The Long Man

Even the dunderheids at the SFA might be beginning to realise what a potential minefield this is for them if they capitulate to Celtic, and follow through their ill-thought out knee-jerk reaction. I would imagine that there is the distinct possibility of a few discrete phone calls from international bodies advising them of the dangers of the path they are pursuing, and its knock-on effects not just in Scotland. Hopefully the message will get through and they will be looking for a way out, or a famous compromise - where Josh is reprieved and some symbolic rap on the knuckles is administered to fob off the Whingers Brigade. That would be the political solution, and I hope ICT give them the ammunition, in the form of impeccable legal arguments (like they want a case brought against Zalukas for starters), to carry it out, and avert a potential crisis in the future running of the game. That would be the best outcome, and the more insightful of them will recognise it, and take whatever straw ICT are offering them to clutch on to.

I quite accept that the style isn't for everybody, but it doesn't diminish the momentous nature of what we have achieved. Radio 4 can have laugh at our expense if they like, but most people will appreciate and warm to a club which can show a self-deprecating sense of humour while also playing some of the best football I have seen in the SPL this year. We have plenty of professionalism, this is another string to our bow which doesn't detract from that, but enhances our appeal as something different and refreshing on the Scottish football scene. I can see how you might think it is 'amateurish', but I would argue that it is actually much more aware of its own deliberate exaggeration, which gives it its humour, and it is that guile and wit which has attracted a lot of praise and attention. Intelligence and humour - when did you last encounter those qualities in Scottish football? Put it this way - can you imagine Celtic having a sense of proportion or humour about what happened on Sunday? Whatever, enjoy the final and don't let Twitter put you off - I am looking forward to it, and it will bring in a lot of people to our cause. The future is bright.

This is appeasement of the worst sort of conspiracy theorising bigots who have been flooding social media since Sunday. It is incredibly weak of the SFA to look for a scapegoat to throw to these people, while undermining their own officials without actually blaming them. It is the worst sort of fudging in order to satisfy the mob, and will only worsen their own reputation. But the worst aspect of it all is who thought they could justify this under the current rules, and what kind of precedent it sets. If this stands, then any game in the future, particularly those involving the largest supports, will be subject to media storms and campaigns to have decisions rescinded. If there are some wiser heads at the SFA than these panicked functionaries, they will hope that this decision is overturned. Otherwise the future is hysterical media lynch mobs set to overturn any decisions they don't like. The SFA should back the referee, and point out that they can't change a decision made in good faith based on the evidence available to him at the time. Whether you like it or not is immaterial, if he felt that Josh didn't deliberately raise his hand to stop the ball, then that is his decision, and one the SFA should back, making clear the already established laws of the game, and the restriction of appeals and retrospective punishments to incidents not seen by the referee, and only serious ones which are unambiguous in their intent. None of the criteria apply to the Meekings case, and they should drop it before they do further damage to the game.

You are in the minority. It has been a great advert for the club - witty, funny and informative. I think you are misreading entirely the tone of it, and the way it speaks to people - it's a certain style which many are familiar with from blogs, tweets and social media, and is more clever than you think. Long may it continue. That feed during the semifinal was classic, and played its part in the huge enjoyment of the day.

Absolutely epic match. One of the best ever. What more can you ask of a match than controversy, high drama, end to end excitement, great football and five goals. Thrills, spills and no bellyaches, unless you're bad losers. Even getting their slice of luck, ICT played more fluently and often more confidently in their own game than Celtic. Kept to their passing game, and actually created more than enough chances to win the game in normal time. The winning goal was worthy of any game in any league. The close passing, running into space and finishing was as good as you'll see anywhere - Shinnie was at the heart of it, like so many of our attacking moves, and will be missed sorely next season. But what a way to go out he has now. Ryan is really starting to look like the talent that we know he is, and has come on in leaps and bounds this season - he was revelling in the space behind the strikers. The way we never gave up, even when under pressure, and losing our lead, was magnificent. If any team deserves some silverware for their contribution to football in Scotland this season, then ICT surely do.

The ICT Twitter account is brilliant - they missed one of my favourites at the end, though, which simply read: "A nation rejoices." Ha ha, love it.

I feel sorry for Billy, he deserves better, shame he is not here until the summer - he left just as he was in some of his best ever form, and then hardly makes the bench - what a waste (c Ian Dury)

Divine Devine! At last, now let's get a few!

Judging by the BBC commentary we are well in control of this game, and playing well. Ofere sounds like he might be a good asset. All we need is a goal - famous last words.

The Celtic manager was quoted earlier in the season as saying that ICT played the best football out of the challenging top four teams. So people who actually watch the game, and have some idea, know alright. On the other hand, people who derive their opinions from the media and stale shopworn attitudes just repeat the same old guff. To be fair, a couple of the BBC Scotland radio pundits have talked us up on more than a few occasions, the message finally getting through that things have changed, for the better.

In order to win it, one must first to get to the semi. i don't think i said anything about losing there!

Another goal of the season? That's nearly half a dozen now, by my count. Yogi's quite fair isn't he - he wants a soft draw in the next round, then glory glory. Only 3 SPL teams left, here we go.

Well done, lads. Great result, backs against the wall! Bring on the next round. Would love to make the semi.

That Twitter feed is good, innit? Whoever does it has a nice turn of phrase.Well played that (wo)man.

If you look at just two recent examples, I doubt we would have got more than a draw out of the St Mirren and Kilmarnock games without Billy. His goals in those games were exceptional, and if anyone (like Malky MacKay) had seen those goals I have no doubt they would have said sign up immediately. I was expecting him to go, it is just a great pity that it couldn't wait until summer, since he was really hitting a scoring streak, and we have our best chance to finish top four. So i think it is likely that some games will end in draws, not wins, without his ability. He's been such a stalwart for us, I will miss him and his great attitude and application.

Well, whether we nurtured him or not ( he made his reputation with us, at least) it would still make good business sense to insist on a sell-on clause. With the Shinnie brothers as well. If other clubs can do it, and they do, we should be doing it too. It makes sense that the money at the top of the game filters down to smaller clubs through these kind of deals - Hamilton have made it work for them. Why not us?

Please tell me our board are astute enough to have inserted a sell-on clause in his contract. I was just reading how Hamilton have done very nicely out of sell-on clauses for James McCarthy and James McCarthur, who went to Wigan for £0.5m and £1.2m, and subsequently Everton and Palace for £13m and £7m. Billy could be as successful and it would only be fair for the club who nurtured him to share in any future moves.

150k supposedly - is that enough for a new striker? The frustrating part is that he's just hit a great run of form, looking the Billy of old again.

although not surprised, I will be sad to see him go, and disappointed he is not staying until the summer, to go out on a high.

This is a great initiative but a major factor outside of price is probably the weather and temperature on a freezing night in January. If that keeps people from coming I hope it doesn't mean that the initiative is judged to have failed, since the results on a warm night in April would be very different. I'd like to see a scheme where you can buy a block of 3 or 5 consecutive matches at a discount, encouraging people to try a run of games, rather than a one-off.

We are

Tremendous result from being a goal down and with 10 men. According to the beeb, Billy's first goal resembled Gascoigne's against Scotland in Euro 96!! Can this really be true? Great he's found his shooting boots again, his price has just gone up. And with DU and Hamilton taking points off each other on Monday, it's looking good for league position. The match with DU will be fascinating.

I wouldn't be surprised if Marley is still carrying an injury. I would like to see Williams being given an opportunity to replace him, though.

Going to the right club helped their careers, not stuck on the bench at a club paying nice wages.

Agents are a blight on the game. They don't add anything, but take plenty out. They destabilise players and teams, hyping up offers and promises of untold wealth. I wonder how this Polish team even heard of Marley? Could it be the agent hawking his wares around every team in Europe, regardless of whether they are a good move for him or not? So we develop players so that agents can reap the rewards.