Back to the field of dreams.

CIS Cup business on Wednesday evening as Inverness head to the east end of Glasgow to take on table toppers Celtic.  Neil Lennon's side are neck and neck with Rangers in the league while Inverness are struggling to find any consistency, and a spate of injuries to key players is stretching Terry Butcher's squad to the limits. Hopes of a cup shock will always be on the cards, although this seems a distant thought after Inverness crashed 1-3 at home to Hearts, and leaves Inverness pointless at home this season.

Settle down, get the kettle filled up, put the kids to bed, and close the curtains, Alternative Maryhill has produced another explicit full length feature before the teams do battle......... read on.

Celtic v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, CIS Insurance Cup, Wednesday September 22nd:

Match Preview On Wednesday evening, Caley Thistle go to Celtic Park on CIS Cup duty, a little over ten and a half years since the club’s first and most famous match against the Glasgow side. It is a symptom of ICT’s success in the decade that followed that famous Scottish Cup victory, that a trip to face Celtic is now regarded among supporters as a far more routine event than it was in February 2000; yet after a season out of the top flight, and with a floodlit midweek cup tie in the east end of Glasgow having its own special resonances for Invernessians, it is hard not to feel an extra frisson of excitement as the game approaches.

Previous fixtures

Despite Inverness Caledonian Thistle perhaps being fixed permanently in some people’s minds as ‘conquerors of Celtic’ after the headlines of February 2000, the reality is that of all ICT’s league opponents, no club has taken a higher proportion of the available points than Celtic. Of the sixteen SPL matches between the sides, Celtic have won twelve and Caley Thistle only one, with three having been drawn. Cup ties are, however, a different matter: the teams have met on cup business four times and the honours are currently even. In addition to the famous 3-1 victory achieved by Steve Paterson’s team, John Robertson led Caley Thistle to what was arguably as great an upset when the first division side beat Martin O’Neill’s eventual UEFA Cup finalists in the quarter final of the 2003 Scottish Cup. The 1-0 victory in Inverness, courtesy of Dennis Wyness’s goal, was carved out against a team that had just beaten Liverpool in Europe, and while some pointed to a post-European hangover and the resting of several regulars as reasons for Celtic’s defeat, it should be remembered that Celtic’s starting line-up was still composed almost entirely of full internationalists, including Henrik Larsson and current Celtic manager Neil Lennon. The game which finally brought Celtic’s only Scottish Cup victory against ICT to date also looked for a long time as if it would finish in Caley Thistle’s favour. Graeme Bayne put the home side ahead after eighteen minutes, and thought he had added a second late in the first half, until realising it had been ruled out as offside. Celtic threatened sporadically, but IC T held on until the eighty-ninth minute, when Steven Pressley scored the equaliser with a header. Within two minutes the game had been turned on its head when Kenny Miller scored a late winner.

There has been only one match between the clubs in the CIS Insurance Cup competition, and the omens for Caley Thistle from this game are not particularly good. The sides met at Celtic Park on Wednesday 23rd October 2002, with Celtic running out 4-2 winners. Understandably, this game has been overshadowed by the two Scottish Cup wins for Inverness that came on either side of it: Celtic supporters, far happier with the club under Martin O’Neill than they had been with John Barnes’ stewardship, probably felt content that the ghost of the earlier Cup defeat had been laid to some extent, albeit in a lesser competition, while few Inverness supporters realistically expected history to repeat itself. Yet almost three thousand of the faithful still travelled from Inverness and witnessed a typically bold performance from Steve Paterson’s team. Celtic took the lead through Shaun Maloney in just four minutes, but if the Celtic supporters expected Caley Thistle to roll over after that, they were mistaken. Paul Ritchie equalised on the ten-minute mark and ICT continued to try to attack and play football throughout the game. John Hartson and Alan Thompson scored again for Celtic before half time, and Hartson scored again on the hour to make it 4-1, but in 71 minutes Dennis Wyness pulled one back, and my memory of that final 20 minutes is of one of the most exciting, spirited and frustrating performances I have witnessed from an ICT side, with Liam Keogh denied a decent penalty claim and a Bobby Mann header cleared off the line in the final minute. Even Shaun Maloney, who won the man-of-the-match award, admitted that the Celtic players felt they were lucky to have hung on for the victory by the final whistle. It is unlikely, unfortunately, that as many Caley Thistle supporters will make the journey to Glasgow this Wednesday, but those who do attend will be hoping that they see similar spirit and endeavour, and just a little more of the good fortune that could take the team through.

Current Form

Five games into the SPL season, ICT supporters’ emotions and expectations for the season are likely to be as mixed as the performances of the team. Despite what was ultimately a well-deserved win for Celtic in the opening game of the season, the first quarter of that match provided hope that Terry Butcher’s first division champions could create chances and cause problems for sides in the SPL. The superb counter-attacking performance that brought a 4-0 victory away to Dundee United seemed to justify that optimism, yet that game was followed by a flat performance in a 1-0 home defeat to Hamilton. A point away to Hibernian in a 1-1 draw was a respectable result, yet neither team really seemed capable of taking hold of the game, while in Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Hearts, some encouraging signs, in the performances of young midfielder Nick Ross and recent signing Stuart Duff, were negated by the inability of the Caley Thistle defence to cope with the pace of Hearts’ attackers. There is no doubt that the team’s current defensive frailties are to some extent exacerbated by the injuries to full backs Kevin McCann and Kenny Gillet, who started the season promisingly; the return from injury of Richie Foran should add more strength and variety to the team in an attacking sense; and hopes remain high that Rooney, Hayes and Odhiambo can succeed at SPL level. Yet ICT supporters will undoubtedly feel more relaxed when the team has managed to string together two or three good results for the first time this season. There would be no better place to start than Celtic Park.

Celtic’s start to the season was dominated by the team’s European exits, first from Champions’ League qualifying at the hands of SC Braga, then from the Europa League after a 4-0 humiliation in Utrecht. Questions were asked about whether Neil Lennon’s lack of managerial experience was showing through on the big occasions and about whether the players recruited to replace those remaining from Tony Mowbray’s short-lived reign were of sufficient quality. Yet in the league, Celtic have made a near-perfect start, with away wins at Inverness, Motherwell and Kilmarnock and two impressive home victories, 4-0 against St Mirren and 3-0 against Hearts. Neil Lennon’s new-look team might have failed in Europe, but plenty of his players are beginning to catch the eye domestically: of the new signings, central defender Danijel Majstorovich looks to be exactly the sort of big, ugly player that the foundations of Martin O’Neill’s Celtic teams were built on, while Baram Kayal and Efrain Juarez have added class in midfield; up front, youth team graduate James Forrest, the rejuvenated Shaun Maloney and previously-overlooked Paddy McCourt provide more creativity than has been seen in many recent Celtic teams. Yet after last season’s defeat to Ross County and this season’s early European defeats, still the question remains: can Neil Lennon’s Celtic win in cup competitions?

Team News

Speaking to the Sunday Herald, Neil Lennon promised that he would be ‘putting a strong team out’ for this fixture. However, with the strength in depth Celtic enjoy, it is difficult to predict how many changes Lennon will make from the team that lined up against Kilmarnock on Sunday. The same defence has started Celtic’s last three league games, conceding only one goal, but there has been more rotation in the attacking areas, with Shaun Maloney, Daryl Murphy, Paddy McCourt, Anthony Stokes, James Forrest and Georgios Samaras all featuring at points. Summer signing Gary Hooper, so prolific for Scunthorpe last season, may also come into contention after missing the start of the season through injury, having come through a closed-doors game last week. ICT supporters will hope that McCourt, and Scott Brown, both taken off injured against Kilmarnock, will miss out, but at the time of writing there has been no news on that front from Celtic.

***Latest Celtic  News***As Alternative Maryhill had both fingers crossed, Scott Brown, Paddy McCourt and James Forrest will miss out, with Joos Hoiveld being left to the last minute to see if he can shake off a training knock.

After an almost injury-free year in the first division, ICT’s players have been making up for non-lost time at the start of this season. Still definitely ruled out for Wednesday’s game are Gil Blumenshtein and left back Kenny Gillet, whose absence was sorely felt against Hearts. Danni Sanchez, who made such a promising late appearance against Hibernian, also missed the Hearts games through a knee injury, although pre-match reports that he hoped to be fit for that game suggest that the injury is not too serious and that he could still be in contention for an appearance against Celtic. On-loan right back Kevin McCann was also reported to be close to fitness for the Hearts game, despite ultimately missing out; given the ongoing absence of Gillet and the fragility of the defence against Hearts, McCann’s return against Celtic would be very welcome. Undoubtedly the most welcome news for Inverness supporters, however, was the return of club captain Richie Foran as a substitute against Hearts. Assuming he came through the game without a bad reaction, he must be in contention to start against Celtic. Yet with a game against St Mirren that must be considered the priority coming up on Saturday, Terry Butcher faces a difficult decision in choosing his team to face Celtic: does he field what he considers to be his strongest line-up, which would almost certainly include Foran, or does he shuffle the pack and give players who have so far been on the fringes of the first team their chances? All will be revealed on Wednesday.

***From the Inverness Camp***Danni Sanchez is still struggling and there is a possibility of Shane Sutherland and Graeme Shinnie making the starting eleven.

Prediction

Celtic will almost certainly be set up to attack from the off on Wednesday evening, and this could well suit Inverness players such as Jonny Hayes and Eric Odhiambo, whose effectiveness on the counter-attack was amply displayed against Dundee United. I can certainly see ICT scoring on Wednesday evening; reluctantly, however, with the Inverness defence still not at full strength, I predict Celtic will score more and reverse the scoreline that first put us on the footballing map. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.

Celtic 3 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1

If you have read this far, you will probably need a lie down..........thanks Alternative Maryhill.

**TICKET UPDATE**

Tickets are still available for our 3rd round CIS Cup game against Celtic this Wednesday at Park Head. Tickets can be purchased in person from the stadium, by telephone by calling 01463 227451 or via the internet by visiting www.ictfc.co.uk. Tickets will be on sale in Inverness until 12pm on Wednesday so hurry and get your ticket TODAY!!

Tickets purchased over the phone or via the internet from Monday (20.09.10) will be taken to Celtic Park and will be available for collection from the ICT minibus in the main car park.  In addition to this, the ICTFC Supporters Trust will take a supply of tickets to the game for purchase from the minibus.  However, we do heavily recommend tickets are bought in advance from the Club to avoid disappointment.

Prices are as follows: Adult - £15 Season ticket holder - £10 Concession - £5 (over 65 or under 16)