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The Final Countdown As Europe once said, it's the Final Countdown: 3...2...1. We are now into the final three games of our Annus Administratus and it all starts with a tricky fixture at Stenhousemuir, who will be in the promotion play-offs. Another emergency loan goalkeeper will be with Inverness for Saturdays game at Stenhousemuir with Musa Dibaga out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out injured. Marcus, 17 years-old, has played for Celtic B in the Lowland League and has also featured in the UEFA Youth League this season. Marcus has also represented Ireland at Under 19's level. What a game to be without two of the three players of the year in Dibaga, and Bavidge. We also have Danny Devine with Gregor Buchanan of Stenhousemuir also in the Team of the Year. (see full team at bottom of preview). We will be keeping a watchful eye on Annan Athletic's game at Galabank against promoted Arbroath... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus/Info Admin: join the debate on CTO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2025 Apr 19th League (League 1) - A - Mar 11th League (League 1) 4 - 1 H 1,482 2024 Dec 21st League (League 1) 1 - 0 A 719 Sep 28th League (League 1) 0 - 0 H 1,601 Only this seasons games are relevant to current form as the previous eight games were prior to 1999 apart from a League Cup game in 2012: A dramatic penalty shootout was concluded when Ryan Esson saved Darren Smith's penalty to win the tie for Inverness 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw where Billy Mckay headed in the opener before Brown Ferguson equalised from the spot before the break. Richie Foran miss 0-1 Brown Ferguson score Graeme Shinnie score 1-2 Andy Rodgers score Gavin Morrison score 2-2 Bryan Hodge miss Aaron Doran score 3-3 John Gemmell score Andrew Shinnie score 4-4 Ross McMillan score Ross Draper score 5-5 Stewart Kean score Philip Roberts score 6-5 Darren Smith miss ICT WIN. INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W L W L W W L W W L W D W / W L D L W L 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 the 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 and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and was 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 came North on Saturday in a six-pointer and it was a disappointing defeat after Annan parked the bus after scoring in the third minute. Next up was a 1-1 draw with Alloa despite hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty. Another bad day at the office last weekend at a wet and windswept Palmerston after Queen of the South blitzed us with three second half goals to run away with a 4-1 win in Dumfries. Meh! We bounced back with a rout of our own as a Keith Bray hat-trick sunk Cove Rangers 3-0 at Balmoral Park. What a result that was! Despite what could have been a joyous occasion in front of our home fans after that great result at Cove, we once again failed to produce at the Caledonian Stadium going down 2-0 to Kelty in a six-pointer of a game. It's one step forward and two steps back as we crawl towards relative safety. Latest Team News: Musa Dibaga is out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out and depending on the result of his scan, it could be for the remaining games. No other known new injuries at present. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 33 23 63 2 Cove 33 16 52 3 Stenny 33 4 49 4 Queen Sth 33 1 48 5 Alloa Ath 33 8 47 6 Kelty 33 -5 40 7 Montrose 33 -6 39 8 Caley Jags 33 2 36 9 Annan Ath 33 -27 33 10 Sons 33 -16 16 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Last Six: L D D L L L Six games ago we beat Stenny in a re-arranged fixture at the Caledonian Stadium in our finest home game of the season, a crushing 4-1 win. Two 0-0 draws followed against Kelty and Cove then a slump in the last three at home v Montrose (2-3), home v Alloa (1-4) and last weeks title winning defeat at Arbroath (4-0). There are goal scorers in the side though with Corey O'Donnell on 9 and Blair Alston on 8. Yates and Aitken were prominent before injury and big Nat Wedderburn is still there. 𝘼𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨… Musa Dibaga – Inverness Scott Taggart – Alloa Ath Gregor Buchanan – Stenny Thomas O’Brien – Arbroath Danny Devine – Inverness Ross Cunningham – Kelty Fraser Taylor – Arbroath Fraser Fyvie – Cove Scott Stewart – Arbroath Mitchel Megginson – Cove Alfie Bavidge – Inverness Warriors v Caley Jags In 1928, the wooden grandstand at Ochilview Park burnt down in a fire, which led to a new stand being built in its place, although staircases reputedly had to be added later due to planning errors. (was Scot Gardiner in charge) The 1936–37 season saw the club register a record victory: 9–2 home win against Dundee United. More than a decade later in 1949–50, a Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against East Fife drew a record crowd of 12,525 – the highest ever at Ochilview Park. On 7 November 1951, the first floodlit game between two Scottish senior teams occurred at Ochilview Park, a friendly match between Stenhousemuir and Hibs The floodlights had been paid for three years earlier by Tommy Douglas, a butcher in King Street, Stenhousemuir. <<Info from Wikipedia>>

In 2014/15 we had Ryan Esson, Cammy MacKay and Josh Meekings!!

Never liked him and probably never will. I'll save electric and not bother listening.

I really enjoyed the episode and the stories he had to tell. Can't deny though, that he was slightly deluded when it came to speaking about his management skills.

Oi! That's my wife's family that you are talking about What the **** did you feed it to end up with hypodermics stuck into the Ochils??? And you missed out the smell from the McCowans toffee factory next door. Now sadly closed down. Could always tell when they were making raspberry.

Footage of that fire in 1928 has been found on the butchers mobile phone. It's a bit grainy but you can see the Warriors trying to dowse the flames and a petrol can with the initials SG on it can be seen close to the heart of the flames. Some locals were said to have entered the stadium unauthorised with a loaf of bread, a tub of lurpak and a tin of beans as they tried to feed the weans on the cheap before they were water bombed by the alert Warriors.

Far be it for me to suggest a different podcast to our Wyness Shuffle but Duncan Ferguson is the guest on Stick to Football (Gary Neville, Ian Wright etc). Not had a chance to listen yet but it'll be interesting to hear his story.

Mrs Gringo Stranraer v Embra City draw @ 3.5 [Good luck dear..] Gringo

https://open.spotify.com/episode/05GsBhJuTneBDoiOYn83aW?si=xu1lCogcR-ywidv8_FpfPg&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A29LjKwNI41bD09xNAMkQes

I apologise, HONESTLY, SORRY, I couldn’t resist it. are the “two different things” … apples and oranges

I wonder who said the above. Man Utd 2-4 down in the second half of extra time tonight. They score 3 goals in the last 6 minutes to win 5-4 by putting centre half harry McGuire up top and he scores the winner. well well. Always worth a go, nothing to lose as it was for us on Saturday. SK I am always available if you need to talk tactics.

Talks about a lack of strikers, plays Mckay on the halfway line, benches Brooks and puts Bray out on loan. Then begins signing centre backs. Tops it off with signing a player no one else would touch - his son. Total balloon.

I have no point to push. I work with stats every day of the week and the one thing about stats is that, outside of the extremes, you can usually make them say whatever you want. I have no agenda to push for or against SK. I find his press conferences a breath of fresh air. I like that we seem to be winning more games under him, and have clawed back 15 points but I am also concerned that we have seemingly thrown away opportunities to grab points in winnable games without any real explanation why we blew hot one week and so cold the next. The stats suggest he is doing as good a job as many other managers, but you are right, it will all be for nought if we are relegated. His stats down a division are also not necessarily likely to be super high as we will have lower quality players in that lower division ... just like as we rise the divisions we have higher quality. Steve Paterson's stats over 325 games were all from the lower divisions, never the Premiership. Robbo had a lot of Premiership games but he also had higher level players. You will NEVER have a completely 'apples for apples' comparison for any team that has faced relegations, promotions, embargoes or any other kind of situation. What I personally take from the stats, and you are free to take your own conclusions from them, is that SK has made a good start in several areas but also that it is a small sample size compared to others. Until he reaches say 50 games the stats are open to interpretation. What does seem apparent however is that Richie Foran (46 games) and Duncan Ferguson (58 games) were by far our worst managers based on multiple KPIs.

Due to popular demand we now have a second bus going to Montrose. Let’s get right behind the team. Book through Facebook or on 07462218717