Trick or Treat for ICT fans

After last weeks treat for Inverness fans, will Terry Butcher be able to perform the same trick this Halloween weekend?

Out to spoil the party will be the guisers of Greenock Morton. The Ton players will be dressing up in their away kit and will try to leave the Highlands with the spoils, or can the Caley Thistle management team unmask their opponents and keep all the points at the Tulloch Stadium.

The Visitors

Morton were founded in 1874 and play their home games at Cappielow, which has a capacity of over 11,600, with seating for 5,741 fans. Known as The Pride of the Clyde, their proudest moment came in 1922 when a Jimmy Gourlay goal was enough to defeat Rangers in the Scottish cup final, their only major cup success. They reached the final again in 1948 and it took a replay to see Rangers win the trophy by the same score. The two games in 1948 both attracted crowds in excess of 130,000, with the replay being a British record crowd for a midweek game at the time (133,629). In 1963 Morton made the final of the league cup, once again playing Rangers, in front of 103,000 fans. This time Rangers ran out 5-0 winners, although this was no disgrace at the time as Morton were a second division team in those days.

A blast from the past for Morton is the enigma that was Andy Ritchie. Ritchie scored 133 goals for Morton in 246 appearances spanning seven years. Known as the Idle Idol, Ritchie was noted for scoring unpredictable and spectacular goals. His pinpoint accuracy enabling him to score direct from corner kicks. He has been known to score from the halfway line and beyond, with Andy Ritchie, expect the unexpected. I suppose he was the fore-runner of David Beckham as he frequently bent free kicks round the defensive wall and into the net. Known more for his nonchalance than his athleticism, Ritchie looked like a pub player, with curly locks, incomplete dentures and the precursor of a beer belly. But once he donned his Morton strip and had a ball at his feet, he showed tremendous flair and no shortage of skill for such a big man. Something that is sadly lacking in the present day game. Ritchie received the Scottish Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year award in 1979 and is a cult hero down Greenock way.

League Season So Far Inverness have had a strange season so far. Unable to win a home game in the league, yet unbeaten away from Inverness. A measely two points from a possible fifteen at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium and losing ten goals whilst only managing to score five is not promotion material. In contrast our away form has seen us win four games and drawing the other two. Our goal difference on the road is plus nine. This was boosted by last weeks emphatic win at Ayr.

In the first encounter between the sides this season, Inverness triumphed 0-3 at Cappielow.

Morton by their standards have had a poor first quarter, especially at home. Losing four out of five games, and conceding seven goals in the process, while only scoring once in front of the Ton faithful. Their away form is slightly better, winning two from six matches, but losing fourteen goals in these six games. This is the worst away defensive record in the league by far. Morton's goal difference at present is minus fourteen. Their best result so far was a 2-3 win at Queen of the South. The indifferent start to the season has led to the downfall of Davie Irons and is the reason the Morton board are trying to prise Alan Moore from the Bino's.

Team News

Inverness manager Terry Butcher would do well to stick by the team that gave Inverness their best win of the season last week. The keeper and back four should be self explanatory. Esson, despite gifting Ayr their consolation goal, has been top notch this season and quickly put his error behind him last week as the away day fans sang his praises. Rossco has been solid since returning from suspension, and given a free role will bolster the attack when required, although he wasted no time in getting booked at Ayr. Bulvitus is benefiting from Grant Munro's leadership beside him in the heart of the defence. Stuart Golabeck is making the left back slot his own after his surprise return from feeder club County. He also picked up a yellow card at the end of last weeks match. The midfield is where the pattern changed last week with Butcher going for a 4-2-3-1 attacking formation. Russell Duncan was back on form linking defence, midfield, and attack, along with David Proctor who retained his place in the team after scoring in the previous two games. Dougie Imrie's return from injury is like having a new player in the squad and he helped himself to a goal last week. Sanchez allowed his creativity to shine at Ayr and Foran was one of the benefactors of the Spaniards vision, as he scored an excellent hat-trick. Leading the line admirably was Adam Rooney and he did his confidence no harm by getting on the score sheet as well. This left Jonny Hayes still probably nursing an injury from the Dunfermline game on the bench, along with Lee Cox, Barrowman, Stratford and Allison . Most ICT fans would like to see an attacking display at home and maybe Butcher will give these guys a second chance to consolidate their new found ability to press home an advantage. Good to see Eric Odhiambo and Andy Barrowman playing a bounce game this week with both scoring against an Aberdeen eleven. Maybe just too early for Eric to be unleashed on the first division yet. I expect to see Inverness line up very similar to last week, providing Russell Duncan recovers from the back pain that saw him subbed last weekend. Jamie Duff is still a long term casualty.

Inverness squad from last week:-

Esson, Tokely, Bulvitis, Munro, Golabek, Sanchez, Proctor, Duncan, Imrie, Foran, Rooney. Subs: Allison, Stratford, Barrowman, Cox, Hayes.

Morton hope to entice Stirling Albion manager Alan Moore to Cappielow after the departure of former Gretna gaffer Davie Irons. Irons and Morton parted company after some disappointing results. If this does not happen before the weekend, then James Grady and Allan McManus will continue as caretaker bosses until Morton appoint their new manager. The Greenock men have a plethora of injuries. Dominic Shimmin has tendon and hamstring problems and could miss the rest of the season, Kevin Cuthbert has a broken foot and will be out for three months, Alan Jenkins is about a month away from recovery after medial ligament damage, Alex Walker had a double hernia operation last Friday, Steve Masterton had a similar operation on the same day, (must have been a job lot), Neil Macfarlane, another tidy up operation this week on his meniscus cartilage, (that's knee to you and I), and last but not least, Brian Graham who will be out for several weeks after twisting his ankle against Dunfermline. Ouch, that's almost a whole team of injured players. Former County keeper Colin Stewart looks likely to play as a result of Cuthbert's injury.

Morton squad from last week:-

Stewart, MacGregor, McGuffie, McManus, Greacen, MacFarlane, Finlayson, Jenkins , Graham, Weatherson, McAlister. Subs:- Monti, Paartalu, Wake, Harding, McWilliams.

tm4tj Prediction

We will never have a better chance to break our home duck than this game against what looks to be an under strength Morton side due to numerous injuries. If Terry Butcher puts out a similar side to the one that thrashed Ayr United last week then I see no reason that ICT can not record their first home win of the season. The attack minded 4-2-3-1 formation certainly paid off last week and the home fans want a slice of this action as well. It's great to see Foran starting to build on his goal tally and with Rooney and Imrie chipping in as well it could be an entertaining ninety minutes. We are however, good at shooting ourselves in the foot and the favourites tag does not sit comfortably with us, especially at Tulloch Stadium. Nonetheless, I can see no further than a convincing win for ICT to banish the home blues and a welcome three points in the bag to close the gap on some of the teams above us who are playing each other this weekend.

Time to get the Monkey (nuts) off our back.