Let's see the real Mr Vigurs

After Saturday's disappointing performance, it's off to Motherwell on Wednesday night for a 19:45 kick off with both clubs vying to claim a top-six spot, one we hold on goal difference at the moment from Killie and County and one point ahead of Motherwell.

Last time out we struggled to create much against a rejuvenated Kilmarnock and had to come from behind once more to snatch a late draw. Frustration was the order of the day as we were left chasing the game after Brad Mckay gave away a needless penalty with a clumsy barge on Coulibaly who scored from the spot thereafter. As we struggled to make some headway, Killie looked the likeliest to double their advantage, but as is the theme of late, we struck four minutes from the end when Lonsana Doumbouya forced home an equaliser from close range. It had been such a poor day at the office, even Ross Draper was substituted, raising eyebrows as to why the likes of Iain Vigurs had escaped the managers notice, conspicuous by his absence. He was not alone though and we really need to show a vast improvement if we want to take some points North.

Motherwell faced a much sterner examination going down 2-0 at Celtic Park. With Mark McGhee setting out his stall intent on keeping Celtic out, they made life difficult for them at times but with Celtic's fire power they were always going to search for goals and so it proved with Sinclair and Dembele scoring. I doubt McGhee will be so cautious against us given our lack of creation in the final third and our midfield content to let the opposition control the pace of the game.

We had four fixtures last season against the Well. Inverness won two games at Fir Park, one of these in the Cup. Motherwell won both games in the Highlands. Iain Vigurs scored a spectacular volley at Fir Park last season. Inverness had gone three goals ahead before Well staged a late recovery, but we held on to take the three points. Would be nice if he could wake from his slumber and help the team out once more. The cup game was won by another stunning goal, but Jordan Roberts is no longer on the books at the Caledonian Stadium.

Ross Draper was subbed against Killie, not because of injury, but for tactical reasons. He has expressed his frustration at not being able to stay on the pitch to help the team out, but is fully committed to the overall cause. Larnell Cole was a doubt before Saturday and will still miss out with an Achilles injury. Ryan Esson is also out.

Stevie Hammell is doubtful for the hosts with a hamstring injury but Carl McHugh is out. Mark McGhee is in a similar position to Richie Foran, still trying to work out his best XI with Louis Moult the most likely to score the goals, but Lionel Ainsworth appears to be out of favour so that's good news for us.

tm4tj Prediction:- I'm not overly confident after our last six encounters have seen us gain one win and four draws with a solitary defeat to the Rangers. Motherwell fare slightly worse, one win, two defeats and three draws. It is however still very tight in the middle of the league and a win will catapult either side into the top-six, although we are already there (just). Well we were until Accies beat the Dons last night. Doh! I can't see where our goals are going to come from as Richie juggles his strikers around looking for the most productive solution. When Ross Draper is your top scorer, you know you have a striking problem. We will do well to get a point, but 1-1 seems to be a common score of late, and seeing as we can't keep a clean sheet either, that looks like the best bet.

Richie & Josh speak to the Press ahead of tonight's game...................

Time to kick on

We welcome Kilmarnock to the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium this Saturday for a 3:00pm kick off with both clubs sitting on nine points, so it's an opportunity for one of these clubs to climb into the top-six with a win as there is only one other match on Saturday, Partick at home to Ross County.

The clubs had contrasting fortunes last time out. We lost our five game unbeaten run, going down 1-0 to the Rangers, courtesy of a stunning strike from Kenny Miller. Kilmarnock steadied the ship after a run of six games without a win by beating St Johnstone 1-0 in Perth, an excellent result given the mediocre results of the previous six games. They did however manage a 1-1 draw against the Rangers during that spell, but were also hammered by Celtic and Aberdeen. It's a topsy turvy league with every team capable of performing well on the day making it difficult to predict any outcome. But, It's time to kick on now, and try to create the gap that will ensure safety for another season.

Our opponents made sweeping changes in the close season. Lee Clark removed eight defenders from his inherited squad in a bid to resolve his defensive frailties, and Lee McCulloch retired from playing. In came defenders Dapo Kayode (Dinamo Bucharesti), Jamie Cobain (Newcastle United), Joshua Webb (Aston Villa), Jonathan Burn (Middlesborough), Luke Hendrie (Burnley), William Boyle (Huddersfield) and Scott Boyd from our neighbours Ross County. Midfield has also been revamped with Callum McFadzean (Sheffield United), Martin Smith (Sunderland), Jordan Jones (Middlesborough), George Green (Burnley), Charlee Adams (Birmingham City). Forwards coming in are Flo Bojaj (Huddersfield), Nathan Tyson (Doncaster Rovers) and the young man who has made the biggest impact Souleymane Coulibaly, an Ivory coast u17 international. The most notable players making way for these guys are Irish international Josh Magennis (Charlton Athletic), Tope Obadeyi (Dundee United), journeyman Kallum Higginbotham, Craig Slater (Colchester United) and Mark O'Hara (Dundee). Conrad Balatoni, Lee Ashcroft, Kevin McHattie and Jamie Hamill have all dropped down to the Scottish Championship.

Add to that a bit of boardroom unrest and it's an unsettling time to be a Killie fan. Michael Johnston appears to be the reason that Russel Smith has stepped down as one of the directors at Rugby Park.

So, big changes at Rugby Park, but manager Lee Clark has kept a strong backbone to his squad, starting at the back with keeper Jamie MacDonald and up front he can still call on the experience of Kris Boyd.

Killie were expected to be one of the sides that would have their hands full trying to avoid relegation, along with us. Those predictions looked ominous when we lost our first three games. Killie won one of their first three followed by three draws and two defeats before winning at Perth. It's early days but both clubs need to find a level of consistency to be able to climb the table. That has proved difficult with teams still finding their feet and positive results hard to come by.

Richie Foran thought we played well last week and could have taken more from the game. "We just lacked that wee bit of quality in front of goal. I think it's our best performance over the last six games. I knew we'd get chances. Bringing Jake Mulraney and Aaron Doran on can turn a game for you and I thought they might have nicked us a goal". 

To be honest, we were second best in a first half dominated by Rangers after Lonsana Doumbouya missed a great opportunity as early as the third minute. It did however take a goal of the month strike from Kenny Miller to separate the sides as we fought back in the second period and fell just short as we failed to capitalise on the three or four half chances that came our way. We have played better, but we have also played much worse. We gave Rangers too much freedom in the first half which saw us chasing shadows. I doubt we will offer Kilmarnock the same respect and sit off them in the same manner.

It could be time for the luxury that is Iain Vigurs to feel the bench as he has been posted missing for long spells during games, occasionally surfacing to show a touch of class, but just as likely to display a cynical side to his game that we can do without. Liam Polworth would benefit from this by moving more central where we get the best out of him. Jake Mulraney and Aaron Doran made their cases clear for a start as they livened the game up last week after their introduction. Billy King was rather subdued last week and maybe a rest will be good for him. He will be missing for the Hearts game next week anyway, so Foran will need to shape his side without him.

We missed Josh Meekings last week due to a hamstring injury. David Raven stepped back into his right back role with Brad Mckay moving inside. It's the midfield where the problems start with Tansey supposedly pulling the strings. We do drift out of games and seldom seem to dominate the middle area which is odd considering the physical presence we have in there with Ross Draper being prominent every week. It's the use of Polly that is open to criticism and the inclusion of Vigurs that raises most eyebrows. The next quandary is who is our best striker. None are prolific and both Fisher and Doumbouya had glaring misses last week whilst Scott Boden appears to be out of favour. Lot's of choices for Richie the Rookie, rather him than me. By the way, Kevin McNaughton has had his protective boot removed and has discarded his crutches, so some positive news for Kev in his long road back to fitness. Larnell Cole is doubtful with an injury.

Killie will be without Johnny Burn who has a broken nose, but Kris Boyd and Steven Smith should return to the squad. However, midfielders Greg Kiltie and Callum McFadzean are out injured.

tm4tj Prediction:- Both sides looking to climb up the table and both capable of producing the goods on the day. Historically we have been getting the better of Killie in the Highlands, one defeat in fifteen, and we should be able to have a go at them easier than we did against the Rangers. Souleymane Coulibaly is an exceptional talent and he has scored some spectacular goals already since his arrival. He is definitely one to watch and we will need to keep our focus at the back if we want to keep him out. We might just sneak this one, but a draw is not beyond the bounds of possibility. I find it difficult to see anything better for Killie.

Former Inverness manager and Hearts legend John Robertson, 52, has been rushed to hospital yesterday (Thursday) after falling down a flight of stairs at Tynecastle. It is understood that Robbo has been treated for broken ribs and is recovering in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. All the best for a speedy recovery Robbo.

If you know your History 

Friday night Footie returns to the Highlands with a bang as new club The Rangers visit the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium for the first time in their short history, the game kicking off at 19:45.

They have made a meteoric rise to fame since their inception, climbing through the leagues in four years and getting to the final of the Scottish Cup. It's a touch of Gretna revisited. Unfortunately for them, like Gretna they also failed to win the cup at the hands of an Edinburgh club. They do look pretty slick though, having tailored their needs for each division as they made their way into the Premiership and they now have a squad capable of challenging most with Mark Warburton leading the way.

Richie Foran has been named Manager of the Month for September after turning the fortunes of his slow starters around. However, we all know the repercussions of the curse of the Manager of the Month. Sounds like an adventure from Scooby Doo. Yikes! Come to think of it, have you ever seen Richie Foran and Shaggy in the same room? Me neither.

Immortal Howden Ender has given us this fabulous whirlwind history lesson to rival Charlie Bannerman's Against All Odds

This could be entitled the Inaugural meeting of the “Young Firm” of Scottish football. Both teams having painful and traumatic experiences in the not too distant past. Both teams are lamenting and many still grieving for the teams that they did support, whose existence was sadly terminated. Caley were even called “The Rangers of the North”.

Caledonian Thistle F.C. was formed in August 1994 by the merger of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle who had been members of the Highland Football League since 1885.The league restructured in 1994 to four divisions of ten teams each. The merged clubs were elected in to the Scottish Third Division. The club's name was amended to Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. in 1996 at the request of Inverness District Council. Many still refer to the team as Caley or Thistle. They rose through the divisions at some speed, given their finances and many teams trying to halt their rise, especially when initially promoted to the SPL.

The original Rangers came into existence in 1872, 13 years before the Inverness giants. The Rangers Football Club PLC entered liquidation on 31 October 2012.  Sevco Scotland Ltd later changed its name to The Rangers Football Club Ltd. The new team, The Rangers FC started off life, akin to ICT, in the Scottish Third Division in the 2012-2013 season, a mere 18 years after Inverness. Due to their superior finances they climbed the leagues far quicker than ICT and made it this season.

So Inverness Caledonian Thistle and The Rangers FC take to the park to on Friday 14th October 2016 in the first ever league meeting between the two clubs. Sadly I suspect that there may be as many old Caley and Thistle diehards (and their families) in the Rangers End as there are in the Main Stand and The North Stand.

The two previous outcomes of meetings between the new clubs have been Scottish League Cup affairs. Inverness hammering Rangers 3-0 at Ibrox in October 2012 and Rangers scraping a fortunate 1-0 win in September 2014. In their history Inverness have only met the old Rangers team in League encounters and, at home, it does not make good reading with Rangers winning 8 and Inverness 1 and two drawn. The only ICT win was in December 2006 (Live on Setanta Sports !!) and the match was an all ticket SELL OUT. Nacho Novo scored for Rangers from the penalty spot (Craig Thompson was at it even then) before Darren Dods equalised. And many will recall the winner screamed in by John Rankin in the last minute. And we all had a fleeting look at the wondrous SEBO.

We have a better record at Ibrox, winning three and drawing four of the thirteen encounters. My own personal lasting memory has to be the injury time penalty winner by Iain Black in March 2009. And Zjebi-Zadi was MotM and David Proctor won the penalty, drawing a foul from Davie Weir who was sent off. And Rangers were frightened by the pace of Dougie Imrie and Eric Odhiambo. It was fair rocking in “Brechins” that night.

Going back to the Howden End days memories fade back to 18 February 1984 when the mighty old club known as Rangers visited Telford Street Park on Scottish Cup duty. A crowd of 5,500 packed in to watch Rangers win 6-0. Somebody called McCoist scored a brace that day and somebody called Billy Urquhart played against his old team. He should have stayed in Wigan !! I fail to recall any great Inverness Thistle v Rangers encounters although that was probably reserved for Brora Rangers.

And finally on the trip down memory lane – we simply can’t leave out the initial Scottish Cup meeting with the old Rangers. A quarter final moved to the “neutral” ground of Tannadice Park in Dundee, on the 9th of March 1996. A crowd of 11,296 was in attendance (an estimated 5,000 from Sneck) when Rangers were the “visitors”. Rangers won 3-0, with Brian Thomson scoring an own goal and a certain Paul Gascoigne hitting a double. I can only suggest that you read the account made by Pele Paterson in his book “Confessions of a Highland Hero” - “We were Third Division and they were Champions”. That was one feckin hoore of a weekend.

Hopefully the thought of the forthcoming Betfred Cup tie with Celtic will be a distraction and the Joey Barton debacle lingers on and on. Rumours are rife that Joey has put a pony on Inverness winning 2-1. That is certainly worth a wee gamble although it is unclear whether he is purely doing this out of churlish malice. Rangers have had what only can be described as an inconsistent start to the season and are clearly struggling to identify a starting eleven. The Central Belt Bluenoses however appear confident that Rangers have a clearer starting XI and expect to line up in a 4-3-3 formation. Wes Foderingham should keep his place in goals ahead of veteran Matt Gilks. James Tavernier and Lee Wallace will start in the two full-back positions. Rob Kiernan missed the last few games with an injury but looks likely to start. Kiernan and Wilson appear to have claimed the first-choice centre-back pairing (unfortunately) despite the arrival of experienced but aging duo of Clint Hill and Philippe Senderos. Andy Halliday should start in defensive midfield with Joey Barton missing (or running scared of Ross Draper). Jason Holt provides a lot of energy in the middle of the park and should keep his place whilst Niko Kranjcar impressed against the Plastic Whistle. Kenny Miller is likely to start up front as the target man with Martyn Waghorn operating as the wide forward from the right. Barrie McKay, to me the big danger, will keep his place on the left.

If that is the Rangers line up then we need to go wide and offensive. Both Wallace and Tavernier are prone to leave their defensive duties and will leave space up front. Personally I would go with Fisher up front, if he has shaken off his knock, rather than Doumbuoya. Keep Draper “in the hole” behind him  Tansey and Polworth to hold central midfield. I have not been impressed by Tansey this season but this is a “shop window” and I expect him to put in a MotM performance. Two wide players are a must and it looks like it will be Mulraney and King to start with. The back five pick themselves. McKay and Tremarco will be tested by McKay (need to check with CaleyD about the spelling). We certainly went backwards at Hamilton but escaped with a point, leaving us on a 5 game unbeaten run. That has led to Richie Foran being awarded the coveted Manager of the Month Award. Let’s hope that his lucky shamrock can ward off the curse that the award has placed on previous ICT Managers. And a 2-0 win would take us into the Top Six and ahead of Rangers on goal difference. But three points and a scabby one goal win will suffice.

Shaggy Richie looks ahead to the game........

Welcome to the Jungle. 

Unbeaten in four now and Richie Foran takes his squad off to Cadzow, a war torn Eastern Block concrete jungle parallel town in South Lanarkshire, now known as Hamilton, to face The Accies on the plastic pitch where fleet footedness might be the order of the day.

It's been a decent September for Foran as he has turned the fortunes of his team around with a win and two draws, following on from a victory over St Johnstone at the end of August. That was in stark contrast to four consecutive defeats that saw Inverness stuck at the foot of the Premiership, a 5-1 thrashing at Tynecastle, and out of the League Cup at the hands of Alloa. September must surely give Richie a chance at winning the Manager of the Month award, albeit an award that historically signals the start of a run of poor results. Maybe we should leave that out and just concentrate on moving up.

Stat Attack:- Inverness have won their last six games at New Douglas Park. Last season it was two wins apiece, all wins coming at away games including a stunning 3-4 win at Hamilton where long range efforts were the order of the day in somewhat blustery conditions. Biggest ever win was a 6-1 thrashing in the Scottish cup when Inverness ran riot after falling behind to an early goal. That was fourteen years ago. Five years earlier, Hamilton had come North and knocked Inverness out of the Scottish Cup 3-1. It was a brace from Paul Ritchie that made the difference.

I'll hand you over to Immortal Howden Ender for his pre-match banter where he has been checking out Saturday's opponents and casting his eye over the architectural beauty of Cadzow. There's a preview in there somewhere if you work your way through the old gits memoirs. He could be preparing to write his autobiography, Life after HMS Sneck.

Yes indeed the trip to New Douglas Park (it will never be the feckin SuperSeal Stadium) has usually been a fruitful experience for ICT and hopefully we will be leaving with another three points and moving in to the Top Six, hardly expected after our horrific start to the season. We  appear to thrive on synthetic surfaces (apart from Ross Draper that is) and it may well suit the current squad of pacy players even better than previous. We have not lost a point there since January 2009. During that time we have won the last six fixtures since, scoring 15 goals and conceding only 5. At the TCS it is practically a reversal of fortune and I never realised that Hamilton were such a bogey team in Sneck. I have also realised that Hamilton must be the one team who I have never seen us get beaten by.

Three of those goals conceded away happened in the game on December 30th 2015. But in a real end to end affair we sneaked a 4-3 victory. Two free kicks by Greg Tansey and a late Polworth winner sent our hardy support home prematurely celebrating the New Year. The other game that lives in the memory was the “Farewell to Brewster” defeat in January 2009 when we serenaded (and sacked) him with the famed shoe song !!

As the Sun reported: “The shoes one day. The boot the next. Craig Brewster fell victim to fan power as he was kicked out of Inverness Caley Thistle. Fed up supporters had chanted ‘Shoes Off If You Hate Brewster’ as they lost at Hamilton. The club’s seventh straight league defeat left then stranded at the foot of the SPL. It also left them walking a relegation tightrope five years after a spectacular sprint into the top flight. Brewster has paid the price as Caley faced the biggest on-field crisis in their 15-year history.”

I can remember that we pegged Hamilton back in the last 20 minutes and came close to equalising three times. My heart was in my mouth and I kept on saying to maself, "Fer fecks sake Caley, give us a break mun, DON'T feckin score and spoil our day, right eenuff "

The 4-3 was not the only high scoring match in the history of ICT and Hamilton. I was fortunate to be on holiday on 22/02/2003 when we met Hamilton in the Scottish Cup in Inverness and ended with a resounding 6-1 victory. Braces from Wyness and Robson were added to by Ritchie and McCaffrey. Bobby Mann went off injured early doors and was replaced by a young Grant Munro. And then we went ballistic again against Celtic but fell to the Argentine influenced Dundee in the semi-final at Hampden Park. And I would never have guessed at that time, how many times we would be heading to Mount Vernon.

Eight points out of the last 12, including draws against the current top two has been a breath of fresh air. Add to that an apparent attacking philosophy of the “under fire” novice manager, a growing sign of togetherness and squad options that ensures everybody is fighting for their places can only be healthy.

Hamilton are only three points behind us but we are only three points off third place. This may not be your classic six-pointer but there is a lot at stake. At first glance Hamilton’s draw with St Jones Town, after taking the lead, looks worrying. However the Perth Pack may have suffered from a gruelling cup tie less than 72 hours previous and they rang the changes at Hamilton. This included the non-appearance of Steven McLean who apparently will not play on synthetic purposes. Always preferred a bit of pure, mature  grass maself.

Hamilton suffer as badly as us in transfer windows. They tend to look to youth rather than spending and that appears to have kept them afloat in the Premiership. They still have a number of decent players like Grant Gillespie, Darian MacKinnon and Ali Crawford (being touted for a Scotland cap) and then there is the Peter Pan of Neds - Dougie Imrie - who always appears to go up a gear against us. Add to that the youth of Eamonn Brophy and new Under 21 player Greg Docherty, who has already got 50 games under his belt. The problem appears to be that they simply do not know their first XI. Canning is a novice and tactically is suspect. Midfielder Darren Lyon could be out for five or six weeks. Gary Woods, Jesus Garcia Tena and Craig Watson are all out, but captain Michael Devlin could return.

As far as our starting XI goes I suspect that it will simply be same again. I feel that Foran has made it clear that everyone is playing for their place and a 4-4-1-1 will suit as away from home. At the moment we have a goalie on top form, a solid back four playing together, two fine holding players with Tansey as the creator, two wide players with pace, possibly the player of the month in the hole and Doumbouya's goal will probably keep him ahead of Fisher. Doran must be close to starting but I don't feel that Richie could justify dropping either Mulraney or King. I wonder what Scott Boden is thinking about all of this? David Raven and Kev McNaughton are our only absentees. Ryan Esson has been struggling with an elbow injury, but Lewis Horner could be fit enough to cover any defensive mishaps.

But should we even start Draper after what happened at Killie last season? Some people are simply not matched to playing on synthetic surfaces. Draper's playing style, running from deep and the loping stride are wide open to injury. Perhaps like McLean from St Jones Town we should take the risk of resting him and playing either Fisher or Boden ; Boden being a better match for Doumbouya.

And if ya think our Young Team are mischievous, then their counterparts – The Hamilton Young Fannies – appear to be getting a ten times worse reputation. Last time we were there they were “challenging” some Canadian school sports team - mixed genders, probably about 12 or 13, and their teachers – who were probably having a day out !! By the way the Canadians were the Winnipeg ICT Supporters Club on tour. Good job the neds did not cross over cos they would have been ice hockey sticked to puck.

And last but clearly not least. What watering hole will be allowed into. On my previous trips to Hamilton we have faced Home Supporters Only greetings.  So basically Hamilton is a shithole where you need to spend the least amount of time possible. So it is a case of grabbing a few beers and double voddies in Glesga, grabbing a train which thankfully stops beside the Stadium, grab a few goals, three points and back on the train as soon as possible. Kinda spoils the idea of the Away Day experience though.

At least Superseal, the sponsors, are a Home Improvement Company. I might ask if my uncle can get a job as he would be an asset in that type of environment. He is a bulldozer driver.

Disclaimer:- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental............. But these videos from Caley Jags TV are the real thing.

16 undefeated and counting...

After the euphoria of a last minute equaliser against Celtic, it's back to the more mundane, but nonetheless important task of a home game against Dundee on Saturday with a 15:00 kick off.

Prior to kick off, there will be a minutes applause in memory of club Director Donnie Fraser who passed away last Sunday night at the age of 59. Our condolences to his family, friends and extended Caley Thistle family from all here at Caley Thistle Online. Club chairman Kenny Cameron said: "Donnie's passing comes as a severe shock to us all and although no words can ease his families pain our deepest sympathy and condolences go to his wife Theresa and the family."

Mr Fraser was born in Helensburgh but had lived in Inverness for over thirty years. He was the successful  managing director of Korrie Mechanical and Plumbing in Inverness and became a director at the club in 2015. Full story at Official ICTFC 

 RIP Donald Fraser 1957-2016.

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More sad news for football fans and especially Dundee FC as former player Alan Cousin has died at the age of 78. He was signed by the then Dundee manager Willie Thornton in 1955. He made 288 appearances scoring 103 goals in more than ten years at Dens Park, and he was the clubs top scorer three years in a row playing alongside the likes of Alan Gilzean. He later moved to Hibernian and then Falkirk. Another great gone from the game.

RIP Alan Cousin - 1938-2016

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Old Caley Girl is your previewer this week and she has been checking out our opponents ahead of the game once she got over the shock of the photos in the ticketing promotion.

Sponsors McEwan Fraser Legal held a Competition to design the cover of the match programme and this has been won by Sienna Hastings, none other than the daughter of former Caley Jags defender Richard Hastings. Well done Sienna. More here

Things are looking up.

It’s not been too bad the last few weeks. 5 points from 9 against arguably the three top teams in the league is not too shabby. However, being so close to the bottom of the league even this early feels a tad uncomfortable. The table remains very close though and even one win can take you far up the table. Dundee up next, first of two fixtures before the next International break and two very winnable fixtures on paper. In fact these are the type of games that we must be picking up full points from if we have aspirations of top-six this season.

ICT look in good shape. No known injury worries apart from Lewis Horner (ankle) and Ryan Esson (elbow) and the players are having to fight to gain/retain a first eleven spot. Owain Fon Williams was on fire against Celtic and surely his next aim will be to secure the first clean sheet of the season. Brad Mckay is looking like a promising addition by Richie Foran and Carl Tremarco will be looking to continue the form he displayed against Celtic.  Meekings and Warren continue to show they are our best central pairing and thankfully under Foran have been able to resume this partnership. I would expect the midfield for this one to line up as on Sunday. Up front, Foran finally has a bit of choice, but the jury is out on which one of the three strikers will turn out to be our number one. My money is on Alex Fisher, a hard worker who wears his heart on his sleeve, and now that he is off the mark I have high hopes he can push on and make the lone striker spot his own.

A startling statistic is that Dundee have only ever beaten us once in 18 league matches from the 1st division into the SPL with their one win coming in our first ever season in the top flight, 17 games ago. They did of course win the Challenge Cup in 2009, but that doesn't count, does it?. Dundee have only picked up 3 points once this season so far, beating our neighbours in the first game of the season over the bridge. Since then they have managed 2 draws whilst losing to the Rangers and last week against Aberdeen. They are sitting in 8th but only one point ahead of us. So,Dundee come into this one without a win in their last five games. We are unbeaten in our last three after a slow start, should make for an interesting afternoon.

They appear to have recruited a fair few players pre-season including James Vincent and Danny Williams from ICT. Neither are apparently setting the heather on fire with Vincent carrying on his reputation of being made of fragile stuff. It is always nice to see Nick Ross and his move to secure a regular first team place seems to have worked out for him. There was one less than encouraging comment on Danny Williams from the excellent Pie & Bovril website. When asked by an Inverness fan how he was getting on, the reply was that "he should be melted down for glue." And that was one of the more polite replies. Sounds like a sticky end for our Danny.

The main ins after Vincent and Williams are defenders Kevin Gomis (Nice), Tom Hately, the former Motherwell player, (Slask Wroclaw), and Mark O'Hara (Killie). In charge of getting the goals will be Faissal el Bakhtaoui and Yordi Teijsse. They have lost some top quality however in the shape of Greg Stewart (Birmingham), striker Kane Hemmings (Oxford), Paul McGinn (Chesterfield) and Glorious Gary Harkins who could light up any stadium with his silky skills. 

Richie Foran looks forward to this game with a touch of poignancy. His last outing as a player was in the final game of last season in a 4-0 win over Dundee where he scored a late penalty. But he sees this as the biggest game so far despite three excellent results against top sides. He said "Those were three tough games. Those will count for nothing if we don’t win on Saturday – this is our biggest game of the season so far. It’s huge."

Latest news from the City of Discovery is that Dundee will be without the suspended Kevin Gomis and Mark O'Hara. Gomis is on his second of two games out while O'Hara pays the price for a late sending off against Aberdeen last week. Meh!

Old Caley Girl Prediction:- I am hopeful we can finally start to climb the league and carry on with the improvement of the last few games.  The passion and togetherness seems to be back and confidence appears to be growing game by game. With that in mind, I'm going for a narrow home win with hopefully a clean sheet. Let’s hope so anyway……. 

High praise for Owain Fon Williams in Richie's pre-match interview................

And here is Brad. No, it's not our new Brazilian signing Brangelina, but our very own Brad Mackay.............

From Messi to Nessy

It's a big ask this weekend early in his managerial career, but Brendan Rodgers takes his domestically all conquering Bhoys North to face Richie's rookies at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in a 3:00pm kick off on Sunday.

Celtic are going from Messi to Nessy in the space of five days. They will find it easier in Nessy. It took Lionel just three minutes to breach the Celtic defence in Barcelona. He did it again before the half hour was up and had a hat-trick before the hour. Could it be that Celtic struggle against teams in red and blue stripes? We're no Barcelona but stranger things happen at sea.

Celtic have been in great form in the domestic League and topped it off by trouncing the Rangers 5-1 last week before heading to Barcelona in the Champions league. Fifteen goals in four games is testament to their attacking intent and new striker Moussa Dembele looks like a class act.

So, who are the people that have transformed Celtic? For a start, they have replaced the much maligned Ronnie Deila and John Collins with the well respected Brendan Rodgers and Chris Davies. Their player signings are a who's who in the wish lists of most football clubs outside the English Premiership. Scott Sinclair is an attacking wide midfielder and already has five goals. Moussa Dembele has just scored a hat-trick coming in from Fulham and seven goals in total. When you add these to Scotlands star striker Leigh Griffiths (7 goals) and wide player Patrick Roberts, it's not difficult to see why Celtic are banging in the goals. Defensively, Kolo Toure joins from Liverpool, Christian Gamboa from West Brom, keeper Dorus de Vries to challenge Scotland International Craig Gordon and midfielder Kristoffer Ajer to the engine room. The Brendan Rodgers clear out was ruthless and swift. The main departures were Scotland full back Charlie Mulgrew, Athony Stokes,  Mr clumsy-Colin Kazim-Richards, Stefan Scepovic, Scott Allan and Carlton Cole There is a raft of others who are littered across the Scottish lower leagues, enough to make a couple of teams to be honest, but Rodgers looks to have built a squad based on quality rather that quantity which was enough to see Celtic lift the title last season, but not with the panache their fans wanted to see.

Richie has had a steep learning curve in the Premiership games hitting rock bottom after three before clambering off the foot of the table with a hard earned draw at Pittodrie, following on from a gritty home win over St Johnstone. The signs are encouraging after a poor start to the campaign and it's good to see we are moving in the right direction.

We will need to be at our best on Sunday and it's a tremendous boost how the team have bounced back since the 5-1 thrashing at Tynecastle. That was Josh Meekings' first game back from injury and he and Gary Warren are beginning to return to the solid partnership they forged previously. Owain Fon Williams has got rid of his Euro holiday hangover and looks more focussed and young Brad Mckay had a decent debut in a baptism of fire at Pittodrie and with Carl Tremarco claiming the left back slot our back line is taking shape nicely. The midfield should be a match for most teams and Ross Draper has never looked sharper. Luxury player Iain Vigurs showed just why he is in the team with a superb goal at Aberdeen, but can we afford his laid back style with a bit of cynicism thrown in? We were wasteful in the final third and I'm sure Richie Foran will be working on that this week. We have wide players with pace now with Aaron Doran gaining more match time and in Lonsana Doumbouya we have a powerful front man when Alex Fisher runs himself to a standstill. Aye, it's a difficult job being the Invermess target man.

Despite Celtic going down in Spain, the gulf in class between Celtic and Barcelona is as big as the gap between Celtic and the rest of the clubs in Scotland. That's how difficult this task is for Inverness. The pace of Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair is a worry for our back line, although Dembele's penalty kick routine is suspect. Our best hope is that one or two players are rested and Leigh Griffiths is still injured. However, their depth of squad is such that it won't make too much difference who plays.

We lost all three games against Celtic last season conceding twelve goals in those games while scoring only two. Apart from the Cup semi-final win, our last win over Celtic in the Highlands came in August 2014 when we won 1-0 thanks to an Eoghan O'Connell own goal. Celtic had made 10 changes from the side that played NK Maribor in midweek and paid the price. I wonder if they will be so lenient this time after the thrashing at Barcelona.

Richie Foran has no fresh injury worries and will have an almost full squad to pick from apart from Ryan Esson who is out with an elbow injury. I would expect a similar side to the one that performed well at Pittodrie.

Brendan Rodgers is not expected to make any drastic changes despite the sides thrashing in Barcelona. However, Leigh Griffiths is still out injured.

tm4tj Prediction:- I can't see us taking much from this game and damage limitation could be the way forward. Celtic's pace going forward is frightening but they are suspect at the back. In saying that, you have to get into those areas to be able to hurt them and that's not our strong point at the moment. Difficult to see anything other than a convincing win for Celtic but there's always the chance of a Champions League hangover. A draw would be seen as a success and that will be enough to drive us forward. I feel we might fall just short on this occasion, but the experience will stand us in good stead for games against teams of a similar calibre.

A96 Derby

It's the battle for supremacy of the A96 as the teams from either end of that road face off at 3:00pm. Yes, we visit Pittodrie on Saturday, having gained our first points of the season last time out against St Johnstone just before the international break.

During that international break, Jake Mulraney and Billy King had some game time for their U21 International sides and Owain Fon Williams was on the bench for Wales in their impressive opening game of the World Cup campaign where they thrashed Moldova 4-0.

News this week that Josh Meekings has been offered a two year contract extension has been welcomed by the fans. 24 year old Josh had forged a great partnership with the reliable Gary Warren over the last few years and he was sorely missed last season through injury. Foran is keen to keep Josh in the squad and the ball is now in his court.

What have the Dons been up to over the holidays? Let's see who Derek McInnes has brought in over the summer. No surprise to us, but Miles Storey was taken on with Simon Church and David Goodwillie moving on. Another striker Jayden Stockley was also added from Bournmouth. At the back, Joe Lewis (Cardiff City) and Neil Alexander (Hearts) replace Danny Ward in goal, (not at the same time). Callum Morris joins from relegated Dundee United and Anthony O'Connor comes in from Burton Albion. That looks to have added strength in depth to an already solid squad for the Dons. Other notable outs are Willo Flood returning to the Arabs, keeper Scott Brown offski and Barry Robson given up, presumably too olde. Lawrence Shankland has moved to St Mirren and lot's of other minor players have also moved along. The latest addition is midfielder James Maddison from Norwich City, on loan until January.

The Dons failed to beat us last season as we recorded two wins and a draw against them. A tremendous turnaround from the previous season when Aberdeen won all four encounters. The best Aberdeen could do was a 2-2 draw at Pittodrie on Boxing Day when a dubious stoppage time penalty from Adam Rooney earned them a point. Liam Polworth and a Greg Tansey spot kick had given Inverness a comfortable lead but we invited the Dons onto us and a McGinn goal threw the Reds a lifeline from a rare Gary Warren error.They took full advantage late into time added on to level matters. We went our separate ways after the split as Aberdeen finished runners up whilst we were the best of the rest.

As the transfer window came to a close last week, Richie Foran has secured a loan deal until Xmas for Fulham youngster  Larnell Cole, a 23 year old forward minded midfielder. We have also added former St Johnstone defender Brad McKay (23) to our squad on a two year deal as we look to get more cover for the loss of Kevin McNaughton who will likely miss the whole season. And, with Ryan Esson out for a possible six weeks due to an elbow injury, Cammy Mackay has been recalled from his loan at Elgin City.

We look to have assembled a reasonable squad at our disposal now and I am convinced our season will get better once everyone gets to know each other and they all reach match sharpness. We may not quite be there yet, but there were encouraging signs against St Johnstone. Lonsana Doumbouya looks like he will be a handful for defences and with wide players available in Jake Mulraney, Aaron Doran and Billy King, then the future is bright as we build on top of our previously resilient defence and robust midfield.

Inverness will be without Kevin McNaughton for the season and Ryan Esson for over a month. Cover has been drafted in and with Meekings returned to the heart of the defence, things are looking up. Horner played at right back against St Johnstone and should continue, although he could face a torrid time if Jonny Hayes is involved. David Raven would be a tried and tested replacement should Foran prefer that option. Brad Mckay is up to speed and ready to go according to Richie, so there's another option should Foran hand the former St Johnstone defender his debut. Here him talk about his arrival.

Larnell Cole is another new arrival and he is talking to Caley Jags TV ahead of the Aberdeen game.

 Aberdeen have had the added bonus of early competitive games in Euro competition to hone their skills. On the flip side, they have only one win in their four league games so far beating Partick Thistle 2-1. Draws against Hearts and St Johnstone gave them four points before they were thumped 4-1 at Parkhead last time out. Hayes could return after missing out at Celtic and Peter Pawlett is in full training, but Mark Reynolds will be suspended after being sent off in that game and skipper Ryan Jack is out for at least six weeks after knee surgery.

And last, but not least, here's Richie looking forward to the action. All video from Caley Jags TV, the official channel of ICT FC

https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialICT

tm4tj Prediction:- I won't get too excited after beating St Johnstone, but what was historically a cagey affair turned out to be a highly entertaining game with plenty of incident. A cavalry charge near the end gave us a deserved victory and broke our duck and gave us some hope for the season ahead. With a game against Celtic coming up next week, we need to dig deep here, and I will go with the optimistic approach and say we will take something back from Pittodrie. Let's hope it's not a thrashing!