Caley Mad In Berks

Just come back from a week end at relatives. I had to use all my powers of persuasion to get the man of the house to watch ICT on Alba instead of Wales/England rugby on the other channel. Come to think of it I did him a favour as he is English! One of these games where the result was the important thing and not the manner of the victory. A great 3 points and so close now to top six. Great start with the early goal. At first sight I thought Fraser had simply dropped the ball, but on second (and many subsequent) viewings he actually made a good stop from a great header by Foran before Shinnie's simple tap in. Couldn't argue with the equaliser - a great strike, which in fact, was their only shot on target in first half. I thought we just shaded the second half, although I thought we were lucky to get the penalty. No doubt it is debated ad infinitem earlier in this thread (I haven't read it yet!). It was one of those penalties I would have been agrieved about had it been given against us. But, we deserved the narrow victory. I thought the back four were great. Raven just gets better every game. What a fantastic tackle he made towards the end to prevent a clear goal scoring opporunity. Taylor also performed admirably as a stand in for Shinnie and had a direct hand in both goals. Being a bit pickey, I thought we gave away too many cheap and needless fouls. Do you realise there were 5 fouls for handling the ball given against us (Doran, 3, McKay and Shinnie, 1 each). Too many and could have been costly on another day. But nothing that spoiled a great result, made even better by their manager's show of petulance at the end. And, while I think of it, I'm so glad we got rid of Vigurs, who also showed himself up with an all round petulant and bordering on nasty, display.

I've been to numerous functions over the years and seen/heard all sorts of after dinner speakers. I tend to agree with Charles that in the main they are expensive and poor value for money, adding very little to the enjoyment of the evening. I can think of only 2 exceptions. We had Alex Hay (the old golf commentator) at our annual golf club do about 20 years ago. He was absolutely brilliant with all his anecdotes acquired in his long, and at that time, still flourishing career. Even before that we had Tom O Connor (the commedian) at a 'mens' dinner. He had us all in stitches for the best part of an hour without one blue joke or 'f' word. So all credit to these two who were certainly the exception to the rule in my experience.

It will be ironic if Tel lets Chris Hogg go after sticking with him for so long, especially if he is reaching full fitness again. I've a feeling Tel will stick with him and let King go. Isn't Devine on loan? Therefore he could well be offski at the end of the season anyway.

Just rewatched the highlights. Definite foul on G Shinnie. Wouldn't have argued with a free kick instead of a penalty. But for him to be yellow carded for diving is a joke. Worth appealing?

'Well 2-0 up at Hearts already, so any chance of Hearts doing us a favour today seem to have been scuppered already.

Great stuff. I've liked him right from the start. So, when do we hear about the other one?

Could have been worse. Sounds as if Devine was great. How do we fit him into our back 4 when Warren comes in on Saturday?

Excellent result. I must admit that I was expecting us to concede an injury time goal as usual. But it sounded as if the lads showed plenty bottle today. Back to 2nd, with some help from our friends over the bridge. The next derby match with them should be a cracker.

I even avoided knowing the score all afternoon so that I could watch it 'live' on Alba at 5.30pm. What a disappointment, a bright enough start, but we were soon found wanting. A bit like the whole season in fact. It seems that the stuffing has been knocked out of the players after losing to Hearts a month ago. We'll do well to finish above County at this rate.

I would guess there is a clause in Terry's contract which obliges ICT to allow prospective clubs to speak to him.

I admire your faith and I hope you are right. But I think enough hours have lapsed for Terry to have politely declined by now if it were such an easy decision. Yes, I agree. If Terry was not interested, I feel that he would have said so by now. The bookies don't often get it wrong. Terry is odds on favoutite now. As others have said, Barnsley will be anxious to avoid being rejected by another of their choices, so will be putting the pressure on. The longer it goes, the less promising it is for us keeping him imo.

For just about the first time in Terry's managerial career he is on the brink of significant success this season. Even with a, no doubt, tempting financial offer from Barnsley, I'm sure he will feel he wants to see this season through with us. If the season turns out as well as many of us dare to hope, his stature as a manager will be sky high, and who knows what offers he might then be tempted with.

I would agree that it seems as if we might be losing someone if we are trying to bring in another defender. Apart from Hogg's long term injury, and the longer he is out, the less his chances seem for him to make it back to full fitness, we still have King recovering from injury. So why another import, unless someone is leaving?

Having watched the highlights several times, I'm more than happy with a point from that game, one we could easily have lost. Does anyone else think Reguero could have made a better attempt at saving the first goal? Maybe he was a bit unsighted by Raven, but to me it looked as if he was caught unawares. Cracking equaliser by A Shinnie. Unfortunately his brother got a real roasting from Teale who caused problems for us whenever he got the ball. It may seem churlish to pick out G Shinnie as a weak link in our defence, but to me he seems to be caught out of position too often (not just in this game). But I'm pleased with a point in the end.

Yes, I agree that for a lot of our squad, this season represents the best chance they will ever have of reaching Europe. I almost have to pinch myself when I say that because, if I'm honest, I would never have thought that we'd be challenging for Europe after the first few games of the season. I know there is 'many a slip' etc etc, but to be where we are at mid season is a massive achievement in itself, and I feel optimistic that we'll be there or thereabouts at season end. The team really does seem to be a cohesive unit this season and it is great to see their confidence and self belief growing as every game passes. All we need is for this to continue, with an injury free run, in the New Year, for 2013 to be an extremely Happy New Year for all us fans. OK, throw in a cup final for good measure. We deserve it.

Can't believe you'd waste time posting drivel like this. I'm with Laurence, and to some extent, Doofer's Dad. I don't agree with DD where he says it is on the decline. Cricket is a great game and is a long way from being dead. OK, I admit it is changing, look at the IPL for example, and the crowds they get there. I expect the 20/20 version of the game will expand dramatically over years to come, but I am sure Test cricket is far from its death bed.

I see Tade got one last night for St J. How many is that this season, 2 or 3? Really missed him haven't we?

Bristol Rovers have had a torrid time of late, and can't seem to find the right manager to motivate them to get out of trouble. They're in danger of falling out of the EFL. I feel sorry for our fellow poster, Dmacca, whose home team it is. Let's hope for a brighter second half of the season for them.

He hasn't. He was in the NI squad, and I am sure that would rule him out of now being selected for England.

I can't really see how we can count Bill McKay as English, seeing he has just represented Northern Ireland at senior level.

Just watched the first 10 mins on Alba. The first two goals were shockers. Meekings a bit unlucky mind. Graham Shinnie well at fault for second. He had plenty time either to clear the ball or get it back to Reguero. We were pretty much ripped apart for third, although Skacel was left unmarked before he scored. Still, as I said before, and plenty others besides, a great fightback.

Finding the live stream a few minutes after kick off, I couldn't believe the 0-3 scoreline in such a short period of time. I'm just about to watch Alba to see how bad these goals were. But, no matter how I felt, how must the players have been feeling? It is an absolute credit to them that they didn't crumble and be on the receiving end of a drubbing. The comeback was amazing. Just such a pity that our joy is tempered by such a soft penalty in injury time. Still, I'm proud of the team, and all the management too. I'm sure we're all looking forward to a couple of good wins before New Year and beating our shadows again on 2 Jan.

Well, I suppose we'd have settled for that after 10 mins, but still hugely disappointing after such a great fight back. Didn't see much in the penalty they got .

wtf this is madness

Just found it on a live stream. What the hell happened in first 15 mins?