Bye Bye Hamilton.

Hamilton play their last SPL game for at least one season after confirming their status in midweek.  They almost managed to reel in St Mirren but it was too little too late for the Accies when they ran out of games and defeat to St Johnstone in midweek, coupled with St Mirren beating Aberdeen meant relegation for Billy Reid and his Academicals.

Inverness will not be too sad about the demise of the Accies as they tended to make life difficult for us and to be honest, were one of the reasons we were relegated ourselves in 2009.  We were unable to win any of our games against them that season, taking only two points from a possible twelve as they brought time wasting to a new level, although they ultimately cost Craig Brewster his job.  Or was it the show of shoes that did it?  Whichever, that signalled the coming of Terry & Mo, so every cloud has a silver lining.

It's one win each this season so far.  They got their customary 1-0 victory in Inverness although we overturned that in the return fixture at Hamilton with a 3-1 hammering.  The other game in Inverness was a 1-1 draw.  The first game had barely started when former ICT player Dougie Imrie scored one of the goals of the season with a thunderous thirty five yard effort which stunned the home fans and Ryan Esson.  Imrie also opened the scoring at Hamilton, but we were on our unbeaten away run and were not giving that away so easily.  A brace from Rooney and a Jonny Hayes goal meant we remained unbeaten, and Accies dismal home form continued.  The draw at Inverness was courtesy of a Dani Sanchez strike being cancelled out by an Antoine - Curier penalty, cue plenty of time wasting and ten men behind the ball.

With only one stand being open for this game, it would appear that interest is low in Hamilton with relegation assured, but sometimes these meaningless games throw caution to the wind and can be entertaining.

Russell Duncan is back in the squad for this game after his dubious red card against St Mirren.  It would be a fitting tribute for Russell to be captain for the day and let's hope he can round off his 10 year affair with Inverness on a high.  If he plays at Hamilton it will be Russell's 353rd time in an ICT shirt.

Another player making his final appearance will be Grant Munro.  A former captain of the club, he has been released after 12 years fantastic service and saturday will be his 367th appearance for his beloved Caley Jags.  Grant is a home grown lad and this will be a big wrench for him.  He made his Caley Thistle debut in 1999 against Livingstone and under the guidance of Bobby Mann he established himself in the heart of the defence and has never looked back.  He was a proud man as he captained Inverness back into the SPL at the first time of asking.  At only 30 years old, some have questioned Butchers decision to release Munro as we will need to fill the void for next season, with no recognised central defenders being retained other than Ross Tokely.

It's also the end of the line for another legend Stuart Golabeck, our captain for the first season in the SPL and the man who scored our first ever SPL goal.  Golly was instrumental in our rise through the leagues and formed a formidable back line with Rossco, Caff and Mann.  He left for a spell at Livingstone but returned to the fold, although at 37, his days were numbered at ICT.

Roy McBain who is also departing will be in action for Brechin City in their play off game at Cowdenbeath, good luck to him with their tie poised at 2-2 going into the second leg.  Brechin also have former players Rory McAllister leading the line for them and another ex-player in Kevin Byers playing regular games.  C'mon the 'Hedge'.

It is the end of an era for Inverness Caledonian Thistle and time to give these great sevants a massive send off.  Thanks for the memories everyone that is departing.  Gone but never forgotten.

Alternative Maryhill will give us one more treat as he gives us this insight for tomorrows game at NDP.

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The Highland Marchers are closing in on another new finishing line; Terry and Mo are looking out their cricket whites; Richie Foran is polishing his fishing tackle; and somewhere in Scotland, Richie Hart is getting in the festival mood. The close season is almost upon us, after what has seemed a very long year back in the SPL: overwrought hysteria in Paradise, mind-numbing efficiency at Greyskull, spectacular underachievement at Pittodrie, Celtic-rivalling paranoia at Tynecastle, schizophrenic displays at Easter Road, and bubbling away under all that, Inverness Caledonian Thistle quietly rebuilding themselves into a force to be reckoned with while Hamilton Academical meekly took their leave of the SPL.

It has been a season of contrasting fortunes in the league for Caley Thistle and Hamilton, yet for both clubs it will be a time for goodbyes on Saturday. For ICT’s supporters, it will not only be a chance to acclaim a truly impressive first season back in the SPL, but also, hopefully, an opportunity to say a final farewell to at least some of the ten players being released by the club; Hamilton’s supporters, meanwhile, will be able to pay tribute to their team’s performance over three consecutive seasons in the SPL.

Of course, most ICT supporters won’t be at all unhappy to see the back of Hamilton: each time a fixture between the clubs comes round on the calendar, sinking feelings set in that can only be rivalled by those of Hibs fans contemplating a trip to Inverness. The seven league matches between the clubs have ended in three 1-1 draws, three 1-0 victories for Hamilton, and a solitary 3-1 away win for ICT, last November. Only Aberdeen out of the other bottom nine teams in the SPL can boast an all-time record anywhere near as good against Caley Thistle; and even that has taken a bit of a kicking this season.

We perhaps shouldn’t be too surprised by Caley Thistle’s struggles against Hamilton, however; although Hamilton are the only team in SPL that we can say with certainty are, nowadays, a ‘smaller’ club than ICT, their record in their first two seasons in the top flight does not reflect the modesty of their set-up. In 2008-09 they finished in ninth position, with forty-one points; last season they were seventh, with forty-nine. Given the wide praise ICT have received this season for finishing in that position and having accumulated, at the time of writing, fifty points, we must acknowledge how impressive much of Hamilton’s time in the SPL has been, no matter how offended we might be by the New Douglas Park gazebo, or its strange toilet set-up, or Dougie Imrie’s objectionable face, or the sneaking suspicion that the Paixao twins are actually some sort of novelty act.

And if we are giving credit to Hamilton, we must also, reluctantly, give credit to their generously-jowled manager, Billy Reid. Reid’s record is exceptional: since taking over Hamilton in 2006 he has not only won the first division then kept the club in the SPL for three seasons, but has also taken Accies to three cup quarter finals and overseen the development and eventual transfers to the English Premiership of some outstanding players: James McCarthy, James McArthur and Brian Easton. Reid manages the clever trick of hiding his undoubted footballing genius under a blizzard of impenetrable clichés, as evidenced by his interview with the BBC after Hamilton’ relegation on Tuesday evening: “I'm sitting here tonight and I'm a manager who has been relegated and I am quite happy to take that. I realise the size of the club and the restrictions we work under. It has been a strange season. Fifteen penalties in the one season - that tells you everything. It has been a fantastic ride for us.” At the risk of being pedantic, what does “fifteen penalties in the one season” actually tell you? That Hamilton were a bunch of cloggers this season? That their central defenders were guilty of some quite unbelievable clumsiness? That there was a serious lack of pace at the back? Or that Scottish referees are shiftless, conniving conspirators that should all be sacked? Surely no-one would imply that... Anyway, when Billy and the boys return to the giant hamster wheel of the first division, they will be sorely missed, but here’s hoping that ICT’s sympathy does not extend to continuing the underwhelming record against Hamilton, and that the players can maintain an impressive post-split run that has seen them chalk up four wins out of five. While Graeme Shinnie and Jonny Hayes are still unavailable, Terry Butcher has a fairly full squad to choose from and will probably be torn to some extent between fielding the players he sees as representing the club, and giving final appearances to those whom he has already decreed have no futures in Inverness. Surely Grant Munro, at least, will be in the starting line up and, from a personal point of view, I would love to think that there might still be the chance he will be offered a new contract after all. There seems to be no way back for Russell Duncan, and it will be interesting to see whether he is given any game time if, as is suggested on the CTO forums, his suspension has not yet kicked in. It would also be nice to see Dani Sanchez, a player who made some fine contributions to the side over the last two seasons, make an appearance. Yet equally, it is exciting to see players such as Shane Sutherland and Gavin Morrison emerge, and it would surely benefit the team to give them as much first team experience as possible. Hamilton, meanwhile, have already started to clear out players with Billy Reid vowing to return to the philosophy of building around youth that got the club promoted to the SPL in the first place. Club captain Alex Neil, out with injury for most of the season, will be available, however, as will Simon Mensing and Thomas Cerny, who were, along with Neil, starters in Hamilton’s first ever game in the SPL.  Defender Mark McLaughlan is suspended for this SPL send off, but Ziggy Gordon and David Hopkirk are back from U19 squads in Denmark, and with emerging talent like Ali Crawford, Hamilton have plenty to be pleased about.

Prediction: Precedent in this fixture, coupled with the likely determination of Hamilton’s players to give their supporters something to smile about with relegation confirmed, should make me pessimistic about this one. However, after a long period of underachievement over the winter there seems to be something about ICT again at the moment, and I foresee another Grant Munro-inspired clean sheet, and a win to end a very satisfying season.

Hamilton Academical 0 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1

There you have it folks, your last preview of this season and another gem from wordsmith Alternative Maryhill.