Alex MacLeod

Enjoy the euphoria DIP. Crap way to win a cup but hey ho! We'll jump you in the league though. Europe here we come.

I'll remember that this team has gone a step further than any other ICT team

And thats got what to do with this thread?

Missus M tell me there was a guy sat next to her and her boy decked out in Thistle colours. Anyone care to admit to who it was?

Aye very good. Such a constructive analogy. Mrs M is very proud of the guys today. They tried but didn't get the finishing touch needed. Ref was too whistle happy. And probably nerves got the better of a cou[ple of penalty takers. The team did well to get to the final and to hold out for 120 mins.

Who'd see it?

Even OF buses get pulled randomly.

You amaze me Charles. Its all tedium and you've no interest yet you've nearly typed as many words as Oddquine. I'll answer your points though. Fire, Police. These have been taken out of the realms of local government for a couple of reasons. The first being the mess they were making of running such services. More important though. Why do we need so many Chief constables and all the other hangers on that made up the top brass of each Police region. Why did we need all the gold braid and the local call centres when, in this modern day of technology I can go onto a website and pinpoint my own house right down to the curtains on the window. Each police force, each fire station still has its leaders. Its just the overpaid fatcats and the multitude of call centres that are changing. The savings put more police and Emergency response personell on the front line. To your second point.......did you even bother to vote cos half the voting population couldn't be ersed. Third point...... Under International law every country has a twelve mile protection zone around its coast and a 200 mile mineral and fishing (unless you've been scuppered by Brussels) rights, unless there is a clash with other countries. (as UK/Norway) But Charles, and heres where I cut you down for your stupid statements and lack of knowledge of the wealth of minerals across the whole of Britian, What is within our legal zone is ours but if you insist its Britians oil then we'll take no more than our fair share. Then we'll also demand our share of the vast gas reserves of the east and south coast of England as well as the oil fields of Morecombe Bay. Once we've got that then we,ll take our share of the shale mines and the onshore oil development in the south east of England. Perhaps we can even negotiate the vast coal reserves that are still under the English countryside. And the lead and the tin. Finally Charles, you keep mentioning Britian as if we will no longer be a part of it. Sorry to disappoint but we've no intention of cutting loose and sailing away. The island that is Britian, made up of Scotland Wales and England, will always be Britian. There may not be a United Kingdom but there'll always be a Britian

One or two of you may have been in a similar situation, in the past, to the one your going to face on Sunday. One or two may go on and experience a cup final again in your careers. For many this could be the only time you experience a game as big and in front of a massive crowd. Eleven players + subs will walk out to noise like some may never have heard before and some may never hear again. You guys have been chosen as the ones to represent this club and all it stands for. Those who are not chosen take heart from the fact that its the push and fight from you guys that drives the chosen players on. Sunday is fast approaching. There will be nerves. Its curtain time on a very big stage and none of us know how the play will end. What we do know is this is the biggest occassion the fans of this club have ever experienced and we may never reach this stage again but every one of us, whether at the game or watching in the wings, will enjoy every moment. The players must enjoy it too. If the team talk was mine on Sunday all I'd say is Relish the experience. Enjoy the occassion. Give it your all and the rest will fall into place. Good Luck to one and all.

Steven MacLean. This is his first ever cup final. So far this season he's officiated 32 games and dished out 4 reds and 81 yellows. 9 of the yellows went to ICT over five games and 4 to Aberdeen over 5 games. he officiated at one ICT v Aberdeen game where Williams and Draper were carded. None for Aberdeen. He's a FIFA ref and comes from Rutherglen. And the cynic in me wonders about his love for his brother and how that affects his decisions. The brother being Brian MacLean Centreback for Ross County.

The answer to the drink question. In Scotland it is illegal to drink or possess alcohol on whats termed a supporters bus. I believe, though I could be wrong, that its illegal to drink or have alcohol in your possession on any bus in Scotland. If the bus is stopped by police and alcohol is found then the driver could be arrested. The train company can also imposed 'dry train' restrictions and usually do for certain matches.

. Who cares? me, that's why I asked the question. Will be quite disturbing if a City the size of Inverness can't produce more fans than Gretna Comparing to other teams is pointless and won't tell you anything. My flatmate whose a QOS fan went to the Scottish Cup final to see Gretna. Their quick rise caught the imagination of football fans who didn't necessarily support them. I wasn't comparing ICT to other teams, just wondering if Gretna and Livi took more? It's a bit of an unenviable record to have the lowest support ever at a national final hence my curiosity, had the discussion with a couple of people and was just hoping for a genuine response. It's been said Gretna took 12,000???? Not sure about Livi. Strange for the size of the city and the fact it is the clubs first major cup final that there has not been a lot more one game wonders, County had a fantastic turn out for their final.so why the apathy and low key press coverage in Inverness? Not bad for a town with a population of 2500 or so.

Shifting this to main forum to see if it gets any more Sydney devine attention and cos I'm curious as to whether Sneckboys theory comes to fruition.

Maybe back to fourth with game in hand will have psychological effect to drive on. Besides by next league game we should have full squad available unless something serious happens in final.

What was the pitch like?

I'd like to think we're safe now anyway. Tall order for Hibs to take 12 pts from 4 games and hope we cant get one.

Opening time till last person leaves and if you can sing Athenry there could be a lock in.

I would imagine you may be allowed to drop of near pub but police will decide where bus parks.

Nobody is saying they will move everything south. Call centres etc will stay here, along with whatever infrastructure is needed to serve their Scottish customers. It's nothing to do with the mainstream media by the way, as even they don't appreciate the scale of what would happen and all the knock on effects. It's just common sense that financial institutions will relocate their head offices and other key functions, to meet the needs of their customers and their shareholders. Do customers (mostly living in England) really want their pensions and investments held in a foreign country? With an unproven regulatory framework? With a different currency perhaps? With a government that doesn't have the appetite or the resources to resolve the next crisis? The shareholders have similar concerns, and in the case of RBS the major shareholder is course the rUK government, who will do whatever is best to protect and control their substantial investment and that will involve having it based in their own jurisdiction. This isn't scaremongering, it's just how business works. The fact that an English airline reckons it might make higher profit from its Scottish customers isn't really any consolation. Most of them are not necessarily moving anything, though...whatever the impression being given by the MSM. Contingency plans don't indicate definitely but do indicate " just in case" It's not a great deal different in 2014 than it was before the 1997 devolution referendum.....and Standard Life, who was threatening to leave then, have stuck around to threaten to leave again.....maybe. For large multinational Companies, like Shell, it is not uncommon to operate different companies in different countries, all under the one umbrella. It's perfectly natural and, in some countries, is actually a requirement. And Shell seems to be more worried abut the In/Out of the EU vote which has been promised in 2017 than Scottish Independence. we have started work to establish additional companies registered in England, in order to provide operational flexibility and to complement our existing business in Scotland." Alliance Trust : "If anything were to threaten this, we will take whatever action we consider necessary - including transferring parts of our operations from Scotland - in order to ensure continuity and to protect the interests of our stakeholders." Standard Life So if it wasn't for the NO to a Monetary Union from the Three Stooges, they wouldn't even be contemplating a flit. But, to be fair, the S&P Report appears to think that it would be a good idea for Scotland to lose some of the risky financial sector..so some movement south by parts of some financial services would perhaps not be as unwelcome as it appears on the face of it. . Not sure why you choose Shell Oddquine. They dont have headquarters in Scotland. Nor do BP They have offices to support their North Sea Operation and their biggest part of those operations was sold off before the SNP came to power. On saying that, and knowing all about the effects of Scottish Independence, niether of those two majors have stopped investing in Scottish waters. Indeed both have increased spending and have indicated they will continue to do so over the next five years. The Chinese, who bought over Canada's Nexon Corporation have also, recently, pledged more investment in Scottish waters. These alone should tell the world exactly why Westminster is so keen to hold on to us. And more especially why they lie through the teeth about the future prospects of North Sea Oil. There are enough known reserves around our shores to last a very long time. It just needs the technology development to retreave it from our deepwater, unpredictable seas. And thats not far away As for the banks, if they choose to move their headquarters then so be it. they still have custom in Scotland and they will still make profit from Scotland so they will still pay taxes in Scotland. And I'll wager that if currency union doesn't happen they'll all be creeping back to bid for the Central bank opportunity. For all those institutions who are threatening to pull out there are as many happy to stay and many of those threatening will also stay for the reduced level of corporation tax that Charles omitted from his selective list a few posts ago.

They would be eligible anyway. If we appealed the hearing wouldnt be till after the final. If we dont their subsequent bans would be in Scottish Cup and not League Cup.

Listen through good headphones. Its brilliant!! Well done Toby and all who helped in the production. It may be billed as a cup song but the words fit in for any competition really, so long as the key players mentioned stay with us. I think its great.

Gordie... I am a republican I find this presumption of Royalism a bit bizarre. My apologies CB just in jest anyway Yes, I know Gordie... no offence taken. You couldn't afford to take offence on this thread anyway I find Oddquine's suggestion that an separate Scotland would get rid of the monarchy a bit strange. One of Salmond's several commitments is to keep the monarchy. This is where your arguments always fall Charles. You forever harp on as if the independent Scotland will vote an SNP government in 2016. That may well not be the case.

ICT is the best team

Or just walk from city to ground via Barrowlands and many pubs

So the fans of this club now have a Premiership/Championship mentallity. A couple of bad results and we sack the manager. Man City's guy must be on a sticky wicket. And Sunderlands. And Man U's. When Butcher was here he was accused of being tacticless. He was slated for playing one up front. Hughes plays two up front and he's got to go. Next we'll be sacking the board for not getting fans through the gate for this game. After all they only reduced the price to a tenner.