MrCaleyjag

Do we really care that much about where we play it, surely the fact that we are in it should be enough for all. No matter where it was held the SFA were on a hiding to nothing - Edinburgh and some moan about travel which by the way is the same distance if not slightly closer than Glasgow and Hampden, Perth or Dundee and there won't be enough tickets available and some would miss out. From Inverness the trip south at that time of year is still going to be bad!! Let's focus on being in the semi-final rather than picking negatives with where it is being played Oh by the way Caleyjag and I will be there to answer the original question.

Great news and shows some forward thinking, I said at the end of last season that this one would define TB as a manager and whether his reign would continue and finally we can see the rewards of everyones hard work as it was hairy for a wee while back there. It shows that the board are buying into his philosophy as I am sure they have been instrumental in the past with regards to what they can and can't offer him as a budget and by offering two year deals it gives us a great back bone to continue working with as opposed to uncertainty esepcially with the squad. It will be good for the boys to have the stability and for TB and MM to know who they have available to them without the worry of losing them on free transfers, it also means should the vultures start looming as inevitably they will we can actually demand good money from them rather than have them wait in the sidelines to pounce for nothing. Yes we have others that we need to secure on deals but I am sure it will come over time, if the boys sign extensions I am sure it'll spur on the rest to stay as well.

I'm delighted that we got Hearts especially with the way things are going with them, no doubt there squad will be stripped even more in January that's if they are even in business come then. My question is what happens if the worst comes to the worst for them and they go to the wall? Extreme I know but something to consider, technically if they come back as a Newco like Sevco then they are a completely new company and can't automatically take the place of out-going Hearts, the way things have gone with Scottish football in the last year nothing surprises me anymore. Easter Road? Gives both teams the chance to fill it and create a great atmosphere which would be lost at Hampden, it's tighter and you sit closer to the pitch as well as opposed to miles away like at Hampden so of all the venues available I would say the best choice. Plus from a purely selfish point of view Caleyjag and I get the chance of another night out in Edinburgh and another visit to our favourite restaurant, I also haven't been to Easter Road yet so will be a nice change.

BOOM BOOM BOOM we're all goin to Hampden!!!!!

As with any game I go to I don't read the thread before posting about it and last night's game is no different, only just getting chance to post now so if I am repeating anything that has been spoken about I apologise. Cracking result at a ground where we may have otherwise dropped points in the past although travelling to the game and on the way up to the ground I never had a thought that we wouldn't get anything other than a win especially going by our form and I hoped that the international break didn't have a negative effect and I was proved right. It was a game that beforehand most would have said that we should have taken something from if not all saying a win. Really enjoyed the game on the whole especially the first and last fifteen minutes, we hit the ground running and looked composed, confident and weren't afraid to pop the ball about and pass our way through Dundee. You can see what TB and MM are setting out to do and our play at times defintely showed this with the players looking confident in playing a passing game. Ok Dundee started to come more into the game but to be fair, especially in the first half, they only had one out ball and that was up to Colin Nish who we struggled to cope with in the first half but was very quiet in the second. For all Dundee came into the game and made it less comfortable for us they didn't greatly threaten our goal and when they did Reguero stood up to the task with one particularly good save sticking in my mind spreading himself down to his right at point blank range - I forget who from. It's weird how being at a game your thoughts are different from that of watching the game on tv and being actually being there and when we got back and watched it on Alba on the re-run it didn't seem like Dundee posed us as many problems as I thought they did. Overall it was a good performance and a great away win and you can't ask for anymore from these types of games and I am thoroughly delighted and was also good to get to a game as well and a great start to the weekend. We do have areas where we need to improve quite quickly, RB being one as we were hopelessly caught out too often with Raven hugging in too close to the CBs and leaving masses of space for their runners to get into. I also think we lack someone on the left wing and where I thought Roberts played well he looked a bit isolated at times and uncomfortable but he did make one excellent run where he bent his shot just passed the far side post. Bringing Sutherland on definately changed the balance back in our favour again and good to see TB making a change earlier than he normally does. All in all one very happy Jaggie today

To answer your question unfortunately I don't think so, not at the moment anyway but time will tell. I wouldn't agree that all games without Celtic are entertaining nor are the games with them covered, make no bones about it the quality of Scottish Football is poor and will take a long time to get better, I for one do not jump to watch an SPL game. Yes we will be biased on here and say that the last few games have saw us significantly improve and show good signs of playing decent football but lets not hide behind the fact that ESPN and Sky show certain games for a reason and not because they just want to - Firstly Rangers are no longer in the package so they have more games free to show other teams as they cannot monopolise the screen with Celtic Secondly they have chosen the Hearts games because they are struggling and there is a chance that we may upset them again and push them closer to trouble, that coupled with our impressive come back in the last game with them adds to potential excitement Thirdly Motherwell are riding high and they will probably see this as a possible 'giant killer' (for lack of a better phrase) game where we topple a team near the top. Lastly ESPN have to do something to promote their station and football package for next season as they have lost theie rights to the EPL as it has gone to BT so they need to keep the viewers. Yes it is good that we are getting the coverage on tv however it takes fans away from the gate, I am not in the best position to talk about not going to games for personal reasons as stated before, but the main aim must be getting fans through the turnstile. Just because we are shown in extra games in the league doesn't mean we get extra money as it is all included in the package. If we are going to be shown on tv I would rather that it was cup games where they have to pay for them on an individual basis.

Erecting seating on existing terracing does not class as a rebuild as you put it Only the main stand was rebuilt, a great opportunity was lost by the SFA and shame on them, we have a national stadium that is a complete eyesore when you compare it to Wembley, The Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin Parkhead, Ibrox and Murrayfield are all far superior stadiums with higher capacities to Hampden and that's where showpiece finals and internationals should take place I'd personally leave Hampden as an athletics arena after the Commonwealth Games Dougal There was a little bit more put into it than you make out Dougal however I for once have to agree with you that the SFA really did miss a trick, I hate Hampden as a National Stadium and the days of an oval stadium even when Hampden was re-done was well and truly over. All the great stadiums in the world are now colse to the pitch all the way round and we took a big backward step with ours. There is no atmosphere at all and even if there is it is lost upwards. The facilities may be up there with the best however as a spectactor arena it is not

Looking forward to it, first away game in a while for Caleyjag and I. Hopefully we can carry our good form into the game after the International break

Well rid of IMO, we don't need anyone who is disruptive and causes problems, we have a small enough squad as it is with lots of youngsters so this puts down the marker to them as to what will happen when you don't tow the line or act the big man regardless of the promise you show or have.

Am I the only laughing at the top I'm wearing, oh wait was I supposed to be playing for them last night?

My feelings on the game the day after can be summed up with the very four words I used after Doran scored the 3rd 'BOOOMMM!!! Get in there'

He's always been a bad referee it's just that now he's worse than that, on another night those stupid picky decisions could easily have gone against us and it would have been all so different. Yes they have a difficult job but it's not made easier by decisions like the yellow card on Doran was woeful. My brother is an up-and-coming referee and hasn't got a good word to say about his performances. I can understand why TB gets frustrated and has thoughts but we all know the SFA rules and unfortunately nothing can be said directly. The best referees are those that are not seen or talked about as they always have full control of the game and players, when a referee decides he's going to make his mark on a game or stamp is authority, which usually happens in bigger games/derby games, then you know it's going to be one of those nights.

That is exactly what I would be advocating from a psychological perspective. Sarcasm is an art form and it allows you to have a "pop" whilst using praiseworthy words whils adopting appropriately contradictive tone and body language. Terry certainly has the ability to carry this out but unfortunately his aim with these outbursts - towards officials, players, fans, injuries, suspensions conditions etc, - is part and parcel of his self defence mechanism of always projecting the blame on to any other subject than his own failings. Then to follow on from that it shows shades of a manager that is feeling the pressure and is synonomous to the position we find ourselves in without a win this season in the league. It is a self defence mechanism that every manager unfortunately finds themselves slip into when in his position but when faced with adversity he needs to come out and be positive and resist the urge to critisise. It's very bad press and should he get the ban the talk won't be all about the first Highland derby in the SPL but more about TBs ban and how he misses out being on the touchline. I know what I would rather talk about. Lets hope this slippery slope doesn't continue because when you start and keep critising tohers historically any manager that has cannot turn it around, he has to change his approach and I for one genuinly hope that he does because I and I'm sure a lot of others don't want to hear it all the time and I want to see a TB led team that is successful and is making progress.

Many people on here won't agree with me but this is long overdue and is maybe what is needed to reign Butcher in a little bit and make him concentrate more on the important stuff that he can influence rather than referees and their decisions which ultimately he cannot. IMO he is losing focus of the problems that we face and also the good parts about our team and rather than spend his time discussing this in interviews he berates and blasts referees all the time. For months now and including the end of last season the most consistent part of his post match interviews are his rants and raves about the referees and their performances and it's all a little embarressing now, yes it may be good entertainment and gives people and the press something to talk about but it's all negative and it's about time it was nipped in the bud as it is totally deconstructive. When has anyone other than Rangers, Celtic or Alex Ferguson been able to influence a referee?

You can almost excuse younger players for acts of stupidity like that of the OTJ and Foran red cards however from experienced players you just can't. I don't mind players getting stuck in and showing a bit of heart and desire but both were bourne out of frustration and anger. It's definately something that TB needs to work on with the players, we can go on about officials and how it was/wasn't a yellow/red card but players especially experienced ones should know better and should be able to read the ref that is on show and know what he is potentially going to punish.

Benching him doesn't do any good for the team nor for him as if you do when he is allowed back in the team he'll be even more pumped to get involved more and these things will happen again. This is part of his make up as a player and I think the only thing that TB can do is remind him forcefully of his duty as a captain and leader and try and curb that temper (if you want to call it that) is it isn't helping him, the team nor does it set a good example to the younger players in the team. I said in the matchday thread that it wasn't good enough from him and he should have known better, which I stand by, he'd have been off anyway as it was a yellow card offence at least so with that in mind he needs to start being more sensible.

I'd agree with you there however the league came out before the start of the season and said they were going to clamp down on it, the ref's official explanation was that he had seen a pull and that is why he gave it however the players and TB were so annoyed with it as part of the clamp down to cut down on the number of penalties possibly given the refs were instructed to give a warning or two before awarding any and yesterday that didn't happen. It'll be interesting to see of they is any consistency in this regard in any other games or from this ref in the future.

Just switched on the Alba coverage forgetting it was on in time to see the red card, stupid tackle to make in a nothing area from an experienced player on a yellow card as it was. He was clearly annoyed by the ref not awarding a free-kick already and stupidly lunged in and followed through high. Even if it wasn't a straight red it was a certain yellow so he would have walked anyway and can have no complaints. Not good enough from a player of his experience who should be, as captain, setting an example to all those around him. A blot on what appears to be a very good performance certainly in the second half and a great point.

BOOM!! At half time I'd have taken that any day of the week, well done to the lads for the come back, makes a change for us to be on the correct end of a late goal.

Not sure we're ever going to learn from past mistakes, last week we concede on the stroke of half time (symptomatic of last season), week before another late goal when we just needed to see out the game, last week again have a player sent off for stupidity then today captain marvel comes back, gets booked and five minutes or so later gets a straight red card for a reported over the ball challenge!! Until we cut this out we can't expect anything from games I'm afraid as much as it pains me to say

I agree with CaleyD, can we really afford the players you have mentioned? I actually would only have taken one of the above that you mentioned, Hasselbaink and not for goals either as he is not a proven out-an-out goalscorer nor was he prolific at St Mirren but his overall game would have been extremely beneficial for us. Whether we like it or not a loan deal for a goalscorer is the only way to go but then who wants to let their goalscorers go unless they are young and not proven yet.

Part of this post typifies the exact reasons that I haven't posted on the board since the end of last season no more so than Forza's attack on CallieAnne and I hope you feel suitably embarrassed by some of your content. Caleytillidie you have actually started what should have been a good post and on the whole it was but you haven't actually stated what you are going to do, yes you go to games and that should be applauded along with the others who make the effort to but to attack those that don't so blindly shouldn't be. This post should have been about raising ideas which you should have started but didn't and upon those, who know more and do a damn sight more, raising ways that you can get involved you dismiss it questioning what help you could do - how do you know without making the call? Caleyjag and myself haven't been this season, we didn't go to many last season and to be truthful the only reason is money, we are saving for a wedding and once in a lifetime honeymoon and to be honest see that to be more important than travelling along the A96 from Aberdeen every fortnight and spending the best part of £100-£150 all in - people's priorities change also as well as how they feel about our game as a whole. Come next season we will be back and will attend a lot more games like we did the season we were in Division One and the season after but no one can come on here and tell us that we are not entitled to stop going nor should we be ashamed of not going either, if you want to pay for our tickets or our wedding then please do so and we'll attend but until then think about the reasons behind why people don't attend. Over the years we have paid our monies and in fact Caleyjag has since 1994 and even before the club was Inverness Caledonian Thistle but right now it'll be the radio and Geoff n the boys on tv for us. Caleyjag just through a very interesting idea at me while I was typing this - she follows a guy on Twitter who is going to the Wigan v Chelsea game tomorrow, he paid £22.00 for his ticket to sit level with the halfway line!! I'll leave you with that thought.

I'd like to echo Gringo's congratulations, well done Scotty, you creeped up at the end just as I crumbled like a rich-tea biscuit dunked into hot tea on the last week of the season

I don't agree with Proctor that Aberdeen is an awful place, I've lived in the west coast Highlands and also Glasgow before Aberdeen and I haven't ever been as happy as I am now.. I do agree though that a move to Aberdire (the team) would be disasterous for Hayes, such a step sidewards for as player with so much potential. The Evening Express has always been a spread of sh#t and never have I read such poor journalism, it's almost embarressing.

I've always thought something like this is slightly distorted and masked by the fact that our world beating league has a split. For instance would St Johnstone have lost five games in a row at the end of the season had they not been in the top six? Would we have got 7 points from the last 9 had we not been in the bottom six? What it does show is that if you are at near the bottom and have been in the bottom six then there are big problems or for St Johnstone they have to make big strides if they aspire to top six every season and challenge in it.