tm4tj

Draw Right Eenuff Dundee United came from behind to earn a point in the proverbial game of two halves. Ryan Christie had put the hosts ahead early in the match but Farid El Alagui levelled later in the second half and a point each was probably right eenuff mun. ICTRoughi was on hand and he has produced this excellent thorough debut report, enjoy......Video to be added when available.......... Saturday, 3pm, Tulloch Caledonian Stadium - what a rare experience. Jackie McNamara had taken his United side up to Inverness on the back of an impressive 5-1 victory over Motherwell last Saturday at Tannadice whereas Caley Thistle were handed the opposite result in a 6-0 defeat at the hands of champions Celtic. As tm4tj said in the ‘United preview’ today was all about regrouping. John ‘Yogi’ Hughes made changes from the side that played at Celtic Park with Ryan Christie replacing Nick Ross who dropped to the bench. Gary Warren and Josh Meekings both missed today’s game through injury and illness which meant that Caley Thistle had a makeshift back four with Danny Devine and Carl Tremarco at centre back and Danny Williams filling in at left back. Under 20s Alistair Sutherland and Jordan Brown made the 5 man bench for Caley Thistle. Jackie McNamara made only one change from the team that beat Motherwell. Stuart Armstrong left out through injury, Ryan Gauld replaced him with youngster Aiden Connelly drafted onto the bench for Dundee United. Caley Thistle got the game started and played the game with a high intensity. We passed the ball smoothly along the deck very fast and almost found the net after a mere 40 seconds from an attempt from local lad Ryan Christie fizzling past the right hand side of the goal. Whilst continuing the same intensity and short passing, Caley Thistle managed to find a breakthrough in the 7th minute of the match. Marley Watkins gathered the ball wide right and placed a very accurate cross into the box where Ryan Christie stood out and you just knew there was only one outcome. Christie got a head to Watkins’ cross and coolly headed it into the bottom right of the goal past Rado Cierzniak - 1-0 Caley Thistle almost doubled their advantage in the 13th minute when Greg Tansey played a through ball to Billy Mckay giving him a one on one opportunity but Gavin Gunning made a crucial defenders tackle to ensure the score was kept to a one goal deficit. Still having the advantage Caley Thistle kept going and plodded away and on the 16th minute Tansey cleanly struck the ball right down the middle with all his might from roughly 25 yards out with Cierzniak getting two hands onto it. Nadir Ciftci nearly equalised for the away side in the 21st minute but his attempt at goal was denied by Dean Brill. Ryan Dow also had a similar chance but again Brill stood tall to keep the home side in a winning position. Caley Thistle continued to impress with the passing and attacking movement enjoying most of the possession but nothing was being transferred into a goal. Gary Mackay-Stevens nearly scored from 12 yards out but it just didn’t go his way. HT Inverness CT 1 – 0 Dundee United: Christie (7) Caley Thistle the first team to re-enter the pitch and Dundee United duly followed a couple of minutes later. Skilled Dundee United starlet Gary Mackay-Stevens was forced off through injury therefore Brian Graham was introduced just before the restart of play. Dundee United got the game started again and it seemed like the tide had turned with the away side turning up the pressure and Caley Thistle trying to weather the storm. Dundee United almost got an equaliser in the 47th minute from a wicked shot by Nadir Ciftci roughly about 35 yards outside the box hitting the ball into the south stand of the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Substitute Brian Graham almost made a perfect start after being placed on for Dundee United with soft shot into the body of Dean Brill. Brian Graham again finding space to annoy the Caley Thistle back four after a nice ball from Paul Paton into the box only for Graham to put the ball over cross bar – the search still continued. Dundee United introduced their loanee from Brentford Farid El Alagui to bolster their attack and were now playing with three established strikers. Farid El Alagui almost got the golden opportunity in the 67th minute when Paul Paton delivered in a ball into the box for El Alagui to get a head onto it but again it didn’t find the net. It was turning out to be a frustrating afternoon for Dundee United. Dundee United kept their heads up and finally got what they were looking for all afternoon – a goal. A defensive free kick from Paul Paton into the area lead to a massive scramble in the box where Caley Thistle failed to clear the ball from danger and Farid El Alagui got the goalden touch for the Tayside team. There was a strong case that Dean Brill could have been fouled but the match officials ignored the calls for a foul – 1-1 Nothing really noteworthy happened heading towards the end of the game. A couple chances here and there but I think that Yogi was happy enough for the draw and to be honest on the reflection so am I. Caley Thistle showed some good passing today and I hope we play with the same intensity v Motherwell on Wednesday it should be a cracker – I can’t wait! FT Inverness CT 1 – 1 Dundee United: Christie (7) – El Alagui (71) Brill– 8 – I thought that Dean Brill made some absolutely crucial saves and made sure Caley Thistle stayed in the match. Shinnie- 7 – A good home performance from the stand-in captain Devine– 8 – A call up for the team I thought he done really well and I like how Danny Devine plays in the central defence. He was very composed and he plays with a good footballing brain Tremarco- 8 – Despite being a left back Carl Tremarco filled in at centre back and put in a really good performance. He is an old fashioned styled defender and his strength helped him play the central defence role really well. Williams- 7 – Despite being a left winger and has been played in central midfield I thought he done quite well. He often got caught out at times but still done really well when needed. Good versatility about the boy. Tansey- 9 – I was really impressed with Greg Tansey today especially his short and long passing were exceptional. Draper- 7 - He done really well holding the midfield and the strong force that kept Dundee United’s midfield at bay. Doran- 7 – He had his moments on the ball. He came close towards the end but no end product. Christie- 9 – Fully deserved his goal. His passing and movement was really impressive – Bright Future beholds Watkins- 8 – Got the assist for Ryan Christie and was a nuisance for the Dundee United defenders but toiling towards the end and subbed for Liam Polworth Mckay- 6 – Poor Billy Mckay has tremendous work rate but I feel that he needs to be supported but unfortunately didn't produce much today. Subs:- Polworth- 5 – Didn’t really do much in the 10 mins he was given - Ross- 5 – Small cameo from Nicky today Roughi's MOTM:- Despite giving Ryan Christie a rating of 9, my man of the match is going to go to Greg Tansey. I was really impressed with him today and he had shades of a fit and youthful Richie Foran about him in terms of both defending and attacking. Inverness CT: Brill, Shinnie, Mckay, Draper, Doran, Devine, Watkins (Polworth 81), Tansey, Tremarco, Williams, Christie (Ross 90). Subs not used: Esson (GK), Brown, Sutherland. Dundee United: Cierzniak, Dillon, Gunning, Paton, Mackay-Steven (Graham 46), Watson, Dow (Connolly 78), Gauld (El Alagui 66), Ciftci, Robertson. Subs not used: McCallum, Wilson, Souttar, Gomis. Referee: Brian Colvin. Attendance: 3428.

Time to Regroup Our season is slowly petering out as we approach our third last game of the season on the back of another hiding from the big Bhoys. Having reached our peak in early December and sitting in second place in the league, three points ahead of Dundee United and Aberdeen and eleven points ahead of St Johnstone with a positive goal difference of +12; it's been all downhill from there. Yogi's quest to play a passing game at all costs is not always bearing fruit and has been the subject of much debate on the forums, many fans doubting if his search for perfection will see him out of a job before we storm Europe. There are as many fans being more lenient and willing to give him time to blend his own style into the more robotic Butcherus horribilis formations and tactics and the rest are simply sitting on the fence waiting for nature to take it's course. The question is how long do we wait. Hibs are not the only side in freefall. Butcher's replacement has split the fanbase and the long knives are starting to appear, although some were already out before Yogi signed on the dotted line. He needs a good finish to the campaign to give the doubters something to ponder over the close season and after last weeks hammering to nothing it doesn't get much tougher than the visit of high scoring Dundee United, a team who have already put five past us in the cup game. United are second top scorers in the league with 62 goals, that's 20 more than us although the defences are almost identical in goals against. They sit four points above us but have a vastly superior goal difference of +19 against our -1. United can of course blow a bit hot and cold. Their 5-1 thrashing of Motherwell preceded by defeats to St Johnstone and Celtic and a drawn game with Aberdeen. The last game between these two saw United just edge it with a 2-1 win. Ryan Gauld opened the scoring and Ryan Dow capitalised on a now familiar poor passback and keeper cock-up combination. Inverness were always in this one though and United had to cling on after Liam Polworth scored a spectacular 35 yarder to set up a tense finish. That was a fabulous strike from Polworth, one of the best goals of the season. Billy McKay almost rescued the game for Inverness but a late diving header just missed the target and United kept all three points. Inverness have been heavily criticised by their own fans for their dismal showing at Parkhead last week, seemingly not learning from the previous spanking, a 5-0 doing a month ago. However, in mitigation, we were dealt a poor hand prior to the game when Raven pulled out injured and Watkins called off with a bug. James Vincent was also not fit enough to play and Richie Foran had already played his last game this season being injured a month ago. So, it's possibly not as bad as it appears on the surface, but for many fans, it was another nail in the managers coffin and the shoes could be off if we fail to produce in our last two home games. It could make for a long close season if things go awry. Yogi is hinting that our budget for new faces could be minimal for next season. So, nothing new there! With exciting talent like Ryan Christie breaking into the first team squad along with Liam Polworth and Nick Ross then maybe all is not lost. Along with SPFL nominees Ryan Gauld, Stuart Armstrong and young Player of the Year Andrew Robertson, this weekend could display the way forward for Scottish football with plenty young starlets in both teams. Inverness should have David Raven and James Vincent back in the squad as both have been training this week, and Marley Watkins has recovered from the bug that kept him out of the Celtic game. Richie Foran is out. Dundee United will have an unchanged squad and teenagers Ryan Gauld and John Souttar could be recalled, having been rested in the 5-1 win over Motherwell. This means that on-loan Newcastle defender Curtis Good and centre-back Calum Butcher are still out. tm4tj prediction:- Well, United can be scary at times and we will need to be at our best to keep them at bay. Nadir Ciftci has been in tremendous form lately and when United are in full flow then there's no finer sight in Scottish football. Inverness can be scary too, unfortunately not in the same way as United, although we do have our moments. We need our defence to get back to basics and our midfield to regroup. It has been posted missing recently and Billy McKay is often left isolated. When we do get men forward to help him, we reap the rewards and if Doran and Watkins can stay fit and wide then maybe, just maybe we can put ourselves back in the hunt for fourth place, but it will not be easy. I'm going against the grain here and looking for a 1-0 home win with United possibly having one eye on the Scottish Cup Final.

Into the Lions Den On our last visit to Parkhead we drew 0-0 after ninety minutes. Unfortunately it wasn't Celtic we played that day but Aberdeen in the League Cup final. This time it's the real thing on Sunday as we play our second of five top-six fixtures. Our first Parkhead game this season saw us take a two goal lead but we were pegged back and the game ended all square. Doran and Foran were scorin', but Mulgrew and Mathews earned Celtic a point. The second visit is one to forget as Leigh Griffiths scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 rout, a game that could have ended up in double figures. Richie Foran will not be scoring this time. His knee injury and clean up operation will see him miss the rest of the season, and Mulgrew and Mathews could suffer the same fate as Foran, both struggling with hamstring injuries, but likely to be included in the squad. Our form of late has been patchy to say the least and in our last ten games we can only boast three wins, and two of them were against County. The other a 1-0 win over Partick Thistle. Twelve points from a possible thirty over that series of games is the weakest in the top half of the table. Celtic are somewhat imperious, only one defeat to show in their last ten and gaining 23 points during that spell that also saw their only league defeat, a 2-1 reverse against the Dons. We could of course take heart from neighbours Ross County who drew at Parkhead at the end of March. Celtics last game was an exciting 3-3 draw with high flying Motherwell while we were drawing 0-0 with Aberdeen on the Friday night. Dundee United are the first team to make a hugely positive step in the top-six race for points with a 5-1 hammering of a sorry Motherwell. That moves them to within three points of third place which means we must win at Parkhead to harbour any hopes of overtaking them. St Johnstone move to one point behind us, sounds familiar. It's D day for our old gaffer as Hibs play Hearts in what is now a crunch game at the relegation end of the table. How times have changed. Inverness will be without Richie Foran and David Raven is a possible non starter having picked up a groin injury in training. That's our only worry as Graeme Shinnie will return from suspension. Celtic hope Mathews and Mulgrew will be fit enough to join the squad along with Mikael Lustig after his operation. Nir Biton, James Forrest and Derk Boerrigter remain out. tm4tj Prediction:- Let's get this game over and done with. Not one I look forward to with great relish and the form book does not lie. It's a big ask to take all three points, but if we can dig deep and hope to catch the champions on a relaxed Sunday afternoon jaunt, then the possibility of a point is there. 1-1 if we keep it tight.