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Inverness CT -V- Dundee - Preview

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.............
By tm4tj in Previews 2016-17 ·

Donnie Fraser - RIP

Caley Thistle announced the passing of club director Donald (Donnie) Fraser on their official website earlier today. Donnie died at his Inverness home late on Sunday evening.
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."
"He was a regular major benefactor to this club in a range of ways before he accepted our invitation to join the board."
"As a board member, Donnie was extremely diligent and committed and his passing will leave a void at the club which will be difficult to replace. It is a tragedy that illness has robbed his family, friends, workmates and our club of Donnie's presence when he still had so much to contribute."
Richie Foran added: "Donnie will be sadly missed by us all,  players and coaches and back room staff, he was a great club man and a fantastic person. May he rest in peace."  
The club will mark his passing at this weekend's home game with Dundee FC.
By Scotty in News 2016-17 ·

Inverness CT -V- Celtic - Report

Owain Fon Williams saves the day
 
Inverness keeper Owain Fon Williams was the reason Inverness were still interested in the game as it approached the ninety minutes and a very late Alex Fisher header earned an unlikely draw. Tom Rogic had knocked home the opener but his strike was bettered by a fantastic goal from Billy King. Sloppy play in midfield led to Scott Sinclair going it alone to put the visitors ahead before the late action around the Celtic box saw substitute Fisher level.
Ross Draper was denied a penalty and a probable sending off just before Sinclair scored when he was felled on the edge of the box by Sviatchenko, but referee Don Robertson was the only man inside the ground that saw it differently.
Man of the Match Fon Williams  kept the eager Celtic attack at bay, especially in the second half, and he was aided by the woodwork on at least three occasions. Richie Foran stuck to his game plan to attack when they could, although Celtic pinned Inverness back for long spells. With Celtic unable to take advantage of their superiority, Inverness delivered the sucker punch in the final minute to earn another point which will keep us off the foot of the table.
Richie Foran made one change to his side from the one that drew at Pittodrie bringing Lonsana Doumbouya into the starting line-up. Brendan Rodgers went with a strong attacking X1 but without the injured Leigh Griffiths. Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele, Callum McGregor and Patrick Roberts all started as Celtic looked to bury the memories of Barcelona.
Inverness took the game to Celtic in the opening exchanges and Iain Vigurs had a shot blocked before Brad Mckay directed a header wide, but Celtic would respond with efforts from Cristian Gamboa and Scott Sinclair missing the target. Greg Tansey also fired one well over as the game picked up pace.
Tansey had another effort saved comfortably in the top corner of the goal by de Vries but Celtic would take the lead following this. Sviatchenko lofted a ball down the left and Kieran Tierney cut inside Liam Polworth before sending a probing ball into the box with the outside of his left peg. Tom Rogic was quickest to react and he got in front of the defender to knock the ball home from seven yards. Soft goal defensively, but well set up by the ever improving Tierney.
Lonsana Doumbouya showed some nimble feet when he turned on the edge of the box but his left footed shot lacked power and de Vries collected again. Moments later, Inverness were level. A long ball forward from the right back area was neatly transferred to Billy King by Ross Draper. Now then, Billy had plenty to do here. He was wide left some 35 yards from goal. He cut inside Gamboa before unleashing a rocket of a shot over de Vries from around 27 yards, the keeper only succeeding in helping the ball into the opposite corner of the goal. What a stunner, he really is King Billy!
Biggest talking point of the game followed soon after. Ross Draper mugged Callum McGregor on the halfway line. He burst forward to the edge of the box hotly pursued by three defenders. Sviatchenko got there first as Draper looked to protect the ball right on the edge of the box but referee Don Robertson bottled it and awarded nothing. At the very least a free kick on the line and a sending off surely. At the best a penalty and yellow card. However, Robertson saw nothing wrong. Unbelievable officiating but not surprising against the big Bhoys.
That incident was sorely punished almost immediately after a blunder by Inverness' central pairing. Josh Meekings rolled a short ball to Gary Warren on the halfway line who was caught on the back foot. Scott Sinclair gathered and raced towards the Inverness goal. We were caught short with most players upfield, and as we backed off Sinclair strode forward before curling an effort from the edge of the box round Fon Williams into the net. A good finish from the Celt, but shocking defending from the hosts. Six goals in six domestic games for Sinclair. Not a bad return from the former Aston Villa player.
Celtic controlled the last quarter of the half without threatening too much as we went back into our shell, content to give Celtic the ball but defending resolutely as Scott Brown, Rogic, Sviatchenko and Sinclair all fired attempts at goal without troubling Fon Williams. He would be busier in the second half.
Half Time 1-2
There seemed to be more purpose about Celtic in the second half and they went for the third goal that would probably end the tie as a contest. Moussa Dembele tested Fon Williams as he spun on the edge of the box but the Welsh keeper dived to his left to deny him. That was the start of the onslaught. Tierney did brilliantly to burst into the box on the left side and he lashed a shot goalwards. Fon Williams was equal to it though and pulled off a brilliant save diving high to his left. Soon after Rogic and Dembele combined to set up McGregor and his shot from eighteen yards was tipped onto the crossbar by the keeper for a hat-trick of brilliant saves. He wasn't finished yet though.
The game had now become shooting practice for Celtic and last ditch defensive tackling for Inverness. But one man stood defiant; Owain Fon Williams was simply superb. He would be helped out by the woodwork on another two occasions. 
Fon Williams pushed away a curling shot from Sinclair as the pressure mounted and it was from that corner that Sviatchenko fluffed his lines. He might have done better with a close range header that bounced off the outside of the post as our back line miraculously kept them out.
McGregor almost danced his way onto the scoresheet, but for another magnificent save from Fon Williams. McGregor waltzed through the heart of the defence and when the ball held up slightly, he tried to chip the keeper, but Fon Williams acrobatically clawed the ball away from danger. It was woodwork to the rescue as Tierney had another thunderous shot from the left side smack off the bar.
It really was backs to the wall stuff as Celtic piled on the pressure looking to exorcise the ghost of Barcelona. But Messi had morphed into Nessy and there was one more twist in this tale.
With one minute left of normal time, Inverness made one final effort and an Aaron Doran shot was deflected wide for a corner. From that corner substitute Alex Fisher made a nuisance of himself in the box as he tried to slide the loose ball towards the goal. The ball was blocked and it spun out wide to Tansey who swung over an inviting cross. Fisher was back up on his feet again and he rose high to glance a header downwards and behind de Vries for an astonishing end to a quite astonishing game.
Absolute pandemonium after the goal and delight all round as three minutes of added time came and went, but not before Fon Williams fittingly plucked another ball out of the air. He had been superb all afternoon and won't have a finer game.
Full Time 2-2
As they say, a one goal lead is a precarious one and Celtic paid the price for not getting the cushion a third goal would have offered. Celtic may count themselves unfortunate and on another day might have score six goals. But this was not another day, it was Owain Fon Williams' day and he defied belief with an exceptional display of quality goalkeeping.
Of course, it might have been oh so different had Don Robertson awarded a penalty or free kick or a sending off. The new rules indicate it could have been a penalty and a possible yellow, but that is the subject of much debate now.
 
Not difficult to pick out MotM. Owain Fon Williams take a bow. Immense display from him with at least half a dozen inspired saves. He got tremendous help from an overworked defence with Carl Tremarco once again defying the odds. The woodwork surely deserves a mention too, heroic stuff. Billy King will struggle to score a better goal in his life. Credit to Richie Foran who showed belief in his players to go for attacking options and what a great way to repay the managers faith by nodding in the leveler in the final minute. 
Celtic did not do too much wrong here apart from not putting the ball in the net often enough. In Kieran Tierney, they have a tremendous player and the Celtic front line will score plenty throughout the season. When they go forward at pace it's a wonderful footballing sight, but look what can be achieved with hard work and belief. That's three unbeaten for Inverness and off the foot of the table. Plenty to look forward to now and Dundee come North next weekend. Bring it on.
Delighted for Richie and the whole team who showed an attitude that was instilled in Foran the footballer.
Video from SPFL website https://www.youtube.com/user/splofficial
Date: 18/09/16  Venue: Caledonian Stadium, Inverness Attendance: 6061  Referee: Don Robertson
 
Inverness CT: 2
Lineup:  Fon Williams; McKay, Meekings, Warren, Tremarco, Tansey, Vigurs (Doran, 59), Polworth (Mulraney, 68), Draper, King, Doumbouya (Fisher, 81).  Subs (not used): Mackay, Raven, Boden, Cole.
Scorers: King (28), Fisher (89) Booked: Vigurs (41), Tremarco(66) Sent Off: none Celtic: 2
Lineup:  De Vries; Gamboa (Simunovic, 68), Lustig, Sviatchenko, Tierney, Brown, McGregor, Roberts (Forrest, 75), Rogic (Armstrong, 85), Sinclair, Dembele. Subs (not used): Gordon, Izaguirre, Christie, Bitton. Scorers: Rogic (17), Sinclair (34) Booked: Brown (26), Sviatchenko(90) Sent Off: none
By tm4tj in Reports 2016-17 ·

Inverness CT -V- Celtic - Preview

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.
 
 

 
By tm4tj in Previews 2016-17 ·

Aberdeen -V- Inverness CT - Report

Vigurs Screamer Rescues Point
 
A tremendous strike from Iain Vigurs earned Inverness a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie after Niall McGinn had opened the scoring soon after the break with an angled drive that found the far corner of Fon Williams' net.
Inverness came off the bottom of the table with a hard fought draw against Aberdeen, but I suspect that next weeks visitors to the Highlands will prove to be a tougher nut to crack with Celtic overwhelming the Rangers 5-1 in the first Old Firm League game since the blue teams demise some four or five years ago.
Richie Foran handed Brad Mckay his debut at right back with Alex Fisher chosen to lead the line and Lonsana Doumbouya a substitute. Jonny Hayes returned for Aberdeen but Peter Pawlett started on the bench along with new signing James Maddison.
The opening minutes were somewhat scrappy. Misplaced passes from both sides were in abundance as the ball exchanged hands, or more correctly, feet, at regular intervals.
Inverness were first to serve notice that there was a game on and when the ball came to Polworth inside the box, he smashed a shot off the top of the bar from twelve yards. That was after around fifteen minutes of slackness.
That was the nearest either side came in a cagey first half, more akin to a chess game where it ended in stalemate at the break.
Half Time 0-0
Inverness started the second on the front foot and Ross Draper was unlucky to see a volley deflected just wide as we surged forward.
However it was the Dons that opened the scoring in slightly controversial circumstances. Liam Polworth looked to be fouled in the centre of the park. Crawford Allan saw it differently and play continued as Polworth lay prostrate on the grass. The ball reached Niall McGinn wide on the left and he stepped inside before hitting a low drive right across the keeper from a wide angle but the ball nestled in the bottom corner to give the Dons the lead. That was a goal that came out of the blue and it unsettled the visitors for a while.
Wes Burns showed his pace as he drove at the Caley Jags defence which had parted momentarily, but his shot went wide with others expecting a pass. Vigurs was robbed outside his own penalty box and Adam Rooney almost replicated the opening goal. This time, Fon Williams read the script and dived headlong to keep the ball out as the Dons started to turn the screw.
But, as we showed last week, we are not beaten until the fat lady sings. Draper won a tussle in the midfield and when the ball came to Vigurs some twenty five yards out, he crashed an unstoppable shot off the underside of the bar, despite the acrobatics of keeper Lewis. What a strike, as Arthur Montford would say, he absolutely blootered the ball into the top corner.
Aberdeen upped the pressure in the final ten minutes looking for a winner but our defence held firm reasonably comfortable apart from one final push from the hosts where the ball was not cleared properly but Meekings was on hand to keep the ball out.
Full Time 1-1
A well deserved share of the points and you will be hard pushed to see a better goal than Iain Vigurs effort. Although statistics will show that there were few shots on target, this was always an intriguing contest with plenty of wee cameo roles going on. We looked fairly solid at the back for most of the game and the midfield competed well. If any criticism can be given, then we lacked the defence splitting pass and gave away possession too easily in the final third. However, a point at Pittodrie is not to be scoffed at and we would have taken that prior to kick off.
Video from https://www.youtube.com/user/splofficial
Brad Mckay put in a decent shift on his debut and will be difficult to drop on that performance. Fon Williams was more assured as were the whole back line and the middle men kept the Aberdeen play-makers quiet. Alex Fisher battled tirelessly with little service and it was great to have Doran on the park showing flashes of sublime control and the bustling style from Doumbouya will reap rewards throughout the season.
Plenty to look forward to for the rest of the season and Celtic will be prudent to be wary of us next week, despite everyone writing us off.
Only downside at Pittodrie was the local stewards getting heavy handed with some young upstarts just after we scored. Cromwellian attitudes are alive and well at Pittodrie.
Date: 10/09/16  Venue: Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Attendance: 11,356  Referee: Crawford Allan
 
Aberdeen: 1 
Lineup:  Lewis, Logan, O'Connor, Taylor, Considine, Shinnie (Maddison 33), Burns (Pawlett 77), McGinn, Hayes (Stockley 84) McLean, Rooney. Subs (not used): Alexander, Storie, Storey McKenna. Scorers: McGinn (51) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1
Lineup:  Fon Williams, B Mckay, Warren, Meekings, Tremarco, Tansey, Polworth, Draper, King (Horner 90+4), Vigurs (Doran 75), Fisher (Doumbouya 63) Subs (not used): C Mackay, Raven, Mulraney, Boden. Scorers:  Vigurs (68) Booked: Tansey (31) Tremarco (45), King (45+1) Sent Off: none
By tm4tj in Reports 2016-17 ·

Aberdeen -V- Inverness CT - Preview

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!
By tm4tj in Previews 2016-17 ·

Inverness -V- St Johnstone - Report

The Season has started
 

Inverness beat St Johnstone 2-1 with a Josh Meekings goal in time added on to kill off a stubborn Perth outfit. 
It might not have been the best strike Meekings has ever hit, but the important thing here is that the ball ended up in the net and we have finally got our season off and running. With challenging games ahead after the international break, this was a vital win to lift the fans, players and Richie Foran alike.
Ross Draper rose highest in the box to crash a header home, but that goal was cancelled out by a thunderous strike from Richard Foster before the scrambulated (there's that word again) winner after the ninety. 
Manager Richie Foran promised a couple of changes and he was bold enough to do just that. Dropping to the bench were Scott Boden, Jake Mulraney and David Raven. In came Alex Fisher, Billy King and Lewis Horner. New signing Lonsana Doumbouya was on the bench also and he would make his debut late in the game. 
Tommy Wright had Murray Davidson on the bench, but he would replace Blair Alston at the interval and the dangerous Danny Swanson was looking for his eigth goal of the season playing wide left.
A typically meagre crowd for what has been historically dour affairs saw St Johnstone kick off on a bright and pleasant day for a game of football, the crowd bolstered by Paul Gablonski all the way from down under and wee Ava hoping to see Inverness beat St Johnstone this time.
Staright from the kick off, you could sense that this was going to be be an open game played with pace and a bit of freneticism thrown in. And it was as we took the game to the visitors from the off. Alan Mannus made the first of many saves from a Gary Warren header as we pressed for an opener, and Danny Swanson was drifting past defenders at the other end, creating havoc along our back line but missing the vital telling cross that would create the chances.
The heavily criticised Owain Fon Williams had to look spritely to stop a Steven Anderson header as the Super J's began to get to grips with the game and as play opened out Liam Polworth went close with a shot from outside the box, unfortunately the ball always just the wrong side of the post.
Mannus saved headers from Ross Draper and Alex Fisher in quick succession as we continued to take the game to St Johnstone, but Chris Kane fired over at the other end with the goal gaping. Iain Vigurs, Billy King and Alex Fisher all went close with Mannus required to save two of the three attempts as the game raced towards the interval, but try as they might, Inverness were unable to get the ball behind Mannus who was largely responsible for the 0-0 scoreline at the break.
Half Time 0-0
The chances kept coming after the break and Fisher fired over from the angle. A goal was coming as we kept pressing forward and a cracker it was too, just before the hour.
Billy King drew a foul and a booking from David Wotherspoon and from the resultant free kick, Ross Draper wanted the ball most and he powered a header beyond Mannus for the opening goal. No more than we deserved really.
St Johnstone forays forward were becoming rarer, but in one such attack, Murray Davidson headed wide from a decent position. A warning that the visitors were still very much in the game. St Johnstone sub Graham Cummins was seeing plenty of the ball now as the visitors sensed they might snatch an unlikely draw. He had fired a free kick just over then Williams had to save a header from him.
Wright's men were given some hope though when out of the blue, Foster bludgeoned a shot home with the keeper well beaten with over ten minutes remaining. That goal sparked Foran into action and soon after Lonsana Doumbouya entered the scene. He is slightly ungamely, but looks like he will cause problems with his height and power. Boden and Mulraney joined him on the park soon after as Richie layed all his cards on the table, going for all three points.
Boden brought Mannus into action again and MotM Ross Draper shot narrowly past before testing Mannus with a header. That looked to be it as the clock reached the ninety, but a minute into time added on, Josh Meekings jabbed the ball home after a scrambulation on the goal line when it looked as though the bobbling ball would not fall kindly for us, but persistence paid off and it eventually found the back of the net from Meekings' toe.
Mulraney almost added a third as he broke forward with Saints trying to salvage a point, but he sliced his shot at pace as he drove into the box and it went high, wide and not very handsomely into the North Stand.
Full Time 2-1
A highly entertaining game with both sides giving it a go. You could see what it meant to the players as they broke their duck. Massive celebrations in the corner of the stadium after the goal and relief all round. Richie Foran was delighted to get off the mark as you can see with his match reaction here, talking to Davie, who is showing a tremendous appetite for this interviewing lark.
Lewis Horner did brilliantly coming in at right back and shows plenty of promise when going forward. Fon Williams looked much more assured as his Euro holiday fades into the past. The whole back line worked tirelessly and did a great job of eventually shackling Danny Swanson. Greg Tansey looks as though he is still holding something in reserve and Vigurs and Polworth were good in flashes. Striking has been a problem area but I thought Alex Fisher led the line well and all the substitutes played their part when they came on. But for sheer industry and his goal, Ross Draper was head and shoulders above everyone else and is my MotM.
So, international break coming up, then away to the Dons and home to Celtic after that. Tough games ahead, but nobody said it was going to be easy. However, a weight was lifted off the shoulders yesterday and it should set us up nicely for the rest of the season. Foran is still trying to add a couple of players and that should be good enough to see us start to climb the table.
Onwards and upwards!

Here's Davie talking to match winner Josh Meekings after his screamer.......
 
Footage of game from SPFL website
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Inverness CT - 2 - Draper (59) Meekings (90 + 1)
Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (Boden 84), Tansey, Horner, Fisher (Doumbouya 82), King (Mulraney 85).
Subs not used: Esson, Raven, Doran, Sutherland.
Booked: Draper (67)
St Johnstone: - 1 - Foster (79)
Mannus, Alston (Davidson 46), Anderson, MacLean, Wotherspoon, Swanson, Shaughnessy, Paton (Craig 67), Foster, Easton, Kane (Cummins 63).
Subs not used: Clark, Millar, Coulson, Gordon.
Booked: Wotherspoon (58)
Referee: Stephen Finnie.
Attendance: 2729.
 
 
By tm4tj in Reports 2016-17 ·

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