Great Escape is still on

 

The great escape coninues on Friday night at the Caledonian Stadium as we host Raith Rovers in a game that will also be screened live on BBC Scotland with Raith trying to cling on to the coat tails of Dundee United and the Caley Jags looking to slither away from the play-off zone. What could possibly go wrong? Savage and Carragher will be joined in the squad by a welcome returnee in Sean McAllister who has returned fit from Everton after about six weeks out. That's a nice wee bonus for Big Dunc. However, he has the wrath from Arbroath after his "tools down" comment in his pre-match interview. As long as he has not got the wrath from Raith. Keep the faith!

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Match/Ticket Info

Bring a friend for a Fiver

Alex Chisholm

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Venue H2H v Rovers

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	22	14	5	3	41	17	+24
Away	19	10	5	4	37	24	+13
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	41	24	10	7	78	41	+37

We hold a massive advantage over Raith Rovers in all games played since the universe was created. Only 7 defeats in 41 encounters and two of them have come this season, our darkest for many a year. However, normal service resumed when we won the last game at Stark's Park on the 27th of January thanks to a 14 minute first half hat-trick from Alex Samuel. Little did we know that would be his last goal for the next eleven games until he popped up with the winner against Arbroath on the 6th of April.

Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Rovers

3 - 2 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

0 - 1 (A)

2 - 0 (H)

2 - 2 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

3 - 2 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

0 - 0 (H)

Cast your mind back to January 12th 2002, and the scene of our biggest win over Raith Rovers with an attendance of 1822:  Report from Ian Broadfoot:  Prior to the match the Kevin Bisset Enclosure was officially opened. The first goal came in seven minutes when Russell Duncan crossed from the right and Ross Tokely sent a looping header into the top corner. Simon Miotto had a number of good saves before, at the other end, a Darren Henderson header came off the post in 33 minutes. Goal number two came in 36 minutes after a scramble which included the ball rebounding off the woodwork. Roy McBain was well placed to take advantage and he hammered home from close range. On the half-time whistle a strong 25 yard shot from Dennis Wyness took a slight deflection and Miotto made a flying save. 30 seconds after the restart a long Nicky Walker kick-out reached Barry Robson on the left well inside the Raith half. He took a touch then crossed for Martin Bavidge to head home from six yards. Raith's best second half effort came on the hour mark when a Darren Henderson header was cleared off the line by Stuart McCaffrey. In 67 minutes Robson's inswinging corner reached a ruck of players and it went in off the head of Bobby Mann. The best goal of the game came with 10 minutes left when substitute David Bagan surged through the middle, played a one-two with Wyness and hit a low ball past Miotto from 12 yards.

Starting XI: Nicky Walker; Ross Tokely, Grant Munro, Bobby Mann, Stuart McCaffrey, Charlie Christie, Barry Robson, Roy McBain, Russell Duncan, Martin Bavidge, Dennis Wyness. 

Subs:  Jim Calder; Stuart Golabek, Graeme Stewart, David Bagan, Paul Ritchie

 

Last Couple

The Caley Jags claimed their first back to back wins of the season last weekend, having beaten Arbroath 2-1 a fortnight ago thanks to goals from Wallace Duffy and Alex Samuel. That was Duffy's second goal in recent weeks having also netted at Tannadice. Last weekend was massive for us as we scraped ourselves out of ninth place and above Queens Park in a huge six-pointer at Hampden. Cammy Harper made the difference with a superb free kick in the 25th minute, a strike fit to win any game at the National Stadium. Those two wins have placed our destiny within our own hands. Last Six: D L  D L  W W 

Take a bow Cammy Harper>>>

 

Raith Rovers have lost ground at the head of the table in the last fortnight. They began April with a 2-1 win over Ayr United. Easton and Hamilton either side of the break with Logan Chalmers notching the United goal. That result was followed by a home defeat from Airdrieonians, going down 3-1 at Stark's Park. Josh Mullin was the Rovers scorer that night as Raith never got to grips with a lively Airdrie who scored through Frizzell twice and McGregor. Last week they had a no score draw against Partick Thistle to allow the gap at the top to open further. Last Six: W D L  W L  D 

 

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
We are the Friday night game this weekend. Smokies are now Relegated
1.	Dundee Utd	33	20	8	5	68	22	68
2.	Raith Rovers	33	18	8	7	52	42	62
3.	Partick Thistle	33	13	12	8	58	50	51
4.	Airdrieonians	33	15	6	12	44	38	51
5.	Dunfermline	33	11	9	13	39	44	42
6.	Ayr United	33	12	6	15	50	57	42
7.	Morton	33	11	8	14	40	42	41
8.	Inverness CT	33	9	11	13	37	37	38
9.	Queens Park	33	9	9	15	43	56	36
10.	Arbroath	33	6	5	22	34	77	23

 

• Friday 19th April
• Inverness CT v Raith Rovers
• Saturday 20th April
• Arbroath v Morton
• Dundee United v Ayr United     
•      Dunfermline v Queen's Park 
•     Partick Thistle v Airdrieonians 

Latest Team News

Remi Savage is back training after concussion and James Carragher missed out last week with a hamstring injury but has also trained this week. Wallace Duffy has a niggle and has missed a couple of sessions. The good news is that Sean McAllister has returned from Everton after injury and could be good to go.

Here's Dunc winding up the Smokies.... and they are biting>>>   

Immortal Howden Ender is picking the team this week and here's his thoughts: It would not surprise me that Dunc will go for the same starting X1 as Hampden. That has positives, maybes and negatives. Playing the same 5 at the back will provide the stability required and hopefully another shut out. I can see this allowing Harper to be more of a wing back but Kerr is not really that type of player. Anderson and Longstaff ran and ran and tackled and tackled. But they are stuck in the middle of the park and with only Samuel as the forward option. Starting Doran and Billy is risky. Both can produce something different, especially from free kick positions, but they need to support Samuel more. That's why I would play Doran alternating wide right and left. Billy did have a couple of chances at Hampden but I would play him closer to Samuel. As for the Tinkerville Taz then same again please. He will not give the Raith defence any breathing space and he is a cert to win free kicks. And with Billy ploughing likewise for an hour both may get more clear cut opportunities. What we can't allow to happen is giving away an early goal. Raith at home is a far more difficult task than the Spiders away. But I reckon Dunc and his dogs of War will be howling at the end of 90 minutes AND I would take a point if offered now... 

 

Raith Rovers may have slipped up recently as their title challenge fades. However, they are still a dangerous side.

Raith team v Partick last week (0-0)

Dabrowski

 

Brown   Watson   Murray   Dick

 

Brown

 

Mullin (Connolly 86)   Stanton (Hamilton 77)   Turner (Easton 45)   Smith (McGill 86)

 

Rudden (Vaughan 59)

 

Subs Not Used: McNeil; Corr, Mathews, Byrne.

 

 

5 hours ago, Duke of Inverness said:

Did the players make more of an effort last night as it was on TV?

Putting themselves in the shop window for 24/25? 

Wanting to get a Championship club for next season, as opposed to being in League 1? 

None of our team are good enough for getting interest from a Premiership club.

Sadly, given Doran's reaction I think that's his last game for ICT. 

Considering 8 of our players at full time were loan players I don't think they'll be too concerned about playing in League 1. 

Back to back wins has given players a much needed boost 🙌 the players are finally gelling together. Big Dunc has actually got a couple of things right tactics wise ✅️ can't believe I'm actually saying this but the team seem to be turning things round whether it's too late remains to be seen. 

If we do fall into the play offs I can't see Alloa, Cove or Montrose beating us now. Hamilton is a concern but i reckon we have enough to see them off.

Tough season for every ICT fan & I get the frustrations & skepticism but back the team & manager, let's see what happens before we start having nightmares about League 1

Edited April 20, 20242 yr by Super Caley Man 94

Here's the table after todays games

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Still in our own hands 1. Dundee Utd 34 21 8 5 69 22 71 2. Raith Rovers 34 19 8 7 53 42 65 3. Partick Thistle 34 14 12 8 62 50 54 4. Airdrieonians 34 15 6 13 44 42 51 5. Morton 34 12 8 14 42 43 44 6. Dunfermline 34 11 10 13 39 44 43 7. Ayr United 34 12 6 16 50 58 42 8. Inverness CT 34 9 11 14 37 38 38 9. Queens Park 34 9 10 15 43 56 37 10. Arbroath 34 6 5 23 35 79 23

4 hours ago, Duke of Inverness said:

New bins arrived this week from Highland Council. 

I'm going to struggle to fit Ferguson, Gardiner and the 23/24 season in the new grey rubbish bin. 

Please at least make sure Gardiner goes in first ! Certainly not in the recycle bin just common trash .

That was a sore one to take but I can’t find it in me to attribute any blame to the players for Friday night’s result, that’s just fekkin football and the best team doesn’t necessarily win. They did more than enough to get the 3 points and were just denied by some bad luck and superb goalkeeping. I can even overlook the shoddy 10 minutes after the break, it happens, their efforts in the other 80 minutes should have given us the 3 points - unlucky lads, you gave it a ruddy good go.

That leaves us now with 2 cup finals to go, we really can’t afford any other slip ups. Our vastly superior goal difference counts for sod all if Queens win their final 2 games, we needed to be 2 points clear to allow us the luxury of a draw in either match.

So many variables though - for us, perhaps Dunfermline and Morton might not be so pumped up now, given they’re both out of playoff contention at either end of the table. As for QP, no telling what kind of fight Arbroath will put up against them, and more importantly, will Airdrie take their foot off the gas and rest some key players for the playoffs?

What I saw on Friday night gives me the confidence we have enough in our locker to do it, but we most certainly need to do it ourselves!

Sympathy for Doran. Samuel and sometimes Billy, would get more protection from referees if they played rugby. Being grabbed round the neck is deemed very dangerous but in football it seems referees often give the benefit of the doubt to the perpetrator. 

Dunfermline is now very important to our survival. On our previous visit we were pretty poor with Dunfermline unlucky only to get a draw after hitting the woodwork 8 or so times. Sean McAllister is likely to be our match winner this time I trust.

11 hours ago, CaleyCanary said:

 I can even overlook the shoddy 10 minutes after the break

Well I can't!  How many times over the years have we seen them concede a goal immediately after the break?

As soon as it was clear that Raith had come out of the blocks invigorated and fighting, I said to my wife that they were going to score very soon.  And so they did.

Teams and managers have changed over the years, of course, so it can't be blamed on any one thing or on one person.  But surely the last thing to be said before they go out for the second half should be "Stay extra sharp out there for the next few minutes, until you get back into the rhythm of the game!".

Statisticians and historians may well point out to me that we are no worse than other teams in this respect.  But it sure seems that way!

Result didn't match the performance but more worrying is we finished the game with 8 loan players on the pitch. Of the the 3 left 2 were over 30.  Basically we are going to completely have to rebuild from scratch, maybe need to sign ten or more players in the summer and get them to gel in probably less than six weeks.

 

I don't think that it was because we had a bad 10 minutes. That was simply to be expected. It was a defensive lapse at fault and a rare lapse at that. I am in no doubt that if we had another decent forward to partner Samuel that we would have been in the play offs. I think that Lawal has a lot of potential but not yet playing in a central midfield role. I would take the risk of playing him up front and letting Billy play in a number 10 role. I think his pace will frighten other teams and Samuel has an out card which he hasn't had all season. 

Edited April 21, 20242 yr by IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER
Stoopid

1 hour ago, forresjags said:

Result didn't match the performance but more worrying is we finished the game with 8 loan players on the pitch. Of the the 3 left 2 were over 30.  Basically we are going to completely have to rebuild from scratch, maybe need to sign ten or more players in the summer and get them to gel in probably less than six weeks.

 

That is a major concern and probably came about due to the confidence about monies from the Battery Farm. And another reason for taking on Ferguson who would have attracted better players with better wages and prospects. I am afraid that this season was all about survival and that was apparent when we jettisoned some worthies to save on the wage bill.

On 4/20/2024 at 12:04 PM, ICTPaisley said:

Do you think the criticism hasn’t been merited then? 

A lot of criticism has been merited but not to the venemous degree of some. I think some peeps think are living on past glories and the expectation that we are a top league outfit. Dunc has always had a tendency to speak before he thinks and is crap at post match interviews. I suspect that he has also been taken back by the abuse directed at him. I suspect that he also realises that he has been used as a fall guy and promised to him about the future are up in the air. He is not an experienced manager and tried to install a play from the back system in a team with no settled formation or understanding of each other. BUT what was the evidence on Friday. He has been too concentrated on defence and has been amiss in how he has played individuals - McKay, Doran, Devine and Lawal being examples. He also did not recognise the importance and impact of contracted players. His dislike of Roddy McGregor is surprising.

We had eight loanees on the park at the end of the end of the Raif game. They may end up saving our season and I would gladly keep at least 4 of them.

 

His mistrust/dislike in Roddy is beyond baffling. We’ve seen some of Roddy’s  goals and his ability to drive forward and add urgency to a game.  - Brookes could be a huge addition as well with pace to help up front. Is anderson better than Roddy, is lawal a better fit for our midfield? 
there was also a spare place on the bench free for Saturday and even with the likes of Ujar and Samuels fit they weren’t included in squad. 
 

no idea what’s going on - it all seems rather haphazard 

Edited April 21, 20242 yr by FrontRow

On 4/21/2024 at 5:11 PM, FrontRow said:

...
there was also a spare place on the bench free for Saturday and even with the likes of Ujar and Samuels fit they weren’t included in squad. 
...saving on match fees, things are very tight cash wise.

 

On 4/21/2024 at 1:36 PM, forresjags said:

Result didn't match the performance but more worrying is we finished the game with 8 loan players on the pitch.

 

Fully expect more of the same next year. Holistically if you consider the options - we are skint and will struggle to finance a team of permanent signings or the chance to go to money bags English clubs who will still pay for their youngsters to get some game time and pick up the costs - essentially free for us but we play them.

I doubt anyone at the club is excited at the prospect of not having any experienced signings of younger players we with quality we can retain to develop and try sell. The strategy is clearly making the best with minimal outlay or long term commitments possible.

20 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

Fully expect more of the same next year. Holistically if you consider the options - we are skint and will struggle to finance a team of permanent signings or the chance to go to money bags English clubs who will still pay for their youngsters to get some game time and pick up the costs - essentially free for us but we play them.

I doubt anyone at the club is excited at the prospect of not having any experienced signings of younger players we with quality we can retain to develop and try sell. The strategy is clearly making the best with minimal outlay or long term commitments possible.

Quite so.

Just grateful we got Mark Ridgers and Cammy Harper as regular first team starters - 2 local lads with an obvious passion for their home-town team.

I quite often ask myself, how can I be loyal to a team made up of players who have absolutely no connection to the town they're supposed to represent?

Mind you, they seem to manage in Dingwall!

Harper has a few offers for next season and none of them is from us.

I'd imagine Ridgers may have options also but he's at a different stage of his career and seems settled in the area.  Fingers crossed.

If we do go down I'd love to see us go the route of using our younger guys and giving them the opportunity to grow and develop as a squad.  Not all will make it and some will move on but it's our best chance at putting together the nucleus of a squad that might stay together for a few seasons.

2 hours ago, STFU said:

If we do go down I'd love to see us go the route of using our younger guys and giving them the opportunity to grow and develop as a squad.  Not all will make it and some will move on but it's our best chance at putting together the nucleus of a squad that might stay together for a few seasons.

I agree with your vision and see Div 1 as a great opportunity to blood the youngsters and form a squad of mostly Highlanders, hopefully capable of promotion to the Championship and beyond.

Trouble is, for most of them, the Championship is just a level too high so Div 1 is a better opportunity for 1st team football.

There's something awfully false about following a team of Englishmen, foreigners and Central-belters, supposedly representing your town, when your own town/area can't produce a team capable of playing at that level. Just look at the cup-winning squad of 2015 - how many Invernessians were in that team? How many Scotsmen?

On 4/20/2024 at 10:52 AM, tm4tj said:

We were unlucky, weren't we >>>

 

 

Just watched this. Not sure why he thinks it’s out of our hands. I’ve been looking for highlights as I’d like to see some of those saves from Dabrowski again, but no joy. Can’t make the next two games so that’s the end of the season for me if we finish 8th, but easily one of the best performances of the season I’ve witnessed and certainly the best at home.

Edit- I see Raith have some highlights up now, they didn't earlier in the week.

Edited April 25, 20242 yr by The Mantis

42 minutes ago, buckett said:

I agree with your vision and see Div 1 as a great opportunity to blood the youngsters and form a squad of mostly Highlanders, hopefully capable of promotion to the Championship and beyond.

Trouble is, for most of them, the Championship is just a level too high so Div 1 is a better opportunity for 1st team football.

There's something awfully false about following a team of Englishmen, foreigners and Central-belters, supposedly representing your town, when your own town/area can't produce a team capable of playing at that level. Just look at the cup-winning squad of 2015 - how many Invernessians were in that team? How many Scotsmen?

I'm not so sure it's just to do with having a squad full of local born players or not.  The guys from that cup winning squad were mostly committed to the club/area and many of the non indigenous players still live locally so there's an obvious affinity.  Two of them are at the club now.

Fans also felt far more connected as they had greater opportunity to meet and spend time with them.

2 minutes ago, The Mantis said:

Just watched this. Not sure why he thinks it’s out of our hands. I’ve been looking for highlights as I’d like to see some of those saves from Dabrowski again, but no joy. Can’t make the next two games so that’s the end of the season for me if we finish 8th, but easily one of the best performances of the season I’ve witnessed and certainly the best at home.

It was out of our hands at the time of the interview.  Results on the Saturday went in our favour putting it back in our hands again.