DoofersDad

Proof if proof were needed that you have some very strange views! And, no, you're not in big trouble. I was 18 once but that was more years ago than I care to remember - although not that many that I can't remember.

There should be a distinction between plain cheating where a defender prevents a player from scoring by simply taking him out when he knows he can't get the ball, and a genuine attempt at getting the ball which takes the player rather than the ball. The distinction is pretty clear in the vast majority of situations. Even if the referee genuinely thought Tokely had fouled Naysmith today he surely would not dispute that Tokely went for the ball. We can feel hard done by with the decision today but these things tend to even out over the course of the season - Celtic will get just as many dubious decisions as Rangers will.

Please don't stop posting and expressing your views. A forum like this is good to read because people do hold different views and it is good to debate the various issues. There are times when sincerely held views are seen as silly or naive by others and the response is a bit more flippant than you would like and there is some gentle micky taking - hopefully nobody has gone beyond that and been offensive on this thread but that may be a matter of opinion. A forum needs people who are prepared to say what they think and who don't mind when people reply in ways you might not expect. Take Dougal for instance, he has taken more stick than anyone (often unfairly IMHO) but it doesn't stop him making further contributions. To what extent he believes all he writes I neither know nor care. All I know is that this forum would be a poorer place without him. In this case, you are on the receiving end because you have come across as very indignant about something others see as a non issue. I happen to agree that it would be nice if the youngsters wrote a letter but in no way is it bad that they don't. In fact, there is more reason for the youngsters to write a note of thanks to the club for the opportunity they have been given and I wonder how many do that! The club will have helped to make each and every youngster that does not make the grade a better player. What they learn at the club will help them to play at a better standard and enjoy their football more whether it be with a lower league club or just a local Sunday side. I don't think the club has any more obligation to them. I think that is why people felt your earnest sense of injustice was totally OTT and why responses were the way they were. Don't take offence. Keep posting and and give as good as you get. And here's me setting myself up. You probably don't mean a word you say and your real response is summarised by your .

Arrangements for their testimonial match?

Another thought. Shooting the looters and arsonists is a tempting option but I don't think the nation is quite ready to agree to this yet. However, in order to get a bit of target practice in, why can't police marksmen make it a game of paintball and shoot the wee sh*tes with a splodge of indelible fluorescent pink dye. These could be fired from guns where the sight doubles as a camera for gathering evidence. This would serve 3 purposes. Firstly it would allow those with pretty pink splodges on their clothing to be identified as being appropriate for arrest and police could pick them up when safe to do so. Secondly, little toe rags arriving home with pink on their clothing would have some explaining to do. Thirdly, the police have a bloody hard time of it so why not let them have a bit of fun - might even get a pot at Nick Clegg or Boris!

The point about National Service is that it would stop youngsters becoming "trash" in the first place. I appreciate that many of the looters are younger than the age kids would be called for National Service but these youngsters are influenced and pressured by the older kids to behave in that way. All too often the younger kids are forced into the worst acts of antisocial behaviour in order to be accepted by the gang. National Service would help engender a more socially responsible attitude in the youngsters. Those who have done their service will no longer want to behave like this, whilst those a little younger would be off the streets doing their service. Both these factors would help to minimise the poisonous cycle of peer pressure and who knows, children might actually behave like children again

I think you're probably confusing the first protests with what is happening now. This is no socialist revolution by the dispossessed but the natural order of a dumbed-down, neighbourless Britain obsessed with celebs and consumerism. For my money it went wrong with 'greed is good' and 'no such thing as society' - and that's New Labour too in case you're wondering. This is the end result. I think we're probably saying the same thing here. It is a sad reflection of the values certain people have these days, but it is more than just the culture of self, it is the complete lack of awareness that a sense of community enhances the individual. These events will be whipped up by a small handful of anarchists and the stupid and the greedy opportunists do the anarchists work for them. There is no valid political statement in any of this behaviour and therefore no valid reason why a no nonsense, zero tolerence approach should not be taken in dealing with it.

Do these morons not have a single brain cell between them? The country is in serious financial difficulty so they behave in a way which will the cost the taxpayer billions to clean up and which will only mean there is less chance of their neighbourhood getting better facilities. They complain about the way the boys in blue police their area and yet behave in a way which can only mean that policing will need to be tougher in the future. They steal from their friends and neighbours, destroy the liveliehoods of their friends and neighbours and take actions which cause injury and actually threaten the lives of their friends an neighbours. They are tearing the hearts out of their own communities. But how do you punish the few that will get caught? Prison will do no good. We need to get these folk forced to do some good in society so they can learn to appreciate the freedoms we have in this country - freedoms which countless people over the years have died for in our armed forces. They should be forced to do some real work in clearing up the mess they have caused and in providing services to the needy in society - after all, how can the Government pay to care for the sick and elderly when resource has to be poured in to deal with this kind of situation. If they don't make a worthwhile contribution to society then why should society make a contribution to them. Lock them up and throw away the key.

A team should play to it's strengths. It makes sense to play the long if you have players up front who can capitalise on that. Rooney often did and when he scored in those situations I don't think there were too many complaints on this forum. But with the team we have now, the long ball should be the option only when trying to keep posession is too risky. We have players capable of keeping the ball and playing a good passing game which should be attractive to watch. Also, keeping posession of the ball puts more pressure on the opposition to do something with it when they get it. Wouldn't mind a long throw in now and again though - or, for that matter, any throw in that actually goes to one of our own players.

Three games into the season and he's had the ball into the back of the net twice. They may have been both chalked off for offside but that doesn't sound like a player who is not going to score in the SPL. Give the lad a chance.

I see Rangers are out of the Champions league after going down to Malmo tonight. However they remain in Europe with the reward for losing being awarded a place in the Europa League. This is wrong. Having failed miserably yet again, that should be that for the season. Places in other competitions should be awarded to other clubs who are next in line in their national competitions. In that way there will be more clubs involved in Europe and more clubs will be able to hold onto good players because of the attraction of playing in a European competition. This would help to raise standards generally and provide for better competition for the big clubs. Of course, this is money talking again with the demands from the TV companies that the bigger clubs get a 2nd chance so their appearance will make for larger TV audiences. Ibrox was only half full for the first leg so they got what they deserved.

Everybody seems to feel we've strengthened the squad this year so presumably we're all confident of a top six finish then?

I appreciate that referees and their assistants have a difficult job to do and I have defended them in the past, however, Saturday's performance was simply not up to standard. Having now seen the highlights I feel better placed to comment on 6 key decisions which went against us. 1. Tade penalty - I'll give the ref the benefit of the doubt. I can't tell whether Tade got his heel clipped or whether he just slipped/ tripped. His reaction of immediately getting up and on with it suggests the latter. Possibly a wrong decision but not a bad decision. 2. Tade "goal" - Again I'll give the officials the benefit. You simply can't tell from the angle although it looked on to me. I also felt that in the position Foran was he was wathching the line and being careful to stay on. Probably a wrong decision but not a bad decision. 3. Handball - Unlikely to be a clearer handball all season. Assistant had a clear sight. Shocking decision. 4. Foran penalty 1 - Wrestled to the ground in the box. Didn't appear on the highlights due to all the other incidents. Again the linesman had a clear sight of the defender with his arms round Foran. Very poor decision. 5. Foran Penalty 2 - Brought down by defender when going for 50:50 ball with keeper. Perhaps a bit more difficult to see exactly whose legs are where when three players are converging but still clear enough I would have thought. Probably the sort of shout which would be given 80% of the time. Poor decision. 6. Hayes fouled - Jonny should have been much more aware of the defender and either sheilded the ball, got rid of it or moved off with pace. He dwelt on it but he wasn't simply dispossed, he was physically pushed off the ball and onto the deck with no attempt to go for the ball. A second player than took control of the ball which then led to the goal. This was a blatant foul right in front of the referee. Shocking decison IMHO. One hopes these kind of decisions even themselves out over the course of the season, but I have my doubts. Two other points emerge from this. Firstly, with Rooney gone, who will be taking penalties for us? (that is if we ever get awarded one!) Secondly, top marks to Butcher for not having a rant over the poor standard of refereeing. Instead his post match comments focussed on a very encouraging performance by the team as a whole and the new players in particular. That was spot on.

Poor game from Nick today. Perhaps he felt the pressure of knowing that his place in the team is very much under threat. With Rooney gone we will not be playing the lone striker game. With six from Jones, Cox, Doran, Tansey, Sutherland, Foran, Hayes, Tade, MacKay and Ross, I personally don't see where he would fit in when all payers are available. Great player to have available on the bench though

We wuz robbed! Missed a hatload of good chances and had a couple of stonewall penalty claims turned down. I think 5 - 3 would have been a reasonable reflection of the game. Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I down hearted? No. It was a bright enough started but then Hibs took control and could and probably should have got a couple. We started coming back into it at the end of the half and then totally dominated the 2nd half. We will play worse and win this season. I have to say I am really encouraged. There were several occasions when the lack of familiarity with the new team mates showed - notably when Tom Aldred played a measured back pass to Essons right foot - but when they get used to each other I think we have a good team in the making. Hogg will certainly stengthen the back and the goals will come. All the new signings look decent. We have failed to score in the opening 2 matches but that will come. The important thing is we are creating chances by the hatload and a bit more sharpness, composure or luck is all that is required. I don't know much about Mackay but if he is the kind of striker who can capitalise on the half chances that come when the ball is driven low into the box then he will revel in the way the team played today. Given that the players have hardly played together I thought it was an excellent performance and I really enjoyed the match. I thought Doran was the stand out player when he came on - he made good space and his control on the first touch was top class. For me it looks as though we are going to see some really attractive football this year. We may be bottom just now but come the end of the season we are much more likely to be bottom of the top six than bottom of the bottom six. Think positive. We are only 4 points off top spot.

More turnip than Swede Thought he was from Never Never Land

The two most important signings required now are extensions to Terry and Mo's contracts.

It looks as though the team will be set up to play a passing style of game keeping the ball on the deck. Tade, Foran and Sutherland clearly give some options for the high ball but I think it should be an exciting style of play . Defense still looks suspect but if we score more than we concede then who cares!

He clearly wants to be somewhere else but if nobody is willing to take him on terms he wants and Terry thinks he can do a job, then why not? Whilst we admire loyalty in a player and we would like to think players want to play for us, those attributes are not the key attributes for getting the best out of a player. If Duff wants to be somewhere else earning more money then the motivation for him is to make other clubs notice him. They will do that if he plays well wherever he is. If he was to sign, I for one would be delighted as he put in some pretty decent performances last year.

Back on topic. As a club we are looking to progress. The question is not whether Darren is still as good as he was when he left us, but is he better? I think we all know the answer to that.

Was this a Catholic church team? A bit of religious incantation and incense burning to make the youngsters feel safe in the body of the church?

Anyone know Sandy Lyle's views on the simplicity of the course? Seriously though, I think Sandy should restrict his outings to the Seniors' Tour. I was sitting in the stand overlooking the 17th Green on Friday and the stand steadily filled when three groups came through with McDowell, Cabrera, Rose, Harrington, Mickelson, Lawrie, Gallacher, Kucher and Els. Next up was Sandy and as he stepped onto the tee there was a mass exodus from the stand and the area around the green. How disheartening must that have been! And the poor guy must have had that throughout his two rounds. No wonder he was last. He's been a fantastic champion of Scottish golf - a former Masters champion and 80% of the crowd disappeared when he was next to play in the Scottish Open. No criticism of the fans who reasonably enough want to follow the best players of the day, but I just felt it was really sad.

Funny thing, weather. Today was the opposite of Thursday - black clouds over Inveness and the Black Isle but Castle Stuart staying mostly dry with just a couple of light showers. Another great day's golf but a shame Donald stretched away from the field so there was not a tense finish. However, young Scott Jamieson hung in well for joint third and a place in next week's open virtue of being just inches away from a hole in one at the par 3 17th and a 10 ft birdie put on the last. The weather may have created havoc but the organisation was great and I'm sure everyone will be pleased to come back again next year. Hopefully the wind will blow next year and the greens will be drier and faster to be a bit more of a test. I would hate to see the course drop off the list of championship venues because it is considered too easy.

If that is the case then why was he not told in private before the game? Indeed, why was he playing at all? But given that he did play and the coaches felt they needed to break the news to him, could they not have taken him aside when they got back to Inverness and told him in private? If it is the case that he was told the news in front of others then that is really not acceptable and those responsible need to be be clear that it should not happen again. It is also surely of concern if the signing of players is dependent on whether the agents and the Board get on rather than on the footballing ability of the players themselves. Is this a situation Terry is happy with? As for Liam himself, if he is good enough for the coaching staff at ICT to want to sign him then he is good enough to sign for other decent clubs. Whilst this will be a blow for him, it will probably be just a minor blip in his career. Whatever we may think about the behaviour of people associated with the club in all of this, I am sure we all wish Liam the best of luck in his career.

Is there going to be an inquiry as to why the penalty was not given? Or is this just another example of boobs being covered up in women's football?