Aberdeen -V- Inverness CT - Preview
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Off down the A96 this weekend for the next SPL fixture at Pittodrie against Scottish Cup semi-finalists Aberdeen. You may well pass some of our Highland Marchers out for a stroll along the road to Aberdeen, seemingly just getting some practice in for the end of season jaunt. Nutters everyone of them!
Craig Brown has slowly but surely managed to drag his underperforming side away from the relegation battle and into a cup semi-final against struggling Hibernian. Something for the Don's fans to look forward to at least on the 14th April. It's not from playing a Barcelona style of football though. It's more like watching Cliff Thorburn playing snooker, or Gary Anderson trying to hit doubles, or even paint drying. They have been grinding out draws as if they were going out of fashion. Six draws in their last eight SPL games has hardly set the tongues wagging, a solitary 1-0 victory over relegation bound Dunfermline the only three pointer in a series of tedious encounters. They did of course see off Queen of the South in the Scottish cup by a whopping 2-1 margin, and that was after a 1-1 draw in the first game at Pittodrie. They fared better in the quarters though, knocking out high flying Motherwell at the first attempt by 2-1, with the Well getting revenge in last weeks league match.
Of course, we have little to craw about either. Two wins, three draws and three defeats leaves us with egg on our collective faces over the last eight games. From beating Hearts in an entertaining game in Inverness, we have slumped badly, so much so that if the Pars were to go on a run, then we might find ourselves in a spot of bother; surely not. Only defeat at Celtic and the home draw with Killie saw any semblance of a football side. The Killie game saw us fashion out a plethora of chances, however our strikeforce seem to be on strike, or should that be off strike as they struggle to hit the target week in week out. The glimmer of hope though is that at least we looked interested, well most of them, and the opportunities came along fast and thick, if only if only.
We have a new recruit willing to part with his observations on the Inverness rollercoaster and ajsict92 will get off the mark with this preview. The report will come courtesy of some nutters that are willing to walk to Aberdeen for fun.......strewth.
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Back to work
Terry Butcher takes us on the ever familiar journey along the A96 to pay Aberdeen a visit, the boys will surely be feeling refreshed having had a fortnight break since the 1-1 draw with Killie and hopefully the lay off will have given some of the lads who were struggling for fitness a chance to be within a shout for inclusion in the squad.
On paper Aberdeen's league form looks impressive as they are unbeaten in nine games until last weeks 1-0 defeat to Motherwell. That included snatching points off both the old firm during that run and pulling away from the threat of relegation that loomed over them for the first half of the season. However seven of the nine games have been draws, four of which have ended goalless so while the results have been coming in its safe to say that the entertainment factor has not been high on the lists of priorities. Anyone who subjected themselves to the 0-0 draw against St Johnstone on SKY SPORTS can be testament to that. Like ICT, Aberdeen also had a fairly busy month in the January transfer window with one or two eye catching additions to the playing squad. Mark Reynolds, a player Terry Butcher had his eye on in the window arrived on loan from Sheffield Wednesday and has added some much needed stability to the backline and also the acquisition of former Scotland international Gavin Rae from Dundee has added an experienced head to the midfield.
ICT seem to have been trying the winning ugly approach like Aberdeen, but it hasn't quite paid dividends as we are searching for our first win since January when we managed to overturn an unbeaten Hearts side 1-0 at home. We've only managed 4 goals in our last 8 games and probably for the first time this season we have been getting beaten in games and deserving it as opposed to just being unlucky. However, anyone who saw the Kilmarnock game two weeks ago will have seen a much improved performance in terms of desire and quality of play, but our infamous poor coversion rate has been a far too familiar tune this season and one thats become incredibly tedious in hearing. However new games bring about new possibilties and hopefully the boys will be itching to get out and impress, having been a fair amount of time since they last played. Top-Six is beyond us now so perhaps playing for their employment could be used as a motivator between now and the end of the season with several of the lads facing uncertain futures at Inverness.
The previous two encounters between the teams this season have seen both sides pick up 2-1 wins against each other. Aberdeen's first win of the season came against us back in August with Vernon and Milsom grabbing first half goals, however ICT battled back with Richie Foran reducing the deficit, (his only goal all season astonishingly), in a game that saw ICT dominate large chunks but fail to capitalise on what we created. We came off the right side of a 2-1 win against the Dons however on Christmas Eve in a game which saw two corners and two goals in the second half from Golobart and Tade with Rory Fallon coming of the bench to leave the remainder of the game rather tense for those in the stands.
ajsict92's prediction:- Like many of our previous encounters with the Dons I think this one will be tight. Aberdeen will be looking to get back to winning ways following their defeat last week and will also be looking to finish as high up the table as possible. We ourselves, will be looking to pick up our first win in 2 months and build on what was a much improved performance at home to Kilmarnock 2 weeks ago. Some of the players will be looking to impress as contract talks begin so while it may not appear there is much left to play for this season, a more in depth look shows that there actually is. For me I can't really see beyond a 1-1 draw for this one. Neither side have exactly set the heather on fire with their style of play from recent games and from our point of view we still have quite alot of our creative influence missing through injury. As long as Hibs and Dunfermline aren't winning any points we pick up are a bonus.
***Latest Team News***
Inverness are still without long term injury victims Chris Hogg and Andy Shinnie. Jonny Hayes and Kenny Gillet have returned to training but the Aberdeen game is probably too soon for them to be considered. Owain Tudur-Jones will be looking to step up his rehab after a string of late cameos for the Highlanders to build up his match sharpness and will be desperate to make a start. Aaron Doran will have benefited from the extra week off and is making progress, but again this match may come too soon for him as well. Sam Winnall showed up well against Killie and he will be looking for a piece of the action this weekend, where goals will probably be at a premium. And it's a happy birthday to Roman Golobart this week as he stepped out of the teens and into the twenty's. The big centre back scored at both ends last time out and his debut at Pittodrie was spoiled by a lapse of concentration allowing the Don's to score, but the big fellow has come on leaps and bounds since then and oozes class.
Aberdeen have youngster Fraser Fyvie out after suffering ankle ligament damage against Motherwell in the cup, although he hopes to be back for the semi-final against Hibernian. Russell Anderson also targets the cup semi as a possible comeback game for him. Stephen Hughes, Isaac Osbourne, Rob Milsom and Yoann Folly are all unavailable through injury, but the Dons have no other fresh worries for the game.
And finally, well done to Kilmarnock FC for taking Celtic down a peg or two. With Rangers being hounded by the tax man and everyone else and their dog, Celtic had expected to just turn up and receive their League Cup trophy last weekend at Hampden. Fortunately, Kilmarnock never read the script and put up stubborn resistance before Dieter Van Tornhout scored a brilliant team effort of a goal to silence the ever arrogant Celtic glory hunters. Neil Lennon's countenance was a picture. I can still see his greetin fizzog claiming for a penalty he never got .............. nothing changes there, such a shame, NOT.
The victory was tinged with sadness though as Kilmarnock midfielder Liam Kelly's father suffered a heart attack and tragically died shortly after the final whistle somewhat dampening the celebrations normally associated with with winning a national trophy.
Nearly forgot:- (how could I) Our neighbours over the bridge have all but secured their place in the SPL with both Falkirk and Dundee losing in midweek. The dream of playing with the big boys will soon become reality and they should be congratulated on their achievement, and a huge pat on the back for our ex-captain and ICT legend Grant Munro for guiding them in the right direction. It just goes to show that you can't keep a good man down.
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tm4tj in Previews 2011-12 ·
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