tm4tj

The once famous versus the famous for once It's the biggest day in the clubs short history since the union approaching twenty years ago. The Scottish League Cup final and our first crack at a major trophy comes along on Sunday and it's our chance to be famous. Aberdeen on the other hand were once famous with European glory in Gothenberg in 1983, but in domestic football they have been somewhat in the wilderness by their previous high standards since they last won the League Cup in 1996, their trophy cabinet bare for eighteen years, almost as long as Inverness Caledonian Thistle have existed. Aberdeen are an amalgamation of three clubs, Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion, formed in 1903. So then, we are not alone. The Dons do have a proud record in Scottish Football, four League championships, seven Scottish Cup wins and they have lifted the League Cup five times. The Fergie years were their most productive when they won the European Cup Winners Cup by defeating Real Madrid 2-1, having already disposed of Bayern Munich on the way and then going on to win the European Super Cup that same year by beating Hamburg SV. Aye, those were the days my friend, you thought they'd never end...........crikey, I almost broke out into song there! Talking of songs, there's also a wee battle of the bands as an aside to the Cup Final as Toby Michaels Rolling Damned (with a little help from Kenny Adie on guitar) takes on Aberdeen's Fitba Thatba. Rock anthem versus comedy folk......it's a bit like daddy or chips. Anyway good effort from all and well done for providing a bit of humour to the proceedings. https://soundcloud.com/2010managementpromo/toby-michaels-rolling-damned And, talking of humour, some of our very own fans have been Immortalised in the press. Great to hear about fans from all over flocking (no pun intended) to see this match. Aberdeen fans are well known for their familiarity with sheep, allegedly. Well, I say don't knock it till you've tried it. With Dingwall fans named after Stags, there does seem to be an unsavoury aspect behind the names. I like fluffy sheep myself.......... To the game. Inverness have had a hectic March and it has not been a productive one on the park where the defeat of Ross County has been overshadowed by two 5-0 hammering's at the hands of Celtic and Dundee United. Our normally solid defence has started to part, and goals were raining in on the once reliable Dean Brill who has looked edgy the last few games. But, a 0-0 draw at home to Hibs might normally be seen as a poor result for us, and given the circumstances and the state of our pitch just now, then it was a bit of a confidence boost all round, Brill keeping a clean sheet and eleven players still on the park at the end of play. What were Aberdeen doing while we were knocking our pan in this week. Well they have been idle since last Saturday when they beat Dumbarton 1-0 and have been sunning themselves in the luxury of the Old Course Hotel at St Andrews. Brilliant! Ginger Jaggy looks back at how the teams got to the final......................... There have been many landmarks in the 20 year History of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. To date 1994 remains the most pivotal as we all know that is when this fabulous story began. There have been many chapters along the way including the rise through the leagues, that famous night in 2000 and promotion to Scotland’s top flight for the very first time. But in the 20th year comes the biggest date in the history of this small but extremely proud club. On Sunday we face Aberdeen for a chance to engrave our name in the history books of Scottish football. The Scottish communities’ league cup at Parkhead on Sunday will be huge for both clubs for different reasons. For Aberdeen it will be the first taste of glory since the mid 90’s, for us it could be the beginning of something special. The road to the final has not been a smooth one with lots of bumps along the way. We first faced a tricky trip to Dens Park to face Dundee. Even though we won 1-0 thanks to Billy Mckay early on, the game was not that comfortable and the Championship side made sure we knew we were in a game. Next up was a match up against the tangerine half of Dundee up in Inverness. This ended up as the penultimate game of Terry Butcher’s 4 year tenure in charge of the club. And what a night it was. United took control of the tie early on when Keith Watson smashed in an unstoppable drive just inside the area. The game remained even until the brink of half time when it turned on its head. United felt aggrieved about a challenge by Richie Foran on Gary Mackay-Steven which ended up in a huge brawl that saw Nadir Cifti sent off for man handling one of the assistants. From that moment on it was all Inverness and it only took less than 10 minutes for Gary Warren to head an equaliser. United hung on valiantly and took the game into extra time but in the final minute (not for the last time) we pulled it out of the bag as Big Ross draper headed home from a brilliant Danny Williams cross. The last minute winner sent us to our second consecutive semi-final and like 12 months beforehand it was at Easter Road against Hearts. Whatever happens this weekend the semi-final will be remembered as one of the best days in my life and most Inverness supporters. After a dull first half, the second came alive thanks to a fierce 25 yard pile driver by Greg Tansey in his second spell at the club. But again like 12 months beforehand Hearts fought back and scored from a free kick which saw Gary Warren sent off for two bookable offences. The first is debatable but the second was very soft indeed. Jamie Hamill took a sneaky free kick which saw his shot deflected and roll into the bottom corner. Hamill was at it again not long after with a pin point free kick into the top right hand corner. It was looking very desperate for Inverness and the tie seemed over when Josh Meekings lost his cool and was given a straight red for a robust challenge as hearts were breaking away. With ten men it was unlikely but with nine it was virtually impossible, but the impossible become possible as Nick Ross scored a close range shot to send the two thousand loyal Caley Jags fans into delirium. What a moment that was and it will be something that I will always remember. Extra time felt the longest half an hour ever but the nine men held strong and again it went to penalties. Graeme Shinnie missed the very first penalty and thoughts suddenly went back one year when Philip Roberts decided to change sports and go for three points rather than the net. But those images of hurt were dashed by scenes of joy as Dean Brill stepped up to the plate to save from Paul McCallum and then villain for the day Hamill. After failure of the first pen Inverness were impeccable and left it up to Draper to step up and coolly sent us through to Glasgow this weekend. Aberdeen's route to the final seemed to get easier after they disposed of the mighty Alloa Athletic in the third round, winning 6-5 on penalties after a goalless draw. They stepped up a gear in the next round thrashing Falkirk 5-0 and put Motherwell out with an excellent away win at Fir Park by 2-0. Their semi-final was played the day before ours and they pumped St Johnstone 4-0 to reach the final. So, the Dons have yet to concede a goal in open play in this seasons competition and have scored eleven times in the last three ties. I Believe, do you! :ictscarf: Gringo looks at the bigger picture................. Despite the recent back to back 5-0 drubbings there does still seem to be an interest in taking on Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup final. And so there should be. This is our first major cup final since the club was formed twenty years ago. As a first division side we tasted the atmosphere of two FA Cup Semi Finals but we never managed to get over the line until now. Since beating Hearts in the semi final, this day has been in all ICT fan’s diaries and countdown calendars. Although the edge may have been taken off the build up somewhat there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to go out there tomorrow and grab that trophy. Fans are now getting cup fever and hopefully this will have a knock on effect of seeing more fans down at the stadium. Yes we will be outnumbered at Celtic Park but we will be there in fine voice giving it our all in support of our team. We will be coming down (and up) the road in our thousands waving the red and blue. The city of Inverness has been waiting for this day for a long time and not since our famous night in Glasgow back in 2000 and our first promotion to the SPL has it really taken the spirit of the cup on board. Many shops display the red and blue as well as city landmarks being lit up in the clubs colours included the infamous castle. Even the local bakery has made ICT cakes! Has the city been gripped in cup fever? Well it depends where you go as an air of apathy still remains. That is a shame. The production of an official cup final song has also been released and is beginning to grow on many fans. Whether we’ll remember the words by Sunday remains to be seen though! There is no doubt this is a big day for the club and a day that could put us well and truly on the football map as well as the much needed financial benefits. Success can lead to success whether by means of performances on the pitch or securing players future contracts and attracting sponsors. The benefits could be endless. So, can we win the cup? Yes, of course we can. It will take a very good performance against an Aberdeen side that boasts three former ICT players one of which can’t seem to stop scoring. Our goal scoring exploits seem to have come to a halt just now but what better way to stop the rot than by going out there and hitting the net in the final. We will need to be firing on all cylinders that is for sure and those coming in for suspended players should grab that opportunity and put in the performance of their lives. We are more than capable of turning on the style but we’ll need to banish those ghosts of the drubbings somewhere along the A9 on the way down. The form books get torn up in cup competitions and hopefully ours will be fed to Nessie prior to kick off. It’s not just about the team performing on the day but the officials too need to be on their game and not spoil this event for either side and the travelling support. We seem to like going down to nine men in the cup games this season so maybe we can stop the rot with this too. Latest team news:- Inverness will be without Gary Warren, suspended for this tie, but last Sundays bad boys Greg Tansey and Marley Watkins are eligible and Ross Draper has played out his disciplinary sentence. One or two players caught the eye in midweek against Hibs, notably Nick Ross, Carl Tremarco and Charlies loon, Ryan Christie who has a bright future ahead of him. Aaron Doran is a major doubt having overstretched for a ball in midweek and Danny Devine will replace Gary Warren. Aberdeen have had an easier week of it, lapping up the luxury at St Andrews while Inverness played on Sunday afternoon and Wednesday night. Peter Pawlet missed last weeks game but should be fit although Clark Robertson is still out. tm4tj Prediction:- Aberdeen are hot favourites to win this one given the respective form of both sides. The Dons scored four goals in the first half at Inverness earlier in the season although the Caley Jags came back strongly in the second half and almost snatched a point in the 4-3 thriller. Many Dons fans have written us off and many have overlooked the fact that we beat them 1-0 at Pittodrie, their last defeat at home. That win was achieved without Gary Warren, and Danny Devine deputised that day as well. Could be a good omen for us. Draper also missed that one and Tansey and Vincent started on the bench. In my view, that makes our cup final line-up stronger than we were back in January when Danny Williams cracked a beauty home to take all three points North. Former players could come back to haunt us in the shape of Adam Rooney, Jonny Hayes and Barry Robson. Rooney is on a fine scoring spree just now and Hayes pace and trickery is always going to trouble defences. Robson's old head will see him through this game and he is always a threat at set pieces. But, we have our own gems and Billy McKay can't be ignored even though he is less prolific at the moment. Greg Tansey could be our set piece danger and the overlapping Graeme Shinnie is on terrific form just now. Tough game to call and it might even go the whole hog. We saw out extra time and penalties against Hearts, anyone for more of the same. :ictscarf: Let's hope we hear this ringing round Parkhead on Sunday With a neat little flick And a wink of the eye He scores when he wants It’s Billy McKay! :ictscarf:

Return of the Butcher Inverness will welcome old boss Terry Butcher back to the Highlands with his latest club Hibernian, as Inverness try to cement their place in the top-six at the expense of the Edinburgh sleeping giants. It won't be an easy night for Inverness with three players suspended for this one and some players needing some respite before Sunday's League Cup Final against Aberdeen in Glasgow. Greg Tansey, Marley Watkins and Ross Draper have all fallen foul of the beaks. The first pair being sent off against Dundee United in that ill fated quarter final embarrassment, and Draper missing his second successive match after accumulating too many bookings. With Hughes likely to rest one or two and Gary Warren possibly being replaced by Danny Devine who needs some game time prior to the final, then it could be a vastly weakened side that take on Hibs, who with Butcher at the helm will be out to prove a point. I'm not expecting too much from Inverness after the last two maulings. I can put the Celtic one behind me, but the United game was a shambles from start to finish and a repeat of that will see a subdued crowd descend on Celtic Park this Sunday. Ginger Jaggy has this to say ahead of Wednesday's league game against our old gaffer and Mo. The weather has been brilliant this week and where the sun should be shining over the Caledonian Stadium it has been replaced by black storm clouds after two demoralising drubbings. The biggest week in the clubs history has not gone to plan so far as a hat trick of major achievements has been cropped to a double. This week Inverness could have been in the semi-final of the Scottish cup against a lower league side, guarantee a consecutive top 6 place in the league and win our first major national trophy. But after the battering at the hands of Dundee United, tomorrow’s league game vs Hibs becomes more important than at first thought. With Sunday now looming on the horizon thoughts have to be put aside for a matter of 24 hours as we need to complete a little bit of league business first. And what a perfect game we face as Hibernian come north looking to try and continue the misery after successive hammering's. When the fixture was moved again after our replay versus Stranraer forced it back, most people saw this as a major burden just four days before the biggest game in the clubs history so far. But after Celtic and United’s consecutive 5-0 thrashings with the latter being a painful Scottish cup exit leaving a potential domestic cup double in tatters this game could not come quick enough. The result would be huge on four fronts. The first and most important now is to quickly regain some confidence going into Sundays final, the second will be the brilliant achievement of a consecutive top six finish (you wait so long for one to come about and then two come at once), three points will close the gap on Motherwell for the race to the European places and the last and finally not least is the small matter of the return of a certain duo. Yes Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas are back and I see no better way to regain some form and confidence by seeing the dastardly duo leave empty handed. For us changes look likely with Daniel Devine desperately needing some game time for Sunday as Gary Warren is suspended. Ross Draper remains out as he completes his two match ban while Greg Tansey and Marley Watkins will sit alongside Draper in the stands after Sunday’s horror show. Talks of appealing any of the decisions are unlikely with both at risk of missing the final if the decisions are upheld. This game should give some chances for Liam Polworth, Nick Ross, Danny Williams and maybe even Ben Greenhalgh to stake a claim to get into Sundays team with so many first team regulars unavailable. Some fans have called for Dean Brill to be replaced after making some blunders but I think it would be harsh and is a terrible thing to do with Sunday looming – it would destroy his confidence. Hopefully the boys are seriously hurting like the fans that have vented a lot of anger after Sunday’s abysmal performance and will harness that hurt into a positive performance and much needed win. Sunday will be a big day for the club but we still have this one league game so I suppose I have to make some reference to Butcher and Malpas’ return in more detail. When Butcher left us in autumn and moved to Easter Road we all thought he had made a huge mistake as he has a massive job on his hands at the capital club. Hibs were very happy to have got there man but it has not been sunshine on Leith as Hibs have continued to underachieve even though they had poached the best coaching duo on form for the early part of this season from us. They got there first sell out of the stadium since the new East stand was built in the New Year Derby, but the crowds have remained fairly poor and defeats to Raith in the cup and St Mirren in the league have left Butcher fighting desperately to sneak into the top six. For them this will be another game but for us this is a chance to shove Butcher's betrayal right back down his throat. His record since he took charge is five wins, six draws and six defeats leaving them 7th in the table and in danger of not making the top six. Butcher helped us to set off at a blistering pace at the start of the season but his move to Hibs has not yielded the same form as Hibs have stuttered towards the split. Our last two games have been hard against two really good sides but we will be in serious trouble if we can't beat an inconsistent Hibs. But I back the boys to make a positive impact and get our season back on track. With one game go to before the players can fully focus on Sunday I expect them to have some reaction and defeat a pretty poor Hibs side. I am going to be bold and predict that after shipping 10 goals in 2 matches that we will keep a clean sheet and claim a comfortable 2-0 victory. I hope! Inverness are without Draper, Tansey and Watkins through suspension, but have no obvious injury worries although it would make sense to leave out Gary Warren, but with other players out, I wonder if Warren will appear elsewhere on the park. Opportunities for cup final places up for grabs, Ross, Williams, Tremarco and Polworth could feature; over to you Yogi. Hibs winger Duncan Watmore remains doubtful despite returning to training. Tom Taiwo returns from suspension, but Kevin Thomson, Scott Robertson and former ICT player Owain Tudur-Jones remain out.

Comedy on the Sabbath Goals from Ciftci (twice), Gunning, Mackay-Steven and Armstrong, aided by poor defending and red cards for Tansey and Watkins made it a Black Sabbath for Inverness who have conceded 10 goals in their last two games. Inverness were totally embarrassed by Dundee United on and off the park as tangerine dominated both aspects of this game. Some folk wondered why other fans would not make an appearance as the game was being played on the Lord's day. It would appear that they were the lucky ones as comedy defending handed United an unassailable lead before half-time which Inverness never recovered from and then it all went tits up with red cards and more goals. A massive vocal away support mustered in the South stand and could not have dreamt of the gifts that Inverness were about to shower upon them. Little indication of what was about to happen in a frantic opening quarter as a typical cup tie evolved with neither club getting to grips with the sandy playing surface. That would change after 16 minutes when Ciftci nodded a ball round Brill and slotted it into the empty net to open the scoring. Rankin had floated a hopeful ball forward after Raven lost out in midfield. Meekings tried to make up the ground and Brill came to the edge of his area, but Ciftci nipped in ahead of both to nick the opener. Sloppy defending part one, but worse would follow. Inverness replied with a Tansey free kick flighted into the box. Warren directed it to the far post but McKay headed over from two yards when he looked certain to score. The comeback was short lived as Inverness served up comedy part two. Meekings tried to usher or pass back to Brill who once more came to the edge of his box. Instead of placing the ball away to safety, he blasted it against Meekings and Ciftci pounced as it rolled towards the vacant goal where he made sure by tapping in the second. Turkish delight, Inverness sh**e. Graeme Shinnie was one of the few home players who looked interested and he warmed the palms of Cierzniak with a fierce drive, but he was a one man band today as others around him made error after error. It was game over after 36 minutes when the overworked Shinnie was adjudged to have taken Gavin Gunning down from behind inside the area and he blasted his spot kick high down the centre of the goal to put United three up before the interval. Our day got even worse when Greg Tansey was sent packing by Willie Collum who had strangely chosen to ignore a similar clatter on Billy McKay. Half Time 0-3 A comeback of Ayr United proportions was killed of swiftly after the break when David Raven was, not for the first time caught out of position after a free kick in United territory was wasted. Gary Mackay-Steven wasted no time in sprinting half the length of the pitch before firing across Brill and into the far corner to completely cheese of the home support, the huge United support reduced to laughing and doing the Conga. Fair play to them. Armstrong added a fifth with a powerful header as Inverness caved in and double figures looked a distinct possibility at this juncture. But, we were not finished yet and Marley Watkins was sent off for another alleged studs up challenge that the bold Collum saw fit to flash red, despite appearing to get the ball. That was the straw that broke the camels back for many Inverness fans and the Highland clearance began, the away end swathed in tangerine and loads of decibels. I can't really comment on the last twenty minutes as I departed the scene hastily trying to hide my embarrassment, declining the kind offer from the steward to return to my seat instead of standing by the touchline. "No way lassie, I'm no staying to watch any more of that rubbish". I'm told it finished 5-0 to United, I'll take that, but I had better things to do and watched the end of the half marathon at the Bught Park. Well done Shaz for getting the job done. Full Time 0-5 Inverness' MotM was Graeme Shinnie, stinging the paws of Cierzniak twice but he was on his own. Dean Brill had a nightmare and looked edgy from the start, poor kicking and indecision which put us on the back foot from the off. Raven posted missing too often as was Vincent. Meekings and Warren played as though they didn't know each other. McKay and Doran had no service to work on and two red cards were not what we required. Yogi. We have a cup final to play next week. I'm not sure the gung-ho 4-4-2 is working too well, can you please fix it before our season is in tatters. Inverness CT 0-5 Dundee United Inverness CT: Brill, Raven, Shinnie, Vincent, Warren, Meekings, Mckay (Christie 87), Foran (Polworth 60), Doran (Williams 60), Watkins, Tansey. Subs not used: Esson (GK), Ross, Devine, Tremarco. Dundee United: Cierzniak, Dillon, Gunning, Paton, Rankin (Gomis 60), Armstrong, Mackay-Steven, Watson, Dow (El Alagui 54), Ciftci (Graham 60), Robertson. Subs not used: McCallum (GK), Butcher, Wilson, Souttar. Referee: William Collum. Attendance: 3,164.

Quarter Final It's Scottish Cup action this Sunday as Inverness entertain Dundee United in the quarter finals with a 12:30 kick off time. The last time they squared up in a cup competition, it was quite a frenzied encounter with United reduced to 10 men and Ross Draper producing a last gasp winner in extra time. That was the League Cup where Inverness went on to beat Hearts in a thrilling semi-final and next week we have the showdown with Aberdeen to look forward to. However, this is the Scottish FA Cup and Inverness struggled to reach this round after two tough games against Stranraer whilst Dundee United comfortably knocked out St Mirren by 2-1. Inverness needed a replay to dispose of a stubborn Stranraer and despite scoring early through Ross in the replay, it took a late goal from Aaron Doran to eventually put away the League One side. United have gone from strength to strength in the league and have surged ahead of Inverness into fourth place. They are the form team at the moment and have won their last three games, scoring freely three times in each game. They are the second highest scorers in the SPFL with 49 goals and have a positive goal difference of + 17. United come into this game on the back of a 3-1 hammering of Terry Butcher's Hibernian, scoring three and still managing to miss two penalties. Inverness would like to forget their last game, a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of a rampant Celtic, who in all honesty could have doubled their tally. In fairness, Inverness also had two or three really good chances to score but slackness and poor finishing saw us draw a blank as Celtic went on the rampage, Leigh Griffiths scoring a hat-trick. Dean Brill will want to forget the fourth goal as he let a long range effort from Commons dribble through his body and trickle into the net; taxi for Brill. That was a hugely disappointing result after the euphoria of the Highland derby and an excellent away win at Perth. Losing at Parkhead is not the end of the world, but the magnitude of the gap between the teams on the park was embarrassing. I hope we can use the excuse that we had one eye on our forthcoming cup games, an excuse that Celtic certainly can't use. Dundee United's Andrew Robertson described making his Scotland debut as "a massive and proud moment". The 19-year-old Dundee United defender earned his first cap in midweek when he played the last twenty minutes for Scotland in their friendly win over Poland. On the same night, our own Billy McKay got the short straw when he was substituted after coming on as a sub due to Northern Ireland being reduced to ten men. Billy being removed as they re-jigged their defence in their 0-0 draw in Cyprus. Both players will have differing but key roles to play on Sunday. One key aspect of the game could be the pitch. The weather has turned somewhat damp ov er the last few days and this will not be helping Tommy's efforts to get the park repaired after the mudbath it was when we played Stranraer in the replay a couple of weeks ago. The areas outside of the penalty boxes had been heavily sanded in an attempt to get the pitch playable for that game, but constant rain turned it into a quagmire with the game in doubt right up until near kick-off time. It still looks threadbare and recent adverse weather is not helping, let's hope it eases before Sunday with a TV audience waiting to see the only all SPFL clash of the quarters. Inverness will be without Ross Draper who is suspended on the totting up procedure. He misses this game and our midweek game against Hibernian, but he will be available for the cup final next week. Maybe Hughes was writing off the Celtic game and wanted his team to get through the ninety minutes without any issues. Well, we achieved that and Aaron Doran was rested last week with a thigh injury, being replaced by Nick Ross. Marley Watkins started on the bench and he might be the preferred option this week, but Yogi is wary of his squad needing recharged prior to cup final day and with our heavy schedule in full swing, he might juggle his options a little. United have Curtis Good, Ryan Gauld and John Souttar missing this one. Other ties taking place over the weekend seem a little lop sided:- Raith Rovers 1 - 3 St Johnstone Aberdeen 1 - 0 Dumbarton The Rangers v Albion Rovers (sun) Kirkaldy versus Perth seemed like the likliest game to produce an upset, the other two would appear to favour the big teams, although Albion Rovers may find it tough at Ibrox.