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St Mirren - Preview

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Well the pre-season is over and now its down to business. First Division champions St. Mirren come north to start their SPL campaign at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Andrew Fraser provides a comprehensive preview of Saturday's match as well as some interesting facts about previous matches between the sides. ICT V ST Mirren 
DETAILS Date: Saturday 29th July 2006 at 3pm Referee: Alan Freeland Tickets: Pay at the gate. TV-info: Highlights available on Scotsport SPL on Monday evening at 11.30pm.
FIXTURES Saturday 29th July: Celtic v Kilmarnock (Setanta, 12:30pm) Dundee Utd v Falkirk (3pm) Dunfermline v Hearts (3pm) Hibernian v Aberdeen (3pm) INVERNESS CT V ST MIRREN (3pm) Sunday 30th July: Motherwell v Rangers (Setanta, 2pm) RECENT FORM INVERNESS CT: Inverness have had a pretty good pre-season. Due to a possible place in the Intertoto Cup, a tour could not be planned until the last minute. As a result, Inverness didn’t get into the cup and so it was off to Italy where they won 12-0 and 5-0 against Montecatini and Tuscan Select respectively. Then it was back home where there were victories against Elgin City (2-0), Clach (6-0), Deveronvale (2-0), and Ross County (3-0) and an understrength team went down to Peterhead (3-2). Also Ross Tokely had a testimonial last Friday against a strong Sheffield United side where Caley Thistle went down 3-0. ST MIRREN: St Mirren have had a relatively easy pre-season here in Scotland. They started with Stirling Albion where it ended in a 2-2 draw. They managed to beat Ayr United 2-0 but then drew a dull 0-0 with Dumbarton. They picked up the Renfrewshire Cup against rivals Morton 2-1 in extra time. Although their first loss in pre-season came last Tuesday night where they lost 2-1 at home to Partick Thistle. PAST MEETINGS The teams have played a total of 20 times (16 League, 4 Cup) with 59 goals (43 Inverness CT, 16 St Mirren) between them. Inverness CT: 12 wins (8 League, 4 Cup) Draws: 5 (5 League, 0 Cup) St Mirren: 3 wins (3 League, 0 Cup) A GAME TO REMEMBER For this weeks game to remember we take you back to the first ever match between the teams. It took place on the 10th of August 1999 in the Scottish Challenge Cup. Inverness CT won the match 1-0 thanks to an 88th minute Mike Teasdale goal. The attendance on the day was 1334. The teams were as follows: INVERNESS CT: Fridge, Mann, Tokely, Hastings, Golabek, Teasdale, Christie, McCulloch, Sheerin, Stewart, McLean. Subs- Robson, Shearer, Glancy. ST MIRREN: Roy, McLaughlin, Turner, Baltacha, Nicolson, Murray, Drew, Kerr, McGarry, Brown, Yardley. Subs- Mendes, Lavety, Ross. The referee was Garry Mitchell and there were no bookings on the day. Three Inverness players still play for the club and there is one who is now the manager OF the club. FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS • All League meetings between the teams have taken place in the First Division so far until Saturday. • Inverness CT have won all cup meetings between the sides. • Inverness CT’s Paul Ritchie is the top scorer in the fixture with 8 goals. Next is Dennis Wyness with 6. • St Mirren’s top scorer in the fixture is Yardley with 3. • Inverness CT haven’t lost in this fixture for 12 matches. The last loss was 2-1 at home on the 3/11/2001. • The biggest win in the fixture was when Inverness CT won 5-0 on 6/5/2000. McCulloch got 2, with Xausa, Wilson and Bavidge all getting one goal. • The last meeting was on 3/4/2004. It was a 1st Division game at Love Street which finished 0-0. Inverness were playing in a Tennents Scottish Cup semi-final the week after. PLAYERS TO WATCH John Rankin (ICT): Caley Thistle’s solo signing is likely to feature against St Mirren at some stage. He will be keen to show his skills in his competitive debut for Inverness CT. This is his first time in the SPL. He was previously with Ross County and before that was apart of the Man United youth set-up. Looks like a promising player and will add more competition to the midfield as he bids to hold down a regular place. David Van Zanten (St Mirren): The strong defender is a key player in the Buddies line-up. He was at Celtic for 5 years before joining St Mirren in 2003. The Irishman was player of the year for St Mirren last year and will be keen to impress in the SPL as the first team regular looks to start where he finished off last season. FUTURE FIXTURES 28th Oct 2006 at Love Street 1st Jan 2007 at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
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By Guest in Previews 2006-07 ·

Chairman issues warning to United

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In one of the curtest football statements he has ever issued, outgoing Caley Thistle Chairman David Sutherland has told Craig Brewster, Eddie Thomson and Dundee United that he is "very disappointed" with the way they have conducted themselves over their stated desire to take a number of ICT players to the Dundee club.  United have been told that Caley Thistle are "very disappointed" in their conduct and that the Inverness club is not interested in selling players to them on the eve of the SPL season.
Vice-Chairman Graeme Bennett was quoted as saying "It's disappointing that, on the eve of our season, United have come back to us and have publicised that fact. It is unsettling when we just want to focus on getting ready for St Mirren."
This prompted Chairman David Sutherland to issue a press statement that was very clear, concise and to the point.
The statement said "United enquired about our players at the end of last season, made an offer and this was rejected. That should have been the end of the matter but what has happened this week is they make a fresh verbal offer and then their manager discloses this to the media saying he will be contacting our club to see what is happening."
"I can tell him what is not happening. Caley Thistle will not be solving any player problems United may have. Their chairman made an approach and so did their manager. But it seems that we cannot hold confidential discussions with them. We are very disappointed with such conduct." "If it is meant to unsettle players and put pressure on us to accept, then I can only say that our previous reluctance to sell is now a complete determination.
"Manager Charlie Christie wants to keep his players and it is unfair to try to take our players with our first SPL game on Saturday. It is also unfair to our supporters who do not know the truth."
"For avoidance of all doubt, and to make any future media leaks futile, we will not be doing transfer business with Dundee United in relation to players who are important to our manager's plans. End of story."
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By Guest in News 2006-07 ·

Rossco fit for Sheffield

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Ross Tokely has been passed fit to face Sheffield United in his own testimonial on Friday. It was originally feared that the 27 year old would be out long-term with a similar injury to that which sidelined Liam Keogh for a long spell. The injury also meant that he missed the pre-season trip to Italy.
Ross Tokely has been passed fit to face Sheffield United in his own testimonial on Friday. It was originally feared that the 27 year old would be out long-term with a similar injury to that which sidelined Liam Keogh for a long spell. The injury also meant that he missed the pre-season trip to Italy.
Charlie Christie was quoted as saying "Ross looks okay. His fitness isn't up there with the rest, but he has done a lot of gym work. I had actually ruled him out of the league opener against St Mirren, but Ross has surprised me and should play an hour against United".
Although it was suggested that Ross might be fit for the opening game of the season against St Mirren ... we will have to wait and see whether that happens !!
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By Guest in News 2006-07 ·

Deveronvale 0-2 Inverness CT - Pre-Season

Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC fielded a team made up largely of reserve team players in tonight's friendly v Deveronvale FC.  This was unsurprising given this weeks schedule of fixtures which will be proving a real test of fitness for the squad.  Despite a number of clear misses the Caley Jags still finished 2-0 victors.
 Wednesday 19th July 2006  Princess Royal Park, Banff  DEVERONVALE FC  0 Team: Blanchard, Dolan, Chisholm, Gilbert, Chisholm, Brown, Bremner, McWilliam, Smith, McKenzie, Noble, Cowie Subs: Munro, Allan, Watt, Harris, C Barney, S Barney, Alexander  INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE FC  2 - (Duncan 44, Soane 63) Team: Fraser, Parratt, Kerr, Hastings, Golabek, Keogh, Duncan, Hart, Trialist B, McAllister, Trialist A
Subs: Proctor for Kerr (57 mins), Soane for Duncan (63 mins) Unused Sub – Smith
 Referee  D Watt RiG takes time out again to report on Caley Thistle's friendly match V Deveronvale
I was surprised to see MacAllister starting again after playing the full 90 against Peterhead the previous night but perhaps Charlie was desperate for him to get a goal but his bad luck was to continue in front of the goal. ICT started well and forced a couple of corners from good link up down the right between Parratt and Glass. Harts deliveries were good and often tested the keeper who marshalled his area well. Hart went close with a couple of long range shots with one just dipping over the crossbar and Parratt tried his luck from distance but sent the ball into the crowd. Keogh was also looking threatening from midfield with some surging runs and spread the play well across the line to either flank. While Glass was linking well on the right Golly and Campbell on the left weren't looking so effective. Not really a big threat down the left hand side for us. We took the lead when the ball fell to Russell Duncan at the edge of the area and he calmly stroked the ball into the net from about 25 yards. A well taken goal which was well placed to beat the keeper to his right. Into the second half and ICT continued to press and Campbell missed two glorious chances for us. A ball whipped into the box found Campbell a matter of inches out but he somehow scooped the ball over the bar and worse was to follow for the trialist. Another ball into the area, this time from the left, found him attacking the near post but he only managed to scuff the ball against the post and away from danger. Two astonishing misses that rank alongside Kanu and Batistuta in the Hall of Shame stakes. Proctor came on midway through the second half and slotted in at left back which was bizarre to say the least. He replaced Kerr. Duncan made way for Stuart Soane who made an immediate impact with only his third touch. A corner was not cleared by the Vale defence and Soane took control from the edge of the area cutting inside his man and firing the ball across goal past the Home keeper to send ICT 2 up. Vale had chances too but Mike Fraser was equal to pretty much everything they threw at him. A powerful drive was well gathered and a header tipped round the post.
 
Further comments from other site users present at the match 
Row S
The two misses by Glass were unbelievable.  He scooped one over the bar from a yard out and then hit the post from six inches.
Rory tried hard up front but was often crowded out by a packed Vale defence. I wasn't sure about what was going on with Proctor playing at left back for the last half hour.  Keogh put in a good shift in midfield and seems to look fitter and stronger than ever.
Michael Fraser looked confident and assured all night.  He had a couple of good saves when Vale were pressing late in the game.
The ref also had to asked that the Vale centre half be substituted or he might have to send him off.  I'm not quite sure why because it happened too far away from us.
And finally, the Banff wind blew as usual throughout the whole game, which did not make for attractive football.  If there was a lasting memory we had of living in Banff and Macduff for 7 years it was the constant wind, even in the height of summer.  At least it was blowing from the south tonight and not from the sea.
Crowd: not quite two men and a dog - about 250 souls and 2 dogs. 
Guest
By Guest in Reports 2006-07 ·

BRUCE McGRAW TESTIMONIAL

A day in the sun for the 400 fans who turned out to honour Bruce McGraw for 10 years of service to Clachnacuddin FC.  Results are always secondary at such events, but Caley Thistle were comfortable winners scoring 6 goals with no return.  Another work-out for the players ahead of the new SPL season and a great day for all involved.
BRUCE McGRAW TESTIMONIAL/INVERNESS COURIER CUP
 Saturday 15th July 2006  Grant Street Park, Inverness  CLACHNACUDDIN  0 Team: Barry McGraw (Calder 53), Anton, Jarvie, Macdonald (Fraser 71), D Mackay (C Sutherland 66), MacCuish, MacKenzie (Kerr 38), D Ross (A Sutherland 75), Bone (C Ross 75), Bruce McGraw (Lawrie 61), Neill (Lyall 71)  INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE FC  6 (McAllister 17 & 70, Bayne 24, Wilson 56, McCaffrey 68, Wyness 83) Team: Fraser, Parratt, Hastings (Golabek 46), Munro, McCaffrey, Duncan (Keogh 51), Darren Campbell (Matthew Glass 61), McAllister (Campbell 81), Bayne (Wyness 46), Hart (Soane 69), McBain (Wilson 51)Sub -Smith  Referee  M Ritchie  Attendance  400 + 1 Dog & 1 Bike Match Report provided by Club Historian Ian Broadfoot.
An afternoon of nostalgia in the sun for Bruce McGraw after ten years with Clach, 337 appearances and 122 goals. His brother Barry returned to start in goal for Clach and he was replaced by Caley Thistle veteran Jim Calder after 53 minutes. Barry’s former team proved too strong for Clach but the goals were a while in coming. Clach started well and in just two minutes Alex Bone sent a curling ball just past the post. Caley Thistle took the lead in 17 minutes when impressive trialist Darren Campbell raced down the right, sent a low ball across goal and Rory McAllister turned it in from close range. Seven minutes later a mix-up in the Clach defence led to a loose ball which Graham Bayne hit low into the net from 15 yards. Bone came close at the other end just before the break but his header was cleared. Caley Thistle ran away with it in the second half and scored four more goals. Jim Calder had barely settled into the Clach goal when Barry Wilson chipped a 20 yard free kick over the wall and into the net to make it 3-0. Bone hit over the ICT bar in 67 minutes but a minute later it was 4-0. Richie Hart took a corner on the left and Stuart McCaffrey rose high to head home. Two minutes later a chip across goal from trialist Matthew Glass was touched on by Dennis Wyness and McAllister netted his second goal via the woodwork. Calder displayed his legendary form to deny Soane, Keogh and Wyness before Wyness scored number six with a low angled ball in 83 minutes.
A good workout for Caley Thistle, fine entertainment for the 400 crowd (plus a dog and a bike according to the announcer) and a match to remember for Bruce McGraw.
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By Guest in Reports 2006-07 ·

Rankin Signs

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Caley Thistle held a press conference earlier today (13th July) to unveil long-time target, John Rankin as Charlie Christie's first major signing. Although the amount was not officially disclosed, it has been widely speculated that Caley Thistle paid Ross County around £65,000 for the 22 year old midfielder who was voted the SFL Division One Player of the Year last season. Rankin who has signed a three year deal with ICT joined Ross County at the start of the 2003/04 season from the Manchester United youth system. He played a total of 121 times for the Dingwall club and scored a total of 20 goals.   Season LGE App (+sub) LGE Goals CUP App (+sub) CUP Goals Total APP  Total Goals  Yellow Cards  Red Cards   2003/04 35 (0) 5 5 (0) 1  40 6  3 0  2004/05 28 (2) 0 8 (0) 1  38 1  4 0  2005/06 36 (0) 12 7 (0) 1  43 13  6 0  TOTALS 99 (2) 17 20 (0) 3  121 20 13 0 Last season he played a total of 43 games for County and scored a total of 13 goals, He also played for the Scotland future squad in the game against Turkey at the Caledonian Stadium. The press release relating to the signing can be viewed in full on the Official Site
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By Guest in News 2006-07 ·

Elgin City 0-2 Inverness CT - Pre-Season

The Caley Thistle players could be forgiven for having a bit of a hangover after a successful pre-season tour to Italy and partaking in a few celebrations with the locals before returning to Inverness on Monday.  However, this didn't prevent them bagging the 3rd consecutive pre-season win in the match against Elgin City which ended with us holding on to yet another clean sheet.
 
 Wednesday 12th July  Borough Briggs  Elgin City  0 Team: Renton; Kaczan, Dempsie, Lowe (Morrison, 61), Dickson, Muir (Main, 59), Finnigan (Charlesworth, 63), Campbell (Smith, 83), Johnston, Gardiner (Tweedie, 80), Nelson.
Subs: Morrison, Main, Charlesworth, Smith, Tweedie, McIntosh (unused), Knight (unused)
 Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC  2 - Dargo (19), Black (40) Team: Brown, McCaffrey, Dods, Munro (Hastings 45), Golabek, Wilson (Hart 60), Black (Duncan 45), Keogh (McBain 45), Morgan (McAllister 75), Dargo, Wyness
Subs – McBain, Duncan, Hastings, Hart, McAllister, Bayne (unused after being injured in the warm up)
This was one of 2 matches being played by Inverness Caley Thistle on Wednesday evening, so if your favourite player doesn't appear in the squad, no need to panic, they were likely off stretching the legs in the 3-1 victory over another old-time rival, Huntly, at Christie Park. A regular forum user, RiG, took time out from squirrel spotting to provide the match report from this game.
Both sides started well with Elgin creating the first chance of the game. A corner from the left was well won by an Elgin defender who rose above Munro but only succeeded in flashing his header over the bar with Brown stranded.
Wilson was getting into space on the right flank on a few occasions and proved to be a valuable outlet for ICT and it was from his cross that saw ICT spurn the first in what would be a long line of chances in the first half. Bazza skipped along the wing and sent a ball into Wyness who got to the ball ahead of an opposition challenge but failed to make good contact and sent the ball trickling wide of Renton's goal.
Ian Black was next to threaten for the SPL side as he looked to test the Home keeper from distance. Lurking at the edge of the box he picked up on a loose ball and sent a shot in but like Wyness before him, only succeeded in tugging his shot wide of the target.
Inverness went in front thanks to a goal from prolific marksmen Craig Dargo. Alan Morgan sent a ball in from the right which was palmed away by the Elgin keeper. Inverness kept the ball alive and Dods quickly sent another cross back into the box which found the onrushing Dargo arriving at the back post to smash the ball high into the net from close range.
Wilson again was causing Elgin problems on the right and he sent in a wonderful ball that saw Wyness rise high above his man to get a header in but Renton collected comfortably. The next chance fell to Wilson himself who forced a fantastic save from Renton. Collecting the ball at the edge of the box the veteran midfielder sent in a thunderous volley that looked destined for the back of the net but for another superb save from Renton.
However it was not long before ICT doubled their advantage. Renton was finally beaten by Ian Black who didn’t appear too affected by the transfer speculation surrounding him recently. From the edge of the box Black shielded the ball from the opposing defender before turning him inside out and clipping the ball over Renton to put Inverness two up.
At half time ICT replaced Black, Keogh and Munro with McBain, Duncan and Hastings respectively. With Black and Keogh going off Inverness began to look a little less dominant in the middle of the park as Elgin began to threaten but a defensive lapse nearly saw Inverness add a third goal. The Elgin right back came under pressure and played a dangerous ball across goal which was intercepted by Dargo who moved in on goal before shooting over.
The final clear cut chance for Inverness came from skipper Wilson who saw his header held well by the impressive Renton.
The performance was typical of ICT. Not particularly fancy for the large part but effective. Black and Keogh looked a solid pairing in the midfield which was not as effective at controlling Elgin’s attacks after the two went off at half time.
Up front Wyness looked to be lacking in confidence but Dargo seemed sharp and well capable of carrying on last seasons form.
Below are a few comments from the Caley Jags faithfull who turned up to cheer on ICT versus Elgin.
'RossP' "First half we could've been about 4/5 up if it wasn't for the heroics of the elgin keeper. 2nd half we were under the cosh due to some lapses in conversation, and our entire midfield disappearing up front when it wasn't necessary trying to glory hunt for a goal; Elgin then countering. Hopefully we'll improve in the next 2weeks, and by the looks of things Elgin could be pushing for the 2nd division!!"
'Mee' "Blackies goal was very well taken, lovely to watch, the boy's a star and that better not be the last goal I see him score for us" 'Caley100' "Overall, a quiet performance, nothing to get excited about bar Blacks superb goal, and Barrys volleys which were saved by the best player in Elgins team, No sign of any new faces though!"
'TheMann4TheJob' "Lets just hope it was preseason warm ups, because this was pretty hapless stuff. Dargo netted from close range lifting the ball into the roof of the net with a poachers goal middle of first half. Bazza had two tremendous volleys within ten seconds of each other stopped with equally tremendous saves from the pink keeper, and Wyness had a header well saved as well, with the rebound dropping behind him. Black curled a neat shot into the roof of the net from 18 yards before half time and thus endeth the scoring. Lots of subs in second half with Hart adding a bit of thrust to the midfield but no further goals. Elgin had a couple of opportunities to score but Brown blocked them. Lets just hope that the weary Italian legs get re-charged before the season starts and Denzil shows a bit more effort than on display tonight. However, it was only a kick about on a breezy summers evening, maybe when the real thing starts, we are firing on all cylinders. Started the game with much and such our best eleven, Caff playing in Tokeleys position. Dods Munro and Golly made up the defence, Wilson Keogh, Black and Morgan, with Dargo and Wyness up front. Second half plenty of subs saw Hastings, Duncan, Macallister, Russeldhino, and probably some others, but we lacked ideas all round. Still, a wee workout for the few who turned up, maybe three hundred or so."
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By Guest in Reports 2006-07 ·

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