Caley Mad In Berks

Were France much better? Soft penalty!. Henry certainly made the most of it. Hope Italy hump them in final. They will if they can repeat their performance against Germany. Best game I've seen in a long time. In my opinion, England wouldn't have lived against either Italy or Germany even if they'd scrambled through against Portugal and France.

Can't say I'm sorry that the Rooney hype over the last few weeks burst with a bang. England looked far better with Crouch up front. In my opinion Rooney always seems to be a 'sending off waiting to happen', and so it proved. England can have no complaints. They never seemed like a World Cup winning side to me in any of their pre cup build up matches, or in Germany.

Clach 0 Caley 2, sometime in 1950/51 season. Hooked on Caley ever since.

These days my favourite food is a good curry. When I was brought up in Inverness there were no Indian restaurants there, so my introduction to the delights of Indian cuisine, was somewhat delayed. If we are talking about traditional Scottish food, then mince and tatties is still hard to beat.

Maybe this was not shown north of the border. However, with some misgivings, expecting a real non event, I was pleasantly surprised with the standard and competitiveness. Gasgoine and Maradonna and Schemchcal (most of the time) were brilliant, as was Zola in patches when he came on. Also quite impressive were a couple of the so called celebrities, Jonathon Wilkes for instance

Good on you Bonzo. Speaking for myself, with my young upbringing in Scotland in the 40s/50s, I still find it difficult to support England in any competition, even if Scotland are not involved, despite the fact that I've lived in England since the mid 60s. Nevertheless, I think your attitude is probably the right one, and I admire you for coming out and saying it, despite the tirade of abuse you will undoubtedly invite.

Also Carol Barnes and Jan Leeming

C100 The house 'Over and Above' I referred to in a previous post is not the one you mentionned near the top of Godsman's Brae belonging to Mario. This one is at least a couple of miles further out near the new Academy.

In the late 50s,one of the Italian families (can't remember which one) had a house built up near Culduthel. He called it 'Over and Above' , not, so the story goes because of its imposing position on a hilltop, but because every time he had a meeting with the builder during the house's construction, the price always increased with the builder saying "over and above, we've had to do this extra work" etc. True story!

The chip shop on Academy St., (mentioned a few posts ago by CB), was owned I think by a family named Pagliari. They were I think one of the first Italian families to settle in Inverness. I remember them for having the first personalised number plate I ever saw, EVA 11. I wonder if that number plate is still around.

That's what the python's hoping for!

I agree that the refereeing was poor, but not particularly favouring one side over the other. He could easily have allowed Barca's 'first' goal, therefore avoiding the sending off, and the free kick for Arsenal's goal was a clear dive. 11 against 11 would have been interesting. Arsenal looked the better side in first quarter of an hour. Larsson looked very sharp when he came on and had a major hand in both goals

Excellent post KB. I echo your sentiments exactly. Good luck to them both.

Hastings for me. He was well worth his place last year. Unless he has a dramatic loss in form he deserves to continue.

With Hibs losing Riordan, and having plenty of dosh to spend, it would be no surprise tp see them bid for Dargo. Unless of course they decide to wait in case they lose Mowbray.

Yes, bad luck Peterhead. At least Realjags will be happy!

I agree. Catch them young and you've got them forever. I started supporting Caley when I was 10 and here I am over 50 years later, with not only my two sons as supporters, but 5 grandchildren as well. OK, distance (and cost) from Scotland means we don't get to as many games as we'd like, but nevertheless, the spirit is willing!. I paid the princely sum of sixpence at Telford Street in 1951 (2.5 pence in today's funny money). Even allowing for decades of inflation, I'd be surprised if it computed to £15 today. I'm sure my local club here, Reading, has days when it reduces prices for kids to just £1. Mind you, now they're in the Premiership it might be different.

Just out of curiosity, why is this ICT football related thread in 'Anything Goes' and not in 'Off the Park'? As to my own opinion, I can see no reason for delay in commencing the 4th stand. I am sure a financial model could be worked out where it would be seen to pay for itself within 4 or 5 years based on filling it say 5 times a year in matches against the OF and Dons.

What about the Scottish cup semi? You dumped us there all right!

What a great post split. 5 straight wins and 5 clean sheets. Couldn't be better - what a change from last year's post split anticlimax. Congratulations all round. Lets hope the good news continues post season with the retention of our key players and maybe the acquisition of one or two others

I suspect Walter Smith still sees us as just a Highland League team. As others have said, for Brown not to get a shout bearing in mind our defensive record and number of clean sheets, is disgusting, and Miller before Dargo is just a joke. But what can we do?

The nun joke reminded me of one of my favouites about 4 nuns, Sister Alice, Sister Beatrice, Sister Charlotte and Sister Deirdre who all die in an accident and are being inverviewed by St Peter at the Pearly Gates. He tells them that before he can admit them he has to ask them all a personal question. So he says to Sister Alice "Have you ever handled a *****?" She replies, "Well, when I was very young, I did once touch one with the tip of my finger". St Peter said "Thats all right Sister Alice, just dip your finger in this bowl of holy water, and then you can come in" "Now, Sister Beatrice, have you ever handled a *****?" She replies, "Well, when I was very young, I once did handle one and gave it a little rub" St Peter replied "Thats all right Sister Beatrice, just dip your hand in this bowl of holy water, and then you can come in" At this Sister Deirdre pipes up "Can I ask you a question father?" "Of course Sister Deirdre" said St Peter,"What is it?" Sister Deirdre replies "Do you mind if I have a quick gargle with the holy water before Sister Charlotte sticks her *rse in it?"

Yes, well done to the wee man. How nailbiting was that? I must admit I thought he had blown it until that brilliant clearance to go 17-14 up. Now, that was bottle!. Well done all round It just shows that snooker doesn't have to be all century breaks to be exciting. Fair play to Ebdon too for a great fight back, and for the graceful way he took his defeat. There's a guy who has matured well having been a bit of an eedjit in his youth

Obviously I wouldn't want to lose anyone, but if there is any truth in this story, I could live with these two going if it meant keeping Dargo and Dodds

Yes, congratulations all round. A much better end of seson than last year already. BBC Sports Report at 5pm showed us as 6th, and BBC Teletext as well last time I looked. I know its wrong, but it looks good!