sorry .... no fancy graphics or links today .... looks like live text not available on most sites and sky ticker only updating at half time .... we really are in a communication black hole when we are out of the SPL.

Instead - we will bring you TM4TJs Match Preview .......

Caley Jaggies v Gable Endies

New season, new club structure, new teams, new venues, new competitions, new players, new away strip and new hope for the ICT fans.

The season kicks off earlier this year as relegation sees Inverness entering the Alba Challenge Cup and hosting Montrose in the first round at Tulloch Stadium, well most of it as part of the stadium will remain closed, with only the main stand being open. ICT are no strangers to this competition having won the Challenge Cup trophy in November 2003 after defeating Airdrieonians 2-0 at Perth thanks to late strikes from Steve Hislop and David Bingham.

Today?s visitors Montrose have not been here since the Stadium was converted to all seating and the last time we entertained the Gable Endies was 5th April 1997 in a Third Division game where ICT won 3-2.

The Gable Endies, now where did they get that unusual nickname I hear you ask? Apparently 'Gable-Endie' is the nickname given to a citizen of Montrose. The term originated because the early buildings had their gable-ends facing the High Street. How odd.

Today?s team line up from Inverness is anybodies guess as the trialists and new signings were put through their paces in recent friendlies. Coupled with ongoing injuries and possible suspensions Butcher will be the only person who knows what the starting eleven will be. New additions Robert Eagles and Johnny Hayes could feature along with Danny Stratford and Lee Cox. Latvian defender Nauris Bulvitis is also expected to get a start. Ongoing injuries to Imrie, Odhiambo, and Proctor may see them miss out, although Butcher will wait to see how they are before making any decisions.

For Montrose, manager Steven Tweed has a new look squad to choose from with eleven summer signings including John Gemmell and Alan Campbell. Gemmell scored fourteen times last season for Cowdenbeath with four of those goals coming against Montrose. He was also voted the Cowdenbeath Player of the Year. Alan Campbell was recently released by junior outfit Carnoustie Panmure.

Tm4tj prediction

Should be a comfortable day out for ICT, but with the new squad needing time to gel, we may have to be patient before overcoming Montrose who will be out to cause an upset. No room for complacency and the lack of goal grabbers will be a hindrance to us although my prediction will see Inverness come out on top by a couple

Todays game was typical start of seasons stuff. I thought we had some pretty decent individual performances but we really struggled to link it together and for that reason we weren't threatening nearly enough.

The lineup didn't look the strongest, but that was in large part due to players carrying injuries and knocks and not being available.

So looking at the positives, we never had our strongest 11 out there (IMO) and the new guys are yet to gel in a full match situation.....and we still managed a win. So when things start coming together then I fully expect to see stronger team performances.

Jay_7....your comments directed at the ball boys is bang out of order. First off, they're just kids so there's no need for the expletives. Also, we only had 6 lads available for today and with no crowd in the North and South stands to knock the ball back down towards the pitch they were always going to take longer to retrieve it. If you want to volunteer for future games and show them how it can be done better then the clubs number is 222880.

Jay_7....your comments directed at the ball boys is bang out of order. First off, they're just kids so there's no need for the expletives. Also, we only had 6 lads available for today and with no crowd in the North and South stands to knock the ball back down towards the pitch they were always going to take longer to retrieve it. If you want to volunteer for future games and show them how it can be done better then the clubs number is 222880.

Fair enough the expletives are out of order, but the rest of it isn't. The ball boys are there to retrieve the ball as quickly as they can. If Djebi-Zadi thought of it earlier he'd have beaten the ball boy in charge of the "West Stand" to ball no sweat at all. Even if each ball boy was actually given a ball to put back into play then spend the next 10 mins retrieving the ball that went out it'd be an improvement.

The other obvious solution would be to make Djebi-Zadi, Duncan and Barrowman ball boys. They'd be a lot more productive in those positions.

It's not just the game today though, this has been an issue for several seasons now.

Edited July 25, 200916 yr by Jay_7

Although it sounds like it was a very poor performance today its far to early to press the panic button, a number of the players have never played a compeditive game together. A few seasons back Celtic got creamed by Artmedia and didn't do to badly that season. Give it some time

Im going to keep the faith, I kinda got that picture from one of my mates at the game the day, Jay_7's F**K ometer was about how he summed it up too... ok he isnt an ICT fan but he is atleast honest... he's a ton!!!

I went into the ground depressed just at the fact that we had to play in the Alba Cup and was hoping for the team to blow the depression out the window with a comfortable win

Instead I have come back home in an even worse state. The first half was terrible with the second half on a little bit better. We seem to have forgotten that when we get close to the oppositions box we are supposed to try and get the ball in the back of the net instead of just pissing about with the ball and trying to walk the ball in. And when it comes to crossing it takes the players about 10 years to decide to swing the ball in (with the exception of Djebi Zadi)

I cant remember us having a decent chance until extra time. If things dont get better we dont have a hope in hell of winning the league

But on the positive side we are through to the next round and the only way our performances can go is up.

I thought Cox did really well today he looks like he could be a great asset for us throughout the season.

"That boy Stratford is quite possibly the worst footballer on the planet"

I think you are being a touch hard on Stratford. His work rate and commitment today was excellent, and although his crossing/corners were rubbish, his general passing was better than many of our players today. He like a few others are far from match fit...and hardly know the other players... give it time...

Edited July 25, 200916 yr by kiltarlity

Definitely below par this afternoon and we got out jail. We always start the season slowly and there's little doubt we can do very much better than this. At least we're still in this cup. Keep the faith.

I think it's fair to say there are few positives from the game, but hopefully a lot of lessons have been learnt.

Compared to some minnows we have played in cup competitions in recent seasons, Montrose were pretty hopeless. Their goal was about the only clear cut chance they created (apart from one in the first half when the guy was given offside anyway). They basically packed the defence and dared us to break them down. And we failed miserably to do that.

As said above, Rossco is not a centre-back. His positioning is poor, and for the Montrose goal it was if he and Munro thought the ball had swine flu, considering how unwilling they were to get it. We failed miserably to get the ball wide enough, especially considering Nick Ross looked quite useful with the ball at his feet. Foran put in a great shift, but he was doing the work of two men; Barrowman appears to still suffer from the disease known as "lazyitis" (treatment: a kick up the backside three times a day please!) and Rooney offered little better. I thought McBain made a great effort, but I can't say the same for many of his team mates.

Let's hope this is just a touch of rustiness.

the long ball pish that saw us booted out the SPL, and no 1 would shoot!! it was like only foran could take a dig and Mcbain today was awsome... that was his last txt before going to spoons so ill get it all again the night at around 3!!

Good game, nice to see a game go straight to penalties, loved the celebrations from roscoe and lionel.

Lee Cox the man of the match by a mile, looked like the first player to get on the ball and the one to pass it wisely.

as for the other new boys, stratford played well enough, always there to chase the ball, and always there to try to get it in the box. hayes was unlucky to go off and looks like it might be a long term injury as well, he had a couple of nice touches although he wasn't at his best. I think we can expect better things from all three and they all look as if they can compliment the squad nicely, especially cox.

the team as a whole could and should have won by at least 5 today, they had one chance and finished it. A couple of under-par performances from the experienced players, just looked like a lack of match sharpness to me.

seeing the back of the match programme we were missing dougie, eric, eagles and proctor (three players who form the backbone of our team).

one thing i will say that seemed a little astray today was the dissent from some of the players. Butcher was going ballistic on the sidelines and it seemed like foran and mcbain loved giving it back, mcbain getting several verbals in the 2nd half. perhaps it is part of butch's gameplan, but it did seem a little OTT at times.

Oh and barrowman was a heap of sh#t but thats every week, so all in all its only another pre-season victory and preperation for a successful season.

Utter,utter rubbish.

New signings looked poor, Stratford won the "I can kick the ball the highest competition" he is absolute mince. Hayes just kept running into people. Cox lively but no creation.

Did the gaffer take Foran of for hastings to defend a one goal lead ?. Very strange if he did because we got stung immediately for that one. Just like last year, back four in disarray and Montrose gifted a goal.

Plenty of work to be done if we are to stand anything of a chance. 2 games to go before the serious stuff starts.

Absolutly dreadful today. Where do you even start? We were matched for 120 minutes on a perfect pitch (no excuses) by a part time 3rd division team. If there were doubts about Butcher before, surely we should be asking serious questions after todays debacle. It was afterall, a penalty shoot out away from being the worst result in our clubs history.

Esson :) :) :) :) :) The man who saved us in the end. Still don't understand why Butcher decided to drop him for Fraser for those key games last season. Thank feck he's still at the club.

Stratford Assume he was number 2? Looked physically lightweight and technically poor. His passing and crossing was laughable. On todays showing nowhere near good enough.

LDZ B) B) B) Solid if unspectacular. Didn't really get forward enough, we need to use him more as an attacking option IMHO. Nice goal celebration.

Tokely. :huh: :huh: :huh: Struggled to mark Montrose's big number 9 throughout. Montroses goal came from Rosco and Munro being beaten to a 50-50 ball over the top (as when he was sent off against falkirk) by a striker who looked about 12 years old. FFS BUTCHER, TOKELY IS NOT A CENTER HALF!!! Get him out on the right, imagine how much damage he could have done with the space and time that Stratford had!!!

Murno B) B) B) Fairly solid. Didn't really put a foot wrong.

Duncan :( Absolutly shocking. The less said the better.

Ross Too lightweight, didn't pose any threat to montrose whatsoever. Not ready for the first team. Nowhere near as good as Zander Sutherland IMHO.

Hayes B) Looked like a lost wee boy at times but had a few good touches and dribbles before he was injured.

Cox :) :) Hard in the tackle, some decent passes. But nothing special. One of our better outfield players today, but mainly because everyone else was shocking.

Foran :) :) :) :) Worked hard and made things happen. Bad misjudgment by Butcher to take him off.

Barrowman :huh: Didn't really do anything of note.

Rooney :( Carried on where he left off last season. Slow, sluggish and totally one dimensional.

McBain B) Ended up playing up front. Ridiculous. Not his fault though.

Hastings :) :) :) Came on late and looked sharp. Hopefully we see more of him this season.

I hope todays showing was just a blip but i have my doubts. If we don't improve drastically in the coming weeks we can forget about mounting a title challenge and should start worrying about another relegation dogfight.

Very fair comments....

Kind of begs the question :

Did Butcher learn nothing from the Falkirk debacle?

shift roscoe to right back, let the others get back to their full fitness and then we will have a cracking team.

trust me, this wasn't even a minor blip. did no-one else just enjoy winning a match? no-one else just glad to be sitting at a football match at 3pm on a saturday afternoon?

shift roscoe to right back, let the others get back to their full fitness and then we will have a cracking team.

trust me, this wasn't even a minor blip. did no-one else just enjoy winning a match? no-one else just glad to be sitting at a football match at 3pm on a saturday afternoon?

Shift Rosscoe to right back and do nothing about LDZ, Duncan and Barrowman?

Not even a minor blip?! Unless you hadn't noticed we were just taken to penalties by a team from the 3rd Division that didn't even play that well. You're not even concerned by the fact that Butcher put McBain up front?

I did not enjoy watching that dross and I will be waiting for a few games yet before deciding to get my season ticket.

shift roscoe to right back, let the others get back to their full fitness and then we will have a cracking team.

trust me, this wasn't even a minor blip. did no-one else just enjoy winning a match? no-one else just glad to be sitting at a football match at 3pm on a saturday afternoon?

This was a major blip but I am glad it happened in this game. It will give the management and players the kick up the arse they need to realise that they have to improve by 100% if they want to be challenging for the title

Yes it was great to be back at the TCS but I didnt watch a lot of football. I have seen Primary School games with more quality than what was on offer today

I am a fan of Butcher but he was a fault for the late .The players then took their eye off the ball and lost a goal.

Only a couple of players performed up to a reasonable standard. Cox was probably the best.

neksor

Esson: Had a really good day. Shame he let in the goal but great save for the penalty.

Stratford: Terrible crossing but did have some good passing.

Tokely: Lets face it he isnt a centre back. You could tell he was out of position.

Munro: Played ok but didnt have much to do tbh.

Djebi Zadi: Didnt get up enough but defended ok. Good penalty.

Ross: Only person on the park that could pass the ball. But did back off a few times.

Duncan: Absolutely shocking!!! Terrible passing but great penalty.

Cox: Good game. Went into every challenge. Not great passing.

Hayes: Wasnt very good at the start but when he started getting into the game he got injured and had to come off.

Foran: Ran his socks off. Wasnt brilliant on the ball today. Had to come off cause he got a knock.

Barrowman: To be fair he looked sharp and we did play worse when he went off. ALOT BETTER THAN ROONEY!!!!!!!

Subs that came on:

Mcbain: Played well. scored a clever goal. Wasnt good when he played up front.(came on for hayes)

Hastings: Played pretty good at left midfield. Unlucky not to score.(came on for foran)

Rooney: He was horendous. Terrible player and if i was the manager he wouldnt even be on the reserves bench. I couldnt decide before this game who was better player barrowman or rooney but it is a no brainer, Barrowman.(came on for barrowman)

Very poor game all round!

No oustanding performance today, Cox was OK and Foran was best in my opinion.

Others were not even meriting passmarks

Even for first game of season we should be out there taking teams like Montrose apart and setting the standard!

Never mind, its a cup tie and we are thro', roll on Tuesday's friendly then next Saturdays cup tie.

Crowd was poor, not sure if due to folks still away or if sign of times to come

Just when I thought we had turned a corner - it isnt fair to judge manager and players on such a game at an early stage of the season but there are real comparisons with last year and the managers perserverance to stick to certain players and playing them in certain positions.

one of our worst performances I cam remember, the team looked like they had not played together before,

again as last season we lacked the final finish

we need to score goals in div 1 if we can have a chance of going back up,

on a positive we won ( just)

and what game were you at then jaq7 did we not win today !!!!! most important but need a striker fast as i think it will change after that

Agree dont think much has changed from last season where are the goals going to come from. I was all excited this morning about the kick off for this season but on arriving at the stadium there was a strange atmosphere like we really are not a big club anymore. I actually think they should have paid us to watch this afternoons fare. Missed my usual north stand seat and cronnies but on the plus side had a great view from section e upper in the main stand. At least there was no replay.

Just when I thought we had turned a corner - it isnt fair to judge manager and players on such a game at an early stage of the season but there are real comparisons with last year and the managers perserverance to stick to certain players and playing them in certain positions.

Thats my worry, I can't quite get my head round how Butcher who was such a great defender thinks Zadi is a good defender and Tokley a central defender

I thought that Zadi didnt do much wrong today. He and Cox and Foran were about the only ones i thought can say got pass marks. Then again....it was only Montrose, so he should be coasting through such games anyhoo.

I thought that Zadi didnt do much wrong today. He and Cox and Foran were about the only ones i thought can say got pass marks. Then again....it was only Montrose, so he should be coasting through such games anyhoo.

Perhaps today against lower league opposition but I bet that if he is played regulary this season he will give away more goals than anyone else in the team

^Im not about to dispute that Stevie. As you probably know, today was my first look at Zadi. I wasnt expecting much, and i was proven right, BUT he was one of a small band that can say they at least tried today.