Caley Mad In Berks

That was only my second trip to 'new' Wembley. Previous visit was for an EFL2 play-off final where the crowd was only c40k With double that crowd last night I was really impressed with the crowd management arrangements, both from the Wembley staff, and especially the railway staff at the local Wembley Stadium rail station. Getting in and out was absolutely no problem. We were actually on a train, on the way home, within 15 mins of game finishing. As to the game itself, Scotland did better than many expected, took their goals well, and, had they been more organised at defending from set pieces, an upset was not out of the question. Just briefly, a couple of times, memories of 1967 came back to me!. Rooney did himself no favours 'in the shop window', and I thought it was ironic that his replacement, Lambert, scored with virtually his first touch of the ball. Tartan army did themselves proud all through the game, and in our section, where we were vastly outnumbered by home supporters, there was some great banter between us, all good natured, and the stewards kept a low profile, not bothering about folks standing up for long periods.

Is Esson injured, or dropped? If injured, presumably not too badly as he is fit enough to be on the bench. I don't think Brill has been really tested yet, but you can't argue with 3 clean sheets in a row (including Charlton). However, unless his loan period is extended, Brill is only with us until January so presumably Esson will have to regain his place before then so that he is match fit for the second half of the season. I can't help feeling that, even last season, Esson was a bit hard done by to lose his no. 1 spot, so I can't imagine how his confidence is this year for it to be happening again.

I'll take that. Stats show that we were well on top. Another goal would have been nice to ease the pressure in the last 10 minutes. But, no matter, still top of the league. How good does that feel ???

I'd be surprised if Terry was interested given Rangers shambolic state, but, then again, I suppose money talks!

A great start. Having seen them last week at Charlton, I was confident that if they played like that, they would have no trouble with Midden. I'm beginning to think Terry reads this forum. Several of us on here expressed the view that we were unimpressed with McKay as a penalty taker (despite him scoring a few last season). Lo and behold, first game of the season and we have a new man taking them. So well done Terry for doing something about it. I hope Vincent is the right man for the job. Looking forward to seeing the highlights. Well done again lads, I'm really looking forward to this season.

I like the look of Renegades XI, but with Williams instead of Watkins (who, with relatively little matches under his belt, will not be risked by Tel imo). Also, I'd have had Polworth (who had a decent game at Charlton) on the bench instead of Greenhalgh in any case, but assuming Watkins doesn't play, then Greenhalgh will get a sub spot.

Just got back to rainy Berkshire after a great day out with two of my ICT 'converts'. (Reading supporters really). We found the Charlton supporters in all the pubs we tried (Pickwick, Rose of Denmark and Antigallican)really friendly and welcoming. As to the game itself, first off a huge round of applause to our small but loud support who sang and encouraged the team from before the game started until after it finished. Charlton were a decent Championship side last season and today we matched them in every facet of the game. Great to see us playing on the ground, possession football. Hardly a sign of the old hoof ball. By my reckoning we had 4 chances to their one in the first half. The second half was closer, separated only by our fantastic goal. Charlton came at us hard for the last 10 minutes, after we scored, but apart from this spell never really looked threatening. Great to see our back 4 covering each other so well if anyone got in trouble. I'm hugely encouraged by this result, surely our best pre season result of the past few weeks, and will do no end of good to the confidence of the team. Roll on the 'real thing' next Saturday.

Andrew Shinnie scored again for Birmingham, versus Swindon, a few days ago in a 3-0 win.

Decent fight back by the sound of things.

Has anyone decided which pub ICT fans are meeting in pre match? The choice seems to be between the Antigallican (where some are staying overnight I believe), or the Rose of Denmark. Or maybe both ??? Four of us from Reading area will get there 12ish. Perhaps see some of you around.

Absolutely chuffed for him. Richly deserved. Another 'monkey' off his back and I am sure he will go on now to be a multiple slam, and Wimbledon, winner. Great that he can now give a giant 'up yours' to his, still many, detractors, including, I'm sad to say, some fellow Scots. I'm already on my third celebratory dram!!

Yes, well done Caleydawson for all the regular updates. It sounds as if our lads have got their scoring boots on nice and early. Lets hope it continues when we face sterner opposition.

Couldn't agree more about McKay as penalty taker. In the matches I saw, either live or on TV, I was never convinced by him. Quite a few of his penalties, even those he scored, were poorly hit and too close to the keeper for my liking. I can't suggest who might be better, but I hope it is something that the coaching team is addressing in training.

Seems like a decent opportunity for him. I'd expect him to take it. Rossco to take over at Wick???

Maybe Willie Bruce will come out of retirement! He must be late 80s (if he is still around!). Caley's best ever keeper imo, but perhaps that is a cue for an entirely new thread!

Good luck to him. I, for one, would not have minded seeing him back at ICT, as back-up to Esson, and possible challenger for the no. 1 jersey.

The pre split fixtures certainly haven't been kind from an 'income' point of view. So lets just make sure we make top 6 again, and, as a bonus, a Scottish Cup run would be nice. Sod it, lets have a League Cup run too.

I'll be going from Reading. Maybe one or two others as well. Currently thinking about train so that we can have a few bevvies! Train from Southampton comes through Reading I think. Maybe we can liaise on times later, if you decide on going by train?

Charlton fixture is a real bonus for me. It will be like a 'home' game for me. And Charlton's ground is the only one in London I've not been to! Hope we manage to get a few there to cheer the lads on.

It will be interesting to see if any of these seven can claim a regular 1st team place. We have done well in the past recruiting from the lower reaches of the English leagues. To be honest this doesn't really surprise me greatly. I don't think there is a huge difference in standard in the English leagues below Championship level. And it is in these lower leagues that the majority of the SPL (apart from the one remaining ugly sister) would find themselves if they magically transferred to England. More worrying is the lack of Scots on our books. Can't be healthy for the long term state of the game in the north, nor for increasing our support by encouraging more youngsters to attend matches if they don't have any local 'heroes' to identify with. I hope this year we will see one of our local lads be given a chance to claim a regular place in the starting X1.

The mods will no aloo much more of this.

Like others above, I think he would be a decent signing to replace Reguero. He could well push Esson for number 1 spot now.

Very good news. It was taking so long I was thinking he was offski!

Assuming it is the club's decision to let Hogg go, I feel we've got it wrong. He is well worth another season based on the few games he has played in recent weeks.

Well, how disappoining was that? We could have been out there all day and not scored. Someone on here suggested Fraser's injury would be good for us. Well, County could have played without a keeper at all for all the work Gallacher had to do. No midfield at all. Easy to say we missed Draper, Tudor-Jones, Foran etc but we surely could have been more competitive than we were, even without the stars. A great pity that a really good season has been marred by poor performances at crucial times, ie League Cup semi, and both last week and this week. Have we got the bottle for it when the chips are down? Oh well, I'll just go off and take solice in a wee dram. No doubt in a few weeks time when next season is just around the corner the pain of the last two weeks will have eased and I'll become optimistic once more.