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Inverness CT -V- Hibernian – Report

The Hibees Highland Hoodoo continues...
 
... as Caley Thistle run out 4-2 winners in a thoroughly entertaining game that saw Adam Rooney score a hat-trick.  Despite Jonny Hayes gifting the Easter Road side an opening, Inverness had the major share of opportunities and were deserved winners over ten man Hibs, who had Hanlon red carded shortly after coming on at half time, for a deliberate handball.  Adam Rooney duly converted the spot kick against Mark Brown who wore the number 31.  I do believe that is the number of consecutive penalties he has failed to save.  Next weekend, he wears the number 32 shirt, (only joking Broonie).  Foran started the cakewalk with a perfectly placed sidefooted effort, then Rooney took over with a well constructed threesome.  Riordan had capitalised on a Hayes error at 2-0 before Liam Miller pushed Inverness into overdrive and we finished the game well on top.
20th November 2010 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE 4 - Foran (7), Rooney (51pen, 70, 80) TEAM: Esson, Duff, Tokely, Munro, Shinnie, Cox, Duncan, Hayes (Odhiambo 86), Ross (Sanchez 89), Foran (Sutherland 82), Rooney
SUBS: Tuffey, Golabek, McBain, Morrison -  Booked: none - Sent Off: none
HIBERNIAN 2 - Riordan (66), Miller (78pen) TEAM: Brown, Hart (Hanlon 46), Dickoh, Bamba, Grounds, Murray (Wotherspoon 83), Miller, De Graaf (Galbraith 46), Rankin, Riordan, Nish
SUBS: Smith, Hogg, Thicot, Stevenson - Booked: none - Sent Off: Hanlon (51)
Referee Steve Conroy Attendance 4217 Lennon & McCartney can sleep easy as davie tries his hand at song writing............
Here's a song for next week (sung to the tune of "the sting") "Tell every 'tic fan that you know, Inverness is as far as you go, You won't need your shades or your buckets and spades, But you might need your sledge for the snow". Alternative Maryhill has the chance to report on a Caley Thistle game/ party next week that has more potential significance than any previous encounter. He's going to get shakespearean about it, but I reckon it's more Henry V than Macbeth. We are presently that happy few, that band of brothers and those who stay at home next week may well think themselves accursed come 5.45 pm, that they were not there. But that is next week.
Today, we 4,000 or so entertained Hibs at TCS, in a fixture that the Gods had previously blessed us with good results, but results that owed as much to Hibs naivety as our skill. Not today. From the first minute, both sides showed a commitment to passing the ball on the ground but ICT always have the cutting edge that comes from weeks of breaking away in matches away from home and being clinical in the finish. Today it took 7 minutes for that to surface, FORAN finishing cutely from around the 18 yard line after a cutback pass from Rooney on the left. Inverness played some sublime football, prompted by a more effective midfield than we've seen for ages – welcome back Cox. He and Duncan destroyed Hibs midfield. John Rankin still managed to show, with one effort flashing just wide of a post on 15 minutes or so. Both sides continued to make chances and pass the ball, Esson having a couple of what are now routine saves for him. Half time and a really nice game was building up.
Half time: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 Hibernian 0
Well, that second half started with a bang. After an early Hibs corner, Jonny Hayes got one on the left and swung a wicked delivery to Rooney. A quick stab of the boot and Hanlon, a half time sub punched the ball off the line. Penalty and red card. Fair play to Hanlon, he didn't stop running on his way to collect his coat. He didn't need an early bath, having graced the pitch for 5 minutes and 35 seconds exactly. Mark Brown guessed the right way on ROONEY's penalty (never seen that before) but couldn't stop it. 2-0 and game over. 15 minutes later, however, the saint known as Hayes decided to sin for once and delivered a beautifully weighted back pass to Derek RIORDAN of all people. 2-1 and the head hanging was enlivened beautifully by the ballistic Ross Tokely. "dead ball specialist" got it spot on – look at "angry german kid" on you tube. I have seen the day when that sort of calamity at home would have cued a collapse into panic, but the response today was superb. Sinner Hayes regained his saintly status by delivering a lethally accurate pass to ROONEY who put a lovely finish past Brown from just inside the box. 3-1 and again, it's all over, especially with Rooney going close again. By this time, bit between the teeth, he was all over the Hibs defence like a rash. They had no cure. Again, we contrived to let them back in after a break from Hibs culminating in Tokely hitting Galbraith like an exocet missile in 77 minutes. Even the most rabid north stand fanatic had to concede that one. Penalty, which Liam MILLER despatched. True to this game, the response was swift and almost identical; break out of defence, ball to Hayes, magnificent defence splitting pass and brilliant finish from ROONEY on 79 minutes. The match ball is yours my son. The game rattled on, and we could easily have had more, and Riordan could easily have exploded into a heap of frustrated huffiness.
Full Time 4-2 
The final result after a breathless game of football that would have graced any decent football tv show (it's a pity we don't have one) Referee Conroy had moments of weirdness, but none that could influence reality and did anyone actually see Derek Adams? Maybe he was looking for the spell book that he had evidently lost. Adam Rooney was MOTM by a country mile, and it's no wonder nervousness is reaching a new peak over our chances of keeping him. Tactics by Terry & Mo were again faultless, as was team selection. That kind of wraps it up, except for a wee plea; I've been watching fitba for 40 odd years now, and I'm convinced that we are watching something quite unique evolving at TCS. It really is special and the home support is reflecting it more and more. These are great times to be an ICT fan, and they might not come around again too soon. So go to every game you can, shout yourself hoarse and jump around like a daftie. This team loves it and deserves it.
By tm4tj in Reports 2010-11 ·

Inverness CT -V- Hibernian – Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
Adams hopes to leave Inverness spellbound.
Hibs will be in the Highland capital this weekend looking to end a disastrous run of results at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.  The Edinburgh club have only managed two points here and for all their firepower have only scored one goal.  Inverness have a tremendous away record to boast about, but the home form leaves a lot to be desired.  Only one home win for Butcher's boys leaves the ICT fans baffled as to why we have underachieved in Inverness, and Terry & Mo are just as perplexed. 
Colin Calderwood has recruited Ross County manager Derek Adams as his number two at Easter Road.  Given his record against Inverness with County, he certainly would appear to know how to set out his stall to combat the attacking style of the Norths top team.  In an article in the P&J, he declared , “I’ve got a vast knowledge of Inverness. I know their style of play, I know their management team inside-out. I’ve worked with them and against them and won matches against them.”  But as noted on CTO, he conveniently forgot to mention that he has left Ross County languishing in the discomfort of the relegation zone.  Thanks to Caley100 for pointing that out.  In fairness to Adams though, he had a pretty successful season last year, culminating in County's visit to the Scottish Cup final.  “Tactics, motivation and organisation are the big things I take to my coaching and managerial career and the success with Ross County has been down to those factors. Hibs play football with a passing style and a high tempo and that’s something that fits in to my way of thinking.”
Anoraks Corner.
Some stats for you to ponder over.  ICT have played Hibs 16 times in the Spl.  Out of these meetings, ICT have won 8, Hibs have won 5, with 3 games being drawn.  The only away victory for Hibs was at Pittodrie, in the first SPL meeting in September 2004.  The goals tally for these games is ICT 22-13 Hibs, although they did win a Scottish cup game 3-0 at Easter Road in January 2008.  Hibs have never won in Inverness.  The Tulloch fixture is great reading for home fans, 5 wins and two draws.  That means it's ICT 13-1 Hibs.  The highest SPL score is 3-0 to ICT twice.  The first SPL game at Easter Road this season saw both clubs settle for a point each.  Hibs looked as though they would sweep the Highlanders aside with an early goal from Derek Riordan.  But profligacy and a touch of class from Ryan Esson saw Inverness earn the draw with an Adam Rooney penalty in the 82nd minute.  Recent results show that maybe Hibs are turning the corner and the home defeat of Motherwell was preceded by an excellent 0-3 result at Ibrox, while Inverness were ploughing their away furrow with wins at Pittodrie and Hamilton.  Goal difference is weighted in favour of ICT, plus 6, with Hibs on minus 6.  All this means that Inverness sit 5th in the table with 21 point and Hibs are 8th on 14 points.
With volunteers thin on the ground, davie has conjured up his own piece of magic...........
5th in the SPL. No kidding, that’s really where ICT sit today with a barely credible 21 points on the board and league safety being overtaken on the outside by a sneaking realisation that we might, just might be looking at top 6. Think back to last year at this time and ask yourself how did it all go so right?
Saturday’s visitors are Hibernian, a venerable Edinburgh institution born in 1875 of Irish immigrant parentage. Unlike its Glaswegian equivalent, it’s never been hostage to history and draws on a wider and more genteel background. This is Edinburgh after all. They were the first Scottish club in Europe. They’ve beaten Real Madrid, won the league three times and had an Enid Blyton inspired front line. On the fame side, they have famous fans, ranging from Hector Nicoll through both Proclaimers to that legendary Edinburgh gentleman, Frances Begbie. On the downside, they have had Craig Brewster as a “legend”, nicked John Rankin and Mark Brown and have just recruited one of our neighbours. His name is Derek Adams and he claims to be a wizard; please ensure him a warm TCS welcome – I’m sure he misses us.
This season has seen a less than auspicious beginning under Yogi Hughes that has improved since he got his coat and taxi. Colin Calderwood was drafted in and things have started to look up, three defeats being followed by two wins on the bounce with one being of the “are you sure that’s right?” variety against Rangers. This took Hibs to 8th.  Aforementioned Rankin scored a cracker in that one, and he is only one enigma in a team littered with them. King enigma is Riordan. The man has enough ability to coast through the average SPL game and to light it up with his skill and vision. Too often, however, he just reverts to idle mode. It’s easier I suppose.
Recent history is against them, though. They have never coped well with the trip up the A9, winning not once in our SPL history. Their open style of play has often allowed us to play right through them, and for that they are due our thanks. It’s your style Hibs; don’t change no matter what that man Adams says. They come into this game off the back of the aforementioned two wins against Rangers and Motherwell so they have a run of form going, but hey – so do we.
Inverness go into this one on the high that has preceded most home games this season after another win on the road. Hamilton were the latest to be dispatched and how Rooney and Hayes have managed to avoid a trip to the Emerald Isle this week is beyond me. Still, our gain…. And what a gain they have been for Terry and Mo. Up there as well is Nick Ross, who should be on a high after scoring on his international debut. Nick, does it get any better? We shouldn’t forget Jon Tuffey, who will presumably return to bench warming duties after a good showing for Norn Iron this week. Jon, it probably doesn’t get more frustrating than this.
A late trawl of the papers suggests that there are no new injury worries and that should bring Russell Duncan back into contention. So there we have it, but if the above rosy picture tells us anything it’s that it could go any way on Saturday. Davie’s crystal bollock predicts a draw, with goals.
***Latest News***
Inverness have to do without loan signing Kevin McCann as stated in the small print on his loan agreement.  Innes, Proctor and Gillet will definitely miss out.  Sutherland and Blumenshtein are vying for a start, but more importantly, Russell Duncan and Lee Cox could rekindle their relationship in midfield, which will allow Stuart Duff to revert to right back to fill the McCann shaped hole in defence.
Hibernian will have Derek Riordan available, he misses the St Johnstone game.   Dickoh and Nish are both ready for action.  The big Ghanaian has recovered from a facial knock and Nish has shrugged off his ankle injury.


By tm4tj in Previews 2010-11 ·

Hamilton -V- Inverness CT – Report

Academicals taught a lesson in second period.
Inverness were looking to end a dismal record against the Accies in their SPL encounters, and they did it in style.  Once again Dougie Imrie scored the opener in the first half to make the visitors task more difficult, but a superb second half from the Highlanders saw an Adam Rooney double and a single from Jonny Hayes make the points secure and extend the fantastic away run to 17 games unbeaten in the leagues.  This victory keeps Inverness inside the top six, only one point behind fourth placed Motherwell. 
 
13th November 2010 New Douglas Park, Hamilton HAMILTON ACADEMICAL 1 - Imrie (29) TEAM: Cerny, Graham, Buchanan, Elebert, Mensing, Goodwin, Imrie, Kirkpatrick (M. Paixaio 57), Routledge (Lyle 75), Casalinuovo, Hopkirk (F. Paixao 57)
SUBS: Murdoch, Canning, McLaughlin, Skelton - Booked: Imrie (48), Mensing (88) 
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE 3 - Rooney (49,59), Hayes (52) TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Munro, Shinnie, McCann, Duff, Hayes, Morrison (Cox 64), Ross, Foran (Odhiambo 89), Rooney
SUBS: Tuffey, Golabek, McBain, Sanchez - Booked: Foran (44), Shinnie (85) 
Referee Steve McLean Attendance 2019  
A couple of milestones were reached today, Ross Tokely made his 500th start out of 531 appearances, and Eric Odhiambo created his own little piece of news gaining his 50th appearance when he came on as a late sub near the end.  More for the stato's next week as the Hibs game will be the Inverness clubs 600th league match, and take that a week later  to Parkhead, and Adam Rooney will make his century of appearances for ICT with a tremendous return of 43 goals from 100 games, barring injury of course.
Alternative Maryhill is your reporter for this game, and I believe he kept his shoes on this time.
Hamilton Academical 1 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 So the amazing away run is preserved, for at least another two weeks. At half time yesterday, however, it looked as though it might just peter out against a team that has been a thorn in ICT’s side since its return to the SPL. Yesterday was a day of contrasts: between an ICT side that was at best tentative and at worst feckless in the first half, and one that was absolutely commanding and clinical in the second, and between a support that was subdued and fatalistic at half time and one that was dancing in the little lego stands at the final whistle. However he does it, it seems Terry Butcher had managed to inspire the players to turn things round once again. Another contrast was between the Chambers that I visited last time out in Hamilton, and the one I experienced yesterday. Anyone who was in there prior to the Shoegate match in 2009 would be forgiven for having a fixed impression of the place as a world-class centre of entertainment. Even without the boost given by an invasion of Highlanders hungry for the manager’s head, you might expect to find a few rows of flat-capped ex-miners and the occasional whippet, but when I arrived slightly later than usual yesterday, the place was deserted apart from a dozen of the ICT Away hardcore. The mood was muted: unusually civilised conversation and the occasional snore emanating from Red Card in Warsaw. What sort of person falls asleep in a pub?... Anyway, although we weren’t boosting his profits as much as we did last time, Douglas behind the bar was as gracious and welcoming as ever, and if, as is conceivable, yesterday turns out to be the last time we visit Hamilton for a while, he deserves thanks for his hospitality. The next challenge was to find the ground. On paper, New Douglas Park looks like a gentle ten-minute stroll from Chambers; in reality it is better hidden than Saddam Hussein’s bunker, surrounded by a network of supermarkets, car parks and railway lines, from within which the floodlights taunt you as you make yet another fruitless attempt to find the correct way through. After several false starts, we made it into the ground just in time for kick off. Despite a reported stomach muscle injury to Richie Foran and the availability of Lee Cox, Terry Butcher stuck with the team that won against Aberdeen in midweek, with Gavin Morrison and Nick Ross playing in central midfield alongside Stuart Duff, and the holy trinity of Foran, Hayes and Rooney in the attacking areas. As with much of the game against Aberdeen, however, the players struggled to impose themselves on the game in the first half, and Hamilton looked the more composed and dangerous side. There were few clear-cut chances in the early part of the game, apart from a drive from Jordan Kirkpatrick that Ryan Esson had to beat away, but most of Hamilton’s good play came through Dougie Imrie, who gave Graeme Shinnie a difficult time and won three free kicks against the young Inverness left back in the first twelve minutes. I’ve got to say that I agree with Naelifts’ point on the matchday thread that the nature of some of the abuse dished out to Imrie by the ICT support is pretty unnecessary. For one thing, it trivialises an issue that is too important to be trivialised for the sake of winding up a footballer; for another, it only seems to succeed in making Imrie play better against us. There was an inevitability about the fact that it was Imrie who opened the scoring yesterday, with a beautifully-judged first-time lob over Ryan Esson from the edge of the penalty area from Damian Casalinuovo’s headed flick-on, and throughout the first half he was the most effective player on the pitch and also got the better of a little personal duel with Richie Foran, eventually goading the Caley Thistle captain into earning himself an unnecessary yellow card for a frustrated retaliatory challenge on Imrie just before half time. Half time arrived without ICT having made a serious attempt on goal apart from an early Foran header wide and with the unbeaten record looking under threat. As mentioned earlier, the Caley Thistle away support was a little quieter and more subdued than at most recent games, but despite this, the stewards still felt the need to make an example of somebody and picked on interthenet jnr seemingly at random. Happily, the two-stands-and-a-wigwam design of New Douglas Park means that being huckled does not necessarily spell the end of your footballing afternoon, and within five minutes of being thrown out, itn jnr had reappeared on top of a container in the loading bay of Sainsbury’s: the best seat in the house. If the petty stewarding was typical of Scottish football, however, big kudos has to go to the Hamilton match-day DJ for his originality. Not for him the anodyne MOR supporters are normally subjected to at half time: instead, we were treated to a rich stew of funk, soul and jazz that was more redolent of a summer night in Manhattan than a chilly afternoon in South Lanarkshire.
Half Time : 1-0
Into the second half, then, and Caley Thistle started with more purpose than they had shown in the whole first half. There was, nevertheless, a large slice of luck about the opening goal. Grant Munro sent a chest-high, bouncing ball speculatively in the direction of the Hamilton penalty area from deep inside his own half; it looked like it would be an easy clearance for David Elebert, but somehow he misjudged the flight of ball almost completely, allowing it to bounce off his knee and behind him for Rooney to run on to and fire past Tomas Cerny from about sixteen yards. A gift of a goal, in truth, but it demonstrated that Rooney had not lost any of his coolness or composure in front of goal despite making a few bad decisions against Aberdeen on Tuesday night. From the moment the goal went in, the fight seemed to go out of Hamilton and ICT took control of the game. Within four minutes, they were in the lead, and again the Hamilton defence did not look very clever. Nick Ross, one of ICT’s best players yesterday, turned on the left hand side and slung a cross into the box. It didn’t seem a particularly dangerous ball, but Adam Rooney’s presence seemed to confuse the defenders and Jonny Hayes pounced on the loose ball before it could be cleared and blasted it home from just outside the six yard box. Billy Reid’s response was to take off two of the youngsters that had started the game, striker David Hopkirk and midfielder Jordan Kirkpatrick, replacing them with Jedward the Paixao twins, but just two minutes after the change, Caley Thistle scored the goal that effectively killed off the game. Jonny Hayes, who had a superb second half after having drifted in and out of the game in the first, took a pass from Duff and floated over a cross from the right hand side and Adam Rooney, on the left hand side of the penalty area, outjumped his marker to head powerfully back over Cerny and into the net. Three goals in ten minutes, and now no-one in the stands was in any doubt that ICT would extend their unbeaten away run. For most of the rest of the match, ICT remained firmly in control. There was one genuine scare in the Inverness penalty area when Esson had to block a Flavio Paixao effort from close range, and Dougie Imrie had a curling shot from outside the area held easily by Esson, but in the last fifteen minutes any Hamilton challenge simply faded away. One pleasing aspect of the closing period was the opportunity afforded to Lee Cox to make his comeback from injury. He had a solid half hour which included one glorious touchline tackle on Dougie Imrie that cleaned out ball and man; the sort of steel that we had been missing in the first half. A more worrying detail was the substitution of Richie Foran a couple of minutes before time, apparently with an ankle injury. He had already looked to be struggling with the stomach injury, and had had one of his quieter games: perhaps it is time for the manager to consider resting him, in the hope that he will be back to full fitness for the Celtic game in two weeks, when his experience will be vital.
Full Time : 1-3
And so to the final contrast of the day: the one between the feeling at full time last time ICT played in Hamilton, and the feeling at the final whistle yesterday. In January 2009, it was boiling frustration, fear of relegation (justified as it turned out) and anger at a manager who seemed oblivious to the fact that he had alienated supporters and players to an extent that his reputation at the club could never recover; yesterday, it was satisfaction, pride, optimism and a real sense of respect and unity between fans, players and management, with Terry Butcher conducting the fans in a chorus of cheers before disappearing triumphantly up the tunnel. To refer again to Naelifts’ post on the matchday thread, something special is going on with ICT at the moment, and I really hope that the club can sell out its allocation for the Celtic game and that we can make it a proper party for a year unbeaten on the road.
By tm4tj in Reports 2010-11 ·

Hamilton -V- Inverness CT – Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
ICT looking to banish Hamilton Hoodoo.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle make the long trek to New Douglas Park, Hamilton, to face their bogey side from their last SPL season.  Hamilton Academical dealt Inverness some harsh lessons two years ago winning eight points with the Caley Jags gaining only two.  These points lost proved crucial as Inverness were relegated at the end of the season.  Hamilton again showed that they have mastered our style of play by winning the first fixture this season at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Dougie Imrie thrashing the ball into the home net before most bums were on their seats.  Scoring goals is at a premium in these contests, neither side scoring more than one in any SPL match.  You would have to cast your mind back to season 2002/2003 when Inverness put a few past the Accies in a Scottish Cup meeting.  That was our last victory over Hamilton and it came in the Scottish Cup 4th round.  Hamilton had opened the scoring in the second minute in that match, but we cruised into the quarter-finals, banging home six goals into the bargain.
Alternative Maryhill looks ahead to this SPL clash.  He has a more in depth analysis of the game and it's surroundings. Heres hoping there's no need to take our shoes off during this game as Inverness look to extend the unbeaten away run for another week.
Hamilton Academical v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 14th November 2010.
Two of Scottish football’s more distinctive names clash at New Douglas Park on Saturday. It is a little-mentioned fact that Hamilton Academical shared the honour (with Heart of Midlothian) of having the longest club name in Scottish football until Inverness Caledonian Thistle entered the league and claimed the title outright. For this presumption, Hamilton Accies have been punishing us ever since.
For reasons that will become apparent, the South Lanarkshire burgh of Hamilton is a place that is relatively unfamiliar to most Caley Thistle supporters: many probably perceive it as just another Buckfast-addled satellite of Glasgow. So, in the interest of improving understanding and empathy among Scottish football fans, here are a few more fascinating facts that you may or may not have known about Hamilton:
• Hamilton is home to the world’s largest known mausoleum outside the pyramids at Giza. It was built for celebrated Scottish pharaoh Alexander Douglas-Hamilton.
• Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, was also responsible for much of the construction of Hamilton Palace, at one time Scotland’s largest and grandest stately home. It was demolished in 1921 after it began to sink into the ground as a result of the mine workings underneath it. This could be taken as a metaphor for the fate of several Scottish football clubs.
• In contrast to rugby, where every second club seems to have its roots in sweaty congress in a school pavilion, only one Scottish football club is known to have originated from a school team. The name of the club? Hamilton Academical.
• Many illustrious Scots can boast a Hamilton nativity. These include Jackie Bird, James MacPherson (Jardine from Taggart) and Barry Ferguson.
History of the Fixture
One of the most surprising aspects of this fixture is that despite both teams having spent the decade between 1994 and 2004 touring all three of the lower Scottish divisions, the clubs did not meet on league business until season 2008-09, when Hamilton joined Caley Thistle in the SPL. During the period that ICT were ascending through the third and second divisions, Hamilton were an established first division side, but in season 1998-99, when Caley Thistle achieved promotion to the first division for the first time, Accies were relegated to the second, and they followed that with relegation to the third the next season after being deducted 15 points for failing to fulfil a fixture against Stenhousemuir. By the time Hamilton had climbed their way back to the first division for the start of season 2004-05, Caley Thistle were beginning their first spell in the SPL.
So these two clubs were, until relatively recently, the proverbial ships that pass in the night. And on the basis of results between the teams since they finally became direct league rivals, Inverness supporters would be justified in wishing Hamilton’s ship had sunk to the bottom of the Clyde, as Caley Thistle have yet to record a league win against the Lanarkshire side in five meetings. Indeed, the only wins ICT have ever recorded against Accies came in a pre-season friendly in 1998, when Duncan Shearer and Scott Mclean scored in a 2-0 home win, and in round four of the Scottish Cup in 2003, when doubles from Dennis Wyness and Barry Robson and further goals from Paul Ritchie and Stuart McCaffrey secured a 6-1 win that set up Caley Thistle’s second historic Scottish Cup victory over Celtic.
Not much to celebrate then, but the five league games between the clubs have had their share of memorable moments. The first game of 2008-09, in Inverness, finished 1-0 to Accies, after a horrible error by Jamie Duff just before half time allowed Richard Offiong to run through on goal and score. The next fixture, in Hamilton, will go down in history as the game that brought the curtain down on Craig Brewster’s disastrous second spell in charge of ICT. The match itself was depressingly predictable: Caley Thistle’s players fought hard but lacked any composure, Accies calmly soaked up the pressure and gained the victory through a 39th-minute penalty from Simon Mensing after Grant Munro’s foul on Joel Thomas. The occasion, however, was something else. One of Caley Thistle’s biggest travelling supports in recent seasons marshalled itself defiantly in Chambers Bar, determined to see either dramatic improvement or managerial change, and after it became clear that the former wasn’t going to happen, the shoes came off in the stands and the shoogly peg supporting Craig Brewster’s thermal anorak finally plopped to the floor. One entertaining by-product of this was the Shoegate scandal which occupied the local press in the Highlands for the next few days; the more significant outcome was the appointment of Terry Butcher to the Inverness manager’s position. Even Terry and Mo were not able to break the Hamilton hoodoo, and two 1-1 draws only three weeks apart went a long way to sealing Caley Thistle’s relegation, but the silver lining was, of course, that the ICT that spent a season in the first division appear to have come back a much stronger team.
Stronger, that is, except where Hamilton are concerned. Caley Thistle went into the first game between the teams this season buoyant after a superb 4-0 victory against Dundee Utd, while Hamilton were reeling after successive 4-0 defeats to Aberdeen and Hearts. Invernessian optimism lasted exactly 38 seconds before former ICT player Dougie Imrie rifled a 25-yard drive past Ryan Esson. Thereafter Caley Thistle huffed and puffed to little effect, and the most noteworthy aspect of the afternoon was the disproportionate amount of abuse handed out to Imrie, a player who served ICT reasonably well but who was ultimately deemed surplus to requirements by Terry Butcher. Here’s hoping that on Saturday, Imrie is simply ignored by the supporters in the stand and overshadowed on the pitch by the quality Caley Thistle have to offer.
Current Form and Team News On paper, Caley Thistle should go into this game as firm favourites. Unbeaten away from home since November 28th of last year, with Tuesday’s disciplined win against Aberdeen the most recent game in that sequence, ICT have amassed 18 points from their first 12 SPL games and sit comfortably in fifth position, seven places and nine points ahead of bottom club Hamilton. Accies, moreover, have yet to win at home this season. Yet recent history tells us that form goes out the window where this fixture is concerned.
Caley Thistle’s great start to the season has been achieved in spite of some potentially debilitating injury problems, with young players like Nick Ross, Graeme Shinnie and most recently Gavin Morrison having risen to the challenge of SPL football impressively. For this game, ICT are still likely to be without Russell Duncan, Kenny Gillet, David Proctor, Chris Innes and Gil Blumenshtein. A defence of McCann, Tokely, Munro and Shinnie more or less picks itself, then, and Butcher is unlikely to rest any of the attacking trinity of Hayes, Foran and Rooney, even though none of them were at their best against Aberdeen. The manager’s biggest decision will be how his midfield lines up. Will he retain the personnel that ground out the victory against Aberdeen, will Gavin Morrison make way for recent injury rehabilitee Lee Cox, or might the manager opt for a more attacking line-up and restore Eric Odhiambo to the starting eleven?
Half a wasted evening of trawling through the official Accies website and various other online resources has yielded very little information about the current extent of Hamilton’s injury problems; indeed, every official match preview in the last month has announced brightly, ‘Billy Reid has no fresh injury problems to concern himself with’, which begs the question, how many points would Hamilton have if they did have more injury problems? Two likely factors in Hamilton’s poor form this season, though, are the absence of their captain Alex Neil, who has been out since pre-season with a damaged hip, and the transfer of James McArthur to Wigan during the summer. Aside from that, players who made a big impression last season, such as the Paixao twins and the aforementioned Dougie Imrie, have failed to find the same form this year, signings such as Gary McDonald and Damian Casalinuovo have yet to make any impact and veterans such as Mark McLaughlin and Simon Mensing are, according to supporters on various websites, struggling to maintain any solidity in the Accies defence. One player who has caught the eye of many is attacker Nigel Hasselbaink, who scored the winner recently in a surprise 1-0 away win against Motherwell, yet for all his skill, he has only two league goals this season, and having been substituted in only 23 minutes in Hamilton’s midweek defeat to Kilmarnock with an apparent hamstring injury, it is possible that he will miss the Caley Thistle game and that the Accies website will, at long last, have a fresh injury to report.
***Latest Team News***
Inverness have a new doubt over Shane Sutherland who has been suffering from tonsilitus.  The young striker made an impact coming on against Motherwell and almost brought about an equaliser, but he is struggling to make this one.  Duncan and Cox have been back in training this week, although it may be too early for either of them to start the game.  Butcher acknowledges the lack of victories over the Accies and is looking to rectify that.
Hamilton will be without captain Alex Neil and long term absentee James Gibson.  Nigel Hasselbaink looks set to join them on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.  The nineteen year old striker gave Inverness defenders a torrid time in the reverse fixture and will be sorely missed by Accies.  He may well be out for a couple of weeks.  This should allow Damien Casalinuovo an opportunity to establish himself in the starting eleven.  Billy Reid has targetted Jonny Hayes as the danger man and will be looking for his defence to contain him.
Prediction
For a fixture that would defy rhyme, reason, logic and the late-lamented psychic octopus, I can only follow my heart:
Hamilton 1 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2
By tm4tj in Previews 2010-11 ·

Pitch Perfect!

Teaser Paragraph:
[caption id="attachment_2876" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Tommy Cumming"][/caption]
Tommy Cumming is chosen as Scotland 's top groundsman
Caley Jags' stalwart Tommy Cumming has won SFL Groundsman of the Year and Scottish Groundsman of the Year in recognition of his commitment to the playing surface at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
The former milkman  succeeds Celtic's John Hayes, the 2009 winner, and all at Caley Thistle are delighted at this accolade to a real character who has been groundsman since the club was launched and built its stadium.
"I'm thrilled to be honoured like this", says Tommy, "though the players have been giving me stick, saying that it's a fine surface because I try not to let them near it! When the stadium was built, there were fears in the south that we'd have a lot of home games postponed -- and instead we've a better record in that respect than most of the south sides.
"It takes a lot of preparation and hard work, but I get great satisfaction from seeing our pitch look so well in sunny times and stand up so well during winter weather. I'm pleased to be a part of the success story at this club."
Tommy, who had 20 years service with Caledonian FC in the Highland League before the merger in which the new club was born, received his award from club sponsor Alan Savage of the Orion Group before the Motherwell match.
Club chairman George Fraser says; "Tommy is a bit of a legend at this club and it's great to see him achieve this  recognition as rthe best of the 42 senior clubs in the country. His care and quality and his many hours at the wheel of his beloved machines have produced an excellent playing surface."
By Scotty in News 2010-11 ·

Aberdeen -V- Inverness CT – Report

More misery for Dons Boss
Inverness continued their magnificent away record in a turgid match at a sparsely populated and bitterly cold evening in the North East.  Adam Rooney scored from the spot before half time, but former Hearts player Andrius Velicka equalised early in the second half.  MotM Grant Munro headed the winner as Inverness completed a miserable week for the Dons and have maybe just added another managerial scalp to their expanding CV.  The game itself lacked any fluency and neither side managed to get the upper hand although Ryan Esson was the busier keeper.  The points headed North as Inverness saw out the game comfortably after getting their noses in front.
 
9th November 2010 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen ABERDEEN 1 - Velicka (49) TEAM: Langfield, McArdle, Diamond, Robertson, Folly, Aluko, Young, Jack (Ifil 57), Maguire, Vernon, Mackie (Velicka 44)
SUBS: Howard, Jarvis, Hansson, Fraser, Magennis - Booked: Young (22), Robertson (32), Mackie (33) , Diamond (34), Ifil (65) 
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE 2 - Rooney (pen 34), Munro (81) TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Munro, Shinnie, McCann, Duff, Hayes, Morrison, Ross (Odhiambo 82), Foran, Rooney
SUBS: Tuffey, Golabek, McBain, Cox, Sutherland, Sanchez - Booked: none 
Referee J McKendrick Attendance 5917  
davie watched this one from the luxury of his living room, hope your Gaelic is up to scratch.
The view from the sofa. Before I settled down to watch the game on Alba last night, glass of red in one hand, I dipped into Sky anytime to watch walking dead. There was a scene in it where the protagonist was cuffing himself around the ear and pleading with himself to wake from the zombie nightmare that was engulfing him. I realised his name must be McGhee. This is the first time this hack has compiled a match report from the warm and fuzzy living room, but it seemed a better idea than attempting to brave Ice Station Zebra and then get up for work next day. It seems that the few hundred brave souls who did managed to make more noise than the Aberdeen support – undead or what?
Inverness started brightly, passing crisply through the channels as Aberdeen appeared content to sit off and feel their way into the game. Attempts from Foran, Hayes, Tokely and Rooney were fashioned before Aberdeen’s first attempt on goal in 16 minutes from Vernon. In all, it was shaping to a classic ICT away win even at this point with a hesitant home side, a smallish forward line (Vernon excepted) and an ICT side willing to press high up the park. All well and good, but the lynchpin is Ryan Esson. The first half was again littered with saves of a quality varying from sublime to ridiculous. The latter came in around 28 minutes from a shot by Vernon which he somehow swiped around a post and the sublime when he showed utter commitment to deny Mackie. No surprise that Mackie was the one who didn’t get up. From our point of view, the sofa was jumped on in 33 minutes after a Hayes run was halted fairly agriculturally by Clark Robertson. After the yellow, the free kick was hoisted above everyone, especially Grant Munro who was lying prostrate in the box. Penalty, and cue a massive girn from Diamond and Young. More yellows and then Rooney did what he does. 1-0. Aberdeen huffed and puffed, but when your luck’s out, it’s out.
 Half time :- 0-1. A special mention must go to Alba for the half time entertainment. Scott Kellacher’s guided trip around the ICT laundry room (?) was a gem, surpassed only by his quip about Tommy Cumming’s underwear. Bizarre. The departure of the flattened Mackie was a double edged thing in that it resulted in the on loan Velicka being introduced to the fray. He’s exactly the kind of big rumbustious centre forward that we don’t cope with that well, and he proved that point in 48 minutes by freeing himself in the box to score to Esson’s left. This cued a spell of red pressure, but too often the quality of the pass and the lack of vision cost Aberdeen any real chance of taking a lead. That’s not to say that they didn’t have chances, but Esson was not for being beaten again under any circumstances. Adam Rooney also had a couple of great chances after some great direct running, and Nick Ross nearly celebrated his call up by hooking a wicked shot just wide. I would have taken a draw at this point, but ICT conjured up a great night for Grantie when he bulleted a header past Langfield after pressure and a wee dinked cross from Foran in 80 minutes. I nearly spilled my pringles. The game fizzled out after that, with Aberdeen accepting their fate.
Full Time:- 1-2.
Our neighbours are in a mess, and were dispatched with a bit of dignity. I doubt if they will have any left after they face Rangers on Saturday. Cue the much awaited P45 for McGhee. In truth, he looked a beaten man at the end. The last word (and indeed one of the very few words that I understood all night) has to go to that great Aberdonian institution, the Press and Journal: “For the first time in the club’s history, Inverness Caledonian Thistle are the best team in the north of Scotland. The league doesn’t lie and two games between Inverness and Aberdeen add further credence to that statement. I find that quite staggering and Aberdeen fans may find it more staggering still”. Oh yes.
By Scotty in Reports 2010-11 ·

Aberdeen -V- Inverness CT - Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
Diabolical Dons look up to ICT after record loss.
Inverness pop along the A96 on Tuesday evening for a midweek fixture at Pittodrie.  Aberdeen are in the undesirable position of looking up the league table to their Highland opponents who have put together an impressive opening round of results to sit in the top half of the SPL.  Aberdeen fans see the glory days of the eighties as a distant memory while Inverness fans see their teams fortunes get better and better. 
Long gone are the Alex Ferguson years, when Aberdeen were not only a force in Scotland, but humbled the mighty Real Madrid to win the Cup Winners Cup in Gothenburg, 2-1 after extra time.  Invergordon lad Eric Black opened the scoring only for a Juanito penalty to take the game into extra-time.  John Hewit scored what proved to be the winner after 112 minutes.  That was on May 11th 1983.  They followed this up by defeating Hamburg SV to lift the European Super Cup in December with a 2-0 aggregate win.  The goals scored at Pittodrie after a goalless first leg were scored by Neil Simpson and none other than one Mark McGhee.  From hero to zero I suppose.  Talking about Pittodrie.  Allegedly, the name is derived from the Pictish words for 'dung heap'.  It would appear that Pittodrie was a dung hill created by the cities police horses.  I'll let you make your own jokes up about that one.  The ground was first used in 1899 when Dumbarton were thrashed 7-1.  Another little fact that they like to keep quiet, Aberdeen FC as we know it today, was an amalgamation of three clubs.  Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion.  The amalgamated clubs first game at Pittodrie in 1903 resulted in a 1-1 draw with Stenhousemuir. (I think Scarlet Pimple was there with The Mantis and Johnboy)  So, there you go, and here are we still debating the merger when it has all been done before. 
Cup Winners Cup team in 1983 included some great names, including ex-County boss Neale Cooper now managing at Peterhead.  Dream on Team :- Jim Leighton, Doug Rougvie, John McMaster, Neale Cooper, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, Gordon Strachan, Neil Simpson, Mark McGhee, Eric Black - Subs John Hewit & Peter Weir. 
Anyway, as Michael J Fox once said to me, back to the future..........................
Last time out
Saw the home form of Inverness improve, unfortunately for them, Motherwell are an exciting team to watch these days and their away form is as equally impressive as the Highland sides form.  A highly entertaining game saw Motherwell open a gap in third spot after holding on to defeat Inverness by two goals to one.  Esson had clawed a Gow header out of the net but the ball had crossed the line, before Nick Blackman scored a crucial second after his shot deflected off Munro under the challenge.  The ball looped agonisingly over the head of a stranded Ryan Esson to send Well on their way to victory and they withstood a late charge from ICT after Stuart Duff had scored a superb first time rocket from 25 yards to make it game on.  Chances came and went, at both ends but it was Motherwell who coped best and held on to that third place behind the Old Firm.
Aberdeen maybe would rather not discuss their present plight after suffering a record SPL defeat.  With Paul Hartley being sent off, they were humiliated at Parkhead as Celtic made it nine in a row.............goals that is.  The phone calls to the ref must have made all the difference as Celtic were awarded three penalties on their way to this crushing defeat for the Dons.  Bet that makes Mr Lennon feel better.  Hooper and Stokes claimed hat-tricks as Celtic brushed Aberdeen aside.  Ref Muir brought Aberdeen's miserable effort to a halt by blowing the whistle just after the ninety minutes to save further embarrassment and I wonder how much longer the suffering Aberdeen fans will allow the demise of their club to continue before Mr McGhee will be brought to task.  It's the only time I ever see the word untenable used, and if it's in the same sentence as Aberdeen and McGhee then surely it's Taxi for Mark.  In fact, the Aberdeen board have a hastily arranged meeting for Sunday, hot on the heels of the Dons 107 year record defeat.  What on earth could they be talking about?  Did I hear the word untenable?  Well, I kid you not, it appears that Mr McGhee is still in charge, at least for this game, but he is drinking in the last chance saloon as the Aberdeen board look for positive results to erase the memory of last weekend.
Previous games
These two clubs have met 16 times in the SPL.  The stats favour Aberdeen in these fixtures with Inverness having only 2 victories in the 16 attempts.  The Dons have come out on top in 8, with the points being shared 6 times.  However, the pendulum could be swinging in favour of the Highlanders with a home win already secured over Aberdeen this season.  Aberdeen have scored 20 goals and the Inverness reply is 13.  The highest aggregate score for a single game was the Don's 3-4 victory in an enthralling encounter at Inverness in March 2008.  That day, a dramatic injury time winner by Chris McGuire took all three points East against ten man Inverness.  A see-saw match saw Aluko put Aberdeen in front, but  a Bus og and a superb Russell Duncan effort put the home side in front before Barry Nicholson squared it.  Russell Duncan was needlessly red carded at half time.  Lee Miller headed the Dons ahead early in the second half, but 10 man Inverness levelled when Roy McBain scored around the hour mark.  ICT almost held out until the sucker punch four minutes into injury time kept the Dons' top six hopes alive.  Great game, just the result that spoiled it for the home fans, and the news from the dressing room was that Grant Munro was red carded after the whistle.  Aberdeen also dumped Inverness out of both cup competitions during this SPL sequence, 4-1 at Pittodrie and 2-1 at Inverness in the Scottish Cup.  So, the stats are heavily against Inverness, but the recent turmoil at Aberdeen suggests all is not well.  The Don's will be hurting after last weeks thrashing in Glasgow and will be out to show their own fans that all is not lost, while Inverness will be looking to extend their long unbeaten away record.  Shaping up to be an interesting evening, one way or another.
***Latest Team News***
Russell Duncan has joined Blumenshtein, Proctor, Innes and Gillet on the injured list.  The defensive midfielder suffered a late groin injury forcing him to pull out of the Motherwell game at the eleventh hour.  On the bright side, Lee Cox will be back in the squad after showing no ill effects in a bounce game against a Dundee United eleven last Monday.  Inverness finished the game against Well with a youthful blend on the park.  Richie Foran looks to be struggling to shake off a stomach strain although the introduction of Shane Sutherland last week sparked some life into the ICT attack and he was unlucky not to score with a terrific turn and shot.  Gavin Morrison could start if Cox needs more time and Shinnie surely won't have such a handful to contend with.  The young ones will take great inspiration from starlet Nick Ross who has been selected for the next Scotland U21 squad to play Northern Ireland.  Well done Nick.
Aberdeen have plenty to ponder coming into this one.  Red card captain Paul Hartley is suspended after his sending off at Parkhead.  Mr McGhee reckons the sending off changed the game, really.  Nikola Vujadinovic and Andy Considine may well miss this one, adding to longer term injured players, Fraser Fyvie and Peter Pawlett.  Lots of decisions for the gaffer to consider after a performance like that.  Does he show faith in the players who showed so little passion for the game or does he make drastic alterations throughout the team?  Questions Questions...................
Squads:-
Aberdeen (from): Langfield, Diamond, McArdle, Robertson, Folly, Aluko, Young, Jack, Vernon, Magennis, Maguire, Mackie, Ifil, Howard, Velicka, Hansson, Fraser, Shaughnessy.
Inverness (from): Esson, Tokely, Munro, McCann, Cox, Shinnie, Duff, Hayes, Ross, Foran, Rooney, Odhiambo, Sutherland, Golabek, McBain, Tuffey, Morrison, Sanchez.
tm4tj Prediction
McGhee's response to the drubbing at Parkhead has been well documented. "It's only three points"  Whilst that is true, try telling that to the Red Army who are not best pleased.  He has also been quoted as saying "I've gone from legend to idiot".  That may be true as well, however 17 wins from 58 matches does not sit well on your CV.  This may well be the ideal time for Inverness to put the boot in where it hurts, but surely the Dons players owe McGhee and the fans one after that debacle.  I'm not so sure that this will be an easy game, for either side.  Aberdeen are under massive pressure to perform, Inverness will be looking to keep the unbeaten away run going.  In the first encounter at Inverness, the Red's defence looked all over the place, Celtic confirmed this last weekend.  If Aberdeen don't tighten up their back line, then Inverness could take all three points.  However, I'm a reasonable guy, and I doubt they will be so benevolent two games in a row.  With that in mind and considering the future of Aberdeen Football Club is at stake, then I reckon we might have to settle for a point.


By tm4tj in Previews 2010-11 ·

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