Queens visit.

After dropping our first points of the season last weekend to bottom club Dunfermline, seventh place Queen of the South come calling on Saturday to the Caledonian Stadium, the game kicking off at 3:00pm.

We had Mark Ridgers to thank for earning us a point at East End Park as he pulled off two tremendous saves late in the game to deny the Pars their first win of the season. The draw was sufficient to keep Inverness top of the table but Kilmarnock and Arbroath gained some ground at the top end whilst the Pars stay rooted to the foot of the Championship.

Queens went down 2-0 at home to Arbroath as their indifferent start to the season continues, beating Raith away one week, losing at home to Arbroath the next. It would appear that their away form suits them better than playing at Palmerston at the moment.

Stat Attack

1 - 1 (A)

0 - 1 (H)

3 - 0 (A)

3 - 1 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

2 - 0 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

3 - 3 (A)

0 - 0 (H)

As the stats show, Inverness have the upper hand in this fixture but Queens won 0 - 1 in the last one at the Caledonian Stadium in February 2021 when Nortei Nortay scored the only goal of the game as the visitors burst forward around the hour to win in Inverness for the sixth time out of nineteen visits.

Other games this weekend

Arbroath 0-0 Kilmarnock (Friday 19:45) Will this one sort the men from the boys? Nope.

Ayr United v Morton (Saturday 15:00) Mid table supremacy?

Dunfermline v Hamilton (Sat 15:00) Relegation battle?

Raith Rovers v Partick (Sunday 15:00) - Raith Rovers v Dunfermline ***catch up game Wed 29th Sept 19:05

Streaming from ICTV *

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AGM 2021 - Statement

Hospitality v Morton

Lewis Hyde to Rothes

Aly Riddle to Forres

* Users in England: The English FA was granted ‘blocked hours’ protection pursuant to UEFA Article 48 which prohibits the transmission of matches within its territory during the period of ‘blocked hours’. (refer to Help). Users who are later found to have purchased from within England, will have their purchase refunded and be unable to watch the stream. 

I see that petty out of date rules by closed shop jobs for boys organisations are still alive and kicking. I fail to see that watching a stream of a Scottish game in England will make much difference to the size of the crowd south of the border. They will be banning kilts next  

Latest Team News

Michael Gardyne has missed the last couple of games but trained hard on Thursday.  Aaron Doran and Shane Sutherland were injured at East End Park and Dodds will wait until Friday before finalising his team selection. This could open the door for Cameron Harper and Billy Mckay for a start and maybe Lewis Jamieson will be pushing for some game time.

Allan Johnston was disappointed with the result last week and despite plenty of possession and opportunities he felt they failed to make the most of their opportunities. Defensive lapses costing the Doonhamers and not clinical enough in front of goal. Queens are of course Dobbieless, and that has to be a bonus for the opposition.

He doesn't score many, but when he does...

Billy looking ahead

Surprise Surprise

East End Park is the venue on Saturday as surprise Championship leaders Inverness visit the Kingdom of Fife to take on surprise packet Dunfermline Athletic.

I say surprise packet, as that is exactly what The Pars have become under the guidance of former Alloa Athletic manager Peter Grant. I fully expected the Pars to be challenging at the opposite end of the table given their financial backing and the assumed quality of their squad. Unfortunately for them they find themselves languishing at the foot of the table and winless after four games with only a draw against Morton  to show for their troubles. They do have a Fife derby to come against Raith Rovers, but that won't be easy either. They have shipped three goals against Partick, Arbroath and Ayr United and their fans are now talking boycotts in an attempt to use fan power to force the board to act now before their season is completely ruined. Look out for the mass exodus on the hour. However, beware the scalded cat!

In stark contrast, Inverness are on a winning run of five games on the bounce in the Championship, have the manager of the month in Billy Dodds, and sit top of the table having already beaten three of the favourites in Raith, Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle. What could possibly go wrong?

PPV Stream @ ParsTV £12

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Stat Attack

1 - 0 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

1 - 3 (A)

2 - 1 (A)

2 - 0 (H)

1 - 0 (A)

1 - 0 (H)

0 - 1 (A)

2 - 2 (H)

3 - 0 (A)

Overall stats sway in our favour with the last ten meetings showing that Inverness have been more dominant in recent years. A far cry from the 4-0 thrashing dished out on our first venture into the Championship back in August 1999 when the Pars brushed aside the upstarts from the Highlands who dared to move up through the leagues to challenge the central belt dominance. In our defence we were reduced to ten men and conceded two late goals.

Other fixtures this weekend, all 3:00pm Saturday

Hamilton v Ayr United

Morton v Raith Rovers

Partick v Kilmarnock

Queens v Arbroath

LATEST TEAM NEWS

Michael Gardyne missed out last week having picked up a knock in training prior to the Buckie Thistle cup game. Looks like we are mostly free from injury with Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson champing at the bit as they remained on the bench last week. Look for a relatively unchanged squad this weekend. If it's not broke, don't fix it! We have also recruited someone to watch videos. Good work if you can get it.

Dunfermline will have Owain Fon Williams, Nikolay Todorov and Kai Kennedy in their squad as they look to get off the bottom of the table.

Aaron Doran will make his 300th appearance this weekend. Let's see if he can add to his 50 goals he has scored for the Caley Jags

Back scoring goals on Saturday, Aaron Doran is a Highland hero! 🦸‍♂️

With an impressive back catalogue of screamers, which is your favourite strike from the Caley Thistle man? 🔴🔵#SPFLHeroes | @ICTFC pic.twitter.com/8Cr9UYgPu9

— SPFL (@spfl) September 15, 2021

Double dose of  Jags

Another top of the table clash this weekend as promoted Partick Thistle head North on Saturday to take on the Caley Jags. It's a 3:00pm kick off at the Caledonian Stadium and with free scoring Partick going well, expect a big crowd and a tough game.

We put four past Buckie Thistle last weekend with a side that had 10 changes from the one that beat Killie 1-0 in our last Championship encounter. Robbie Deas was the only survivor from Rugby Park and there were some excellent performances and firsts for Lewis Jamieson, Cameron Harper and a brace for Billy Mckay. 

Partick had a tougher task but they advanced after beating Stranraer 2-0 with a fierce Tunji Akinola strike and a late Kevin Holt header seeing off their hosts.

OFFICIAL PREVIEW

Stat Attack

1 - 3 (A)

1 - 3 (H)

2 - 1 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

1 - 0 (A)

3 - 2 (H)

1 - 1 (A)

0 - 0 (H)

0 - 2 (A)

4 - 1 (A)

As the stats show, the sides are fairly evenly matched overall although Partick have won the last two encounters, both by 3-1.

Good news week with both Cameron Harper and Roddy MacGregor extending their contracts by a further two seasons. Impressive business by the club as they invest in the future of these young stars.

Latest Team News

Michael Gardyne was injured in training ahead of last week's Trust Cup match with Buckie. With many players rested after our stunning start to the campaign, Billy Dodds will have the managerial headache of sorting out his best XI after a few caught the eye against Buckie. Notably scorers Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson and it was good to see Anthony McDonald performing so well after recovering from injury. Plenty of food for thought.

Partick had some players on duty at the Scotland u21 game in Turkey where a late goal saw the Turks salvage a draw. Lewis Mayo played from the start and Zac Rudden came off the bench with keeper Harry Stone an unused sub.

In Dodds we Trust

A wee break from the Championship this weekend as we face high scoring Buckie Thistle in the SPL Trust Trophy. That's the Challenge Cup to you and me of which we are the joint holders with Raith Rovers when Tunnocks Caramel Wafers were the sponsors. The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday at the Caledonian Stadium, and if you can't make it to the ground, then live streaming is available from ICTV at a mere £10.

Games against Buckie Thistle are like buses. None for years then two come along within months of each other. We do like a cup game against green and white hooped teams. We have a decent record against them right up to Scottish Cup semi-finals. This time it's Buckie Thistle, a team we put out of the Scottish Cup last season with a very late Daniel Mackay goal in a 3-2 win at the fishing town. It was scarcely deserved as Buckie were equal to a mostly youthful Inverness side, and despite going behind to a James Keatings goal after 35 seconds they fought back when Jack Murray deservedly headed Buckie level fifteen minutes in. A shot from distance by Sean Welsh restored the visitors advantage but a final flurry of activity saw Callum Murray equalise only for Dan to score two minutes later. Credit to Buckie for making this difficult for the youngishl Inverness side and a trip to Dingwall beckoned and ultimately an away tie at Paisley where we bowed out of the cup to a late St Mirren goal.

OFFICIAL PREVIEW

Anyway, to the job in hand, a testing tie against a high scoring Buckie Thistle who sit second in the Highland League behind the Broch. Buckie have scored an incredible 31 goals in just seven games. A thumping 10-0 win over Keith the highlight. To get to this round, Buckie disposed of Brechin City at the Hedge by 3-1 with Sam Morrison, Sam Urquhart and Callum Murray scoring the goals in an impressive performance. Unfortunately Sam Morrison was red carded late in the game and will miss this tie. Buckie have already drawn with leaders Fraserburgh and the only blemish was a 2-0 reverse against Rothes. They warmed up for this game by trouncing Formartine United 5-1 away from home at North Lodge Park.

Inverness are themselves in fine form in the Championship, winning their opening four fixtures on the trot, all by 1-0. An excellent well drilled performance at Rugby Park saw the Highlanders come away with all three points to put Inverness on top of the table on their own with twelve points from four games after Michael Gardyne scored his first goal for the club, a thumping shot from twelve yards palmed into the roof of the net by the keeper. Boom!

Latest Team News

It looks like some fringe players will be involved in this one with Barry Wilson seeing this as an ideal opportunity to give the likes of Cameron Harper and Billy Mckay some game time whilst resting up some of the guys that have put us on top of the Championship after four games. Michael Gardyne picked up an injury in training and will Maybe Cammie Mackay will get a run out between the sticks as well. However, there's a fine balance between resting players and still remaining competitive. Buckie are not to be underestimated. 

The Killie Pie is back

Top of the table clash this weekend as second placed Inverness travel to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock. The game kicks off at 3:00pm and away fans will be in attendance with the game also being streamed live by Kilmarnock TV for those unable to attend. Both sides have won their opening three fixtures with Killie having the better goal difference. Both sides have yet to concede a goal; somethings going to give...

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TICKETS

MATCHDAY INFO FROM KILLIE

Mark Ridgers contract extension

1 - 2 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

1 - 1 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

3 - 1 (H)

1 - 2 (A)

2 - 1 (H)

0 - 2 (A)

3 - 3 (H)

2 - 1 (A)

Championship Fixtures this weekend 

Ayr United -P- Raith Rovers

Dunfermline -V- Arbroath FC

Kilmarnock -V- Inverness CT

Partick Thistle -V- Greenock Morton

Queen of the South -V- Hamilton Academical

Keepers gloves in safe hands.

Mark Ridgers has penned a contract extension that will keep him at the club until May 2024. Mr consistency has been a top performer for Inverness since joining in 2017. His first appearance was in a League Cup group A game against Brechin City and he started with a clean sheet in a 3-0 win. 58 clean sheets later, he will make his 163rd appearance at Rugby Park on Saturday.

Safe Hands Mark

Billy Mckay is our top scorer of all time against Kilmarnock with nine goals. He does like a goal against Killie. Two goals last season for County in March against them went a long way to help keep County up and send Kilmarnock to the relegation zone. His thanks for helping to keep County up was a message telling him he was no longer required. Their loss is our gain.

Latest Team News

Captain Sean Welsh returned to action last week as a substitute and along with Billy Mckay got some much needed game time. Wallace Duffy and Anthony McDonald were longer term injuries and missed out last week. Roddy MacGregor kept his place in the team after a couple of great performances with Reece McAlear having to settle for a place on the bench. Kirk Broadfoot will be in line to face his old club.

Killie offloaded around fourteen players after relegation, Kyle Lafferty possibly the biggest name to fall. However, many Killie fans believe this season's squad is better than the one that took the club down. Step forward Liam Polworth. He swapped the amber and claret for the blue and white stripes at Rugby Park and is bedding in nicely according to various reports. 

This will be the most stringent test so far in the Billy Dodds era. Killie have wins over Ayr United, Queen of the South and Hamilton Accies under their belt whilst we have taken out Arbroath, Raith Rovers and Ayr United all by the same score of 1-0.

🗣️ Head Coach Billy Dodds gives his thoughts ahead of this weekend's match against Kilmarnock pic.twitter.com/HpY25crGsx

— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) August 27, 2021

Almost there with Ayr...

It's Matchday 3 and Ayr United are the visitors to an almost back to normality Caledonian Stadium with up to 5,000 fans allowed entry to the ground. Where will we find all these extra fans? The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday with masks almost a thing of the past as covid restrictions ease somewhat. Hospitality suite is open for this one, time to put on a show.

Inverness are one of three unbeaten sides in the Championship after opening wins over Arbroath and Raith Rovers. The point against Rovers was hard earned and deserved, but it took a wonderful strike from Roddy MacGregor to win the match. We sit third in the table behind promoted Partick Thistle and relegated Kilmarnock. 

Here's a quick guide on what the guidelines allow as the stadium opens out for the Ayr United game. Welcome back! 

Roddy's goal is well worth another look

Ayr United come North on the back of a decent performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, taking the Tannadice side to extra time and penalties before losing the shoot-out 4-3. Their Championship form shows they have one point from their opening two fixtures. They opened up with a derby defeat to Killie and followed that up with a home draw against Arbroath, coming from two down to earn a point thanks to a strike by Tomi Adeloye and a late goal from Mark McKenzie. So some positives for David Hopkin to take from that despite only showing one point for their efforts to date.

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Stat Attack

2 - 2 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

0 - 1 (A)

2 - 0 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

3 - 1 (A)

1 - 0 (A)

3 - 2 (A)

So, a decent record against Ayr United, just one home defeat in twenty games. Stewart Kean scored the only goal at the Caledonian Stadium to give Ayr United a 0 - 1 win. John Robertson made his home debut as Inverness manager and It was Dennis Wyness' 100th game in a row with Barry Robson making his 150th appearance. Some memorable games against Ayr, the 7 - 0 at Somerset Park a particular highlight as the promotion party got into full swing. Some team we had then though. Ahhh, nostalgia, it's not what it used to be.

Other fixtures this weekend

Raith Rovers V Dunfermline (Friday - abandoned lighting issues)

Arbroath v Partick Thistle

Hamilton v Kilmarnock

Morton v Queen of the South

Shane Sutherland is our first monthly winner of the PotY awards. He has put in some workmanlike performances and rounded off July with the vital opening goal of our League campaign against Arbroath. Not just any old goal, but a touch of class with a dinked finish from the edge of the box in an otherwise dour struggle. Manny Duku is second with Tom Walsh in third place.

Latest Team News

Inverness have had an extra week to shake off the niggles and Billy Mckay, Lewis Jamieson Sean Welsh and Aaron Doran will benefit from that. However, Wallace Duffy is still sidelined and Anthony McDonald will be a doubt. All of our graduates that signed on this season are out on loan, so that could leave us a little thin on the ground with little defensive cover.

On the face of it, Ayr look to be weaker than they were last season. Out went the likes of Dario Zanatta, Luke McCowan, Sam Roscoe, Josh Todd and of course Tom Walsh who returned to Inverness. In comes Tomi Adeloye from Barnet and a raft of Morton players, no doubt connected to David Hopkin now being the Ayr manager. They have also acquired a couple of decent loans in defender John Maxwell from Rangers and forward Jonathon Afolabi from Celtic. They still look to be short of where they want to be but put up a determined performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, so write them off at your own peril.

These guys are great.  Have a listen to The Wyness Shuffle

Jimmy Says Aye to a Killie Pie!

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— The Wyness Shuffle (@TheICTPodcast) August 18, 2021

Matchday Two

After an opening day win for the Caley Jags, we entertain Raith Rovers at the Caledonian Stadium with fans in attendance as covid restrictions begin to ease, 2000 allowed entry for this one with more to come on Monday. The game kicks-off at 3:00pm on Saturday as the joint holders of the Challenge Cup face off. Rovers began their title challenge with an incredible 4-4 draw against Hamilton Accies at the weekend with Inverness edging out Arbroath.

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With Kilmarnock beating Ayr United 2-0 on Sunday, they top the table after Matchday One. Partick were the other winners beating Queens 3-2. Morton drew with Dunfermline 2-2.

Ayr United v Arbroath

Dunfermline v Partick Thistle

Hamilton Accies v Morton

Inverness CT v Raith Rovers

Queen o.t South v Kilmarnock

Pars v Partick and Queens v Killie the pick of the games this weekend with Accies hosting Morton and Ayr hosting Arbroath.

Stat Attack

1 - 0 (A)

0 - 0 (H)

2 - 0 (H)

3 - 3 (A)

4 - 1 (H)

2 - 1 (H)

1 - 0 (H)

4 - 3 (H)

4 - 0 (A)

1 - 0 (H)

As the stats show, we have a great record against Raith Rovers both home and away. Only two defeats at home back in 1999 and 2000. Not surprising really when you consider the quality of the Raith team back then. Here's Iain Broadfoot's match report from 25th September 1999

Caley Thistle lost this game because of a dismal first half performance. They came out fighting in the second half and matched Raith well but produced no goals. Raith took the lead in the ninth minute after a Jay Stein corner from the right - Marvin Andrews rose above Mann to head downwards and into the net. In 24 minutes the second goal came courtesy of an error. Mann was too slow passing back to Fridge and Didier Agathe stepped in and he ran on and volleyed past Fridge from 20 yards. Caley Thistle hit on the occasional breakaway but to little effect. A disappointing afternoon for the home support despite a spirited fight back. Caley Thistle now slip to second bottom of Division 1.

ICTFC: Les Fridge; Richard Hastings, Ross Tokely, Mark McCulloch, Bobby Mann, Charlie Christie, Mike Teasdale, Barry Wilson, Barry Robson, Paul Sheerin, Martin Bavidge

Raith: Van DeCamp; McEwan, Ellis, Andrews, Browne, Black, Agathe, Tosh, Dargo, Burns, Stein

We opened our League campaign with an untidy but welcome victory at Gayfield. Shane Sutherland sealed the points with a tidy finish after bursting forward to chip the keeper from the edge of the box, the one piece of class and composure in a game more suited to welfare football at the Bught park.

Raith will be disappointed to only take one point from their opener after throwing away a four goal lead with only twenty-two minutes left. Vaughn (2), Zanatta and Connolly had put Rovers four up against relegated Accies, but they stunned the home support by equalising deep into time added on to snatch a point they really should not have had an earthly of getting.

Dario Zanatta with the pick of the goals. Boom!

One to be added to the Goal of the Season shortlist already?

Full highlights from yesterday's match are available on our YouTube channel here 👇https://t.co/3rhla4HULF pic.twitter.com/J07aHl0Zks

— RaithTV (@RaithTV) August 1, 2021

John McGlynn summed it up nicely on BBC Sport: "I've spoken about the rollercoaster of ups and downs during a season - I didn't expect to go through all those emotions in one game. "We could have been even further ahead as we had two one-on-ones at 4-0 up. To lose four goals in 22 minutes is extremely disappointing. It's two points chucked away. There's disbelief over how easily we lost the goals."

Latest Team News

Sean Welsh missed the opener after picking up an injury in the League Cup group A match against Stirling Albion. David Carson and Billy Mckay returned to action last week and Anthony McDonald played a few minutes against Hearts but was an unused sub last weekend. Aaron Doran has missed the last couple of weeks. Manny Duku will hopefully want to show Rovers fans what they are missing.

Here's the two Billy's

John McGlynn has assembled a squad capable of challenging for the top spot again. James Keatings is now a Rover and if he stays fit will be an asset. With the likes of Chrisophe Berra, Dario Zanatta, Aidan Connelly and Liam Dick signing on, McGlynn reckons his squad is stronger this season. They also have some loan signings, notably forward Matej Poplatnik from Livingston.