Wotherspoon Derby

 

With David Wotherspoon jumping ship for the glamour of a big club prepared to buy themselves out of trouble at all costs, Big Dunc has the TV reality task of stopping Jim Goodwin's almost all conquering Dundee United. They have slipped up a little of late and Morton beat them last weekend, so they are far from invincible, but then again, we are not world beaters yet, despite a convincing Wotherspoonless win at Ayr last Saturday. The game is a 7:45pm kick-off on Friday night at the Caledonian Stadium or a seat in your own house with the BBC Scotland channel turned on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Match/Ticket Info

James Carragher

Sean Welsh has left the Building

Zak Delaney follows him out the door

Harry Hennem's next

Lewis Hyde loaned out

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Venue H2H v Arabs

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	34	10	10	14	35	44	-9
Away	29	7	11	11	37	43	-6
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	63	17	21	25	72	87	-15

United hold the upper hand overall but Inverness competed well in the two games played this season. A 1-0 defeat in the Doddsball era and a 1-1 draw in the last encounter at Tannadice as Big Dunc returned North of the border.

Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dundee United

1 - 1 (A)

0 - 1 (H)

1 - 2 (A)

0 - 3 (H)

1 - 4 (A)

0 - 3 (A)

0 - 1 (H)

0 - 2 (H)

2 - 1 (A)

0 - 1 (A)

Point on the Road:  1 - 1 Dunc's return to Tannadice would be hindered by some key players missing. Welsh and Longstaff failed to recover but Boyes and Wotherspoon were in the starting XI. Sheridan was on the bench which looked a bit devoid of flair. United had a strong line-up with Ross County loanee Jordan Tillson replacing the injured Docherty. A big crowd of over 7500 were on hand with 270 visiting fans making the journey in eternal hope. Inverness opened the scoring through Shaw, but Holt levelled the game quickly. United had the possession but Big Dunc went back up the A9 with a hard earned point. Tremendous point on the road.
It was a backs to the wall performance at times but our defence was up to the task of slowing down the top scorers in the Championship. Mark Ridgers was in superb form with his back five blunting the top scorers. Full marks to Ferguson for adapting the shape with key players missing at a difficult venue. Two brilliant goals and a point on the road at the league leaders den.The Big Dunc revolution gathers pace.

Last Time out

A Morgan Boyes brace in the second half and a first half gift for Billy Mckay from Ayr keeper Albinston saw Inverness get their first win in six outings at Somerset Park despite the best efforts of the eager Logan Chalmers who notched the Ayr goal and generally tormented us for most of the game. However we challenged well and got our rewards in an entertaining game to run out worthy winners and jump Ayr in the table.

Last Five Games: L D D L W 

A George Oakley hat-trick was enough to beat the Arabs at Tannadice last weekend. 2-0 down, United fought back through Fotheringham and Moult before the break and thought they had done enough to earn a point, but Oakley thought otherwise and cracked a tremendous long range effort in off the post to win it for the visitors with two minutes left. Sandwiched in between the defeats to Raith Rovers and Morton are 3-0 wins over Arbroath and Partick Thistle and a goalless draw against Queens Park

Last Five Games: L D W W L 

 

We play tonight at the Caledonian Stadium.

Been chilly all week but the covers have been down since Monday with the forecast of frost all week.

Arbroath v Ayr below us is one to keep an eye on and look out for Queens Park after Callum Davidson has been appointed as manager this week.

Morton are the form team just now and will be looking to get into the top four soon.

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Raith Rovers 20 13 5 2 37 26 44 2. Dundee Utd 19 12 5 2 42 10 41 3. Partick Thistle 20 10 5 5 41 32 35 4. Airdrieonians 20 8 3 9 19 23 27 5. Morton 19 7 4 8 23 26 25 6. Dunfermline 19 6 5 8 24 24 23 7. Inverness CT 20 5 6 9 23 24 21 8. Ayr United 19 5 4 10 25 38 19 9. Queens Park 19 4 5 10 24 38 17 10. Arbroath 19 5 2 12 23 40 17

Latest Team News

Wotherspoon has jumped ship but won't feature for either side on Friday night. James Carragher, a centre back, might be included in our squad? Sean Welsh has left Inverness with immediate effect and will be moving South having played a total  of 143 games, scoring 16 goals. Defender Zak Delaney has also left. Youngster Harry Hennem has also departed. Lewis Hyde has been loaned out to Brora Rangers for the rest of the season.

Not many sound bytes coming out of the Caledonian Stadium this week regarding team news. Will update when/if we hear any team news.

 

The Arabs have added New Zealand forward Alex Greive from St Mirren to their squad this week. Craig Sibbald will be suspended after his 88th minute red card against Morton. Archie Meekison should make a return to the United squad but Declan Gallagher and Ross Docherty will miss out. Louis Moult is also a doubt.

Dundee United team v Morton

Walton

 

Grimshaw   Graham   Holt   McMann

 

Sibbald    Tillson (Glass 45)

 

Fotheringham (Cudjoe 86)   Watt   Middleton

 

Moult (Mochrie 45)

 

Subs Not Used: Newman; Petrie, Denham, Freeman, Duffy, MacLeod

Our lack of penetration and general guile in the final third is a major concern for me. This makes Ferguson's apparent aversion to Roddy or Keith Bray utterly bizarre.  For me Bray was the only positive in the Dodds portion of the season and as a minimum should be on the bench. The game was screaming out for one of them to come on but we wait until United score before Doran and Sheridan enter the fray. 

From my perspective Billy dropping deep, even into our own half at times, is clearly being demanded from the manager and leaves us with no outlet up top which again I find to be a very strange tactical decision. 

Our lack of a sustained bounce under Ferguson is a concern and although we manage to retain plenty of possession it's apparent that the opposition are happy to sit back and let us pass it about as they know we're unlikely to actually trouble the keeper and they'll fancy their chances on the counter given our inability to see out clean sheets.

We've seem glimpses of optimism at Queen's Park and Ayr but seem completely incapable of sustaining any kind of form which is desperately needed to get us away from the bottom of the table. My previous optimism that we can challenge for a play-off place has completely evaporated in recent weeks.

I fear all we're going to see this month is more loanees who may, or may not, be better than the current squad and/or lads we're releasing. This suggests to me that that we have little or no long term plan with the vast majority of the team out of Contract in the Summer. It's all very well shipping players out to reduce wages buy who do we get in to build a team capable of moving the club forward in the medium to long term? 

Worrying times and no signs to me that we have a coherent way out of our current predicament. 

21 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Again from afar on the box I thought that there were a lot of positives. I thought Carragher was solid and has a lot more to show. He evidently did not want to make any errors in his first outing and was probably told to play tippy happy, plus he has got to get used to the system and players around him. Devine was excellent. I have always viewed Shaw as being a number 10 as he doesn't have the pace of a wide man. Playing Billy deep was ridiculous, leaving Longstaff as a lone striker which he clearly isn't. I would also have liked to see Harper as a wing back as he is more effective there. Modern coaching is all about tippy happy and playing out from the back so we may have to accept that. But we need a LOT more movement up front and more pace out wide.

I pretty much agree with everything you have posted on this match, I thought Shaw and Longstaff did OK, but Shaw needs to stay out on the wing, it seems like he is being asked to be the creative guy in the middle. And that issue rather made me wistful for the likes of a Vigurs or Liam Polworth [I never understood why the latter got so much stick] let alone a Christie, Andrew Shinnie, or Marley Watkins. Obviously also annoying that Welsh scored on his debut for QP, on his day a stand out player for us, but far too much time spent injured...and I think Gilmour is developing nicely as his replacement [in most departments], Anderson impresses me too, but he is a temporary addition and time spent on the pitch for Bray and MacGregor between now and May could be crucial for next season.

We seemed strong in defence for 99% of the match, Carragher looked pretty decent to me, and the commentators though he had a decent game although he risked a card or two. Boyes stand out at the back for me, but again another loanee. Is Ujdur carrying an injury or does big Dunc think he needs a bit of a rest?

The overwhelming feeling from me  though is how desperately we need a decent enough big guy up front who can both win headers and hold the ball up [doesn't even have to score too many goals]. Guys like Sutherland and Todorov [at his best for us] gave us that. It would bring McKay, Shaw, etc more into the game, and ensure the opposition CB's had busier time. Not an easy fix I know, which could lead to Sheridan staying on if Dunc thinks he's getting fit enough. Brooks, I see as a future replacement for Billy. Samuels, much as I like him, has a bodymade of glass, and a slow brain. Lodovica was a panic punt, he has pushed on at all. Fingers crossed then that we can find someone in this window.

 

 

21 hours ago, Alan said:

I don't know if it is my imagination but every time Billy McKay is substituted  we seem to capitulate and lose late goals

I'm afraid to say I think this is coincidental rather than causal.  With or without Billy McKay on the park, when we have a slender lead or drawing, we drop deeper and deeper as the second half progresses inviting the opposition to come onto us and, more often that not, score a late winner.

Billy McKay usually looks pretty spent by 60 odd minutes which is fair enough given his advancing years combined with him being asked to cover more ground than ever, dropping back to fit in with our current style of play.

The problem for me stems not from substituting Billy itself, but from having a complete dearth of adequate replacements for him.  Despite their height and presence, neither Lodovica or Sheridan have looked capable of holding the ball up and fulfilling the 'target man' role never mind threatening to score a goal.  

Whilst I still think Adam Brooks has the potential to be a regular goalscorer at Championship level - good goal towards the end at Cappielow - he ain't going to do that as a lone striker within our current set-up and no doubt needs more experience.

It's clear that our lack of creativity in the final third, cutting edge and shots on goal is our most pressing issue to be addressed right now.  I don't think we as fans will be the only ones who recognise that.

The question for me is not whether Duncan Ferguson will be trying to strengthen his attacking options in this transfer window, but whether the current budget will enable him to bring in one or two players who are available, willing to relocate to the Highlands and **crucially** are better than what we already have.

Having attended the vast majority of games this season, I am still confident we have enough quality within the current squad of players to keep us in the division.  I also think if we can (somehow!) bring in a proven goalscorer or two - and see more of Bray, Doran and MacGregor - we can still challenge for fourth place.

I know some will think that's deluded but we have actually played some really decent football at times this season (often away from home) and matched the best teams in the league....at least for the first 85 minutes!!

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 20242 yr by robbo1985

Ayr have appointed Scott Brown as Manager ahead of playing Arbroath tonight, the game in hand they both have on us.

Edited January 23, 20242 yr by Robert

Ayr won 2-0 so are now above us. We’re in 8th, only ahead of Queens Park by a point with Arbroath three behind us.

Squeaky bum time again.

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Dundee Utd 20 13 5 2 43 10 44 2. Raith Rovers 21 13 5 3 38 28 44 3. Partick Thistle 21 10 6 5 42 33 36 4. Airdrieonians 20 8 3 9 19 23 27 5. Morton 20 7 5 8 24 27 26 6. Dunfermline 19 6 5 8 24 24 23 7. Ayr United 21 6 5 10 27 38 23 8. Inverness CT 21 5 6 10 23 25 21 9. Queens Park 20 5 5 10 26 39 20 10. Arbroath 21 5 3 13 23 42 18

15 games left. That's 45 points. That would give us a total of 66 points. Easy.

You probably feel that the bottom 5 are the ones who are most likely going to be battling it out to avoid the drop. Airdrie and Morton seem to go on reasonable runs every so often and probably have better players / managers than the rest of us down the wrong end of the table. Obviously Partick, Raith and Dundee United won't be near the relegation spots.

I fear we are in real trouble.  

Ferguson really needs a playmaker in midfield, Longstaff, Shaw Harper don't hurt opposition and Doran is on the fringes of being past it unfortunately. 

Our survival really depends I'm afraid on a decent player coming in.

 

7 points separate 9th to 4th. I defeat and we could be bottom but if that's a win we could be 6th.

Hardly the doom and gloom times when Dodds left, we were rock bottom and 10 points off the playoffs.

Points taken since Dunc arrived

Raith = 31

DUtd = 30

Partick = 26

Morton = 22

ICT = 20

Airdrie = 18

Ayr = 17

Dunfermline = 12

Queens = 11

Arbroath = 6

 

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Dundee Utd	6	4	2	0	12	2	14
2.	Raith Rovers	6	4	1	1	10	7	13
3.	Arbroath	7	4	0	3	13	8	12
4.	Dunfermline	6	3	2	1	9	5	11
5.	Partick Thistle	6	3	1	2	14	9	10
6.	Airdrieonians	6	3	0	3	6	10	9
7.	Queens Park	7	3	0	4	10	15	9
8.	Ayr United	6	2	0	4	8	14	6
9.	Morton	6	1	1	4	8	15	4
10.	Inverness CT	6	0	1	5	3	8	1

After 6 games 7 points still between 9th and 4th.

Only our position has changed,  marginally.

How does your glass look...?

Edited January 24, 20242 yr by Satan

My glass is half full, I have faith in Big Dunc and the team to keep us in the league this season regardless of what is happening upstairs. 

4 hours ago, Satan said:

After 6 games 7 points still between 9th and 4th.

Only our position has changed,  marginally.

How does your glass look...?

That and our average of 0.15 points per game has almost improved 10 fold to approx 1.5.

Continuing at that rate we should get around 22 points from our remaining 15 games which should be more than enough to avoid relegation. But we all hope for continued improvements throughout

22 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

That and our average of 0.15 points per game has almost improved 10 fold to approx 1.5.

Continuing at that rate we should get around 22 points from our remaining 15 games which should be more than enough to avoid relegation. But we all hope for continued improvements throughout

I was listening to the pod there in the car and the guys were predicting how many points we would get - I think they did it on a game by game basis and they were mostly getting 37-39 which in recent seasons hasn’t always guaranteed 8th place.

How  I looked at it was, Dunc has (I think) 20 points from 16 games which is 1.25 ppg (you’re quoting nearly 1.5 but I can’t see why, and over 15 games 1.5-1.25 = 0.25 ppg is significant ).
On that form we would expect another 18.75, say 19 points which makes 40. But we can only hope that the new signings can improve that as you say.

btw I sent you a friendly wee dm a couple of weeks back just in case you don’t see these alerts on your phone, as you haven’t read it 😇