tm4tj

Capital Return Game Off A welcome return to the Capital for Inverness Caledonian Thistle this weekend. It's been too long and this is our first League visit to Tynecastle since February 2013 after both Hearts and Hibs tasted relegation over the last couple of seasons. We have all missed our trips to Edinburgh since the demise of the Capitals big two, and this one comes along just in time for some Xmas retail therapy and mulled wine ahead of the festivities. However, if you are travelling from the North side of Edinburgh, be aware that the Forth Road Bridge is closed both ways for structural repair and you will have to take the long way round. I don't see why we can't use the fifth bridge. It doesn't rain but it pours, and a pitch inspection will be carried out at 07:30 tomorrow. Inverness looked relatively comfortable last weekend against Celtic but the same old failings cost us dear. A bit of slackness in defence and a lack of creation were evident as Celtic ran out eventual winners by three goals to one. It was great to have Gary Warren and Ross Draper back in the starting line up, but without the tenacity and creativity of the injured Ryan Christie, we were pretty toothless up front, despite the best efforts of Miles Storey who scored his seventh goal of the season. Celtic recovered well from their disappointment in the Ajax tie. They were deservedly hauled level at the break but they were able to ease towards the three points without much fear of retaliation in the second half. We could consider ourselves a tad unlucky given the circumstances of the killer third goal, but if you don't create sufficient chances for the front men, then you will invariably come up short. We had to play Danny Williams at left back against Celtic with Carl Tremarco out through injury. That is no bad thing, but one wonders why we are persisting with Josh Meekings at right back and David Raven on the bench, unless of course he is carrying an injury. Meekings and Warren were a formidable force in our cup winning season, but since Warren's injury, we have played Danny Devine in the centre back position. That was fine when we had no other options, but what are we waiting for now. Scoring goals has been a problem all season and with Yogi penning a new deal, will we see one or two following in his footsteps. It would be prudent to try and get Miles Storey on board before someone else notices his potential and prises him away. We have yet to see the best of Tobi Sho-Silva since he arrived. His best wee cameo was in our first win of the season ironically against Hearts in Inverness. He played a starring role in that game when he came on as a substitute, hitting the woodwork and winning headers in the box. He was involved in the sending off of Juwon Oshaniwa just before we sealed the points with a debut goal from Miles Storey. James Vincent had opened the scoring earlier in the second half after great work by Ryan Christie. Since that game in September, we have picked up only eight points from a possible twenty-seven, while Hearts have accumulated sixteen points in their nine games. That damning stats are consistent with the season so far as the Jambo's have almost twice as many points as we have, (31 against 17). The table is a good reflection on the difference between the sides this year. Hearts sit third and we are hovering just above the relegation play-off place. The Edinburgh side are ahead of us in every statistic, scoring 29 against our 17, and conceding 17 compared to our 22. It makes you wonder how we managed to beat them already. It's a funny old game. Our injury crisis has improved to just drastic now after the return of Warren and Draper, with news that Foran has also returned to playing some development games. Andrea Mutombo and Sho-Silva were substitutes against Celtic and will benefit from more game time. Dean Brill has even managed some glove work so things are looking up, although Carl Tremarco missed out against Celtic and could miss out again to add to Ryan Christie, Aaron Doran and Jordan Roberts on the sidelines. Dani Lopez is clear of SFA suspension and it will be up to the Inverness management if he is to feature. Hearts were boosted by news that Arnoud Djoum and Igor Rossi have signed contract extensions until May 2017. Alim Ozturk is fit enough to be added to the squad but Jamie Walker is out. tm4tj Prediction:- We are not in the best of condition right now and although we won the first encounter this season, we don't look capable of stringing a few results together to get us out of the rut we are in. Hearts on the other hand are sitting pretty, third in the league on merit and can produce some sparkling results. I hope we have turned the corner in terms of injury, but I still fear for us in games like this when we could get overrun. I hope I am wrong here, but we are still a long way from our best and it could be a bleak day out in the capital.

Celtic Edge TV Show Celtic ran out relatively comfortable 1-3 winners eventually, after the Caley Jags had matched them all over the park except in the vital goal scoring area. Miles Storey levelled the game before half time after Callum McGregor replicated his goal against Ajax. After the break Leigh Griffiths scored from close range and Carlton Cole managed to handle the ball into the net off Danny Devine's shins for what could be described as a scrappy own goal. Heavy rain meant an early pitch inspection ahead of this televised game. Inspection passed but the horrendous weather would make for a heavy pitch as Vivaldi's Four Seasons was played out in one day. Gary Warren made a welcome return to the starting X1 along with Ross Draper, but there was no room for David Raven who was joined on the bench by Andrea Mutombo and Tobi Sho-Silva. Danny Williams went to left back and Josh Meekings was the preferred option at right back. Celtic continued with Kieran Tierney in defence and Scott Allan on the bench, but there was no sign of the struggling Kris Commons. Anthony Stokes was on the bench as his twitter account revealed. Something that would not best please the Celtic management team. Both sides started crisply but Celtic took full advantage from a third misplaced pass in a row from Josh Meekings. The ball was transferred swiftly forward and Mcgregor raced towards the home goal and planted the ball beyond Fon-Williams as the home defence went into reverse. We are in good company here as this was a photo-copy of the goal he scored in midweek against Ajax. Craig Gordon was fortunate to keep out a point blank header from Warren. Not sure he knew much about it, but the ball stayed out of the net and from the ensuing stramash, Meekings slid a sot just wide. We had responded well to the early setback and we forced a couple of corners but to no avail and at the other end Lustig headed wide after a Celtic corner. In the 38th minute, Miles Storey broke into the box chasing a neat ball from Polworth who did well when he robbed Armstrong in midfield. His initial shot was saved by Gordon but the ball broke kindly for the speedy hitman and he mopped up by slotting the ball into an empty net. Game on! Bitton shot wide as the game approached the break but all square at the interval was no more than Inverness deserved. Half Time 1-1 A positive start to the second period saw Draper head just wide as we looked to get our noses in front. Celtic responded with a hat-trick of corners which came to nothing before introducing Scott Allan for the struggling Stuart Armstrong. That substitution injected a bit more urgency about the visitors and just before the hour Tierney and Allan combined down the left to set up Griffiths to hammer the ball high into the net from six yards for a smart finish from the Champions. Inverness were restricted to containing Celtic as the visitors tried to assert themselves on proceedings and this was having a detrimental effect on our attacking options. Most of our good work was being done in midfield and neither keeper was being overworked. Carlton Cole almost made an instant impact as he headed downward, but Fon-Williams was alert and saved well, however, the cumbersome Cole was instrumental in the goal that killed the game. Leigh Griffiths unleashed a powerful shot that Williams did well to Parry. The ball hung around the Inverness box and with Cole lying on the deck, he appeared to nudge the ball with his hand/arm onto the unfortunate Devine who could only watch in dismay as the ball trundled into the corner of the net. Goal given and game over with around ten minutes of play left. Mutombo and Sho-Silva also got some game time but were not able to influence this game as we ran out of time and ideas. Full Time 1-3 We competed well and it was encouraging to get Warren and Draper on from the start. Same old problems of not creating enough really and although the third goal should not have stood, we never quite did enough to warrant getting anything from the game after the break. This result has us staring at the play off position, but still within touching distance of the top-six. We don't play Celtic every week so all is not lost as we get more players up to speed. The news that Yogi has signed on for another couple of seasons has been welcomed by most involved with the club and we can now focus on climbing away from danger and maybe even a wee cup run, starting at Stirling Albion in January. The two players that combined for our goal were the pick of our bunch with Fon-Williams making a couple of excellent saves as well, but Hughes can now maybe sort out a contract for MotM and top scorer Miles Storey now that his own destiny has been decided. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVG9Sc6Ol6g Date: 29/11/15 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 5976 Referee: Willie Collum Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Meekings, Warren, Devine, Williams, Tansey, Draper, Polworth (Horner 84), Vincent (Mbuyi-Mutombo 73), Vigurs (Sho-Silva 73), Storey Subs (not used): Esson, Raven, Wedderburn Scorers: Storey (39) Booked: none Sent Off: none Celtic: 3 Lineup: Gordon, Lustig, Simunovic, Boyata, Tierney, Johansen, Bitton, Armstrong (Allan 53), Rogic (Cole 59), McGregor, Griffiths (Mackay-Steven 92) Subs (not used): Bailly, Izaguirre, Ambrose, Ciftci Scorers: McGregor (7), Griffiths (59), Devine (og.85) Booked: Biton (65) Sent Off: none

Hangover or Backlash? Fresh from their Euro game against four times European Champions Ajax Amsterdam, Celtic travel to the Highlands on Sunday in a 12:15 kick off to take on Inverness who have just returned from Buckie, the former Highland League champions. Yes, that's the difference a few million pounds can make to your lifestyle. Inverness could face either a Euro hangover or Backlash after a weakened Celtic lost out against Ajax on Thursday night in Glasgow whilst Inverness went to Buckie with a fairly strong squad of recovering casualties to help strengthen their limbs as the fixture list toughens up for the Xmas period. It was a worthwhile exercise for Yogi's men with Ryan Esson, David Raven, Nat Wedderburn, Richie Foran, Ross Draper, Gary Warren, Andrea Mutombo, Tobi Sho-Silva all stretching their legs against the Highland League side. Inverness ran out 6-0 winners with Mutombo notching a hat-trick and Tobi scoring a brace. The opposition might not be a household name in European football, but in terms of getting these players some match practice it was invaluable, and the added bonus of scoring a few goals will boost the confidence of the shot shy Inverness strikers. Our last Premiership game saw us lose yet another late goal as Partick Thistle took all three points with a 2-1 win at Firhill. Miles Storey had scored an early goal but Kris Doolan equalised before the break. Ryan Stevenson fluked a cross into the net to leave us pointless, and in doing so it undid the good work we carried out at Motherwell in the previous game and left us hovering just above the relegation battle. Celtic's last game was a disappointing goalless home draw with Kilmarnock. That broke a five game winning run where they had scored fifteen goals in the process; one less than we have scored all season. The clubs met at Parkhead in mid August when Celtic raced into a 4-0 lead over an understrength Inverness. However as Celtic eased their way to full time, Inverness scored two counters through Ryan Christie and Dani Lopez to give us a more flattering result. We are still underpowered but slowly getting players back on the park and match sharpness will benefit all of our returnees. I would suspect that almost half of that team will not start today. Celtic can call on virtually the full side that won them the points that day. Current form would suggest that Celtic will be massive favourites to win this game and the bookies agree at 1/4 for an away win. You can get 12/1 if you fancy Inverness to win and the draw comes in around 9/2. Your best chance of winning back some dosh would be to put something on Miles Storey to open the scoring (14/1). Miles has notched five of our sixteen Premiership goals. Tobi Sho-Silva could be the surprise packet here though and you can get 18/1 on him scoring first. Celtic have won 11 of their 15 league games this season with 3 draws and a solitary defeat to Aberdeen in the middle of September. We, on the other hand, have only 4 wins. For all the noise about Celtic having a poor defence, they are still the stingiest back line in the division having only conceded 11 goals. However, the league table doesn't lie and that shows that we languish in eighth place, only three points above second bottom. Inverness have dealt positively with the unsavoury incident in the Dani Lopez sending off and have disciplined the player internally on top of the two match ban he received from the SFA. Dani has been fined for his indiscretion which has lost him some respect across the board. The player has unreservedly apologised for the uncharacteristic incident and would now like to focus on getting back on track. On top of the Lopez ban, Inverness will be without Jason Roberts, Aaron Doran and Dean Brill, along with Ryan Christie who has gone to Parkhead for some rehab. The rest of the crocks all came through the game against Buckie unscathed and could be in contention for a place in the squad on Sunday. Celtic midfielder and captain Scott Brown will miss this one and possibly the next two or three months of football with a knee problem following the Kilmarnock game. He twisted his knee at the end of the game and has suffered outside ligament damage. That's fair enough considering the way he throws himself into some of these tackles and the damage he has caused to others. He looks better in his jimjams anyway. Kris Commons also missed the tie against the Dutch side and faces a late assessment to check on his fitness. Nir Bitton and Stefan Johansen were banned for the Euro game but should return with Scott Allan and Kieran Tierney likely to make room for them. tm4tj Prediction:- Not a game I look forward to as the Celtic entourage comes North looking to sweep all before them. In truth this game should be a total mismatch as Celtic come off the back of yet another Euro failure and we struggle to get any consistency with our troubled squad. Six points clear at the top, Celtic should be strong enough to see us off without too much bother, but we are at our best when the chips are down. Good news for us is the return of some more of our injured players and the game at Buckie will have benefited the likes of Warren, Draper and Foran in their journey back to full fitness. With Mutombo and Sho-Silva scoring as well, they could help ease the burden on Miles Storey's young shoulders and gives us more depth to our squad. Celtic showed against Ajax that one or two of their newer players still have a lot to learn, Scott Allan in particular will remember his input for quite some time, as will Callum McGregor, but for different reasons. You can't replace the experience of Scott Brown and Kris Commons with kids and expect it to work immediately. With that in mind, we could be thrown a lifeline. I would bite your hand off for a point out of this game, but I won't be holding my breath.

Bogey Time Inverness once more struggled against our bogey side Partick Thistle and went down 2-1 thanks to a last gasp sucker punch. Miles Storey had opened the scoring after only six minutes but Partick's Kris Doolan restored parity just before the break. Ryan Stevenson's cross/shot eluded everyone and ended up in the net in the 90th minute to snatch all three points. Gary Warren, Ross Draper, Andrea Mutombo, Nat Wedderburn, Tobi Sho-Silva and David Raven all started on the bench as Yogi went with the guys who did so well at Motherwell. To be honest, our bench looked stronger than our starting X1. 2864 hardy souls braved the cold to witness yet another Inverness side struggle at Firhill. They seem to hold the Indian sign over us and that was evident as the game unfolded. Today's report comes from two of our regular supporters at the away venues and first up with his views is alternative Maryhill. We did close down well early on and moved the ball about well, but over the piece, there were a few players who simply didn't contribute enough. Vincent again looked a bit lightweight and didn't seem to know where he should be playing. Vigurs showed flashes of his ability with a couple of backheels and incisive passes, but for the most part he strolled about the place, as if he wasn't particularly interested in looking for the ball or getting forward. This was in contrast to Polworth, who worked his socks off looking for the ball in the way that Christie has found himself having to do this season, or Horner, who looked direct and confident going forward. As a relatively senior player with obvious ability and a lot of experience at this level, Vigurs surely has to take more responsibility and look to dictate play more. The substitutions were a bit odd too. Williams for Mutombo was an absolute head-scratcher: Williams was one of our harer working and more direct players; Mutombo, on the other hand, again looked like a poor signing. He looks utterly unwilling to mix it - despite his height, he was outjumped for every ball he 'contested', and, as I've noticed before, when an opposing player in his proximity has the ball, he has a tendency to skip on the spot before beginning his run to challenge, as if buying the opponent time to get away from him. Maybe this is simply his running style, but it is highly inefficient and someone should be working on it with him. He did make one good run into the box late on, but didn't seem aware of the opportunity for a cut-back, and again, I just don't think his awareness of team mates is good enough to make him an effective player for us. This is maybe the fifth time I've seen him play, and the same concerns are apparent every time. Storey for Sho-Silva was also a strange one, giving how little Vincent was contributing - surely Sho-Silva could have played as a link-man in behind Storey? - but he did look a more promising prospect when he came on, although he had precious few opportunities. He made one excellent challenge for a high ball, and looked quick and direct when trying to break forward; unfortunately, we didn't seem able to find him with anything. Draper for Polworth was more understandable, give how hard Polworth had worked. When Draper is fully fit, though. I'd like to see if both could be accommodated within the team - Polworth deserves to keep his place. Finally, the concession of yet another late goal surely points to the fact that at the moment, something about the tactics and system isn't working. It seems clear that too often, we cede control of the game as soon as we go ahead, rather than trying to increase our advantage. Opposing managers are probably quite relaxed about going behind to us, because they know they'll have the opportunity to start dominating the midfield and pushing us back and forcing us into mistakes. The fact that Fon Williams was one of our best players (despite possibly misjudging the flight of the winner - I'd need to see it again) says a great deal. I think everyone in the away section would have taken a draw - this was ICT at Firhill, after all - but there was a depressing familiarity, almost a feeling of inevitability, to that late goal. Our inability to compete over 90 mins in many games bodes ill for Celtic next week. RIG thought much the same as above, and here are his thoughts. We can have no complaints with that result. The only surprise was that Partick didn't take advantage of their numerous chances and win by more. They could easily have won that 4 or 5 - 1 were it not for a string of excellent saves from Fon Williams. The save in the first half from a header from Doolan I think was the pick of the bunch for me. Good start for ICT as alternative maryhill mentions. Some nice intricate passing led to the first goal well finished by Storey (seriously get this kid signed up now) and he had another smashing chance to make two but he seemed to just miss a ball that was crossed in from the right. For the rest of game all the chances fell to Partick and whilst we enjoyed a comparable share of possession we created so little with it we never deserved to add to our lead. The best chance in the second half for ICT came when Mutumbo broke into the box but shot at a tight angle instead of cutting back to Vincent who would have been well placed to score. Poor defending from us for the Partick equaliser. We seemed to think the initial danger was over but the ball was quickly worked back into the box and it seemed we were caught out somewhat and Doolan finished well into the corner of the net. Second half was more of the same i.e. Partick creating the best chances and Fon Williams largely equal to them. Muirhead and one other Partick player both had efforts saved before the fluke winner from Stevenson. I think that Fon Williams should have done better with the cross but despite it not being meant the three points were no more than Partick deserved. Peculiar that, after largely dominating the opening period, we yet again seemed to sit back and never again regained that same level of dominance in the game. We saw a fair chunk of the ball but we lacked any real creative spark to generate anything of note especially in the second half. The odd nice flick from Vigurs and Mutumbo can't compensate for a complete dearth of attacking chances to get us back into the game and that is very concerning. Contemplating the rest of the season without the flair and creative spark of Christie is troubling. Good away crowd from us however and the steak pie was decent (firm crust, generous filling and no soggy bottom) so there were some positives. Cheers lads, better luck next time. Date: 21/11/15 Venue: Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 2864Referee: Don Robertson Partick Thistle: 2 Lineup: Scully, Seaborne, Welsh, Booth, Osman, Amoo (Muirhead 59), Doolan (Pogba 75), Lawless, Dumbuya, Lindsay, Fraser (Stevenson 81) Subs (not used): Gallacher, Miller, Frans, Edwards Scorers: Doolan (42), Stevenson (90) Booked: Lindsay (79) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Vincent, Meekings, Devine, Tansey, Horner, Williams (Mbuyi-Mutombo 65), Polworth (Draper 75), Vigurs, Storey (Sho Silva 69) Subs (not used): Esson, Warren, Raven, Wedderburn Scorers: Storey (6) Booked: Vigurs (88) Sent Off: none

Partick Test Inverness resume their challenge for points in the Premiership after the break with an away game against Partick Thistle, a ground where we never seem to get the better of the home side often enough, and this will be a stern test for Yogi's walking wounded. The gap week has been beneficial for us this time as it has allowed another two or three players to get back on the park and test their fitness, notably Ross Draper, Andrea Mutombo and Tobi Sho-Silva, so that's a bonus. However, there is always a sting in the tail at Inverness and Dani Lopez will not be available after the club suspended him following an alleged gobbing incident in the development league match against St Johnstone when he earned himself a red card during the spat, no pun intended, but it fits the crime; (allegedly). Our last venture to the central belt stronghold produced a welcome return to winning ways with a 3-1 win at Motherwell. Iain Vigurs scoring a peach of a volley the pick of the goals. A retaken Greg Tansey penalty and a Miles Storey deflection were the other scorers and the home sides consolation was also a bit scrappy as a Moult knockdown deflected in off Horner on the goal line. Partick also got a welcome point after being pegged back by a late Kane Hemming goal at Dens Park; sounds familiar. Defender Liam Lindsay had opened the scoring earlier for second bottom Thistle who are being kept off the basement by much troubled Dundee United. The sick list at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium is shortening slightly after the last break. Gary Warren, Ross Draper and Andrea Mutombo all featured in the development game in midweek and Tobi Sho-Silva and Richie Foran have returned to training. David Raven is available after suspension but the aforementioned Dani Lopez has been suspended by the club pending an investigation into what went on. A huge miss will be Ryan Christie who might have played his last game for Inverness and is now longer term injured, along with Aaron Doran, Jordan Roberts and Dean Brill. Partick are in better shape with Robbie Muirhead and Gary Miller back from injury and keeper Ryan Scully returning after suspension. Stuart Brannigan is suspended and Christie Elliot and Tomas Cerny are out injured. tm4tj Prediction:- I predicted a hammering for us last time out at Motherwell and that went badly wrong..............or right. A tremendous away win against the odds brought us out of our mini slump. Partick have been a thorn in our side in recent years and we will do well to take points back up the A9 without the precocious talents of Ryan Christie. We will have to get used to life without him sooner or later and with players returning that eases the burden on others, but the headache is all Yogi's as he decides who to keep in and who needs a rest. I will settle for a point.