GaidhealtachdDosser

I did chuckle at the advert in the V8 Cafe which describes Bucharest as "lively". It's certainly a city of contrasts. I'm no travel agent but I thought our Club Charters overly expensive, however £350 and £650 to Odense and Athens respectively doesn't seem too bad now when compared to yours. I would urge those that can go to go -- you'll only ever have one 1st game in European competition. I endured the coach from Motherwell to Katowice in 91 for a Cup Winners Cup tie. It took almost 3 days to get there and we only made the last 15mins of play. Would I do it again ? You bet. A word of caution ................ eastern european fans like to "acquire" visiting teams' flags - then set them alight during the game, so keep your flags/banners close at hand or tucked away until you get into the stadium. I followed Motherwell to Steaua and the local cops did look rather stern faced and trigger happy. They take no **** over there. All the very best. Get yer kilts on and enjoy ----------- it's a very unique experience. Slainje

If my memory serves me, you bottled it

.................. Club to win the Scottish FA Cup apparently. Welcome to the Cub :clapoverhead: :clapping: :notworthy: I hope you've all got very sore heads this morning, and memories you'll carry with you to your graves. I'd like to think a decent percentage of those who travelled to Glasgow yesterday can be attracted out to Longman on a regular basis. A League Cup Final and a Scottish Cup win with shyte crowds ---- just think what could be achieved if more of the city got behind the Club. Now onto your Eurovision debut. Having followed Motherwell all over the continent, I'd encourage you to look out your passports and follow Caley. If you think the Cup Final is the dugz bawz, seeing one's team in Europe is another level. It looks like you enter in the 2nd Qualifying Round, and will be unseeded, (a combination of your lack of history, and Scotland's poor co-efficient count). This is an excellent link to keep tabs on things, and give you a rough idea where you might be heading before the draw is actually made. It does change on a daily basis as continental leagues/cups finalise. http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedel2015.htm l Slainje

Quite chuffed for you guys, particularly the ones who have made the 20yr journey. Not sure I could have embraced a marriage with any of our local rivals - but respects to you that did. Well done today. Always great to see those peasants served with a reality check, and your reward is another Final. However, this time you will be favourites Here's to tomorrow's sare heids btw, not sure how many of you heard Andy Walker's far from impartial contributions on TV. You may have worn the C&A once Andy, but GIRFUY

Couldn't have complained had it been 4-0. Well played

a Doonhammer I know says the criteria is no more.

I doth my cap to anyone heading south tonight, and no finger pointing at anyone who chooses to stay put --- can't say I blame you. Midweek fixture scheduling is brutal on supporters, so too is this Sunday's ---- I mean to say 12:15 kick-off FFS. Game is on Alba tonight, 10pm. No offence, but hope most of you choose to hit the sack rather than view ---- for obvious reasons, sorry.

Moving slightly off track, sorry, imho you/we should be pointing a very pointy stick at the SPFL. Scheduling midweek League fixtures either side of a Cup Final

You are spot on Joe. 18th May 1991, the best day of my life by a long-long shot. I've followed Motherwell to Greece, Spain, Denmark, Romania, France, Germany and Poland in the Champions League, Europa Cup, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners Cup and I'd swap them all for a domestic Cup Final Win.

Hurting today are we ? In need of a

Thats it exactly. Welcome to the Hell that is your first Cup Final. Pardon !!!!

Take more than a handful O current/former/future Inverkneesians to ravish me my old friend. Glad you identified my "cometh in peace" post Johndo. I was making an observation - not phishing mister Donview. I crawl out from under my stone and head into Inverness 5 days a week. I have yet to come into contact with an Icy Tea fan let alone anyone heading to Glasgow's East End Shytehole today, nor have I seen any visible sign of the Cub's final appearance in the city, save for the 2 banners round at the Northern Scot offices, (or is it the P&J), under the bridge - you know where I mean ? For me, that is a crying shame. Icy Tea deserve great credit for what they have achieved in 20yrs. To get to a national Cup Final is fantastic, and it's just a shame more Invernessians haven't got behind the team. I reckon more than 3//4's of the League Clubs in Scotland would take more than 6000 to this Final. I worked out of Aberdeen and the 'Shire for 3yrs and met nothing but Aberdeen fans, save a few incomers with allegiance to their home-town Clubs. Armed with this knowledge and your blatant lack of civility, I won't trust you. The merger that spawned Icy Tea has created a very unique situation within our game, and its obvious to me that many many issues remain unresolved, much to the detriment of the Club. I watched last week's game, judging by the stands it was like a home tie for Utd. Lucky if you had 1500 --- Whats that all about ? As I said in a previous post, today is your opportunity to display your potential. 6000 hardy souls aint sending the right signals to the Board, current/future sponsors. Reckon I'll avoid Guiness - it obviously makes one Girnie.

Safe journey to all those travelling to/from the Piggery on Sunday. Obviously, as underdogs, I'll be rooting for yourselves - and to anyone who says it's a Diddy Cup, just ask fans of the other 40 Clubs who'd bite yer hand off to be there. It's a real pity about the travelling numbers - and the apparent apathy within the City. Looks like folks from Aberdeen support Aberdeen while folks from Inverness support Rangers/Celtic/Ross County. Enjoy your day.

Can't beat a Local Derby imho - but selfishly it's an accessible away game for me -------- and it's warmer, and has The Mallard

Without wishing to offend, the 7000(ish) ticket sales reported on radio yesterday is disappointing. Ticket sales for Cup Finals displays a Club's potential, and 7000 from a city the size of Inverness whose Club has consolidated its place in the top flight and competing in its first national Cup Final is rather pitiful imho - even taking into account the location and kick-off time. What kind of message to the Board, current/potential sponsors ???? I reckon Elgin City would take more.

I mentioned it in another post ...... try the Motherwell Miners Wellfare. I know of several buses of Hearts fans that booked in there before Hearts/Hibs Cup Final, and Parkhead is closer than Hampden, the Miners Club is 5mins from M74 then 15-20 mins into Parkhead. Cheap drink

Am sure i heard om MFR some city buildings will be lit up red and blue

Tragic news for anyone, let alone one so young. I wish her well.

If it is to be in Glasgow and you are looking for a location for pre-match lunch/beers, give the Motherwell Miners Welfare a call.

A wholehearted Very Well Done from Skaville. What a magnificent effort from your lads today in the face of adversity: the location and time of game, and especially the performance of the clown with the whistle. Thistle were by far the better team over the piece and imho Justice was done. Am absolutely delighted for you guys, and more than a tad envious. A national Cup Final doesn't come along too ofter for us "diddy" teams, but is certainly a day to be cherished. Best of luck in the Final - probably at Pittodrie, knowing the SPFL --- Enjoy your day out where ever it is.. Hope there's a few sare heids in Inverness tomorrow

My use of the Charlie Nicolas metaphor was to, as they do so neatly in Only an Excuse, infer that he talks shyte. Lambert and Ferguson, on the other hand, are just a couple of thick Weegies who never quite learned how to accurately utilise those old favourites "seen", "saw" and "went" .............. just like Willie Miller.

I bow to your local knowledge. I worked beside 20 or so lads from in and around Inverness, down in Edinburgh from 1982-2002. That was their words/opinion, and from one of your Suits when I enjoyed Corp Hosp. at Longman, I used. One only need to look at some of the Monikers on here, and comments from my old pal Johndo for example, to see that 20yrs down the line ...... resentment still exists. Quick question. Is there really a Celtic shop in Inverness ? That'll help.

Certainly not from Motherwell fans - and who else is there ? He did a great job at FP, kept us in business and took us to a League Cup Final for the 1st time in 50yrs.

Would you stop going because of a name change ? I doubt it. Plenty did stop going because of the MERGER, and the identity crisis many - like yourself - hold onto keeps those wounds well and truly open. I had a colleague, a Thistle fan of over 30yrs, "I aint supporting a team with the word Caledonian in it", he said, and who to this day watches Clach instead. Want more people thru the gates imho you're going to have to eliminate the barriers that restrict that desire, and your identity is one big barrier. Many years ago, John Boyle proposed a merger between Motherwell, Accies and Airdrie. Had he called it MotherwellOniansAcademical and played in claret/amber/red/white no one would have entertained it. Had he called it Buckfast Utd and played in Blue n Yellow for example ...... it just may have stood a chance.

From the outside looking in ------- You may metaphorically have 5 teams for football fans of Inverness to follow but what you don't have is a mass exodus - tens of buses - leaving the city every Saturday, so you still have 60 odd thousand potential customers out there. So, what if anything, are the Club doing to attract them ? Our hardcore support isn't much more than your own. However, there's probably more folk leave Motherwell to watch the Ugly sisters than go to FP, and that from a town of less than 30,000 souls is a very bad statistic. You may be interested to know that Inverness is the most unpopular away game --- according to a recent survey of Motherwell fans, and it's not the long journey that accounts for this. The location of the stadium in relation to bars, the Away stand, the toilets/pie stalls provision, getting to the ground, the muck in and around, and top of the Dislike List ....... heavy handed OB/Stewards. I see as the major elements for you to address:- (1.) Out of town Stadiums. May work in the States, but in this case you've disenfranchised your core and potential support, and made attendance an unattractive proposition for away fans. I live apprx 40miles away and I hate going to Longman. If I drive, i cannae get parked. If I take the train its a whoor of a walk out and back. There is effall to do in and around the stadium unless you are a Suit. (2.) Your identity. Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. Ditch the drivvel and call yourselves Inverness United, and change your Caley dominated with a hint of Thistle appearance. Way too many possible/potential fans alienated by this. You're neither, time to move on and ditch the bitterness. (3.) Is one all Scottish Clubs should do something about. In October, I followed Edinburgh to Perpignan for their Heineken Cup tie. The Stade Amei Gerale wasn't overly big or palatial - 10,000 covered plastic bucket seats - but we arrived over 2hrs before kick-off, to enjoy a meal in one of the many stadium restaurants located under the main stand. I reckon there were at least 4,000 fans milling in and around the stadium 2hrs before kick-off. There were a selection of indoor/outdoor bars, eateries, barbeques to choose from. There were kids, and family entertainment zones, all doing a roaring trade. There was a pipe band, a brass band, and a ska band entertaining people on the concrete concourses. All these revenue streams bringing profit to the Club ...... and attracting fans with a sense of belonging. All in all, it was a far better day out than going to any Scottish football match. Shoot away