Skip to content

Articles

Our website articles
Show all categories

Gringo

Teaser Paragraph:
Â
On the road to recovery at last?
For the first time this season, Gringo's Gossip come's to you from the comfort of 9th in the table. Although for any pessimists amongst you, 9th probably doesn't seem all that comfortable at all.
Looking at recent performances our beloved Caley Thistle have been doing not too bad. The team were exceptional in the huge 6-3 demolition of Kilmarnock, held their own with 10-men against Motherwell, and despite playing against '14-men' (Jonny Hayes' words, not mine) as well as being wrongly reduced to 10, were very unfortunate not to get at least a point against Celtic. All was topped off nicely by taking all 3-points off St Mirren, a result that saw us move off the bottom as other results also went our way.
The supporters have been pretty evenly split when it comes to pressing the panic button. Some had done so after just a few games of the season, citing Terry's decision to release so many players in summer as their main (or even sole) reason for our poor run. I, like others, was of the belief that we would come good eventually, particularly considering the long injury list and bad luck that we'd suffered in the first third of the campaign. Low and behold, Jonny Hayes and Chris Hogg have returned from injuries, Meekings and Gillet are back too and have given added options to the back line and even Andrew Shinnie and Richie Foran, of whom I'd given stick in the past, have started to perform better.
But are some people's hands still hovering over that 'panic button'? I certainly think so.
Despite the good performances, the reduced injury list and being off the bottom, the league table still see's Inverness sit just 2 points off the bottom of the league. Only Dunfermline have a worse goal difference than ourselves and we have still failed to keep a clean sheet in all of our 17 matches thus far. In fact we are currently conceding an average of 2 goals per game, and that really is a concern.
Being positive though, the future is starting to look good for ICT. Players that once stood out for all the wrong reasons are now all of a sudden becoming regular starters and even fans' favorites. Andrew Shinnie, David Davis and even Richie Foran has turned a corner. Hayes has slotted in fantastically well around a somewhat unfamiliar midfield to what he may have been used to before his injury troubles, and as I said earlier, the introduction of Hogg, Meekings and Gillet at the back has given Terry and Mo new options at the back.
Away from our performances on the park, there is one issue off the park that kept me away from my only possible home fixture since the last Gringo's Gossip. That issue is the match-day stewarding at games featuring the Old Firm. Having read some posters comments after the Rangers fixture earlier in the season, as well as experiencing these games myself in the past, I made a promise to myself not to go to a game involving the Old Firm until the stewarding at these matches was fair. The novelty of having these two giants of Scottish Football playing at TCS has long disappeared, yet the stewarding remains the same. Fans in opposing colours sitting in the home end, a lack of stewarding in the away end, and constant religious or offensive chanting that, in my opinion, has no place in football.
It's for this reason that I decided to take in a 'proper' football match involving County. (And no, it wasn't that lot over the bridge, before you ask).
It was Nairn County of the Highland League, just 7 miles from my family home out in Ardersier. Knowing Gringo Senior was up the road from Coventry for the weekend, we decided to take on a bit of early Highland March training and watch the Highland League spectacle at Station Park, Nairn. A bargain at just £7 per adult (or £3 for children and OAP's) we were not to be disappointed.
Capital Caley also missed the big match to join us on our jaunt to and from Nairn, but before we set off, a cup draw was to be conducted for those who play '10p Bowling'. A camera was on hand to video the event and Gringo and I had already been busy getting some old Christmas Baubles transformed into 'draw balls' - complete with names inserted - ready for the event. BA oversaw the draw to ensure there was no cheating, and the video was posted 'live' (upon uploading) to the '10p Bowling' facebook page.Â
Those that don't yet play the game really are missing some cracking banta!Â
We set off via Fort George and the back roads to Nairn in decent weather, chatting football with a hint of random-ness. Score Mobile and the Sky Sports app's on our phones were on hand to update us on the goings on at TCS, and we made it in time to catch the last half an hour on the pub's tv screens. The bar was busier than we expected - packed out with fans of Lossiemouth FC - and despite the 2-0 defeat to Celtic, we were all looking forward to our Highland League adventure.
Fans of both sides were in good voice and the game was electric from the start. Gringo, Capital, Flymo and myself stood on the grass terrace enjoying our experience. One lonely steward would occasionally walk by picking up litter (and flymo's newly purchased sausage roll), and children were running around the grass embankment enjoying their day. This really is how I wish a matchday would be, even in the SPL - IE, enjoyable. Nairn took a 2-0 lead at the break with Lossie equalising early in the second half. 3-3 the final score, and I think the woodwork could still be shaking from a bullet shot from 25 yards by Lossie in the first half.
Unfortunately there are so many rules and regulations surrounding ground standards and the control of supporters that I can't see Old Firm match days at TCS improving any time soon. Having said that, performances have been good overall and are slowly improving, and it has to be said that, in general, all other match days tend to go without a hitch. I will always go to games when I can so that I can support my team, but after my experience at Station Park, I think I'll possibly repeat my trips to a Highland League encounter whenever Rangers or Celtic come to town.
I'll finish this edition by wishing all my fellow CTO users and everyone at TCS a Merry Christmas and we'll see you in the New Year. 'Mon the Caley Jags!!!
By tm4tj in Gringo ·

St Mirren -V- Inverness CT - Report

Inverness tough it out for three points
 
Caley Thistle finally managed to claw themselves off the bottom of the table with a hard fought win in Paisley.
A first half goal from Andrew Shinnie and a second half strike from Jonny Hayes saw to that although it could have been a case of deja vu if Ryan Esson had not made a save on the line deep into second half injury time.
Our scribe today is Proctor, and without further ado, we let him take up the story ......
Terry Butcher’s tactical gamble paid off at New St Mirren Park as the Caley Jags claimed maximum points to leapfrog three teams to 9th place.
Butcher opted for a formation that saw three players up front, including Billy McKay in place of Gregory Tade.
Before the start of the game there was a minute’s applause for the Wales Manager Gary Speed who died tragically last Sunday.
03/12/11 St Mirren Park, Paisley St Mirren 1 - Thompson (45) TEAM: Samson, Mair (Barron 46), McAusland, Tesselaar, Haddad, Goodwin, Mclean, Teale (Carey 74), Thompson, McGowan, Hasselbaink (McShane 74) SUBS: Smith, van Zanten, McKee, Mooy Booked: none Sent Off: none I.C.T. 2 - A.Shinnie (11), Hayes (69) TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Hogg. Golobart, Gillet, Hayes, Tansey, A.Shinnie, Davis, Foran (Cox 85), McKay (Tade 85) SUBS: Tuffey, G.Shinnie, Ross, Morrison, Sutherland Booked: Davis (63), Gillet (80) Sent Off: none Referee Euan Norris Attendance 3675 The early stages of the game went in the Buddy’s favour, St Mirren were granted an early free kick, Kenny McLean crossed the ball into the box which failed to connect with anyone
Four minutes into the game Nigel Hasselebaink worked his way into the Caley Thistle box but was forced to sky the ball over cross-bar, Hasselebaink would continue to look menacing, forcing Ryan Esson out of his box three minutes later.
The young Dutchman was not the only St Mirren player to trouble ICT early on. Striker Steven Thompson nearly scored from a corner at the seven minute mark. Early signs showed the Highlander’s defence may struggle in the manner they have all season.
The Caley Jags were soon able to breathe easier as Jonny Hayes nicked the ball from St Mirren’s Marc MacAusland and passed to Andrew Shinnie in the box. Shinnie slotted the ball past Craig Samson for his sixth goal of the season via a neat step-over from the alert McKay.
ICT showed signs of class. At the 36th minute mark Ross Tokely looked keen to score two weeks in a row, having grabbed a consolation goal at Tynecastle, the defender sent a shot high and wide after a silky piece of play. Much to the dismay of the home support who booed Tokely for much of the game. Greg Tansey and Billy McKay would have their respective chances before the end of the first half. Tansey’s shot would strike the advertising boards while McKay would hit the side netting.
St Mirren’s Jeroen Tesselarr would force Ryan Esson to knock the ball over the bar for a corner before half-time, showing the Saints were still in the game as the end of the half approached. They would claw back into the game with the last kick of the half as Steven Thompson converted an inswinging Teale corner into his 6th goal of the season.  In reality, this was sloppy defending once more as Thompson was left on his own to nod home. All square going into half time, something that Saint's barely merited.
Half Time 1-1
During the interval the weather in Paisley seriously deteriorated. Heavy rain seemed to affect the playing surface.
Caley Thistle’s Billy MacKay had an early chance in the second half. The Northern Irishman picked up a Kenny Gillett cross only to send it left of the post.
Steven Thompson was keen to bag another goal. Ryan Esson was forced to spill his shot in the first five minutes of the half. It wouldn’t take long for Ryan Esson to be tested again as he tip a long range Gary Teale free-kick over the bar.
Jonny Hayes would net the winner for Inverness in the 69th minute. The Irishman drove the ball into the left hand corner from outside the box after some tidy interplay from Shinnie, Tansey and Davis. With 20 minutes left in the game, the Highlanders needed to hold on.
The remainder of the game was rather lacklustre. Gary Teale was replaced by Graham Carey in the 75th minute for St Mirren. While Billy McKay and Richie Foran were replaced by Gregory Tade and Lee Cox. St Mirren’s attempts to score an equaliser were futile. There closest chance came through a Steven Thompson header.  A late flurry from the home side came to nothing as the Inverness defence coped comfortably with a spate of crosses and corners and held on for a deserved three points.
Full Time 1-2
Despite Thompson’s impressive performance. The Buddies recorded their second loss in a row. Inverness grabbed a valuable win but have still not kept a clean sheet all season. The bottom six now looks to be exceedingly competitive. 
No match highlights found
By tm4tj in Reports 2011-12 ·

St Mirren -V- Inverness CT - Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
Saints versus Sinners
Inverness head to Scotlands largest town this saturday for an SPL fixture that has in the past proved to be a testing encounter. 
Yes, it's the home of the Paisley Pattern, Paisley Panda and Saint Mirrin, the Irish monk. 
More recent Buddies are the late great Gerry Rafferty, Paolo Nutini, Kenneth McKellar and Kelly Marie; she of  'Feels Like I'm In Love' fame.  A diverse lot indeed.
I suppose the monk kind of gives it away, It's St Mirren in Paisley this weekend and points are now starting to get more precious as the weeks slip by and clean sheets are like good singers on X-Factor.
Inverness were the sinners last weekend as another week slipped by without a clean sheet and boss Terry Butcher is at his wits end as to how to stop the rot.  Kenny Gillet and Gregory Tade felt the wrath of the Butcher as he bemoaned lapses at either end of the park.  Gillet posted missing for Hearts first goal and Tade not taking full advantage of another one-on-one with a keeper.  There is a fine line between success and failure and with Inverness, Butcher sees no middle ground as more points went abegging.  Disappointing result when you consider the way the entire team played at Kilmarnock a couple of weeks earlier.  All of this has prompted Butcher to challenge his players to shape up or ship out as the January transfer window beckons, Ross Tokely being the only defender to escape criticism after the Hearts defeat.
Saints were on the wrong end of a drubbing last weekend as Celtic went nap.  The battle of the Lennon's ended as a contest within the hour as Celtic went four up before rising starlet Dylan McGeouch scored a superb individual goal as the eighteen year old dribbled past the entire Paisley defence and their fans before slotting home the goal of the game.  St Mirren's defending was woeful at times and they could have had no complaints if Celtic had reached double figures.
All of this however pales into insignificance as news of  the death of Welsh soccer legend Gary Speed rocked the footballing world.  A young man with everything to live for has been driven to take his own life and leave behind his devastated family and friends.  Football has sadly lost one of the nicest guys you could meet and you will struggle to find anyone who had a bad word to say about him.  His family, likeability, positive future and esteemed position in life were not enough though, and for whatever reason he decided to leave this world at the age of 42. 
RIP Gary Speed MBE, 08/09/1969 - 27/11/2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Proctor is our previewer for this game as both sides try to get back on track.............................
Inverness Caledonian Thistle travel to New St Mirren Park hoping to finally leave the foot of the table.
Last week The Caley Jags were minutes from climbing above 11th Placed Aberdeen in the SPL Table. A tremendous comeback by the Dons to draw 3-3 against Dunfermline coupled with an Eggert Jonsson winner for Hearts ensured the Highlanders were still holding up the league.
Despite ICT’s 2-1 loss at Tynecastle last weekend, they will consider themselves fortunate when comparing themselves to their opponent’s most recent score-line.
Danny Lennon took his St Mirren side to Parkhead last Saturday where they were demolished 5-0 by an efficient Celtic side. The Paisley side will be keen to bounce back and show that result was a minor blip in their push for top six football.
Inverness have their own defensive issues, having not kept a clean sheet all season. This week Terry Butcher read the riot act to the defence saying they had five weeks to save their skin.
Both Caley Thistle’s Terry Butcher and St Mirren’s Danny Lennon have recently extended their respective contracts and with just 8 points separating 6th placed St Mirren and 12th placed Inverness CT, a lot can change in a few games and neither side can afford to lose on Saturday.
Stats:- Inverness hold a slight advantage over Paisley in this fixture with three wins to two from eight SPL games.  Both sides have score eleven goals with the 3-3 draw last season being the highest scoring one.  Highest victory margin was a 2-0 win for Saint's in December 2008.
Team News St Mirren’s injury worries David Barron and Aaron Mooy both appeared on the bench against Celtic with Barron playing half an hour at Parkhead. Danny Lennon mentioned in a recent interview for the St Mirren site that Hugh Murray is also nearing full fitness. Could any of these three feature on Saturday?
Inverness CT’s two long term injury worries Aaron Doran (shoulder surgery) and Owain Tudor-Jones (knee cartilage surgery) are making good progress with their respective ailments. Both have resumed light training but will not feature on Saturday.
Memorable Game:- 9th February 2008 – St Mirren 1 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1
Having recently lost 3-0 at Easter Road to Hibernian in the Scottish Cup, Inverness were desperately seeking their 1000th competitive goal in the clubs 14 year history. Caley Thistle legend Grant Munro netted the monumental goal in the 28th minute. The Buddies would pull one back through Billy Mehmet (now at Perth Glory in Australia). This was to be one of the last meetings between the two sides at the historic Love Street Stadium.
Key Players Steven Thompson (St Mirren) – You can take your pick as to which Steven Thompson to watch. One is a midfielder, the other is a striker. Steven Thompson the striker has scored five goals for his club so far this season making him St Mirren’s top goal scorer.
Andrew Shinnie (Inverness CT) – The Caley Jag’s new arrival is proving to be a valuable addition to the squad. Shinnie looked dangerous against Hearts last Saturday and scored his first career hat-trick in a thrilling 6 – 3 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park a few weeks ago.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
***Latest Team News***
Inverness gaffer Terry Butcher has welcomed news that Welshman Owain Tudur-Jones and Aaron Doran are starting to train but both are some way off from a return to action.  David Proctor and Josh Meekings are doubts after suffering knocks at Hearts.  Ross Tokely dislocated a finger at Tynecastle, no doubt wagging it at the floundering defenders round about him, but will be able to play this weekend.  The time could be right for Lee Cox to return to the starting eleven as Butcher looks to protect his fragile back four from shipping more goals.  Striker Billy (who?) Mckay is eager to start after scoring a couple of goals in a closed doors game against Ross County, which the ICT eleven won 3-0, Ryan Watson being the other scorer.
Butcher has played down misfiring GregoryTade's press boast that Inverness are better than the other strugglers saying : "It's alright talking about what we're going to do. What matters is regularly getting points on the board."
St Mirren are looking to bounce back after last weeks thrashing at the hands of Celtic, and were hoping to re-assess their squad, but Danny Lennon had to call off the midweek bounce game with Hibs due to the inclement weather.  Midfielder Steven Thomson has a calf injury and misses out along with long term absentee Darren McGregor.  Hugh Murray is close to a comeback after knee surgery.  Other than that, Lennon has no fresh injuries to contend with.
tm4tj Prediction:-  Most of these games are very tight with only one goal separating the sides on all but one of their SPL contests.  This has all the makings of a low scoring draw and a point each will no do us any harm.
Other SPL News
Friday Night Soccer again this week and Motherwell could keep Hibs new manager Pat Fenlon winless and still in the relegation zone if they can beat the struggling capital side.  Hibs had announced in midweek that Billy Brown would be staying on as number two for new manager Fenlon.
Celtic have closed the gap to four points on leaders Rangers who lost 1-0 at Kilmarnock last weekend.  As their SPL aspirations soared, they were taken back down to earth when they lost 0-1 to Atletico Madrid in their Europa League encounter in Glasgow.
Minor League stuff:- Ross County continued on their merry way with another three points in their quest for SPL action.  Nine points clear at the top of the first division and eight straight wins see the distinct possibility of SPL action looming larger than life itself.  Let's hope they get those seats in place pronto.
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2011-12 ·

Hearts -V- Inverness CT - Report

Hearts end their goal drought to pip Inverness
 
Second half goals from Rudi Skacel and Eggert Jonsson were enough to see off a determined Caley Thistle at a windy Tynecastle, where Ross Tokely had replied for the visitors.
Andrew Shinnie had rattled the Hearts rigging after 17 minutes but the score remained blank at half-time.
The home side were ahead in the first minute of the second half from a tight angle before the visitors scored a close range header twelve minutes later, but the winner came after Jonsson was on hand to nod home a Templeton cross in the 76th minute to keep all three points in the capital. Jonny Hayes missed a great opportunity for Inverness to earn a draw but lifted his strike over the bar as Hearts held on for the win.
Alternative Maryhill will provide us with a full match report when he gets back from the game......................He's back
They came in their dozens, from as far apart as Wick and Southampton, in the hope of witnessing the real start of the ICT revival that the Kilmarnock game promised but the Celtic game postponed. They left disappointed; but then, away days are always about more than just the football, and for someone who had been tucked up in bed by ten o’ clock the night before, witnessing the scene on the 11 o’clock train from Glasgow to Edinburgh was particularly entertaining: four or five pink-eyed, very hungover ICT supporters attempting to self-medicate with Buckfast and budget vodka; one not quite managing and reacquainting himself with his morning fry-up; muted outrage in the surrounding seats. ICT supporters: bringing restraint and decorum to the central belt for seventeen years... The pre-match venue for most was, as usual, the Diggers: a proper pub that has the advantage of being only five minutes from Tynecastle, which means you can stay there until ten to three and just stroll down to the game. Yesterday promised to be even easier: instead of having to buy a ticket in advance at the ticket office, we were assured that we would be able to pay at the gate. When we arrived at the ground, however, we discovered that Hearts had taken the notion of pay at the gate a bit too literally and opened a single cash turnstile. And despite the earlier facetious comment about ‘dozens’, this was certainly ICT’s best away support of the season, and so it took some time to get them through the gate. The first ten minutes of the game, therefore, are missing from this report as I was still outside the ground during them. It didn’t sound like a great deal was happening, however, and BBC live text seems to confirm that this was the case.
26/11/11 Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh Hearts 2 - Skacel (46), Jonsson (76) TEAM: Kello, Webster, Obua, McGowan, Zaliukas, Hamill, Jonsson, Templeton, Stevenson (Mrowiec 46), Skacel, Sutton (Taouil 80) SUBS: MacDonald, Elliott, Novikovas, Smith, Robinson Booked: Jonsson (3), Skacel (46) Sent Off: none I.C.T. 1 - Tokely (58) TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Hogg, Gillet, Meekings (Proctor 73), Hayes, Tansey, A.Shinnie (Ross 83), Davis, Foran, Tade (Sutherland 90) SUBS: Tuffey, G.Shinnie, Cox, Chippendale Booked: Tokely (14) Sent Off: none Referee Craig Thomson Attendance 12,021 As predicted, with Greg Tansey’s red card having been overturned, Terry Butcher started with the team that had played against Celtic, and for much of the first half they played brightly and with purpose, having plenty of possession and passing the ball about well. As against Celtic, however, there were few clear-cut chances created and two of the best came in quick succession. On seventeen minutes, a powerful Andrew Shinnie shot from outside the penalty area cannoned off the junction of bar and post, then on twenty minutes, after Marius Zaliukas had given away possession, Jonny Hayes played Tade through to go one-on-one with Kello. Rather than trying to round the ‘keeper, Tade shot early and Kello blocked with his legs. Hearts at this stage looked unimaginative and rather unmotivated and even when chances fell to them they looked a little half hearted: just before the half-hour mark Ryan Stevenson had two opportunities, but fired the first weakly at Esson and the second high over the bar. Just after the half-hour mark there was a moment of some controversy when the referee awarded a drop ball after having stopped play for an injury to a Hearts player. The ICT players seemed to assume Hearts would simply play the ball back to Esson, and therefore did not contest the drop ball, but instead David Templeton continued playing and managed to get a shot away which, fortunately, Esson saved without much difficulty. Between this point and the half-time whistle, ICT probably played the better football, with Jonny Hayes and Andrew Shinnie swapping positions and Hayes, in particular using the ball very well. Real penetration, however, remained elusive and it was Hearts who continued to have the clearer chances, albeit mostly long-range shots that Esson dealt easily with. Half time came with the score at 0-0, and on the basis of the first forty-five minutes very few people would have been surprised had it remained the same until full time.
Half Time 0-0 That was not to be the case, however. ICT came out of the traps at the start of the second half and went straight into attack, only to lose possession and watch helplessly as a long diagonal ball was knocked on to Skacel, in about a square mile of space on the right hand side of the field, and he fired the ball past Esson from just inside the penalty area. ICT tried to respond quickly and after turning well inside the box on a lay-off from Hayes, Shinnie managed to get away a shot that went over the bar. There was a lack of imagination in some of the attacks, however, with the defence reverting to long balls that were either dealt with easily, or that the forwards were unable to do anything with, one example being Foran struggling to get onto a crossfield pass from Meekings on around 50 minutes. At the other end, David Templeton fired in a couple of shots, the first saved by Esson, the second blocked by Tokely, then twelve minutes into the second half Hayes was blatantly blocked by Eggert Jonsson near the right hand touchline, giving ICT a free kick. Hayes sent a looping ball into the box: it was met by Tokely, stooping to get to the ball ahead of Webster, and he nodded it past Kello from about five yards. Hearts 1, Caley Thistle 1. It might have been hoped that having got back into the game when they did not look at their best, the Inverness players would have been able to push on and try to dominate the game, but instead the quality of play remained poor and possession was wasted by both sides. ICT’s best moment came in 67 minutes when Andrew Shinnie, probably the team’s most threatening player, got away from the defender manhandling him and sent in a fierce shot that Kello did well to parry. The rebound fell to Jonny Hayes but he fired the ball over the bar. On 72 minutes ICT right back Josh Meekings, who had had a fine game, was substituted, apparently suffering from a dead leg, and David Proctor came on. Just three minutes later, Hearts were ahead again. John Sutton’s shot from 20 yards was brilliantly tipped round the post by Esson, but from the short corner, David Templeton sent in a pacy cross and Eggert Jonsson, completely unmarked in the box, headed in at close range. 2-1 Hearts, with question marks over the Inverness defending yet again. After the goal, ICT continued to try to muster up some attacks, but there seemed to be something half-hearted about their play from this point onwards. Nick Ross replaced Shinnie on 80 minutes – a curious decision, as Shinnie, along with Hayes, was the team’s most creative influence throughout, while Tansey, who might just as easily have been replaced, had been virtually anonymous . Ross was unable to make much impact, and nor was the final sub, Shane Sutherland, although this was unsurprising as he did not replace Tade until the game was entering injury time: another rather odd decision. The game petered out with little in the way of goalmouth action, and the ICT supporters filtered out, to return to the four corners of the UK disappointed but unfortunately not entirely surprised by the result.
Full Time 2-1
The news coming though from East End Park of Aberdeen’s two late goals meant that ICT were now on their own at the bottom of the league; but on the plus side, it means Dunfermline as well as Aberdeen and Hibs are still within touching distance. Next week against St Mirren becomes a big game now, however: despite their promising start to the season, this is a team we have proven we can beat, and they suffered a hammering at the hands of Celtic yesterday that will hopefully have sapped their confidence a little. If we lose that one, though, we will have to start wondering who we are going to pick up points against. Hopefully we can take another decent support there, get behind the team, and this time start to see our season turn round.
 
No match highlights found, meh!
By tm4tj in Reports 2011-12 ·

Hearts -V- Inverness CT - Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
Battle of the reds at Tynecastle   
It's off to the capital this weekend as in the red Hearts take on red card Inverness.
Vladimir Romanov has slapped a £50m price tag on the maroons allegedly, and when asked again he retorted "that's five zero"; let's hope that's not the scoreline this Saturday.
Inverness were involved in headlines themselves after last weekends game with Celtic when bemused midfielderGreg Tansey was sent packing after challenging for a high ball with Celtic's Greek striker Georgios Samaras.  This was the third controversial sending off for the Caley Jags this season, and each one has cost the club dearly in terms of points lost.  Greg's alleged crime was for elbowing the Greek, in the opinion of referee Steven O'Reilly, who was the only person in front of a few million watchers who saw the incident that way.  It was no more than a careless challenge as Tansey's finger tips caressed the hirsute Samaras' cheek and long flowing locks, ooerr Greg, steady on.
Inverness fan Donnie Matheson of D&E Coaches felt so aggrieved by this decision he contacted the club and offered to pay the costs of an appeal to help offset any outlay incurred, a fantastic gesture from this committed fan, even from his sunbed in Lanzarote.
The appeal was discussed on Thursday by the beaks at Hampden, and knock me down with a feather, but it was successful as referee O'Reilly agreed with the rest of the world that he had made an error, having seen footage that vindicated Tansey.  This means that Greg will be free to play if selected at Tynecastle and he never even received a yellow for the challenge...... nuff said. 
However, let's just be happy that this dream that Yngwie had never materialised:-  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
The SFA is delighted to confirm that the red card issued to the player will not be overturned, and our only regret is that we can’t somehow pin this one on Ross Tokely. And believe me, we tried.  The referee’s match report noted that the Highland thug launched a rapid and unprovoked assault on poor Georgios Samaras comprising an elbow in the face, followed by a double uppercut, a karate kid style crane kick and then to add insult to injury, a humiliating wedgie. Brave Georgios was miraculously able to continue with the game after only a few minutes rolling around clutching his battered face.  The speed of the attack on Samaras was too fast to be properly recorded by any recording equipment present at the crappy little ground, but still images captured clearly show Tansey “looking at him in a funny way” followed a few seconds later by the victim having more than one hair out of place. The referee has provided some crayon sketches to fill the gaps, which conclusively prove his version of events. 
On the plus side, one of our forum users was almost added to the beaks committee.........We also considered an application to join the panel from a Mr DalneighCaley, but internet research revealed his opinions on the incident were far too sympathetic and reasoned to be suitable for us. But we did like his point that Butcher himself used the term “assault” and gave him a much needed green dot. Blimey, that poor fella’s picked up more reds than ICT.  (any similarity to persons and events elsewhere are purely coincidental and nobody was injured in the making of this dream).........ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Wake up Yngwie!
It's all happening down Tynecastle way just now.  Players not being paid on time, hints at a player cull being on the horizon and news that Romanov will sell the club or take on a new investment partner, have unsettled the Hearts fans.  All this in the face of a £33m tax bill does not make for encouraging reading for the rest of Scottish Football.  When clubs like Hearts are struggling to make ends meet, it's comforting to know that some are willing to live within their means to achieve relative success. 
Success is what you make of it, expectations are a dangerous thing and failure to meet expectations can ruin a club.
Some light relief was unveiled for the 7th of January as Inverness received the Parfect draw in the Scottish Cup 4th round.  The only all SPL tie as they were paired with fellow SPL strugglers Dunfermline Athletic.  Oh well, at least it is a home tie, but after witnessing the performance against the Pars in the last SPL game in Inverness, not a forgone conclusion that we will overcome them in the Cup.  Contrast this with Junior Football side Auchinleck Talbot being Hearts opponents at Tynecastle:  Aye, that's the romance of the Scottish Cup.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alternative Maryhill tries his hand at his first Tynecastle preview and has plenty of ammo to whet your appetite.....
 Heart of Midlothian v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 26th November 2011
Heart of Midlothian. A name which, when first heard, must be one of the most romantic-sounding anywhere in football. Yet its origins are anything but. The name was first coined ironically to describe Edinburgh’s tolbooth prison, which stood for nearly four centuries beside St Giles’ on the Royal Mile and was notorious as a place of execution and torture, with spikes adorning the outside walls to display the heads and body parts of its most recent victims. In his 1818 state-of-the nation novel The Heart of Midlothian, Sir Walter Scott tried to rehabilitate the name by using it to describe his heroine Jeannie Deans, the humble cow-feeder’s daughter who is supposed to symbolise the innate virtue of the Scottish people, but who is in reality one of the most annoyingly pious characters ever to have made it onto a page. There is no clear consensus over whether the football club of the same name founded in 1874 took its name from the prison or the novel, and Hearts today seem to embody aspects of each: the torture of sitting through 300-odd minutes since the team last scored; the ‘Hearts Legends’ banners of the likes of Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley leering from the floodlight stanchions like disembodied execution victims; and the smug self-regard of (some of) its supporters, who flood onto popular Scottish football websites and spray meaningless gifs all over them.
Recently, of course, the name has taken on a whole new set of associations, most of them related in some way to Hearts’ owner, the submarine-piloting, Loch-Ness-swimming, with-the-stars-dancing Vladimir Romanov. Hearts have boasted some interesting characters at boardroom level in the past, notably Wallace Mercer, who madly tried to merge the club with Hibs, and rotund policeman-punching MP George Foulkes, but in his seven years in charge, Romanov has taken ‘interesting’ to a whole new level. Having arrived in Edinburgh claiming that he would make Hearts a team capable for challenging for the SPL title and European trophies, Romanov has worked his way through several hundred Eastern-European loan players and at least nine managers, the most successful of whom was sacked with the club sitting on top of the league and unbeaten after ten games, with rumours flying of Romanov trying to select the team himself; he has accused Hearts players of being targeted by ‘criminals’, ‘maniacs’ and ‘the mafia’, and the SFA and referees of waging a seven-year campaign against Hearts (no-one connected with ICT could ever be so paranoid...); and while taking the club into a debt of £30 million, with an outlay of a quarter of a million per week for wages whose payment is not always certain, he has presided over the winning of one trophy, via a penalty shoot-out against Gretna. Hardly Chelsea. In the past month, Romanov has announced that he wants out of Scottish football and that Hearts are up for sale at the knock-down price of £50 million. Surprisingly, potential buyers have not been knocking down his maroon doors...
So, with Hearts’ finances allegedly in disarray and future allegedly in doubt, should Caley Thistle be confident of beating them on Saturday? On the basis of history, probably not. In twenty league games, ICT have won only three times. Two of these were among the most entertaining and dramatic of the fixtures – a 2-1 win in Inverness in September 2007 with Craig Brewster scoring the winner in the final minute to end a season-opening sequence of six straight defeats, and a 3-2 win at Tynecastle three days before Christmas in the same year, when Graeme Bayne scored the winner in injury time after Hearts had equalised with a ninetieth-minute penalty – but the majority of games between the sides have been stupefyingly dull. Six of Hearts’ ten wins have finished 1-0, and there have been three 0-0 draws and four 1-1 draws, including the last three games between the sides. The odds on a fourth successive 1-1 are probably not particularly long.
Team News
With Thursday’s news that Greg Tansey’s red card against Celtic has been rescinded, Caley Thistle’s squad is probably as strong as it has been all season. Owain Tudur-Jones is still injured, and although Aaron Doran is thought to be back in training, this game will come too soon for him. Although the team created few clear-cut chances against Celtic, they played a lot of good football, and it is likely that Terry Butcher will pick the same team that started against Celtic: Esson in goals, Meekings, Hogg, Tokely and Gillet in defence, Davis and Tansey lying deeper in midfield and Tade at the head of what is approximately an attacking diamond also featuring Hayes, Andrew Shinnie and Foran.
The BBC has no up-to-date team news for Hearts, and trying to pick through the acres of gifs and Hibs-Hearts name-calling on P&B has simply become too tedious, so I have no clear idea of what Hearts’ player availability is like for Saturday. What is apparent, however, is that Hearts’ manager Paulo Sergio has aimed for more stability of team selection than Hearts have been known for in recent years. In their last four games, despite the team having lost three and drawn one without scoring a single goal, the team selection has been remarkably consistent: against Kilmarnock and Rangers the teams were identical; against St Mirren Ryan McGowan came in for the injured Danny Grainger and Mehdi Taouil for the suspended Ian Black; and against Dundee United Taouil was replaced by John Sutton. Having seen Sutton, David Templeton and Ryan Stevenson tear Caley Thistle defences apart at different times over the last few years, it seems amazing to me that Hearts have not scored in the league in 376 minutes; if they decide to start finding the net on Saturday, let’s hope that Shinnie, Tade and Hayes are in a Rugby Park kind of mindset...
Prediction
As always with ICT, who can say? This games pitches the second best defence in the league (Hearts, ten goals conceded) against the second worst (ICT, thirty goals conceded), and the team with the worst goal tally in the league (Hearts, thirteen goals scored) against the team with the sixth best (ICT, nineteen goals scored). Hearts’ form is dreadful, ICT’s is all over the place... I’m taking the easy option:
Heart of Midlothian 1, Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1
Latest Team News
Inverness will be without the long term casualties for another few weeks, although Owain Tudur-Jones is ahead of schedule and is training lightly.  Aaron Doran is also doing fitness training and both could feature early in the new year.  Nick Ross and Lee Cox can be added to the squad and it is now down to the managers discretion who to involve and who to leave out.  Horses for courses spring to mind.  Greg Tansey will be included in the squad after his successful appeal .  So, it could be along the same starting line up for Butcher's boys.
Hearts manager Paulo Sergio has plenty of issues going on in and around Tynecastle to contend with, including his own 5 match dugout ban which started last week at Tannadice.  Nineteen senior players are apparently out of contract this summer and that will make for uncertain times down Gorgie way, but nobody can doubt the talent that the club has on the field of play, with super talented kids like Ryan Stevenson and David Templeton at their disposal.  Nemesis, Kevin Kyle is out long term, and Darren Barr, Gary Glen, Suso Santana and Danny Grainger are all sidelined.  Former ICT midfielder Ian Black completes the last of his three match suspension today.
Other SPL News
Dunfermline failed to take advantage of their game in hand at the bottom of the table as they lost 2-1 to Celtic in midweek who have moved to only 7 points behind table toppers Rangers.  The Pars stay 1 point ahead of Inverness and Aberdeen at the foot of the league but their goal difference is now 4 worse than Inverness' tally.
Hibernian have confirmed that Pat Fenlon will take over the reins from Colin Calderwood and he has signed a two and a half year contract.  Forty two year old Fenlon arrives from Irish outfit Bohemians, who only managed fifth last year.  Fenlon played all of his senior career in Ireland.
Rangers have also confirmed a signing, that of former Aberdeen winger Sone Aluko who has signed on at Ibrox until the end of the season after agreeing compensation with the Dons.
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2011-12 ·

Inverness CT -V- Celtic - Report

Surprise Surprise, sending off seals Inverness' fate.
 
Another controversial refereeing decision against one of the Old Firm scuppered Inverness' hopes of competing in this tense encounter at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
O'Reilly, really, that's his name, singled out Greg Tansey for the red card after an aerial challenge on the Greek tragedy that was Georgios Samaras and that was the end of the home sides resistance to the multi million pound players from the central belt.
An Anthony Stokes double sealed the points in a game that hinged on the referees inadequacies.  The game had been even before the sending off, but down to 10 men it was always going to be an uphill struggle against the now confident Glasgow giants.  O'Reilly defied belief when he booked Foran later in the game after Englands record goal scorer Daniel Majstorovic shoved him away, Foran being deemed the guilty party and Danny Bhoy escaping with a short lecture; unbelievable.
A match report will be published from the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium later .... after our reporter has put his pitchfork and torch away and Stevie O'Reilly is safely on the A9 south.
Ginger Jaggy will tell us how it all unravelled after O'Reilly spoiled an otherwise interesting day.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greek Tragedy
Once again Scottish football will wake up to another controversial moment involving one of the Old Firm, and for the third time this season Caley Thistle have had a man wrongly sent off which has cost us points. It is no surprise that we are bottom of the table with so many crucial decisions going against us so far. The decision yesterday was scandalous if not bordering on the absurd. Television replays have clearly shown that no elbow was used and that Samaras was far too tall for Tansey to elbow anyway. For 37 minutes we had a real contest but the rash decision by Referee Steven O'Reilly practically killed the game after that.
19/11/11 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium I.C.T. 0 - TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Hogg, Gillet, Meekings, Hayes, Tansey, A.Shinnie, Davis, Foran (Proctor 78), Tade (Sutherland 78) SUBS: Tuffey, G.Shinnie, Morrison, Ross, Chippendale Booked: Hogg (24), Foran (52), A.Shinnie (90) Sent Off: Tansey (37) CELTIC 2 - Stokes (61, 72) TEAM: Forster, Majstorovic, El Kaddouri (McCourt 69), Ledley, Kayal, Matthews, Wanyama, Samaras (Ki 54), Hooper, Stokes, Forrest (Commons 82) SUBS: Zaluska, Twardzik, Fraser, McGeouch Booked: Kayal (28), Majstorovic (59), El Kaddouri (66) Sent Off: none Referee Stevie O'Reilly Attendance 6435 The first half was even with Inverness looking on a par if not slightly better than the giants from the east end of Glasgow. It was a game of very few chances with the match being contested for supremacy in the middle of the park. Celtic's Anthony Stokes had the first chance but his quick feet was not matched by a finish which was straight at Ryan Esson. Jonny Hayes was a headache for Celtic's back four all day and because of the sending off, it will never be known whether he would help Inverness to a victory as the support just wasn't there with 10 men. David Davies continued his impressive string of performances marshalling the middle of the park really well with strength and power which didn't allow Celtic's midfield to command the game. It was Hayes with a burst of pace that saw him easily beat El Kaddouri and put a dangerous cross in, which came to nothing, but the warning was there for Celtic. Anthony Stokes again was involved as he had a close range shot deflected wide by the big legs of Ross Tokely but again the Hoops were struggling to find space to fashion any clear cut chances. It was neat attacking play which allowed Hayes to put in a great shot which Forster brilliantly put behind when he must have been unsighted.
The game plan was working brilliantly which was frustrating Celtic, but enter the fray Georgios Samaras to change the game. The 37th minute will not be remembered for a brilliant piece of footballing skill by the big Geek but a moment which is plaguing the game at the moment. The pantomime saw Samaras and O'Reilly as the chief villains as they conspired to turn the game against us in the cruelest manner. Samaras jumped for a long ball and had been challenged by the smaller Greg Tansey. The Greek striker won the ball but then fell into a crumpled heap leading to the entrance of O'Reilly to brandish the red card. The footage clearly shows that Tansey's elbow was nowhere near Samaras and also showed that O'Reilly was in no position to judge the challenge. As it wasTansey had to go and with it also went any chance that Caley Thistle realistically had of matching Celtic. For Samaras it was his only meaningful contribution in the game and what a moment it was!
Half Time 0-0
The second half saw a battling performance by the depleted home side but they unfortunately had to succumb to the misfortune that was forced upon them. Celtic played on the front foot as expected with the extra man on the park. Caley Thistles players valiantly battled and held Celtic out until the hour mark when the brave resistance was put down. Celtic's front two Hooper and Stokes combined brilliantly with Stokes given a tap in to give Celtic the lead to the home fans disgust. Celtic continued to press with Esson saving from Hooper at his near post. But out of nowhere it was almost all square when a brilliant long pass forward troubled the Celtic centre pairing of Majstorovic and Wanyama. Tade broke through the middle and only had to control the ball but miscontrolled at the crucial point and the ball ran away to safety. If he had controlled he would have been through on goal definitely. Jonny Hayes continued to torment the Celtic defence but most times was crowded out as CaleyThistle struggled to press with 10 men.
Celtic continued to create with Ki going close but that ended up as a slight reprieve as Celtic finally killed us off and again it had a hint of irony. Celtic pressed forward and it looked like Caley Thistle had cleared the ball but some how the ball found its way to Anthony Stokes who expertly finished past Esson. But again through television the striker was shown as being offside, another mistake by the official, surely not. Celtic failed to score anymore goals but should have when Kris Commons blazed over in the box. But for all the pain a wounded Caley Thistle endured they continued to battle showing lots of spirit. The score could have been reduced when Andrew Shinnie who also played out of his skin took down the ball brilliantly when going through on goal but just couldn't get a second touch to nip it past the big presence that was Forster in goal. The game ended with a chorus of boos as O'Reilly and Samaras left the arena.
Full Time 0-2
It was an infuriating game which only showed that for all the financial muscle Celtic behold, they for long periods looked very clueless against a determined Caley Thistle side. Had it not been for the sending off then who knows what would have happened? But that is now in the past and we should look forward to the optimism of the future after such a great battling performance.
And if Tansey doesn't win any appeal the club may make then it wouldn't surprise anyone at all after what happened on Saturday.
No highlights found
By tm4tj in Reports 2011-12 ·

Inverness CT -V- Celtic - Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
Irish Karaoke Heads North 
Celtic and their singers will be out in force in Inverness this Saturday, just after noon, for the early kick-off against a rejuvenated Inverness, fresh from their fireworks at Kilmarnock.
The Glasgow club have recovered some form after a shaky period which has seen champions Rangers open up a twelve point gap at the top of the table.  Europa league victory over Rennes and an SPL win in the crunch game for second place over Motherwell has boosted their confidence, and their fans expectations are recovering somewhat.  Neil Lennon, he of the Juanjo incident, is not out of the woods yet and defeat in the Highlands would not best please the Celtic board.
Once again the international break disrupted the flow of the SPL games as Scotland went to Cyprus for a break, and won 1-2 with a brilliant finish from Kenny Miller the pick of the goals as the Cypriots rattled the woodwork around McGregor.  Celtic's Daniel Majstorovic got himself into the record books in the England v Sweden international match.  His header was the 2000th goal scored by England.  Congratulations Daniel, it took England 43 years to beat Sweden, you must be so proud. 
Not to be outdone on the international front, Terry Butcher has become the first Englishman to be inducted into the Scottish Football Museum's Hall of Fame.  A great accolade for Singapore born Butcher who has spent something like half of the last twenty-five years plying his trade north of the border.  Terry played at Rangers for four and a half seasons and has manager of Motherwell and Scotland assistant manger to add to his CV.
But, we are here to look forward to this weekends game, weather permitting, at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, scene of some dramatic encounters between these two sides.  Who can forget the second Scottish Cup win for Inverness when a Dennis Wyness goal put Celtic out of the competition, or Michael Fraser's outstanding save as we came from two goals down to win 3-2, with ten men, and of course the game that decided last seasons destination for the SPL trophy as an inspired Inverness took the wind out of Celtic's sails with another sensational 3-2 win.  There are however, some games we would rather not be reminded of, such as the cup game in 2007 when after leading the Hoops for 71 minutes, eventually losing 1-2 as Pressley and Miller scored 89th and 90th minute goals to ruin Graeme Bayne's 18th minute strike.  Annoyingly, Celtic duplicated the scoreline in 2010 as Ledley scored a brace after Rooney had netted a penalty before half-time.  Aye, there has been some wonderful games between these two sides, let's hope it's football that makes the headlines this weekend and not the karaoke, or is it more like the X-Factor.
Remember this is a 12:30 kick off for this televised game
GingerJaggy is looking ahead to this game and has put together this preview for you..............
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The last international break is over; it is time for the major push before the festive period. Caley Thistle still sit bottom of the table but things are now looking like they are coming together for Terry Butcher's new lads. After the debacle at St Johnstone when it looked like 11 men had been picked up off the street prior to kick-off, Inverness has slowly but surely started to hopefully turn the corner. It has been frustrating so far this season with Caley Thistle not picking up the points that some of their performances have merited. This is reflected by the brilliant performance against Motherwell with no reward, Rugby Park though, we hope, was the day when CaleyThistle made the breakthrough. That 6-3 result has given everyone a huge lift as Celtic lies in wait to become Inverness's next victim, fingers crossed. 
The history of this fixture will have been regurgitated so many times because of our ability to shock the club from the east end of Glasgow. Everyone will always remember the 8th of February 2000, and Dennis Wyness against Martin O Neil's European finalists. For all of Craig Brewster's failings in his second spell he still gave us one of the best comebacks in our history. Celtic were 2-0 up before the half hour mark and looked like there was very little hope of securing any points. But a John Rankin penalty, a David Proctor header and a neat finish from Don Cowie turned the tie on its head. We even managed to hold on to the lead with 10 men for about 20 minutes. They were three great results and this hoodoo we seem to have over the Parkhead club has continued under Terry Butcher's leadership. Celtic at home in his first match always looked hard but a battling performance meant we came away with a point. That was a taster of things to come with Butcher master minding a 2-0 deficit into a point at Parkhead last season. But this was eclipsed by a performance that can only be described as heroic. The game had no meaning for an Inverness team that were safe from relegation and looking pretty comfortable to finish top of the bottom six. Add in the news that two of the club legends were being released, suddenly Caley did have something to play for; pride to wear the badge. It ended 3-2 but in truth the score line flattered Celtic who could have been on the end of an absolute tanking. This season has seen the teams play only once. That was in Glasgow with the home side ending up 2-0 winners but the result wasn't as comfortable as it suggests as Caley Thistle put in a real good shift and were unlucky not to at least have our name on the score sheet.
The form of the Hoops this season should be an encouragement for the homesters. Celtic has conceded a lot more goals than they are used to and have dropped points in unexpected games this season. Hibs and St Johnstone have already been and taken points off them at Parkhead with the latter actually winning the game. They have also been beaten at Hearts and had to come back from 3-0 down at Kilmarnock to rescue a point. Obviously our form hasn't been too consistent so far this season but our home form has been pretty decent. We should have picked up a few more points from some of our home performances this season, but things are hopefully looking up.
The 6-3 a couple of weeks ago was just what the doctor ordered and after a slow start it looks like we have got ourselves a gem in attacking midfielder Andrew Shinnie. He has now scored 5 in the league with his last four coming in the last 2 matches. Inverness always gives the Old Firm a tough game in the highlands and I don't see any different here as all the pressure will be on Celtic who vitally need the win to try and reduce Rangers lead down from 12points. The pressure certainly isn't on us, even if we are still languishing at the bottom of the table after this match the gap between us and 4th place is only 7 points. We won't get relegated losing this game and so here is hoping we can excel again and get off the bottom of the table. 
This game won't be easy; it is one of the Old Firm after all. But what the last game has shown all the supporters is that we are a better side than what the league table currently suggests. We have had some really good performances this season and not reaped the reward that some of them have deserved. Celtic haven't been at their best so far this season and so should give us optimism to write another chapter in this remarkable story of being Celtic's bogey team.
 
Latest Team News
Inverness' hall of fame & Doctor of Sport, Terry Butcher, will still be without long term absentees Aaron Doran and Owain Tudur-Jones.  Doran has begun some light work, but neither will figure until after the new year.  Lee Cox and Nick Ross played in a bounce game against Aberdeen this week and could come into contention, as will Chris Hogg and Thomas Piermayr, both ready after suspension.  Forgotten man Billy McKay (who?) did not feature.  Butcher's problems are now metamorphing from who to play to who to leave out, but after the scintilating performance at Rugby Park he should be cautious to tinker with the team selection too much.
Celtic's under fire manager Neil Lennon has Kris Commons and Gary Hooper itching for a start.  One man not on the team sheet will be Mohamed Bangura who may require an operation to repair a knee problem.  Ki Sung-Yueng and Cha Du-Ri both hobbled back from international duty and are struggling for this clash.  Charlie Mulgrew and Glenn Loovens are still missing, but Joe Ledley returns after a calf injury.  On the brighter side, England's landmark 2000th goal scorer Daniel Majstorovic is fresh though, and that should be a bonus for Gregory Tade.
Karaoke or X-Factor, let's look forward to an entertaining days sport and the possibility of moving off the foot of the table could be enough for Inverness to remain undefeated on the day, X factor for me.  Scoring draw on the coupon.
SPL News
The SPL will require a new sponsor in 2013 as the Clydesdale Bank will end it's handouts at the end of next season.  The bank has been dishing out the money since 2007.  Neil Doncaster believes that all the controversy surrounding the game north of the border is positive publicity..........Aye right, does he also believe in Santa?
Billy Brown has thrown his name into the mix for the vacancy at Easter Road.  He was the current number two to the deposed Colin Calderwood and feels the time is right to step up to the managers position.  Brown has served a long apprenticeship following Jim Jeffries around for some 23 years.  He will be in charge for this weekend's game against Kilmarnock.  Pat Fenlon and Michael O'Neill are thought to be among the top candidates out of ninety plus applicants.
Hearts have a novel way of keeping the wage bills down.  For the second month running the players have not received their wages on time, allegedly due to the club trying to pay off a £1,000,000 tax bill.  On top of this, Paulo Sergio has received a five match ban and even worse, rumours abound that Vladimir Romanov is about to sell Hearts............trouble ahead methinks.
Dunfermline are jumping on the cost cutting bandwagon and expect to save £20,000 per season by closing their North Stand.
Rangers date with the tax man has been put back to the middle of January as her majesty's revenue and customs man tries to recover a staggering total of £49,000,000.  Administration beckons if the Ibrox club lose this one in the courts.
Robbie Neilson & Stephen Hughes have joined Dundee United and Motherwell respectively.  Both former Hearts players, Neilson has signed on at Tannadice until the end of the season and midfielder Hughes signs on at Motherwell until the new year.
Sone Aluko has gone on trial at Ibrox.  The former Aberdeen player is without a club at present and is training with Rangers this week.  Aluko had scored 13 goals in four seasons at Pittodrie.
Minor League news
Meanwhile, back in Scotland during the international break, a Grant Munro inspired Ross County continued their march towards the SPL with a fine 3-1 victory over nearest challengers Falkirk, which sees them open up a six point gap at this stage of the season; better get those extra seats installed pronto gudgies. Whatever next.
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2011-12 ·

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.