Ayr Pressure

 

With our Premiership aspirations hanging by a thread, we entertain Ayr United on Saturday with our winless run having been extended to eight games after the 3-3 draw with Partick Thistle, albeit an improved performance, but the end result all too familiar recently. The game is scheduled for 3:00pm on Saturday, weather permitting, with storms due in midweek. Dudley seems to have bypassed Inverness, but Eunice is coming, so fingers crossed it misses us as well, however, snow is forecast so beware. Storm Ayr are coming North fresh from retaining the bragging rights after their excellent derby win over Killie; no pressure then.

MATCH/TICKET/STREAMING INFO

Venue - Head2Head

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	21	10	10	1	35	20	+15
Away	22	10	5	7	42	28	+14
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	43	20	15	8	77	48	+29

Last 10 Competitive Meetings

2 - 2 (A)

1 - 0 (H)

2 - 2 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

0 - 1 (A)

2 - 0 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

3 - 1 (A)

Loaded heavily in our favour, the stats don't lie, or do they? Only one defeat to Ayr at home on all competitions would seem to make Inverness odds on favourites to win this one. Unfortunately, we, the fans, know better. Our recent form has been poor and we are winless in eight.

The previous encounters this season show a 1-0 win towards the end of August during our opening gambit of the season.

CTO summary: Walsh nicks it: A slightly damp morning opening out into a muggy but calm afternoon in the Highlands made for near perfect conditions for this game. However, the football did not match the weather in a dour first half and it was goalless at the interval. Ayr rattled the top of the stand at the start of the second half as the game came to life. Tom Walsh looked to have opened the scoring when he bundled an inviting cross from Manny Duku behind the keeper after 54 minutes with Sean McGinty in close proximity trying to clear the ball. Joe Chalmers put a shot across the face of the Inverness goal that went narrowly wide. Walsh missed a glorious chance to double the lead moments later but pulled his shot across the face of the goal as well. Robbie Deas also missed an opportunity for a second goal, firing the ball over the bar from a great position inside the box. The game was more open but Inverness held on for their third 1-0 win of the season and top the league jointly with Killie.

In the return fixture at Somerset Park we threw away an early advantage to draw 2-2, the slump was well and trully on. 

Another opportunity missed! At a windy Somerset Park, Inverness took the lead early on when Sean Welsh met a Tom Walsh cross at the back post unchallenged to head into the net. The lead only lasted a couple of minutes as Joe Chalmers scored after a corner with a couple of defenders being grappled to the ground as Chalmers slotted home. Gardyne was causing all sorts of problems and his next angled cross into the box was missed by Mckay but it bounced through and into the goal to give the visitors the advantage at the break. Reading levelled with a low shot eight minutes into the second half, Ridgers not covering his near post sufficiently. No more scoring partly due to Aidan McAdams in the home goal and another great opportunity to get back on top went abegging with Partick winning 1-0 at Rugby Park.

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Dunfermline v Partick Thistle postponed 1. Arbroath 24 12 9 3 38 18 45 2. Kilmarnock 25 13 4 8 31 19 43 3. Inverness CT 25 10 9 6 33 23 39 4. Raith Rovers 25 9 11 5 34 27 38 5. Partick Thistle 22 10 7 5 37 22 37 6. Morton 24 6 9 9 29 34 27 7. Hamilton Ac. 25 6 9 10 27 40 27 8. Ayr United 25 6 8 11 23 38 26 9. Dunfermline 25 4 11 10 24 40 23 10. Q.O.S. 24 4 7 13 25 40 19

FRIDAY 18th FEBRUARY

Dunfermline P v P Partick Thistle

SATURDAY 19TH FEBRUARY

Hamilton v Morton   

Caley Jags v Ayr United

    Kilmarnock v Raith Rovers

Queen Sth v Arbroath

Last time out

Inverness came from behind three times to secure a point against an impressive Partick Thistle. Brian Graham was a thorn in our side again, claiming a hat-trick although the first one appeared to come off the shins of Wallace Duffy. We hit back through Billy Mckay, Shane Sutherland and a last gasp header from the enterprising Kirk.

Ayr United won the Ayrshire derby as they came from behind to beat Kilmarnock 2-1 at Rugby Park to stun title favourites Killie. Fraser Murray had opened the scoring early in the first half but Ayr levelled soon after through Sean McGinty and he scored the winner with ten minutes left to stun their hosts.

Latest Team News

Billy Dodds will definitely be without Scott Allardice and Danny Devine. Somehow, Roddy MacGregor has disappeared from earth, possibly been abducted by a Chinese tennis player. If anyone spots him, can they call MacGregors Bar to let us know that he's safe and well. Thanks in advance. Aaron Doran has missed the last month but is back in training and Tom Walsh has thrown his hat into the injured squad over the last couple of weeks. Thankfully we are covered up front with Sam Pearson looking good last week, but for some unknown reason we never looked at bringing in defensive cover from the start of the season, we'll soon be going with one at the back.

New Ayr manager Lee Bullen will be looking for more of the same attitude displayed in the derby win over Killie. Here's his starting XI from the Killie game played in front of 7,560 fans. Adeloye and Rowe came on as second half subs, with Ayr playing a 4-4-1-1 formation.

1McAdams

2Houston4Muirhead5McGinty3Reading

22McKenzie6Murdoch8McInroy14Maxwell

18Dempsey

19Ashford

There's been a lot of changes at Somerset Park since we last played Ayr. Our own Eric has been busy checking out their latest coming and goings. So, basically, a new look Ayr United will be here looking to improve their poor record at Inverness.

Departures

Cameron Salkeld - forward -has left the club due to long term injury

Nick McAllister - back - on loan to Clyde FC until end of season

Michael Miller - midfield - on loan to Stenhousemuir FC until end of season

Joe Chalmers - midfield - Transferred to Dunfermline FC.

Jonathon Afolabi - forward - was on loan from Celtic recalled and now at Airdrieonians Fc

Steven Bradley - forward - was on loan from Hibs recalled and now at Dundalk FC

 

Arrivals

Blaine Rowe - right back - on loan from Coventry FC U23 until end of season.

Kerr McInroy - defensive midfield - on loan from Celtic FC until end of season

Ben Dempsey - attacking midfield - on loan from Charlton FC U23 until end of season

Ryan Gondoh - left wing - the Ghanaian has signed from Wealdstone FC until May 2023

Paul Smith - centre forward - has returned after loan spell at Cumnock Juniors FC ( that should have toughened him up a bit )

Sam Ashworth - centre forward - signed from Crawley Town FC until May 2023

Fraser Brydon - centre forward - has been promoted to first team from Ayr U18s

 

Manager

Lee Bullen has had several spells as Caretaker manager of Sheffield Wednesday FC and was recently manager or their U23 side

Age: 50 Years 
Appointed: Jan 7, 2022
Contract expires: May 31, 2024

 

 

 

View full article

 

The silence from the club is deafening. The way the ICT support is dwindling must be of concern to any serious business. They say talk is cheap, it can just roll of the tongue and not mean much, so when the club said that the relationship and communication with the supporters was very important, and along with the match day experience would be improved, I think by the continued silence from those in the higher echelon at the club, you can take that with a pinch of salt. I can honestly say that in all the years that I have followed ICT, I have never heard or seen the hard-core supporter so disillusioned by the current disconnect. 

I mentioned this on the podcast but we are currently winless in this round of fixtures. We started the season well with an average points per game (PPG) of 2.33 from the first 9 fixtures and a win % of almost 80%. Since then the drop off has been nothing short of seismic.

During the second round of fixtures PPG fell to 1.44 and win % to 33. We are currently winless in the third round of fixtures, as already mentioned, and PPG has fallen to 0.56. Even if we beat Hamilton on Friday (spoiler we won't) the best PPG we can hope for is 0.89 and a win % of 11. Quite simply abysmal.

As for Saturday there isn't much else to add. Sad thing is I am now expecting to lose pretty much any game we play. All the positive stories in the P & J and the Courier about us needing to get a win to get us back into the title race or another former player saying we have a chance doesn't change the fact that this team looks utterly bereft of ideas and confidence and Dodds has not seemed capable of lifting them out of this malaise for a prolonged period and that is very concerning.

10 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

The silence from the club is deafening. The way the ICT support is dwindling must be of concern to any serious business. They say talk is cheap, it can just roll of the tongue and not mean much, so when the club said that the relationship and communication with the supporters was very important, and along with the match day experience would be improved, I think by the continued silence from those in the higher echelon at the club, you can take that with a pinch of salt. I can honestly say that in all the years that I have followed ICT, I have never heard or seen the hard-core supporter so disillusioned by the current disconnect. 

I assume that the Supporters' Trust is trying to take this up with the club's management?

1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

I assume that the Supporters' Trust is trying to take this up with the club's management?

Last I heard the club essentially had been blanking the trust too. 

It would be good to hear the latest from the Supporters Trust as to what is going on and what the back story is. I take it we have given up hearing from the Chairman or Board and if so, does it not look like our ship has gotten a broken rudder and we now have to hope we miss the icebergs as the Capatin and First Mate are sleeping and the crew are all down below deck.

What a sorry state we have become.

Edited February 22, 20224 yr by Douglas Mackenzie

3 hours ago, Fraz said:

Last I heard the club essentially had been blanking the trust too. 

Yes, essentially that is true.  The relationship between the Club and the Trust should be one of respectful cooperation to the mutual benefit of Club and Supporters alike.  The Trust is striving to re-establish that kind of relationship and trying to avoid an adversarial position.  The Trust exists to represent the interests and views of the supporters, but it is also there to help the club and that is what we are trying to do.  At this stage, as Chair of the Trust, I don't think it would be particularly helpful to go into the detail.

What I would say just now though, is that the credibility of the Trust requires it to be representative.  Whilst our membership has seen a healthy improvement in the last year, it is still only about 10% of the number of season ticket holders.  If people are concerned about the poor communication from the club, then I would urge people to join the Trust and help the Trust grow into an effective and representative channel for the fans' concerns to be both heard and acted upon.  As a collective, united voice we can be so much stronger than separate voices venting their frustrations on social media or simply fuming in silence over the lack of communication.  As supporters of the club, we can also do so much more to raise money for the club and support it in other ways.

It is not just new members the Trust needs, it is active members too.  We are in the process of setting up a fund-raising committee with a view to raising funds for initiatives at the club and will be looking for folk to help with that.  We are also short of members on the Trust Board and would love for some new blood to bring in some more energy and ideas to help raise the Trust's profile.

Remember, the Supporters Trust can't effectively support the supporters if the supporters don't support the Trust.  Membership is just £5 a year (£1 for U16s ) and folk can join here.

 

 

On 2/20/2022 at 12:22 PM, Fraz said:

I'm a 41 year old guy walking in holding my 8 year old daughter's hand and was asked to do the same. I asked them why as I've never been asked to do this in my life and was told they were looking for flares 🤷‍♂️😂

Good job Johndo wasnt there ... he would have been wearing them

 

On 2/20/2022 at 4:29 PM, Satan said:

I saw a few rockets going off in the north stand near the end of the game.

They seemed to have evaded security countermeasures. 

I'd be more concerned with the rockets in the dugout ! 

 

 

2 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

Yes, essentially that is true.  The relationship between the Club and the Trust should be one of respectful cooperation to the mutual benefit of Club and Supporters alike.  The Trust is striving to re-establish that kind of relationship and trying to avoid an adversarial position.  The Trust exists to represent the interests and views of the supporters, but it is also there to help the club and that is what we are trying to do.  At this stage, as Chair of the Trust, I don't think it would be particularly helpful to go into the detail.

What I would say just now though, is that the credibility of the Trust requires it to be representative.  Whilst our membership has seen a healthy improvement in the last year, it is still only about 10% of the number of season ticket holders.  If people are concerned about the poor communication from the club, then I would urge people to join the Trust and help the Trust grow into an effective and representative channel for the fans' concerns to be both heard and acted upon.  As a collective, united voice we can be so much stronger than separate voices venting their frustrations on social media or simply fuming in silence over the lack of communication.  As supporters of the club, we can also do so much more to raise money for the club and support it in other ways.

It is not just new members the Trust needs, it is active members too.  We are in the process of setting up a fund-raising committee with a view to raising funds for initiatives at the club and will be looking for folk to help with that.  We are also short of members on the Trust Board and would love for some new blood to bring in some more energy and ideas to help raise the Trust's profile.

Remember, the Supporters Trust can't effectively support the supporters if the supporters don't support the Trust.  Membership is just £5 a year (£1 for U16s ) and folk can join here.

 

 

 

We are talking a lot about lack of communication here so perhaps if the Trust was a bit more open and communicative in its own right it might just attract a better response from the Support.

I have heard little or nothing from the Trust this season, maybe I am looking in the wrong places, the Trust doesnt tell me.

I wish it would, thank you.

1 minute ago, tm4tj said:

Boosts our hopes of a play off slot but only if we can turn round our own dismal form, hopefully  starting on Friday.