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  • tm4tj
    tm4tj

    Inverness CT -V- Raith Rovers - Preview

    Down Down Deeper and Down

     

    After the lethargic jaded performance on Tuesday night comes the visit of second place Raith Rovers, the first of a double header against the Kirkaldy side who we play again next Tuesday night at Starks Park. First up we are at the Caledonian Stadium where points are at a premium for both clubs but for different reasons. This game can be seen on BBC Scotland on Friday night with a 7:45 kick-off.

    This season has been a disaster on and off the park. The pandemic apart, we are at an all time low being beaten regularly by clubs that have struggled to get points off us over the years through all the divisions. Now we can't beat Alloa home or away, Queen of the South, Morton, Arbroath are all jumping on the bandwagon as we struggle to perform and points are being given away like nobodies business. What's going on? Managerless, aimless, leaderless, goalless, headless, gutless, useless, hapless and hopeless are all being used to describe our demise. At this moment in time I don't fancy our chances in a play-off situation with any club, or Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup for that matter. It's time to smell the coffee and get our heads out of our ar5e5 before it's too late. Should the unthinkable happen and we get consumed by relegation then that could trigger the death knoll of our club. Part time football beckons, and with that comes anonymity and even less income. It's a slippery slope that's so easy to slide down but one that's very difficult to climb back up.

     

    What can be done to halt the slide? Well, picking up three points would be very welcome but that's not so easy given our fixture schedule and small squad. Another factor in all this has been the stop start season and poor playing conditions. I know I know, it's the same for both sides I hear you say, but conditions like the Morton game levelled out the skill factor in favour of the technically poorer squad whilst ensuring we were brought down to a lower level. Yep, it's clutching at straws, but it's all we have at the moment. We need a leader on the park and direction from the dugout. That's not happening at the moment. Injuries have crippled our season and even Pixie Lott makes us look sh!te.

    Unfortunately, the league table does not lie and prior to the Raith game we sit second bottom of the table having all but caught up on our games in hand.

        Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
    1. Hearts 19 13 3 3 46 21 25 42
    2. Raith Rovers 17 8 4 5 32 24 8 28
    3. Dunfermline 17 7 6 4 26 19 7 27
    4. Queen of the South 19 8 3 8 30 37 -7 27
    5. Dundee 17 6 6 5 31 32 -1 24
    6. Morton 19 5 7 7 17 24 -7 22
    7. Ayr United 18 5 6 7 22 21 1 21
    8. Arbroath 19 5 6 8 17 24 -7 21
    9. Inverness CT 18 4 8 6 25 23 2 20
    10. Alloa Athletic 19 3 5 11 21 42 -21 14

     

    Saturday games in the Championship, all 3:00pm kick-off.

    Dundee v Arbroath

    Dunfermline v Morton

    Hearts v Ayr United

    Queens v Alloa Athletic

    Our record over the years against Raith Rovers is one of total dominance. It's almost 21 years since Raith Rovers last won, a 2-1 win in the Highlands when first half goals by Jay Stein and Ivan Mballa were enough to see off a depleted Caley Jags who replied through Paul Sheerin ten minutes before the end. Since then we have been totally dominant winning eighteen games and drawing just three. Unfortunately our recent demise could result in another team changing the balance of power.

     

    Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Rovers going back to Saturday, April 24th, 2004 
    win.png
    2 - 0
    (H)
    draw.png
    3 - 3
    (A)
    win.png
    4 - 1
    (H)
    win.png
    2 - 1
    (H)
    win.png
    1 - 0
    (H)
    win.png
    4 - 3
    (H)
    win.png
    4 - 0
    (A)
    win.png
    1 - 0
    (H)
    win.png
    1 - 0
    (A)
    win.png
    1 - 0
    (A)

     

    We played Rovers in a League Cup game at the start of the season and that ended in an entertaining 3-3 draw with Rovers getting the penalty shoot-out bonus point. The second encounter was the first game with fans allowed in. A covid restricted crowd saw Inverness tame the high scoring Rovers and emerge from the game with a deserved 2-0 win with goals from James Keatings and Scott Allardice. We sat 5th in the table after that game, only three points behind Raith in second place. After trouncing Queen of the South the following week at Palmerston we were level with Raith on ten points. There was little evidence of the slump that was about to follow once the postponements set in. We even managed to draw with Dundee, surrendering a lead to a late goal. Then came Alloa. They hold the Indian sign over us recently and if that is our benchmark, then the rot set in after another failure to beat the Wasps. Only one win in ten games since the defeat to Alloa, and that was something of a surprise result at Ayr.

    That is simply not the form of a team looking for promotion, but it certainly smacks of relegation. A couple of the players have been speaking in the local press, Allardice and Duffy have used the word embarrassing and I can't disagree with that. They are implying that it's all down to the players to dig their way out of this hole. I can't disagree with that. Allardice added we should forget all talk about promotion, can't disagree with that either, he is spot on. I suppose it's good to know that the players realise we have a problem. Let's see if we get a reaction to our dismal performance against Morton where the most disappointing aspect was our inability to create enough chances coupled with some bog standard Caley Jags shoddy defending. Time to change the record guys. Brad Mckay is another who has stuck his oar in as he said "if anyone thinks Inverness Caledonian Thistle doesn’t care about bouncing back from their poor form and fighting against relegation, they’re wrong." Well, the fans are waiting guys, show us you care and let's get a result please, preferably a positive one!

    Championship Managerial Merry go Round: I see that Morton and Ayr United have made their moves to escape relegation. Morton have dumped Antone McElhone from the gaffers seat since they beat us and in comes the experienced Gus McPherson.  Ayr United have signed on former Livingston and Morton manager David Hopkin. Meanwhile, we have under fire Neil McCann still helping out. Arbroath's manager Dick Campbell has been awarded Manager of the Month after a series of great results in February. Three wins and two draws tipped the scales in Dick's favour. Makes our 1-1 draw at Gayfield feel like a result!

    ***Latest Team News***

    Neil McCann will have to decide whether he plays James Keatings or leaves him out against his future employers. Aaron Doran managed some game time against Morton but it was under difficult conditions. Kevin McHattie made the bench with Lewis Toshney on it for the previous game, so hopefully these defenders will be ready for selection soon as we need a steady hand at the back to compliment the brashness of youth. Up front we missed the pace of Miles Storey against Morton.

    Raith Rovers have been steadily building their squad and have a few to look out for. We are well aware of the trickery of Kai Kennedy, something we sadly lack since he left us. He will be joined next season by James Keatings who has signed a pre-contract at Stark's Park. Hell mend him! Manny Duku was well policed last time at Inverness but he is a goal threat. Raith will be without the services of defender Fernandy Mendy for three weeks as 'Nando' has been called up to play in the African Nations Cup for Guinea Bissau, which means he misses tonight's game at Inverness.

    More Pre-Match info/video will be added when available...

     




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    14 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

    Do you know they stayed? Jack mentioned it but they could have travelled up today and used the hotel to relax. 

    Don't but the bus was there at 11.30am so they would have to have left early ??

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    44 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

    Do you know they stayed? Jack mentioned it but they could have travelled up today and used the hotel to relax. 

    Was two coaches outside the Mercure around lunchtime, really can't see it being a tourist coach, otherwise Wee Nic would have a fit

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    54 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

    Do you know they stayed? Jack mentioned it but they could have travelled up today and used the hotel to relax. 

    I don't think they would have stayed for an evening kick off.  They would have been more likely to have been in for a a pre-match meal and use of the facilities before the game.

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    9 minutes ago, IBM said:

    I don't think they would have stayed for an evening kick off.  They would have been more likely to have been in for a a pre-match meal and use of the facilities before the game.

    Yeah that's my experience of being involved for a few years with a tier 5 team.

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    Definitely a much better performance from the lads tonight, it's good to see them proving their commitment to the cause, on the park instead of just talking a good game to the newspaper journalists :ictscarf:

    If it weren't for Jamie Mcdonald we would probably have won. 

    I echo what most said here, Carson was our best player and was definitely the correct choice of man of the match from a certain Mr Dodds. 

    I know draws are welcome sometimes as the points may be crucial in the long run, but we do need to start scoring and winning sooner rather than later, even if its to only get out of the danger zone rather than push for 4th.

     

    Got to be same again on Tuesday unless Harper and Duffy are fit. 

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    1 hour ago, Alan said:

    A good performance from most of the players but Carson and Sutherland were the pick of the bunch. Daniel Mackay I'm afraid was poor and Macgregor wasn't much better. I feel that any of the youngsters on the bench could have been an improvement on these two.

    What are you basing that ‘feel’ on? We haven’t seen any of them this season and you think taking them on in a knife edge game with a team with little confidence is a good idea? Tonight we at least developed a shape. Ofcourse passes aren’t as slick as they were when we looked decent earlier in the season but that’s what happens when confidence drains and pressure comes on. People snatch at things, flicks don’t work and people making runs aren’t seen - that’s the problem when you’re losing. The trick is to keep believing as a player that it will come back. If you don’t have that that’s when the real trouble starts. I don’t think I’d have thrown any of the kids onto that one 

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    24 minutes ago, CaleyTennis said:


    If it weren't for Jamie Mcdonald we would probably have won.

    No probably about it - based on BBC shots on target we would have scored 9  if he hadn’t been there.

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    8 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

    No probably about it - based on BBC shots on target we would have scored 9  if he hadn’t been there.

    But 6 of those were off target!

    We had 9 attempts, 3 on target according to the BBC.

    Raith had 1 on target out of 7 attempts.

    20 minutes in I’d have taken a point but I feel we should have won that.

    However, if we maintain that level of performance and commitment, we should climb the table.

    I think the criticism by some of MacGregor and Mackay is harsh. MacGregor had a good first half, despite his missed chance which stemmed from Mackay, whilst I felt Mackay grew into the game despite not being a natural winger

    These guys, and the likes of Harper and the youngsters on the bench, are our future so we should be supporting and encouraging them. Don’t give them the same grief Polworth got on here. 

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    1 hour ago, Alan said:

    A good performance from most of the players but Carson and Sutherland were the pick of the bunch. Daniel Mackay I'm afraid was poor and Macgregor wasn't much better. I feel that any of the youngsters on the bench could have been an improvement on these two.

    Sadly the pair of them have been forced to play every week because of our threadbare squad. Of the two I feel that Roddy is the more natural footballer but neither looks like the next Ryan Christie, possibly not even the next Polworth. I don’t see that throwing on any of the youngsters would have helped. I would have gambled with Keatings though.

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    Feel 1st half we were 2nd best  but came at in the 2nd half Carson was my player of the night put in a great shift . The youngsters are getting better playing out of position 3 points on Tuesday would be great 

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    I must admit I was dreading watching our team get embarrassed on national TV but, I'm happy to say, that didn't happen. I though they played well once they got going. Having said that, they could have been 2 down by that time. Draw was an honest result I think. Carson defo MotM for me too. Chances were created and should have been put away. My only main gripe was the Keatings situation. As far as I am concerned he is still contracted to ICT and should have played. Watching that performance gives me a bit more belief that we can drag ourselves out of this mess.

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    That was a big upgrade from the Morton game, so well done to the guys and manager for that. It appears that Doofers Dad is right, Pixie Lott does make us look sh!te. :rasta:

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    I don't think anyone could say we didn't show character in that match, we had a tough starting 20mins or so, but really grew into the game, and could have won with a tiny bit of lucky/extra composure...that said I guess Raith had 2-3 good chance that they didn't put away either.

    Putting Carson at RB was a stroke of genius, he kept Kennedy quiet for most of the match and got upfield dangerously as well. I was very impressed with Todorov, he won so many headers, and more to the point our players often got on to his touch on. Both he and Sutherland seemed able to control the ball and lay it off. The defence was pretty good overall against a decent looking side, a couple of dangerously sliced clearances apart. Ridger commanded his box very well. And defensively the midfield did it's job, and since we also created probably the closest efforts on goal must have done OK going forward as well. I wouldn't be too harsh on MacGregor not slotting home his chance...it's easy to judge from an armchair, but he had to run back to get the ball and his first thought would be to hit the ball early, it would have been amazing composure to stop, look up and lift the ball higher when you're expecting a block/tackle. And Sutherland did everything right with his chance but their goalie pulled off a great save. It maybe wasn't Daniel Mackay's greatest night, and he looked pretty knacked, but he did well enough for me as a young lad, and it was his effort that resulted in MacGregors chance.

    On the subject of substitutes, I wasn't really sure who we could put on, who would make a difference, that wouldn't affect the balance and rythmn we had...Keatings the only really option I think, and yes he should still put in 100% even against the side he's joining [he should be super-fit for the Dunfermline game]. Toshney/Vincent were on the bench a week ago, but have disappeared off it without playing? we could do one of Storey or Doran back soon.

    I rather feel we have been a tad unfortunate in the scoring stakes, hitting too much wood! Hopefully the Gods will be on our side in the run in, we've done well enough against Hearts and Raith, look like we dominated QoS recently without converting chances, and of course a missed penalty recently.

    I think the run-in could be, erm, exciting, in that nail-biting, edge of the seat, slightly despairing way...but the formula has to be, whatever Ayr do, make sure we do better even by just one point.

     

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    I’ve said it before, but we seem to raise our game on tv. 5 points from 3 league games is better than our average return and it includes games against the top two in the league as it stands. The challenge for the management team and players is very simple: find a way of playing at that level when not on tv. If we do that, we will have a decent run in.

    I thought we were going 3 5 2 before kick off, which worried me as there were no obvious wing backs in the line up. But we reverted to the trusted 4 2 3 1 and it worked well once the team settled.

    The other noticeable change from the last few games was that we did not try to pass it out from the back all the time.

    We had 6 players missing (Toshney, Harper, Vincent, Doran, Storey and McDonald), and I assume Duffy had a knock.

    We also had Carson, Deas, MacGregor, Sutherland and, arguably, Mackay all playing out of position.

    Yes we could and should have won, but well done to the 11 on the park and, if he changed the tactics back to what suits us best or spotted that Carson was the man to neutralise Kennedy, well done to McCann too. 

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    It was a good game between two well-matched sides, and the draw was a fair result.  After the previous performances, I actually enjoyed some of it, although for the last 10 minutes or so, I was praying that we didn't concede a goal, because there would have been no way back.

    Carson deserved to be MOTM, although I do wish he would learn to manage his temper better.  On another night he could have been booked for having a go at Kennedy for throwing himself to the ground.  Which would have made his mood worse, and then you have to decide whether to risk leaving him on.

    I agreed with the no subs.  The team was doing fine, and the game was on a knife edge, so it would have have been risky to disrupt the team.  Maybe Storey, if he had been available, for Mackay, but certainly no disruption to the defence.

    I think I am actually looking forward to Tuesday night.  It's been a long time since I could say that.

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    The most glaring stat I got from the game was this. Where else could you replace one striker with another and half of the total sum of their surnames are u. :shrug:

    I give you Duku replacing Ugwu. :clapoverhead:  :moon02:

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    1 hour ago, tm4tj said:

    The most glaring stat I got from the game was this. Where else could you replace one striker with another and half of the total sum of their surnames are u. :shrug:

    I give you Duku replacing Ugwu. :clapoverhead:  :moon02:

    Closest we could get to that would be sticking Billy Urquhart for last 5 minutes 😬

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    28 minutes ago, aaroncoganshogun said:

    Closest we could get to that would be sticking Billy Urquhart on for last 5 minutes 😬

     

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    Today’s results have largely gone our way with Morton, Ayr and Arbroath all losing. Alloa won against 9 men Queen of the South.

    We have gone up two places this weekend so things could have gone a lot worse for us. 

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    On 3/11/2021 at 8:58 PM, TheMantis said:

    Big performance required tomorrow. Arbroath, Morton, Ayr all facing difficult away matches.

    Well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

    On to Tuesday night. Looking for Dundee to beat Ayr while we're hoping to take something at Stark's.

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