caley_donkey

Oh inverness, is beautiful, Oh inverness is beautiful, it has a bridge and a castle, Oh inverness is beautiful. Oh inverness ....

I'm bored at work, so I've decided to compile some statistics relating to our front two pairing: [table][tr][td]Starting front two pairing P W D L Niculae and Bayne 3 0 0 3 Niculae and Wyness 8 5 1 2 Bayne and Brewster 1 1 0 0 Bayne and Wyness 3 0 0 3[/table] The statistics speak for themselves.

When Brewster was reappointed as manager, I was apprehensive. My position remains unchanged. Yeah, he's done okay and notched up some valuable points but overall I'm not hugely enthusiastic. I guess we haven't had the chance to really assess his signings, but some of them have been surprising to say the least, even with our limited budget. Like everyone has been saying, I don't believe that bringing on a substitution 10 minutes from the end can have a massive impact on the game. Brewster has been constantly waiting until the last minute to bring on subs. Give then at least 15-20 minutes to settle into the game. On the positives though, he has done well bringing out the best in Russell Duncan and Dennis Wyness who have been excellent this season.

There can only be one - the mighty Pele. He took over at the helm when we were an average 3rd division side. Every season we have improved our league position under Pele, gaining promotions from 2 divisions, and he left when we were a good first division side. The improvement was remarkable year upon year. And who could doubt his shrewdness in the transfer market - Barry Robson and Bobby Mann, to name a few. Robbo really didn't have to do too much work to take us that stage further. The foundations were already built around the genius that is Steve Paterson!

From the BBC News website, Tokely has been fined by the club for his red card against Motherwell. :33: I was at the game but I didn't see exactly what happened and I couldn't see what happened from the highlights on net. But I've heard from people that it was bad and that a fine is fair from the club. Tokely has the tendency to get the rage sometimes. I think the few games rest will do him good and give Proctor a chance to see what he can do in that position (assuming that's what Brewster is thinking). Although I'm not a huge fan of Proctor, I think Ross Tokely has been dissappointing for me this season. A change at right back is welcome in my books. Any thoughts?

I was at the game yesterday. Here are my comments: I thought we played okay. I was frustrated time and time again when our passing went wayward. We were getting into decent positions but the final pass, that final ball did not happen. I thought that whenever we had the ball, Rangers were on to us and closing us down all the time. Because of this, I found that we were passing but not really doing anything with the ball. We had a few chances, but Rangers deserved to win based on their number of chances. I agree with Howden Ender that Russell Duncan was our outstanding player and that Ross Tokley was taken apart by Beasley, leading Beasley to get the MOTM. Don Cowie should have started. I am purplexed with Brewster's decision to drop him. Michael Fraser did well yesterday. Also, does anyone know why the players did not acknowledge our small band of travelling supporters? Usually there is some acknowledgement to the away fans to thank them for their support - a few small claps from the players, or a little wave or something. But we didn't get anything! Our singing wasn't that bad was it?

What are your top 3? Mine are: 1. John Rankin vs Rangers 27th Dec (mainly because it was a significant goal in the dying minutes of the game that ended up to be the match winner). 2. Craig Dargo vs Stirling Albion 6th Jan (his lofted chip over the keeper - I think it was his second of his two goals that game). 3. Barry Wilson vs Hibs 21st Jan (lovely chip over the keeper). The other which I could have included was Russell Duncan's goal against Dundee United in the cup. Stunning goal. Any others?

I thought he had a solid game on Saturday. I'm sure he'll get better as the seasons go on. I agree it is still a bit early to tell. I was a bit nervous at first when he was in goal, but over the past few games I'm starting to become confident of his ability. I would still say that Mark Brown is a better keeper. He's had 2 or 3 seasons as ICT's number 1 whereas MF has had about 5 games!

Does anyone recall a home game against St Mirren, maybe one or two seasons ago? We won 1-0. It was a poor game, and we played poorly but we still won. Our fans were booing the team off the pitch. I don't that's right at all.

Yeah, to be honest for 90 minutes of the match there was very little to cheer about (except from a few chances that ICT had). However, when they boys did pull something off wonderous I felt that some of the fans were not giving them full backing. I mean it doesn't expel a lot of energy to muster some polite applause to warm up the hands. For example, Ian Blacks excellent trick in the middle of the park to fool a few United midfielders and Tokely's 50 yard pin-point cross field ball to Barry Wilson was met with subdued awe. Where I was sitting, some fans did not even applaud and just looked.

Even though Grant's sending off was never a sending off, I thought he had an unusually very poor game today. In particular, his distribution was terrible. This was compensated by Dods' performance who was I thought was outstanding.

Maybe Rankin saw him still way off his line still dancing about like a monkey?

I think this has been the most gutted i've been in a long long time. It was a gutsy performance and I just hope the lads can bounce back from such a hurful defeat. We'll need to put this behind us. Let's all get behind them on Saturday and give them plenty of encouragement!

Where were you sitting Gringo?

Spoke to Graeme Bennett on Sunday and he says that it won't be available until August. But he says that isn't his department anyway.

Does anyone know why this is a 2pm kick-off on a Saturday? I'm from Glasgow. I think I might head along.

I didn't think it would be 12:30. Aren't Sunday games sometimes 2pm and 3pm kick-offs? If i remember correctly, the Celtic league game was a 2pm Sunday kick-off - wasn't it?

I'll be there 100%. Glad to see the majority of the voters haven't been swayed by the steep prices.

I agree that the prices are steep, but I will be going to support the team and I'm confident another several thousand Caley fans will be going also and fill out the stadium. They can up their prices because it is a massive game (as are all Old Firm games). Like someone said before - supply and demand. However, I do think that the board have to restructure their prices for the 'run-of-the-mill' league game, for example, where we are drawing meagre crowds that are a bit embarrasing.

Ouch! £27 for the main stand, £22 for concesssion.

Has it been decided whether our game will be played on 24th or 25th yet? I need to book my train ticket asap.

Le Guen Leaves

Personally, I think CC should rotate the squad a bit and give a few of the players such as Bayne a rest from their recent hectic festive fixtures.

I'm a huge fan of Bayne - he'll win those headers all day and work tirelessly. He always gives 100% and puts on a good show. He was awesome against Rangers (again) and he was superb against St Mirren. I would definately choose Bayne up front. Although, having said that, the Dargo and Wyness partnership were stunning during that first half against Kilmarnock. Christie has a tough dilemma (albeit, a good one) to choose his striking force.

According to the Four Four Two magazine (issue Januray 2007), ex-Caley chairman David Sutherland is worth a whopping £45 million - worth more than the likes of Ryan Giggs, Jose Mourinho, and Thierry Henry! He's number 46 in the Football Rich List 2007.