Is Dodds the Man 4 the Job

 

Cove first foot the Caledonian Stadium on 2nd January with many fans questioning whether Billy Dodds should still be in charge as we head into 2023 in a massive slump and slide towards the bottom end of the table. Yes there has been an incredible amount of injuries to contend with, but the majority of the support are questioning his ability to turn things around. It can't be an easy task trying to run a team on a shoestring but it's the nature of the beast, and has been for some time. Money does not affect the style of play though and that is a major concern with many citing the current team as one of the worst since we joined the leagues back in 1994. Has he lost the dressing room? The feud with Ridgers? He was removed at half time against Morton. What now for Cammy Mackay who shipped five at Partick? For Dodds' sake, I hope we can get a few players back as soon as possible, otherwise his position will become untenable, a word that is usually followed by news of a new manager. And what of Robbo? Is that a burden the club can do without? Come to think of it, maybe a complete clear out is the only answer.

Have a good New Year when it comes 

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Match/Ticket info

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Only six competitive meetings v Cove

1 - 0 (A)

4 - 1 (H)

1 - 1 (H)

1 - 3 (A)

3 - 2 (H)

2 - 0 (H)

Recent form table over last six games, horrendous stuff and shipping goals like nobody's business.   Overall Home Away   Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts   1. Dundee 6 5 1 0 11 4 2 0 0 3 0 3 1 0 8 4 +7 16 2. Queens Park 6 4 1 1 17 8 2 1 0 8 3 2 0 1 9 5 +9 13 3. Morton 6 3 3 0 12 6 2 0 0 6 1 1 3 0 6 5 +6 12 4. Partick Thistle 6 3 1 2 15 9 3 0 1 13 6 0 1 1 2 3 +6 10 5. Cove Rangers 6 2 3 1 11 8 2 1 1 6 3 0 2 0 5 5 +3 9 6. Ayr United 6 2 2 2 10 10 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 7 7 0 8 7. Raith Rovers 6 1 2 3 8 13 1 2 1 8 9 0 0 2 0 4 -5 5 8. Arbroath 6 0 4 2 5 11 0 2 1 3 6 0 2 1 2 5 -6 4 9. Inverness CT 6 0 2 4 5 15 0 2 1 3 4 0 0 3 2 11 -10 2 10. Hamilton Ac. 6 0 1 5 7 17 0 1 1 6 7 0 0 4 1 10 -10 1

We opened our home League games with a 4 - 1 win over newly promoted Cove Rangers back in the middle of August.

Austin Powers: Man of Mystery Goals:  Austin Samuels scored twice as Inverness registered their first win of the Championship this season. Aaron Doran and substitute Nathan Shaw opened their accounts with Robbie Leitch tapping in for Cove just after the interval. An ultimately comfortable win for the hosts that bumps them up the table into second spot behind Dundee.

Sadly we have been found out since then and are now just two points above Cove in 7th place on 23 points. We also surprisingly beat them 1 - 0 at Balmoral Park against the run of play as we started to struggle with injuries but still picked up points somehow.

Cove kept at Bay: Our first visit to Balmoral Park on League business ended with a hard fought win, our fifth on the bounce. Inverness opened the scoring after twenty minutes through Steven Boyd, his first of the season. However Roddy MacGregor was helped off the pitch after being injured in the build up to that goal. Allardice stayed in the dressing room at the interval to be replaced by Lewis Hyde. Ridgers did well to deny Cove after the break and right at the end Cove were reduced to ten men as McIntosh was sent off. Still joint top as Partick also win with Dundee and Morton leading the chasing pack.

That win at Balmoral left us joint top with Partick on 20 points. Dundee were three points further back but they now top the table on 34 points.

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Current table at the end of 2022 1. Dundee 18 10 4 4 30 20 34 2. Queens Park 18 10 3 5 36 27 33 3. Ayr United 19 9 5 5 38 27 32 4. Morton 18 8 6 4 27 19 30 5. Partick Thistle 19 9 3 7 40 33 30 6. Raith Rovers 19 7 3 9 24 26 24 7. Inverness CT 18 6 5 7 20 26 23 8. Cove Rangers 18 5 6 7 27 28 21 9. Arbroath 19 2 8 9 13 28 14 10. Hamilton Ac. 18 2 5 11 16 37 11

MONDAY 2ND JANUARY - All 3:00pm

Dundee v Arbroath    

Hamilton v Raith Rovers

Morton v Ayr United

     Queen's v Partick Thistle

  Caley Jags v Cove Rangers

Latest Team News

Your guess is as good as mine??? Its two steps forward and three steps back on the injury front.

Here's Billy Dodds to tell us all about it.

 

When do our loans return: now or the end of January?

We could do with Lewis Nicolson at left back to allow Delaney to be at centre half in the absence of Duffy. 
 

21 minutes ago, Robert said:

When do our loans return: now or the end of January?

We could do with Lewis Nicolson at left back to allow Delaney to be at centre half in the absence of Duffy. 
 

Believe they have been recalled now. Elgin announced he had gone back to us. 

13 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Believe they have been recalled now. Elgin announced he had gone back to us. 

According to Elgin twitter page it says the LB will return to ICT due to a high number of injuries 😬

Dodds is a dud and out of his depth tactically and technically and clearly those around him are struggling to step up and support. Expect more disjointed performances and excuses lined up again whether it's old or new faces.

The inherent ability of a full strength team last year showed that it can perform at the expense of poor tactics, this year we are not so fortunate.

We should be positive and expectant of a comfortable home win against Cove however we are all uncertain and wouldn't be shocked by a defeat. This demonstrates how far things have fallen in the last few seasons in terms of fan positivity and club performances.

Uncomfortable afternoon expected with a very tight game and single goal advantage scraping a win for either team. Won't be a classic thats for sure.

 

well ive never seen you both in the same room

Any word of a pitch inspection? I assume the covers are on, but is there a risk the pitch is frozen underneath?

Given how vital Dodds claimed having these youngsters back was, I was surprised to see him comment to the press that they may not even play 🤔. Hopes of a double figure victory have been dashed 🤷‍♂️.

We need the game to be on.  It's ok saying it gives players a chance to get back, but going by the recent expert article on the negative impact of fixture congestion on player welfare/health, it doesn't seem a sensible solution.

26 minutes ago, STFU said:

Given how vital Dodds claimed having these youngsters back was, I was surprised to see him comment to the press that they may not even play 🤔.

Were you really though? The guy is an excuse merchant scrambling about for anything now his limited ability at this level is caught out. Excuses such as they are not match fit/physically or technically ready for this level, need time to integrate and gel etc will all be rolled out - he's playing the fans like a political spin doctor and many are lapping it all up.

The club has posted information about mascots tomorrow and there is no mention of a pitch inspection, so hopefully the game is not at risk. 

7 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

Were you really though?

Not in the slightest 

Really hoping to see Jay Henderson get match time tomorrow as he could be the difference :).

16 hours ago, Robert said:

The club has posted information about mascots tomorrow and there is no mention of a pitch inspection, so hopefully the game is not at risk. 

In this day and age, you'd think clubs (not just us) would be more cautious of what information they were providing for minors.  We're told not to put even the most basic of child's info online, but here we have; a photo, full name, age, school and all the interests a potential groomer would need to get chatting to them!

Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way oh what fun it is to pump the cove on new years dayish...🕺🏼🍻

43 minutes ago, jed5697 said:

Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way oh what fun it is to pump the cove on new years dayish...🕺🏼🍻

One problem is that Dodds indicated that Jim McIntyre would see it as a success if he kept Cove up this year. That will no doubt be drummed into his players on the coach along the goat track and possibly motivate them more than us to prove Dodds wrong and place us in that position instead!! I hope I am wrong.

 

 

18 minutes ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

One problem is that Dodds indicated that Jim McIntyre would see it as a success if he kept Cove up this year. That will no doubt be drummed into his players on the coach along the goat track and possibly motivate them more than us to prove Dodds wrong and place us in that position instead!! I hope I am wrong.

 

 

In many ways it is a taster/tester call it what you may...and I suppose it will be down to the players on the pitch who will provide the answer/result...

I've completely lost interest in the club sadly. I contemplated going today but that was after 6 pints, woke up and same as previous week's I can't be bothered. I've been a fan since 2005 and not bought a season ticket since 2018. From top to bottom the club is a shambles. I would honestly prefer the club to go part time and blood talented young players from the youth system. 

Some  supporter you are Bobby

Ridgers back. Devine and Henderson also start but Oakley and Boyd only experienced outfield players on the bench:

Presumably Carson will be at right back: Is Barrett released after his short term contract as he’s not in the squad?

Edited January 2, 20232 yr by Robert

5-1 for us!!!

Wish I'd gone to the game now.

If you had it might have caused a Temporal Paradox and the score might have been 1-6 

Just hope we can hang on . . . . 

Full time. 6-1

Congratulations to the team!

Hope this is the beginning of something good.

Well done ICT and Billy Mackay for hat trick.I thought the worst when we went 1-0 down having missed three good chances early on.Fair play the boys dug deep and we went in at half time 3-1 up.Confidence returned and the boys showed what they can do.I thought new boy Jay Hendrson did well. Billy showed what he can still do.I think Cove keeper was suspect throughout.Their standout was Longstaff who caused us problems in the first half.All in all a great start to 2023

 

Edited January 2, 20232 yr by Douglas Mackenzie

Likewise, I feared the worst when we went 1-0 down.  But, well done to the team.  Maybe this is just the shot in the arm that we've needed.  Looking forward to comments from those at the game.  Onwards and upwards!