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Robbo Burns As Rabbie once said to me.... The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain For promis'd joy. On the day of the Bard of Ayrshire, Inverness faced the Honest Men at Somerset Park with a new look defence after Coll Donaldson jumped ship, with Lewis Toshney joining Tom Walsh and Sean Welsh on the bench. The departing Jamie McCart was also benched again.There was the added incentive of Dundee crashing 2-0 at East End Park last night and three points for either side would be a huge bonus. Stephen Kelly scored the only goal of the game after an hour and both sides hit the woodwork, but it was no more than Ayr deserved as they closed the gap on Inverness to just one point. Our new defence got in a fankle at the goal allowing Kelly to take advantage. From the quill of the Bard himself, and so true...... There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing. RIG was on hand to see the wee sleekit courin timerous beastie, also known as the referee...... I think whilst we were on the end of some pretty debatable calls from the referee, Ayr were the better team throughout the 90 minutes and deserved the win. Kerr seemed to set Ayr up a bit more defensively than previous match ups and they let us carry the ball forward with little pressure but we were swarmed as we entered the Ayr half and forced to thread balls through a well organised Ayr midfield and defence (which we couldn't do) or try and dink a ball up to White and later Todorov (which we also couldn't do). When Ayr seized the ball they broke with real pace and direction quickly feeding the ball wide to Forrest or Moffat on the flanks or looking to play a pass in behind the ICT centre backs and a lot of their good chances game from this. Only a triple block/save combination from McHattie and Ridgers stopped Ayr opening the scoring in the first half which saw wave after wave of attacks threaten the ICT rearguard. Fortunately we held them off and had the ball in the net when Keatings lifted a free kick in for White who beat Doohan to the ball and flicked it in but the referee gave a free kick for a foul by White. Seemed pretty soft but it would have been hard on Ayr had we gone ahead (though thoroughly pleasing obviously). Second half and there seemed to be a strong claim for a penalty when Doran broke into the box and looked like he was pushed in the back sending him to the ground but the referee waved play on. Not long after this Ayr scored. I didn't see what happened but after I had stopped admiring my new trainers I looked up to see Trafford on his arse and Kelly seizing on a loose ball, heading for goal before calmly slotting past Ridgers. No more than Ayr deserved in fairness but frustrating nonetheless from an ICT point of view. Ayr had more chances after this to extend their lead before Doran went down under another challenge however this time he got straight back up to chase the ball before Aitken blew for a foul and cautioned Doran for diving which seemed a bit odd given he didn't seem to be looking for anything. We went with 2 strikers for the final few minutes with Todorov coming on to partner White but we didn't really create anything of note until the final kick of the game when Ayr threw bodies to block a couple of ICT efforts from close range (these might even have been our only shots on target...). Bizarre to see us end the game with a couple of big lads up front and our two best crossers of the ball on the wings yet we persevered with little dinked balls up towards White and Todorov which almost never found them. Any ICT fan not bothered about losing Donaldson AND McCart should be worried after today's defensive showing. Whilst McHattie was solid enough Mckay with the ball at his feet was an absolute bombscare. Vincent was decent for us, possibly closest to ICT MotM. Kerr and Moffat looked good for Ayr and Drinan really gave Mckay and McHattie a torrid time. We have a real battle on to maintain second spot which could be huge come the end of the season.. Highlights from Ayr United TV Eagle4Caley left Crystal Palace behind for the weekend to go to Somerset Park and enjoyed the ambience...... The highlights suggest a close game, although I felt Ayr had more chances, but we hit the bar, and quite why our goal was disallowed is beyond me...White at no time is looking at the goalie only at the ball, and I'm not convinced he even touches him. Also Doran was clearly pushed over in the penalty area, and then next time he gets a booking for going down, when you can see he catches the defender legs and is trying to regain his feet. Their goal was a bit of a bummer, at first I thought that McHattie was at fault but credit to the Ayr player who actually closes Charlie Trafford down very quickly. I thought McHattie had a decent game, as did McKay...strange how quickly our CB pairing has changed (presumably to make ends meet). For me our midfielders were the pick of the bunch, plus Walsh when he came on. Our forwards were very much powder-puff, Doran was quieter than expected, Storey didn't offer much apart from two/three decent crosses, I'm not sure what Keatings was doing and White looks like he is the Centre Forward because he's tall, because he seemed unable to anticipate where high balls were going nor jump at the right time (except for the disallowed goal), he's definitely better with his feet! For me 2nd place is probably between us and Ayr, so this was a disappointing reverse, but I guess we can't win every match against them. Robbo's the man for a' that.... Date: 25/01/2020 Venue: Somerset Park, Ayr Attendance: 1200 Referee: Greg Aitken Ayr United: 1 Lineup: Doohan; Houston, Muirhead, Harvie, Bell, Kerr, Moffat (Rocco 90+3), Forrest (McKenzie 90), Drinan, Docherty, Kelly Subs (not used): Ellis Hare-Reid; Doolan, McCowan, McGuffie, Hewitt Scorers: Kelly (61) Booked: Docherty (85) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Ridgers; Rooney, B Mckay, McHattie, Tremarco, Doran, Trafford (Todorov 75), Vincent, Storey (Walsh 66), Keatings (Carson 66), White Subs (not used): C Mackay, Toshney, McCart, Welsh. Scorers: none Booked: B Mckay (71), White (72), Doran (78) Sent Off: none a

Ayr do Back to League business this weekend as Inverness make the journey to Somerset Park to take on Championship play-off contenders, Ayr United. The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday at the same venue where Ross County were dumped out of the Scottish Cup last week. There's only four points separating the sides at the moment and this should be another tight affair. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match and Travel Information can be found on the OFFICIAL SITE @ ICTFC We're in the money £££ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's been a rewarding fixture for us in recent seasons, including last season when we beat Ayr in the away leg of the play-off and both league fixtures at Somerset Park. We have already beaten Ayr away this season back in October when goals from James Vincent and Shaun Rooney were enough to earn the points. The second meeting this campaign was another 2-0 win in the Highlands, Jordan White and Miles Storey the scorers. Last time out we were on Cup duty and recorded a hard fought 2-3 win over Alloa Athletic at Recreation Park. We were pegged back twice after Aaron Doran opened the scoring. Jordan White put us ahead again only for Kevin O'Hara to get his second of the game. Charlie Trafford scored the vital winner with only a handful of minutes remaining. Ayr pulled off a minor upset by knocking our neighbours out of the Cup thanks to a powerful headed goal from seasoned professional Steven Bell. Form since we last met in the league Last time we met was back on the 7th of December, and after winning 2-0 in the Highlands we were five points ahead of Ayr. Since then we have won two (Pars & Dundee) and lost two (Partick & Arbroath), plus a win over Alloa in the Scottish Cup. Our game against Queen of the South fell foul of the weather. In December, Ayr had a midweek draw with Arbroath then beat Alloa before losing to Dundee United and Queen of the South. They started January with an away win at Dunfermline, a postponed fixture at Dens Park and beat Ross County in the Scottish Cup. So form is fairly even at the moment at that is mirrored in the League table with Ayr just one place and four points behind Inverness now. Fixtures this weekend Dunfermline v Dundee (Friday) Ayr United v Inverness Arbroath v Partick Thistle Dundee Utd v Morton Queen of Sth v Alloa Robbo said ahead of the game: “We’ve got to go down there and do what we’ve done at Dens Park and Alloa, that’s go down there and be very busy and very proactive with the ball and when we lose it make sure we’re nice and solid. The key to our success all season is our solidity at the back.” Whilst that is very true Robbo, you would wonder why the club can not hold on to the heart of the defence until the end of a possible promotion campaign. Is there enough ambition left at the Caledonian Stadium? Team News It was great to see Tom Walsh back on the park last week after hamstring problems and a further bonus to have Sean Welsh on the bench as he recovers from a second broken foot. These guys have been out for a while now and it will be like having two new signings when they are both back up to speed. Unfortunately the loss of Coll Donaldson is a blow and the impending departure of Jamie McCart adds to our misery. McCart is still here for now unless St Johnstone dig deep into their pockets. It remains to be seen if McCart will be asked to play for the club he wants away from. However, we have to go with what we have and Lewis Toshney will come into defence with Brad Mckay and Kevin McHattie also looking to claim a place. There will be plenty room for them all should Shaun Rooney turn his back on us as well. Mark Kerr has strengthened his squad by signing Grant Gillespie from Hamilton Accies. Jordan Houston has also joined from Rangers. Kerr will be without Craig Moore, Andy Geggan and Andy Murdoch, but Grant Gillespie will be added to the squad. Speaking on Ayr United's official site Kerr said : ”We don’t need reminding that we don’t have the greatest recent record against Inverness, it is just another game and another opportunity to pick up points and continue this wee run we are on. We know what Inverness are all about. They are extremely well organised, everyone knows their jobs and they play good football at times as well. It’s a challenge that we are looking forward to and we’ve been working had on a plan all week to get the best out of the players tomorrow afternoon. The last couple of games have proved that we are able to mix it up now and win games a different way.” Oops, sorry for the reminder Mark. We have some good news and some bad news for you this week First the good news. The club have reached their original investment target of £500K and have issued a statement to that effect. In fact they have exceeded expectations and you can read about it HERE The bad news is the break up of our defence with Coll Donaldson already away and Jamie McCart following him out the door in the summer if not sooner. As expected, after sitting on the bench at Alloa, Jamie McCart is next to go. He will be on his way to Perth in the summer unless we can sell him now for a few pennies. Sometimes life's a bitch! The final blow would be the departure of the much sought after Shaun Rooney who has been in tremendous form for the Caley Jags lately. Sadly Tommy Wright wants to tie up both players before the weekend. With the run in for a play-off place at stake, this is indeed not what the fans want to hear. Scottish Cup Draw Coll Donaldson is now confined to history after he left the building to join Ross County before last weeks Scottish Cup ties. However, unlike his former Inverness team mates, he won't be in the next round of the cup as Ayr sent them homewards, tae think again. Inverness will host Livingston in the next round, the weekend of February the 8th. Now then, that date rings a bell!

Charlie is me darling....... Inverness go into the hat for the fifth round draw tomorrow night, and that's not something that Coll Donaldson can say. Aaron Doran fired in a tremendous early opening goal but Kevin O'Hara levelled before the break. Jordan White headed a second on the hour but again the Wasps struck back again through Kevin O'Hara before a late Charlie Trafford header saw Inverness through this difficult tie without the need for a replay. Happy days for Inverness and even happier for Jordan White who scored a goal and announced a baby boy incoming with his wife Alana. Congratulations from all at CTOxxx. With Coll Donaldson preferring to play his football over the bridge, and Jamie McCart tellingly on the bench, we drafted fit again Brad Mckay and Kevin McHattie into central defence with Jordan White leading the attack. The good news was that Tom Walsh and Sean Welsh were both on the bench with Tom making an appearance after the interval. Alloa were without veteran and top scorer Alan Trouten, the onus falling to Liam Buchanan to get the goals. Top Championship shot stopper Jamie MacDonald was in goals for the Wasps with top shut-out keeper Mark Ridgers at the opposite end. Something was going to give. Thankfully the rain had relented and it was game on, and it only took eight minutes for Aaron Doran to bulge the net after a defensive slip gave him room to score after Shaun Rooney crossed in from the right. Ten minutes later Alloa were level when Kevin Cawley met a near post corner from Flannigan to squeeze the ball into the net. Jamie MacDonald had to save from Jordan White as the visitors tried to regain the upper hand but it was the hosts that began to take control of proceedings as Alloa's Jon Robertson shot wide. Adam Brown had two efforts saved by Mark Ridgers in the space of three minutes as the pace of the game increased, Ridgers making a third save from Brown just before the break. Half time 1-1 No changes at the interval and Inverness made a strong start to the second half with White hooking a ball over the bar and Ridgers making an excellent save to deny Liam Buchanan. Tom Walsh made his comeback with Storey leaving the field and after Inverness won a couple of corners, the third one proved fruitful when White headed Doran's ball behind MacDonald to put the visitors back in front. The lead lasted fourteen minutes this time before Kevin O'Hara volleyed a second equaliser for Alloa from a deflected cross. Game on once more! Carl Tremarco had a header deflected wide as we looked to get our noses back in front in this see-saw tussle and substitute Tom Walsh was just too high with a shot over the bar as the game entered the final ten minutes. An unlikely hero would emerge from the pack in the shape of Charlie Trafford when he nodded in from close range in the 86th minute after a Doran corner had been headed back into the box by Shaun Rooney. Scenes! Goal hero Trafford left the field shortly after scoring with a possible head knock to be replaced by David Carson to see out the final few minutes. Caught on camera.................. That's a good win for Inverness after a difficult week with tranfers and speculation. By the way, how did your weekend go Coll? Robbo happy enough after a tough tie....... Here's the scores on the doors from the Scottish Cup weekend. Dundee United v Hibs on Sunday afternoon. Only one replay so far and congratulations to BSC Glasgow who go into the fifth round. Aberdeen scrape through against the Sons, Hissy unlucky against Clyde and Ayr United dump some team out of the event. You've got to love a bit of Scottish Cup action. The highlights from Alloa TV Date: 18/01/2020 Venue: Recreation Park, Alloa Attendance: 590 Referee: Willie Collum Alloa Athletic : 2 Lineup: MacDonald; Robertson, Taggart, Deas, Dick, Cawley, Hetherington, Brown (Thomson 65), Flannigan, Buchanan (Connelly), O'Hara Subs (not used): Henry, Gilhooley, Malcolm, O'Donnell. Scorers: O'Hara (18) O'Hara(75) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Lineup: Ridgers; Rooney, B Mckay, McHattie, Tremarco, Doran, Trafford (Carson 90), Vincent, Storey (Walsh 57), Keatings (MacGregor 83), White Subs (not used): C Mackay, McCart, Wesh, Todorov. Scorers: Doran (8), White (61), Trafford (86) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Scottish Cup 4th round Since winning the Scottish Cup in May 2015, it has been all downhill for Inverness. Relegation from the Premiership followed in season 2016/2017 and we find ourselves now in our third season in the Championship watching Dundee United disappear into the distance with a play-off place our only hope of getting back into the promised land. However, it's time for a break as it's Scottish Cup weekend. Who is going to take the trophy away from Parkhead? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match info and Travel Club details can be found on ICTFC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For The Caley Jags it's a tricky trip to Clackmannanshire to face Alloa Athletic on the synthetic surface, a surface that fell foul of the weather last weekend as rain lashed the whole of Scotland with postponements curtailing the fixture lists. The cup game kicks off at 3:00pm at Recreation Park, or if the sponsors want to be heard, then it's the Indodrill Stadium. Robbo will have his work cut out to motivate the squad with all the transfer talk and that could have an effect on his squad for this game. Coll Donaldson has left the building already, others will follow as money talks. Look for Lewis Toshney coming in to the squad for the Championship games. Brad Mckay and Kevin McHattie already having some game time in central defence will surely replace Coll Donaldson this weekend with Toshney cuptied, having played for Falkirk already in the competition. At least we still have the top shut-out keeper in the Championship in Mark Ridgers. He likes to keep his sheets clean and has racked up 11 so far this season. That's better than Siegrist (Dundee United), MacGregor (Rangers) and Forster (Celtic). Mark has made 60 saves from 20 appearances. Incidentally, our opposition keeper this week, Jamie MacDonald has made the most saves so far with 78 from 16 games. Busy man, let's hope we keep him busy this weekend. Robbo has confirmed that Tom Walsh is available for selection after a prolonged hamstring injury and Sean Welsh is close to making a comeback after his second broken foot. Gringo's Gripe: Super Caley have a great cup pedigree but, as you point out, the squad could be side tracked by on going transfer talk and unsettled players. Dreams of a higher wage and a 'well-I'm-leaving-soon-anyway' attitude may take it's toll if we concede the first goal. On paper we should win this tie but if the paper is soggy we could slip up on the banana skins on the plastic pitch. Tommy Tremarco said pick that one out Jamie..... Scottish Cup 4th round Should be some entertaining ties coming up and at least one non league side will be in the draw with East Kilbride playing BSC Glasgow. BSC put East Fife out of the cup in the previous round with an excellent 3-4 win. Brora Rangers were the last Highland league side to go out of the competition this year after a 3-1 defeat to Morton in a replay at Dudgeon Park. The action kicks off on Friday night when Rangers entertain Stranraer and ends on Sunday evening when runaway Championship side Dundee United host Hibernian. Holders Celtic begin their defence of the trophy with an all Glasgow tie against championship strugglers Partick Thistle on Saturday evening. Alloa have only made the fifth round once in the last 13 seasons. Inverness have made it that far in nine of the last ten seasons. Here's the best goals from the previous round..... The January Sales. The sales are in full swing and the rumour mill is working overtime. Mitch Curry has already returned to Middlesbrough and Cameron Harper has gone to Elgin City. Coming back to Inverness on a pre-contract is striker Shane Sutherland unless we feel the need to get him in sooner. Shane left Inverness in 2013 to play at Borough Briggs having previously been on loan there. As it looks like we will need to re-assemble almost our entire defence, Robbo has made a shrewd signing in 27 year old defender Lewis Toshney who last played for Falkirk. Money does talk, and rumours of major departures from the Caley Jags seem to be surrounding our defence with Coll Donaldson already heading over the bridge with immediate effect. He has gone to Roy for an undisclosed fee, maybe he will show some interest now that his wages have increased, something we were unable to offer due to our financial plight. Maybe our paths will cross in the promotion play-offs, now that would be fun. Shaun Rooney and Jamie McCart are also attracting a lot of attention with St Johnstone, Dundee and Partick Thistle allegedly courting these players. The departures will open the door for Lewis Toshney, Brad Mckay and Kevin McHattie to stake their claim for a regular start. Well, there's nobody else in the way now.

***Game off*** There's another preview wasted; meh! It's Dobbie time. Steven Dobbie takes the rest of his entourage North this weekend as Inverness host Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. The game kicks off at 3:00pm and let's hope the wind and rain relents somewhat so we can avoid trampolines and other objects seen hurtling around Inverness this past week. Oh dear, the weather has won, the game has been called off on Friday after a 12:00inspection. Our last game saw a return to form as we ran out comfortable winners over a resurgent Dundee at Dens Park. Two superb first half goals from Aaron Doran and James Keatings gave us the platform to go on and dominate the first forty-five and from there on in we were never in danger. What a difference a week made after the disappointment of the Arbroath defeat to end 2019. The Doonhamers took on the other half of Dundee at Palmerston but narrowly went down 1-0 as Mark Connolly headed the winner early into the second half. After last week's games, Queen of the South find themselves in sixth position, ten points behind second place Inverness but still only three points above the relegation play-off place occupied by Morton. These two teams have a crucial catch up game to play against each other. Lots of players moving back and fore in the January sales and Mitch Curry has returned to Middlesbrough after his injury disrupted spell in the Highlands. I suppose he was more of a Korma than a Vindaloo, but good luck to him for the future. Less pleasing are the strong rumours that Coll Donaldson could be on his way over the bridge on a pre-contract while Shaun Rooney could be heading to Dundee, with St Johnstone showing interest as well. Another in danger of leaving is Tom Walsh, although he would be less of a miss due to recent injury problems, although on his game he can be a match winner. I'm afraid money talks, and we won't be splashing much cash around unless we get contracts bought out now. Anyway, it's all speculation at the moment, but it's no secret that Donaldson and a few others would prefer a bigger wage. In fact, rumours would have it that half our squad are being targeted such is our financial disposition. Cest la vie! Gringo's thoughts.......... Caley Jags are so difficult to predict these days. They blow very hot and cold. This should be a massive three points for us but....I'm struggling to find any confidence that they can do so. Distractions of higher wages and new contracts could have an affect on the minds especially if we concede the first goal. Some guys might get that 'well I'm leaving soon for a higher wage anyway so this game doesn't matter attitude' I'd hope they are more professional than that though. NPL says FT 2-1 Pfffftttt A bit damp around the penalty box