tm4tj

Fir Park six-pointer. It's getting close to last chance saloon for Inverness as they try to stave off relegation. A visit to fellow strugglers Motherwell is our last game before the League split, a split that will determine our fate over the final five games of this dismal season. It's probably fitting that the bottom two clubs at this moment are Inverness and Motherwell, the clubs with the worst defensive record in the League. Inverness' only away win all season came at Motherwell back in October. It kind of came out of the blue although it was nonetheless very welcome at the time. Second half goals from Carl Tremarco, Lonsana Doumbouya, and Liam Polworth catapulted rookie boss Richie Foran's side into the top-six. Here we go we all thought. Alas, a devastating one win in the twenty-one League games since then has plummeted Foran's flops to the brink of relegation, four points adrift of second bottom Motherwell. It's been a season to forget for Caley Jags fans with a total of four wins to date, the worst statistic in British senior football. Speculation grew in the media this week that Foran was about to get the bullet, but the club quickly dispelled any truth in the hype surrounding this, although many fans fear it's a couple of months too late in the making. The board won't like this either, but many pundits are looking to them as guilty parties in this sorry mess. Foran's appointment being the main topic and appearing to be the cheap option. Club legend Barry Wilson talking on BBC Sport is pointing his finger at the board. "The buck stops with the board. They made the appointment, they took the gamble and, at the minute, it's certainly not looking as if it's worked. "Richie needed his own man in there as an assistant, he wasn't granted that, so there had to be a partnership between Brian and Richie - and I don't think that's there. That doesn't help." We are not relegated yet though and should we defeat Motherwell, then more opportunities will surely come along after the split, but the statistics don't back that up with only four wins in thirty-two games, why should the last five be any different. We showed nothing against St Johnstone to suggest that we are up for a battle and if anything, most of the players look resigned to Championship football already. We plumbed new depths against St Johnstone going down without much fight 3-0 at home with two players sent off. Larnell Cole during the second half and Gary Warren after the final whistle. Nothing went right for us and heads went down too early, the Cole sending of just brought forward the capitulation. The Steelmen lost 1-0 to surprise top-six qualifiers Partick Thistle who have had a great season by their recent standards. That defeat was Well's seventh in the last ten games with only one win and two draws. Well parted company with Mark McGhee at the end of February after a run of two wins in thirteen games. Seems not too bad considering some managers have had worse records. However the straw that broke the donkey's back was a 5-1 thrashing from Dundee. A month later they appointed Stephen Robinson as the man to get them out of trouble. His first game saw the bounce help them to a win over Killie, but that has been followed by no wins in their last five games and we have edged one point closer to them by virtue of an extra draw. Inverness will be missing the suspended duo of Larnell Cole and Gary Warren. Josh Meekings, Iain Vigurs and Aaron Doran are long term absentees. David Raven missed last weekend with a groin strain and is a doubt as is fellow defender Jamie McCart. One massive blow to our hopes is that Billy Mckay is struggling to make this one. Jake Mulraney featured for the development squad in midweek and he will benefit from some game time. Kev McNaughton played last weekend against St Johnstone, but maybe found the pace too much given his lengthy spell out and the role he was offered, but his quality showed through. Motherwell have Keith Lasley suspended for this game. Stephen McManus is recovering from a groin operation and is not expected back yet. Richard Tait has also been under the knife and is out having missed the last seven games. Louis Moult is a doubt for this game. tm4tj prediction:- I despair watching the Caley Jags at the moment. The lack of passion is evident, the lack of quality is evident, the lack of ambition is evident, the lack of creation is evident. On this evidence, we are heading one way unless the manager and players can find something that's been missing all season. I don't hold out much hope for a win, maybe a draw, but it's who wants it the most. Home win looks likeliest. Other games in the relegation watch this weekend:- Dundee v Hamilton. Dundee have lost their last 6 games on the bounce. Accies have 2 wins & 2 draws in last 6. Killie v Hearts. Killie are on the verge of safety, a win over Hearts would make them unlikely candidates.

Relegation battle begins in earnest. St Johnstone bring their own Marquess of Queensberry brand of football to the Highlands when they visit the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the games start to run out for the Caley Jags in our quest to avoid relegation. Here's a wee tune to welcome the Boxers We were at Pittodrie in midweek and came away empty handed after a Garry Warren own goal gave Aberdeen all three points. The Dons had previously hammered Dundee but found Inverness a tougher nut to crack. We had our own moments during the game but the Dons looked menacing when they broke forward at pace. Despite our massive effort, we fell short of scoring a vital goal and that result ensures we remain bottom of the League for now. St Johnstone were at home to Hearts on Wednesday night and won 1-0 courtesy of a Joe Shaughnessy header. That keeps them firmly in 4th place. However, it was their previous game against Hamilton that ended in farce after a boxing bout broke out between two of their own players, Danny Swanson and Richard Foster. The joke was on us though as Hamilton Accies took advantage of nine man Perth and took all three points. Not much going our way just now, what with late goals, own goals, penalties and expected wins for other teams failing to materialise. Sometimes it's just not your season. This appears to be sometimes. One win in twenty League games is relegation form I'm afraid, and with only seven games remaining, it's difficult to see how and when we can rectify that. The odds are stacking against us. We have had too many draws of late that were not converted into wins and that is killing us. Other teams have lost more games than us over the last ten, Motherwell have conceded the most goals and have the worst goal difference, yet it's Inverness that are in danger of being cut adrift. Meh! One of our four wins this season was the first fixture between the clubs in August, 2-1 in the Highlands. Ross Draper opened the scoring but Richard Foster leveled the game. It took a very late Josh Meekings prod to win the game at the death. The return encounter at Perth saw St Johnstone cruise home untroubled, winning 3-0. Liam Craig, Murray Davidson and Danny Swanson scored for Saints and Garry Warren got himself red carded after an hour. Richie Foran will not have Josh Meekings, Aaron Doran or Iain Vigurs available. Carl Tremarco came through his comeback at Pittodrie unscathed, as did Kevin McNaughton. Jake Mulraney missed out at Pittodrie and his pace on the wing was missed, and he might be missing this one as well. David Raven is rumoured to be struggling to make this one with a groin injury. Tommy Wright will have to do without his cage fighters Danny Swanson and Richard Foster. I don't believe they will be exchanging Xmas cards this year. Keith Watson, Ally Gilchrist and Chris Kane will also sit this one out. However, Steven Anderson and Murray Davidson could be fit enough to be included in the Perth squad. tm4tj prediction:- Well, judging purely on statistics we will have little chance of getting something from this. However, with the two scrappers out suspended then that throws us a lifeline as well. Swanson has been a success this season with a dozen goals and they will miss his contribution. We need to turn defeats into draws and draws into wins. Our commitment has been good recently but we lack the quality and direction needed to see us through the final phase of the campaign. We can do this, it won't be pretty, but pretty never won anything, so let's get the job done, starting at home this weekend. Narrow and ugly home win. With Motherwell and Accies drawing and County beating Dundee in midweek with a last minute penalty, that keeps four other teams within six points of Inverness. So, it's up to us now. A win this weekend would be massive and set us up for a six-pointer showdown with Motherwell the week after, the last game before the League split. Remember 15 points up for grabs in the bottom-six games, still a chance to squirm out if the shit yet. Other games concerning teams at the wrong end of the table:- Celtic v Kilmarnock Hamilton v Ross County Hearts v Dundee Partick v Motherwell