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St Mirren 2-1 Inverness CT - Report

Caley Thistle travelled to Paisley in desperate need of the points in order to try and put some space between them and the foot of the table, but it wasn't to be.  Dorman opened the scoring for St Mirren on 17 minutes and Brady added a second only 30 seconds after Half-Time to take all 3 points and send the ICT fans home wondering just how long our Board will allow things to continue without the much needed changes.
 
13th December 2008 - 3.00pm Love Street, Paisley ST MIRREN FC
2 - (Dorman 17, Brady 46)
Team: Howard, Miranda, Potter, Cuthbert, Ross, Dorman (Mason 90), Murray, Brady, McGinn, Wyness, Hamilton (Dargo 85)
Subs - Smith, Barron, McAusland, McCay, Brighton
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE FC
0 
 
Esson, Proctor, McGuire, Munro, Hastings, Cowie, Black (McBain 66), Duncan, Imrie (Sutherland 77), Barrowman (McAllister 66), Rooney
Subs - Fraser, Duff, Wood, Vigurs
Referee S Conroy Attendance 3364 Man of the Match    
Alternative Maryhill:
I'm not going to moan too much about the line-up. He tried to change it after last week and the defence was lined up more sensibly. Barrowman's been bitching and moaning about not getting a start - now he's had two in a row and has just proved what most had suspected, that he can't cut it at SPL level. That said, while I understand why Brewster tried to change it, I would rather have seen Vigurs keep his place and one up and I would rather have seen us try to play the ball retention and slow build-up stuff we did against Celtic, only with a little more directness when we were around the 18-yard box. Yesterday was less organised, more rushed, more casual - it was as if we felt St Mirren didn't deserve the same respect as Celtic.
The most depressing thing about yesterday, though, was the apparent lack of fight among some of the players. I'm thinking mostly of Cowie here - there was just no drive about his game. Last season with us 2-0 down at Love St, he sprinted into the box to get on the end of a Niculae cross to make it 2-1. That just wasn't going to happen yesterday. The other midfielders floated in and out of the game as well - no-one seemed to want to take on the responsibility of trying to push us forward. Duncan was probably the pick but also, of course, the deepest-lying. Haven't seen the goals again yet but otherwise the defence looked OK to me. As for the attackers, in the first half Rooney seemed to be playing furthest forward with Barrowman actually dropping back to look for the ball more. Again, this was a change that was probably worth trying, but it didn't look like there was any understanding between them and Rooney saw very little of the ball until he started dropping back more himself in the second half. The St Mirren defence was solid, but the game was really lost in midfield.
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By Guest in Reports 2008-09 ·

Inverness CT 1-3 Dundee Utd - Report

Arabs on top
 
Caley Thistle have continued their poor form at home with another three points going to the visiting team, this time Dundee United were the benefactors with the reshuffled ICT defence being generous to a man leaving United’s strikers the simplest of tasks to leave Inverness with just one home win this season.
The match was goalless at half time but finished 1-3 when United found the extra gear in the second half and left ICT as a blur in their rear view mirror. 
 
 6th December 2008 - 3.00pm  Tulloch Caledonian Stadium  INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE FC
 1 - (Rooney 73)
Team: Esson, Proctor, Duff, Munro, Hastings, Imrie (Rooney 63), Duncan, Black, Vigurs (Sutherland 84), Cowie, Barrowman (Wood 84)
Subs - Fraser, Djebi-Zadi, McBain, Wilson, Sutherland, Wood
 DUNDEE UTD FC
 3 - (Daley 51, Conway 64, D Robertson 71)
Team: Zaluska, Kovacevic, Wilkie, Kenneth, Dixon, D Robertson, Swanson, S Robertson, Gomis, Conway, Daly
Subs - McGovern, Dillon, Feeney, Grainger, Bauben, Goodwillie, McCord
 Referee  B Winter  Attendance  3560  Man of the Match    
With Ross Tokely missing through suspension, the surprise choice was not in seeing Jamie Duff in the starting eleven, but his position at right back, with Proctor remaining in central defence alongside Munro. Andy Barrowman played the lone striker role today without much success.
United had to make a couple of changes as Sandaza and Willo Flood were out with injury and suspension respectively. They were replaced with Conway and Robertson, who made the most of their day out in Inverness as they both scored in the second half to put further pressure on Craig Brewster and his abysmal home record.
The 3560 crowd were boosted by the appearance of some of Brews fans, Dunfermline’s game with County being called off, some Pars made the weekend of it and joined the North Standers to witness another home defeat. United had a vociferous 300 plus crowd in the South Stand.
How Inverness must have wished Conway was not playing as he ran the defence ragged and caused us all sorts of problems down the United left wing with Jamie Duff unable to cope with his pace and twisting runs and Proctor not faring any better. His deliveries into the box were also of real quality and Inverness were fortunate on a couple of occasions in the first half not to concede a goal as there were no takers for his tempting crosses which flashed tantalizingly close to the goals with the defence like statues admiring his display.
Not too much to get excited about in the first half with Cowie having the best opportunity for Inverness but his lob cleared the keeper, unfortunately it also cleared the bar. Barrowman had earlier flashed a shot wide as did Vigurs, who’s normally reliable left foot let him down. Proctor was rightly booked for a horrendous looking challenge on Conway as he sped down the left wing. Neither keeper had anything of note to do in a dull first half with the teams fairly evenly matched. No goals at half time, although Jon Daly should have done better from fifteen yards but he shot over.
However he would soon rectify that early in the second half as he rose unchallenged to send a superb powerful header past a helpless Esson from a Swanson cross after a short free kick. Adam Rooney replaced a subdued Dougie Imrie after 63 minutes and the switch paid off, unfortunately at the wrong end as United went two up a couple of minutes later. Daly knocked the ball down and MotM Craig Conway finished in style by swivelling volleying home from inside the area.
Esson prevented the rout at this stage when he made a superb double save to deny United. At this point things were looking bleak for Brewster, and they got even bleaker when the shambolic defence allowed the resultant corner kick to bounce across goal in 71 minutes for Robertson to stoop and head the ball into the net from close range.
Some fans wanted to suffer no more and left the stadium and missed the goal of the game as sub Rooney guided a volley into the roof of the net from Cowie's fizzing left wing cross. Too little too late and even the late double substitution of Wood and Zander Sutherland had no impact on the game. Duff was booked after fouling Conway who turned him inside out and then back again.
We still had time to miss a golden chance to help our goal difference as a misplaced passback from Kenneth's head bounced off the post and as Wood arrived, he could only help the ball into the hands of Zaluska.
Summing up…we were well beaten by a decent United side and our reshuffled defence had no answer to the aerial threat posed by Daly and Wilkie and the mazy runs from Conway. Gary Kenneth won’t have an easier afternoon with countless high balls landing on his head. Best for ICT was the outstanding Ian Black who showed great restraint yesterday after being upended almost as many times as Craig Conway. Dougie Imrie had a quiet day and only once showed up when he collected a ball on the run and drove at the United defence, but that was about it. Richard Hastings was the pick of the back four, and their faces must have been as red as the early evening sky after they lost their man more times than I care to remember. I thought Barrowman started brightly but faded as we resorted to the high ball tactic.
A worrying trend has developed at Tulloch stadium, something Brewster needs to sort out pretty sharp or it may not be worthwhile signing the new contract. It does not get any easier with a difficult away day to Paisley next week followed by a home game against the Dons. Judgement day is looming.
TM4TJ MotM goes to United's Craig Conway who tore the ICT rearguard to shreds and reminded us how Barry Robson used to cross the ball and he capped it with a good goal.
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By Guest in Reports 2008-09 ·

Inverness CT v Dundee Utd Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
This weekend, weather permitting, sees the Tangerine Terrors come knocking on the TCS door looking to continue their decent start to the season. The club is under new leadership after chairman Eddie Thompson sadly succumbed to his long battle with cancer at the age of 67. Taking over at the helm is his son Stephen Thompson, and it was recently announced that manager Craig Levein has signed a three year extension to his Arabs contract.
INVERNESS CT v DUNDEE UTD
Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Saturday 6th December, 3:00pm

Former Cowdenbeath, Hearts and Leicester City boss Levein has signed on at Tannadice until May 2012. Oddly enough, Levein joined United when they were languishing perilously close to the relegation zone and took over from none other than our own much maligned Craig Brewster. Levein now has one of the top teams outside the Old Firm and United have high hopes of finishing the best of the rest in the SPL. Inverness meanwhile are still flirting with the reality of relegation and three points from the United game would be a much needed boost to the home points scorecard, where performances have been much criticized by the Tulloch faithful. The 2.5% VAT reductions are welcome; let’s just hope the entertainment is not reduced by the same amount as there would be no value for money left.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Dundee United Big Jon Daly, no not the wayward American golfer, but the six foot two inch Republic of Ireland under 21 international footballer who is enjoying his return to the Terrors first team after six months out last year with a cruciate ligament injury. Daly started his career at Cherry Orchard in the Irish amateur leagues before signing for Stockport County in 1998 scoring 14 goals in 91 appearances. After a couple of loan spells at Bury and Grimsby Town, he joined Hartlepool in February 2005 and scored 12 goals in 61 appearances, including seven goals in one week! Another loan spell at Bury followed before he was signed by United in January 2007. Big Jon has already scored against the Caley Jags this season, scoring the first for United in the 2-1 defeat for us in October, one of six goals for him so far. Always a threat in the air he will pose problems for the Jags rearguard, especially as the height of Tokely will be missing this weekend as he starts a two match ban for accumulated bookings.
Francisco José Sandaza Asensio, now there’s a mouthful. I'll settle for Sandaza. He is also a handful as Rangers found out earlier this year when he scored twice at Ibrox in a MoM performance to earn United a creditable 2-2 draw against the Gers. The six foot tall 24 year old Spaniard was signed from Valencia Mestalla, the Spanish giants Valencia's second eleven, where he was a regular scorer in the reserve games, hitting the net 23 times last season. In Spanish league set up, the second string can play in the lower leagues but cannot be promoted to the top tier. He also scored against Celtic for his first competitive goal for the club in August 2008. Sandaza has scored six league goals this term and is warming to the Scottish game. Maybe the frost in the Highland capital will slow him down a bit to enable our sometimes laboured defenders to keep the Spaniard under control. There’s a thought......Arabs and Sandaza, goes hand in hand really, anyway, definitely a couple of players to pose a threat to ICT.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Ryan Esson has come in to the starting eleven in recent weeks after a series of disappointing performances by young Mike Fraser who has maybe dented his confidence a little. Esson has taken over the keepers jersey since the 5-0 mauling at Ibrox and has performed admirably since then, making himself the number one choice at the moment. The former Aberdeen and Shrewsbury keeper excelled in games against ICT and is showing good form at the moment. His quick distribution has been praised by the home fans and he has done something not seen at ICT since the days of the legendary Jimmy Calder, a penalty save. In fact Killie also missed against him, with Taouil firing high over the bar. At six foot one, 28 year old Ryan is well equipped to deal with the threats from United giants Wilkie and Dods and has plenty of experience having played 89 times for Aberdeen in the SPL. Ryan may well be a key player for ICT this weekend with the aerial threat of Wilkie, Daly, Dods, Kenneth and Sandaza all very menacing at set pieces.
Richard Cory Hastings is the only full International player left at ICT since the departure of Romanian Marius Niculae. The Canadian born player has grown with ICT, despite a spell away from Inverness at Grazer AK in Austria and a misguided adventure at Dingwall, the former Millburn Academy pupil has returned to make the left back position his own. Richard has a great engine and patrols the left wing back slot for the Jags. If his crossing were to match his energy then he would be a fans favourite, but all too often the attacks break down when aimless balls into the box get mopped up easily by the opposing defences. All the same, he could prove to be a match winner if he gets it right and offers plenty of back up to Dougie Imrie and Don Cowie who forever swap wings. At 31, he may be regarded as approaching the veteran stage, but the man who started out at Nairn County still has plenty to offer ICT before he would think of returning to Canada. Let’s all get behind him and the team for this crucial game. After all, it is his testimonial year.
PAST MEETINGS
The teams have met eighteen times since ICT joined the SPL, (league and cup), with United winning five times, ICT prevailing six times and seven draws. Highest scoring game was ICT triumphing 4-2 at Tannadice when Inverness twice came from behind to run out easy winners after Dods, Wyness, Dargo and Morgan replied to a double from Charlie Mulgrew. Starting line ups that day in front of 6419 fans were
Inverness:- Mark Brown, Richard Hastings, Ross Tokely, Grant Munro, Darren Dods, Barry Wilson, Russell Duncan, Richie Hart, Ian Black, Dennis Wyness, Craig Dargo
United:- Stillie, Duff, McCracken, Archibald, Mulgrew, Kerr, Brebner, McInnes, Fernandez, Samuel, Miller
TM4TJ PREDICTION
With the Arabs being much improved from the Brewster era it would be easy to go for a United victory, but if ICT can display the same commitment shown in the last three away games then you just never know. However, our home form leaves a lot to be desired, the lone striker not being a fans favourite. This game may well boil down to the managers tactics being the deciding factor. I am sitting on the fence for a scoring draw.
 
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By Guest in Previews 2008-09 ·

Scottish Cup: ICT V Partick

Teaser Paragraph:
The draw for the 4th round of the Scottish Cup took place today (Mon 1st Dec) live on SKY SPORTS NEWS. It was conducted by SFA president George Peat assisted by Nicola Sturgeon MSP, and Scotland Manager George Burley.
Caley Thistle were handed a tough tie when they were paired at home against Partick Thistle who are currently in third spot in the first division. The tie will be played on Saturday January 10th 2009.
The undoubted tie of the round is Hibernian Vs Hearts but there are a few other crackers in there too …. St Johnstone Vs Rangers, Falkirk Vs Queen of the South, Celtic Vs Dundee and Dunfermline Vs Clyde to name but a few.
The full draw is as follows: 
Peterhead V Queens Park St Johnstone V Rangers Raith Rovers or Alloa Athletic V Aberdeen Falkirk V Queen of the South Airdrie United V Elgin City or Spartans Inverurie Loco Works or Vale of Leithen V Motherwell Ross County or Dumbarton V Hamilton Academical Forfar Athletic or Stranraer V Forres Mechanics or Dalbeattie Star Inverness Caledonian Thistle V Partick Thistle Celtic V Dundee East Stirlingshire V Dundee United Stenhousemuir V East Fife Hibernian V Heart of Midlothian Lochee United or Ayr United V Kilmarnock Dunfermline Athletic V Clyde Edinburgh City or Brechin City V St Mirren The match against Partick Thistle is likely to be a tough one, and one that has the added spice of resentment still felt by a section of the Partick support who feel Caley Thistle stole their spot in the SPL when they were relegated nearly five years ago.
The teams have faced each other thirteen times over the years, eight times in league action in Divisions One and Two where honours were even at four wins apiece, once in the League Cup second round where the Caley Jags needed penalties to win the tie and they have been drawn against each other twice before in the Scottish Cup with each game going to a replay. The bad news ….. We have lost each Scottish Cup replay against them !!!
League (Div 2)
04/08/98: (A) 0-1 WIN [Scorer: Barry Wilson] 17/10/98: (H) 3-2 WIN [Scott McLean (2), Paul Sheerin] 19/12/98: (A) 2-1 LOSS [Barry Wilson] 24/04/99: (H) 3-2 WIN [Scott McLean, Mark Mcculloch] League (Div 1)
18/08/01: (A) 1-0 LOSS 08/12/01: (H) 1-2 LOSS [Dennis Wyness] 09/02/02: (A) 4-1 LOSS [Paul Ritchie] 27/04/02: (H) 3-0 WIN [Graeme Stewart, Paul Ritchie, Dennis Wyness] CIS Insurance Cup
26/09/01: (H) 3-3 DRAW (won 4-2 on pens after extra time) [Barry Robson (2), Mike Teasdale] Tennents Scottish Cup
23/02/02: (A) 2-2 DRAW (Quarter Final) [Dennis Wyness (2)] 05/03/02: (H) 0-1 LOSS (Quarter Final Replay) 04/02/06: (H) 2-2 DRAW (Round 4) [Roy McBain, Craig Dargo] - Match Report 15/02/06: (A) 1-1 DRAW (Round 4 replay – lost 4-2 on penalties) [Dennis Wyness] - Match Report  
Guest
By Guest in News 2008-09 ·

Celtic 1-0 Inverness CT - Report

Celt's edge it
 
Inverness Caley Thistle fans could be forgiven for going into this match with a few nerves given our performance the last time we visited Glasgow.  However, this time we were on the other side of the City to play Celtic and ICT gave a great account of themselves.
Maloney scored the only goal of the game on 29 minutes to give the home side a win, and it is a little disappointing that Caley Jags failed to register a shot on goal but that was always going to be the risk this season when relying on unproven strikers. However, there are still a lot of plus points to be taken from the manner in which we conducted ourselves and managed to keep Celtic out of the game for long spells.
 
29th November 2008 - 3.00pm Celtic Park, Glasgow CELTIC FC (manager Gordon Strachan)
1 - (Maloney 29)
Team: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Robson (Naylor 62), Nakamura, Hartley, Brown, Maloney, Samaras (Sheridan 63 (Mizuno 90), McDonald
Subs - Brown, Loovens, Caddis, Millar
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE
0 - 
Team: Esson, Tokely, Proctor, Munro, Hastings, Cowie, Black (Wilson 86), Duncan, Vigurs (Rooney 73), Imrie, Wood (Barrowman 62)
Subs - Fraser, McBain, Sutherland, Duff
Referee D Sommers Attendance 55,117 Man of the Match   BBC Sport saw it like this:
Shaun Maloney fired the only goal of a tense game as Celtic overcame a stubborn Inverness side to move seven points clear at the top of the SPL.
Celtic struggled to break down a well-organised Inverness defence - much to the dismay of the home supporters.
Maloney broke the deadlock after 29 minutes when he collected a superb pass from Shunsuke Nakamura to fire home past Inverness goalkeeper Ryan Esson.
Doug Imrie went close with an audacious chip, but Celtic held on for victory.
The hosts seemed to struggle following their midweek exit and the fluency of their early season form was absent.
Inverness were content to sit deep and attempt to hit Celtic on the break.
Andreas Hinkel and Nakamura appeared the most likely players to carve out an opportunity.
And it was Nakamura who set up what proved to be the only goal of the game.
The Japanese international's clever diagonal found Maloney. and his low effort evaded the despairing grasp of Esson and found the corner of the net.
Five minutes after the break, Inverness were denied a great chance to equalise when midfielder Ian Black sent Garry Wood racing clear.
But Wood was ruled offside in what appeared to be a borderline decision.
Black then tested Boruc with a long drive, as the hosts' inability to score a second goal caused anxiety among the home support.
Scott McDonald blazed high over the bar late on as Celtic failed to double their lead, but recorded their 12th consecutive SPL victory.
Full Game
 
Guest
By Guest in Reports 2008-09 ·

Kilmarnock 1-2 Inverness CT - Report

Killie pay the penalty
 
It was a game that had everything, but most importantly it was a game that had more goals for Inverness Caledonian Thistle than it did for Kilmarnock.  Strikes from Imrie and Wood put the Caley Jags 2 up in the first half with Killie offering little in response.
Kilmarnock's half time talk seemed to fire them up and the second half saw them come more into the game.  However, it took them until the 85th minute for Gibson to pull one back, but Killie failed to capitalise when they missed a penalty shortly afterwards.
Wood should have perhaps had a third for ICT and Kilmarock may have scored more if not for Caley Thistle Keeper Ryan Esson who continues to repay Brewster for giving him his chance.
 
 22nd November 2008 - 3.00pm  Rugby Park, Kilmarnock  Kilmarnock FC - (Manager: Jim Jefferies)
 1 - (Gibson 85)
Team: Combe (Rascle 46), Fowler, Wright, Ford (Simmonds 77), Hay, Hamill, Taoull, Bryson, Pascail, Fernandez, Russell (Gibson 59)
 Subs - Murray, Skelton, Flannigan, Cox
 INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE
 2 - (Imrie, 14 - Wood, 38)
Team: Esson, Tokely, Proctor, Munro, Hastings, Cowie, Black (McBain 74), Duncan, Vigurs, Imrie (Sutherland 90), Wood (Barrowman 64)
 Subs - Fraser, Wilson, Rooney, McAllister
 Referee  S Finnie  Attendance  4328  Man of the Match    
Alternative Maryhill rounded it up like this:
Great game of football for the neutral - it's been a while since I spent the last 10 mins doing the "can we hang on?" jack-in-the-box routine. But over the piece we deserved it, although if Killie had scored the penalty there would have been harsh questions asked about our players farting about and being far too casual when they had several chances to nail Killie on the break in the second half.
The midfield was excellent and this was where the game was won. Imrie was up for it from the start, beat a lot of players and got the ball into numerous dangerous positions; Vigurs again showed composure and the ability to see passes and also made a few decent runs; Duncan closed down well and didn't give it away too often; Blackie had a quieter game than usual but didn't get drawn into situations where he was likely to get sent off after being booked in the first minute; Cowie worked hard and was one of our most dangerous players in the second half, although I think his natural strengths are beng sacrificed by Brewster to allow Imrie to play wide right.
The defence also played well, although Tokely struggled badly against Taouil until he was moved up front. Proctor was better in the air than I remember him being and Granty avoided too many long balls. Esson was excellent - it's been a good move to get him in. The forward line, on the other hand, is definitely still an issue. Wood worked really hard and held the ball up well, but never really got into any threatening positions: his goal, from where I was sitting, was a bit of a freak and more down to the the keeper than good finishing. On the other hand, Barrowman, when he came on, did nothing except get caught offside. For a player whose only strength seems to be hanging around and playing the last man, that is unforgiveable. I have no idea why Rooney wasn't given his chance.
Choice of striker aside, I can't criticise Brew for his team selection today, nor can I criticise the players for their effort, apart from a too-casual approach in the last fifteen minutes. At the same time, today suggests that the SPL is simply full of mediocre teams and that some teams' approaches just play into the hands of other teams. Whatever they were trying to do may work against other sides, but today Killie just allowed players like Imrie and Vigurs space to create and they were punished for it. If they had been more aggressive and closed down earlier, both these players might have got frustrated and we might have been on the end of another defeat
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By Guest in Reports 2008-09 ·

ICT v Rangers & Celtic

Teaser Paragraph:
The fixture date for our Match versus Rangers in January has been changed along with the fixture date for our Match versus Celtic in February.
Details of these changes and ticket availability for these matches has now been released by the club and can be found here.
 
ICT V RANGERS & CELTIC
Dear ICT Supporter,
Tickets are on sale NOW from the ICT Ticket Office for the above games; priced at -
Main Stand Adults £29 & Concessions £24
North Stand Adults £24 & Concessions £19
Kevin Bissett Family Enclosure Adults £19 & Concessions £17 / £11
Our game against Rangers has now been moved to Sunday 4th January with kick-off expected to be at 12pm (subject to confirmation) and our game against Celtic is now Sunday 1st February with a 2pm kick-off.
As a valued Season Ticket Holder, you have the opportunity to purchase up to 6 additional seats now for both games. Tickets go on general release for Rangers on Monday 24th November and for Celtic on Monday 1st December.
The Club Shop and Ticket Office is open Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm and on Match Days from 10am until kick-off. You can also purchase tickets over the phone on (01463) 222880, option 1
The Supporters Wall of Fame - for the perfect Christmas gift - only £40 per brick. Call Emma on 01463 227454 for more details. T: 01463 222880 F: 01463 227479 W: www.ictfc.co.uk
Guest
By Guest in News 2008-09 ·

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