Leaderboard

Smokies Kippered On a blustery day more akin to AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh, Arbroath and Inverness battled it out to see who would get the final nails hammered into their coffins. Arbroath were in the last chance snug in the last chance saloon, whilst Inverness have one foot in the grave. I don't believe it! Arbroath tried everything, they even took their own wind with them. However, they had Murray, Bird and Slater on from the start but O'Brien missed out. Zak Delaney also started for the Red Lichties. A bright opening spell saw Alex Samuel denied twice inside five minutes. Once by a combination of Max Boruc and his crossbar, the second by Boruc on his own as Samuel got his shot away from inside the box. Wallace Duffy got the goal we deserved on the interval as he drove across the keeper from the right side of the box to put us in ahead at the break. Leighton McIntosh restored parity on the hour as he drilled home from eighteen yards, but Alex Samuel won the points with a late strike to all but relegate ten man Arbroath who had Ricky Little sent off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arbroath were on the back foot from the off as Inverness had the wind at their backs and Austin Samuel was unlucky not to open the scoring in the fourth minute as he turned and shot from the edge of the box. However Max Boruc brilliantly tipped his shot onto the bar. A minute later he got on the end of a ball in the box and forced another save from Boruc as we looked like turning the Smokies over. Max Anderson was also thwarted by Boruc when through on goal when Anderson should have been bulging the net. Despite our superiority, we struggled thereafter to create that premium opening until the stroke of half time when Wallace Duffy drilled in from the right side of the box. Unfortunately we lost Remi Savage to injury just before the goal and he was replaced by Danny Devine after an accidental kick in the face from Kerr. Half Time: 1-0 Just after the break Billy Mckay saw an effort saved from fifteen yards. However, we made heavy weather of a Smokies foray forward and Leighton McIntosh levelled the game fifteen minutes into the second half with a great strike from the edge of the box. Devine headed badly wide when his threepenny bit head nodded astray as we looked to get our noses back in front and Samuel was denied by Boruc as he ran through on goal, the keeper doing well to deny the striker for the third time. Boruc punced away a Cammy Harper free kick Arbroath were reduced to ten men when persistent fouler Ricky Little was dismissed. Alex Samuel got the goal his tenacious display deserved as he won a ball into the box he had no right to win. He then turned and lashed it home from fifteen yards on the left side of the box, I think he enjoyed that one. Great finish from the wee battler. FULL TIME: 2-1 Alex Samuel scored his fifth goal for the Caley Jags and his first since his hat-trick against Raith Rovers at the end of January. He was the difference between the sides today as Arbroath struggled to cope with his aggressive style which eventually led to his winning goal. Good to see the much maligned Wallace Duffy scoring as well, his second in a couple of weeks having also netted at Tannadice. Sadly for Arbroath they will now be relegated at the end of the season unless they perform a miracle. More match reaction to follow>>> Date: 06/04/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2223 Referee: Colin Steven Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carragher, Boyes, Savage (Savage 44), Duffy, Kerr, Anderson, Lawal (Longstaff 73), Harper, Samuel, B Mckay (Doran 88) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, MacGregor, Brooks, Pepple Scorers: Duffy (45+1), Samuel (80) Booked: none Sent Off: none Arbroath: 1 Manager: Jim McIntyre Lineup: Boruc; Walker (Lyon 64), Slater, Little, Murray (Dow 73), Gold (McKenna 34), Mackinnon, Delaney, Bird (Stowe 73), Stewart, McIntosh Subs (not used): Gaston; Steele, Teale, Jacobs, Robinson Scorers: McIntosh (61) Booked: Little (31), Little (76) Stowe (85) Sent Off: Little (76) a

The wait is over Having lain idle since the 5th of May Championship flop against Ayr United, the long wait for the Scottish Cup Final is over for the Caley Jags. The Semi-Final was played out on the 29th of April, a 3-0 win over Falkirk guaranteeing our place in the final where we will face the daunting task of stopping forty time Cup winners Celtic from winning the treble. Not an easy task I hear you say. However, you've got to be in it to win it, and we find ourselves in our second Scottish Cup Final in eight years. We have a long way to go to catch up with Celtic though as this will be their sixtieth appearance in the final. I imagine the stattos amongst us will be searching their Guinness Book of Records to find out the biggest winning margin in the Scottish Cup Final. I'll save you the bother. Renton 6-1 v Cambuslang on 4th February 1888. Or, ominously, Celtic 6-1 Hibernian on 6th May 1972. Are we about to re-write the record books? Check all the records at Scottish Cup Records. Win or lose, I hope you all enjoy the occasion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The route to the final Inverness struggled to overcome a stubborn Stirling Albion side at our entry level in the Scottish Cup 3rd round. Dale Carrick had opened the scoring in the 27th minute but Wallace Duffy levelled five minutes later. Max Ram then put us ahead five minutes before the break and we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, the Binos were not finished and Carrick scored a second in stoppage time before the interval. With twenty minutes left Aaron Doran scored what proved to be the winner, but credit to the visitors for making us work extra hard to get through to the fourth round. The 4th round tie with Queens Park turned from gloom to joy. After beating Inverness 2-0 on the pitch, Queens Park were dumped out of the Cup for fielding an illegible player in the shape of Euan Henderson. How fortuitous. Has anyone ever won the Cup after being knocked out? The 5th round saw Inverness face Premiership opposition away from home at Livingston. Fear not as Billy Mckay scored a brilliant brace to add to a Sean Welsh header to put us into the quarter final. 6th round was another Premiership scalp with Kilmarnock visiting the Caledonian Stadium on a snowy March evening. Despite suffering an early setback when Vassell scored in the third minute, the Caley Jags dug deep and overcame Killie with a Billy Mckay penalty and a superb Sean Welsh strike in the middle of a snow storm. Semi-Final: It was a re-run of the 2015 final with Inverness taking on Falkirk for for a place in the final. Inverness proved to be too clinical for the Bairns with another brace from Billy Mckay and a superb header from Dan Mackay. Always a step ahead of the Bairns, it was a relatively comfortable passage into the final, where one would imagine Celtic will provide a much sterner test. Hampden Calling... Again Celtic's route to the final: 4th Round: Celtic 5-0 Morton - Mooy x2, Furuhashi x2, Turnbull. 5th Round: Celtic 5-1 St Mirren - Maeda, Hatate x2, Hyeo-gyu, O'Riley. 6th Round: Hearts 0-3 Celtic - Mooy, Furuhashi, Vickers. Semi-Final: Rangers 0-1 Celtic - Jota. Celtic seemed to scrape through their ties scoring fourteen goals for the loss of only two. Surprisingly the bookies see Celtic as favourites to lift the Cup. Meh, what do they know! Inverness warmed up for the final with a hastily arranged kick-about against Dungannon Swifts in County Tyrone on 20th May. It ended 3-1 for Inverness and the whole squad managed to get a kick of the ball at some stage of the game. There was also an alleged closed doors practice against Nairn County. Celtic's month was somewhat fuller. After defeating Rangers in the semi-final on 30th April, they beat Hearts 2-0 at Tynecastle. They followed that by losing 3-0 at Ibrox in the final old firm derby of the season then drew 2-2 with St Mirren. A midweek game at Easter Road on the 24th May resulted in a 4-2 defeat for ten man Celtic. Looks like they're knackered now and we will be full of beans after a month off However, a week before the final, they played their last Premiership game of the season against Aberdeen at Parkhead. That's Aberdeen, the third best placed team in the Scottish Premiership. Looks like they were out in full force this week having rested half their team over the last couple of games and they trounced Aberdeen 5-0. Just let these stats sink in against Scotland's third best football club this season. Celtic--------VVVVVVVV--------Aberdeen Celtic 76% - Possession - 24% Aberdeen Celtic 20 ------- Shots ------- 0 Aberdeen Celtic 8 -- Shots on Target -- 0 Aberdeen Celtic 10 ------ Corners ------ 2 Aberdeen On the plus side, we have knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup on three occasions. Contrary to popular belief we did not get to keep them for that. There was the SuperCaleyGoBallistic in 2000, followed by the week after beating Liverpool in the UEFA Cup in 2003 (Henrik Larrson and all), and who can forget the Hand of Josh thriller in the 2015 semi-final before we went on to lift the Cup against Falkirk. Overall, we have beaten Celtic seven times in competitive games and drawn seven times. Stats will show that Celtic have won thirty-four times. Fortunately, stats don't win games. Latest Team News Inverness CT have a full squad to pick from after a month off apart from Sutherland and Walsh. In saying that, the likes of Roddy MacGregor has had little game time in his recovery from injury, so some may not be 100% fit. ***Look back in later in the week to hear from Billy Dodds ahead of the final*** Celtic have a squad full of Eastern promise and full international players. Let's not dwell too much on that. Furuhashi took a knock against Aberdeen but it's not a major concern? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Player of the Season Awards In some sort of clandestine ceremony on Monday night, the seasonal awards were handed over, cloak and dagger style at the Caledonian Stadium. Unsurprisingly Billy Mckay was the big winner. Is it written in the stars for Billy to move level with the legendary Dennis Wyness in this Scottish Cup Final. Now that would be some story! Congratulations to all the winners. Well deserved Player of the Year Awards 2022/23 Tonight the winners of our Player of the Year awards were presented with their awards. Players’ Player of the Year 2022-23 was Billy Mckay, as presented by Head Coach Billy Dodds! Players’ Young Player of the Year 2022-23 was Cameron Harper, also presented by Head Coach Billy Dodds. Fans Player of the Year 2022-23 was Billy Mckay, as presented by Laura Grant from the Supporters Trust! Fans Young Player of the Year 2022-23 was Nathan Shaw, as presented by Lady Kath Fraser from the Supporters Trust! Goal of the Season 2022-23 was Billy Mckay’s second goal v Livingston, as presented by Barry Wilson. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On yer bike Steve Message from Joonya Many of you may remember The Highland March - a walking event between the final two league matches of ICT's season, of which took place every year from 2003 to 2015. Well, two of us former marchers have come together to do something different in the build up to the Scottish Cup Final. Steve 'Yompa' Taylor (formerly known as 'InterTheNet') will be donning the lycra to cycle from Caledonian Stadium to Hampden Park IN A DAY. Steve sets off at 3am on Tuesday 30th May, and I will be joining him as the support driver. We'll be doing this for charity, with all monies being split equally between MikeysLine and the Celtic Foundation. Both of these charities provide mental health support to people of all backgrounds, in and around Glasgow and the Highlands. We invite you to follow us on Twitter (@Road2Hampden) where you will find the Just Giving page. Please donate what you can, if you can. Thank you ICT have supported MikeysLine since their inception in 2015, and John Robertson is an ambassador for the charity. They provide Mental Health support to people across Inverness and the Highlands. But why Celtic Foundation too? Over recent years, supporters of the foundation have helped Yompa raise money and awareness for the Solving Kids Cancer charity. It's his way of giving something back, at a time when two teams with history in this competition come head to head in the final. Every donation helps, and we'd like to thank everyone for their support ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FANZONE Here's Scooty & the Skyhooks plus good luck messages The Wyness Shufflers have been busy and here's your Cup Final podcast 'Back to the Future' from the guys RIGHT HERE What's in it for you: Two and a half hours of all things Caley Thistle. The pre-match venue, memorable games with Celtic, ICT Legends with Stuart Golabeck, Ross Tokely, James Vincent, Dennis Wyness and current captain Sean Welsh and don't miss Sandy's Scottish Cup Final tune. Well done guys, a great effort. Your pre-Cup Final entertainment for Caley Jags fans. Provided by the fans for the fans: Get yourself along to The Ferry before the game for some pre-match Shenanigans & Schiehallions. Three bars available Food available Families Welcome Face painting Doors Open: 11:00am Entertainment from 12:00 > 4:00 Bus to game (maybe) BUY TICKETS £4 Where? The Ferry 25 Anderston Quay Glasgow G3 8BX

Butcher's meet not enough for sad Caley Jags In the presence of the great man himself, Inverness and Ayr locked horns at the relegation end of the table. A far cry from the euphoric scenes when Inverness were in seventh heaven after winning the First Division back in 2010. This game took on a more sinister roll after Dunfermline trashed Dundee United 3-1 last night to move four points above Inverness in the table. A win for either side here could prove pivotal come the business end of the season. Defeat may start the downward spiral for either side as they could become detatched from the peleton above. Inverness had to put the Battery Farm debacle behind them and concentrate on the job in hand on the park. At the end of the day the only word I have after this display is despondency. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A beautiful afternoon for a kick about in the Highlands was ruined by a rubbish game of football. Inverness were down to the bare bones with only six subs, mainly the walking wounded on the bench. The visitors had Frankie Musonda as captain and a strong starting XI with an equally strong bench that included Logan Chalmers, Jamie Murphy and Aiden McGeady. Inverness as they do started brightly. A long free kick from Savage caused problems in the first minute before being cleared and a couple of minutes later keeper Clarke let a shot squirm under him and narrowly missed going in at his far post. However, our usual ten minute flurry only lasted until that ball slipped past the post. Ayr dominated the half thereafter and took an early lead through a poked effort from Stanger on the line or possibly an own goal from Anderson after we failed to clear our lines on Ayr's left flank and gave the ball away too easily. The industrious Alex Samuel had our best moment when he guided a volley just over the bar. Alas, we were absolutely honking for the rest of the half, unable to string one pass together and constantly gave the ball away. Fortunately on the stroke of half time we were thrown a lifeline from the spot. Fair play to Billy Mckay for grabbing the ball and slamming it into the net for an undeserved but welcome equaliser. Given the abuse he and his son took after he missed his penalty against the Pars, this was a sweet moment for a legend. After the interval nothing changed. We continued to fail to create anything and Ayr continued to look the more likely to score again. There wasn't a lack of effort. However a lack of tactical nous and quality were in abundance. Ayr always looked like breaking clear and we always looked pedantic and predictable and turned backwards at every opportunity. Is that a lack of confidence or a lack of quality. Probably both. Predictable Ayr took all three points when Bryden knocked home in front of the Ayr fans to complete our demise. Although there was still half an hour to go, nobody in the home support could see us scoring and they amused themselves by taunting security and anyone else that would listen. Mark Ridgers kept us close with a big save ten minutes from the end as we feared the worst. Cammy Harper did eventually fire a great ball across the box near the end but there were no takers as it flashed across the goal a yard from the line. Therein lies the difference. When Ayr did that in the fifth minute, Stanger scored from practically on the goalline. As it was, we played out the final half hour without otherwise threatening and Ayr took all three points back home. FULL TIME: 1-2 Having sat through one of the worst games for many a year there is little to hope for now apart from Arbroath to keep losing because we certainly appear to find it difficult to win. We have no game changers in our squad and our manager is playing the wrong type of anti-football to help our cause. Big Dunc thought we were the better team. Pleeeeeaaase, give me a break! We were second to everything and Ayr were always one step ahead of us after the first three minutes. SHOCKER springs to mind. Highlights from Ayr United as we appear to be too embarrassed to put our own highlights up We lost didn't we>>> Date: 16/03/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1979 Referee: Iain Snedden Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carragher (Doran 69), Devine, Savage, Duffy, Kerr, Lawal (Pepple 69), Anderson, Harper, Alex Samuel, B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Brooks, Austin Samuels Scorers: B Mckay (45+3 pen) Booked: Carragher (11), Pepple (87) Sent Off: none Ayr United: 2 Manager: Scott Brown Lineup: Clarke; McAllister, Musonda, Stanger, Sanders, Syla, McHugh, Bryden (Amartey 70), Dowds, Willoughby (Murphy 62), McKenzie Subs (not used): Albinson; McGinty, McGinley, Tomlinson, Dempsey, McGeady, Chalmers Scorers: Stanger (5) Bryden (61) Booked: Murphy (68) Sent Off: none a

They used to be sh!te, but now they're alright Inverness face a treacherous trip to the home of the new, improved version of Raith Rovers. This would have been a game where we might have expected to pick up at least a point over the last twenty odd years. However, they are more resillient of late and testament to that is our two meetings this season when late goals saw Rovers snatch all six points from Inverness who deserved more from both games. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the ins and outs Match/Ticket Info Scottish Cup v Hibs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 14 5 3 41 17 +24 Away 18 9 5 4 34 22 +12 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 40 23 10 7 75 39 +36 Raith broke the mold back in September when they won for the first time in 23 years: Record Breakers Never had there been a better time for Raith Rovers to break the Caley Jags hoodoo! Inverness, without a win in their last eight games, and Billy Dodds and the management team under fire. A 23 year run of games without a win for Raith Rovers was brought to an end today when Jamie Gullan smashed home from 15 yards with five minutes left. It was harsh on Inverness who dominated for long spells earlier in the game, but it leaves the management with some tough decisions to make. There will be dancing on the streets of Raith tonight! 1 - 2 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) And in December: Just Like Buses None for 23 years then two in a row as Raith came from behind to win with a time added on penalty converted by Jamie Gullan. Billy Mckay had opened the scoring with a header on the hour but a late surge by Rovers won it. Lewis Vaughan four minutes from the end then the penalty to take the win at the death scored by Jamie Gullan. We should have had a penalty of our own after that, but Mr Williams chose to ignore it. We snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and that one hurt. Championship Points Dundee Utd - 44 Raith Rovers - 44 Partick Thistle -36 Airdrieonians - 27 Morton - 26 Dunfermline - 23 Ayr United - 23 Inverness CT - 21 Queens Park - 20 Arbroath FC - 18 Latest Team News Inverness Last 5 Championship results: D D L W L Big Dunc has been dabbling in the January sales both in and out over the last couple of weeks. Out: Sean Welsh, David Wotherspoon, Cillian Sheridan, Zak Delaney, Harry Hennem (departed), Lewis Hyde, Keith Bray, Ethan Cairns (loaned out) In: Striker Alex Samuel, the rest are all defenders:- James Carracher, Cammy Kerr, Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen, Remi Savage Raith Rovers have suffered three defeats on the trot: Airdrie & Queens Park in the Championship and a 2-1 defeat to Livingston in the Scottish Cup last weekend. Zak Rudden, Shaun Byrne and Kyle Turner are new additions in the January sales. Rudden was the latest signing and he will be available for tomorrow. Jamie Gullan has left Rovers to sign for Dundalk. Last 5 Championship results: D D W L L Team v Livi in the Cup last week Dabrowski Millen Brown Dick Connolly Mullin Byrne (Gullan 83) Turner (Easton 67) Smith Hamilton Vaughan Subs Not Used: Thomson; Masson, Hannah, McGill, Corr, McNeil, Murray

Goalden Oldies Inverness scraped their way into the hat for the fourth round draw with a less than impressive display against fifth tier Cowdenbeath. It was only after the introduction of olde heads Wotherspoon, Mckay and Carson that we took control of the game in the final ten minutes. Spoony and Mckay got the late strikes to win this tie over a hard working Cowdenbeath who can be well pleased with their performance as they shut Inverness down all over the park for eighty minutes. In truth, the mascots looked more impressive in the warm up than the Caley Jags strikers as they scored goals like a boss. Robert on CTO: That was a hard watch. Cowdenbeath more than matched us until the triple change. Ferguson will have learn’t a lot about some players. Two great goals put an artificial gloss on a poor performance. I’ll cut Welsh some slack as he is still building up fitness after so little game time, and he made one magnificent cross field pass to Shaw. Delaney and Sheridan were the worst of the bunch, with most players guilty of slack passing and poor control in general. It could have been different if our two early chances had gone in, one cleared off the line and one resulting in a good save. However, we didn’t kick on at all, reverting to square and backwards passing with little movement or threat. When we got scoring chances, we tended to pass rather than shoot when a shooting opportunity was on. After the break, Brooks had a tame effort and Sheridan should have had two easy goals but messed up the opportunities. Thank goodness we stepped up several gears when Mckay and Wotherspoon came on. We need to get Wotherspoon tied up for longer. Of the starting eleven, I’m struggling as to who get pass marks. Maybe Shaw and Ujdur but that would be about it. Brooks and Longstaff worked very hard but without damaging Cowdenbeath. FULL TIME: 2-0 More detail to follow>>> Cup ties are all about getting into the next round and that's what Inverness did....just. Unlike Dundee United and Arbroath, who have parted company with Dick & Dom. Not an impressive performance by any means, but Big Dunc will have learnt that some of these players need to move on in January. We had made half a dozen changes to the normal Championship team lines but I'm struggling to find many positives from that. No surprise that we looked much better when Mckay, Wotherspoon and Carson entered the game. A couple of flashes of brilliance and it was game over. Well done to Cowdenbeath who got their game plan right and snapped at our heels all afternoon making life difficult for us as we tried to break them down but failed badly. Sheridan looks off the pace but still had a couple of opportunities to score, something he would have done with his eyes shut a number of years ago. Brooks runs around like a headless chicken without threatening. Misplaced passes all over the park today, but one man not guilty of that was the impeccable Nikola Ujdur who was my MotM. His nearest rivals only played for the final ten minutes, Mckay and Wotherspoon and after that the mascots Ava and Rio were head and shoulders above the rest of the squad. Dunc's happy enough, that's good enough for me Date: 25/11/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1037 Referee: Graham Grainger Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy (Carson 70), Ujdur, Devine, Delaney, Longstaff (Lodovica 90+1), Welsh (Davidson 89), Gilmour, Brooks (Wotherspoon 71), Shaw, Sheridan (Mckay 70) Subs (not used): Ridgers; Harper, Hyde, Thompson Scorers: Wotherspoon (80), B Mckay (84) Booked: none Sent Off: none Cowdenbeath: 0 Manager: Calum Elliot Lineup: Hepburn; MacPherson, McNab, Jordan, Tait, McLaughlin (Chalmers 77), Docherty, McDonald (MacDonald (77)), Butterworth, Jack (Berry 54), MacPherson (Cunningham 77) Subs (not used): Blair; Walker Scorers: none Booked: Docherty (34), Tait (90) Sent Off: none a

Point on the Road Dunc's return to Tannadice would be hindered by some key players missing. Welsh and Longstaff failed to recover but Boyes and Wotherspoon were in the starting XI. Sheridan was on the bench which looked a bit devoid of flair. United had a strong line-up with Ross County loanee Jordan Tillson replacing the injured Docherty. A big crowd of over 7500 were on hand with 270 visiting fans making the journey in eternal hope. Inverness opened the scoring through Shaw but Holt levelled the game quickly. United had the possession but Big Dunc went back up the A9 with a hard earned point ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A decent crowd were on hand to witness Kai Fotheringham being influential early on with an effort superbly blocked by Cammy Harper followed by Mark Ridgers saving his next effort as the hosts looked to get off to a flier. The early possession was dominated by the Tangerines. Billy Mckay and Nathan Shaw advanced into the home box but the defence managed to mop up the cut back. Mckay saw keeper Jack Walton block with his legs in the 24th minute when maybe he could have put his laces through the ball. From the resultant corner Danny Devine headed over from a great position five yards out. United then had a close one when Middleton's shot come cross went inches wide as they stepped up their intensity ten minutes before the interval. Nikola Ujdur was first into the book for fouling Tony Watt. Ridgers again saved from Fotheringham from outside the box and then another brilliant save from Kevin Holt at close range before Scott McMann shot over with the goal gaping. The visitors were playing a dangerous game as United applied the pressure but Morgan Boyes headed over as Inverness ventured forward a minute before the break. Despite the pressure it was all square at half time. HALF TIME: 0-0 No changes at the interval and surprisingly it was Inverness that opened the scoring with an exceptionally slik move down the left from their own penalty box. A great counter attack from the Caley Jags as Harper advances down the left side and his low cross found it's way to Shaw, via Anderson, and he fired a low effort past Walton from 15 yards to open the scoring! Superb! However it might be a long forty minutes now! In fact the lead was short lived. Wallace Duffy had just replaced David Carson five minutes later and Holt promptly powered in a bullet header from Fotheringham's corner. Holt headed wide ten minutes later as the substitutes started to enter the field of battle. Ten minutes to play with United pressing for a winner and Cillian Sheridan on for Billy Mckay. Holt was blocked as he tried to get one on target and Declan Glass suffered the same fate with the visiting defence working overtime. Ridger's saved at his near post from Middleton deep into time added on as United searched for a winner but Inverness held on for a valuable, well earned point. FULL TIME: 1-1 More match reaction to follow>>> Tremendous point on the road. It was a backs to the wall performance at times but our defence was up to the task of slowing down the top scorers in the Championship. Mark Ridgers was in superb form with his back five blunting the top scorers. Full marks to Ferguson for adapting the shape with key players missing at a difficult venue. Two brilliant goals and a point on the road at the league leaders den. The Big Dunc revolution gathers pace. Delighted Dunc>>> Full Highlights>>> Date: 04/11/2023 Venue: Tannadice Park, Dundee Attendance: 7602 Referee: Don Robertson Dundee United: 1 Manager: Jim Goodwin Lineup: Walton; Freeman, Gallagher, Holt, McMann, Sibbald, Tillson (Mochrie 79), Middleton, Fotheringham (Cudjoe 67), Watt (Glass 67), Moult Subs (not used): Newman; Denham, Graham, Duffy, Moore, Stirton Scorers: Holt (56) Booked: Gallagher (42) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Ujdur, Devine, Boyes, Harper, Carson (Duffy 55), Gilmour, Anderson, Shaw, Wotherspoon (Delaney 85), B Mckay (Sheridan 69) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Brooks, Lodovica, Thompson Scorers: Shaw (50) Booked: Ujdur (36) Sent Off: none a

Level Pars A flurry of transfer activity saw three new players join the Caley Jags ahead of this game. With Billy Dodds under pressure from the fans, Max Anderson and Morgan Boyes not only turned up at the Caledonian stadium, but were in the starting XI. However, we have to wait a bit longer to see Nikola Ujdur once all his paperwork is rubber stamped down under. Sean Welsh missed out again along with a couple of longer term absentees. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A cagey opening ten minutes was disrupted two minutes later when Nathan Shaw took on a speculative shot from distance. It was low and maybe the keeper thought it was going past, but it went under his body and trundled into the net off the post to give Inverness a much needed opening goal. Keeper won't want to see that one again. Shaw was prominent in most moves forward and Charlie Gilmour fired a couple of fierce shots a yard or two wide. Adam Brooks had the ball in the net nearer half-time but was adjudged to be offside with Sharp again looking suspect as he tried to save the shot. Little else of note in a turgid first forty-five played in blustery conditions. HALF TIME: 1-0 After the break, if anything, it was even more turgid with any fluent breaks forward coming from the visitors. Substitute Keith Bray did well to create an opening for himself but his finish was weak and saved low to his right by Sharp. The Pars earned their share of the points when Hamilton headed in after a short corner was chipped into the box by Moffat with Mark Ridgers caught in no mans land. Soft goal to give away with ten minutes remaining. With a couple of minutes left Ridgers made amends when Moffat looked favourite to score but the keeper did well to save low to his left and keep the score level. FULL TIME: 1-1 The two new loan payers aquitted themselves well without setting the pulses racing. The defence did appear to be more rigid although we were found wanting at the equaliser. Nathan Shaw was the most likely to cause problems and so it proved. Poor decision by Ridgers to decide to flap at thin air for the goal but made amends to earn our point with a tremendous save later. Pars were much more direct than us and you couldn't grudge them their point. However that point still leaves us floundering at the foot of the table with one point from a possible twelve. Date: 02/09/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2388 Referee: Mathew MacDermid Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy (Bray 69), Devine, Boyes, Harper, Brooks (Longstaff 82), Carson, Anderson (Davidson 87), Gilmour, Shaw, B Mckay (Samuels 87) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Doran, Lodovica, Thompson Scorers: Shaw (12) Booked: Duffy (46), Brooks (58) Sent Off: none Dunfermline Ath: 1 Manager: James McPake Lineup: Sharp; Fisher, Benedictus (Allan 71), Comrie (Moffat 59), Hamilton, Chalmers, Otoo, McAnn, Edwards, Summers (Tod 84), O'Halloran (Ritchie-Hosler 59) Subs (not used): Little; Sutherland, Breen, Fenton Scorers: Hamilton (80) Booked: A Tod (90) Sent Off: none a

It's Coming Home as Harry Claims the Match Ball The Inverness Cup has been revived and there was a 'one off' game to decide who will look after this substantial trophy for the next year when it will all be done again between the Caley Jags and Inverness Clachnacuddin. It's a whopper of a trophy capable of holding many a dram and it was first played for in 1895 when Caledonian won the inaugural event. Last played for in season 2005-2006, Forres Mechanics are the current holders. The 'Can Cans' are the oldest association football club in the North of Scotland and are one of only two original teams to play in the Highland League since its first season in 1893, the other being Clachnacuddin. A fairly youthful Inverness XI took to the pitch bolstered by Doran, Duffy Samuels and a couple of newstarts in Brooks and Harry Lodovica who set the tone with a first half hat-trick. Lewis Mackie bagged the last goal after Calum Ferguson scored for Clach. That meant that Inverness CT have now won this trophy eight times. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness Cup Final: In front of an estimated crowd of 400ish, Adam Brooks had an early effort tipped onto the post and behind by keeper Daniel Rae. After quarter of an hour Austin Samuels was put through by Robbie Thompson but he dragged his effort wide, however five minutes later big Harry Lodovica headed home an Aaron Doran corner via the underside of the bar to open the scoring. Cammy MacKay then had to look lively to keep out Connor Bunce's free-kick after twenty minutes. Big Harry and Lewis Hyde both went wide but keeper Rae then brought down Big Harry and he picked himself up before converting his penalty on the rebound after Rae had saved the initial spot kick. Harry notched his hat-trick moments later when he headed in from Doran's free kick. Straight from the restart Clach won a penalty of their own but Calum Ferguson's low spot kick was saved by Cammy Mackay. HALF TIME: 0-3 Into the second half and Aaron Doran shot wide before Clach pulled one back when Ferguson scored to narrow the gap. Inverness had made some changes prior to the goal, Lewis Mackie, Jonathan Bain, Calum MacLeod ON, Wallace Duffy, Adam Brooks and Austin Samuels OFF. Mackie thumped in from inside the box fifteen minutes after coming on to restore our three goal lead. With the game running away from Clach we fielded another couple of substitutes into the final five minutes: Sam Thompson and Ben Meacher on, Aaron Doran and Ali Nixon off. As it was, Harry's Hat-Trick set us up nicely and Lewis Mackie rounded it off with an excellent strike for Inverness to regain the Inverness Cup for the eighth time. All the best to Clach for the season ahead and they battled well having previously lifted this trophy fourteen times. Robert on CTO: We ended up with only MacKay, Hyde and Lodovica (and arguably Robbie Thomson) on the pitch from our first team squad, plus five from the Academy and two first year Graduates, so a creditable result in the circumstances. Image from @TMPfoto As Frank Bruno used to say after his fights: "where's Harry?" Well, here he is with the match ball after scoring three in the final. It was his first start for the club and what an impact he made. He's a big lad at full stretch and will be a handful for defenders once he gets up and running. Man of the Match for his first half heroics but there were also some accomplished performances from some of the younger players on display, notably Robbie Thompson and Jack Walker, and even olde codgers like Aaron Doran put in a good shift. Great confidence boost for all and a smashing strike from Lewis Mackie for the fourth goal. I see that Clach have signed goal scorer Calum Ferguson who started his career at Inverness ten years ago before moving on. Date: 22/**08/2023 Venue: Grant Street Park, Inverness Attendance: 400 Referee: Gordon Seago Clachnacuddin: 1 Manager: Jordan MacDonald Lineup: Rae; D Morrison, Cormack, S Morrison, Sutherland, Ferguson, Anderson, Bunce, Riddle, Nicolson, Hennem Subs (not used): MaCleod, Mitchell, Adams, Cooper, Mackenzie, Calder, Urquhart, Macphee, Peterkin Scorers: Ferguson (64) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; S Nixon, Duffy (Mackie 60), Walker, A Nixon (S Thompson 85), Brooks (Bain 60), Thompson, Hyde, Doran (Meacher 85), Samuels (Macleod 60) Lodovica. Subs (not used): Ridgers; Scorers: Lodovica (16, 36, 39), Mackie (75) Booked: none Sent Off: none

Ayr Dump Caley Jags Notable absentees for Ayr were last seasons Championship top scorer Dipo Akinyemi who has gone to York City and long time servant Michael Moffat who spent eleven years over two spells at Somerset Park scoring 77 goals in 263 appearances. Dodds was without Roddy MacGregor and Lewis Nicolson with knee injuries. Sean Welsh has a groin injury and also missed out again as did Austin Samuels and Max Ram. Adam Brooks returned to the bench and Danny Devine replaced the missing Wallace Duffy. New sensation Keith Bray started with Inverness down to only six on the bench. Injuries starting early this season already it would seem with six missing.. Ayr got off to the perfect start after just eight minutes when Francis Amartey, Dempsey and Sam Ashford combined for Amartey to slot home the opening goal. Mark Ridgers saved on his line from Nick McAllister as Ayr looked to double their lead. Keith Bray was blocked going into the box and from the follow up Albinson saved from David Carson at the expense of a corner. Plenty of half chances for both sides to score in the first half with Devine going close for the visitors but Albinson tipped over. Longstaff also went close on the break but his shot bounced just wide. Billy Dodds fell foul of the referee on the interval and had to watch the remainder of the game from the stands. (See how he likes it!) HALF TIME: 1-0 Longstaff saw his header saved ten minutes after the interval as Inverness looked to get back into the game. A spate of substitutions on the hour for Ayr and Harry Lodovica replaced Bray for the visitors before a Jake Davidson cross found Nathan Shaw, but his effort came back off the post. With twenty minutes remaining Shaw was blocked in the box as we chased for a leveller. Substitute Aiden McGeady shot wide approaching the final ten minutes and Cammy Harper failed to hit the target at the other end. Aaron Doran fired a free kick wide from a tight angle and McGeady missed again as time was running away from us. Ridgers tipped over from Pendelbury in the 90th minute and the as so often, the game slipped away from us to leave us bottom of the table with Arbroath. FULL TIME: 1-0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another defeat leaves Inverness pointless at the foot of the table with Arbroath as Ayr got their first win of the campaign thanks to an early goal from Francis Amartey. Not for the want of trying, but Inverness could not find an equaliser and that will pile more misery on under fire boss Billy Dodds. Our injury situation seems never-ending and we could only muster six on the bench. Dodds watched from the stand in the second half and will now know why we are concerned... The natives are no happy on CTO with many asking for a total clearout from top to bottom, questioning the length of contract offered to Billy Dodds. The buck stops at the very top and that is a massive concern for all. Top scorer Billy Mckay was a forlorn figure and was not best pleased at being subbed. Something is wrong that's not right. Sort it now before we leave this league at the wrong end of the table. Date: 12/08/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1989 Referee: Peter Stuart Ayr United: 1 Manager: Lee Bullen Lineup: Albinson; McAllister, Stanger, McGinty, Reading, Amartey (Pendelbury 58), Smith (Musonda 82), Dempsey, Ashford (Rose 58), McKenzie, Bryden (McGeady 58) Subs (not used): Mutch; Ecrepont, Tomlinson, Watret, Ahui Scorers: Amartey (8) Booked: Smith (74), McAllister (89) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Davidson, Devine, Delaney, Harper, Longstaff (Doran 73), Carson, Gilmour, Bray (Lodovica 58), Shaw, B Mckay (Brooks 66) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Thompson Scorers: none Booked: Delaney (28), Longstaff (45+1) Sent Off: none a

102 and Counting With his 102nd goal of his Caley Thistle career scored against Airdrie, William Robert Mckay became our top scorer ever surpassing the 101 goals of 'Sir' Dennis Wyness. What an achievement that is from Billy who is in his third spell at the Caledonian Stadium. Billy joined Inverness from Northampton Town in 2011 but there was little hint of what was to come when he made his debut in August 2011, replacing Aaron Doran in a 2-1 home win over Killie. He was sparingly used and often played out of position and suffered injury issues as well. He got off the mark scoring with a header in a 3-2 home defeat to Dundee United. His appearances were sporadic and he made only 24 appearances scoring only 3 goals by the end of the season. A two year deal was signed and things kicked on for Billy as he scored regularly and picked up the SPL Player of the Month award for November. It got even better the week after when he scored his first career hat-trick against Dundee United in an incredible 4-4 draw at Tannadice. The Legend status was building fast as his reputation spread. That brought about transfer speculation which Terry Butcher quoshed by offering Mckay a new contract which was secured in March of 2013. More speculation followed in 2013 with a move to Bulgaria rejected and the scoring continued. 9 goals from 9 matches and Septembers SPFL Player of the Month award in the bag. A great season ended with 22 goals from 46 games including a runners up medal in the League Cup loss on penalties to Aberdeen. A slow start to season 2014/2015 eventually took off but with his contract running out Billy was sold to Wigan Athletic for a cut price around £150K. What happened at Wigan stays at Wigan Billy was loaned back to Inverness at the end of January 2017 and he executed a brilliant overhead kick goal to beat Rangers at the end of February which ended a 15 game winless streak. He was then lured to the dark side which we won't go into on here. They released him at the end of the 20/21 season and Billy signed on again for his third spell for two years. He was in the PFA Championship Team of the Year at the end of season 21/22. The rest, as they say, is history. He scored his 99th and 100th goals at Hampden as we beat Falkirk 3-0 and he played in the 2023 Cup Final defeat to Celtic. His record breaking goal was a penalty kick, won by and scored by himself. He was the CTO Player of the Year 2023, an accolade he richly deserved. He won the ICTFC Players Player of the Year, the Fans Player of the Year and also the goal of the year. What a season that was for Billy! Billy made his 250th appearance against Dundee on Sunday and was given the Captains armband. Legend! He does what it says on the tin: 'He scores when he wants' Billy Mckay: Legend. Here is all of his 102 goals for Inverness Caledonian Thistle from ICTFC YouTube Channel

Massive three points Dom Thomas missed out again for Queens Park who had former Inverness Captain Sean Welsh and Cillian Sheridan starting with Will Tizzard back in defence. James Carragher and Remi Savage were missing from the heart of the visitors defence who had Luis Longstaff and Aaron Doran getting a rare start. Just under 1500 fans rattled around inside the national stadium for the proverbial six-pointer at the bottom of the table with Inverness looking to get out of the play-off place and Queens one point ahead at the start of the game. In a tense first half Cammy Harper scored a stunning free kick after Cillian Sheridan had handled 25 yards out. Boom! That's how it ended despite QP upping their game in the second period as Inverness kept them at bay. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hampden Park was rocking as the game got underway and there was an early corner for the Spiders after Luis Longstaff blocked an effort from Jack Thomson in the second minute. Billy Mckay was fouled on the edge of the box but the free kick was wasted by Cammy Kerr who fired well over the bar. Sean Welsh had an effort blocked from the right side of the box after twenty minutes. With little happening in the opening exchanges, the visitors opened the scoring out of the blue through Cammy Harper direct from a free kick. Top corner from Harper from around twenty-five yards. What a strike to grace Hampden Park. Mckay shot over after being fed towards goal ten minutes before the break. Alex Samuel was denied by Ferrie five minutes before the interval as the keeper saved in the bottom corner to deny the striker from distance. On the stroke of half time Ruari Paton shot over and it remained 1-0 to the Caley Jags. HALF TIME: 0-1 Queens made two changes at the break with Robson and McKinstry replacing Tizzard and Carse. Ridgers saved a thumping low effort from Cillian Sheridan after the restart and Welsh headed wide followed by Jack Turner being denied by Ridgers as Queens Park showed their intent after a poor first forty-five. Sub McKinstry was next to try as he shot wide, but the pressure was mounting on the visitors goal. Ferguson made his first change of the afternoon, replacing Longstaff with Samson Lawal. The wee midfilder saw no takers for a cut back after Mckay sent him into the box. Ridgers saved from Paton as Queens looked to get back on level terms. Mckay saw Ferrie stop him and Paton was denied another twice by Ridgers as the clock ticked down. Inverness held on to take a valuable three points home in the relegation battle. Check pulse..... And breathe... FULL TIME: 0-1 What a strike from Cammy Harper to lift us above Queens Park. Immortal Howden Ender summed up like this: Well I wouldn't exactly say that it was comfortable but we looked in control for the most and survived some hairy moments. Ridgers wasn't really tested but that is due to the back four being simply immense. Devine was absolutely outstanding and Boyes, Duffy and Harper were close behind. What a free kick from Harper which turned out to be the winner. Kerr played in a strange position in a cross between a full back and wing back. Anderson outshone Longstaff although committment was never in doubt. Billy would have had a comfortable brace in days of yore. Samuel is a McGinn version of a centre forward and sure knows how to win a foul. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts We have scraped ourselves into eighth. Still work to do yet though. 1. Dundee Utd 33 20 8 5 68 22 68 2. Raith Rovers 33 18 8 7 52 42 62 3. Partick Thistle 33 13 12 8 58 50 51 4. Airdrieonians 33 15 6 12 44 38 51 5. Dunfermline 33 11 9 13 39 44 42 6. Ayr United 33 12 6 15 50 57 42 7. Morton 33 11 8 14 40 42 41 8. Inverness CT 33 9 11 13 37 37 38 9. Queens Park 33 9 9 15 43 56 36 10. Arbroath 33 6 5 22 34 77 23 Date: 13/04/2024 Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Attendance: 1463 Referee: Alan Muir Queens Park: 0 Manager: Callum Davidson Lineup: Ferrie; Thomson, Wilson, Tizzard (Robson 45), Longridge, Turner (Mauchin 74), Welsh, Carse (McKinstry 45), Scott (Williamson 84), Paton, Sheridan (McLeish 74) Subs (not used): Wills; Bruce, Fox, Bannon Scorers: none Booked: Welsh (86) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Devine, Boyes, Harper, Longstaff (Lawal 55), Kerr, Anderson, Doran (MacGregor 77), Alex Samuel, B Mckay (Pepple 80) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, Austin Samuels, Brooks Scorers: Harper (25) Booked: Doran (76), MacGregor (85) Sent Off: none a

Happy Gilmour Inverness met Broomhill FC for the first time ever in the 4th round of the Scottish Cup at a defrosted Caledonian Stadium. We put Cowdenbeath out of the Cup in the last round, but Broomhill have been busier putting Cumbernauld Colts, Beith Juniors, and Cumnock out, scoring three times on each occasion. This week we dipped our toe into the January sales and borrowed striker Alex Samuel from Dingwall yesterday and he started up front with Billy Mckay on the bench. Aaron Doran also got a rare start and Cammy Mackay took the gloves for this one. Captain for the day Charlie Gilmour opened the scoring just on half time with a low strike from the edge of the box as we mounted a bit of a flurry as the interval approached. After the break, Samuel had a penalty saved as Broomhill were reduced to ten but he got his goal after the hour. Adam Brooks curled in a third with twenty minutes left and he added another two minutes from time with a cheeky back heel. Into the fifth round we go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Image from Caleyjags.com as Duffy deflects Dorans shot. <<< Wallace Duffy had the first effort in the seventh minute but it went narrowly wide as Inverness, predictably dominated the early possession. Duffy had already contributed to an offside goal when he deflected Aaron Doran's shot into the net a minute earlier. However, twenty-five minutes gone and our lack of penetration is a worry as Broomhill saw a bit more of the ball. On the half hour Boyes fed debutant Alex Samuel but his powerful shot cleared the bar. A timely reminder for the hosts saw Darren Miller bring Cammy Mackay into action as he saved Miller's shot from distance. Up the other end and Doran dragged an effort wide after Charlie Gilmour fed him on the edge of the box. Just before the break we had our first attempt on target when Scullion saved from Duffy at the expense of a corner. After the corner Max Anderson brought out another save from Scullion and Samuel's effort on the rebound resulted in another corner with Scullion blocking bravely. From there Gilmour broke the deadlock to put Inverness ahead with a low strike from the edge of the box, only his second goal for the Caley Jags. HALF TIME: 1-0 Five minutes after the break and it all happened. Michael Miller brought down Aaron Doran in the box, penalty given, Miller red carded and then Alex Samuel saw his penalty saved by Scullion. (he was probably feeling low as news filtered through that Partick Thistle were 3-0 up in Dingwall). He would not be denied a debut goal though and on the hour he turned the ball in to put us two ahead. Nikola Ujdur headed wide from a corner as Inverness continued to dominate. Substitute Adam Brook scored a super curling third but Cammy Mackay had to deny Darren Miller at the other end. Brooks scored another two minutes before the end to round off the scoring and put us into the hat for the next round draw. FULL TIME: 4-0 Robert on CTO: We got the job done, which was the main thing seeing what happened in some other games. I thought we started well and were trying to utilise the pace of Samuel, but after the early disallowed goal by Doran, we reverted to slow build up play and taking passes when shots were on for most of the first half. Gilmour’s goal was needed as otherwise the first half would have been one of our worst 45s this season. We showed a bit more urgency at the start of the second half and should have been 2 up with the penalty. I felt the red was a bit harsh but he was wresting with Doran for about 10 yards! Samuel’s kick was saved comfortably but he made amends a short time later with Carragher getting the assist. We failed to capitalise until the late double from Brooks added gloss to the score line. MacKay also pulled off one fine save to maintain the clean sheet. We started as a 3 5 2 with Duffy and Longstaff as wing backs, with all of Anderson, Carson and Gilmour in central midfield. We switched to 4 at the back late on after Ujdur went off, with Longstaff at left back. He did ok, but I felt Duffy was the more dangerous of the wide players. Carson had a quiet first half but made some decent passes after the break. It was good to see Doran and MacGregor get game time, along with Samuel and Brooks being amongst the goals. So job done with a good result after a largely unconvincing performance. Date: 20/01/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 0983 Referee: Craig Napier Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy, Ujdur (Thompson 75), Carragher, Boyes, Carson (MacGregor 75), Gilmour, Anderson (Shaw 69), Longstaff, Doran (Brooks 57), Alex Samuel (B Mckay 70) Subs (not used): Ridgers; Davidson, Harper, Devine Scorers: Gilmour (45+1), Samuel (62), Brooks (73, 88) Booked: none Sent Off: none Broomhill FC: 0 Manager: Stephen Swift Lineup: Scullion; McNight, M Miller, Moy (McPhie 70), Ellis, Roberts (Smith 68), Kennedy (O'Donnell 53), Murphy, McCrystal (Higgins 53), Grehan (Hunter 63), D Miller Subs (not used): Barr; Ben Wright, Max Wright, Chalmers Scorers: none Booked: Scullion (20), Grehan (24), McKnight (86) Sent Off: Michael Miller (50) a

Wotherspoon Derby With David Wotherspoon jumping ship for the glamour of a big club prepared to buy themselves out of trouble at all costs, Big Dunc has the TV reality task of stopping Jim Goodwin's almost all conquering Dundee United. They have slipped up a little of late and Morton beat them last weekend, so they are far from invincible, but then again, we are not world beaters yet, despite a convincing Wotherspoonless win at Ayr last Saturday. The game is a 7:45pm kick-off on Friday night at the Caledonian Stadium or a seat in your own house with the BBC Scotland channel turned on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info James Carragher Sean Welsh has left the Building Zak Delaney follows him out the door Harry Hennem's next out the door Lewis Hyde ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Arabs Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 34 10 10 14 35 44 -9 Away 29 7 11 11 37 43 -6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 63 17 21 25 72 87 -15 United hold the upper hand overall but Inverness competed well in the two games played this season. A 1-0 defeat in the Doddsball era and a 1-1 draw in the last encounter at Tannadice as Big Dunc returned North of the border. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dundee United 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 3 (H) 1 - 4 (A) 0 - 3 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 0 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (A) Point on the Road: 1 - 1 Dunc's return to Tannadice would be hindered by some key players missing. Welsh and Longstaff failed to recover but Boyes and Wotherspoon were in the starting XI. Sheridan was on the bench which looked a bit devoid of flair. United had a strong line-up with Ross County loanee Jordan Tillson replacing the injured Docherty. A big crowd of over 7500 were on hand with 270 visiting fans making the journey in eternal hope. Inverness opened the scoring through Shaw, but Holt levelled the game quickly. United had the possession but Big Dunc went back up the A9 with a hard earned point. Tremendous point on the road. It was a backs to the wall performance at times but our defence was up to the task of slowing down the top scorers in the Championship. Mark Ridgers was in superb form with his back five blunting the top scorers. Full marks to Ferguson for adapting the shape with key players missing at a difficult venue. Two brilliant goals and a point on the road at the league leaders den.The Big Dunc revolution gathers pace. Last Time out A Morgan Boyes brace in the second half and a first half gift for Billy Mckay from Ayr keeper Albinston saw Inverness get their first win in six outings at Somerset Park despite the best efforts of the eager Logan Chalmers who notched the Ayr goal and generally tormented us for most of the game. However we challenged well and got our rewards in an entertaining game to run out worthy winners and jump Ayr in the table. Last Five Games: L D D L W A George Oakley hat-trick was enough to beat the Arabs at Tannadice last weekend. 2-0 down, United fought back through Fotheringham and Moult before the break and thought they had done enough to earn a point, but Oakley thought otherwise and cracked a tremendous long range effort in off the post to win it for the visitors with two minutes left. Sandwiched in between the defeats to Raith Rovers and Morton are 3-0 wins over Arbroath and Partick Thistle and a goalless draw against Queens Park Last Five Games: L D W W L We play tonight at the Caledonian Stadium. Been chilly all week but the covers have been down since Monday with the forecast of frost all week. Arbroath v Ayr below us is one to keep an eye on and look out for Queens Park after Callum Davidson has been appointed as manager this week. Morton are the form team just now and will be looking to get into the top four soon. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Raith Rovers 20 13 5 2 37 26 44 2. Dundee Utd 19 12 5 2 42 10 41 3. Partick Thistle 20 10 5 5 41 32 35 4. Airdrieonians 20 8 3 9 19 23 27 5. Morton 19 7 4 8 23 26 25 6. Dunfermline 19 6 5 8 24 24 23 7. Inverness CT 20 5 6 9 23 24 21 8. Ayr United 19 5 4 10 25 38 19 9. Queens Park 19 4 5 10 24 38 17 10. Arbroath 19 5 2 12 23 40 17 Latest Team News Wotherspoon has jumped ship but won't feature for either side on Friday night. James Carragher, a centre back, will be included in our squad? Sean Welsh has left Inverness with immediate effect and will be moving South having played a total of 143 games, scoring 16 goals. Defender Zak Delaney has also left. Harry Hennem has departed as well. Lewis Hyde has gone to Brora on loan for the rest of the season. Not many sound bytes coming out of the Caledonian Stadium this week. Will update when/if we hear any team news. The Arabs have added New Zealand forward Alex Greive from St Mirren to their squad this week. Craig Sibbald will be suspended after his 88th minute red card against Morton. Archie Meekison should make the United squad but Declan Gallagher and Ross Docherty will miss out. Lewis Moult is also a doubt. Dundee United team v Morton Walton Grimshaw Graham Holt McMann Sibbald Tillson (Glass 45) Fotheringham (Cudjoe 86) Watt Middleton Moult (Mochrie 45) Subs Not Used: Newman; Petrie, Denham, Freeman, Duffy, MacLeod

Ayr Raid by the Boyes It's hotting up at the bottom end of the table after Queens Park grabbed their first win in sixteen games to close the gap on Inverness to just one point ahead of the visit to Somerset Park today. Charlie Albinson was back in the gloves and Sean McGinty was back at the heart of the Ayr defence with Anton Dowds, Jamie Murphy and Logan Chalmers the main threats up front. Danny Devine and David Carson were fit enough to start for Inverness but Nikola Ujdur was dropped to a bench which didn't inspire the Caley Jags faithful. A couple of early saves from Ridgers denied Ayr before Billy Mckay benefitted from an error by Albinson to open the scoring after half an hour. After the break a Morgan Boyes double put Inverness in the driving seat but Logan Chalmers reduced the deficit immediately. A couple of late chances at the end but Inverness held on to record their first win in six. Much better all round, so credit for that after a difficult month. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness kicked off in bright sunshine with the far side of the park looking like a building site. Seven minutes in and Logan Chalmers benefitted from an awkward ball that bounced across the face on the eighteen yard line, his curling effort tipped over brilliantly from a back pedaling keeper. A minute later he pulled off another save from distance as Ayr forced the play, Jack Young with a rasping shot well saved by Ridgers. After that early flurry the ball was like a hot potato with neither side able to stamp their authority on proceedings. Out of nothing, Billy Mckay opened the scoring on the half hour after Albiston was caught short with the ball at his feet. Max Anderson rolled the ball to Mckay and he rolled the ball into the net. Ridgers pulled off another important save soon after the opener when Chalmers burst into the box but the keeper got his angles right to deny the eager forward at the expense of a corner. Albinson saved from Nathan Shaw as the game approached the interval but it was Mckay's goal that separated the sides at the break. HALF TIME: 0-1 No changes at the interval. Good pressure around the home box almost resulted in an opening for the visitors. At the other end Ayr put the ball in the net but the flag was up which stopped any celebrations. Ten minutes after the break Morgan Boyes nodded in a beauty from a superb Cammy Harper cross after good away pressure. Boyes added a third with another header with referee Gavin Duncan adjudging the ball was over the line before being cleared but that lead was short lived as Logan Chalmers gave the hosts a lifeline, scoring from a tight angle two minutes later. Ridgers kept that cushion saving from close range as Ayr looked certain to pull another goal back through Anton Dowds. With ten minutes remaining Harper rattled the bar from just inside the box when he should have been hitting the target after we missed a couple of opportunities to finish off the moves. Amartey burst into the box and his shot was tipped onto the bar and over by Ridgers as Ayr pushed forward in time added on but it was Inverness that jumped up to seventh in the table above Ayr United as they held out for all three points. FULL TIME: 1-3 More Match Reaction to follow Great win on the road for Inverness after a poor run of results. Plenty of hard work done to make this possible and Mark Ridgers pulled off two or three excellent saves to keep us in touch at crucial stages. Two goals from Boyes was a bonus and good work going forward by Cammy Harper. All in, a decent performance. Top quote on CTO: So, 2 wins in our last 8 matches, both achieved when our manager was in the stand? Both Managers spoke to BBC Sport Ayr United manager Lee Bullen: "Nine times out of 10, the team that's better in both boxes wins the game of football and that's what happened. It just wasn't our day. It could've been easy just to throw the towel in at 3-0 but they kept going, Logan scores a wonderful goal. We had opportunities to maybe even get something out of the game." Inverness CT manager Duncan Ferguson: "It was a six-pointer. We've managed to jump above Ayr. It's a massive game for us. Moments in the game went for us. We created an awful lot of chances, particularly in the second half. [Mark Ridgers] was fantastic. A really great goalkeeper. Maybe one of the best in the league if not the best in the league." We won didn't we>>> Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table looks healthier after todays games 1. Raith Rovers 20 13 5 2 37 26 44 2. Dundee Utd 19 12 5 2 42 10 41 3. Partick Thistle 20 10 5 5 41 32 35 4. Airdrieonians 20 8 3 9 19 23 27 5. Morton 19 7 4 8 23 26 25 6. Dunfermline 19 6 5 8 24 24 23 7. Inverness CT 20 5 6 9 23 24 21 8. Ayr United 19 5 4 10 25 38 19 9. Queens Park 19 4 5 10 24 38 17 10. Arbroath 19 5 2 12 23 40 17 Date: 06/01/2024 Venue: Somerset Park, Ayr Attendance: 1826 Referee: Gavin Duncan Ayr United: 1 Manager: Lee Bullen Lineup: Albinson; Ahui, McGinty, McAllister, Stanger, Reading, Dempsey, Chalmers, Young, Smith (Bryden 61), Murphy (Amartey 74), Dowds (McKenzie 86) Subs (not used): Mutch; Watret, McAllister, Syla, Rose, Senga, Scorers: Chalmers (65) Booked: Chalmers (54), Young (85) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Devine, Boyes, Welsh (Longstaff 69), Gilmour, Anderson, Harper, Shaw, B Mckay (Brooks 82) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Ujdur, Davidson, Thompson, Doran, Sheridan Scorers: Mckay (29), Boyes (55, 63) Booked: Duffy (38), Welsh (50), Carson (80) Sent Off: none a

New Year New Hope We face another tough encounter on Tuesday 2nd January as we visit the Excelsior Stadium to take on fifth place Airdrieonians for the fourth time this season having also faced them in the group stages of the League Cup. This one kicks off at 3:00pm, but, don't worry if you can't make the game, Airdrie have got you covered and are offering PPV Live Stream for £15:00. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/ Bus Info PPV Live Stream Broomhill - Scottish Cup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 9 5 0 4 14 12 +2 Away 7 2 2 3 9 15 -6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 16 7 2 7 23 27 -4 Honours are even over the years with Airdrie apart from that 6-0 humping we took off them in September 2001 Last 3 Competitive Meetings are the only significant ones as previous games were back before 2002 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 3 (H) Our first win over Airdrie in recent times was the last encounter at the Caledonian Stadium where we took all three points at the end of March. 1 - 0 Duncan ferguson was looking for his first home Championship success as the Diamond's visited the Caledonian Stadium. He would be without some key players. Unfortunately Welsh, Duffy, Doran, MacGregor, Nicolson, and Samuels were all out with Devine, Boyes, Ujdur, Harper and Carson all struggling to make this one. New signings David Wotherspoon and Cillian Sheridan were in the squad. As it was, Carson, Ujdur, Devine, Harper and Wotherspoon all started with Boyes and Sheridan on the bench. Airdrie had Gallagher and Todorov up front with Player Manager Rhys McCabe on from the start. It was a decent afternoon for a game of football and Airdrie took advantage of the good conditions to control the early possession although they never troubled Ridgers, one shot clearing the North Stand into the car park. The next one went five yards over the bar. The best Inverness could offer was a blocked shot on the edge of the box after our best move of the game. We came more into the mix and David Wotherspoon spooned a shot over the bar from five yards after Keeper Josh Rae had saved from Billy Mckay. He really should have scored but he made amends five minutes before the break with a tremendously calm finish. He showed real class unlike the open goal he missed earlier. The move began on the left with Longstaff then when it came to Wotherspoon in midfield he flicked it deftly to the right side where Gilmour fed Shaw. He drove down the wing before cutting the ball back to Spoony who turned in the box to roll the ball into the unguarded corner of the net from twelve yards after making the space for himself. Class! Half Time: 1-0 After the interval Airdrie retained the ball better but we threatened when Gilmour went down after a challenge in the box. Shaw picked up the loose ball but his shot was charged down as he tried to pick out the top corner from the edge of the box. A spate of substitutions disrupted the flow of the game and the visitors made a late push to salvage a point. However, we defended well despite half of our back four being substituted with Ujdur dominant. The big defender made a couple of crucial blocks, one in particular as Frizzell pulled the trigger, the ball deflecting over the bar. Despite the late pressure from Airdrie, Ridgers was not overly exerted although he made a couple of crucial catches and punches clear to hold on to the clean sheet and more importantly all three points. Full Time: 1-0 The fabulous execution of his goal was a great introduction for David Wotherspoon but for me the Man of the Match and new version of Bobby Mann was Nikola Ujdur. The Aussie defender is solid, strolled through the game unflustered and can pick a pass. Good graft in midfield but Sheridan and Big Harry need some work done. Shaw picked up a booking at the end when Big Dunc sent him back onto the pitch to get treatment All games are 3:00pm kick-off on Saturday. Airdrieonians v Inverness CT Arbroath v Dundee Utd Dunfermline v Raith Rovers Morton v Ayr Utd Partick Thistle v Queen's Park Last Time Out Inverness slumped to another disappointing result and performance as we failed to score at home to Morton and had to settle for a point on a turgid encounter last Saturday. Looks like the honeymoon is well and trully over for big Dunc with many fans likening the performance to that of Doddsball, and that didn't end well. Here's hoping the January sales brings in a couple of decent players as we are creaking at the seams and displaying a distinct lack of quality, especially beyond the first XI. With David Wotherspoon looking like he is either injured or offski to Tannadice then we are in desparate need of a playmaker and out and out striker. Last Five Games: W L L D D Airdrie were the only winners last Saturday as a late Todorov strike gave them all three points against a struggling Queens Park. A Dom Thomas penalty had Queens in front before half time but A bullet header from Mason Hancock squared the match before Toddy's 93rd minute winner. Airdrie stopped the rot with that one after a bit of a Championship slump since they beat Arbroath on November 11th. Last five Games: L L L D W Latest Team News Inverness might be without David Wotherspoon and he could well be finished here with Dundee United looking to get him on board. Doran, Samuels, Lodovica and Duffy are out. Carson got a few minutes against Morton but MacGregor is still being nursed back towards getting some game time. Here's Dunc speaking ahead of Airdrie game: We were rubbish, weren't we>>> No official team news available yet Callum Gallagher is the Diamond's top scorer on seven goals with Todorov and Lewis MacGregor both on four. Airdrie are the lowest scorers in the League with just sixteen goals.......and we thought we were poor on twenty. Airdrie team v Queens Park Rae Megwa Fordyce McCabe Hancock Frizzell McMaster Telfer McGregor (McGregor 75) Gallagher (Todorov (45) McStravick (Watson 95) Subs Not Used: Hutton; Cassidy, Gallagher, Rowley, Dunlop, O'Connor

Merry Xmas Danny Devine was fit enough to start and Jake Davidson again replaced the injured Wallace Duffy at right back. Otherwise no surprises in the Inverness starting XI or bench. As per normal, Brian Graham will present our defence with a robust challenge with Fitzpatrick and McInroy able and willing elfs. 205 visiting fans were on hand to check out this one and at the end of the day Status Quo was maintaned as all five games ended level this weekend. Max Anderson and Jack McMillan were the scorers today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ooooooft, having got the match underway, it was an early start for the visitors who caught Partick cold as Max Anderson's weak effort found the net after an assist from Billy Mckay, long before all the bums had landed in their seats. 22 seconds apparently! The fast start continued in the third minute as Cammy Harper shot over from the left side. Alas, Jack McMillan squared the game after quarter of an hour scoring from close range. Fitzpatrick shot wide after twenty minutes and Ridgers was then brought into action to stop a long range low effort from Ben Stanway. Ten minutes before the break Wotherspoon bounced a shot just wide from the edge of the box as we ventured forth. A free kick in a promising position for the hosts ended when Graham shot over from just outside the box. Charlie Gilmour had the final effort of the half in stoppage time but it was well wide of the target. Partick with the bulk of the play but it remained all square at the interval. A late goal for Arbroath on half time meant that Inverness had gone from 8th to 5th to 9th over the course of the first forty-five. Meh! HALF TIME: 1-1 The hosts set the ball in motion for the second half and they were quick to avoid a repeat of the first minutes of the match as they went straight onto the front foot winning a couple of early corners before Aderson went close to his second of the game as the visitors wenr up the park. Devine did well to deny McMillan his second as he cleared his effort away from goal and Ujdur was booked for fouling Milne moments later. Partick were first with the changes after the hour. Ujdur took a knock but was able to continue and almost got on the end of the ball during a melee following a corner with fifteen minutes remaining. More corners followed but nothing doing before Longstaff saw his shot blocked five minutes before the end. Harper went down in the box but big appeals for a penalty went unanswered. It ended with a point apiece at a difficult venue. FULL TIME: 1-1 A good point at a difficult venue and one which keeps us in eighth place after a late goal for Dunfermline scuppered the Smokies. After the last two defeats, this was a welcome performance and point for the 205 hardy souls who braved the weather to keep away from the Xmas shopping. Have a great Christmas. From BBC Sports Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan: "Inverness are a good team and a point is probably fair. It was such a freak goal to give away but the way we react is key. We get on the front foot and Jack McMillan scores a fantastic goal." Inverness CT manager Duncan Ferguson: "We couldn't have started any better. We created chances and could've had a couple of goals. "Everyone could see our attacking play which is lovely to watch, and on another day we could've had a penalty - we're not getting any 50-50 decisions at all. But we're really happy." Mantis saw it like this: That turned out to be a valuable point thanks to the Pars late equaliser. Both sets of players deserve nothing but praise considering the awful conditions. We totally dominated the opening 15 minutes and had a couple of half chances to double the lead which appeared to deflect off a defender and trundle in. Partick scored with their first attack of the game and it was a case of tragic failure to clear the ball. Never would have happened with Robbie Deas in there. We’re playing with 3 centre backs and nobody seems to know what their job is. We went to pieces after that and Partick murdered us for the rest of the half. Going by previous visits to Firhill we feared the worst for the second half but it never materialised. We really dominated the last half hour and had very few clear cut chances but it was like the Alamo with Partick defending scrambles in their six yard box and we must have had about 8 corners. However we’re still trying to walk it into the net with nobody trying to take a risk. Graham was substituted having had very little influence for once. So was Billy, for Longstaff, and he must have been frustrated trying to pull down long balls from Ridgers all day with big Muirhead breathing down his neck. Two shockers from Grainger the ref. He booked Ujdur for a clash of heads where the Partick player came off worst, and he missed a stonewall penalty when Cammy was hauled down late on. A draw away at Partick is not to be sniffed at against a team that has 29 points and a decent squad with Milne, Graham, Lawless and Alston. Date: 23/12/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3326 Referee: Graham Grainger Partick Thistle: 1 Manager: Kris Doolan Lineup: Sneddon; McMillan, Muirhead, Neilson, Milne, Stanway (Robinson 62), McInroy (MacKenzie 82), Lawless, Alston (Bannigan 62), Fitzpatrick, Graham (Adeloye 82) Subs (not used): Mitchell; Williams, Williamson, Lyon, Diack, Scorers: McMillan (15) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Davidson, Ujdur, Devine, Boyes, Shaw, Gilmour, Anderson, Harper, Wotherspoon (Sheridan 90), B Mckay (Longstaff 75) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Bray, Thompson, Welsh, Brooks Scorers: Anderson (22 secs) Booked: Devine (43), Ujdur (57), Gilmour (88) Sent Off: none a

Hampden Success Danny Devine had recovered from the knock that saw him limp off against Raith Rovers on the hour last week. Sean Welsh and Luis Longstaff were on the bench. Grant Savoury, Charlie Fox and Craig Napier missed out for the Spiders. Jack Turner put Queens Park ahead early in the first half before Max Anderson levelled the match ten minutes later. Jack Thomson hit the bar, Mckay deemed offside when putting a loose ball into the net after Wotherspoon's header was saved and that prompted some words of comfort for the referee for which Big Dunc eventually ended up in the stands at the break. After the interval Inverness eased themselves up into sixth place in the league with goals from Nikola Ujdur, his first for the club, David Wotherspoon and a Billy Mckay penalty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the eerie atmosphere of a sparse Hampden crowd, Billy Mckay had an early effort deflected behind for a corner which came to nothing. However it didn't take long for the Spiders to get their noses in front when Dom Thomas' delivery into the box was turned in by Jack the Turner. The visitors hit back on twenty-one minutes when Max Anderson met Nathan Shaw's cross to fire the ball behind Calum Ferrie. On the half hour another ball in from Shaw saw Ferrie save from Mckay. A minute later Mckay turned provider but defender Nikola Ujdur's effort was also stopped by Ferrie in the home goal. Ujdur and Mckay almost linked up again but Mckay was just short of getting on the end of his shot. Touch wood, but it was Inverness that looked most likely to get the next goal with Mckay adjudged offside after Wotherspoon's header was saved then Shaw and Anderson made Ferrie work for his money. Touch wood was appropriate as Jack Thomson struck the bar before Ridgers then saved from Stuart McKinstry as the Spiders came back to life just before the break. Duncan Ferguson also spaked into life just on the interval and was sent to the stand by referee Craig Napier for a second yellow. Settle down Dunc! HALF TIME 1-1 Tit for tat opening to the second half with Paton blocked at one end and Ferrie saving from Wotherspoon at the other end after a counter attack with Cammie Harper. Anderson saw an effort put behind for a corner, and from that corner Nikola Ujdur headed Harpers ball into the box behind Ferrie to put Inverness ahead. Better was to come after seventy-five minutes when November's Player of the Month David Wotherspoon scored his fifth goal for Inverness to put us 3-1 ahead on the day. Spoony then earned us a spot kick when he was taken down by substitute Cameron Bruce, and who else but Billy Mckay scored from the spot with a low shot into the bottom corner. The play was broken up after this by a spate of substitutions and that was our first win over Queens Park in six games. FULL TIME: 1-4 Happy Days! Our biggest win of the season, first goals for Anderson and Ujdur, with Spoony and Mckay also hitting the back of the net. All this with Ferguson sent to the stands at half time. Plenty room for him there in an empty National Stadium. Inverness move up to sixth in the table and we play Morton at Cappielow on Tuesday night where a win would see us jump another place to fifth. More match reaction to follow>>> Highlights from QP>>> The Goals >>> Here's Naughty Boy Dunc>>> Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Morton v Inverness on Tuesday night - Arbroath v Raith Rovers Wednesday night 1. Dundee Utd 14 10 4 0 34 6 34 2. Raith Rovers 14 10 3 1 26 17 33 3. Partick Thistle 15 7 4 4 31 25 25 4. Dunfermline 14 6 3 5 18 15 21 5. Airdrieonians 15 5 2 8 14 21 17 6. Inverness CT 14 4 4 6 17 16 16 7. Ayr United 14 4 2 8 17 26 14 8. Queens Park 14 3 4 7 19 31 13 9. Arbroath 13 4 0 9 17 27 12 10. Morton 13 3 2 8 14 23 11 Date: 09/12/2023 Venue: Hampden Park Attendance: 1203 Referee: Craig Napier Queens Park: 1 Manager: Robin Veldman Lineup: Ferrie; McPherson, Bannon, Reid, Robson (Bruce 70), Thomson (Longridge 60), Spong (Tizzard 70), Turner, McKinstry (Hepburn 61), Thomas, Paton Subs (not used): Kane; Healy, Jarrett, Mauchin, McCormick Scorers: Turner (10) Booked: Turner (17), Bannon (66) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy (Davidson 84), Ujdur , Devine, Boyes, Shaw (Longstaff 81), Gilmour (Welsh 90+1), Anderson, Harper, Wotherspoon (Lodovica 83), B Mackay (Brooks 83) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Sheridan, Thompson Scorers: Anderson (21), Ujdur (59), Wotherspoon (75), B Mckay (80 pen) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Just Like Buses None for 23 years then two in a row as Raith came from behind to win with a time added on penalty converted by Jamie Gullan. Billy Mckay had opened the scoring with a header on the hour but a late surge by Rovers won it. Lewis Vaughan four minutes from the end then the penalty to take the win at the death scored by Jamie Gullan. We should have had a penalty of our own after that, but Mr Williams chose to ignore it. We snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and that one hurt. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Second top with only one defeat, Raith had been flying high before this one. Big Dunc has turned the fortunes around of a once jaded looking Caley Jags, unbeaten in seven. Something was going to give and it did, Dunc's streak came to an end. Ferguson was without the usual long term injured and David Carson was expecting . Harper and Boyes were struggling through the week but made the starting XI. Raith Rovers defender Ross Millen missed this one through suspension and Liam Dick had been missing lately through injury but was fit enough to start this one. The games at Ayr, Dunfermline and Morton were all frozen off. Only Inverness and Maryhill escaped the big freeze ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Temperatures were hovering around freezing as the game kicked off in bright sunshine. The visitors were first to settle and enjoyed the early pressure with Inverness comfortably mopping up most attacks. However we failed to find an outlet with a lot of misplaced passes from defence and the midfield were struggling to get to grips with the game. Closest to a goal in the first half was when the ball bounced off a surprised Ridgers' shins onto the post and he cleared it at the second fumble. In truth we were equally as poor as we were the week before against Cowdenbeath. Slow out of the blocks, sluggish all over the park and misplacing passes like nobody's business. Little surprise it was goalless at the break. HALF TIME: 0-0 The second half was played at a better pace and we were more in Raith's face. Raith managed a shot and couple of headers from Hamilton as they still looked the most likely to score, but neither keeper was overly troubled. On the hour we broke well down the left before we found ourselves outside the box on the right side. Wotherspoon lifted a cross into the box and Billy Mckay did well to make it his ball and headed low into the bottom corner of the net. With twenty minutes left Longstaff should have done better after a sweeping move down the left saw Shaw find him at the far side of the box. It all happened in slow motion thereafter and Longstaff's weak shot was easily saved by Dobrowski. Longstaff then turned provider but Anderson's effort from the cut back cannoned back off the crossbar. That would have given us a decent cushion. Alas it all went pear shaped in the final ten minutes. We began to look nervy in defence and sat deeper and deeper. Ujdur and Wotherspoon missed the target when we did go forward but we paid the penalty with five minutes left when Vaughan turned in the box to drill home through a ruck of players. Worse was to come deep into stoppage time when Longstaff brought down Sam Stanton. Game over as Gullan smashed the ball high into the net to win the game. Longstaff again was involved in the final effort of the game after Sheridan was getting the shirt pulled off his back, but the ball fell just behind him and a decent opportunity just became another clearance and that was it. FULL TIME: 1-2 That was a sore one after putting in a much better second half performance. Maybe Dunc will sort out why we are so ponderous at times compared to other sides, even Cowdenbeath broke quicker than we did. Poor first half again followed by a great header from Billy and one off the bar from Anderson. Then we regressed. Danny Devine going off injured didn't help and taking Mckay and Wotherspoon off doesn't seem like such a good idea now. Hey ho! We could have broken up play in time added on by using our last two substitutes. Instead we gifted a penalty and lost the game. Meh! Best for Inverness were Mckay, Wotherspoon and Ujdur and maybe Longstaff if he had a bit more belief in himself. The rest need to go back to basic passing. Our throw ins are as bad as ever and whilst I'm at it, we have no outlet when defending a corner. Stick someone on the halfway line Dunc. Closest to a goal in the first half was when the ball bounced off a surprised Ridgers' shins onto the post and he cleared it at the second fumble. Plenty of talk after the game about this scramled effort early in the game. I thought at the time it was fortunate but the whole ball did not cross the line. What is it with us and the woodwork just now? Video shows the ball never crossed the line. Close though! How about this tug on Sheridan after Raith's penalty. Shouldn't have been too difficult for Mr Williams to see from only twenty yards away. Consistently poor refereeing throughout this game. Where do we find these guys? Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Dundee Utd 13 9 4 0 33 6 31 2. Raith Rovers 13 9 3 1 22 14 30 3. Partick Thistle 14 7 4 3 28 21 25 4. Dunfermline 13 5 3 5 16 14 18 5. Airdrieonians 14 5 2 7 13 19 17 6. Ayr United 13 4 2 7 17 25 14 7. Inverness CT 13 3 4 6 13 15 13 8. Queens Park 13 3 4 6 18 27 13 9. Arbroath 12 4 0 8 16 25 12 10. Morton 12 2 2 8 12 22 8 Robert was philosophical on CTO: That’s a sore one to take but in reality we were outplayed until we took the lead against the run of play. If Raith had had their shooting boots on, they’d have been out of sight by half time. We were much better in the second half, but the goal was a surprise when it came. We then had our best spell and created several chances, coming very close when Anderson (by then playing in a more advanced role) cannoned one off the post. Then the late equaliser meant we looked like getting a point (which we’d all have taken at half time) but the stoppage time penalty was a sickener. Losing Devine meant a change of shape to 4 at the back, but I felt we played better with two wide players than we had with Duffy and Harper being wing backs. I’m not blaming the changes as Mckay and Wotherspoon had worked their socks off, and it seems to be the norm that they give us 100% for 70 minutes before being taken off. It is maybe the reality check we need, as our results have been better than our performances. If we had to lose our unbeaten run, I’d rather it was today than in any of the next three against the teams below us, Queens Park, Morton and Arbroath. Date: 02/12/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2143 Referee: Duncan Williams Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers, Duffy, Ujdur, Devine (Longstaff 63), Boyes, Gilmour, Anderson, Wotherspoon (Welsh 80), Harper, Shaw, B Mckay (Sheridan 79) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Davidson, Delaney, Thompson, Lodovica, Brooks, Scorers: Vaughan (86), Gullan (90+4 pen) Booked: Devine (34), Gilmour (83) Sent Off: none Raith Rovers: 2 Manager: Ian Murray Lineup: Dabrowski; Dick, Corr (McGill 84), O'Reilly, Connolly (Smith 73), Mullin, Easton, Stanton, Byrne, Vaughan (Hannah 90+2), Hamilton (Gullan 73) Subs (not used): Thomson; Masson Scorers: B Mckay (61) Booked: Corr (75), Gullan (90+4) Sent Off: none a

Wood you believe it? Big Dunc was looking to remain unbeaten in six, but Inverness were without half a dozen long term injured players including more recent casualties, Jake Davidson, Austin Samuels and Aaron Doran. Captain Sean Welsh was on the bench after a recent back injury. Dunfermline have their own long term absentees but had Deniz Mehmet back between the sticks after his head knock last week and Machael O'Halloran was fit enough to make the bench, with Alex Jakubiak and Craig Wighton as strong back-ups. Best early moments saw Dunfermline hit the post four times inside a couple of minutes but fortune favoured the visitors. Make that six hits on the Inverness woodwork, but Danny Devine showed them all how to hit the net two minutes before the break as tempers flared at the end of the half. More woodwork in the second half and Dunfermline salvaged a point with three minutes left through McCann...... in off the post! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Floodlights on from the start as the visitors set the ball rolling at 15:00 on a rather grey day. First corner of the game to the Pars but it came to nothing as did the Caley Jags' first corner minutes later. Lewis McCann had the first serious attempt but his header was poor and it bounced into the ground without troubling Ridgers. Nathan Shaw was blocked at one and immediately Danny Devine thwarted Matty Todd at the other end as he tried to break through on goal. Owen Moffat dipped a shot over after twenty minutes with Ridgers watching closely. The Pars hit both posts when McCann turned and shot and the ball bounced perilously close to the line before being cleared after hitting the other post. Moments later Hosler slid in and hit the post once more and the rebound came off Devine to hit the post again. After an Inverness corner, Billy Mckay had a low effort blocked in a crowded box. Ridgers saved from Ritchie-Hosler, then on the half hour Cammy Harper missed what is generally described as an open goal at the back post after a Mckay sclaff found it's way to him but he sliced wide. Wood you believe it! Incredibly the Pars hit the woodwork another twice after Morgan Boyes played a loose pass back. McCann hit the inside of the post then Moffat's effort came off the bar from the rebound. From another home corner a Boyes header went agonisingly close to opening the scoring. Danny Devine showed his strikers how to do it a couple of minutes before half time as he drilled into the net. Amazingly, the visitors made it to the interval without conceding, the posts, however, were battered and bruised as were Gilmour, Harper, Chalmers and Hamilton after a clash with yellow cards dished out in a frantic ending to the half. HALF TIME: 0-1 If anything the rain was heavier as the second half kicked off with no alterations to either side and Inverness making some early headway to no avail. Harper fired a cross into the box which David Wotherspoon almost connected properly with but it went wide. Touch wood, but it was a much more positive start to the second half for the visitors. Harper did well to clear away a dangerous McCann cross with substitute Jakubiak lurking with intent. Inverness survived another cafuffle in the box involving Jakubiak again and minutes later he was looking for a penalty under a Devine intervention. A seventh strike off the woodwork saved the visitors again from a thunderous Otoo effort from distance. Lewis McCann levelled the game with three minutes left. Unfortunately the post helped the Pars this time as McCann's effort went in via the post. FULL TIME: 1-1 An incredible game with Woodwork named as MotM with seven tremendous saves and one assist at the end as the Pars got the reward their endeavour deserved. Great finish from Danny Devine for the opening goal, scoring like a Pro. Nobody could grudge Dunfermline their leveller although it came at a time when we looked most comfortable and likely to see out the game for all three points. It's a funny olde game as they used to say. Date: 18/11/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 5034 Referee: Euan Anderson Dunfermline: 1 Manager: James McPake Lineup: Mehmet; Fisher, Hamilton, Otoo, Ritchie-Hosler (O'Halloran 70), Allan, Todd (Jakubiak 60), Chalmers, Edwards, McCann, Moffat (Wighton 70) Subs (not used): Sharp; Little; Fenton, Comrie Scorers: McCann (88) Booked: Chalmers (45), Hamilton (45+3) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Ujdur (Duffy 65), Devine, Boyes, Harper, Gilmour, Anderson, Wotherspoon (Welsh 84), Shaw, B Mckay (Longstaff 65) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Lodovica, Thompson, Brooks, Sheridan Scorers: Devine (43) Booked: Gilmour (45+2), Harper (45+3), Duffy (74) Sent Off: none a

Dunc on the Up Inverness added Sean Welsh to the ever expanding longer term injury list suffering from a recurring back injury, but Luis Longstaff was fit enough to make the bench. Ayr United had Logan Chalmers, Jamie Murphy and Anton Dowds as a triple threat up front. Despite this, Inverness cruised home without having to get out of second gear. Three goals inside the last ten minutes of the first half ended the game as a contest. Two from David Wotherspoon and a penalty from Billy Mckay. Ayr got a consolation penalty in a poor second half, but it was an important three points for the Caley Jags and Big Dunc ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bright and calm afternoon saw the teams take to the pitch with a growing army of disciples watching from the stands. As kick-off approached, a shrill whistle from the referee saw the crowd fall impeccably silent to commemorate those that made the ultimate sacrifice during the conflicts...... lest we forget. An early injury to birthday boy Cammy Harper was a worry for Duncan Ferguson but that wasn't enough to keep Cammy from his own party. In truth we gave a mediocre Ayr United too much respect. That was until David Wotherspoon tapped in from one yard after we opened the Ayr defence inside their own box. He added a second with the aid of a deflection as we looked to kill the game and the icing was on the cake when Billy Mckay buried a penalty after Reading tripped Charlie Gilmour in the box in the final act of the first half. HALF TIME: 3-0 The second half was the epitome of an anti-climax. After the opening ten minutes of the second period when we toyed with Ayr and looked likely to run up a Rugby score, neither keeper was over exerted and the game deteriorated as a spectacle. With Ayr looking unlikely to breach our defence they were awarded a stonewall penalty when Rose was brought down by Ridgers as he raced onto a ball into the box. Murphy drilled home the resultant spot kick. In fairness to both sides, the damage was done in the last few minutes of the first half which took any urgency out of the game, especially for Inverness. FULL TIME: 3-1 As comfortable as it was it was still a poor second half where we should have gone on to put Ayr to the sword. As it was, the result was huge in the context of our season and we can overlook the turgid performance in the light of three excellent points and a step up the table to eighth place with games in hand over some teams. More Match Reaction to Follow>>> Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Big Dunc is on the march 1. Dundee Utd 13 9 4 0 33 6 31 2. Raith Rovers 12 8 3 1 20 13 27 3. Partick Thistle 13 6 4 3 26 20 22 4. Airdrieonians 13 5 2 6 12 17 17 5. Dunfermline 11 4 2 5 12 13 14 6. Ayr United 13 4 2 7 17 25 14 7. Queens Park 13 3 4 6 18 27 13 8. Inverness CT 11 3 3 5 11 12 12 9. Arbroath 11 4 0 7 16 22 12 10. Morton 12 2 2 8 12 22 8 Robert on CTO: The first half hour was pretty even but we had an explosive 15 minutes before half time which settled the game. Wotherspoon is proving a real asset and I hope we extend his contract beyond January. Mckay did brilliantly to start the build up to the first goal. Wotherspoon squeezed his second in from a very tight angle and Mckay buried the penalty. None of us saw that all coming after 30 minutes. We were pinned back for most of the second half and Ayr’s penalty made it slightly nervy but we saw it out. My only complaint is that we invited Ayr on to us too much in the second half. However, Ridgers did not have much to do. We lost Anderson at half time, presumably to injury, but hopefully a precautionary change. The picks for me were Wotherspoon, Mckay and Boyes. Credit also to Harper who nullified Chalmers to the point we didn’t see Chalmers after the break. 11 points out of 15 and up to 8th. If we can win at Dunfermline in our first game in hand next week we will be 5th. Well done guys! Date: 11/11/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2259 Referee: Iain Snedden Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Ujdur, Boyes, Devine, Harper Carson (Duffy 57), Gilmour, Anderson (Longstaff 45), Wotherspoon (Brooks 89), Shaw, Mckay (Sheridan 78) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Thompson, Delaney, Lodovica Scorers: Wotherspoon (32, 43), B Mckay (45+2 pen) Booked: Anderson (27), Brooks(90+2) Sent Off: none Ayr United: 1 Manager: Lee Bullen Lineup: Mutch; McAllister, Stanger (F Ecremont 12), McGinty, Reading, Chalmers (Rose 45), Syla, Senga (Amartey 69), Murphy, McKenzie (McGeady 79), Dowds (Young 69) Subs (not used): O Ecremont; Smith, Bryden, Scorers: Murphy (61 pen) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Injuries R Us With last weeks game falling foul to the weather, it might have been a blessing in disguise with one or two struggling to have made the postponed game against Morton. An extra weeks recovery might mean that we will be better equipped to face a sprightly Airdrie side who have consolidated themselves in the top half of the Championship. Game kicks off at 3:00pm at the Caledonian Stadium this Saturday and we might get a glimpse of new signings David Wotherspoon and Cillian Sheridan. Unfortunately Welsh, Doran, Boyes, MacGregor, Nicolson and Samuels are all out with Devine, Ujdur, Harper, Duffy and Carson all struggling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match Info/Tickets David Wotherspoon Cillian Sheridan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 8 4 0 4 13 12 +1 Away 7 2 2 3 9 15 -6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 15 6 2 7 22 27 -5 Only the last couple of fixtures have any relevance. The 1-0 home win was in March 2002 when Ross Tokely played and Martin Bavidge scored the winner........ Wait a minute: Ross Tokely is still playing and scoring winners 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 3 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 0 - 6 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 4 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 0 - 2 (H) March 2002: Steve Paterson's 300th game in charge produced a very welcome 1 - 0 victory which stopped a slide down the league. Ian Broadfoot reports: Caley Thistle lay fourth last Saturday but slipped to seventh in midweek without kicking a ball. This win resulted in a climb to fifth. The first half was a nervous period with Caley Thistle trying hard but achieving little. Airdrie's best chance came in the first minute when they were awarded a free kick 20 yards out. Mark Roberts drove the ball goalwards and Nicky Walker dived to make a good save. In 13 minutes a high David Bagan cross proved troublesome to Airdrie keeper Allan Ferguson but he tipped it over. Five minutes later a Barry Robson corner from the right reached Grant Munro beyond the back post but he could only bundle the ball over for a goal kick. Stuart Taylor created a chance for himself at the other end in 29 minutes but he wasted it with a scuff past the post. In 33 minutes the home sides best first half chance fell to Dennis Wyness after good interplay with Charlie Christie but the striker hit it over from 10 yards. A minute later Owen Coyle reached a corner at the back post but left it to Taylor but he mishit to concede a goal kick. The tempo of the match changed in 50 minutes when Robson sent over a cross from the left and Martin Bavidge scored at the back post despite Ferguson getting a touch. This lifted Caley Thistle and calmed a few nerves. They kept on top after that but could not score a second goal. Robson strode through the Airdrie defence just after the goal but his shot deflected off Alan McManus. On the hour mark Ferguson raced out of goal to the touchline to just beat Bavidge to the ball. Ferguson saved Airdrie again in 76 minutes when he dived at the feet of Wyness as he stretched to reach a Bavidge curling ball but it went harmlessly for a goal kick. The nerves returned in the last few minutes as Caley Thistle worked hard to preserve their lead. With three minutes left Airdrie nearly stole an equaliser when a seemingly harmless Taylor header beat Walker but came back off the post into the relieved keepers arms. Despite a seemingly endless three minutes of added time Caley Thistle held on to win. Championship Fixtures FRIDAY 27th OCTOBER Dundee Utd v Arbroath Fc Queens Pk v Partick Th SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER Ayr Utd v Morton Inverness CT v Airdrieonians Raith Rovers v Dunfermline Last Time Out Inverness were held to a no scoring draw at home to Partick Thistle. A game of few clear chances with Partick squandering the best a few minutes from the end. Still, the clean sheet was welcome. We have already played Airdrie twice this season during our defensive blunder sessions. Airdrie took full advantage winning both games. 3-2 in the Highlands on League Cup duty and 2-1 at the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium in our 3rd Championship game of the season. Nathan Shaw's second half goal was too little too late after a Cammy Harper og inside the first minute and top scorer Gallagher on the half hour did the early damage in that one. Last Five: D L L W D Airdrie also played out a draw in their last game which went ahead on Friday night in a downpour. It ended 1-1 with Queens Park after Airdrie had taken a first half lead when an error in midfield by Queens Park allowed Callum Gallagher to run through to finish with aplomb. Queens got their point when keeper Josh Rae presented Jack Turner with his opportunity which he gladly took. Last Five: L W W L D Latest Team News This was prepared for the Morton game that was postponed. Having played in the North of Scotland Cup semi-final at Nairn, Duncan Ferguson will now be without at least two of those that were beaten by Nairn. It was mainly a second string squad with some returning from injury. However, Danny Devine came off with a swollen knee and Sean Welsh now has a back injury. Add Boyes with an eye infection, Aaron Doran with a hamstring, Wallace Duffy with who knows what and longer term Roddy MacGregor and Lewis Nicolson then Ferguson does not have his troubles to seek. The good news is David Wotherspoon could be ready after playing 45 minutes on Wednesday night. Jay Emmanuel Stewart (JET) has been on trial this week. So, hopefully the extra week will see one or two be in a better place injury wise and Wotherspoon has had another week in his legs to get back up to speed. Cillian Sheridan has become the latest player to sign on until January. He's been around a bit but could still do a job for us surely. Big misses for us will be Sean Welsh, Morgan Boyes and if Ujdur, Harper and Carson fail to make it then we will be scraping the bottom of the barrel again. Aaron Doran (hamstring) and Austin Samuels (knee) have joined the long term casualy list with Roddy and Lewis. So injuries are us once more. Dunc is hopeful one or two might be fit enough but it's a waiting game after three weeks of inactivity. Airdrie v Queens Pk team lines:- Rae Megwa Watson Fordyce Hancock Frizzell McMaster Aiken (Telfer 62) McStravick Gallagher (Todorov 62) McGregor (O'Connor 78) Subs not used: Hutton; McCabe, Dunlop, McGill, Cassidy, Spalding. Airdrie have been playing some slick stuff of late and this will be a tough one, even with a full squad. Callum Gallagher is top scorer with six goals. Former Caley Jag striker Nikolay Todorov has scored a couple this season but does not always start.

Thistle be the day This will be the day that Duncan Ferguson made his bow to the Caley Jags fans. The weather might have dampened the atmosherics, but inside the stadium it was a warm welcome for Big Dunc. He was without the long term absentees (MacGregor & Nicolson) plus more recent victims in Sean Welsh, Danny Devine and Wallace Duffy. After the first win last week, it was an unchanged starting XI that took to the sodden turf. Partick had our olde foe Brian Graham up front. Enough said ÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷ Heavy overnight rain made for wet conditions on the park and around the Highlands. Both sides made heavy weather (no pun intended) of a tedious first half where neither keeper had to earn their corn. Partick started liveliest without threatening before we got to grips with the game. Ujdur headed tamely wide from a Harper corner as he couldn't get any purchase on the ball. Shaw made a clumsy touch from a Gilmour cross from the left side and the chance was gone as Sneddon snapped up the loose ball. A loose ball forward allowed Partick a shooting opportunity but Ridgers gathered comfortably. After the break the visitors cut along the byeline and it ended with Fitzpatrick rolling the ball onto the post before being cleared. Doran was looking for a penalty after being upended in the box but nothing given. From an Inverness corner, Partick broke forward at pace and it ended with Ridgers saving a low twenty-five yard drive from Graham. Shaw made a tremendous tackle to win back the ball before Gilmour was eventually set up for a shot but he dragged his low effort a yard wide. Billy Mckay turned on the edge of the box but his curled effort drifted over the bar with Gilmour looking for a return pass as he ran into the box. Milne rode a couple of challenges before slicing his parting shot wide from eighteen yards. Best chance of the game fell to the visitors three minutes before the end after Ridgers parried a swerving shot from McInroy. It fell to Adeloye but he blazed his hooked effort well over the bar from five yards. Inverness mainly looked comfortable without overly troubling keeper Sneddon and it ended all square in a very wet Highlands. FULL TIME: 0-0 Neither side can complain about a point apiece but Partick will now know that they can not expect to pick up easy points against us. In fact had Gilmour placed his shot within the bounds of the posts then we could have taken all three points. Meh! Another step in the right direction for Inverness who matched high scoring Partick Thistle all over the park. Best for Inverness were the tricky Longstaff, the unflustered Ujdur and the driving force of Gilmour, with Ridgers doing his bit at the end Date: 07/10/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2374 Referee: Dan McFarlane Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Ujdur, Boyes, Harper, Longstaff, Gilmour, Anderson, Shaw (Brooks 86), Doran (Samuels 65) B Mckay (Lodovica 86) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Davidson, Delaney, Hyde, Bray, Thompson Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none Partick Thistle: 0 Manager: Kris Doolan Lineup: Sneddon; Ngwenya, Muirhead, Neilson, Milne, McInroy, Robinson, Bannigan, Lawless, Graham (Macdonald 74), Fitzpatrick (Adeloye 73) Subs (not used): McGinley, Alston, Williamson, Stanway, Mitchell, Williams Scorers: none Booked: Bannigan (72) Sent Off: none a

Dunc's Homecoming It's Duncan Ferguson's first home game on Saturday against a team expected to be challenging at the top end of the table come the end of the season. Partick Thistle will be a stern test for Dunc's revitalised troops who have been re-energised by the new Gaffer's unexpected arrival at the Caledonian Stadium. He got off to a flier last weekend but the adrenaline started to wear off before the end of the game and Arbroath staged a comeback from 3-0 down before we held out for a 3-2 win on the road, our first success in this years Championship. It's a big ask to expect miracles against well established Championship challengers, but that's the task on Saturday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info North of Scotland Cup v Nairn Community development Summer report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last Time Out Inverness earned their first three points of the season last week against Arbroath in a five goal nailbiter. Dunc's reign got off to a great start with an early goal from Luis Longstaff. It was added to before the break when Longstaff turned provider for Aaron Doran to thump home his low driven cross after half an hour. Billy Mckay lobbed keeper Gaston just after the break from a Mark Ridgers kick out. Route one is alive and kicking. Arbroath got a lifeline with a freak goal when a clearance rebounded off Ross Stewart and deftly chipped over the flailing keepers hands and into the net from eighteen yards. Meh! Michael McKenna reduced the leeway to one when he arrowed home aftrer a bit of pinball on the edge of the box. We dug deep though and withstood a late barrage to secure the win for a jubilant away support and an equally enthusiastic new manager. Current Form last five games: L D L L W That leaves Inverness bottom equal with Morton on four points. Our scoring record is poor with only 6 goals scored but despite the mistakes, we haveonly conceded 10. Here's the goals from last week>>> Partick Thistle recovered from a 3-0 defeat to Arbroath the previous week to thump Dunfermline 3-0. Scott Robinson scored in the first half before our old friend Brian Graham scored five minutes after the break. Kerr McInroy added a third. This game had a raft of opportunities for both sides but it was the Firhill side that had the cutting edge in front of goal. Current Form last five games: W W W L W Good start by Partick has them tucked in behind Dundee United & Raith Rovers in 3rd place with 13 points. Partick are top scorers in the league with 17 goals having conceded 9. Latest Team News Ferguson will be without the long term absentees (MacGregor & Nicolson) plus more recent victims in Sean Welsh, Danny Devine and possibly Wallace Duffy. Partick Thistle Kris Doolan XI v Dunfermline Sneddon Ngwenya Muirhead Neilson Milne McInroy Robinson (Alston 79) Bannigan (Williamson 79) Lawless Graham (Adeloye 67) Fitzpatrick (McDonald 73) Subs not used: Diack, McGinley, Alston, Stanway, McKenzie, One for the Diary>>> ***Game Changer*** Due to a weather warning this game versus East Fife will now be played at Millburn Academy, with a 12.30pm kick-off.

Dunc get's off to a flier Dunc's reign of apprehension got off to a promising start at Gayfield as Inverness opened the scoring in the tenth minute through Luis Longstaff who scrambled the ball into the net after a Nikola Ujdur header was not dealt with by keeper Gaston. Longstaff then turned provider as Aaron Doran turned his driven cross into the net after half an hour. Other chances came and went: Nathan Shaw not catching his shot plumb from the edge of the box making it comfortable for Gaston to flop on the ball and save and Billy Mckay not making the most of a great break forward, his low shot a bit of a dolly for the keeper to block. HALF TIME 0-2 Billy Mckay added a third just after the interval lobbing Gaston perfectly with an assist from his own keeper Mark Ridgers. At 3-0 Shaw again might have done better when one on one with Gaston but he chose the wrong option and took himself too wide and the chance was gone. Arbroath came back into it with strikes from Ross Stewart and Michael McKenna to set up a grandstand finish. Stewart's goal was as massive a fluke as you will see. Ujdur attempted to thunder the ball clear on the edge of his own box. Unfortunately Stewart anticipated this and turned his back on the defender expecting him and ball to go flying forward. Alas it looks like it cannoned off his arse and it floated over the despairing flail of Mark Ridgers and into the net. Unbelievable, you couldn't write it, however, I just did. McKenna's goal favoured the hosts as it bobbled off a couple of bodies before he despatched it behind Ridgers off his near post with a tidy finish. With much biting of fingernails, Dunc got off to a winning start after a lengthy period of time added on and that means that we are no longer bottom of the table (just). Phew! FULL TIME: 2-3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ferguson was without the services of Roddy MacGregor, Lewis Nicolson, Sean Welsh, Wallace Duffy and Danny Devine. Nikola Ujdur made his debut last week and looks like a solid unit and both he and Aaron Doran started. Ricky Little returned after suspension for Arbroath with Jay Bird relegating Dünnwald-Turan to the bench. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More match reaction to follow>>> The fans were looking forward to this one with a mixture of fear, trepidation, apprehension, pessimism, optimism and excitement in equal proportions. Dunc has certainly got the fans talking again and there's a feelgood factor lurking just round the corner. Rome wasn't built in a day, however Ferguson was not the foreman. Time will tell if this will be a successful appointment, but he has the full backing of the fans at the moment. Arbroath were off the back of a four game winning run. We were on downward spiral since the start of the season, the reason why Dunc is here now. As it happened, we escaped with all three points... Speaking to BBC Sport, Inverness CT manager Duncan Ferguson: "I thought my players were magnificent, we really should have had a lot more goals on the counter attack. "To a man, the players put their bodies on their line for the club. They gave 100% effort and showed a lot of resilience, we just need to be a bit braver on the ball. "To deliver a win for the fans, it was a great moment for myself and the team." From CTO: Great to get the win but that was hard work to watch in the second half. From cruising at 3-0 to hanging on for dear life and looking like we might easily lose in the space of a few minutes, we still look fragile. Well done to the boys for steadying a bit towards the end and hanging on. And top marks to big Dunc for coming over to the fans and showing his delight at the end Full Highlights Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Off the bottom at last 1. Dundee Utd 7 5 2 0 16 3 17 2. Raith Rovers 7 5 1 1 12 8 16 3. Partick Thistle 7 4 1 2 17 9 13 4. Arbroath 8 4 0 4 15 11 12 5. Airdrieonians 7 4 0 3 7 10 12 6. Dunfermline 7 3 2 2 9 8 11 7. Queens Park 8 3 0 5 11 19 9 8. Ayr United 7 2 0 5 9 16 6 9. Inverness CT 7 1 1 5 6 10 4 10. Morton 7 1 1 5 8 16 4 Date: 30/09/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1723 Referee: Don Robertson Arbroath: 2 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Steele, Little, O'Brien, Stewart, Dow (Stowe 63), Slater (Balde 70), McKenna, Gold, Hylton (Dünnwald-Turan 85), Bird (Mcintosh 63) Subs (not used): Adams; Lyon, Norey, Jacobs Scorers: Stewart (69), McKenna (79) Booked: Slater (47) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Ujdur, Boyes, Harper, Longstaff (Davidson 75), Gilmour, Anderson, Doran (Samuels 55), Shaw, B Mckay (Delaney 64) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Thompson, Bray, Brooks, Lodovica Scorers: Longstaff (10), Doran (31), B Mckay (48) Booked: Gilmour (88) Sent Off: none

North of Scotland Cup A new era for the Caley Jags began at Mackessack Park as Duncan Ferguson's new team took on Highland League side Rothes in the second round of the North of Scotland Cup. Big Dunc was announced yesterday and it's fair to say he might not know much about his new charges. He will know even less about Rothes. They were originally founded in 1907 as a Junior club, Rothes Victoria, and turned Senior on 4 May 1938 as Rothes FC. Rothes have won the Highland League once, in the 1958–59 season. Mackessack Park is named after one Douglas Mackessack, a local laird and whisky magnate and an early benefactor of the club. In 2020, The Speysiders won their first honours in 41 years, defeating Buckie Thistle 2–1 in the Highland League Cup final to win the trophy for the first time. Here's one that Duncan might like: Rothes play in tangerine shirts, colours they inherited from Dundee United after purchasing the floodlights from Tannadice Park. Rothes sit 10th in the Highland League just now and after a slow start they have picked up a bit of form over the last few games WLLLLDWWLW Tonights Game >>> Inverness had a youthful side on the park with Davidson, Delaney, Hyde and Samuels the main first team squad players and Harry Lodovica getting a start. 9' | 0-1 GOAL! ICTFC take the lead through Keith Bray after a good move from the Caley Jags! 22' | 0-1 Davidson's cross finds Lodovica in the box but his header is tipped onto the bar. HALF TIME: Rothes 0-1 ICTFC HT Subs: Calum MacKay and Leo Walker on, Jake Davidson and Austin Samuels off 68' | 0-1 Good play from Keith Bray as he cuts inside and shoots but his effort is tipped over the bar and behind. ICTFC Sub: Calum MacLeod on, Zak Delaney off. 84' | 0-1 ICTFC Sub: Shae Keogh on, Harry Lodovica off. Inverness move into the third round where they will play Nairn County on October 18th after a Keith Bray goal was enough to beat Rothes at Mackessack Park. 9' | 0-1 GOAL! ICTFC take the lead through Keith Bray after a good move from the Caley Jags. Well played to Rothes who made the Caley Jags work really hard for the win, especially in the second half, and were maybe deserving of taking the tie into extra-time. The other winner on the night was Agnes, who went down a storm and limited the quality on the park. More detail and match reaction to follow>>> Date: 27/09/2023 Venue: Mackessack Park, Rothes Attendance: **** Referee: Gordon Morrison Rothes FC: 0 Manager: Ross Jack Lineup: McCarthy; Haspell, Finnis, Macdonald, McDade, Johnstone, Pollock,Robertson, Williamson, Morrison, Wilson (substitutions not known yet) Subs (not used): Marshall; Thomson, Milne, Shewan, Proudfoot, Cruickshank, Shepherd, Kerr, McConnachie Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT XI: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson? Lineup: Cammy Mackay; Davidson (Leo Walker 45), Sam Nixon, Jack Walker, Delaney (Calum Macleod 68), Brooks, Hyde, Bray, Thompson, Samuels (Calum Mackay 45), Lodovica (Keogh 84) Subs (not used): Patterson; Scorers: Keith Bray (9) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Late Strike Ruins the Day Another very late goal ruined what had been a reasonably resolute performance by managerless Inverness. However, the end result remains the same and we went down to an avoidable sclaff in time added on when substitute Chris Mochrie poked the ball home after Ridgers had cleared a bouncing effort away from the top corner only for the United players to react quickest to prod the ball into the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection. Meh! It doesn't rain but it pours... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With Robbo and Charlie Christie in the dugout, we were looking for a change in fortunes. That never happened on the injury front with MacGregor, Nicolson, Welsh, Devine and Duffy all missing out. Nikola Ujdur made his long awaited debut after coming up from down under. Still, it was a lovely afternoon for a game with a big away crowd bolstering the attendance to over three and a half thousand. Some of the football in the first half was pleasing on the eye as crisp passing and movement were the order of the day. However both sides were lacking a cutting edge as clear chances were hard to come by. Dangerman Louis Moult went off injured after the half hour to be replaced by Tony Watt. The closest anyone came to breaking the deadlock was five minutes before the break when Archie Meekison hit the post when he probably should have scored. Plenty of neat football on display and plenty of passion but a lack of goalmouth activity kept the score blank at the break. HALF TIME: 0-0. Aaron Doran and Billy Mckay went wide of the target in the opening fifteen minutes after the interval as we probed for that decisive opening. Ridgers kept out Watt as he broke into the box to keep the score level and moments later Jordan Tillson was red carded for a late tackle on Charlie Gilmour. Austin Samuels then had an effort deflected behind for a corner and minutes later his powerful drive went wide as we pushed ten man United back. Ujdur had a solid debut and was replaced by Zak Delaney after 78 minutes. Maybe that lifted United as the big guy is a solid unit and played a big part in unifying our defence up until his departure. As the game passed the ninety minutes, Boyes was penalised some forty yards out in the midfield area and picked up a caution. The free kick for United was curled into the box. It bounced up towards the top corner where Ridgers pawed it away possibly with the help of the bar. Gallagher kept it alive and Mochrie stabbed it goalwards. The last touch might even have come off a defender. It mattered not as the ball rolled into the net for what proved to be the winner. There was still some anxious moments for United to endure as we fired the ball across their box a few more times but sadly for us, the elusive killer pass was still missing and another defeat it was. That left us scunnered once again! Full Time: 0-1 A bit unfortunate to come away with nothing as we looked solid for the most part with new signing Nikola Ujdur looking like a body not to be messed with. However, following his substitution, United threatened more and got the break of the ball to snatch a winner from the jaws of a draw. We put a lot into that game and the performance was decent. However the result remains the same, a one goal defeat. Bottom line is 1 point from six games and only half a goal per game. Time for the strikers to do their bit. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts We face 3rd place Arbroath away in our next game 1. Dundee Utd 6 4 2 0 12 2 14 2. Raith Rovers 6 4 1 1 10 7 13 3. Arbroath 7 4 0 3 13 8 12 4. Dunfermline 6 3 2 1 9 5 11 5. Partick Thistle 6 3 1 2 14 9 10 6. Airdrieonians 6 3 0 3 6 10 9 7. Queens Park 7 3 0 4 10 15 9 8. Ayr United 6 2 0 4 8 14 6 9. Morton 6 1 1 4 8 15 4 10. Inverness CT 6 0 1 5 3 8 1 Airdrie 1-0 Raith Rvrs Pars 3-1 Morton Inverness CT 0-1 Dundee United Partick 0-3 Arbroath Date: 23/09/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3503 Referee: Calum Scott Inverness CT: 0 Manager: John Robertson/Charlie Christie Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Ujdur (Delaney 78), Boyes, Harper, Longstaff (Samuels 60), Gilmour, Anderson, Shaw (Lodovica 90), Doran (Thompson 59), B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Davidson, Hyde, Brooks, Bray Scorers: none Booked: Anderson (2) Boyes (90) Sent Off: none Dundee United: 1 Manager: Jim Goodwin Lineup: Walton; Grimshaw, Gallagher, Holt, McMann, Docherty (Mochrie 80), Glass (Fotheringham 60), Middleton, Sibbald, Meekison (Tillson 60), Moult (Watt 35) Subs (not used): Newman; Denham, Graham, Freeman, Stirton Scorers: Mochrie (90+3) Booked: Docherty (25) Watt (45) Meekison (58) Tillson (65) Sent Off: Tillson (69) (second yellow) a

Dodds Sacked Club Statement It is with much regret that the club has taken the decision to terminate the contracts of Head Coach Billy Dodds and his Assistant Manager Barry Wilson with immediate effect. Assistant Manager Barry Wilson is a club legend and he has more than ably served the club as player and coach. His many years here as both, and the respect with which he has been held, shows our appreciation of his service. Sometimes in football we have to make difficult decisions and both of the decisions outlined above fall very hard into that category. Sporting Director John Robertson and Academy Director Charlie Christie will take charge of the team in the interim period while we endeavour to find a new Head Coach in short order and applications will be accepted at footballdept@ictfc.co.uk To be honest, it's not difficult to see why this has happened. Over the last ten games played we have only beaten Inverness Clachnacuddin in the Inverness Cup Final. So that leaves eight defeats and a solitary draw. Here's the reasons below. But should other heads roll as well? Billy was short changed on the park, and off the park we have been a shambles. 18th 7:45:PM Dumbarton (A) League Cup (Group E) 1 - 2 505 25th 7:45:PM Airdrieonians (H) League Cup (Group E) 2 - 3 1,115 30th 3:00:PM Dundee (A) League Cup (Group E) 0 - 1 2,337 August 2023 5th 3:00:PM Queens Park (H) League (Champ) 1 - 2 2,030 12th 3:00:PM Ayr United (A) League (Champ) 0 - 1 1,989 22nd 7:30:PM Clachnacuddin (A) Inverness Cup (Final) 4 - 1 500ish 26th 3:00:PM Airdrieonians (A) League (Champ) 1 - 2 1,688 September 2023 2nd 3:00:PM Dunfermline (H) League (Champ) 1 - 1 2,388 9th 3:00:PM Arbroath (A) Trust Trophy Rnd3) 2 - 4 780 16th 3:00:PM Raith Rovers (A) League (Champ) 0 - 1 2,846 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts One point from a possible fifteen is not acceptable. 1. Raith Rovers 5 4 1 0 10 6 13 2. Dundee Utd 5 3 2 0 11 2 11 3. Partick Thistle 5 3 1 1 14 6 10 4. Arbroath 6 3 0 3 10 8 9 5. Queens Park 6 3 0 3 8 10 9 6. Dunfermline 5 2 2 1 6 4 8 7. Airdrieonians 5 2 0 3 5 10 6 8. Morton 5 1 1 3 7 12 4 9. Ayr United 5 1 0 4 3 12 3 10. Inverness CT 5 0 1 4 3 7 1 From the outside looking in, some are wondering why we have sacked such a successful manager? Well, closer inspection will reveal more. He's an affable sort of guy. However, it's been the 'jobs for the boys' 2 year contract that has stuck in most peoples throats. That in itself is not down to Dodds. After all, who would turn that down after a couple of mediocre seasons where we have failed to get promoted and only made the Scottish Cup final by default after Queens Park messed up. All that did was paper over the cracks! We went on massive winless runs over the last two seasons that almost gave the impression the remit was to not get promoted as we are not ready for it. The style of football has been likened to our worst ever hoofball or Doddsball as it has now become known as. Excuses have been piling up and many fans have openly said they won't be back unless there is a total clearout. Well it looks like the root causes of this have removed Billy and Barry (a club legend sacked by association) to deflect from their own inability to run the club. Failed ventures (Inverness Caley Thistle Concert Company Ltd), broken promises (communication), where's Wally Robbo (invariably Dingwall), what does our CEO do and who or what is our SLO. Communication with the support has never been so poor, it's almost as if we have become an inconveniance. Lack of quality on and off the pitch. From the fans point of view it appears that we are paying hefty wages and get little in return for this. Who on earth thought it was a great idea to release an orange away strip on July 12th? Surely we don't have sectarian bigots running our club? I'd like to think we are above all this nonsense, however many believe this is what we have become under the present regime. What's the answer? It's time for a total revamp before we plunge into that abyss from which it's very difficult to emerge from and obscurity beckons. Hopefully this is just the start... Let's get back to being the family club we once were and made us all proud.

In Dodds We Trust? With no wins in seven games (six defeats and a draw), it's a welcome distraction this weekend as we travel to Gayfield Park Arbroath to take on the 'Smokies' in the third round of the SPFL Trust Trophy. That's no easy task now that Arbroath have pulled their socks up after an opening day trouncing from Dundee United and back to back defeats from Queens Park in the Championship. In saying that, the first three defeats have been against two of the frontrunners in the Championship. However, It might offer us an opportunity to further bed in our latest additions who featured in the draw against the Pars last weekend. Not only that, but it'll be good practice for the Championship encounter at the end of the Month. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arbroath Match/Ticket Info Supporters Bus £20 North of Scotland Cup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 17 4 3 59 19 +40 Away 22 10 6 6 30 23 +7 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 46 27 10 9 89 42 +47 Last encounter from last season saw us win 2-0 at the Caledonian Stadium: Two of the Championship form teams clashed at the Caledonian Stadium with both clubs on good runs, Arbroath unbeaten in seven games and Inverness just the one defeat over the last seven. Both clubs needing the win for different reasons, and both clubs capable of taking the points. After a dismal first half goals from Nathan Shaw and a Scott Allardice penalty settled the points in our favour. The downside was a red card for Jay Henderson... Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Last five games including Inverness Cup Arbroath 0-4 Dundee Utd ------- Inverness 1-2 Queens Pk Queens Pk 2-1 Arbroath ----------- Ayr United 1-0 Inverness Arbroath 0-1 Queens Pk ---- Clachnacuddin 1-4 ICTFC XI Morton 0-3 Arbroath ------------ Airdrie 2-1 Inverness Arbroath 2-1 Ayr United ----- Inverness 1-1 Dunfermline What can we expect? Maybe we will see a mixture of new guys, experience and fringe players. Basically anyone that's fit enough and good enough to pull on the jersey. Max Anderson and Morgan Boyes both had decent debuts last week against Dunfermline. However, after a solid first half we started to look jaded all over the park and ended up hanging on for a point. Somethings wrong that's no right and it needs fixing now. Nikola Ujdur still to arrive? Keith Bray was a second half sub last week and Maybe Cammy Mackay will get the gloves. What can Aaron Doran do for us and Billy Mckay needs to show that his extended contract was money well spent instead of having to chase back all over the park to get a kick of the ball. According to Bazza below, we can expect some fringe players in amongst the current incumbents. Welsh might be back in training soon, but the other two are longer term. Arbroath Changes since we last played them In: Leighton McIntosh, forward (Cove Rangers); Kenan Dunnwald-Turan, midfielder (Straelen); Jay Bird, forward (Dagenham & Redbridge); Jess Norey, midfielder (Barking); Aaron Steele (East Fife); Craig Slater, midfielder (Forfar Athletic); Jermaine Hylton, forward (Rushall Olympic); Mark Stowe, midfielder (Linlithgow Rose); Alasdair Adams, goalkeeper (Musselburgh Athletic). Out: Lewis Banks, defender (Altrincham); Sean Adarkwa, forward (Wealdstone); Dale Hilson, forward (Stirling Albion); Cammy Gill, goalkeeper (Montrose); Kieran Shanks, forward (Peterhead); Dylan Paterson, midfielder (Linlithgow Rose); Bobby Linn, forward (Lochee United); Yasin Ben El-Mhanni, forward; Paul Komolafe, forward. Loan Out: Scott Allan. Loan ended: Dylan Tait, midfielder (Hibs); Toyosi Olusanya, midfielder (St Mirren); Scott Bitsindou, midfielder (Livingston); Steven Hetherington, midfielder (Falkirk). Date for your diary, a wee night out at Mackessack Park in Rothes.

Diamonds Away It's another tough away day for the Caley Jags as they head to the Excelsior Stadium for a Championship encounter against promoted Airdrieonians, a side that have already beaten us in the League Cup game at the Caledonian Stadium by the odd goal in five. It's scheduled for a 3:00pm kick-off on Saturday as Inverness look for their first points of the season and The Diamonds looking to consolidate their good start to life in the Championship. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/ticket/Bus info £20 Inverness Cup Final Success Max Ram Supporters are reminded that roadworks in the vicinity of the stadium, alongside the partial closure of Petersburn Road, are causing significant delays. Please plan accordingly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ League Cup game at the Caledonian Stadium this season is the only relevant game between these sides in 21 years: 2 - 3 The only highlights for us was a stunning strike from Charlie Gilmour after we gifted Airdrie a two goal start and Billy Mckay's record breaking 102nd goal, a penalty he won then converted. Airdrie benefitted from slack defending, something that has typified our poor start to the season, and scored twice in the first half through Ballantyne and Telfer. Having drawn level our old chum Nikolay Todorov struck the winning blow after more defensive frailties in the final minute. Meh! We also lost the services of young defender Lewis Nicolson that day after he appeared to catch his studs in the turf early in the game. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Queens Park 3 3 0 0 5 2 9 2. Dundee Utd 2 1 1 0 5 1 4 3. Raith Rovers 2 1 1 0 5 4 4 4. Dunfermline 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 5. Morton 2 1 0 1 5 4 3 6. Airdrieonians 2 1 0 1 3 3 3 7. Ayr United 2 1 0 1 2 3 3 8. Partick Thistle 2 0 1 1 3 4 1 9. Inverness CT 2 0 0 2 1 3 0 10. Arbroath 3 0 0 3 1 7 0 Championship Fixtures Saturday 25th August 3:00pm Airdrieonians v Inverness CT Ayr United v Dundee United Dunfermline v Raith Rovers Morton v Arbroath Partick Thistle v Queen's Park Last Time Out Inverness went down 1-0 at Ayr. A tight game but another defeat, five in a row now. Francis Amartey made the difference with a first half goal and Nathan Shaw hit the post with just the keeper to beat. Our previous fixture was a 1-2 defeat to last seasons bogey boys Queens Park. It was a case of too little too late against the Spiders who took advantage of defensive errors to coast into a two goal lead before Jake Davidson headed in near the final whistle. Dom Thomas and Tommy Robson were the scorers for Queens Park. That opening defeats leave us bottom of the table with Arbroath. We did win something though. We lifted the Inverness Cup in a 4-1 win over Clachnacuddin on Tuesday night. A first half hat-trick from big Harry Lodovica did the damage with youngster Lewis Mackie rounding off the scoring in the second half. Former Inverness youth Calum Ferguson scored the Clach goal in what turned out to be a useful exercise for both clubs. Airdrie ran Ross County close in the League Cup before going out 4-3 after extra time. County looked like putting Airdrie to the sword early on with two goals from Kyle Turner and Jordan White inside seven minutes. Gallagher pulled one back before the break but County restored their two goal advantage two minutes later through Simon Murray. Gallagher scored a late penalty to send the tie to an unlikely extra-time but County won it when Eamonn Brophy scored the winner. In their opening day fixture Airdrie went down 2-1 at Dunfermline (Craig Watson had put Airdrie ahead ) but bounced back to beat Partick Thistle in the next game, McGill and Gallagher the scorers. Latest Team News Inverness still have a few injury doubts. Roddy MacGregor and Lewis Nicolson are out longer term. Sean Welsh and Danny Devine have missed the last couple of games but Austin Samuels and Adam Brooks played for an hour in the Inverness Cup win over Clachnacuddin on Tuesday night. Harry Lodovica got a confidence boosting hat-trick against Clach and Wallace Duffy and Aaron Doran came through unscathed. Defender Max Ram has left the Caley Jags to join English National League North side Gloucester City AFC. Max joined us from Wycombe Wanderers last summer and made 14 appearances for the club, scoring once. Welsh still having problems with his groin so he will miss out again. Keith Bray has been the big success story so far, so hopefully he will get some game time and maybe Harry will see some action after his cup final treble. Airdrieonians have lost Justin Devenny since we last played them a month ago. The 19 year old Northern Irishman has joined Crystal Palace. Player Manager Rhys McCabe left Firhill on a stretcher and is out for a couple of months at least with a knee injury. Calum Gallagher is the top scorer this season with three goals and former Caley Jag Nikolay Todorov and Josh O'Connor have two apiece. Airdrie have signed a midfielder today (Friday) in former Rangers and St Mirren youth Gavin Gallagher.

Inverness Cup 'Final' The Inverness Cup has been revived and there will be a 'one off' game to decide who will look after this substantial trophy for the next year when it will all be done again between the Caley Jags and Inverness Clachnacuddin. It's a whopper of a trophy capable of holding many a dram and it was first played for in 1895 when Caledonian won the inaugural event. Last played for in season 2005-2006, Forres Mechanics are the current holders. The 'Can Cans' are the oldest association football club in the North of Scotland and are one of only two original teams to play in the Highland League since its first season in 1893, the other being Clachnacuddin. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's the Inverness Cup this Tuesday at Grant Street Park, 7:30pm kick-off. Pay at the Gate (Cash or Card) £10 Adults, £5 Children/Concessions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From Am Baile: The Inverness Football Memories Project has warmly welcomed the revival of the historic Inverness Cup, which was first played for in 1895 when Caledonian lifted the trophy. Caledonian would go on to win the trophy 19 times, a record equalled by local rivals Inverness Thistle. The trophy was introduced by the Highland Football League for teams resident within the burgh of Inverness – namely Caledonian, Citadel, Clachnacuddin and Inverness Thistle. Both sides have got off to a poor start in their respective league campaigns so this game will offer the managers the chance to experiment a bit. As far as Inverness are concerned maybe the opportunity to give youth an opportunity to establish themselves and also some much needed game time for those returning from injury. Adam Brooks has missed out recently with bruising and swelling so maybe he will be able to make an impact. I would expect more game time for Keith Bray and surely Cammy Mackay will get the gloves. Anyway, it will surely be an enjoyable occasion with the added incentive of a Trophy at the end of the game. Usually a great surface at Grant Street. Come along and support this event. BARRY WILSON: “We’ll make plenty changes from our last game against Ayr. It’s important for the boys who were on the bench and some of the younger boys to get game time. We’ll make plenty changes but we’ll still have a good strong squad out.”

League Cup Over & Out With Dundee winning only 1-0, that was no use to either club and they both leave the League Cup at the end of the group stages. Zach Robinson's 60th minute header was not enough to put Dundee ahead of Raith Rovers to claim a slot in the draw as one of the three best of the rest. For Inverness, we meddled with our starting XI and Harry Lodovica made an appearance in the second half. Danny Devine, Sean Welsh, Roddy MacGregor, Charlie Gilmour and Adam Brooks were nowhere to be seen, hopefully being prepared for the start of the Championship next week. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Official report from ICTFC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness gave as good as they got in this encounter but went down to a second half goal from Zach Robinson. Mark Ridgers made an early save from Pineda who flicked the ball forward from inside the six yard box but the keeper produced a brilliant reflex save to deny the Mexican and tip the ball over the bar for a corner. Billy Mckay had a close range shot tipped over by Jon McCracken in the Dundee goal and Nathan Shaw curled an effort inches wide after good work by Keith Bray. Austin Samuels lashed a shot over after a cut-back from Billy Mckay five minutes before the break as the visitors saw the better of the first half. After the break a Mckay shot rolled just wide when he got the break of the ball through on goal. Mark Ridgers was called into action as he made a good save to keep out sub Amadou Bakayoko's powerful effort after an initial mix-up in the Inverness defence. Robinson's goal, despite Ridgers' effort to claw the ball away on the hour, meant Dundee needed one more for pole position to qualify. It never came despite them upping their game with Bakayoko and McGhee going close for the hosts. McCracken saved a low effort from Samuels with ten minutes left. A frantic ending saw both sides flash the ball goalwards but the score remained at 1-0 to Dundee at full time. A decent workout and if we don't have fresh injuries, I presume we rested some players ahead of the start of the real season. Gilmour was suspended. Highlights from ViaPlay Billy Dodds post match>>> Where's Harry? Here he is>>> Date: 30/07/2023 Venue: Dens Park/Kilmac Stadium Attendance: 2337 Referee: John Beaton Dundee FC: 1 Manager: Tony Docherty Lineup: McCracken; Portales, Shaughnessy, Ashcroft, Mulligan (McCowan 58) Boateng, McGhee (Robertson 77), Tiffoney (Cameron 45), Beck, Robinson, Pineda (Bakayoko 45) Subs (not used): Legdzins; Kerr, Rudden, Anderson, Wilkie Scorers: Robinson (60) Booked: Beck (37) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Davidson (Ram 71), Duffy, Delaney, Harper, Samuels, Bray (Longstaff 64), Carson, Hyde (Thompson 71), Shaw (Lodovica 78), B Mckay (Doran 77) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Strachan Scorers: none Booked: Hyde (44), Duffy (69), Delaney (81), Harper (90) Sent Off: none a

Last chance if you believe in miracles Dens Park is the venue on Sunday for what will no doubt be our final league cup game of this 'pre-season' in a 3:00pm kick-off. All is lost as it's only the three best second placed teams that qualify for the knockout stages. In the other game in group E, Airdrie take on Bonnyrigg with Dumbarton having played all their games. The best we can take from Dens park is to find out our best starting XI and get more game time and understanding amongst the players before we open our Championship account against Queens Park next Saturday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match Info/Tickets/Supporters Bus Ethan Cairns & Harry Hennem on Loan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Air 3 3 0 0 6 2 4 9 2 Dun 3 2 0 1 4 2 2 6 3 Dum 4 1 1 2 3 6 -3 5 4 ICT 3 1 0 2 5 6 -1 3 5 Bon 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2 1 Latest Team News Sean Welsh and Roddy MacGregor missed out against Airdrie. Lewis Nicolson has injured his knee and will be out for some time. Keith Bray was a stand-out in the second half against Airdrie with Nathan Shaw looking the most likely to add a few assists from his creative wing play. Luis Longstaff might have potential, only game time will tell. However, our defence needs to cut out the glaring individual errors which have blighted our games so far. Dundee are in the big boys league now. Decent squad with plenty in reserve. By all accounts the two Mexicans are excellent acquisitions. They have added to their attacking options with the addition of physical striker Amadou Bakayoko on loan from Forest Green Rovers. Here's their squad from the 3-1 win over Dumbarton: Legzdins Portales Shaughnessy Ashcroft (Robertson 83) Mulligan Boateng McGhee Tiffoney Beck Robinson Pineda (Cameron 67) Subs not used: McCracken; Kerr, Byrne, Rudden, Anderson, Sharp, Wilkie

Jags a thorn in the Rose The first ever meeting between The Caley Jags and the Rose was played out during a thunderstorm. Torrential rain of biblical proportions fell half an hour before kick-off and that dampened the grass somewhat. Inverness were quick off the mark and opened the scoring after four minutes when Aaron Doran took advantage of a defensive error to score from ten yards. No pun intended, but the floodgates never opened as Inverness made heavy weather of the next thirty-five minutes before Doran curled in his second of the game from just outside the box. What a beauty! HALF TIME 2-0 Big chance right at the start of the second half for Rose but Cammy Mackay saves with his feet from Smart to deny the visitors who are far from out of this tie. A raft of substitutions on the hour saw the hosts tighten their grip on proceedings as the heavens opened once more with Billy Mckay and Austin Samuels passing on great opportunities. Doran also denied his hat-trick by Martin's reflex save. Keiran McGackie headed home in the 90th minute following a set piece but it was too little too late for the Rose who gave a good account of themselves as Inverness fiddled with their line-up. FULL TIME : 2-1 First impressions from Robert on CTO: Underwhelmed by that. We always tried to play it out from the back, rarely with success. The early goal, a great finish by Doran, should have been a springboard but after his second goal, also a good finish, we did not deserve to be two up at half time. Bonnyrigg had a goal disallowed for a foul in the box, with a different ref they could have had a penalty, and MacKay had to race out of his box at one point to prevent a goal. I actually thought we were better in the second half as we moved the ball faster at times, but we couldn’t finish the chances we created and I couldn’t grudge the late goal. Of the new players, Brooks was quiet, and was playing wide left before being subbed. Gilmour could become an asset, but got an unnecessary booking. Davidson was trying to get forward after he came on and linked with Shaw a few times. I will give them the benefit of the doubt as they’ve only been back for two weeks but that was a poor performance. Doran the stand out, with Shaw looking the best of the rest. Tongue in cheek, maybe we’d have done better if we played hoofball!! The other game in group E finished Airdrie 2-0 Dumbarton. Late goals from Nikolay Todorov and Lewis McGregor settled this tie. More match reaction to follow... Date: 15/07/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1077 Referee: Scott Lambie Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Carson, Duffy (Devine 61), Delaney, Nicolson, Doran, Gilmour (Welsh 61), MacGregor (Davidson 61), Shaw, Brooks (B Mckay 61), Samuels (Harper 74) Subs (not used): Ridgers; Strachan, Bray, Thompson Scorers: Doran (4, 40) Booked: Gilmour (42), Carson (88) Sent Off: none Bonnyrigg Rose: 1 Manager: Robbie Horn Lineup: Martin; Martyniuk, Jarvis (Forbes 81), Stewart, McGale, Gray (Connolly 60), Grigor, Peggie, Doan, Watson (McGachie 74), Osadolor (Faye 74) Subs (not used): Andrews; Scorers: McGachie (90) Booked: Watson (35) Sent Off: none a

The Season Begins Now This League Cup tie means that we have now met each of the other 41 clubs with the exception of new entrants Spartans. Bonnyrigg climbed into 8th in League 2 thanks to a last-day win over Elgin. If results had gone differently they could have been 10th and in the playoff. They had the highest attendance in League 2, averaging 920. On Saturday they visit the Caledonian Stadium to kick-off the 2023/2024 season in earnest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ticket Info New Away Kit Adam Brooks Charlie Gilmour Jake Davidson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness, fresh from a couple of low key pre-season kick-abouts against Elgin City and Nairn County, start the season with a much changed squad since the Scottish Cup Final defeat to Celtic. Gone are Robbie Deas, Scott Allardice, Daniel Mackay, Jay Henderson, Shane Sutherland, Tom Walsh, Ben Woods and Steven Boyd. In come Defender Jake Davidson from Queens Park, Charlie Gilmour from St Johnstone and Adam Brooks from Celtic's B squad who will join the rest of the retained squad....which thankfully includes Billy Mckay. With the two pre-season friendlies safely negotiated, it's anyone's guess what our starting XI will be against Bonnyrigg Rose in our first competitive game of the 23/24 season. With our three new signings all getting some air time and a relatively injury free squad, Billy Dodds will have a selection headache ahead of this one. Both pre-season games saw two different teams take to the field after half time with everyone managing to get a kick of the ball at some stage. It appears that only Max Ram and Lewis Hyde missed out. The pick of the new guys might turn out to be young striker Adam Brooks who almost bagged a hat-trick in the 6-0 win over Nairn although he will face stiff competition for a start from Austin Samuels who has also been amongst the goals in pre-season, scoring twice against Elgin City in a 4-1win. Of course you can't keep record chasing Billy Mckay down as he needs one more goal to go level with Dennis Wynes as our top scorer of all time. Rather you than me Mr Dodds. This is our new away kit. Not everyone's cup of tea but I believe it's quite a striking kit. Not many like it about to be honest. It could be worse, it could be like the Gudgies kit, the maroon one with harling splashed over one side of it or the Celtic one designed in a playschool competition. Horrendous ones if you ask me, but each to their own... The Visitors: What do we know about them? Let's ask Mantis... Their manager is Robbie Horn, in his second spell at the club after a short time at Berwick. Like the manager, many of the squad have been at Rose for 5 or 6 years and he remained faithful to the squad which won the EOSL and the LL - a gamble which nearly cost the club dearly. Like many before them, ICT included, the Rose have found that the grind of 36 league games is a whole world away from beating bigger clubs in cup ties. They had a pretty settled back 3 last season, but finishing was a major problem, and they were the league’s lowest scorers with 36, although they had the 4th best defence with 47 conceded. Bonnyrigg started the season brightly but were soon found out and languished in 10th for much of the time, before finishing strongly to escape the bottom spot. They were never pretty on the eye and suffered from a lack of pace throughout the team, and very little quality in midfield. Though I found it interesting seeing them playing in front of a passionate crowd, the highest in the division, a mere mile from my house, they were widely regarded as the poorest team in the league who relied on the long ball - unfairly IMO. It’s a new season and I imagine that they will be stronger with what has been a pretty severe clearout. On our large pitch I wouldn’t expect anything resembling a high line… in fact I would expect them to tire and be beaten comfortably, but then look at the Brechin and Stirling games last year, although they both did eventually win their leagues. I would expect them to offer a similar challenge to last week’s game against Elgin. The following notes are based on the side which beat Elgin 3-0 in May, and a recent friendly v Falkirk. Robbie Horn seldom deviates from a 3-5-2. Goalkeeper: Paddy Martin Defence- almost certainly Robbie Horn will go with his favoured back three: Kerr Young - powerful 29y.o. centre-back who loves to get forward for set pieces. Probably Rose’s best player especially since Dean Brett (Kane Hester-type issues) has now moved on. Joined 2016, previously at Dunfermline and Berwick. 11 yellow cards last season. Josh Grigor - Very promising 20y.o. CB who joined in 2022 from Stenhousemuir. Neil Martyniuk - 26y.o. CB/LB/WB, joined 2017. Dependable player with experience at Montrose and Edinburgh City. Midfield: Ross Gray - Small, nippy 30y.o. wide player who has also played as a striker. Calum Connolly - a strong, powerful midfielder (29) in the Scott Allardice mould. Has a decent shot on him. Jonny Stewart (club captain) - a 33y.o. CM who is a bit of a legend, having been at the club since 2014 after spells at a few SPFL clubs. Doesn’t really have the legs for a full 90 mins but still managed 29 appearances last season. Lee Currie - the number 10, and the nearest the Rose have to a quality CM. Unfortunately he’s 33 and finds himself in the position 10CC was in when ICT reached the SPL. Not nearly as silky as oor Charlie but takes all the free kicks and has a fine left foot. Didn’t feature for much of the season as he fell out with the manager. Depending on what you hear, he was either disgruntled at not being picked every week, or didn’t fancy the travelling, or both… Conor Doan - young signing from Uni of Stirling who appeared semi-regularly last season without becoming a regular starter. Bradley Barrett - a local lad who did well in the LL winning season but didn’t feature much in the SPFL season. Still only 22. Reis Peggie - new signing from Kelty Hearts. He has impressed in preseason and I would expect him to start on the left. Forwards: Kieran McGachie - 31y.o. club legend, joined 2015 and revered in the same way as Billy Mckay is here. Teaches P.E. at the local high school. The player most recognised and despised by opposing fans. Not the quickest but very strong and physical in the air and despite his size he gets accused by opposing fans of being a big jessie who flings himself down to win free kicks. He loves to rumble up defenders and will relish battles against Danny Devine or whoever. His goals were badly missed for a large part of the season due to a recurring knee problem. Alieu Faye - a beanpole of a French striker, signed from Civil Service Strollers in January, yet to convince the Rose faithful that there’s a player in there. Zander Murray - the subject of much media attention after ‘coming out’ as gay. Signed from Gala Fairydean in January but hasn’t yet hit the goal trail. Dean Watson - new signing from East Stirlingshire. Another possible starter as he has scored in preseason and seems to be a hit with the fans. Thanks to Mantis for that in depth look at the Rose squad

Game of Two Halves Key Moments from ICTFC Twitter: 6' | 1-0 GOAL! We're ahead through Aaron Doran as he opens the scoring with a composed lop over Daniel Hoban! 10' | 1-0 SAVE! Daniel Hoban is forced into a good save by Austin Samuels as he was played through on goal. 12' | 1-1 GOAL! Elgin equalise through Brian Cameron after he produces a good finish past Ridgers 15' | 2-1 GOAL! We're back ahead through Austin Samuels. The striker finishes well after a good move involving Davidson and Thompson! 42' | 2-1 CHANCE! Good ball from Doran finds Samuels in the box but the striker's effort is over the bar and behind. 45+' | 3-1 GOAL! It's another for Austin Samuels as he gets his second of the match. The ball breaks to the striker through on goal and he produces another composed finish past Hoban. HALF TIME: ICTFC 3-1 Elgin City 62' | 4-1 GOAL! Billy Mckay makes it 4-1 with a good finish as he meets Nathan Shaw's cross inside the box. FULL TIME: ICTFC 4-1 Elgin City We win our first pre-season match back thanks to a double from Austin Samuels and goals from Aaron Doran and Billy Mckay. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert's Roundup from CTO Enjoyable enough afternoon. After the flurry of early goals, the game settled down to really be a training session for us after the first half water break. Doran opened the scoring with a long distance lob over the goalie before Cameron equalised. It all stemmed from a slack pass back by Devine which went for a corner. Samuels restored the lead after a nice move and made it comfortable before the break after another good spell of fast play. ELGIN CITY TEAM>>>>>>>>>>> In the second half we started positively with some eager play by the youngsters. Mckay got the fourth after more decent build up play. Our trialist was a big forward who was more than a match for Draper physically and had a goal disallowed for offside. He was working hard and seemed quite pacy but it is hard to tell if he is what we need. In the first half, Gilmour and Thomson were the picks for me, plus Samuels for his goals. Davidson was steady whilst Brooks was not in the squad. After the break, Nicolson, Cairns, Strachan and Bray all looked comfortable. MacGregor’s movement and work rate were very good. For their first outing, albeit against a poor Elgin team, it was encouraging. The crowd was announced as 1040 which was very credible. Draper hasn’t changed. He had some meaty challenges which would have attracted cards in a competitive match! That said, he still looks a decent player. No sound on original video Date: 08/07/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1040 Referee: Gordon Morrison Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Billy Dodds First Half: Ridgers; Davidson, Devine, Delaney, Harper, Hennem, Welsh, Gilmour, Thompson, Doran, Samuels Second Half: C Mackay; Carson, Duffy, Strachan, Nicolson, Shaw, MacGregor, Bray ( Trialist: Sam Nixon), Cairns, Mckay, Trialist (Harry Lodovica) Scorers: Doran (6), Samuels (15, 45+), B Mckay (62) Booked: none Sent Off: none Elgin City: 1 Manager: Ross Draper Lineup: Elgin team lines within report above^^^ Subs (not used): Scorers: Cameron (12) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Tears of Pride Celtic were big favourites to lift the Cup and with it complete the Treble. Inverness have been here before and have put Celtic out of the Cup on three previous occasions. However, it's a big ask and the bookies agree with Celtic's favourites tag. Scotland's number one side against this seasons eighteenth best side. It was pretty much a clean bill of health for Billy Dodds after a month of relative inactivity for his squad with just long term casualties Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh missing. Celtic were without Aaron Mooy and Cameron Carter-Vickers but such is their wealth of talent it would matter not a jot. At the end of the day Celtic would win the treble and lift the Scottish Cup. Inverness stuck to their game plan and battled hard, but it was one scalp too many. However there was only tears of pride at the end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the pre-match entertainment enjoyed by the fans the game kicked off in bright sunshine. Celtic got the game underway in 21° Celsius. Could anyone outdo Man City who had earlier scored in 12 seconds in the FA Cup Final. The answer was an emphatic NO. A tentative opening from both sides as Inverness tried to play their way into the game with Celtic trying to force the pace. Fifteen minutes gone and the pattern remains the same with Celtic forcing the pace but over eager with their final ball. O'Riley bounced a volley wide in the first half chance of the game with almost nineteen minutes gone. A defensive misplaced pass offered Celtic an opportunity but Jota ran out of space as the defence recovered to shut him down. Ten minutes before the break Ridgers made his first save as he dropped on a low strike from 15 yards. A minute later Celtic went in front when Kyogo smashed in from eight yards. He almost added a second five minutes before the break but he chipped wide of Ridgers right hand post as Celtic turned the screw. Half Time: 1-0 Inverness were looking to get forward more at the start of the second half but Celtic were still dominating possession although Nathan Shaw was a half yard away from getting on the end of a low ball into the Celtic box. However Celtic were starting to flow better and the danger signs were there for Inverness. In the 65th minute Celtic doubled their advantage. They rode a couple of rash challenges before Abada stroked the ball into the net. VAR took a look and after some deliberation the goal was given, by mm looking at VAR. It was tight, but 2-0 it was. Ridgers made amends for a botched clearance when he clutched a shot out of the top corner from O'Riley. Cue plenty of substitutions with the game seemingly safe. Inverness got a lifeline with five minutes to go and it was a replica goal from Dan Mackay from a Wallace Duffy cross (think semi-final v Falkirk). Absolutely tremendous bulleted header again from Dan. Ridgers saved with his legs as Celtic looked to finish the tie off through Haksabanovic. They did moments later when Jota scored from close range after good work by Abada. Game over, maybe Ange's last one in charge but Celtic march on and we head back to the Championship with our heads held high. Full Time: 3-1 Best for Inverness on a difficult day was Wallace Duffy. What an invitingly sumptuous cross for Dan Mackay to power in a diving header. Cammy Harper on the other flank was equally impressive against Celtic's wide players and in midfield David Carson and Sean Welsh battled hard to stem the possession that Celtic were always going to dominate. We struggled up front working off scraps but substitute Dan Mackay scored that brilliant late power header to give us hope, albeit only fleeting. In general our defence stood firm for large parts of the game, seemingly working to a plan. Much better than many Premiership teams fared this season. Nobody hid in this game but we were restricted to what we could do by a quality treble winning side. Blood, sweat and tears of pride. As the season draws to a close we will not see so many of these guys here next season, but it has been an abstract pleasure reporting on our once again rollercoaster of a season. See you all back refreshed for 23/24. Duplication Dan, what a cross, what a goal! Stunning! Here's Dodds What they said on BBC Sport Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: "I'm very proud. It's been an extraordinary season by the boys. We caught people by surprise last year. It's always hard defending things. The challenge was, 'can we be better this year and we push on?' "We've won the trophy that eluded us last year, so it feels great, it's the last day of the season. It's an occasion and it was nice to finish it off that way." Inverness Caley Thistle manager Billy Dodds: "I was always going to have a go but we lost goals at bad times. I'm so proud of the boys. They gave me everything. "Talks are ongoing (on a new contract) and we hope to get things tied up, so we'll see what happens over the next few days. I love working with these players and you can see the team spirit we have." Date: 03/06/2023 Venue: Hampden Park Attendance: 47247 Referee: John Beaton Celtic: 3 Manager: Ange Postecoglou Lineup: Hart; Johnston, Iwata, Starfelt, Taylor, McGregor, Hatate (Haksabanovic 76), O'Riley (Turnbull 76), Jota (Forrest 90+2), Maeda (Abada 45), Kyoga (Oh 59) Subs (not used): Siegrist, Bernabei, Ralston, Welsh Scorers: Furuhashi (38), Abada (65), Jota (90+1) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Devine (Delaney 75), Deas, Harper, Henderson (D Mackay 68), Carson, Welsh, Allardice (MacGregor 81), Shaw (Doran 81), B Mckay (Samuels 75) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Woods, Boyd Scorers: D Mackay (84) Booked: Carson (43), Duffy (70) Sent Off: none a

Scottish Cup Warm-Up This hastily arranged kick-about ahead of the Scottish Cup Final on June 3rd was an effort to keep the season jaded legs turning before we head to Hampden Park on June 3rd to take on another Irish outfit, Glasgow Celtic. The Swifts were also needing a run out as they may yet have a relegation battle to play out, depending on the outcome of the Warrenpoint appeal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ahead of the meeting, here's the tidy playing field @ Stangmore Park Inverness would start with a strong selection. Robbie Deas was on the bench along with Dan Mackay, Aaron Doran, Nathan Shaw and Roddy MacGregor. Zak Delaney will fill Robbie Deas left centre back position. Mark Ridgers started in goal and Wallace Duffy and David Carson were on at the same time with Austin Samuels also starting. It turned out to be a worthwhile exercise at Stangmore Park with all the players getting a run out after the interval. Inverness were quick out of the blocks and were two up after 16 minutes through Cammy Harper and Wallace Duffy. Ridgers saved from Ethan McGhee as Swifts looked to hit back and Billy Mckay had an effort blocked on the half hour. 2-0 at the interval and that was the cue to get some subs on. Steven Scott pulled one back ten minutes after the break but Austin Samuels restored our two goal lead two minutes later. Play was broken thereafter with all the players getting some game time and it ended 3-1 to the visitors. Full Time 1-3 A good workout for all involved in the build up to the Scottish Cup Final and great to see Roddy MacGregor getting some twenty minutes on the park. Austin Samuels got back on the scoresheet after his lengthy lay off with Harper and Duffy scoring in the first half.

Semi-Final Joy It was an early start for most Inverness fans on the Saturday morning as they headed to the National Stadium to get behind the Caley Jags. The first train out of Inverness saw some weary eyes on the 05:30 to Queen Street. Wiser ones went down the night before to savour the occasion. Falkirk fans? Well they were subject to a gruelling half hour journey before the scheduled kick-off time of 12:15pm. Alfredo's was a popular choice for pre-match aperitif's before heading in the direction of the National Stadium. Hampden Park was less than a quarter full as these two teams met once again in the Scottish Cup. The winner will go on to the final where either Rangers or Celtic will be the prize for getting there. Inverness were in their first choice home strip and the Bairns were in their dark blue on a brisk but dryish Saturday lunchtime. With a VAR assisted penalty, Billy Mckay opened the scoring early in the first half. Dan Mackay headed in the second from an inviting Jay Henderson Cross. Falkirk had their moments, Callumn Morrison hitting the post after some defensive indecision on the edge of the box. However, we did our own post hitting and Billy Mckay wrapped up the victory in the second half with a well taken finish, his 100th goal for the Caley Jags. That ensured our progress into the final. Nathan Shaw was unfortunate twice off the post and Falkirk were denied a consolation by some dogged defending. All in, comfortable in the end and Hampden calling once more. Key moments: 6th minute: Jay Henderson's cross from the right deflects off the hand of defender Leon McCann. VAR went into action and after a quick check Nick Walsh pointed to the spot. Billy Mckay stepped forward to send a clinical penalty high to the keepers left. 1-0 10th minute: A lofted ball over the head of Devine makes him chase back towards Ridgers. Burrell in hot pursuit forces Devine and Ridgers to hesitate and the keepers clumsy clearance falls to Callumn Morrison. He rolls the ball goalward from outside the angle of the box but it bounces away from goal off the base off the post before Duffy and Deas block and the finger wagging begins in the Inverness defence. 24th minute: Maksym Kucheryavyi heads into Mark Ridgers midrift from the centre of the box. 34th minute: Jay Henderson curls a sumptuous cross into the box and Daniel Mackay heads downwards emphatically into the bottom corner. Spectacular cross and finish. 2-0 57th minute: All over bar the shouting. A long diagonal ball to the far post from Dan Mackay picks out a supercool Billy Mckay who calmly guides the ball behind Kinnear for another superb goal. That's 100 now for Billy Mckay. 63rd minute: Nathan Shaw smacks the post with a deflected shot that has the keeper beaten. Unfortunately it bounces clear. 65th minute: Comedy defending as Inverness try to help Falkirk to a consolation goal. Robbie Deas was short with a pass back as he tried to knee the ball back to his keeper. Gary Oliver picked up the loose ball but his cut back was blocked. It came back to him on the byeline but his second effort was headed clear by Danny Devine who was already lying full length on the deck, his head on the byeline to knock the ball away. 68th minute: Nathan Shaw weaved his way into the box and opened up his body to curl a low shot goalwards. It beat the keeper but bounced off the same post before agonisingly rolling along the line and clear of goal. 77th minute: Last throw of the dice from the Bairns saw Ridgers make a comfortable save from Ola Lawal to keep a clean sheet and the wind was now well and truly out of the Bairns sails. 93rd minute: Nick Walsh closes the game with a few peeps of his whistle. Game over at 3-0, Final v Celtic to come on June 3rd after they beat Rangers 1-0 on the Sunday. Highlights can be seen on BBC Sport Falkirk manager John McGlynn: "You can't give Inverness a goal start. They are the type of team that lap that up. But you can't legislate for such a soft goal as well. I'm not the first to be in this situation [with VAR]. "We had opportunities. I'm proud of the way the players played. But we didn't have the quality Inverness did." Inverness CT striker Billy Mckay: "We're delighted, it couldn't have gone much better. Roll on June. I thought we were ruthless. It's a weird feeling because we could've been out. Now we're in the final. "I knew [the third goal] was my 100th [for the club]. I wanted to stay on for my hat-trick. All round it's a pleasing day." Whist we were at Hampden, some important Championship games were played out. So, it's all to play for in the final league games of the season next Friday night. Friday night: Dundee 0-0 Cove Saturday 3:00pm: Ayr Utd 1-0 Raith Morton 2-1 Queen's Partick 2-0 Arbroath Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Couldn't be tighter at both ends of the table 1. Dundee 35 16 12 7 61 37 60 2. Queens Park 35 17 7 11 60 47 58 3. Partick Thistle 35 16 8 11 63 43 56 4. Ayr United 35 15 10 10 59 42 55 5. Inverness CT 35 15 10 10 51 45 55 6. Morton 35 14 12 9 51 42 54 7. Raith Rovers 35 11 9 15 44 47 42 8. Arbroath 35 6 15 14 29 47 33 9. Cove Rangers 35 7 10 18 37 73 31 10. Hamilton Ac. 35 7 9 19 31 63 30 Friday night 7:45pm Arbroath v Accies Cove Ran v Morton Inverness CT v Ayr United Queen's v Dundee Rovers v Partick Date: 29/04/2023 Venue: Hampden Park Attendance: 12877 Referee: Nick Walsh Falkirk FC: 0 Manager: John McGlynn Lineup: Kinnear; Williamson (Yeats 67), Donaldson, Mckay, McCann, Henderson (Lawal 77), McGinn, Kucheryavyi, C Morrison (Wright 61), Burrell (Oliver 61), Kennedy (Nesbitt 61) Subs (not used): P Morrison; Rowe, Allan, McGuffie Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy (Delaney 79), Devine, Deas, Harper, Henderson (Boyd 84), Welsh, Allardice, Shaw (Hyde 85), D Mackay (Doran 73), B Mckay (Samuels 78) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ram, MacGregor Scorers: Mckay (7 pen, 57), D Mackay (37) Booked: Deas (45+1) Sent Off: none a

2015 Revisited The last time we played Falkirk at Hampden in front of 37,000 fans, it was a history making event. I don't really need to tell you how that worked out, but for those that were on another planet, we won the Scottish Cup by beating Falkirk 2-1. Since then both clubs have underachieved and hit the skids. Falkirk are now trying to get themselves out of league 1 and we are desperately trying to keep ourselves in the Premiership play-off slot after a horrendous season littered with injuries to the whole squad. A third round struggle past Stirling Albion before we went through to the 5th round by default against Queens Park, but since then have comfortably disposed of Premiership opposition in Livingston and Kilmarnock. Falkirk got here by putting six past Wick Academy before a narrow 2-1 win at Alloa. They then dumped media darlings Darvel 5-1 and in the quarter final put out Ayr United. On paper we will be the bookies favourites. That's not something we are normally comfortable with and I fully expect Falkirk will also fancy their chances in this one, and rightly so. Be warned! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ticket & Bus info from ICTFC Supporters Club Buses Full ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 27 8 5 14 35 42 -7 Away 23 7 6 10 29 33 -4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 50 15 11 24 64 75 -11 Falkirk are one of the few clubs out with the Premiership that have had the better of us over the years in head 2 head encounters. In the early years since we crossed swords in 1999 we always found Falkirk to be a difficult side to beat. Only 15 wins from 50 encounters is not one of our better stats. We have fared better in recent years with the Cup Final in 2015 being the pinnacle. The 0-2 home defeat shown below in the stats was the first meeting after the Cup Final win. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 2 - 3 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 2 (H) Click the link below for our full report from the Scottish Cup Final, brings a tear to a glass eye..... We went in at the break a goal to the good after getting to grips with the game halfway through the first period, Marley Watkins finishing with aplomb after a seven man move. Carl Tremarco was sent packing after 75 minutes after he miscontrolled a ball and then scythed down Blair Alston as he sped goalwards. Schoolboy error from Carl that was punished five minutes later when Peter Grant headed powerfully home from the vacant left back position. However, an unlikely hero came forward and James Vincent applied the finishing touch after Jamie MacDonald spilled a Watkins shot. The rest is history. 2015 Scottish Cup Final May 30th Scottish Cup (Final) 2 - 1 N 37,149 Anyway, back to the future and another tough game is expected against a Falkirk side who will finish second in League 1 and will be looking for promotion through the play-offs. Three former Inverness players in their ranks at the moment. Defenders Coll Donaldson and Brad Mckay along with winger Kai Kennedy who will be a handful. Mckay and Kennedy scored in a 4-1 win over Alloa at the weekend. Kennedy has scored five goals in his last four games. However, League form goes out the window in cup games, especially at Hampden where the vastness of the arena with less than full stands can turn it into a training like atmosphere. The daunting task of beating one of the Old Firm at a packed Hampden does not appeal to many, but it has been done before although the bookies won't be expecting that to happen whoever teachers the final. LAST WEEK Dundee broke our run of six straight wins with a draw at the Caledonian Stadium last Saturday. They opened the scoring through Lyall Cameron before Austin Samuels levelled with fifteen minutes left. A hard earned point in a game where Dundee looked like running away with the points for over an hour. Our late comeback meant that ultimately it was a deserved point but Dundee might disagree with that. Falkirk warmed up by trouncing Alloa Athletic 4-1 at Recreation Park. Brad Mckay, Kai Kennedy and a brace from Liam Henderson did the damage. Kennedy on a good spree just now with some spectacular dead ball strikes this month. Coll Donaldson did his bit. He was booked on half time. The third goal enabled them to rest some legs ahead of this one, unlike us who had to battle hard for the full ninety plus minutes. FanZone The word on the street is that the pre-match watering hole will be Alfredo's. It's known as Alfie's Sports Bar on West Nile Street. Alfie’s is located at 146 West Nile Street, G1 2RQ. This is a few minutes north of Glasgow Queen’s Street and the Bus Station. Apparently it opens around 8:00am. It would be rude not to.... Google Link to Alfies Sports Bar There's also a post match Bar for celebrating or drowning your sorrows. Koelschip Yard 686-688 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow G41 2QB Listen to the latest Podcast from The Wyness Shuffle Join Moff, Riley, AY and Wyness Shuffle debutants Sandy Sutherland and Calum MacDonald as they begin the countdown to the big one by looking back at our recent excellent run, hearing from a few familiar voices, and speculating on who will be running out at Hampden next Saturday. Let’s Shuffle to HAMPDEN CALLING That should keep you busy for a while on the train down to Glasgow Latest Team News David Carson is suspended for this one and Lewis Nicolson is cup-tied to add to Sutherland and Walsh who will no doubt be watching from the stands. Our missing souls of Roddy MacGregor and Max Ram might be added to the squad as Billy hints at in his media preview. Sean Welsh missed last week against Dundee with a knock but will return this week. Wallace Duffy made a welcome return last week with the impending suspension of Carson for this game. Falkirk manager John McGlynn had this starting XI against Alloa: Kinnear Williamson Donaldson McKay McCann Henderson McGinn Kucheriavyi Morrison Burrell Kennedy Subs: P Morrison; Rowe, Allan, Nesbitt, McGuffie, Yeats, Wright Oliver, Lawal Callumn Morrison is top scorer this season with 13 goals. Kai Kennedy and striker Rumarn Burrell both have 9 goals.

He Scores When He Wants A long trip on a Tuesday night to face your bogey team is not ideal, especially when it gets to the business end of the season. That's what faced the Caley Jags as we looked to win our sixth game on the bounce against struggling Hamilton Accies who have already beaten us four times this season. Inverness could go third, but Accies would be hoping to put some distance between themselves and bottom side Cove Rangers. As it turned out it remained goalless at the interval with Deas seeing a header saved by Fulton just before the break. Connor Smith scored direct from a free kick after the interval but Nathan Shaw equalised three minutes later. Billy Mckay won all three points with a poachers goal in off the post with three minutes left and that's how it ended. Phew! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A beautiful evening greeted the sides at the ZLX Stadium for the third last game of the regular season. Billy Dodds had three changes from the side that won at Cove. Deas, Doran and Boyd started with Harper, Samuels and Dan Mackay dropping onto the bench. Fergus Owens missed out for Accies with De Bolle and Winter dropping to the bench. Mimnaugh and JP Tiehi started. Steven Boyd and Billy Mckay combined well early on with Mckay forcing Ryan Fulton into a save as he palmed his shot away. Zak Delaney fired over the bar from the left side as the visitors probed for an opening when Sean Welsh played him in. Billy Mckay was prominent around the hosts box and he intercepted a pass from Ryan McGowan. He managed to get a shot away from a tight angle after rounding the keeper but he could only find the side netting. Accies responded and Connor Smith tried to find the top corner but his curling effort was just a coat of paint too wide. Just before the break Robbie Deas was unfortunate with a header as Fulton saved low down to deny the Caley Jags defender after a Nathan Shaw corner, and Ridgers saved in the last action of the first forty-five. HALF TIME: 0-0 Aaron Doran brought Fulton into action five minutes after the restart as he met Delaney's cross in the box, the keeper saving well in the bottom corner. Ridgers saved with his legs from Seal as the action went to both ends and Doran shot wide. Boyd followed suit as well, missing the target and did similar again with twenty minutes left. Accies opened the scoring through Connor Smith from a dubious free kick. Nothing wrong with his execution though from 25 yards which was clinical into the top corner. Their success only lasted three minutes when Nathan Shaw scored from close range. Substitute Dario Zanatta went close as we entered the final fifteen minutes. It got even better for the visitors in the 88th minute when Billy Mckay scored a typical 'he scores when he wants' goal. In off the post. That's how it all ended as the late run goes on. FULL TIME: 1-1 What a result for Inverness after going a goal behind with twenty minutes left. Nathan Shaw's contribution has been invaluable of late and Billy Mckay should be knighted and given the freedom of the Highlands. That's his 98th goal for Inverness CT. Up to third in the table for now after six wins on the bounce. Great night for the 165 Caley Jags fans. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Gosh, the table looks better now 1. Dundee 33 16 10 7 60 36 58 2. Queens Park 33 17 6 10 59 45 57 3. Inverness CT 34 15 9 10 50 44 54 4. Partick Thistle 33 15 7 11 59 41 52 5. Ayr United 33 14 9 10 58 42 51 6. Morton 33 12 12 9 48 41 48 7. Raith Rovers 33 11 9 13 44 45 42 8. Arbroath 33 6 15 12 29 44 33 9. Hamilton Ac. 34 7 8 19 29 61 29 10. Cove Rangers 33 6 9 18 36 73 27 Pic from Johndo of the goal celebration>>> Date: 18/04/2023 Venue: New Douglas Park Attendance: 1316 Referee: Graham Grainger Hamilton Accies: 1 Manager: John Rankin Lineup: Fulton; Sparrow, McGowan, O'Reilly, Tumilty (Winter 69), Martin, Lawson, Mimnaugh (De Bolle 62) C Smith, Tiehi (Zanatta 68), Ashley-Seal Subs (not used): J Smith; McGinn, Spence, Easton, Stephenson, L Smith Scorers: C Smith (72) Booked: Martin (45), O'Reilly (59) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Deas, Delaney, Boyd (Samuels 73), Welsh (Woods 89), Allardice, Shaw, Doran (D Mackay 73), B Mckay (Harper 90) Subs (not used): C Mackay; L Nicolson, Hyde Scorers: Shaw (75), B Mckay (88) Booked: Devine (24) Sent Off: none a

Not a Happy New Year Inverness were allegedly lining up like this with no main strikers in the starting XI. Would we miss them? They have not exactly been bursting the net of late or showing much willingness to have a go. Billy Mckay was left on the bench with some names from the past reappearing for 2024 in the shape of Doran, MacGregor and Carson with Duffy starting in a team set up to hold what they have. David Wotherspoon was missing ahead of Dundee United bid incoming for our creative player. Airdrie had a strong line-up with Nicolay Todorov starting up front with Gavin Gallagher and Gabriel McGill. As it turned out, same sh!t different day as Airdrie scored twice to ruin our New Year. To add insult to injury, Big Dunc was red carded at the end of the game as his frustration spilled over I'm no surprised to be honest, two free headers and two goals for Airdrie. Ridgers Duffy Ujdur Boyes Davidson Gilmour Anderson Harper Welsh Shaw Longstaff A cagey opening quarter from both sides brought about no goalscoring opportunities. A congested midfield made for stalemate across the park. Highlight of the first half hour was a lovely bit of skill from Max Anderson who chested down an awkward clearance , brought it down on the end of his toe before spinning clear of his tight markers. Lovely jubbly Max! Ten minutes before the interval Ridgers redeemed himself after flapping and missing a corner into the box but he was brave enough to get down and dirty to help block the follow up efforts from McGill, first with his legs then his hands before he grabbed the ball. Ridgers was quick off the blocks six minutes before the break to stop a through ball before the incoming striker could get on the end of it. The hosts were pushing for an opening over the final ten minutes before the interval but it was all square at the break. Half Time: 0-0 David Carson and Billy Mckay replaced Sean Welsh and Jake Davidson at the interval as our lack of firepower was evident in the first forty-five. Airdrie started the second half like they ended the first, on the front foot, buzzing around outside our box but failing to penetrate. Airdrie went close following a corner when McCabe drilled a low shot goalwards but Ujdur steered it wide for another corner. Ridgers pulled off a tremendous save from Megwa at the expense of a corner and from that corner came the opening goal. Who else but Nikolay Todorov who rose highest to meet the ball and nod down into the net. Plenty of endeavour thereafter but little clue how to break Airdrie down. Writing was on the wall when we conceded a second eight minutes from the end, another unchallenged header in the box. All too easy for Airdrie and simply not good enough from Inverness. Full Time: 2-0 Bring on the January sales. We are devoid of everything and relegation is a distinct possibility given our lack of quality at the moment. There must be lot's of dead wood to get rid of at the Caledonian Stadium. Why pay for players that add nothing to our squad. I can think of more than a dozen who we need to get shot of. Why on earth did we take Sheridan on to our books? He struggled against a pub team in the last round of the Scottish Cup. FFS, shape up or ship out! Mantis on CTO: Tbf I would say this was the worst away performance of the season by a mile, but the writing was on the wall when we saw the lineup. Billy rested for Longstaff, and Shaw, who is hopeless in the air, but had many high punts to deal with, playing alongside him. No Spoony, and starts for Davidson and Duffy who should not be near an ICT shirt. Welsh started but is obviously not ready. Billy and Carson came on at half time and it looked a bit brighter for about 10 minutes. Not something which is said every day but defensively we miss Danny Devine. I think the stats at half time showed no shots for either side, on or off target. We continued our policy of not risking a shot but shuttling it around until it gets back to Ridgers. The game could easily have petered out at 0-0 but slack marking at set pieces cost us with two free headers. Toddy enjoyed sticking it right up our very vocal support and it could have earned him a booking but hey, maybe you or I would have done the same… I said before that McCabe has Airdrie playing the right way, even with limited quality, and up until the first goal they took the game to us, mainly down our right, although they had little to show for it apart from a few low crosses across the face with nobody to finish. The wee no 10 Frizzell is decent. Cammy Harper found himself free in the box late on and looked sure to equalise but he blootered it right in the path of the blocking defender when anybody else could have placed it. He had a hard time all day trying to outpace the full back so not a great day for Cammy. Anderson was quiet and Charlie picked up his customary booking. These loan signings, if they materialise, will need to do some heavy lifting. We were rubbish again, weren't we>>> Date: 02/01/2024 Venue: Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie Attendance: 1465 Referee: Scott Lambie Airdrieonians: 2 Manager: Rhys McCabe Lineup: Rae; Megwa, McCabe, Fordyce, Hancock, Frizzell, Watson, Telfer, McGill (O'Connor 87), Todorov (C Gallagher 79), G Gallagher (McGregor 70) Subs (not used): Hutton; McStravick, McMaster, Dunlop, Rowley, Cassidy Scorers: Todorov (61), Fordyce (84) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Davidson (B Mckay 45), Duffy, Ujdur (Brooks ), Boyes, Longstaff, Welsh (Carson 45), Gilmour, Anderson (Sheridan ), Harper, Shaw Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Doran, Thompson, MacGregor Scorers: none Booked: Gilmour (72) Sent Off: none a

Out of the Blue Duncan Ferguson has been appointed as the new manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle nine days after Billy Dodds contract was terminated. It's a bold move by the Caley Jags who languish adrift at the bottom of the Championship with one point from their opening six games. Out of the League Cup at the group stages with only one win in their three matches and dumped out of the Challenge Cup by Arbroath, this needed to be a crucial appointment of the highest order. Despite some respected names being bandied about as potential managers, out of the blue and making a late charge on the rails came Big Dunc who was out of a job after failing to keep Forest Green in League One less than six months after taking the reins at New Lawn with a disasterous run of only one win in eighteen games in charge. That sounds familiar! So much so that our board have offered Big Dunc the job. Not many will argue with Ferguson as his past history is well documented elsewhere gaining him the Duncan Disorderly tag. We'll stick to his abilities on and around the park. A Scottish international making seven appearances, Duncan started getting noticed at Tannadice where he scored 28 goals in 77 appearances. Three years later he moved to Rangers scoring twice in fourteen games. He then moved to Everton on loan in 1994 and then signed on at Goodison until 1998 scoring 37 goals in 116 games. A move to Newcastle United followed and the goals kept coming, 8 from 30 over the next two years. He ended up back at Everton to end his playing career with another 23 goals from 123 games. That's a total of 98 goals from 360 appearances at the top level. Duncan Disorderly is also no stranger to red cards having been sent off nine times in his career, a record breaking achievement for the big man. He had been a coach, interim manager and assistant manager at Everton since 2014. It has now been confirmed that Gary Bollan will be the new assistant manager. Good luck guys! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Official Statement from ICTFC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The club is delighted to announce the appointment of Duncan Ferguson as the new Manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club. The Everton legend joins us on a 3 year deal following an extensive recruitment process which involved some truly excellent candidates. Former Dundee United, Rangers, St Johnston and Livingston, player Gary Bollan now confirmed as Duncan's assistant. He has managerial experience at these clubs: Gary Bollan Stats >>> 2009–2012 Livingston 2013–2015 Airdrieonians 2015–2017 Forfar Athletic 2017–2021 Cowdenbeath Team Nat From To Record G W D L Win % Livingston 14 August 2009 5 February 2012 108 62 22 24 57.41 Livingston: Scottish Third Division: 2009–10 Scottish Second Division: 2010–11 Forfar Athletic: Scottish League One play-offs: 2016–17 Cowdenbeath: Scottish League Two play-offs: 2017–18