The once famous versus the famous for once



It's the biggest day in the clubs short history since the union approaching twenty years ago.

The Scottish League Cup final and our first crack at a major trophy comes along on Sunday and it's our chance to be famous. Aberdeen on the other hand were once famous with European glory in Gothenberg in 1983, but in domestic football they have been somewhat in the wilderness by their previous high standards since they last won the League Cup in 1996, their trophy cabinet bare for eighteen years, almost as long as Inverness Caledonian Thistle have existed.

Aberdeen are an amalgamation of three clubs, Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion, formed in 1903. So then, we are not alone. The Dons do have a proud record in Scottish Football, four League championships, seven Scottish Cup wins and they have lifted the League Cup five times. The Fergie years were their most productive when they won the European Cup Winners Cup by defeating Real Madrid 2-1, having already disposed of Bayern Munich on the way and then going on to win the European Super Cup that same year by beating Hamburg SV. Aye, those were the days my friend, you thought they'd never end...........crikey, I almost broke out into song there!

Talking of songs, there's also a wee battle of the bands as an aside to the Cup Final as Toby Michaels Rolling Damned (with a little help from Kenny Adie on guitar) takes on Aberdeen's Fitba Thatba. Rock anthem versus comedy folk......it's a bit like daddy or chips. Anyway good effort from all and well done for providing a bit of humour to the proceedings.

https://soundcloud.com/2010managementpromo/toby-michaels-rolling-damned

And, talking of humour, some of our very own fans have been Immortalised in the press. Great to hear about fans from all over flocking (no pun intended) to see this match.

Aberdeen fans are well known for their familiarity with sheep, allegedly. Well, I say don't knock it till you've tried it. With Dingwall fans named after Stags, there does seem to be an unsavoury aspect behind the names. I like fluffy sheep myself..........

To the game. Inverness have had a hectic March and it has not been a productive one on the park where the defeat of Ross County has been overshadowed by two 5-0 hammering's at the hands of Celtic and Dundee United. Our normally solid defence has started to part, and goals were raining in on the once reliable Dean Brill who has looked edgy the last few games. But, a 0-0 draw at home to Hibs might normally be seen as a poor result for us, and given the circumstances and the state of our pitch just now, then it was a bit of a confidence boost all round, Brill keeping a clean sheet and eleven players still on the park at the end of play.

What were Aberdeen doing while we were knocking our pan in this week. Well they have been idle since last Saturday when they beat Dumbarton 1-0 and have been sunning themselves in the luxury of the Old Course Hotel at St Andrews. Brilliant!

Ginger Jaggy looks back at how the teams got to the final.........................

There have been many landmarks in the 20 year History of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. To date 1994 remains the most pivotal as we all know that is when this fabulous story began. There have been many chapters along the way including the rise through the leagues, that famous night in 2000 and promotion to Scotland’s top flight for the very first time. But in the 20th year comes the biggest date in the history of this small but extremely proud club. On Sunday we face Aberdeen for a chance to engrave our name in the history books of Scottish football. The Scottish communities’ league cup at Parkhead on Sunday will be huge for both clubs for different reasons. For Aberdeen it will be the first taste of glory since the mid 90’s, for us it could be the beginning of something special.

The road to the final has not been a smooth one with lots of bumps along the way. We first faced a tricky trip to Dens Park to face Dundee. Even though we won 1-0 thanks to Billy Mckay early on, the game was not that comfortable and the Championship side made sure we knew we were in a game. Next up was a match up against the tangerine half of Dundee up in Inverness. This ended up as the penultimate game of Terry Butcher’s 4 year tenure in charge of the club. And what a night it was. United took control of the tie early on when Keith Watson smashed in an unstoppable drive just inside the area. The game remained even until the brink of half time when it turned on its head. United felt aggrieved about a challenge by Richie Foran on Gary Mackay-Steven which ended up in a huge brawl that saw Nadir Cifti sent off for man handling one of the assistants. From that moment on it was all Inverness and it only took less than 10 minutes for Gary Warren to head an equaliser. United hung on valiantly and took the game into extra time but in the final minute (not for the last time) we pulled it out of the bag as Big Ross draper headed home from a brilliant Danny Williams cross.

The last minute winner sent us to our second consecutive semi-final and like 12 months beforehand it was at Easter Road against Hearts. Whatever happens this weekend the semi-final will be remembered as one of the best days in my life and most Inverness supporters. After a dull first half, the second came alive thanks to a fierce 25 yard pile driver by Greg Tansey in his second spell at the club.  But again like 12 months beforehand Hearts fought back and scored from a free kick which saw Gary Warren sent off for two bookable offences. The first is debatable but the second was very soft indeed. Jamie Hamill took a sneaky free kick which saw his shot deflected and roll into the bottom corner. Hamill was at it again not long after with a pin point free kick into the top right hand corner. It was looking very desperate for Inverness and the tie seemed over when Josh Meekings lost his cool and was given a straight red for a robust challenge as hearts were breaking away. With ten men it was unlikely but with nine it was virtually impossible, but the impossible become possible as Nick Ross scored a close range shot to send the two thousand loyal Caley Jags fans into delirium. What a moment that was and it will be something that I will always remember. Extra time felt the longest half an hour ever but the nine men held strong and again it went to penalties. Graeme Shinnie missed the very first penalty and thoughts suddenly went back one year when Philip Roberts decided to change sports and go for three points rather than the net. But those images of hurt were dashed by scenes of joy as Dean Brill stepped up to the plate to save from Paul McCallum and then villain for the day Hamill.  After failure of the first pen Inverness were impeccable and left it up to Draper to step up and coolly sent us through to Glasgow this weekend.

Aberdeen's route to the final seemed to get easier after they disposed of the mighty Alloa Athletic in the third round, winning 6-5 on penalties after a goalless draw. They stepped up a gear in the next round thrashing Falkirk 5-0 and put Motherwell out with an excellent away win at Fir Park by 2-0. Their semi-final was played the day before ours and they pumped St Johnstone 4-0 to reach the final. So, the Dons have yet to concede a goal in open play in this seasons competition and have scored eleven times in the last three ties.

I Believe, do you! :ictscarf:

Gringo looks at the bigger picture.................

Despite the recent back to back 5-0 drubbings there does still seem to be an interest in taking on Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup final. And so there should be. This is our first major cup final since the club was formed twenty years ago. As a first division side we tasted the atmosphere of two FA Cup Semi Finals but we never managed to get over the line until now. Since beating Hearts in the semi final, this day has been in all ICT fan’s diaries and countdown calendars. Although the edge may have been taken off the build up somewhat there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to go out there tomorrow and grab that trophy. Fans are now getting cup fever and hopefully this will have a knock on effect of seeing more fans down at the stadium. Yes we will be outnumbered at Celtic Park but we will be there in fine voice giving it our all in support of our team. We will be coming down (and up) the road in our thousands waving the red and blue. The city of Inverness has been waiting for this day for a long time and not since our famous night in Glasgow back in 2000 and our first promotion to the SPL has it really taken the spirit of the cup on board. Many shops display the red and blue as well as city landmarks being lit up in the clubs colours included the infamous castle. Even the local bakery has made ICT cakes! Has the city been gripped in cup fever? Well it depends where you go as an air of apathy still remains. That is a shame. The production of an official cup final song has also been released and is beginning to grow on many fans. Whether we’ll remember the words by Sunday remains to be seen though! There is no doubt this is a big day for the club and a day that could put us well and truly on the football map as well as the much needed financial benefits. Success can lead to success whether by means of performances on the pitch or securing players future contracts and attracting sponsors. The benefits could be endless. So, can we win the cup? Yes, of course we can. It will take a very good performance against an Aberdeen side that boasts three former ICT players one of which can’t seem to stop scoring. Our goal scoring exploits seem to have come to a halt just now but what better way to stop the rot than by going out there and hitting the net in the final. We will need to be firing on all cylinders that is for sure and those coming in for suspended players should grab that opportunity and put in the performance of their lives. We are more than capable of turning on the style but we’ll need to banish those ghosts of the drubbings somewhere along the A9 on the way down. The form books get torn up in cup competitions and hopefully ours will be fed to Nessie prior to kick off. It’s not just about the team performing on the day but the officials too need to be on their game and not spoil this event for either side and the travelling support. We seem to like going down to nine men in the cup games this season so maybe we can stop the rot with this too.

Latest team news:- Inverness will be without Gary Warren, suspended for this tie, but last Sundays bad boys Greg Tansey and Marley Watkins are eligible and Ross Draper has played out his disciplinary sentence. One or two players caught the eye in midweek against Hibs, notably Nick Ross, Carl Tremarco and Charlies loon, Ryan Christie who has a bright future ahead of him. Aaron Doran is a major doubt having overstretched for a ball in midweek and Danny Devine will replace Gary Warren.

Aberdeen have had an easier week of it, lapping up the luxury at St Andrews while Inverness played on Sunday afternoon and Wednesday night. Peter Pawlet missed last weeks game but should be fit although Clark Robertson is still out.  

tm4tj Prediction:- Aberdeen are hot favourites to win this one given the respective form of both sides. The Dons scored four goals in the first half at Inverness earlier in the season although the Caley Jags came back strongly in the second half and almost snatched a point in the 4-3 thriller. Many Dons fans have written us off and many have overlooked the fact that we beat them 1-0 at Pittodrie, their last defeat at home. That win was achieved without Gary Warren, and Danny Devine deputised that day as well. Could be a good omen for us. Draper also missed that one and Tansey and Vincent started on the bench. In my view, that makes our cup final line-up stronger than we were back in January when Danny Williams cracked a beauty home to take all three points North. Former players could come back to haunt us in the shape of Adam Rooney, Jonny Hayes and Barry Robson. Rooney is on a fine scoring spree just now and Hayes pace and trickery is always going to trouble defences. Robson's old head will see him through this game and he is always a threat at set pieces. But, we have our own gems and Billy McKay can't be ignored even though he is less prolific at the moment. Greg Tansey could be our set piece danger and the overlapping Graeme Shinnie is on terrific form just now.

Tough game to call and it might even go the whole hog. We saw out extra time and penalties against Hearts, anyone for more of the same. :ictscarf: