Leaderboard

Proud of all 16 who played today. We all feared a beating but to be only 2-1 down going into stoppage time must have exceeded all our expectations. Celtic are a class or two above us in terms of skill, pace and performance, but we did better than many top league teams have done against them. I think the formation was right and we hoped to keep them out for as long as possible and catch them on the break. It wasn’t to be, but it would have been a surprise to us all if we had won. I thought anything better than 4-0 would be good and we did a damn sight better than that. A shout out for the singing section and our fans overall: you also did us proud. A good day out, despite the result, and as I said above I’m proud of the team.

I think the last two posts above sum up the game perfectly. Shaw through the middle didn't work, and he seemed to be exhausted early doors? Though I can see the thinking behind putting him there with his height maybe giving the celtic central defenders something to think about, but he really had nothing to work with! Special mention to the singing section. . . . they were awesome throughout Just goes to show that this west terrace project should be put to bed and the singing section moved into a completely unallocated section B (or wherever) of the north stand. That would create the best possible atmosphere at home. Mon The Jags !

I make no apologies for this post. You should be really ashamed of yourself. When Celtic scored their third, a numpty a few rows in front of me celebrated. That provoked an angry reaction from our fans with kids caught up in the ensuing scenes before a Steward ejected the numpty. He was punched by one of our fans and credit to the female steward who stopped a brawl resulting. Goodness knows what that could have led to. I don’t know if the idiot involved had a ticket you wrongly sold on or not, but it wrecked a big day for many youngsters and you really need to grow up and realise your actions have consequences. Rant over but I hope you know your head should be hanging in shame.

Overall, we did better than most folk, and me, feared. The first half was a hard watch, as it was played mostly in our half, and it just showed the gulf in class between the players of both teams. Celtic made so much space for themselves with some accurate passing and confidence on the ball, even when bringing the ball out of their half, while anytime we had possession of the ball near our goal it was a bit like a hot potato, just get it away instead of having that calmness to look up and pick a pass, and who could blame them, we all now the quality that Celtic possess and how they can hurt you if you hesitate on the ball. The second half was much better, and I thought if we had played that way from the start, we might have given them more to think about. We gave their back four far too much time in the first half to stroll out into our half without much resistance. When I heard that Dodds was going to spring a surprise in his formation or tactics, I thought he might play Carson in the hole, to back up Billy Mckay and have Henderson wide right and Shaw wide left, but Shaw in a central roll just doesn't do it for me. I did think Carson had a good game, even though he picked up a booking and walked a fine line for the rest of the game. Dan scored another great header, this time from a sublime cross from the ever improving Duffy. So on the whole, it was the result everyone expected, but not the thumping that some had predicted. The whole squad should be satisfied that they gave it their best shot, and hopefully it will stand them (those who are staying with the club) in good stead for next season, as they will now have gained that big game experience.

I’ll certainly take more of the same, 45 minutes away from the Premier League against St Johnstone and this season 3 points off second place with a cup final at Hampden. We got a bit unlucky this season and there’s certainly room for improvement but we aren’t as bad as we’re made out. I don’t really get why some of our fans have the old firm mentality where we should be outright winning this league.

Most of the Celtic fans were brand new, but they always are nice and friendly and patronising as long as you do the decent thing and lose. Otherwise, just like the other bum cheek, there are always a few who will spit on you

Could still be a beautiful Sunday tomorrow.

You have been taking the P155 bdu I think that all that were there enjoyed the day at Hampden apart from not getting the result we were dreaming of. I hope you were there as well and also enjoyed the day/night out and will come back again next season and keep supporting Inverness Caledonian Thistle as we need all the support we can get

Anyway it’s in the past. Each to their own! I can recommend a good therapist for bdu!! The group I was with had a great weekend in Glasgow. It would have been great to win but the guys performed well and can hold their heads very high.

It's funny because for someone who claims to be so happy, you sound bitter, twisted and rather an angry person to me.

It was bdu that was ejected I heard.

We definitely need a big target man like Shane to partner Billy (if he signs). If that wasn't obvious before, it was certainly obvious yesterday. Not to use the route 1 as a default but just to mix it up as we're pretty predictable a lot of the time. The sort of job that Brian Graham has done over the years, especially with us on the receiving end. Never been a big Dodds fan either, I think he would be a better coach than a manager, but stability at a club is half the battle, so I'm just about resigned to it, on the 'be careful what you wish for' principle - if it's true that he has a happy dressing room that's a major plus. Also it winds up the Dees. It's often been said that it's a bigger priority to get a clearout at the top. Never met the CEO but don't have good vibes. Heard wee whispers that Robbo will be away.

version=1&uuid=9D3E7507-06E5-43A0-8511-9CF2624BE1DF&mode=compatible&noloc=1.mov

Tbh I don't think there's a better candidate we could realistically get at the moment, if we're going to change manager then the board needs to have plan and then get someone who's style aligns with that. Next season will be worse if we just let him go with the expectation that there's someone better ready to take the job instead of doing any sort of research prior to this point. I'm not thrilled about another season of Dodds but he's now got 2 years working with the squad so knows what he needs in terms of recruitment, and hopefully his match management improves with experience. Luckily next season our bogey team in Hamilton are gone so that could 3 of our league losses turned into points instead

Regardless of the score I thoroughly enjoyed the day and match day experience. It's looking like Dodds is staying which does not excite me and lacks ambition from the club. Big rebuild job required.

What an utter bellend that Celtic fan was, suddenly becoming billy big balls because Celtic were about to beat a mid table Championship side. Stewards were too slow to deal with it, it took the female ones to go in and drag him out. I don’t condone violence but perhaps the 2nd best moment of the day was when one of our fans punched him, he was really asking for it and actually got off lightly.

I am at home now having a dram after Celtic thrashing Aberdeen was a bit worried but the team gave it their best today against the best Celtic side in years! Carson Harper and Duffy were our best but the rest of the team were great as well a great team effort. I was not expecting to win hopefull for another upset but not to be. A great day out and our second cup final in eight years

More of the same both on and off the park seems to be the plan. Can’t help think it’s money driven with Dodds knowing he is only retained cause the board haven’t the money to attract serious talent, cause they have no money to attract title challenging players and it’s loan spells with dodgy injury or past it players brought it! Don’t see a new horizon, just retread of a tired strategy with unattractive stagnant football!! Must admit I was hoping for a new direction, but not to be it appears!!

Obviously the plan was to hold them for as long as possible. Almost got to half time like that. Slightly more adventurous in the second half but they are the top team in the country. Nothing to see here. Big team beats wee team. Move along.

All ready here. Just coffee for now but the beat up old cup which I have had for years could only be bettered by the one on offer today

Someone said to me Laura organised this venue and can’t make the game. If that’s true Thank you Laura place is great and atmosphere building

Ummmm....yeah!!!

The long wait is over Having lain idle since the 5th of May Championship flop against Ayr United, the long wait for the Scottish Cup Final is over for the Caley Jags. The Semi-Final was played out on the 29th of April, a 3-0 win over Falkirk guaranteeing our place in the final where we will face the daunting task of stopping forty time Cup winners Celtic from winning the treble. Not an easy task I hear you say. However, you've got to be in it to win it, and we find ourselves in our second Scottish Cup Final in eight years. We have a long way to go to catch up with Celtic though as this will be their sixtieth appearance in the final. I imagine the stattos amongst us will be searching their Guinness Book of Records to find out the biggest winning margin in the Scottish Cup Final. I'll save you the bother. Renton 6-1 v Cambuslang on 4th February 1888. Or, ominously, Celtic 6-1 Hibernian on 6th May 1972. Are we about to re-write the record books? Check all the records at Scottish Cup Records. Win or lose, I hope you all enjoy the occasion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The route to the final Inverness struggled to overcome a stubborn Stirling Albion side at our entry level in the Scottish Cup 3rd round. Dale Carrick had opened the scoring in the 27th minute but Wallace Duffy levelled five minutes later. Max Ram then put us ahead five minutes before the break and we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, the Binos were not finished and Carrick scored a second in stoppage time before the interval. With twenty minutes left Aaron Doran scored what proved to be the winner, but credit to the visitors for making us work extra hard to get through to the fourth round. The 4th round tie with Queens Park turned from gloom to joy. After beating Inverness 2-0 on the pitch, Queens Park were dumped out of the Cup for fielding an illegible player in the shape of Euan Henderson. How fortuitous. Has anyone ever won the Cup after being knocked out? The 5th round saw Inverness face Premiership opposition away from home at Livingston. Fear not as Billy Mckay scored a brilliant brace to add to a Sean Welsh header to put us into the quarter final. 6th round was another Premiership scalp with Kilmarnock visiting the Caledonian Stadium on a snowy March evening. Despite suffering an early setback when Vassell scored in the third minute, the Caley Jags dug deep and overcame Killie with a Billy Mckay penalty and a superb Sean Welsh strike in the middle of a snow storm. Semi-Final: It was a re-run of the 2015 final with Inverness taking on Falkirk for for a place in the final. Inverness proved to be too clinical for the Bairns with another brace from Billy Mckay and a superb header from Dan Mackay. Always a step ahead of the Bairns, it was a relatively comfortable passage into the final, where one would imagine Celtic will provide a much sterner test. Hampden Calling....Again Celtic's route to the final: 4th Round: Celtic 5-0 Morton - Mooy x2, Furuhashi x2, Turnbull. 5th Round: Celtic 5-1 St Mirren - Maeda, Hatate x2, Hyeo-gyu, O'Riley. 6th Round: Hearts 0-3 Celtic - Mooy, Furuhashi, Vickers. Semi-Final: Rangers 0-1 Celtic - Jota. Celtic seemed to scrape through their ties scoring fourteen goals for the loss of only two. Surprisingly the bookies see Celtic as favourites to lift the Cup. Meh, what do they know! Inverness warmed up for the final with a hastily arranged kick-about against Dungannon Swifts in County Tyrone on 20th May. It ended 3-1 for Inverness and the whole squad managed to get a kick of the ball at some stage of the game. There was also an alleged closed doors practice against Nairn County. Incidentally, Swifts secured their top league status with a play off aggregate win 3-2 over Annagh United, having come from 2-1 down after the first leg. Congratulations to them. Celtic's month was somewhat fuller. After defeating Rangers in the semi-final on 30th April, they beat Hearts 2-0 at Tynecastle. They followed that by losing 3-0 at Ibrox in the final old firm derby of the season then drew 2-2 with St Mirren. A midweek game at Easter Road on the 24th May resulted in a 4-2 defeat for ten man Celtic. Looks like they're knackered now and we will be full of beans after a month off However, a week before the final, they played their last Premiership game of the season against Aberdeen at Parkhead. That's Aberdeen, the third best placed team in the Scottish Premiership. Looks like they were out in full force this week having rested half their team over the last couple of games and they trounced Aberdeen 5-0. Just let these stats sink in against Scotland's third best football club this season. Celtic--------VVVVVVVV--------Aberdeen Celtic 76% - Possession - 24% Aberdeen Celtic 20 ------- Shots ------- 0 Aberdeen Celtic 8 -- Shots on Target -- 0 Aberdeen Celtic 10 ------ Corners ------ 2 Aberdeen On the plus side, we have knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup on three occasions. Contrary to popular belief we did not get to keep them for that. There was the SuperCaleyGoBallistic in 2000, followed by the week after beating Liverpool in the UEFA Cup in 2003 (Henrik Larrson and all), and who can forget the Hand of Josh thriller in the 2015 semi-final before we went on to lift the Cup against Falkirk. Overall, we have beaten Celtic seven times in competitive games and drawn seven times. Stats will show that Celtic have won thirty-four times. Fortunately, stats don't win games. Latest Team News Inverness CT have a full squad to pick from after a month off apart from Sutherland and Walsh. In saying that, the likes of Roddy MacGregor has had little game time in his recovery from injury, so some may not be 100% fit. ***Look back in later in the week to hear from Billy Dodds ahead of the final*** Celtic have a squad full of Eastern promise and full international players. Let's not dwell too much on that. Furuhashi took a knock against Aberdeen but it's not a major concern? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Player of the Season Awards In some sort of clandestine ceremony on Monday night, the seasonal awards were handed over, cloak and dagger style at the Caledonian Stadium. Unsurprisingly Billy Mckay was the big winner. Is it written in the stars for Billy to move level with the legendary Dennis Wyness in this Scottish Cup Final. Now that would be some story! Congratulations to all the winners. Well deserved Player of the Year Awards 2022/23 Tonight the winners of our Player of the Year awards were presented with their awards. Players’ Player of the Year 2022-23 was Billy Mckay, as presented by Head Coach Billy Dodds! Players’ Young Player of the Year 2022-23 was Cameron Harper, also presented by Head Coach Billy Dodds. Fans Player of the Year 2022-23 was Billy Mckay, as presented by Laura Grant from the Supporters Trust! Fans Young Player of the Year 2022-23 was Nathan Shaw, as presented by Lady Kath Fraser from the Supporters Trust! Goal of the Season 2022-23 was Billy Mckay’s second goal v Livingston, as presented by Barry Wilson. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On yer bike Steve Message from Joonya Many of you may remember The Highland March - a walking event between the final two league matches of ICT's season, of which took place every year from 2003 to 2015. Well, two of us former marchers have come together to do something different in the build up to the Scottish Cup Final. Steve 'Yompa' Taylor (formerly known as 'InterTheNet') will be donning the lycra to cycle from Caledonian Stadium to Hampden Park IN A DAY. Steve sets off at 3am on Tuesday 30th May, and I will be joining him as the support driver. We'll be doing this for charity, with all monies being split equally between MikeysLine and the Celtic Foundation. Both of these charities provide mental health support to people of all backgrounds, in and around Glasgow and the Highlands. We invite you to follow us on Twitter (@Road2Hampden) where you will find the Just Giving page. Please donate what you can, if you can. Thank you ICT have supported MikeysLine since their inception in 2015, and John Robertson is an ambassador for the charity. They provide Mental Health support to people across Inverness and the Highlands. But why Celtic Foundation too? Over recent years, supporters of the foundation have helped Yompa raise money and awareness for the Solving Kids Cancer charity. It's his way of giving something back, at a time when two teams with history in this competition come head to head in the final. Mon everybody, empty yer pockets to help Steve's designated charities after this superb effort. Just Giving Link Every donation helps, and we'd like to thank everyone for their support ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FANZONE Here's Scooty & the Skyhooks plus good luck messages The Wyness Shufflers have been busy and here's your Cup Final podcast 'Back to the Future' from the guys RIGHT HERE What's in it for you: Two and a half hours of all things Caley Thistle. The pre-match venue, memorable games with Celtic, ICT Legends with Stuart Golabeck, Ross Tokely, James Vincent, Dennis Wyness and current captain Sean Welsh and don't miss Sandy's Scottish Cup Final tune. Well done guys, a great effort. Your pre-Cup Final entertainment for Caley Jags fans. Provided by the fans for the fans: Get yourself along to The Ferry before the game for some pre-match Shenanigans & Schiehallions. Three bars available Food available Families Welcome Face painting Doors Open: 11:00am Entertainment from 12:00 > 4:00 Bus to game (maybe) BUY TICKETS £4 Where? The Ferry 25 Anderston Quay Glasgow G3 8BX Alternatively, here's SirSandman92

Yup laughing at you all the way while I skip home from banking my tidy profits from ticket scalping. Glad I made sure I only sold onto proper hard-core catholics who not only have ira tattoos but also only eat fish on a Friday.

Why? They didn't look nervous until the final 10 / 15 minutes when County seemed to realise they were in deep trouble. Some bottle job in fairness.

Yeah indeed

Oh bum, it’s easier to win in Dingwall…

Seems bdu found it funny!!

C####ty going down. Who are they going to pinch off us? A concern indeed.

Your explanation in your first sentence mazza20 perfectly makes my point! I fully understand fans wanting to back the club irrespective how they do, and thats fine if you like what’s on display ( I have no problem with that). I simply want to be better and entertained, and whilst we got to the playoff last year and a cup final this season I can’t honestly say what’s been on display for the past two seasons fills me with expectation. I discount the Covid year for obvious reason. The off the field antics by the board during the same period is directly linked to the retention of Dodds due to the lack of money! More of the football on display last season at home is simply not for me!

Attendance 47,247 - so where were the 5,000 empty seats?! A few hundred where our section and Celtic section met, the rest seemed full from where I was at least.

Me too, and this could just be the difference between us scoring one goal, or two or three. It makes me furious that players (especially 'big club' ones) get away with this.

Glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed that moment - I'm not usually one to condone violence, and I was a bit worried that the ICT fan would end up getting arrested, but the steward dealt with it well in the end. I shook the man who shoved him's hand when he sat back down.

Dare I say it, it was a “great day out”. Couldn’t fault the players for effort. The defence looked pretty solid in the first 10 mins so I relaxed a bit. Was hard to see where a goal would come for us, though, as it was always just coming back. There was no outlet down the left, where Shaw should have been. That was disappointing for me - Shaw being played down the middle. Did Dodds not see the difference it made putting him down the left v Ayr?! Now we’ll never know what might have been. What a cross from Duffy - and a spectacular finish. Gave us that hope again, just what being a Caley fan is all about!! Fans were great. Well done to the singing section for keeping it going and being heard even when vastly outnumbered. They should be moved to the North Stand. Better with a roof.

As everyone else as said, result was better than expected. Had no trouble with the Celtic fans (except for the one that made himself known in our section after the 3rd goal) and was surprised to see my train from Killie was pretty evenly split. 1st half was tough, think the instructions were to stay defensive unless you're confident you're in the clear, noticed anytime Henderson or Duffy got the ball on the right there was a reluctance to either make a run or an overlap. 2nd half was much better as we moved our press up the pitch started getting the ball higher up and made some decent pressure. Agree with Dodds the goals in the 2nd half came at the wrong time for us, but would argue if Celtic didn't get that first before half time then 2nd half would have continued the pattern of the 1st. Wasn't overly happy with the ref, don't think I can say he impacted the result but Billy Mckay was definitely getting manhandled during the 2nd half and never got a call for it.

Still on the bus coming home. At least we made them work for it. Shook them by scoring but not enough though and too late. If only they could have done that more throughout the match. Still, the players were a credit and we should be proud of what they achieved against the odds again. Yes, the Gardyne gnome is a *****. Tomorrow we're having a party cos County's going down!

Agree with that Naelifts. I was also going add that the massed hordes of Celtic fans I encountered walking to the stadium were actually the friendliest fans I’ve encountered, going out of their way to speak to us and shake hands.

You know when you think someone is a ***** then they prove it?

waiting to head to stadium for the bus….. Thanks very much to the ICT supporters travel club who placed me on a waiting list for 4 seats on a bus to the final last sunday. Couldn’t promise me seats on any bus or on same bus but would try. Got me the seats on bus 4 . Magic. then the RC under 12 match against Patrick was cancelled to allow the boys from both teams to attend the Sunday play off final in Dingwall. I got a call while in magaluf from my daughter that she and her 2 boys now wanted to go to hampden. back on to travel club to get 6 seats hopefully on same bus. All sorted for me again. Magic called my daughter to collect the 4 tickets I had bought previously and take them to the stadium to see if they can be returned and 6 new tickets purchased so we could all sit together. The person there said a bit of hassle for her as she would have to locate the stubs for the returning tickets, but she would have a go. Miraculously she found them in the first envelope she looked into. 6 new tickets bought. Magic. well done travel club and football club to get an old guy , his daughter and 4 grandchildren to the Scottish cup final. now only if the game goes as smoothly ………………

My expectations of a win are extremely low - having said that, I’ve just stuck a bottle of champagne in the fridge, just in case!

Just up, but heading for the Football Special train shortly. It's all there to play for - can't wait. Go Caley Thistle - you are titanium, ballistic, cup upsetters. BUZZING

I doubt a side that has scored 18 goals in their last 5 games will be a bit nervous about their next game.

I think I would recognise Mantis although only met him once before an away game many years ago. I think it was Montrose where the bar had a great selection of dark rum Getting back on topic it was Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum.

Whoever is in charge next season, (hopefully not Dodds in my opinion), I really hope they get the recruitment right, and no more square pegs in round holes. Let's try and get a right back, instead of using Carson and losing his box to box prowess in the middle, and a real number ten, someone who knows how to play that position, and not use a winger and lose his natural assets of ball carrying and cutting into the channels. Doran can play there and Roddy Macgregor if they both keep fit. And we really really need a different option up front, we can't just bring on like for like when using substitutes, something that happens all too often, the tactics don't change, just the personel. If things aren't working for Billy Mckay, as they often don't when the team persists with playing Hoofball, then we need a different type of player, a target man. There have been terrific crosses put in by Henderson this season, but unfortunately we have a small striker, and our opponents centre backs just head everyone away. I think this close season will be the toughest yet for recruitment, it will be another season of rebuilding. For me, I would use the young lads who are on the cusp of the first team, they must be ready to step up now, and couple that with some of our experienced players, and we might just have the makings of a good team.

Tell them that if they don't sign a new contract, they don't play in the final.

I'm very surprised that there has been no word of any pre contract agreements for any of our players so far. In past seasons we knew that some of our out of contract players were going, Shinnie was off to Aberdeen, and Vincent, Williams and Ross were away to Dundee. Have any players been offered contracts with us or anybody else? It could be the difference between some supporters renewing their season tickets, if they don't know who is off and who is staying.

6th place looks rubbish but I’m taking that with a pinch of salt when I look at how close he was to second. I worry for next season with most of our best players out of contract though. I’m not really confident anyone is going to come in and win over our support who expect us to be winning this league. A big overhaul is needed and it’s going to be one big gamble to see if it pays off.

It has been corrupted over time. For a while 300-400 years ago, the only two available verdicts were "proven" and "not proven". A judge or jury was not asked to rule on the defendant's guilt - they were asked to rule on whether the prosecution had proved the case. This, IMHO, was fine, but I can see the demand for a more black-and-white "guilty" or "not guilty" decision - you can just imagine today's Daily Mail demanding such a thing. Scotland retained the "not proven" verdict, which has been corrupted so that nowadays it basically means "we think you're guilty, but the prosecution hasn't satisfactorily proved that" - thus tainting the defendant(s) who nevertheless walk free. Because of how it is used nowaday, I would agree that it should be disused. Here endeth today's history lesson