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Happy New Year I hope we will all have a great New Year and are looking forward to getting back to business as usual. For Inverness Caledonian Thistle that will be a case of steadying the ship, not dropping any further in terms of league positions, sorting out the massive black hole where the finances disappeared into, hopefully a new buyer with the interest of the club and the community at heart and the process of building bridges with the local business community and fanbase can be reborn and flourish. Alan Salvage, as we know him on here, has gone a long way to restoring the good name of the Caley Jags. There is, however, still a long way to go. Duncball, relegation, reign of tyranny, oligarchy, lies, deceit destruction and administration. This last season has seen our darkest moments on and off the park and one that showed that Immortality is real as one of our legendary supporters moved on to a spiritual level to oversee our resurrection from the ashes of administration. It's been a difficult time for the club and it's supporters who now have one of their own, Scott Kellacher trying his utmost to repair the damage done over the years of mismanagement. So far it's been a steadying process and recent results have been encouraging as he adopts a more positive approach to the beautiful game, something that has not gone unnoticed amongst the fanbase who are seeing the improvements from a year of Duncball, all possession and limited entertainment. On Saturday, we face Cove Rangers at the Caledonian Stadium in the last game of our Annus Seasonal Horribilis. It's scheduled for a 3:00pm kick off before Dumbarton first foot us on 4th of January 2025 bringing coal, shortbread, their own administration and a wee dram. To be honest, I'd rather have the three points instead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Info Half Season Tickets Administration Topic on CTO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last 10 of 11 Competitive Meetings 0 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 6 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 3 - 2 (H) INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W That's our League1 season so far, almost half way through the campaign for us. Scott Kellacher came in at matchday 11. His winning streak bookended by the losses at Dumbarton and the loss at home to Arbroath before last weeks stirring late drama at Stenhousemuir where Charlie Gilmour was credited with the goal after full time. We have played Cove Rangers three times this season and it's one win apiece and a draw. Cove's win was a Scottish Cup tie. Drab Draw: 1-1 Inverness hosted Cove Rangers and were without Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns. Paul Allan and former Cove players Luis Longstaff and Charlie Gilmour had returned to the squad with Gilmour and Longstaff starting. Cove had won their last two outings and put three past Kelty Hearts last weekend with Mitch Megginson always a threat up front. Adam Emslie tapped in at the back post to open the scoring after twenty minutes. Substitute James Nolan levelled five minutes after the restart following a corner. A replacement official was required to complete the game and despite fifteen minutes added on, there was no further scoring. Caley Jags Get Vital Win: 1-2 Top versus bottom ended in victory for the Caley Jags who climb into positive numbers at the foot of the table. Cove had made one change from the win at Dumbarton as they looked for their fifth win on the trot. Findlay Marshall replaced Arron Darge. For Inverness, graduate Sam Reid took his place on the bench with Lewis Nicolson missing. On the field, Charlie Gilmour returned to midfield to bolster the squad with Connal Ewan out injured and boss Scott Kellacher would be looking to get into positive numbers with his positive team talks. However, it only took Cove ten minutes to get in front through top scorer Mitch Megginson. Megginson failed to convert a first half penalty with Dibaga saving and two minutes later it was all square when Adam MacKinnon drilled high into the net. With 25 minutes left, Keith Bray popped up with a much needed and deserved winner. This was a great result played out at Cove, sharpened at Inverness but made in the Isle of Lewis. Cup of no Cheer: 0-2 Jake Davidson, Keith Bray, Charlie Reilly, Connell Ewan and Lewis Nicolson were all missing for the The Caley Jags on Scottish Cup 3rd Round action at Balmoral Stadium, Cove. Fraser Fyvie was out for Cove. No scoring in the first half, not for the want of trying, but two very late goals, one from the spot after a dubious handball attributed to Danny Devine put Cove into the draw for the 4th Round. Substitutes Glass with the penalty and McGrath with a strike into the bottom corner sent the Caley Jags tumbling out of the cup after it was looking good for soooo long. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 18 7 31 2 Kelty 18 11 29 3 Stenny 18 7 27 4 Alloa Ath 18 4 25 5 Cove 18 3 25 6 Montrose 18 1 23 7 Queen of S 17 -5 21 8 Annan Ath 18 -16 18 9 Caley Jags 17 0 10 10 Dumbarton 18 -12 04 Latest Team News Inverness have limited options as is the norm these days since administration. No new injury worries that we are aware of and Robbie Thompson will be available after his suspension last week. Charlie Reilly will hopefully be getting closer to a return. Jake Davidson will miss out. Cove Rangers Last Six League games: L L L D D W A poor recent run by Cove saw them drop from the top spot but they had a good win last week as they beat Alloa Athletic 2-0 in front of a mere 323 fans at Balmoral Stadium to get back on track. This was their squad for that encounter. Arron Darge scored his first goal for Cove with a header after twenty minutes. Substitute Myles Gaffney sealed the points in the second half with a couple of minutes to spare. Everyone is beating each other as Arbroath sneak their way to the top of the table. Cove are sitting in fifth place only six points off the pace. Ones to watch: Mitch Megginson (7 League ), Adam Emslie (4 ), Findlay Marshall (3 ) Connor Scully and Fraser Fyvie along with Emslie are able providers. Saturday will be manager Paul Hartley's 200th game in charge and it coincides with his 500th game in football management overall.

When making your plans for the match tomorrow, remember the improved matchday bus service will be operating, with the additional journeys allowing you to spend time in Bar 94 before and / or after the game. Buses leave the Bus Station at 1 pm and at 2.15 pm. They return from the stadium 10 minutes after the full time whistle and at 6 pm. Concession passes are valid, with the fare for non concessions being £2.40 single. All revenue from the buses tomorrow is being donated by Stagecoach to the Supporters Trust. Full details are here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/improved-matchday-bus-service

I hope all posters and lurkers had a great Christmas. Now we all need is a present of three points on Saturday. Thanks to Scotty for doing all he does to maintain the Forum and giving us a great place to make comments and compare notes.

Wishing all the moderators, posters, and visitors to CTO a very Merry Christmas and especially a Happy New Year, filled with joy, happiness, a lack of administration, and loads of points won by Scott K and the team to keep us free from playoffs or relegation.

Sharpie