Xmas cracker on the cards

The SPL's two form teams meet in the capital this Saturday.  Inverness will be looking to make it a calendar year without an away league defeat, and Hearts are out to extend their six game winning streak.  Something must give in the Tynecastle cauldron, and Inverness gaffer Terry Butcher knows that this will be one of the most difficult fixtures for his away day marvels to take anything from.  The one consolation for the fans is that this game should ease the pain of the Xmas shopping bill. 

Inverness will be looking to return the compliment to Jim Jeffries' side at Tynecastle after a rather flattering 1-3 scoreline in Inverness gave the Jambo's all three points in the first meeting this season.  Heart's victory at Fir Park in midweek has put them within three points of second place Celtic, albeit with an extra game played, and a healthy goal difference of plus fifteen.  Inverness, deservedly, find themselves rubbing shoulders with the big boys in the top half of the league at the moment.  Much credit for this has to go to the away form which has lifted us to fourth position and on twenty six points, six adrift of Hearts.  

The weather has already claimed two SPL games this weekend as the snow returns with a vengeance.  Rangers game with St Mirren was called off on Thursday after it was discovered that the plumber forgot to lag the pipes; deary me.  Extensive water damage within Ibrox is the reason for this postponement.  Aberdeen were saved the embarrassment of losing again by having their game with Motherwell called off because of the freezing weather.  No conspiracy either, as Well have dropped their case against Brown doing a runner to the Dons, so it looks like a good move all round.  The Tayside derby at Perth will have a pitch inspection before a decision will be made.

All in all, an exciting afternoon's entertainment is surely lined up, one way or another, so, get your credit cards ready for a hectic weekend in Edinburgh, and look ahead to the match as our own ginger jaggy put's pen to paper for your pleasure.

Our Year so Far

What a year we have all had as Caley Thistle fans. At the start of 2010 we were in about the same position that we are now. The only difference was that we were fourthin the First Division and seemingly destined to continue to play in that league coming into this Christmas. But for Inverness, fairytales have come true, and there have been a few fairytales over the piece. Dundee were on their way to being crowned champions by this time last year with their dominance looking like gaining them promotion. But come May, and an unbeaten run that spanned 21 games, which included a fair chunk of what will be remembered as the away day invincibles, Inverness had turned the division on it's head.  The title was celebrated by everyone of a Caley Thistle persuasion and the next challenge was to make a good start to life back at the top table of Scottish football. Remarkably, we now find ourselves here, fourth place in the SPL and within touching distance of third place and a possible dream of Europe. We have had our ups and downs, but we have to give the management of Terry and Mo and the players our greatest gratitude for the rollercoaster of a year that is 2010. There have been a few defeats, but on the road they have been invincible with two well documented stories to tell at both old firm grounds. We even managed to secure a first home league victory over Aberdeen. Ibrox was exceptional, but Celtic Park was the more difficult task; 2-0 down on the anniversary of our last away league defeat. Other teams may have wilted and shipped more goals; not our boys. Caley Thistle is made of sterner stuff and we completed the not undeserved comeback which means thet the record books state :- Inverness Caledonian Thistle were unbeaten for a year away from the Highlands on league duty.

Recent form & key players

This weekend we make our last visit down south for 2010 when we visit Tynecastle to play third place Hearts. The Jambo's have had a great season so far and have really picked up the pace in the last six matches. They recorded four successive 2-0 wins which included the defeat of Celtic at Tynecastle. Last weekend they thumped desperate Aberdeen 5-0 in front of new boss Craig Brown. On Tuesday night in a rearranged fixture at Motherwell, Hearts came away with a 2-1 win and that puts a little daylight between us and them. They have been on fire recently with an abundance of attacking options. The Jambo's have scored fifteen goals in the six game winning run for the loss of a solitary goal.  New strikers Kevin Kyle and Steven Elliot have brought goals to the side, but two of the biggest threats have come from the flanks. Home grown talent David Templeton is having a stormer of a season at the age of only 17. He has scored 5 goals from the wing and that is aided by another 7 on the opposite side from returning hero Rudi Skacel. They will be the danger men this weekend, along with the giant, Kevin Kyle. 

As for us we go into the game unbeaten in our last 5, recording victories over Aberdeen, Hamilton and Hibs with two creditable draws against the old firm.  2-2 at Parkhead and 1-1 in the Highlands against the blue half last Saturday.  Best striking display for Inverness was the 4-2 victory over Hearts city rivals Hibernian.  Adam Rooney scored ICT's first ever hat-trick in the SPL that day and he is second top scorer in Scotland behind Kenny Miller.  Over the six game period, we have scored 13 goals losing 9 in the process.

Hearts have the best record out of the head to head games, winning 10 and losing 3 of the 17 encounters so far. In fact Caley Thistle have failed to record a result against the Jambo's in our last 5 matches. The last of these coming back in September with Hearts taking all three points from the Highlands with a decent 3-1 win in what was a frustrating game for the home side. Inverness will be looking for the Irish trio to complete another away day without defeat.  Jonny Hayes scored a stunning goal last weekend and Adam Rooney is looking dangerous, and with Foran regaining match sharpness all looks well for Butcher's lads.

The last Inverness win was at Tynecastle on the 22^nd of December 2007 when we recorded a 3-2 victory.  Graham Bayne scored the decisive third goal in a high octane thriller.  A superb Russell Duncan daisy cutter and a John Rankin penalty had Inverness on top, but a Berra header threw Heart's a lifeline.  Keeper Kurskis saw red for the Jambo's in the 87th minute then Velicka equalised in the 90th minute, also from the spot, before Bayne struck deep into time added on with a thumping drive from the edge of the box.

One to remember

The game that provides us with the most smugness though, is surely the Cup game at Tynecastle in 2002.  Inverness went down to Tynecastle as massive underdogs but repeated the Feb8th scoreline as they sent Hearts tumbling out of the Scottish cup with another major scalp in the bag.  ICT were still in the first division and were not expected to trouble Hearts, but when the chips are down, we seemed to raise our performances to match that of the SPL teams.  Ross Tokely stunned the home fans when he volleyd the ball over a flailing Antti Niemi to open the scoring.  Great strike from Rossco from within the box, timed at 26 minutes.  On the stroke of half time, Gary Wales scored against the run of play to level the game.  After the break Inverness legend Dennis Wyness sent a rasping shot into the net to restore the visitors lead and substitute David Bagan sealed the win after sprinting the length of the park before slotting the ball home.  This was Hearts first home defeat in the Scottish Cup since 1982, and they had some big names on display.  Craig Levein was the manager and Antti Niemi, Thomas Flogel, Andy Webster, Stephane Mahe, Steve Fulton and none other than Ricardo Fuller, now at Stoke City leading the line.  The Inverness ones were less well known, but they were all heroes to us.  Tokely, McBain, Munro, Golabek and Duncan remain at Inverness from that game.

Personal Reflections

This will be my first time at Tynecastle and I hope that we can upgrade the statistics and record a morale boosting victory just before Christmas. Various supporters from other clubs have told me that Tynecastle is one of the best away days, so come what may, Im going to enjoy it. Hopefully though we can continue our away run and pick up a result against the form team in Scotland. It will be a tough game but with both teams in good nick, we will see a cracker of a Christmas special. I am confident that we can at least get a draw from this one and I would like to say to all Caley Thistle fans, HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR AND HOPEFULLY SEE SOME OF YOU ON SATURDAY.

Ginger Jaggies Prediction:- 2-1 Caley Thistle, a tight encounter but I think we can edge it.

tm4tj is not so sure and would be happy with a draw, 1-1.

***Latest Team News***

Butcher has no fresh worries over his squad prior to this game.  Gil Blumenshtein is back training although not ready for this one.  Proctor, McCann, Gillet and Innes are still unavailable, but Nick Ross is fit again after his ailment last week saw him sent home before the Rangers game.

Graeme Shinnie has extended his contract with Inverness Caley Thistle until the summer of 2013, another piece of good news to add to the extension of Nick Ross' contract earlier in the week.  Terry Butcher is delighted that both of these youngsters are pinning their allegiance to Inverness and speaking on the official website he said  "I'm pleased to see another local teenager earning a professional contract."   

"There's plenty of talent there, but they have to be ready to grasp their opportunity when it comes in the way that Nick and Graeme have done."

Marius Niculae lost out to Inverness after his dispute over transfer fees was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. This reversed an earlier decision by Fifa's dispute resolution chamber, which favoured the Romanian.  It is believed that the Romanian will contest this decision which could amount to £130,000 in fees plus costs.  To compound his week, Dinamo Bucharest will be releasing Niculae shortly.  He is contemplating moves to play in China.

Jim Jeffries was missing a couple of players for the midweek game at Motherwell due to a last minute illness problem.  Ex-Inverness midfielder Ian Black missed out along with Icelandic star Eggert Jonsson.  Both are expected to be available for this weekend.  Darren Barr and Ryan Stevenson filled their boots against Well.  Lee Wallace (knee), Andrew Driver (thigh) and David Obua (groin) are working their way back to full fitness but are not ready for action. Suso Santana (knee) and Jason Thomson (ankle) are ruled  out.