Warriors up for the Battle

 

The second home League1 game in a row has Stenhousemuir visiting for the first time since 1998 when we won 2-1. Mike Teasdale scored both goals as we came from behind to win that relegation battle after Ian Little had opened the scoring early in the first half. It's a standard 3:00pm kick-off this Saturday afternoon apart from Cove v the Smokies which can be seen on BBC Alba at half past five. The revamped 94' Bar will be open at mid-day for both sets of fans with Supporters Trust members and helpers at your service and if you are free around 10:30am on Saturday morning, pop over and help with the tidy up around the Stadium.

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Match/Ticket Info

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Venue

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	3	3	0	0	11	3	+8
Away	5	3	1	1	10	5	+5
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	8	6	1	1	21	8	+13

Brian Thomson

We have only met Stenhousemuir eight times in total, winning six and losing once, a 3-2 reverse at Ochilview in August 1997. Our top scorer of all time against Stenny is Brian Thomson who has scored seven in all competitions including a hat-trick in a league cup encounter in 1997 at the Caledonian Stadium. Get yer boots on Brian, we need someone to put the ball in the net. Alas, Brian can't make it, he's washing his hair this weekend.

Signed from Huntly - Position: Forward
Previously with Fraserburgh, Motherwell, Peterhead & Arbroath
Debut Played: 16 Dec 1995 - Last Game: 2 May 1998

Third Division Championship medal 1996/97; Joint top Second Division goalscorer 1997/98 (20 goals) Scored a barrowload, including the vital goal v Stenhousemuir which gained access to Rangers in the Scottish Cup in 1996 and he was a star in that quarter final at Tannadice as well. He made a stunning debut v Ross County in the Inverness Cup Final in December 1995.
First Goal: January 13th, 1996 - Alloa Athletic 0 - 2 Caley Thistle (Div 3 "The first goal came in 30 minutes - a header by Brian Thomson after a cross from Richard Hastings)

Born:	June 19th, 1966 (Fraserburgh)
Height:	1.83m
Position:	inside forward
Signed:	July 1st, 1995
Left Club:	May 31st, 1998
Career Stats:	93 appearances, 34 goals
Full Debut:	December 16th, 1995 - Cowdenbeath 0 - 0 Inverness CT (League - )
First Goal:	January 13th, 1996 - Alloa Athletic 0 - 2 Inverness CT (League - )
Also Played For:	Arbroath, Buckie Thistle, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Motherwell, Peterhead

Season so Far

INVERNESS CT:  D L D D W D D  Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. We beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers at Recreation Park. Last time out we had a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Cove Rangers who opened the scoring through Adam Emslie. James Nolan on loan from Manchester United's youth squad levelled the game before the hour.

Stenhousemuir: W L L W W L D  Having been promoted as Champions in season 23/24, the Warriors opened their account in League1 with a 2-1 home win over Arbroath but lost the following week at Kelty (2-0). Another loss followed at Alloa (1-0) before a 3-2 home win over Cove Rangers. The highlight of their season so far was a 5-1 thrashing of Annan Athletic at Ochilview. Bilham, Anderson and a Blair Alston hat-trick did the damage as Stenny took their chances whilst Annan only took one of their many opportunities. Montrose brought them back down to earth in the next League game with a 3-0 win at Links Park. Last week a no scoring home draw where Queen of the South dominated the game as Darren Jamieson earned the Warriors another vital point. They also knocked Falkirk out of the Challenge Cup on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Jamieson was again a standout for Stenhousemuir denying Falkirk half a dozen times. Blair Alston is their top scorer in the League with three goals followed by midfielder Michael Anderson on two. Former Hearts defender Gary Naysmith is the Warriors manager.

It's difficult to assess the teams this early in the season with everyone capable of pulling off wins over all the other challengers.... except for us with our waltzing slowwww slowwww slowwww slowwww slowwww approach to the game which must be easy to set up against and our lack of penetration in the final third.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Table ahead of this weekends game with Stenny two points above Inverness.
1.	Alloa Athletic	7	3	4	0	8	5	13
2.	Montrose	7	3	3	1	7	3	12
3.	Q.O.S.	7	3	2	2	6	4	11
4.	Stenhousemuir	7	3	1	3	10	10	10
5.	Kelty Hearts	7	2	3	2	9	7	9
6.	Inverness CT	7	1	5	1	6	6	8
7.	Cove Rangers	7	2	2	3	10	11	8
8.	Annan Athletic	7	2	1	4	6	12	7
9.	Dumbarton	7	0	6	1	10	11	6
10.	Arbroath	7	1	3	3	6	9	6

           Saturday 28 September 2024

• Inverness CT v Stenhousemuir 
•  Kelty Hearts v Annan Athletic 
•   Montrose v Alloa Athletic
• Queen Sth v Dumbarton  
• (BBC Alba) Cove  v Arbroath (17:30)    

 

Latest Team News

Awaiting team news from the Caley Jags. Tom Jones said it's not unusual.

Here we go! Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns are still out and Keith Bray has not trained all week. We remain toothless up front with Billy in a withdrawn role and little other attacking options available. Striker for the weekend anyone?

Here's Dunc talking about his young team, strikers (or lack of), grass, defence and goals; the hardest part of the game isn't it>>>

 

 

<<<This was the Stenhousemuire starting XI that Gary Naysmith went with in the home draw against Queen of the South. Nat Wedderburn was a sixth minute sub for the Warriors as Kyle Jacobs went off injured. With six yellow cards last week, looks like the Warriors will be up for the battle. Last week was an open game with Queens more than matching their hosts who were thankful for keeper Jamieson pulling off a handful of great stops. Assistant manager Brown Ferguson bemoaned a number of injuries during this game and was pleased with the battling point against a full time team in QotS.

Alston, Taylor, Steele, O'Reilly and Jacobs were all substituted against Queens. Maybe Alston for his own good having just been booked in the closing stages of the game.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, big cherly said:

FH - Apart from Dibaga and Savage rest of the team were bloody awful. School boy lessons of simple trapping the ball needed and instructions to find where the opposition goal is on the field. 

That’s what I thought. Pep and klopp would struggle to get wins with us just now.

need to weather the storm and see what happens when new investors arrive with the cash. 
 

my only change today would have been to play a proper left back, strachan, unless he has an injury, and play Nolan further up.

46 minutes ago, Starscape said:

Good to keep a clean sheet. The players aren't used to playing on grass, so they did well to hold off Stenny. Our groundskeeper must take a lot of the blame.

Last week a change to the ref, this week no change. It upsets the balance of the team. Come on officials! Let's have some consistency!

We do also have a very young team. Very very young. Meanwhile, Stenny's squad is all seasoned professionals with no young players and great strikers. So we have to give credit where it's due.

Over all, Duncan has to be congratulated for being just outside the play-offs. We don't score much but, boy, look at how well we can park the bus! And that's what football is all about.

If only we were full time, we’d manage to be better than the dross in this league! Oh, I forgot, we are full time!!! 

Edited September 28, 20241 yr by big cherly

Well that was dire possibly even worse than last week. Does DF ever try to play football that suits the players he has? Does he even know that we need to win anymore? 

Most exciting bit was good natured banter with the Stennie keeper! 

Finding it harder and harder finding any positivity these days. Can you imagine what it will be like watching football like this when it's minus 3 and dark by full time!! 

Well I for one am soooooo glad DF decided in the summer to stay with Inverness and grace us with his presence for another season. We should all be very grateful 🙏 

I simply cannot get enough of his adventurous brand of expansive attacking football. Watching his team play on a Saturday afternoon really sets me up for the week ahead! 

We can only pray that a bigger outfit than us won't come in with offer he can't refuse to prise him away from the club any time soon! After all he must be much in demand due to our scintillating performances?

Long may it continue 🫡

 

First Draft of report...

Bore Draw 

 

Stenhousemuir came North for the first time since 1998 on League business when a Mike Teasdale brace won the day after Ian Little had opened the scoring for the Warriors in front of 1414 fans. Brian Thomson has been our all time top scorer against them with seven goals including a hat-trick in a 5-1 rout in 1997. Hope he has taken his boots along for this one. In an instantly forgettable first half, the only highlight was a brilliant penalty save from Musa Dibaga to keep the score level with opportunities non-existant for both sides. The closest we came was when Davidson shot just wide when we broke forward. The second half produced more of the same with neither side able to find the finishing touch. Another point and another game without a goal. Whatever way you spin it, it's another dire performance which won't encourage many fans to come back.

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A chilly afternoon with the threat of rain dampened the atmosphere and to be honest it must have got to the players who produced a dire first forty-five only brought to life by a superb penalty save from Dibaga. Nothing wrong with the strike, but the keeper guessed right as he dived full length low to his right to deny Matty Yates. The rest of the half was disjointed and Jake Davidson was the only other one that went close ten minutes before the interval.

Half Time: 0-0

The second half was no better with half chances and missed opportunities. Anderson glanced a header a yard or two wide and Yates shot wide as the Warriors threatened to take control. However with defences on top it was unlikely that anyone would score and James Nolan lifted a shot over the bar after good work down the right flank by Longstaff and lay-off's from Billy Mckay and MacKinnon. Nobody could hit the target and Brooks dragged a long range shot two or three yards wide. MacKinnon had an effort blocked from close range from the edge of the six yard box. Highlight of this half was a tremendous block by Jake Davidson as Ross Meechan looked favourite to score. Unfortunately it was the same old same old as we struggled badly to create enough and take any chances that did come our way.

Full Time: 0-0

Poor fare at the Caledonian Stadium as we huffed and puffed our way around the park to little effect. Great save from MotM Musa Dibaga to deny Matty Yates but that was all there was to cheer. We did have an early penalty claim brushed aside, as Billy Mckay seemed to be barged off the ball and another in the second half when Duffy appeared to be pushed in the box going for a cross. Either way, a draw was about right, but two poor teams on display.

Pos	Team	Pld	Gd	Pts
1	Queen of the South	8	4	14
2	Alloa Athletic	8	3	14
3	Montrose	8	4	13
4	Kelty Hearts	8	5	12
5	Stenhousemuir	8	0	11
6	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	8	0	9
7	Arbroath	8	-1	9
8	Cove Rangers	8	-3	8
9	Annan Athletic	8	-9	7
10	Dumbarton	8	-3	6

3 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Well that was dire possibly even worse than last week. Does DF ever try to play football that suits the players he has? Does he even know that we need to win anymore? 

Most exciting bit was good natured banter with the Stennie keeper! 

Finding it harder and harder finding any positivity these days. Can you imagine what it will be like watching football like this when it's minus 3 and dark by full time!! 

Totally agree. 

Would you keep going go see your favourite band if what they offered now was a total shadow of previous years?

Would you keep going to see movies starring your favourite actor if their new movies were yawnable crap?

Would you keep drinking your favourite beer if it became nats p##s?

No.

It is a mighty struggle to watch ICT nowadays. It's boring, a waste of three + hours of your day and a waste of your money in relation to any kind of entertainment value. 

 Sad days indeed. 

We go to Arbroath next week. They’ve already scored 4 at Cove in the late game today.

Dows that mean getting a 0-0 there will be DF’s objective so he can boast about keeping a free scoring team from scoring?

The lucky man today was "jagster" not for winning the 50-50 but for falling asleep watching TV and missing the game 

 

5 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

 

Another 2 mins 33 secs of boredom endured. In addition to the 90+ minutes of boredom this afternoon.  

Oh, how to enjoy yourself on a Saturday afternoon. 

That's me out until DF and GB are gone. 

Don't mean to be unsupportive of the club, but I've had enough of this s##t in all honesty. 

From CaleyJags.com

2 hours ago, IBM said:

The lucky man today was "jagster" not for winning the 50-50 but for falling asleep watching TV and missing the game 

Sounds like I got a lucky escape. I might have fallen asleep at the game if I’d made it 😃

We are are pretty poor side at the moment.  We have been solid enough at the back but that is in the context of there being no side in the division which has anything like a potent attack to test us.  When we are in possession, we are slow to move the ball forward.  We do sometimes keep the ball quite well in tight situations, but the situation is usually tight because we have dwelt on the ball and allowed the opposition to regroup.  We find it hard to find a telling ball in the final third for the same reason.

DF talks about having decided to play a long ball game today.  Whether that was to minimise the chance of gifting a goal at the back or to get the ball forward quicker, I don't know.  What I do know is that the long ball option was ineffective because it was usually an aimless hoof and virtually every ball was easily won by a defender who was 6" taller than any of our forwards.

Most of our attacks came down the right with Longstaff sometimes showing some considerable skill but then failing to get an effective delivery into the box.  Too often he seemed to have beaten the defender only to then check back and meekly lay the ball off to someone else.  If he can't cross the ball with his right foot, he should be played down the left.  He did get the ball into good positions on 3 or 4 occasions but never found anyone who could use it effectively.  Players are clearly lacking confidence knowing how important it is to start finding the net and knowing they aren't going to get many chances.  When the chances came, they either hesitated and the chance was lost or snatched at it and fluffed the shot.

With  our attacks coming mostly down the right side, there was often a lot of space down the left which we failed to exploit.  Late in the game, Nolan (I think) was in acres of space on the left but his teammates ignored him.  A ball played for him to run onto would have had him behind the defence.  We need to be more aware of these opportunities and being a full time team, we should better placed to drill this into the players in training.  We should also use our training to practice free kicks.  We had 3 or 4 today is reasonable positions and totally wasted them.

On a positive note, I don't see any lack of effort from the team.  With better tactics and the development of a bit more confidence, I think we have a squad well capable of challenging at the right end of the table.  And today's highlight was clearly the brilliant penalty save by Dibaga.  It looked like a very soft penalty and justice was done.

On 9/28/2024 at 7:36 PM, Duke of Inverness said:

Another 2 mins 33 secs of boredom endured. In addition to the 90+ minutes of boredom this afternoon.  

Oh, how to enjoy yourself on a Saturday afternoon. 

That's me out until DF and GB are gone. 

Don't mean to be unsupportive of the club, but I've had enough of this s##t in all honesty. 

And this is the problem - people attend football matches partly to support their team and partly to be entertained. As the entertainment value plummets, less and less supporters will attend.

Ferguson gained his experience in the English Premiership where just the quality of players on show would always guarantee entertainment.

Watching a team of 3rd tier sloggers relentlessly defending a goal-less draw just doesn't have the same pull, effective as they may be, at this level.

Supporters need something to get the adrenalin going - a bit of excitement, the odd goal would help, but even a few decent chances.

Intense defensive play certainly keeps the losses down, but at 3rd-tier level it's painful to watch.

Longstaff's efforts did provide an occasional bit of excitement on Saturday, but I'm with The Duke on this one. I'll have a re-think after the next home game, which I won't be attending.

Here's the highlights of the game. Stick this on repeat for 95 minutes and that should entertain you.

❌ Great penalty save from Musa Dibaga yesterday pic.twitter.com/xMMRUT0WUz

— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) September 29, 2024

 

6 hours ago, buckett said:

 

Ferguson gained his experience in the English Premiership where just the quality of players on show would always guarantee entertainment.

 

It was never dull when he played 😂

However MOTD makes the PremierLeague games look like cliffhangers. I’ve been to a good few where nothing much happened. Tactically and technically it may be on a different planet from what we watch but that doesn’t make it entertaining. Neither do the huge crowds always mean a good atmosphere. The problem is specifically with ICT. Duncball would make your eyes bleed. OK we were all spoiled watching Pele’s teams but It doesn’t have to be this way.

Just on another tack, I recently saw extended highlights of Celtic v Inter from 1967. Regarded as a massively entertaining game but in many respects the standard was shocking compared to nowadays. Loads of unforced errors and missed sitters. 
I also watched the whole of England 2 Scotland 3 recently. What a contrast. Both sides were allowed to carry the ball in space in the middle of the park but about 30 yards out the (brutal) tackles flew in. I think the trainers were on the pitch 6 times in the first half alone, but the players just got up and got on with it. Also a distinct lack of shepherding it out for a bye kick, they just tried to play it. Never noticed any gobbing either 😉

2 hours ago, The Mantis said:

It was never dull when he played 😂

However MOTD makes the PremierLeague games look like cliffhangers. I’ve been to a good few where nothing much happened. Tactically and technically it may be on a different planet from what we watch but that doesn’t make it entertaining. Neither do the huge crowds always mean a good atmosphere. The problem is specifically with ICT. Duncball would make your eyes bleed. OK we were all spoiled watching Pele’s teams but It doesn’t have to be this way.

Just on another tack, I recently saw extended highlights of Celtic v Inter from 1967. Regarded as a massively entertaining game but in many respects the standard was shocking compared to nowadays. Loads of unforced errors and missed sitters. 
I also watched the whole of England 2 Scotland 3 recently. What a contrast. Both sides were allowed to carry the ball in space in the middle of the park but about 30 yards out the (brutal) tackles flew in. I think the trainers were on the pitch 6 times in the first half alone, but the players just got up and got on with it. Also a distinct lack of shepherding it out for a bye kick, they just tried to play it. Never noticed any gobbing either 😉

If our players 'gobbed' they'd probably miss the ground and 'gob' on their boot. Either that or pass it back and fore for half an hour.