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The Campbell's are coming Oh-Ho! Oh-Ho! Arbroath will be heading North on Saturday for matchday 3 of the shortened Championship season. It's a 3:00pm kick-off and another closed doors game due to covid19 restrictions. Let's hope the sun is not shining on the assistant referees napper this week. I'm certain some punters gave the linesman points in the Player of the Year poll, such was his stage presence last Saturday. The Smokies returned to Championship football last season and were a thorn in our side, inflicting a thumping 3-0 defeat at Gayfield and stunning Inverness 1-0 at the Caledonian Stadium. The first encounter saw Inverness stumble over the line with a 2-1 win. Fast forward to October, along came covid to save us more damage at the hands of the Red Lichties. Well done to Dick Campbell and his brother Ian and his coaching staff for an excellent season consolidating back into the Championship and taking some great scalps along the way. The game can be found live online by registering on the SPFL Portal and logging in to your account. Season Ticket holders will have a code to redeem and PPV viewers can watch the action for only a £enner. Let's hope the stream has been tweaked since last week. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LIVE STREAMING Official Preview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's not been a great start for either side this campaign. We lost at East End Park and salvaged a draw at home to Ayr United and the linesmans head. In our defence we almost have a full team on the treatment table. Yes, its a big table. Arbroath fell foul of the promotion bounce and lost 3-0 at Raith where the dancing in the streets began. Their second game saw them lose narrowly to Championship favourites Hearts in a game they probably should have taken something from. Former Dundee and St Johnstone player Gavin Swankie is back on the field after a season plagued with injury and his experience will be vital for the Lichties. Bobby Linn has always been a problem for our defenders and is still capable of troubling the best defences. Kris Doolan comes in from Partick Thistle to add even more experience and is a threat up front. His former Partick team mate James Craigen is another who has been round the block, as is Ricky Little, so plenty of guile within the squad to guide the younger members through another season in the Championship. Former Morton keeper Derek Gaston was a standout last campaign and is a difficult man to pass. With Hearts on Cup duty this weekend, it's a chance for front runners Raith Rovers and Dunfermline to stretch their legs at the top of the table which will leave the rest playing catch-up. Raith & Pars were the big winners last week and look likeliest to get in the Jambos face. Games coming up this weekend: Dundee v Raith Rovers Dunf Ath v Queen of the South Morton v Ayr United ICT FC v Arbroath Injuries R Us is the new trading name for the Caley Jags. Eight first team players missing last week is not really what the doctor ordered. Most will be out for the next few weeks which means we have to rely on the young team to see us through the opening month or two. In fairness, they have coped reasonably well in the opening two fixtures. Arise Sir Pixellot Right, it's time for a moan: Its Thursday 2:00pm, five days after the Ayr game and the silence from the Caledonian Stadium is deafening. The live streaming of the first home game was a mixed bag to be honest. It was supposed to go live around half hour before kick-off. However the wheel of doom was the only thing visible once we negotiated the registration and login. Just after 2:45 we suddenly got a live picture of players warming up. The image was distant, and looking from the main stand into the low Autumn sun from the West. Not only did that make viewing difficult, it made the stadium look like a public park as cars drove along the dual carriageway towards the Kessock Bridge. As the Pixellot system has technology allowing it to be unmanned, the automatic ball following sensor would often track the cars and more so the follicly challenged head of the assistant referee. I'm certain he will be given an assist for the Ayr goal as they surged forward down the stand side. I know it's all new to everyone, but maybe someone could have done their homework on this camera and worked out how to get the best out of the system and promote the club in the the best way possible. Surely it's better to look towards the main stand, even if it is empty, than stare into the glare of the sun and the landscape surrounding the Kessock Bridge. We had excellent highlights from our own Caley Jags TV which put the live stream to shame. Now, I'm not one for having a go at the club in general, but why has there been no feedback emanating from the Stadium to even explain the reason behind the poor quality of the stream. I'm in the "It's better than nothing" camp, but many paying customers feel disappointed with the offering received for their hard earned cash in difficult times. If I'm being totally honest, its hard to disagree, but for goodness sake speak up and tell the fans why this happened and more importantly what they are going to do about it before we face more ridicule from fans around the country. They have managed to do a promo for drive in movies and wall of fame tiles, how about a wee communication with feedback on how well the Pixellot system never did. I never liked her songs anyway...... Rant over and I hope a few tweaks make it more enjoyable for everyone 🙂 Since then, Scott Gardner told the P&J "There were going to be teething problems for the first game. We didn’t think it was going to be a bald headed linesman, but you live and learn. If the sun is not out it’s not a problem. “The league are in charge of it. They are aware of it and working on it. “It wasn’t as bad as everyone was saying but it wasn’t ideal". Really! Understatement alert! ***Latest Team News*** First the good news. Kai Kennedy has been called into the Scotland u21 squad for the forth coming EUFA qualifiers against Croatia and Greece. He will also be available this weekend after featuring on the bench last Saturday. Now for the bad news: there is no more good news. The treatment table is massive. It's too soon for Aaron Doran, David Carson, Lewis Toshney, Kevin McHattie and Miles Storey. Sean Welsh, James Vincent and Shane Sutherland also missed out last week in a well kept top secret mission to not inform anyone what was happening to them. So, looks like we will be relying on the young guys to see us through these difficult times with hopefully Nikolay Todorov staying injury free. Without giving anything away, Robbo has hinted that one or two might make the squad, I'm guessing that might be Sutherland, Welsh and Vincent. The Campbell's are coming North with a pretty much injury and suspension free squad. Kris Doolan could well be starting and Bobby Linn would be a great impact player should he not be in the starting XI. They have run Hearts and Ross County close this season, expect this to be another difficult game. Don't forget your dose of Wyness Shuffle to blow away your Halloween blues. Pumpkins & PPV We pick out our Highland Highlight’s of the season so far (1:45) The pod picks over the bones of the recent games against Hearts and Cowdenbeath in the League Cup as well as our opening league matches against Dunfermline and Ayr (3:50) The Digital Elephant in the Room – match day streaming and thoughts on the experience so far (18:30) A View from the Opposition Terrace – Moff dials up Ayr fan and Ayrshire Post reporter Stuart Wilson to get his views on the draw with The Honest Men (24:59) We try to look into the future and predict what might happen in our forthcoming league games against Arbroath and Hearts before the League Cup restarts and we face Raith Rovers and East Fife (36:48) Get to know one of the new faces in the ICT squad as Wallace Duffy chats with Riley who continues grafting for freebies (49:45) Nightmare XI is back for Hallowe’en but who is next in line for a place in the side? (59:50) We received some great questions on Twitter this week. We do our best to answer them with the return of mailbag (1:04:12)

All square with Ayr. Better late than never, the live stream burst onto the laptop 15 minutes before kick-off and it was game-on. Inverness had the first chance when Todorov headed off the underside of the bar, the ball adjudged not to have crossed the line. Todorov also slid one just wide as did Cameron Harper. Young keeper Silisano also made a couple of good saves to deny the eager hosts. Mark Ridgers made one great save and the ball ricocheted around the box like a game of bagatelle, but at the break it was 0-0 with Inverness making most of the running. Substitute Innes Cameron opened the scoring seconds after replacing Joe Chalmers before the hour. Nikolay Todorov squared matters with five minutes left. Ridgers denied Ayr at the death and a point apiece it was. It's the first live streamed match from the Caledonian Stadium and Ayr United were the visitors on a blustery October Saturday afternoon. It's another covid restricted game so no spectators allowed into the stadium. Nikolay Todorov was deemed fit enough to start, but Inverness were without Miles Storey, Sean Welsh, James Vincent, Aaron Doran, Lewis Toshney, Kevin McHattie, and David Carson. Shane Sutherland never made the squad either but Kai Kennedy would be available. Not a great start to the season for Inverness injury wise. That is possibly an award winning statement. Ayr have Luke McCowan suspended and Tom Walsh is out with a hamstring injury. New signing Cammy Smith started with Innes Cameron on the bench. What could possibly go wrong in the first live streamed game from the Caledonian Stadium. Well, that's another debate, it was watchable suffice to say. Maybe the camera's will be moved to the West side gantray as the low Autumn sun was causing as much havoc as the assistant referee's hairless head. On the park Todorov rattled the bar with a powered header and the ball bounced down and away in the first five minutes. Great effort from the big striker, the ball appeared to hit the bar, line, bar, line then scrambled away. Ooft! Ridgers made a superb one handed save in the 17th minute and from the following scrambulation, the ball ricocheted around before Brad Mckay popped up on the line to scoop clear. Cameron Harper fired a powerful free kick round the wall from the edge of the box but the keeper kept it out as Inverness controlled the pace of the game. Toddy went through on goal on a great ball forward but managed to hit the stanchion behind the goal instead of bulging the net. Good power from the big man, pity bout the finish. A loose ball on the angle of the box was curled wide as the hosts looked likeliest to open the scoring and a wonderful swift break from our own box saw Harper fed through on the left. Unfortunately his powerful shot rose just over the bar. Cammy redeemed more than his voucher moments later when he hooked one off his own line following an Ayr raid. That was a mere distraction from the attacking intent of the hosts and Daniel Mackay sent a swerving shot on target from distance that the Ayr keeper saved brilliantly. Half Time 0-0 However, we were undone by our own sloppiness just before the hour. Ayr substitute Innes Cameron slotted home calmly after an Inverness foray forward broke down tamely. Some shoddy backtracking and good speed from Ayr saw Cameron stroke the ball home tidily. Harsh on the hosts. The goal spurred Ayr on and Ridgers stooped to gather a shot from 25 yards comfortably. Kai Kennedy was introduced and he sent a long ball onto Toddy's head but the keeper gathered easily. Some frantic defending kept Inverness at bay as we probed for an equaliser. It would come in the 85th minute as Toddy turned on a super cross into the penalty area from substitute Ryan Fyffe and he wheeled before hitting it early, low behind a static keeper. Great goal and no more than we deserved. Into time added on and we had Ridgers to thank for pulling off a tremendous diving one handed save (think Mike Fraser against Celtic) to keep the score level. Top corner, top drawer. Considering our circumstances this was a good result with eight players missing. The debate about the streaming rages on elsewhere...... Official Match Report from ICTFC Highlights from Caley Jags TV Robbo talking post match https://www.facebook.com/ICTFC/videos/387817095577014 Date: 24/10/2020 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Alan Muir Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, B Mckay (Fyffe 75), Devine, MacGregor, Harper, Allardice, Keatings (Kennedy 71), D Mackay, Todorov. Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Harkness, Scorers: Todorov (86) Booked: Devine (54), Allardice (68) Duffy (90 +1) Sent Off: none Ayr United: 1 Lineup: Silisano; Muirhead, Reading, Baird, Roscoe; Miller, Murdoch, Chalmers (Cameron 57), Moffat (Houston 79) Smith (Hewit 90+2), Anderson. Subs (not used): Hare-Reid; Kerr, Smith, McKenzie, Scorers: Cameron (57) Booked: Miller (62) Sent Off: none a

Ayr today, gone tomorrow It's matchday two this weekend in the Ladbrokes Championship and the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium are Ayr United who have two former Caley Jags players in their ranks. Tom Walsh and Joe Chalmers joined the Honest Men in the summer and could be in the squad this weekend for the game that kicks off at 3:00pm. It is of course another covid restricted game played behind closed doors, with Alan Muir the man in charge of proceedings. Ayr's one and only win at the Caledonian Stadium came in 2003. That's seventeen years ago, and since then it has been five draws and four defeats for the Honest Men. Live streaming is available for all home Championship games through your season ticket or PPV for any game. The Ayr game will be our first broadcast match and can be viewed through the SPFL Portal. Let's hope it all runs smoothly. The link below takes you to the SPFL Portal from where you can view the games. You must have already registered to gain access to this portal. All live matches available on the platform are broadcast from a Pixellot camera, one of which has been installed at each Scottish Championship ground. The camera is unmanned and uses ball tracking technology. These cameras will produce 1080p (HD) footage and the broadcast will come with commentary. What could possibly go wrong...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Live Streaming link & PPV Official ICTFC Preview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The opening fixtures saw mixed fortunes for the teams with Inverness going down 3-1 at East End Park. Nikolay Todorov had given us the lead in 88 seconds, converting a tantalising cross from Daniel Mackay. Unfortunately Pars captain Euan Murray scored his 4th goal of the season, all with the head, to level matters. Ryan Dow prodded home from close range as we failed to clear our lines in the last quarter of an hour and Declan McManus fired a superb strike into the top corner across keeper Mark Ridgers to seal the points. A disappointing outcome where we matched the home side for long spells but slackness at the back benefited Dunfermline who took full advantage and all three points with two goals in the final twelve minutes. To compound matters, goalscorer Todorov had to leave the pitch twenty minutes in after a nasty collision with Euan Murray where he took a heavy knock from which he never recovered. That's all three strikers crocked one game into the season to add to four other regulars that were unavailable. Meh! Here's the early strike from Toddy before he joined the crocked list...... Ayr opened their account by beating Queen of the South 2-1 at Somerset Park. Defender Michael Miller scored both goals with Stephen Dobbie grabbing a penalty for the Doonhamers. Both sides ended the game with ten men as Luke McCowan was sent off in stoppage time for Ayr with James Maxwell likewise for Queens just after the hour. Ayr had to thank nineteen year old Finnish keeper Viljami Sinisalo for making a magnificent save to deny Gregor Buchanan in the dying embers of time added on. A hard earned three points for Ayr, but it's three more than we got. Our injury woes are well documented with Miles Storey, Nikolay Todorov and Shane Sutherland all injured. David Carson, Lewis Toshney, Aaron Doran and Danny Devine all missed the Pars game although Devine was an unused sub. Kai Kennedy should be available after his isolation from the Scotland u19 squad covid problems. Dorans sketch is all we have seen of him so far this season. Here's the breakdown on the broken players: Lewis Toshney (hip flexor), Kevin McHattie (hip), David Carson (muscle), Miles Storey (torn hamstring), Nikolay Todorov (rib and lung bruising), Aaron Doran (knee) and Shane Sutherland (hamstring strain). Dario Zanatta was rested for the opener and Tom Walsh also missed out. Walsh has the Caley Jags jinx, hamstring problems. However, Joe Chalmers played and Patrick Reading made his competitive debut. Bruce Anderson and Michael Miller also featured and young Finnish keeper Sinisalo had a good afternoon. Other Championship fixtures this weekend. ARBROATH 0-1 HEARTS (Fri) ALLOA v DUNFERMLINE DUNDEE v MORTON QUEENS v RAITH ***LATEST TEAM NEWS*** John Robertson is without a number of players, particularly up front with Miles Storey and Nikolay Todorov out. Shane Sutherland is struggling to be ready in time and will be assessed late. Aaron Doran and David Carson have not featured in pre-season and Lewis Toshney was injured during it. Kai Kennedy has met his new pals and will enter the squad. Hopefully he will get some time on the park. Danny Devine will be fit enough to be included as he made the bench last week. Brad Mckay and Kevin McHattie have had to play in the opening games despite not being up to speed yet after a disjointed pre-season. Jesus Christ, he's like buses. Nothing for eight months then two images at the same time. Hi Aaron, hiya pal! Remember, all will be revealed soon as we enter the age of streaming where video will be the order of the day, so stay tuned to any statements coming from ICTFC or any of their media outlets such as Facebook or Twitter. Ayr signed Dundee United midfielder Cammy Smith on loan two days before they came North and he will go straight into their squad. He is signed until January, as is striker Innes Cameron who comes in on loan from Kilmarnock ahead of the trip North. Jordan Houston could return along with Zanatta, but Walsh looks set for another week or two on the sidelines. Luke McCowan is suspended after his late sending off against Queen of the South last Saturday. The evergreen Michael Moffat will be a threat as always. The 35 year old is still one to be watched and along with Cammy Smith will provide the pace and ammunition for the rest. Don't forget to check out all the latest from the fabulous Wyness Shuffle guys....