Caley Mad In Berks

Interesting question ! I can't make the game in Romania due to a long standing previous commitment. But I am sure it would have been cheaper for me to get there from down here in Berkshire than it will be for my trip to Inverness next week for the 1st leg. When I add up flights, parking at Heathrow, hotel, car hire for a day, ticket, food and booze I'll be lucky to see any change from £500. Pretty sure I could have got to Romania cheaper.

I definitely agree with Renegade that there is something 'not right' about the club's silence on this rumour. I supported the club's stance all through the saga of not publishing the amount of tickets sold for the cup final, and even for their coyness about publishing the amount of season tickets sold so far. I sort of get their reluctance to go public on anything to do with money. But this Latapy issue really confounds me. If there is nothing in it, why not come out and deny it and put everyone's mind at rest. If there is something in it, then give us credit for being reasonably intelligent and let us know what is going on. I, for one, cannot believe that it was just coincidence that Rice apparently was in the dugout for the Deveronvale game. I believe that the majority of posters on here are honest, serious ICT supporters and I think we deserve better communication from the club on this issue. I've only written to the chairman once before (on the kicking Rangers out of the SPL issue), but I'm tempted to contact him again over this. Come on ICT, treat us like adults!

I read on BBC website that Curtis Allen, (plus one other Glentoran forward), missed their Europa Q1 tie last night because they were 'away on holiday'. Really surprised that they were allowed to be away for this game which Glentoran lost 1-4, leaving them a mountain to climb in Q2. Maybe Glentoran don't see Europa Cup as important?

Some well taken goals but it has to be said that the standard of defending at that level looked very poor and he would need to sharpen up for the Scottish Premiership. A contract until January initially ? As mentioned before, make a show reel of a player banging in goals and he'll look great. But if you consistently see goals being scored then you'll see a fair bit of bad defending. Conference football. Probably on a par with the Scottish Championship? Talk about talking the game in this country down. To suggest that our Premiership on a par with the conference is just about as ludicrous as your previously expressed view that the Highland League was and is amateurish pub football.... I think 'iamthecaptain' was surmising that Conference level teams might be on a par with Scottish Championship sides, not Scottish Premiership. He could have a point in my opinion. Certainly I think top conference sides would give lower Scottish Championship sides a run for their money.

Thanks for the updates. Good to see both trialists score on their debut. Encouraging! Hope they impress Yogi. Lets see what the second half brings

Really sorry that he has had to go to get a regular first team berth. I wish him all the best with his new club. He will always, for me, command a place in ICT folklore history for his dramatic equaliser against Hearts in the league cup semi last year.

Smee is correct. The original Caley and Thistle supporters were indeed passionate about the teams we followed, and rightly so. Also, it is not strictly correct that Highland League football was amateur. I know for a fact that some of the Caley players, even from the early 50s, when I started watching them, were well rewarded as part time professionals. I don't know how many 'glory hunters' are now supporting ICT, but for me, the more the merrier. We need all of them, and I hope our current success will breed a new generation of young fans who will grow to love ICT in the same way as we old Caley and Thistle fans loved their clubs. Some one on here posted that he thought many of the 'reuseniks' simply reverted to supporting their 'big teams' when ICT came into being. I feel sure that this is correct. In my own case, however, I never had a 'big team'. Not in Inverness when I was growing up, nor in Glasgow when I was a student, although I did watch Partick from time to time, as they were close to my student digs. Then when I moved to London in the 60s, I didn't watch football at all. Even when I moved to Berkshire in the 70s, although I like to see my local teams, Reading and Wycombe, do well, I don't class myself as a supporter, although I'll go and watch them from time to time. The only English team I like, which no one could call a 'big team', is Exeter city and that is partly because a friend of mine has been Director of Football there for many years. So it has only been Caley and ICT for me. One of my big regrets is that I have failed to persuade any of my grandchildren to show any interest in ICT. They don't even follow their local team, Reading, being too easily caught up in the hype that is Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool etc. But these premier league giants will never give them the same enjoyment as I had from supporting Caley and ICT.

He could hardly have picked a club further away, without leaving the UK. But I dare say his 'seething' ability will have preceded him to the good folks of south Devon. I wonder how they will take to it?

I wouldn't have him. I suspect he will slip down the leagues now. Unless he ends up at County of course. More likely Brora though?

Just two more weeks now until we know for sure. I'm sure Easijet and others will be inundated with bookings soon after the draw is made. Personally, I think Ireland (North or Republic) would be great for our first venture abroad. Bring it on.

At least I feel better about him going there than if he had gone to Aberdeen. He'll join another of our old boys, Sam Winnall, there.

Great to see Dean Brill, even with his gammie leg, joining in that.

Likewise, a couple of the last ditch tackles he made were sensational. Had he just mistimed them a fraction almost certainly we would have had a couple of penalties.

Loads for sale on EBay.

I did meet a grumpy one waiting for my plane back to London. He thought our first goal was off-side, plus he felt our 'time wasting with fake injuries' towards the end was disgraceful. Mind you, I did feel a bit sorry for him. He lived in Falkirk but he and his wife had got a late call to babysit grandchildren for a long week end in London. Then he had told his wife he was going back up to Glasgow for the final (at great expense), so he was going back down to a peed off wife plus his team had lost as well. Perhaps he had reason to be grumpy! Apart from him, all the other Falkirk supporters were great, before and after the match. How brilliant to be able to share the same pubs with the opposition fans without any trouble.

Well, we don't believe in making it easy for ourselves, do we? That last 10 minutes or so must have taken years off my life, and I don't have that many left to spare!! A magnificent day out made all the better by meeting up with old ICT friends, and quite a few new ones. Thanks to you all for contributing to one of the best days of my life. Just seen the card display on another thread. Well done to all concerned, a magnificent effort. I thought Watkins was our star today. He ran himself into the ground. Pity he appears not to be staying, but what a way to go!. But congratulations must go to the whole team, and management, for their achievements this season. And, its not over yet with a European adventure to come. Hope to see you all in some exotic location in late July. Can't wait till the draws done on 22 June to see who we get first.

Ok that's me up and ready for my journey north. But what about ICT's amazing journey in the last 21 years? Truly incredible, and today is a significant milestone for the players, management and supporters. Good luck to all of us. I truly believe its 'our time'. Let's enjoy it.

Almost the same for me, except I don't have to be up till 6am, as I've got a relatively short drive to Heathrow.

Good for Motherwell. Hope they can hang on to that lead on Sunday.

As one of the older posters on here, I've supported Caley from the early 50s and ICT from its inception in 1994. Although I was not in favour of the merger, I soon got over it and embraced the new club. Particularly in my youth I always dreamed of us winning the Scottish Cup. For this aspiration now to be within touching distance is truly unbelievable. A win on Saturday will just be amazing, and if we follow it with one or two wins in Europe in the summer, my joy will be complete. Roy of the Rovers stuff! Bring it on.

Well done to Red Card. Excellent compilation.

If ever a 5-0 beating can be seen as a good result, this was it. The major objective in ensuring no red cards or serious injuries to cup final contenders would appear to have been achieved. I was proud of the way we tried to play football right to the end, and never resorted to 'hoof ball' despite all the pressure we were under. In fact some of the football we played out of defence up to the final third was first rate, a point even conceded by the biased Sky commentators. I'm sure Yogi will have no problem getting the lads spirits up back up to scratch for the biggest game of our history next week. Bring it on, can't wait!

Well done Yogi. Nice that the football writers have actually noticed! I wonder which English teams might also have noticed, especially with the success of Alex Neil moving south earlier this season? Anyway, once again, congratulations to Yogi. He has well and truly won us all round this season with his style of football, and the success it has brought us.

Let's hope all Falkirk supporting dogs, and their owners, have faces as long as this at 5pm on the 30th May.

One up on me again Sneckboy! I was thinking of Oswell. Didn't even notice that Mihadjuks was around.