FoolPhysio

That may be so, but there is no guarantee that Aberdeen have bottomed out - after all, there is still one league placing between them and the drop zone. I can see how a move away from Motherwell can be seen as a shrewd move by Brown, but not to Aberdeen!

Excellent find - and superb article. A very fair report on our current fortunes and a positive boost for the challenge ahead.

Scotty, quick question as I haven't registered for the shop yet - is this expected to mirror the official ICT site or replace it in terms of videos? Only reason for asking is that the Celtic game isn't on the ICT site yet.

Seems that once Brown had stopped laughing and calmed down a bit, the inevitable response was given . . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/9257495.stm

And then sell it as "Condensed Sh*t"?

Only slander (or is a broadcast actually libel?) if it cannot be proved to be true . . . and considering the recent Live Aid = Guns apology, I would have thought that they would have triple checked facts and verified sources before transmission. Assuming there are enough people left on the editorial teams to do so. Of course the BBC claimed the timing was a coincidence but that is a very poor excuse. They could have re-jigged the schedules so it came in after the announcement - if it wasn't deliberate then it was simply negligent. Then again, maybe they thought this week would be a slow news week and making news on the news is a means to making sure there is at least something to report on!

Not really . . . just less likely to see the ball throughout the whole match

Although we have already paid for it, if there are cheaper yet still as effective methods of keeping the pitch relatively frost-free, we could employ that instead and not turn the USH on at all! Says we need to have it installed. Says the pitch must be playable. I'm working on the assumption that they have written so that implies that one is the obvious consequence of the other, but there could be a wee loop-hole to exploit there. Ends justify the means!

Good news - he has been developing well considering the concern we were expressing about how well he would cope with the roughy toughys in the SPL as compared to the SFL. Quite well, as it turns out! Bags of skill, now just needs to gain the experience to go with it and you can only get that by playing games. And what a time to do it as well, with the team riding high. Add a Scotland call-up (and goal) and we have an excellent player in the making.

No - according to the laws (Law 9 - http://www.fifa.com/...softhegame.html), the referee and the assistants are considered the "furniture" of the pitch in the same way as the ball rebounding off the goalposts or the corner flags, as long as the whole of the ball has not crossed all of the line. The only question in this case then is whether the assistant was that close to the line that the whole of the ball could hit and rebound without having been completely over the line. Since it was the assistant himself who made the call then that must have been the case.

As an ex-referee I always have a chuckle when the accusation of inconsistency is made. Referee training standards were applicable across the board, from us juvenile refs right up the class ones. We had an annual conference that was open to anyone with a referee qualification - which includes coaches, managers and players if they so wished. Obviously the higher up the leagues you went, the more frequently you would be observed and a report submitted to your local Referee Association. Regardless, your decisions could be held to account at the disciplinary boards held by the local Football Association (so in effect, you were open to scrutiny and criticism from either Association!) and could be asked to clarify aspects of your report. Indeed, I had to do so on one occasion when they called me at my place of work, which I had no problem with. I was unaware of the outcome of the hearing however, which meant I was not aware if my decision was being upheld, moderated or dismissed. Therefore I had no idea if I had made an error but if I had done, then I would have had an opportunity to learn from it. I attended routine referee meetings, although these were not mandatory. Mind you, if you were interested in doing the best you could on the field, then it was advantageous to do so because there would be a discussion on recent high-profile games usually supported with video clips. I believe the meetings were mandatory for the higher grades, as was conference. For us lower league people it was optional. Now here is something weused to do and they probably still do today ? there would be several clips ofgames that some may have seen, but most would not (mind this was before theexplosion of satellite and digital free-view when foreign games were still "exotic"). An incident would be played in real time, thenstopped and the following questions asked: - was it a foul? - If yes, whattype (direct or indirect) - Was it a card,and if so, what colour? - Why? In a room full of trainedand experienced referees, there would usually be a majority in agreement BUTthat still meant there were some who didn?t. Obviously there would be concern if thedifference was ?no foul? and ?red card?, but you will realise that there cansometimes be a subtle distinction between ?yellow? and ?red?. And that was having seen the same incident, onTV, at the same instant. Make ajudgement, now ? don?t wait, don?t consult ? what is it? The point was two-fold ? this was the type ofpressure the referee was under, and a cadre of his peers did not necessarilyagree with the outcome. So who is rightand who is wrong? Law 5. So for those who thinkthe referees are inconsistent, try that exercise yourself with a group of matesand see what the general consensus is ? I am not saying you will be wrong, allI am saying is that you may be surprised that the majority may not agree withyou. But football is not a game run bydemocratic opinion, it is a dictatorship. And unfortunately, no matter how much we trainand develop to try and ensure it is a benevolent dictatorship, there willalways be those who disagree. It is whenthat disagreement becomes endemic and insidious that it leads to what we arewitnessing now. As a final point, I wouldurge you all to do the referee course. Youdon?t need to then go on an referee, but you will be arguing from a position ofstrength and confidence having been through the course. It is really very interesting to have thediscussions surrounding the laws and hear what the trainers (usually class onerefs) have to say about it. There is no closedshop. Anyone can join.

Aye - doesn't say we were giving him 4 sheep, could just a lend of them . . .

I use a number of forums for professional and hobby purposes, and this site ranks up there as one that is well moderated, easy to operate and has a decent membership which provides some excellent banter as well as thought-provoking discussions. Registering for me was no inconvenience, in fact I would expect a reasonable site to request it to ensure that those wishing to get involved were there for the right reasons. Not just an internet security measure but one to screen out the really troublesome trolls, although it doesn't deter the really cheeky troublemakers (remember the sheep fan who made a brief appearance earlier in the year and then dropped out again having been well and truly flamed?? ) I regard this site very highly and because of these measures, I would recommend it without hesitation to any ICT fans not currently using it. Fact is, while some of us use forums to a greater or lesser extent the majority of people don't. Making it open access would not improve numbers and indeed, would only damage it for all the reasons already posted.

Totally agree - after all, you can only ever get to do it once! How disappointing for the players, and it doesn't encourage them to feel welcomed into the fold either, does it?

There was a comment on Radio Scotland this morning that backs up the impression you had KB - it seems the score line did flatter us somewhat. Still, friendlies are there for practice and to gain experience and that is what the lads have had. Up to the coaches now to decide on how to make them gel as a fully functioning team and build on the confidence boost gained from a good win.

Good work lad, may there be many more. Wasn't far off in the Aberdeen game either.

As I live in Stonehaven and work in Aberdeen I am surrounded by sheep so it was inevitable that we would be discussing the game on Tuesday, and one of the most positive comments was how impressed my colleague was with our away support, definitely the best he has seen visiting Pittodrie for some time. As I have said before, Aberdeen supporters have always expressed having a soft spot for us, possibly because we are fellow true-northerners but most likely because we never seemed to secure a win against them. Now that this has recently changed (two wins out or two) and considering our relative positions in the table albeit they are only 8 points behind with still 2/3 of the season left to play, I wonder if maybe this soft spot is likely to harden? Still, whether or not it has any major effect on how the team performs on the park, having a vocal and passionate support in decent numbers brings honour to the club and to those of you who make those journeys time and time again, I salute you!

I'll be there too - home game for me as well and been looking forwrd to it even before Saturday's results

Yes please - keep the reports coming. It is a shame that the official club site doesn't include tables for the others as it would be interesting to see. Surely there ARE tables for these leagues somewhere though?

Ditto, thank you

Absolutely brilliant! Almost spat my coffee out at the though of someone giving "Marius Niculae" as a false name. Sitting here at work with tears in my eyes trying not to guffaw too loudly and have to be asked to go out and calm down. Thanks for brightening up a cold dank Monday morning.

Don't forget, you can also see the highlights on the Club website once they are posted (usually a few of days after the game) and these will stay there for at least a month if not longer. http://www.ictfc.co.uk/page/matchhighlights/0,,10447,00.html

Why not? :(

England just prove that a bunch of over-paid pampered prima donnas cannot be melded into a team. These players also proved that their only objective is money. No passion, no pride. A disgrace. Still, now we can get on with enjoying the remainder of the competition . . . :(

two words ........ Jimmy Calder !!!! Or Andy Goram?? :party01: And old Roughie was never what could be called less than cuddly . . .