Pointless pair looking to get off the mark.

The only two SPL clubs not to get off the mark in the first week of the season do battle at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium this weekend.

Hibs will be wanting to end their Highland Hoodoo, two draws and seven defeats in Inverness is not a statistic that sits well with the Edinburgh club's fans.

Inverness CT showed why Butcher is still trying to lure players North, with a lack of depth to the squad last week that resulted in poor understanding and defensive issues that saw Motherwell eventually run away with an ultimately comfortable 3-0 win.  There were one or two positives to be taken from the game.  Greg Tansey showed glimpses of his vision and struck a superb free kick against an upright that rattled Randolph's framework.  Gregory Tade also showed glimpses of what could turn out to be a good investment, but overall we struggled at times to keep up with a solid and fluent Motherwell side.

Hibernian also drew a blank in a 2-0 reverse against Neil Lennon's Champions elect.  They were by no means overwhelmed but Celtic deserved to take the points as Hibs huffed and puffed, but never blew the house down.

Ginger Jaggy is off the mark though as he brings you this preview ahead of Saturday afternoon's clash.

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It is round two in the heavyweight contest that is the SPL season. Terry Butcher's boys took a heavy beating last time and must fight back against a Hibs side that is still in turmoil. Defeat on Saturday will not be a knock out blow to either club as the season is only in its infancy. But with defeat in the opening weekend, another defeat on Saturday will already lead us to be playing catch up on our dream of a top 6 finish. This sounds like doom and gloom, but it is only early and this weekend should get any Inverness supporter brimming with anticipation. Not only do the home fans get to see the new-look  side in action but their is also the maiden voyage for the new singing section in section E of the North stand to look forward to.

It is a new season and Caley Thistle has a new team. As supporters we will support the team through thick and thin but the key aspect in this opening month is to have patience. A lot of people are still shaken by the departures of Grant Munro and Russell Duncan and feel that it was a poor decision by our management duo. The loss of their experience is a blow but times change, and change is not always bad. This is a new dawn for the club with Terry bringing many young players to replace those who have left. These players are exciting but will make mistakes, you get that with the naivety of youth but Rome was not built in a day. The 3-0 defeat last weekend was a tough lesson but these players will get better and better the more game time they get to gel together as a team. One player that stood out in that opening defeat was the quality of Greg Tansey, who looks another excellent find by Sir Terry. Lastly with the closing of the window still over a month away I'm sure the squad will see more new additions to strengthen the areas that are still looking a bit bare. So it will come back to patience and picking up as many points until the squad is fully settled and moves quickly up the table.

Head to Head

As mentioned above this is a very profitable fixture for all fans of a Caley Thistle persuasion. Hibs have never won in the Highlands at all with their poor record; even culminating in losing to our neighbours over the bridge in Dingwall a couple seasons ago. The last meeting between the two clubs saw Inverness pick up an easy 3 points in the Highlands in the penultimate fixture of last season. Hibs had an appalling season which saw them finish way short of the top 6 and ending up 10^th behind ourselves, Aberdeen and StJohnstone. And that resulted in a half hearted end to the season including that midweek match in Inverness. The game saw striker Adam Rooney score his last goal in front of the home faithful as he moved on to Birmingham city. In fact Hibs was a team that Rooney seemed to do well against as he scored a Hat-Trick in a 4-2 win when Hibs made their first visit up North and also secured a point from the penalty spot at Easter Road in the first match way back last September. That 4-2 victory happened in November, but this season there journey North is much earlier and so we hope that we will see a new name torment Hibs and endear himself to the home faithful which Rooney definitely did. The only black mark on Inverness' record against Hibs last season was a shambolic 2-0 defeat at Easter Road. Shambolic as the performance was rank rotten one of the worst of the season when we needed to perform to give ourselves a chance of the top 6. But overall a pretty good average and the stats back that up with Inverness leading the win count on 10 wins against Hibs 6 from the 19 competitive matches played. Lets hope Hibs Highland Hoodoo continues this weekend to get a morale boosting 3 points and Kick start our new season after last weeks false start.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I couldn't do a form guide as both clubs have only played once, also last seasons results wont have any impact as Caley Thistle are, on the whole, a brand new team so I will look at the strengths and weaknesses. What was seen from the ashes of the 3-0 defeat to Motherwell was that our forward play wasn't too bad and we did create chances. As a fan I would rather see us create chances than not get any at all. The woodwork was rattled twice and Foran and Sutherland got into great positions but failed to make the Well keeper work. But with more game time that the team gets, then these chances will be converted. Again Greg Tansey will be picked out for praise as he looks like a real talent with fantastic ball control and distribution and also has an eye for the odd Beckhamesque set-piece.

Our major problem at the moment is the backline. Last season Ryan Esson had a wonderful season but he was aided by having a solid back line. Unfortunately Ryan was constantly under attack against Motherwell as the defence looked to have holes all the way through it. To start with we struggled mainly as we didn't have a defensive midfielder in the side with the absence of Lee Cox which left our back four exposed. Then our full backs got isolated with Proctor being murdered by the pace men in the Well side. The centreback pairing looked to have never met each other before even though that relationship will develop with games played with each other. The new signings of Piermayr will help at right back and with the capture of Welsh international Owain Tudor Jones we could see a little bit of mettle and better protection for our back four.

Hibs actually played ok against Celtic but looked like they were banging against a brick wall when going forward. Their main threat will come from the pace of Ivan Sproule and Garry O'Connor who has experience and a physical presence even though he doesn't look the striker he was at Hibs in his first spell. Also David Wotherspoon will be a threat as he is very quick and creative. There weakness is also defence wise as they are still shaky at the back which is also not helped by not having a reliable goalkeeper with Graham Stack making a howler for Celtics opening goal, although he made amends with a stunning penalty save.

Ginger Jaggy's prediction

To finish off, this match will be difficult but I have a sneaky feeling we will see an improved performance by the boys. Hibs are low on confidence as a club and the continued uncertainty of Colin Calderwood is always going to be difficult. Also, Hibs horrific form in the North I believe, is a good omen for the boys to kick off this campaign and hit the ground running. I will go for a 2-1 win for the locals.

Latest Team News

Inverness gaffer Terry butcher was quick to identify some inadeqacies in the squad and has moved quickly to target players that will hopefully fit the bill at Inverness.  Austrian u21 international Thomas Piermayr has now received his clearance and could play against Hibs.  Another new recruit, although still at the verbal stage is full Welsh international Owain Tudor Jones who will be released by Norwich City.  Now he seems to be the new defensive midfielder we have been looking for, let's hope his clearance comes through in time for Saturday.  Aaron Doran is back in full training and raring to go.  Less fortunate is Lee Cox who could be out for a few weeks with a troublesome groin injury.  Billy Mackay and Josh Meekings are also absent, but Gregory Tade has shaken off his knock.

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Chris Hogg has returned to Inverness on a one year deal that will see him team up with Ross Tokely once more.  The former Hibees captain will be added to this weekends squad to face his old club.  Hogg had been on loan at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium last season but it appeared that his loan spell was the end of the journey.  However he has been in touch with Mr Butcher and Terry was quick to snap up the experienced SPL defender.  That makes it a hat-trick of signings for this week at Inverness.  The Hoggmeister is seen as the final cog in the Caley Jags defence after last seasons clearout.

Hibernian boss Colin Calderwood has signed Junior Agogo on a one year deal subject to clearance.  He will be looking to bolster his shot shy strikeforce although the return of Garry O'Connor will prove to be a handful for any defence, as will the pacey prodigal Ivan Sproule.  Calderwood has publicly told the Hibs faithful to be patient as his rebuilding will not happen overnight.  Sounds a familiar theme as both squads have had new legs added to them, although the Hibernian ones may be more familiar with the set up.  Akpo Sodje looks likely to miss this one as does Sean Welsh.