RiG

He has a very soft and soothing voice though I suspect it won't be like that in the dressing room. I don't think he's a particularly inspired appointment but he's better than some of the other names that were rumoured. Hopefully we get a good performance on Friday and just take things from there.

I'm not sure I think Storey was ever so slightly offside. Glad no one has said something like "you've got to give the benefit to the attacker" as there is no rule that says you do. You win some, you lose some and sadly we lost that decision. All the positivity from the Ayr game seems to have evaporated after last nights draw. It feels like we should have won that but at the same time I feel that had we bagged three points we wouldn't really have been deserving of them. There was a strange moment when the commentator on ICT TV said (paraphrasing) that we deserved to be level if not ahead because of the amount of possession we had and the (half) chances we created but when we did go ahead started talking about a smash and grab win which I thought was a bit odd. Really sloppy from Devine attempting to play that ball out of defence but also good anticipation from Scougall to cut out the low, driven pass and a nice through ball for Cameron. Not sure why MacGregor had his "goal" chalked off at the time but looking at the highlights you can see Sutherland held back an Alloa player to stop him getting to the ball. Cracking hit from Duffy for our equaliser. Smashing shot. Watching our second back it wasn't quite as good as I thought last night, bit of a scuffed cross from Storey and Keatings hits it into the ground but I would have bitten your hand off for that goal if it had secured us three points so I am not going to complain about it. Sadly we weren't able to see it out. Harsh but correct penalty award for handball gave us the chance for a third from nowhere but Storey had clearly been watching Iain Vigurs and some of his spot kicks. Really weak and far too close to the keeper. Then Alloa got a penalty of their own and Trouten wasn't going to miss. We really struggled to break Alloa down. For a period towards the end of the first half it seemed they were playing with a solid back 5 and at least 3 players sitting right in front of that back line making it nigh on impossible for us to get through. We just chucked high balls out towards to side of the pitch as we didn't have the craft to pass our way through them. When they went 2 - 1 down they came right back at us and after they drew level I think Grant realised that they could easily win it so instead of sitting back again they kept pushing for a winner. I wonder if they had been more positive after their first whether they could actually have been out of sight before we did get back into it. Commentary was much better with two people there and Iain Auld is a solid addition. Andy Bannerman, if he could tone down the endless Wiki recital (we don't need to know every players youth team), would probably be fine as well.

Not overly happy at the appointment of McCann (reeks of jobs for the boys) but TBH I don't care who is in charge right now as long as we start getting some wins under our belt and start moving up the table. He's infinitely preferable to either Locke or Naysmith however. It will be interesting to see if we notice any big changes during the game on Friday.

Robertson has been granted compassionate leave after a family bereavement. The club are looking to get an interim manager in alongside Barry Wilson and Ryan Esson as Scott Kellacher is still out of "action" due to illness.

We try again tomorrow night at 7 pm just in case anyone cares. Alloa looked unlucky not to take something from their game against Dunfermline on Saturday but recently were turned over 4 - 1 by Ayr United. We've only won once against Alloa at Home in the league in the last couple of seasons so they are arguably a bogey team of sorts for us. We need to take Saturday's form into this one from kick off and hopefully we can get a couple of goals to give us a decent cushion and grab another 3 points.

An excellent result against potentially very difficult opposition in far from ideal weather conditions. As is usually the case in Ayr the home side started very brightly. We often find ourselves under the cosh early doors at Somerset and today was no different with the windy conditions not helping. Ayr settled quickly and were soon stroking the ball around well looking to hit Walsh and McCowan on their respective flanks. The former, well known to ICT fans of course, was the main focus as he frequently cut inside Duffy on the left flank and looked to hang balls up to the back post for team mates to attack. Whilst Walsh was looking threatening on the Ayr left, on the other side the in form McCowan was being marshalled well by Harper with the Ayr player barely in the game until a tactical switch by Kerr later in the first half saw him move into the middle. Bizarrely the first chance of the game fell to the Ayr keeper Sinisalo when he launched a goal kick forward which caught the wind and almost had Ridgers scrambling to keep it out of harms way. Not too long after this Cammy Smith broke through the ICT defence and cut the ball back for team mate Moffat but the ICT defence was able to clear the danger. Most of our attacks were starting from long balls forward with Toddy displaying some deft control to take in these high balls and link with team mates to relieve the pressure on the Caley Thistle rear-guard. Carson, breaking forward, fired a low pass to the feet of Sutherland just inside inside the penalty area and he rolled his marker and shot straight at the United keeper. Ayr were next to threaten when Walsh, again cutting back onto his right foot, swung a high cross to the back post from the left where Michael Miller met it and found the net but it was correctly ruled out for a push on Harper. Todorov then had a chance with a similar effort to that of Sutherland a few minutes before as he also rolled his marker in the box but he too sent his effort down the keepers throat. Not long after this we opened the scoring with a crisp counter attack. Devine sent a controlled ball to the feet of Todorov who collected the ball and played it across to Sutherland on the Ayr right side. He then laid the ball off to the onrushing MacKay who strode onto it confidently and dispatched his shot beyond the despairing Sinisalo to open the scoring. Ayr responded with a tactical switch moving Walsh to the right, Smith to the left and let McCowan roam in the middle behind Moffat and it almost paid off when McCowan found himself just inside the penalty area in acres of space but he wasn't able to make the best of the opportunity and ICT were able to clear the danger. McCowan then almost scored again when his header from a Walsh cross was beaten round the post at close range by Ridgers. This was to be the last we would see of McCowan in the game as he was completely negated by Allardice and Carson in the second half and whilst Walsh continued to offer a threat on the Ayr right Smith drifted from the game on the opposite flank and this change really curtailed Ayr as a fluent attacking force. Only a few minutes into the second half and we grabbed a vital second goal. Todorov saw his effort blocked by his own team mate Sutherland and it was Caithness Cristiano who was first to the ball to fire it into the net with Ayr players claiming for offside. And it was almost three when Todorov bundled his way into the box and with MacKay unmarked in the centre chose to go it alone but saw his shot suppressed by a late challenge. Allardice was next to threaten for Inverness when he sent a free kick low under the Ayr wall as it jumped and it was partially saved by Sinisalo and United cleared at the second attempt. Again, the next best chance fell the way of ICT when Robbie Deas met a free kick from only a few yards out but his header was right at the Ayr keeper. Ayr almost got a goal back when Walsh, still causing problems for Harper on the ICT left, flashed a ball across goal which MacKenzie latched onto but he sent his low effort wide of the goal with Ridgers stranded. Walsh then had an effort at goal himself when he collected the ball at the back post and leathered an effort towards goal which Ridgers saved with his knee with Devine also lunging in to block. In the end though we hung on for a big three points after an excellent performance that probably should have seen us concede a goal but also should really have been much more comfortable given the chances that were passed up. Big call for Robbo to drop four players from Wednesday but they paid dividends with MacGregor, Todorov and Carson all impressing today. MacGregor offers a much more mobile link between our midfield two in front of the defence and the wide players / forward than Keatings does whilst Carson was tenacious alongside Allardice marshalling McCowan well after he moved inside and also breaking forward to support our counters attacks. Todorov showed some excellent touches holding the ball up and Ridgers pulled off some superb saves particularly from McCowan and Walsh in each half. As mentioned earlier I think Kerr's changes to the three behind Moffat disrupted the fluency of Ayr's attacks and whilst Walsh was still a threat McCowan and Smith were anonymous after the break. They didn't seem to have anything in the centre of the pitch to break up our counter attacks with Murdoch and Chalmers nowhere to be seen at times. Ayr TV was really good I though. The camera they used for most of the game wasn't the best quality but it was fine for me. Any time they wiped it down they cut to another camera that seemed to offer a better quality picture and a nicer view of the game as well. Shame they didn't use that more often. The commentary team were absolutely superb. By far and away the best I've experienced this season. The co-commentator, I forget her name, in particular was a highlight. Noticed so many little changes and tweaks made in game by both sides. Don't suppose they fancy doing our game on Tuesday?

The club certainly seems to be "marketing" it as their idea. I have no issue with them milking as much money as possible from the event but they need to deal with the fallout from yet another poor streaming experience the other night.

Milking fans (of both sides) for as much as they can whilst ignoring supporters comments about the poor quality of the match day stream is definitely going to go down well.

The stunning lack of creativity in this team was on full display tonight. We might have been missing players but so were QotS so I am not having that as an excuse. Storey and Mackay, whilst willing and hard working on the flanks did not create enough throughout the time they were on the pitch to have us in a more comfortable position. A good cross by Mackay in the first half which found Storey who saw his effort deflect over / wide was as good as it got. When MacGregor came on later on and popped up on the left side he was continuously looking to cut back in on his right and with no support down the left side he was easily nullified. Keatings, despite a nice effort from a free kick in the second half, was largely anonymous and there was a huge gap between him as the 10 and the 6 and 8 at the base of the middle triangle. Defensively I thought we were mostly fine save for the moment that mattered. Grim defending and after that Queens sat back with 9 men behind the ball and challenged an insipid ICT, who had struggled to break them down for most of the game prior to the goal, to work their way through a superbly drilled defensive line. Needless to say it did not go well for us although Harper put in a nice ball for Toddy who probably should have scored. Apart from that though... For all our possession, as alluded to above, we did previous little with it and as such I cannot begrudge Queens the win. Maybe if we had created numerous great chances and Ferguson had pulled off a string of saves then I might feel aggrieved at being "robbed" but from the small number of really good chances we did have I cannot recall him being overly troubled. The streaming though - josemourinho.jpg. From the mobile going off, to regularly getting ICT players wrong (I won't criticise him for not getting all the Queens players right as I wouldn't do much better in fairness), the garbage quality of the camera itself....it just reeks of doing stuff on the cheap as has been the case with us for some time now and, based on the reaction on social media, it's seeing a lot of fans turn on the club. They've had weeks to improve the offering. The camera used for highlights offers significantly better picture quality and has been tested for streaming yet it remains unused as the main match camera for seemingly no reason. Can't wait for the next tweet about setting a new attendance record in Inverness...

Agree with this. The passing in the middle of the pitch with Welsh and Allardice is nice but I feel a MacGregor or Draper type to carry the ball forward towards the QotS penalty area would be helpful. Encourage by some of the crosses put in and efforts from Storey and Mackay. Hopefully something will come soon in the second half.

What's the status of Keatings after coming off against Arbroath?

I'd rather MacGregor in there as well but Robbo seems to prefer Vincent for the moment based on the last couple of games.

We might actually be able to play a game tomorrow and I for one cannot wait! By all accounts the pitch is good to go although that news has been dampened by the news that Doran and McDonald are out for a good few weeks with injuries picked up in training. As a result, unless I have missed some other injuries, I can see us lining up along the lines of: Ridgers Duffy Devine Deas Harper Welsh Allardice Storey Vincent Mckay Sutherland

Despite there not being much in the way of football recently we've still be able to record a new podcast for you all. We chat about the recent games with Arbroath and Morton, look ahead to the plethora of upcoming matches, hear from Anthony McDonald, Scott Allardice and Gary Locke and there's a chance to win another signed ICT shirt! What more could you want? Available on Apple (when it syncs), Google, Spotify and all the usual places. Always helpful if you can spread the word of the podcast so if you know anyone who might be interested in giving it a listen but hasn't done so yet why not give them a nudge to check it out. Cheers!

McDonald apparently injured in training and out of action for some time.

Match postponed.

COLOUR ME SHOCKED!

Not really much point starting a match thread for this as the game is certain to be called off although Robbo does suggest that QotS on Wednesday stands a decent chance. https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/inverness-caledonian-thistle/2894356/john-robertson-concedes-caley-thistles-game-against-morton-unlikely-to-go-ahead/

No chance Saturday goes ahead. Anyway, the Alloa game has been re-rescheduled for 23rd February. Kick off at 7 pm.

Imagine how many they could get for a Taylor Swift gig!

Game off. Shock.

Surely our record "home" crowd is the 11,000 odd that packed into Tannadice for the Scottish Cup tie with Rangers?

This rescheduled match was to go ahead tomorrow but there is now a pitch inspection at 09:00 in the morning. Looks highly unlikely the game will go ahead...

I think he's been back in the UK for a while now and had been training in Edinburgh (possibly with Hearts or at least at Riccarton). Not absolutely sure about that however.