Scotty

Inverness fans due a refund as team fails to turn up Inverness played like a Highland league side; that's maybe doing the Highland league teams a dis-service, as they constantly lofted aimless balls forward, mis-controlled in defence and in front of goals, wasted throw-ins and free kicks and were, well, just generally inept. The Ibrox tax dodgers put aside their off field shenanigans to overwhelm a clumsy and hapless Inverness X1, who looked as though they were on a Sunday afternoon kick about in the sun. Oh wait, they were, unfortunately Rangers meant business and from the start they controlled the pace of the game and will not have an easier afternoons wages in a long time, assuming they will get paid. Rangers responded magnificently to adversity and sprinted out of the blocks scoring three first half goals before Steve Williams notched the consolation before the break. Davis, Aluko and Little were the first half scorers and Lee McCulloch completed the rout in the second half, and almost added a fifth. Ross Tokely found himself on the bench once more with Gillet partnering Williams and Shinnie at left back. Tade and McKay were on from the start. Ally McCoist put Perry, Little and Kerkar on the park with David Healy dropping to the bench, and it was the Rangers manager who's alteration made the most impact as Inverness struggled to cope with the pace and accuracy of the Gers strikers. A shell shocked Ginger Jaggy will take up the story when he calms down............... Well, the future may hang in the balance for Rangers but they showed a togetherness and performance to suggest that no one at Ibrox is lying down and ready to take the impending doom hanging over the club. In contrast, every Caley Thistle fan who was present and watching on Sky will know that for all the good possession Rangers held Caley Thistle gave them the freedom of Inverness. Terry Butcher was furious after the game and so he should be. This is the second Old Firm match where Caley Thistle have been bullied and made to look like Sunday league players. The days when Caley thistle really gave the Old Firm a match in the Highland Capital has disappeared for the time being. The idea of top six footballs still remains a possibility, but it is growing shorter by the week as Dundee United look to pull away from the rest of the pack. Rangers played their first away game from Ibrox since being moved in to administration and after losing to Kilmarnock hopes were raised that Caley Thistle could inflict more pain in front of the Sky Cameras. But for that to happen we had to perform at our best, this, on paper, was as weak a Rangers side that has travelled up the A9 but anyone expecting an easy victory would be optimistic at best. This Rangers team still have quality players which could still have competed for the league if they hadn’t had a ten point deduction. The opening to the game was encouraging for the home side as they pressed from the off against their battered and bruised opponents. But with their first attack the champions (for not much longer) took the lead through their best player Steve Davis who ran the show all game. On six minutes the impressive Salim Kerkar was played through on the Caley Thistle right and his simple ball into the centre was tapped home by the industrious Northern Irishman. From that point Rangers looked like they could score every time they attacked. It was not really due to Rangers attacking but more down to our defence looking as shaky as a house built on sand. Sone Aluko missed a sitter from close range as he failed to put his back post header on target from only five yards out from a brilliant Davis cross. But the ex-Aberdeen wide man was not to be denied only a few minutes later when an Andy Little cross was poorly cleared by Kenny Gillet and Aluko from 18 yards drilled the ball low into the corner of the net. Caley Thistle did show glimpses of getting back into the game with Greg Tansey making Allan McGregor parry a powerful drive before Billy McKay troubled the Rangers defence with a decent run and cross with no one to profit in the middle. The game was then ended as a contest when Kerkar again played a terrific ball in behind Meekings and Little finished superbly over Esson to complete Rangers dominance. But that wasn’t the end of the scoring in this half as Steve Williams powered a header into the Rangers net from a Tansey corner to keep the game breathing but only just. Half Time 1-3 The second half did not yield as much action as the first which on a positive note meant that Caley Thistle was not really humiliated as badly as they could have been. Inverness brought on Proctor to replace the bedraggled Meekings. The second half started encouragingly when Jonny Hayes delivered a tempting ball into the box which Gregory Tade put wide at the front post but via a deflection. Had that gone in then at 3-2 the game may have been different but yet again our defence proved that we were never going to win this game. They were bullied at a corner and a header from Maurice Edu was cleared off the line by Nick Ross before Davis struck a low shot which Esson did well to put past the post with his foot. The ball travelled through a ruck of bodies and Esson showed lightning reactions to turn it round the post with his foot. We had escaped but with little happening at the other end it was likely that Rangers would increase their lead. They did on 72 minutes when Caley Thistle again gave the ball away cheaply and it ended up in the back of the net. Little again drove at the defence and played a lovely ball to Kerkar whose weakfish effort was parried by Esson and the rebound was slammed home by Lee McCulloch. Gregory Tade spurned another opportunity from a tempting Hayes cross but it would not have counted as he was flagged for offside, and Rangers almost made it five late on when McCulloch saw his fantastic volley crash off the bar and away. But Television Replays do appear to show that the ball did cross the line. The game ended without any more meaningful action. What was shown was that Rangers can’t be treated lightly as they played very well for the circumstances they are in. In fact it is perceivable that quite a few members of the squad that did play or at least made the journey north will never play with each other again. Caley Thistle made Rangers look like world beaters with a performance which was inept at best. Full Time 1-4 Terry Butcher has a lot of work to do if we are to make top six now starting with Dundee United next week. The odds are against us but we must not forget that we were the form team through January and the only team’s that had beaten us were the Old Firm. So let’s write this match off and start afresh for next week because surely we can not be as generous as we were on Sunday. 26th Feb 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 1 - Williams (40) /media/images/club_badges/inverness.png TEAM: Esson, Meekings (Proctor 46), Williams, Gillet, G.Shinnie, Ross (Gnakpa 71), Hayes, Tansey, Foran, Tade, McKay SUBS: Tuffey, Tokely, Tudur Jones, Sutherland, Winnall Booked: Gillet (42), Foran (62) Sent Off: none Rangers 4 - Davis (6), Aluko (16), Little (36), McCulloch (72) /media/images/club_badges/rangers.png TEAM: McGregor, Bradfoot, Goian, Bocanegra, Perry, McCulloch, Davis, Aluko (Wylde 85), Edu, Kerkar (Celik 81), Little (Hemmings 85) SUBS: Alexander, Bedoya, McCabe, Healy Booked: none Sent Off: none Referee Willie Collum Attendance 6416

Inverness Nick a point Nick Ross scored a 73rd minute leveller to snatch a vital point at East End Park to maintain the eight point gap between the sides. Joe Cardle had opened the scoring on the stroke of half time after a Martin Hardie free kick came back off the bar, against the run of play. A draw was probably the fairest result, and considering that all four previous encounters this season had ended all square after ninety minutes then it was no surprise that the points were shared. David Proctor found himself starting ahead of Ross Tokely in the absence of Steve Williams and Kenny Gillet partnered him in central defence with Graeme Shinnie at left back. What became evident from the start was that we were playing with no out-and-out strikers with Shane Sutherland asked to plough the lone furrow and Winnall and McKay warming the bench. Capital Caley will spill the beans when he gets back home............and here he is. It’s difficult to report on a match that had few flash points. Most Caley Thistle fans were wanting a win before the game. By full time, I think that we were happy to take the point. We were close to getting nothing at all. As usual, the Elizabethan had a number of Caley Thistle fans congregated pre-match. There were even more Caley Thistle fans in the bar at the stadium hopeful of a win. Caley Thistle started brightly and were pressing towards the Pars goal for most of the first half. They could not get past the stuffy Pars defence and were limited to long range shots. However, even then, Caley Thistles first shot on goal came on the 20th minute. Claude Gnakpa's shot from the edge of the box trickled well wide of goal. Ten minutes later, and Shane Sutherland tried an almost identical shot to Gnakpa, again going painfully wide. Both teams were struggling to cope and for every pass that a Caley Thistle player would intercept, a Dunfermline player would then re-intercept. This certainly wasn’t a game of silky passing football. Out of the blue, the Pars were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Caley Thistle box right on the stroke of half time. From where the Caley Thistle fans were located, it looked like a clear dive from Joe Cardle from a Kenny Gillet tackle. Of course, I don’t hide the fact that I have red and blue tinted glasses on but I’ll have to look at the replay again to be sure. Martin Hardie's free kick rattled the cross bar and with the Caley Thistle defence sleeping, Joe Cardle lost his man and slotted the ball into the net. It was a cruel set back as Caley Thistle had most of the possession in the first period and Dunfermline had no other chances. Dunfermline nearly doubled their advantage just after half time when Patrick Boyle out jumped the Caley Thistle defence but his header went wide of goal. The Pars appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the second half. Andy Kirk's shot on the hour mark had Esson diving but it was a weak shot and Esson saved well. Soon after, and Terry Butcher made a substitution. Clauide Gnakpa came off for Billy Mckay. Claude had worked hard all match but his inability to pass or shoot at the right moment let him down. Foran was his usual commanding self and gave his heart and soul into the quest for an equaliser. Moments after MacKay came on, and it looked like the substitution was an effective one. He crossed over to Shane Sutherland who headed it but yet again, it went nowhere near goal. Shane Sutherland was then replaced with Owain Tudur-Jones, shortly before Joe Cardle was replaced by Paul Burns. On the 73rd minute we got the equaliser. Jonny Hayes collected the ball, ran along parallel to the sideline and crossed over to Nick Ross, who powered the ball into the top corner. There was a huge sense of relief within the Caley thistle support. We had struggled to create anything in the second half and the support did not want Pars first home victory of the season to come against us. Martin Hardie was then replaced by Liam Buchanan shortly after the goal. The goal seemed to give us the push that we needed and there was faint optimism that we could now go on and win the game. We had a fair amount of possession in the last 15 minutes but the final touch was letting Caley Thistle down badly. They looked disjointed and weary of the Pars counter attack. On the 80th minute, Ryan Thomson came on for Gary Mason as the Pars made their final change. Caley Thistle won a couple of corners towards the end as they looked to snatch victory. Unfortunately, Hayes corners were very weak and did not trouble the Dunfermline defence. Then it was time for the Caley Thistle support to really panic. A very late flurry by Dunfermline saw them awarded a corner. Paul Burns crossed in and Liam Buacanan's header should have found the target but somehow it went wide. It was a let off for Caley Thistle. For all Caley Thistles first half possession, they lost control of the ball far too many times. Too many crosses going wide. Too many passes intercepted. Too many shots going out for near throw ins! It was a bad day at the office, but could have been worse. However, I’m sure Terry Butcher will be happier with the point more than Jim McIntyre is. One thing is for sure though, Terry Butcher will not be happy with the performance. My MotM goes to Richie Foran. Not his best game, but his leadership qualities and sheer effort was impressive. Lets look at the bright side. There’s still 8 points between Caley Thistle and Dunfermline. We came out of that game after a hard fought scrap. We got a point, now it’s time to move on. We need to improve next week if we’re to beat relegation threatened Rangers. Butcher has a big job to do. 18th Feb 2012 Scottish Premier League East End Park, Dunfermline Dunfermline 1 - Cardle (45) /media/images/club_badges/dunfermline.png TEAM: Smith, McMillan, Rutkiewicz, Keddie, Boyle, Cardle (Burns 72), Hardie (Buchanan 74), Mason (Thomson 80), Hutton, Graham, Kirk. SUBS: Goodfellow, Dowie, McCann, Willis Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness C.T. 1 - Ross (73) /media/images/club_badges/inverness.png TEAM: Esson, Meekings, Proctor, Gillet, G.Shinnie, Ross, Tansey, Hayes, Gnakpa (McKay 62), Foran, Sutherland (Tudur-Jones 68). SUBS: Tuffey, Piermayr, Tokely, Morrison, Winnal Booked: none Sent Off: none Referee Bobby Madden Attendance 2881