DoofersDad

I was thinking this myself. Just how bad is it with Celtic running away (pretty much) with 2nd place. I know there's been an odd challenge from DU and Hibs but Celtic still have got it to lose. Three of the top 5 in the SPL have gone out of the Scottish cup to !st division opposition and unless Dundee United win the cup, it will be 4 out of 5. In addition, Raith knocked Aberdeen out. Next season should be a doddle for us!

Well done to County. It is clear that the scoreline was no more than they deserved and just as we did 10 years ago, they played Celtic off the park. And let's be honest, theirs is an even bigger achievement than ours because they are a smaller club and they have reached the final. In doing that they have achieved something we never have. But the interesting thing for me is how poor the premier division is this season. Clearly Celtic were there for the taking and are probably the worst Celtic team in living memory but in the 2 cup competitions the first division teams have shown that there is very little to choose between the SPL and the SFL in standard. Whilst it's a great day for the romance of the cup and for Highland football, sadly it is also a sad reflection on the quality of Scottish football at the highest level. They might find Raith a tougher proposition in the final

Putting 3 up the Queens. I think you might be thinking of Brewster! :023: :cry03: :cry03:

Heard on the news today that the manufacturers have decided to change the rules of Scrabble to allow proper nouns and names. This must be the only situation where Barrowman scores more than Rooney.

Pumped up? Were you at the game today? They quite clearly hadn't fully recovered from their midweek exertions, and your expecting another gung ho approach from them 3 days from now? As Tree said on another thread, they hardly have time to recover from minor knocks and niggly injuries, when cramming so many games into such a short period. I was looking for a pumped up performance from them today, but very soon realised (11 minutes) that wasn't going to happen. They did of course grind out another incredible result, but (like me) they are soon going to have problems trying to keep it up. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get to the match today but I understand what you are saying. A reaction to the Tuesday result was always on the cards, particularly in a match which the players might have seen as the easiest of the remaining fixtures. We are lucky that despite what seems to have been a fairly poor performance, the Gods were with us today. However, having gotten out of jail today and taken another very important step towards the title there should now be no let up on focus. Of course, if players are injured they may need to miss games to recover, but if they are not, I don't see us having the depth in strength to rest players. There is a bit of flexibility around which 2 play out of Proctor, Bulvitis, Stratford, Sanchez and Odiambo but other than that the team picks itself and looks weaker when any of them are not playing. It's only a 36 match season and there's only one more midweek match to go. If the players can't cope with that when they are on the verge of a historic return to the SPL then they shouldn't be wearing the shirt at all IMHO.

This is a really important match for us. Another win keeps the squeeze on the others but it will not be easy. Morton are playing well and are second to ICT in the recent form league. They are also highly motivated as they are playing to avoid facing the play offs. But they must also be feeling the pressure as other teams at the bottom are also picking up points which means they need to keep their form up. Their next three matches are against us, then County and then Dundee so whilst they will be very up for the match, they will be feeling the pressure too. Sitting back will only give them confidence. We have scored the most goals in this league by some way and all of our strikers are scoring. Morton have conceded the most in the division and we should aim to exploit those facts. My view is we need an attacking approach and to go at them right from the start. Even if the team was not at its best today, the late winner will have been a huge boost to the confidence and they simply need to go out and do what they do best. Neither County nor Dundee will find their visits to Morton easy and we need to get a psychological advantage by turning them over first. If we can then beat Queens and Dundee and County drop points, we could find ourselves cliniching the title at home against Dunfermline on the 17th. How good would that be! TB will be well aware of how we clinched relegation from the jaws of survival last season and will not be wanting it to go to the wire. Now is not the time to rest players. Some players may be tired but they should still be motivated enough to give of their best. I expect a very pumped up, full strength team to take the pitch at Morton. I certainly don't expect Morton to roll over but I do expect us to win by at least 2 clear goals to send a clear signal to those desparately trying to keep pace with us.

According to the BBC Website match stats for tonight's SPL match Hibs had 2 shots on target and Dundee united just 3. Interesting when the score was 2 - 4.

Did anyone else notice an incident late in the 1st half not long after we had gone 3 - 0 up when Munro and Tokely were having a right go at each other from a distance of a few yards? With all the excellent singing from section G I couldn't hear anything that was being said but it seemed as though Munro was doing what captains are supposed to do and Tokely didn't like it and was giving a lot of lip back. This went on for a few exchanges until Ryan Esson took a few steps out of his goal and told the 2 of them to cool it. Is this a symptom of a potentially brittle partnership at the back or was this just a reflection of how fired up everybody was in the first half? I got the impression that perhaps at 3 - 0 up Tokely fancied surging forward to get in the action but was told in no uncertain terms that he needed to stay back. Whatever it was, it was not a very healthy exchange between 2 experienced players whose performance and attitude will probably be more important than any other players' in the remaining games. For us not to blow it, we must stay solid and united at the back.

Exactly. These teams have a lot to play for and will take points off our challengers.

If we win 3 and lose 3 then we will have 64 points. To beat us the other teams will need the following:- Dundee 14 points from 6 games Dunfermline 16 points from 5 games (mathematically impossible!) County 21 points from 9 games Queens 22 points from 9 games. Realistically those targets are tough and they would need to significantly improve current form to acheive that. I can't see any of them getting that many points because it is a competetive league. Only a catastrophic collapse can stop us now.

After not beleiving for most of the season I am pretty confident now for a lot of reasons. Last season the team had been all but safe having been well behind and then blew it at the end. That will really hurt and there will be no complacency this time. We are currently the best team in the league by some margain. It is not just that we are top, our goal difference is also a good indicator of that. As a result the players know that if they play to their strengths then we will not drop too many points. We are very much the form side over quite a prolonged period with 5 consecutive clean sheets. There is no reason why the players should feel particularly nervous. None of the teams that could pip us are playing well and there is no reason to suggest that any of them are going to go on a good run. The league is very competetive and all the other teams are going to drop points. To be honest I think 3 wins and 3 losses for us and we would still be champions and therefore there is some margain for error here which must also give the team confidence. I think we are in a position where we will win the league with a couple of games to spare.

Two Highland derbies in 10 days. It could be 10 years until the next one!

I'm surprised Barrowman wasn't playing today given the strong wind. I was worried that the wind might deflect his shots way off course and divert them goalwards.

The sending off may have been harsh (couldn't see from where I was) but when has being 1 man down made such a difference in a match. We were simply different class. The second goal was a fabulous run from Jonny before skillfully putting it on a plate for Eric. County barely threatened at all with Esson more at risk from hypothermia than the County attack. There was less urgency from us in the 2nd half but despite that there was good build up play although the ball didn't quite run for us. We were certainly at least 3 goals the better side. It was cold though - I had to put my shirt back on for the 2nd half. Fans were brilliant. Non stop siging throughout the match - well done lads!

If we go on the sort of run we did at the start of the season we will not win the league. But why should we go on that sort of run? We are a very much better side now than then.

We are the form team at the moment and the poor form of others must give the team confidence. We have taken 14 points from our last 6 games. Dunfermline have taken 10, Dundee and Queens 7 and County only 6. If that was to be repeated for the next 6 games, we would have 66 points with one to play, Dundee would have 58 with 1 to play, Dunfermline 56 with none to play, County 50 with 4 to play and Queens 50 with 3 to play. In other words, if current form is maintained we could have the league sown up with still a couple of games to go. Based on current form, we could be 8 or 9 points clear at the end. Beating County on Tuesday would put us 11 points clear of them having played 3 games more and the title would be ours to lose. It's a huge game but the way current form is going a draw or even a loss (perish the thought) would not be a disaster We have been showing consistency for some time and are the form team. It is therefore realistic to think that based on the current form we should now be favourites to take the title. I didn't believe a couple of months ago, but I believe now.

Isn't Walter Smith out of contract at the end of the season? Obviously it ain't going to happen but it would be interesting if it did.

What annoys me most are those drivers who crawl along at some ridiculously low speed and never pull into a lay by to let others past. Unlike the nutters who briefly irritate and are then away, these folk can hold a whole queue of folk up for miles on end and delay people from getting to their final destination by several minutes. When you are working or have an appointment this can fair raise the stress levels. It also means you use the engine less fuel efficiently and therefore costs us. Finally, as this topic is on dangerous driving, it is indirectly dangerous. Inevitably someone is going to try to overtake several cars when they see the person immediately behind is not taking opportunities and this can lead to dangerous situations either because of oncoming traffic or because someone else goes to overtake and does not look to see if they are being overtaken themselves. If people wish to drive slowly to enjoy the scenery or because they are not very confident drivers then I don't have a problem with that. There are several elderly folk I know who are less confident than they used to be but for whom the car is a lifeline. However, whilst I don't object to them driving at a speed which they are comfortable with, they should be required to observe a bit of courtesy to fellow road users. Pulling into a layby every few miles will not delay their journey but would make a big difference for the rest of us.

County are expecting a lot of travelling support. As a result I understand arrangements have been made with Scotrail for a special train. http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...%26tbs%3Disch:1

Andy Barrowman had several chances against us on Saturday without ever causing Esson a problem. From the report of County's fine win against Hibs tonight it seems they have managed to win despite Barrowman being at his usual inept worst. "and lone striker Andrew Barrowman scuffed one wide after good work from Scott Morrison." and "The Highlanders responded with a Barrowman header at the back post that looped over a stranded Smith but bounced a few feet wide," and "following an almighty scramble, which saw Smith save at the feet of Barrowman." Whilst it is encouraging that he hasn't lost his ability to send the ball out of play further from the goal then where he actually hit the ball, there is an inevitability of him getting lucky and finding the net at some stage. I just hope it will not be on Tuesday but, with the jinx county seem to have on us this season, I fear it may be.

I think the Forum is quiet due to nervous anticipation. The recent form table is interesting and shows why people may feel that way. Points from the last 6 games played are:- Dunfermline 16, ICT and Ayr 12, Morton 9, County 8 Partick, Dundee and Queens 6, Airdree 5 and Raith 3. This is a really unpredictable league and the title is there for the taking. Consistency is the key and we seem to be the most consistently reasonable team in the last couple of months. Believe!

The game for me was summed up by the contrasting games of Rooney and Barrowman. Rooney worked hard but hardly had a sniff at goal. Barrowman did not work as hard but had several chances / half chances from which, as usual, he made the ball boys work far harder than the goal keeper. The point here is that County created far more than we did and always looked the more likely to score except for a good, but brief spell in the 2nd half. That's 3 league matches this season that we have been a clear 2nd best to County. With Dundee and QOS both faltering a draw was a good result in the circumstances but it does mean that the game on the 30th really is a huge game for us. If County dominate again and get a win then I cannot see us finishing above them.

I am happy with a point due to the other results in the division but the performance today was dire. There was a good spell in the second half for 10-15 mins or so but in truth, we were lucky to come away with a 0-0. Long ball football for 80 minutes and it was boring to watch, county were the better side and will probably feel that they should have won. We are lucky not to have lost ground today but if that sort of performance continues then you can kiss promotion goodbye!

Excellent news. We've now got enough players to enter a 5 a side league next season.

I don't think it suggests or implies everyone 'supports' one of the Old Firm, but as in most either/or scenarios people often have a preference. True. But it's like asking whether you would prefer to have typhoid or cholera. Both options make you sick.