se. I happen to think Cowan is funny. I don't think he ever intends to offend people but his tongue in cheek humour can be cutting at times. In truth, I doubt that Cowan has any ill will towards women's football. What the article was doing was actually celebrating his beloved Motherwell and it just so happened that women's football was the butt of his humour. It really annoys me that people these days are so sensitive about the slightest thing. There seem to be some subjects you can no longer make jokes about and womens football seems to be the latest thing. Personally I am all for the promotion of the women's game. Of course it is not as good as the mens game in general but that is mainly a reflection of the number of women who play and the length of time they have played. But what annoys me is these people who, rather than defend the game or better still, respond in kind with a tongue in cheek attack on the mens game, instead try to gag those who dare poke gentle fun. Clearly the womens game will never be as physical as the men's, but as a consequence, it can be argued that to excell at the game women need to be more skillful. In time, the women's game could potentially display more skill than the mens game. And let's face it the real heroes of the mens game are not the big powerful guys, they are the small skillful players - Best, Maradonna, Cooper, Messi, Mckay, for example. Why can't those humourless morons who want to gag Cowan simply enter into the banter and laugh about it? For instance, the humourless Roseanna Cunningham could have retorted that if Cowan's Motherwell played more like the Scottish Women's team they might still be in Europe. Or could they not simply have said "Ha ha Tam. Very funny. But actually it was a great night and the first time the home side has scored so many at Fir Park for many a long year!" It should be clear to all that this was meant to amuse and not to offend or to be a serious critique of the women's game. After all, if Cowan seriously thought it was inappropriate to play a women's match at Motherwell's ground, he would have mentioned the most important reason which is, of course, that the high heels ruin the playing surface. But coming back to the BBC's action, I am seriously concerned about what it says about the attitudes in this country these days. He is taken to task for his obviously tongue in cheek remarks about women's football but not about something else in his column which to me, people might have genuine reason to feel offended about. The BBC and those that back their actions seem to be saying that it is fair game to suggest that men from Aberdeen may have an unnatural affection for sheep but not to make gentle fun of women's football. What sort of moral leadership does that offer? We really do need a sense of perspective here and certain people need to get a sense of humour.

And you accuse others of negativity! Just not worth saying anything more. Stating a few facts is negative???? Where tell me is the negativity in my post? If you do not see the current position from my view point that is your right BUT ... It is my right to offer MY views and just consider .... If they differ from yours perhaps, just perhaps, I have looked at the current situation from a business view and not a blind believer stand point. OK - I'll bite. You have not stated facts, you have expressed opinions. All of your opinions are negative. To paraphrase "We are currently top so the manager will be head hunted". We'll have less money to spend because gates are going down". "When we slip in the league the forum will be full of negative posts which will increase the chance of the manager leaving". "The manager will want to leave due to lack of cash and the apathy and negativity of the fans". Nobody is questioning your right to voice your views, but I do rather object to your arrogant assertion that your views are somehow more valid because of your apparently superior "business" standpoint. Nobody expects us to be top of the league for ever and we all know (even us numpties with no understanding whatsoever of the business viewpoint) that fortune will take a turn for the worse soon enough. But the fact is, we are top of the league. Can we please enjoy it while we are?

And you accuse others of negativity! Just not worth saying anything more.

And what would the County fans be likely to do, Dougal? I'd have thought you could speak with some authority on that!

You can take salad but rocket is not allowed.

Brown really is a nasty player. That probably explains why Lennon likes him. The foul initially reminded me of Beckham's red card against Argentina but on reflection they were quite different. Beckham's was silly spur of the moment petulance - he immediately realised he had done wrong and let everybody down. Brown's was caclulated nastiness for which he showed no remorse. It doesn't matter that it wasn't overtly vicious. He could and should have avoided any contact with Neymar but instead he deliberately ran into Neymar, had a little dig at him with his knee following into the back. Celtic were playing well and Barcalona were looking really pretty ordinary. It would not have suprised me one bit if Celtic had got something from the game had Brown not got a red card. His stupid behaviour could potentially cost his club millions and one only hopes that the Celtic board take Brown and his loutish manager to task. As for Neymar, well he was lucky not to get a yellow card for his over-reaction. Barcalona will be delighted to return to Spain with their narrow win. They may feel they were forunate but their overwhelming feeling must surely be relief that they were only up against the 2nd best team in Scotland.

It's a Twitter poll and you're right to laugh it off, Oddquine. The fact that 92% of twits are in favour of independence is not something the yes campaign should be quoting in their support.

Lots of plus points today although we had to wait till the 2nd half for most of them. TBH there was not too much difference between the sides in the first half although we just had the edge. Greenhalgh got his chance and took it very well. Both Polworth and Agdestein looked useful when they came on. The minus point was the fact that they didn't come on sooner. Terry has stated before that he has not had the chance to give the subs a decent bit of match time because the games have been too tight. Today though we were 3 up on the hour mark and whilst the one substitution had been forced on us earlier, it was a golden opportunity to have given someone else 30 minutes. Personally I think the one player who was poor today was Ross and Terry should have taken him of earlier and got a look at someone else. I am often bewildered by the substitutions and was very surprised to learn after the game that he never actually intended to take Ross off. Billy's 2nd was brilliant. My MOTM.

One has to be very careful about how one interprets poll results. Maybe what this shows it that yes voters don't like Ed Byrne. I do like Ed Byrne so maybe I'll vote "no" then.

During a break in the game, Scott and McFadden demonstrate how a rugby scrum is formed.

Whilst I'm generally in favour of a settled team, I do think it is important to see how other players perform on a match day. I know the coaches see what players are doing day in and day out on the training ground but that does not always reflect what they can bring to the team on a match day. So I think a small change is justified given that performances seem to have dipped a little. Personally, I'd like to see Adgestein playing up front with McKay. I think there is the potential for that to be a very effective combination. Ross or Vincent would need to give way.

One day they will get the message that we are really not a bad team. But today is not that day. In a BBC news report about Morton's win at celtic park, the "journalist" referred to it being a match between the team at the top of the Premier division and the team 2nd bottom of the championship. I take back what I said about the BBC on another thread!

From the Villa Spurs match. This happened in the box (so to speak) and incredibly no penalty was awarded! Also amused to see that in the match in the English league cup that went to extra time, who should score an extra time winner than Garry Hooper for Norwich! I bet Lennon's on the phone to him now offering his sincere congratulations.

Stats show Celtic having no less than 27 corners to Morton's 2 - and still they lost! A difficult match negotiated by us but also by St J. I think many sides will fancy their chances now and it doesn't matter who we are drawn against, there will be no easy games.

The BBC may have its faults and in an independent Scotland an SBC may also have its faults. But within any democratic nation I live I would always want a state broadcaster with at least some accountablity to the taxpayer. The alternative is either to have the media controlled by right wing foreigners with their own agenda which will have far more to do with making shed loads of money than reporting relatively objectively on the issues that are important to the nation. As it happens, in the UK we are exceptionally fortunate to have the BBC with the wide array of high quality programmes they produce. The position of state broadcasting in an independent Scotland is one of those issues where voters really should be able to have some clear information before making our minds up. A lack of a state broadcaster in an independent Scotland would be a very strong reason for voting "no" in my opinion.

Wasn't at the game but would be interested to know if the apparent resorting to hoofing the ball again was in response to Aberdeen closing us down more quickly. We all want to see an attractive passing game but to do that successfully you either need to have a bit of time on the ball or a very good first touch to be able to play one touch football. Aberdeen may be one of the better sides in the division but you don't actually need to be good to break up a passing game, you just need the fitness to close down players quickly. If that is the tactic teams are going to deploy against us then we will need a plan B. Rather than just hoof it we need players with the abiltyand confidence to keep possession and take men on whilst team mates need to have the awareness to cover in case poossession is lost.

To hell with the design. The important thing is that the 2014-5 strip should have "Champions" emblazoned across it.

It may help the doubters - but help them to decide what? People in general are fearful of change and so saying that a lot of the day to day things we are comfortable with will still be there after independence is intended to reassure. But on the other hand, if there is little change in the day to day normality of life, folk may well wonder what the point is in such a radical political change.

Especially if you ask twice!

Yes, changed days. When I were a lad, the local church organist and choirmaster was a chap called Roger Gay. These days someone with a name like that wouldn't be allowed within half a mile of a choir boy.

After the defeat by AC Milan, Lennon is quoted as saying "We have Barcelona coming up and they're a different animal. I've told the players to hold onto the disappointment of tonight and take that into the game in two weeks' time." Why is that, Neil? So they can get used to the feeling?