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A disappointing afternoon. The early goal gave Annan something to defend, and a mixture of the woodwork, great saves and poor finishing cost us. I’d like to see the penalty incident when Savage looked to be clearly fouled again, along with the alleged foul that caused our “goal” to be disallowed. I’ve said before that we’d have bad days and setbacks, but we picked a bad day for this one. However, back on 26 October when we had -3 points and were 15 points adrift of 9th, we’d all have grabbed being 8th in mid March and in control of our own destiny. We need to put this behind us, regroup and focus on getting a win next week.

Six Pointer It's the proverbial six-pointer on Saturday with Annan Athletic the visitors for a 3:00pm kick-off at the Caledonian Stadium. We climbed out of the relegation zone last week picking up six points in our last two games and that has lifted us up to seventh place in the table with the prospect of more should results go our way. The dramatic win at Dumbarton last Saturday was followed by a swashbuckling 4-1 win over high flying Stenhousemuir in midweek. Luis Longstaff and Alfie Bavidge both have hamstring injuries, the extent of which are being checked out. Congratulations to our keeper Musa Dibaga who has been called up by his country, Gambia, for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kenya and Ivory Coast. Brilliant recognition for a man on form; a timely penalty save to add to his CV on Tuesday night against Stenhousemuir. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus/Bar94/Info Musa Dibaga Called Up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kids go for £1! Under 12s go for £1 this Saturday! Available from the Club Shop only. Open tomorrow 10am - 4pm and Sat 10am - KO. Offer available until 1pm on Matchday Max 2 tickets per adult & children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. 2025 Mar 15th League (League 1) - H - Jan 18th League (League1) 3 - 0 A 438 2024 Oct 19th League (League 1) 1 - 0 H 1,501 Aug 10th League (League 1) 0 - 1 A 386 Jul 13th League Cup (Group D) 0 - 1 A 427 2009 Aug 1st League Cup (Rd 1) 4 - 0 H 1,095 1998 Jan 24th Scottish Cup (Rd 3) 8 - 1 H 1,836 Only the six games between these two sides with four of them coming this season already. It started in January 1998 when we thrashed Annan 8-1 in a Scottish Cup tie. They must have annoyed us after they opened the scoring in the eighth minute. That's Ian Broadfoot's report below. Scorers Barry Wilson (14) Iain Stewart (17) Brian Thomson (20) Barry Robson (38) Brian Thomson (55) Stanley Leslie (o.g.) (74) Barry Wilson (84) Duncan Shearer (86) Montgomerie (8) The home side demolished a determined Annan side after an early fright. A loose ball found Norman Montgomery clear inside the Inverness half and he lobbed the ball over Jim Calder. Caley Thistle stormed upfield and scored 3 goals in a 6 minute spell. In 16 minutes Barry Wilson was set up by Iain Stewart just inside the area and he drove the ball low past Robert McColm. Three minutes later Brian Thomson slipped it to Stewart on the 18 yard line and he sent a low ball past the keeper. On the 20 minute mark Thomson was fouled just outside the box. He took the kick himself and sent it into the top corner. A fourth goal came in the 38th minute. Thomson and Stewart set up Barry Robson down the right and he headed straight for goal. Under strong pressure Robson hit it home. In 55 minutes Mark McCulloch cleared upfield from the half-way line and found Stewart who ran through the defence and slipped it to the side of the keeper as he unselfishly sent it across to Thomson who only had to tap it in. After 74 minutes it was 6-1. A Vetle Andersen cross from the left went in off the head of defender Stanley Leslie . 10 minutes later Wilson got the seventh with a low drive from 15 yards and with 4 minutes left substitute Duncan Shearer rose above the Annan defence on the penalty spot and headed in an Andersen cross to complete the 8-1 record score. Annan's bad tempered tackling was finally punished in 86 minutes when Stanley Leslie was sent off Caley Thistle now play Dundee United at Tannadice on February 14th. INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L W W L W W L W D W / W ? Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game next weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Dunfermline bound Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart. We got our revenge at home to QotS (1-0) with Alfie Bavidge scoring his fourth goal in five appearances. Alas it was a bridge too far at Arbroath last week and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and is re-arranged for March 11th. We went to Kelty and came away with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Alfie's 5th goal in 7 appearances. Montrose proved to be stubborn opponents and it took a superb diving header from Keith Bray to rescue a point in a rather turgid encounter after Sandilands had opened the scoring in the first half. A last gasp win at Dumbarton on the Saturday with Alfie Bavidge scoring his 6th goal in 9 games. Unfortunately Alfie was injured early on against Stenhousemuir in midweek but that didn't stop us running up a 4-1 win with goals from Brannan, Gilmour, Bray and Allan. Annan up North on Saturday in a six-pointer... Scott Kellacher will still be without Luis Longstaff who has a hamstring injury and missed the last two and Alfie Bavidge might be joining him on the sidelines similarly. Annan won the first two encounters this season, both at Galabank. The first was a League Cup game and the second a League1 game. Both went the way of the hosts by a single goal. We reversed that at the Caledonian Stadium by the same scoreline before a crucial 3-0 win at Galabank in the middle of January with goals from Alfie Bavidge, Keith Bray and Billy Mckay, his 114th and last strike for the club. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 28 17 52 2 Cove Rangers 28 18 47 3 Stenhousemuir 28 12 47 4 Alloa Athletic 28 6 40 5 Kelty Hearts 28 0 35 6 Queen of Sth 28 -6 35 7 Inverness CT 28 5 32 8 Montrose 28 -7 32 9 Annan Athletic 28 -24 27 10 Dumbarton 28 -21 08 Last Six: W W L L L L <<<Annan's squad for last Saturday in the 0-2 defeat to Stenhousemuir. They began February well with good wins over Kelty (1-3) and Dumbarton (2-1). That was as good as it got with four straight defeats. Cove Rangers (3-1), Alloa Athletic (3-4), Arbroath (3-0) and last week (0-2) at home to the Warriors. After a promising start to the campaign Annan have dropped down to the relegation play off position. Having a poor defensive record has not helped their cause, shipping 54 league goals and only scoring 29 gives a goal difference of -24, and that's the worst in League1. They have had their fair share of injuries to contend with throughout the season, but then again we know a thing or two about that over the last few seasons. The matchday buses will get you to the game and back on time. Buses leave the Bus Station at 1300 and 1415, returning from the Stadium 10 minutes after the full time whistle and then at 1800. Concession passes are valid on all journeys, with the fare for non concessions being £2.40. Bar 94 will be open from 1200 before the game and until 1800 after the game

CTO take on a grim afternoon of anti football. Time wasters wasting our time Was this going to be the game that breaks the Donkey's back? A home win would put Inverness in the driving seat whilst a win for Annan would revive their ailing hopes of avoiding the relegation play-off slot. Inverness were without Luis Longstaff, Alfie Bavidge and Calum Macleod, not forgetting long term casualties in Lewis Nicolson and Jake Davidson. Annan had their own injury issues with Tommy Goss. Undaunted they opened the scoring in the third minute, a deflected effort from Paul Smith. Virtually their only attempt over the ninety minutes. We, on the other hand were usurped by their tedious time wasting eleven behind the ball tactics and couldn't hit a coo on the arse with a big stick. Sean Murdoch, the referee, using the term loosely, was so far out of his depth it was unreal. A couple of penalty claims ignored and allowing the time wasting was his speciality. Paul Allan hit the post at the end of the first half and Jamie Smith made a handful of saves. Not a great day at the office as the temperature dropped before the end and the Donkey's took all three points. Meh

What an opportunity to close the gap on fourth place with a win . No where near good enough to lose at home to a really poor team, let's be honest they offered next to nothing. However, we just plodded on more out of hope than expectation. The changes we made were ineffective and far to late. Appreciate the bench was young but IMO they deserve a chance when things are going not to plan, not just the last 5 minutes Possibly some of the more senior players need a wee kick up the arse, get their hunger and desire back.

This, to me, is a concern with Kellagher in that I don't think he is tactically aware enough. Changes should have been made far earlier today and we needed to play at a far higher tempo. This nonsense if having all our players back to defend cirberz Gas to cease as it doesn't work as we then have not outlet to clear the ball. We actually kept 2 men up late in yfe game but we seriously need to change this tactic.

That was a poor performance and hopefully a defeat that humbles us all and brings us back to reality. The team looked tired and I feel the managers lack of squad rotation may come back to haunt us. It would be easy to criticise individual performances today but I think we could still be playing now and not have scored!

Back into the relegation fight with a thumping bump. Maybe the wake up call we needed as we were flat and poor today. I’ll upset a lot here but well done Annan. They had a game plan and they executed it perfectly. Score a goal early, sit back and defend in numbers. Waste time, play the referee and break forward when the openings come. The first 45 minutes we had Billy alone in Annan’s half up against 4 defenders?? We just did not have any answer either tactically or in quality of balls into the 18 yard box. When the few chances came we fluffed them. No talk now of 5 or 6th, every game now will be important in avoiding 9th place. bc

What an embarrassment to football Annan were. Time wasting anvil throwers. On the other hand, we were pretty honking and could have played for another week without scoring.

Well you are kind of right.

Big Big game. Win this and I would confidently say we are safe from relegation. We would be 8 points ahead with only 7 games to play and surely Annan won't win 3 more games than us in those 7. Hopefully a big and noisy home support will push us to victory. Annan are a physical team so we need to be prepared for a battle. Hopefully we get a better referee as well than we've had recently.

Annan take on today’s game. Once again an opposition manager complimenting us, even on a day most on here thought we were poor.

Just back home now and still can’t believe we didn’t get something out that game given the amount of shots on goal we had. I know we have a few key players injured, but we just didn’t seem to have another gear to go up, or a change in shape or tactics. Annan were out to frustrate and waste time from the minute they scored, we just didn’t handle that well. Makes next weeks game so much more crucial, but perhaps when we are up against it, is when we are at our best.

How did we go from Tuesday’s performance to that today ? Badly missed McLeod, and Bavidge obviously. When McKay is in that kind of form we’d be as well playing with 10 men!

Strange performance today. We were for from good but somehow creating chances and half chances. We didn't deserve a win but the loss feels hard to take. We know we are capable of better so just need to dust ourselves down and get ready to go again next week.

This is simple, keep the same format, attitude and pace we loose 0-1. Opposite of the tempo on Tuesday. Scotty needs to introduce changed tactics. Should have happened 20 minutes into the match. No point blaming Annan for time wasting (we’d do the same ) or the ref, it’s down to the manager and the players to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and play more forward! 45 minutes to see if we have it in us to change. bc

Going to script so far . . . !

Yes, I take on board what you and LRP are saying Charles. Any settled agreement must take cognisance of previous experiences and make it as watertight (I prefer airtight) as possible. Ultimately the length of time the Admin boys and other solicitors are engaged is dependant on the main players at the table reaching an agreement. This in my mind is best done with no solicitors present. (They can draw up the contracts later). I mentioned some months ago the fee for the administrator could be 750K or more. I reckon we’re there or above that figure now. Some will say, ‘Well it will be whatever it needs to be’ and that ‘A Savage will pick up the tab’. Maybe it will or some of it will be pushed into the final buyers tab. I cant help feeling somewhere in the whole process we the fans will be paying for some of any fee in some way (increase price of bovril or a scarf). I don’t personally mind but I’d rather be open about it! Ultimately I don’t see any incentive for the admin / solicitors involved to expedite the process. How many deadlines have we passed now, Two? Tuppence worth. bc

Issue is SQL related (ie. database). I have turned off our stats area for now as I believe this is the culprit. It is using an older version of PHP and the queries may not be optimal. Primary concern this morning was getting the site back up before the game.

Just been watching the Pars on the telly and under Michael Tidser I wouldn’t fancy them to come through two ties in a playoff against teams from our league. If anything they’re worse than we were last year.

It will be interesting to see if any of our supporters know much about the Gambia National Football Team. Here are a few facts from the internet. Johnathan McKinstry is a Northern Irish football coach who is the head coach of the Gambia national football team. Yankuba Minteh is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Gambia national team. Ebrima "Ebou" Adams is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL Championship club Derby County, and the Gambia national team. Musa Barrow is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al-Taawoun and the Gambia national team. Omar Colley is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club PAOK and captains the Gambia national team. Abdoulie Sanyang is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Croatian Football League club Hajduk Split. From FIFA Group F 1. Côte d’Ivoire | 10 pts 2. Gabon | 9 pts 3. Burundi | 7 pts 4. Kenya | 5 pts 5. Gambia | 3 pts 6. Seychelles | 0 pts Matchday 5 fixtures Gabon - Seychelles Gambia - Kenya Burundi - Côte d’Ivoire Matchday 6 fixtures Kenya - Gabon Côte d’Ivoire - Gambia Burundi - Seychelles Current form The Elephants successfully negotiated their way through the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers by finishing second in their group, with three goals from Jean-Philippe Krasso and Oumar Diakite. They have the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the World Cup qualifying standings against two teams who did not qualify for the AFCON, Burundi and Gambia, the latter having finished with a 1-0 win over Tunisia. Gabon share the same ambition, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his team-mates play host to Seychelles, who did not take part in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, followed by a date with a Kenya side who failed to make it out of the group stage. The Kenya national team will first face Gambia on Thursday, March 20, 2025, at Stade Allasane Ouattara in Ivory Coast. The good news for Musa is that the stadium has many similarities with Stade Longman on the Dolphin Coast. https://www.google.com/search?q=stade+alassane+ouattara&sca_esv=91bb133fe540f3f2&biw=1280&bih=585&sxsrf=AHTn8zp8x5gmuJ25XwI39ONpH10Mqzluvg%3A1741942354858&ei=Uu7TZ4qONJyahbIPvaK2wAM&gs_ssp=eJwFwTsOgCAMANC4mji7MrjTagTkCN6ipdTFTyKYcHzf6wd7WMRUHKvWC7o4QdOELG5jlkU9SITGCCFpyCt4TDLLPpZKkg2dVArd2Twf1Uov_aoaGRQ&oq=Stade+Allasane+&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiD1N0YWRlIEFsbGFzYW5lICoCCAAyDRAuGIAEGMcBGA0YrwEyDRAuGIAEGMcBGA0YrwEyBhAAGA0YHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMhwQLhiABBjHARgNGK8BGJcFGNwEGN4EGOAE2AEBSO-4AlAAWL-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_QEYlwUYjAUY3QTYAQHCAhIQLhiABBixAxhDGEYYigUY_QHCAg4QLhiABBixAxjHARivAcICHhAAGIAEGLEDGEMYRhiKBRj9ARiXBRiMBRjdBNgBAcICCxAuGIAEGMcBGK8BwgIIEC4YgAQY1ALCAhoQLhiABBjHARivARiXBRjcBBjeBBjgBNgBAcICCBAAGBYYChgewgIOEC4YFhjHARgKGB4YrwHCAggQABiABBiiBMICBRAAGO8FwgIdEC4YFhjHARgKGB4YrwEYlwUY3AQY3gQY4ATYAQGYAwnxBdf_b5IPrnn7ugYGCAEQARgKkgcKNC4xNS43LTIuMaAHtIkC&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vhid=GhMrvjKTgIWCuM&vld=cid:bc8e8c7b,vid:t6ZUaoutzZw,st:0&vssid=_9-7TZ7DIFKKlhbIP3pyY4QQ_112 Musa follows in a line of international goalkeepers who have graced the turf for Inverness - Nicky Walker, Ryan Esson for Scotland and Owain Fon Williams for Wales.

Think so. Well done for assisting the memory of an ageing supporter.

^^^^ The new Dumbarton

Legalities need to be absolutely spot on to prevent troublesome holes being picked in any agreement that may be made. This club already has in its history an instance where it nearly collapsed on the strength of such a technicality. Back in 1995/96, when funding of the stadium depended on a £900,000 grant from Inverness District Council, the motion that Divid Stewart put forward to secure it contained the word “payable”. Some weeks later, councillors and, incredibly, officials who opposed the grant took advantage of that word and obtained a QC’s opinion that it created a meaning which (to cut a long story short) made it impossible for the council to hand the money over. The Common Good Fund eventually paid the cash but this is a classic instance of a legal technicality almost sinking the club.

Szymon signs on

That’s great news for Musa. A call up was something that was discussed in an interview he did about 6 months ago with a Gambian football podcast. Gambia are obviously not a major force in African footballers but they are no mugs, recently beat Tunisia, and have a few players from major European leagues.

Looks like it.

Last Sunday starting line up. A bad result! Slipping down the league. I hope they can get a win at home this weekend.

Today's prediction: another 8-1 humping. You heard it here first!