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Inverness take a step backwards with defeat in Perth Inverness were reduced to shooting from range as St Johnstone cruised to victory with a goal in each half. Former Arab, Francisco Sandaza opened the scoring after 12 minutes and David Mackay ended the contest in the 65th minute with a sharp first time volley into the bottom corner. Enckelman kept the home side two ahead with a superb save from a Chippendale strike, touching the ball onto the bar, and Inverness were left at the foot of the table as Saint's head for the top half of the SPL. So, it looks as though the long knives are about to be drawn as the suffering Inverness fans witnessed another damp squib of a performance which was in contrast to the entertainment shown in the previous games. Questions are being asked as to the choice of players given a start, although in fairness, that choice is still somewhat limited, and it appears that one or two are short of full match sharpness, captain Richie Foran being one who looks as though his injuries are hampering his personal performances. With new contracts being given to the management duo, it seems that they will be the ones to dig us out of this hole and we are still pinning our hopes on the returning casualties being sufficient enough to see us through this season. What has been evident from the start of the season though has been the hole left in the spine of the team by the removal of Munro and Duncan, a move thought by many to be partly responsible for our demise at present. The passion seems to have deserted Inverness as second rate loanees from afar fill our ranks, and gone are the days when Highland desire alone was good enough to earn a few points. The lack of desire was certainly evident at McDiarmid Park as the home team brushed aside the feeble attempts of the visitors to take anything from this game, one which could see Derek McInnes depart on a high. Terry Butcher was as disappointed as the fans with this performance as his unchanged side failed to create any clear cut chances and continued to leak goals at an embarrassing rate. It is early in the season, but next weeks game against Dunfermline is now seen as a must win game, the proverbial six-pointer which may well define our season. Defeat to the Pars would certainly leave the team in a difficult situation and would leave the fans with little confidence. The possibility of relegation becoming a reality could be the beginning of the end. Thankfully, it is all speculation at this point, and it was encouraging to see Lee Cox make the bench after his lengthy lay off. Jonny Hayes is also closing in on a return and for most fans that will be the most welcome event of the season, and that can't come soon enough. Ginger Jaggy will have a full report for us when he calms down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caley Thistle made the direct journey down the A9 to take on Derek McInnes' rejuvenated Saints side at MacDiarmid Park. The home side won their last game down at Kilmarnock to move them into joint 4thplace alongside Hearts. For Inverness a much needed win at home to the other Saints in the league made sure that we remained in touching distance with the rest of the pack. Our last visit to Perth saw us collect three points and see us score three goals in a dominant performance – how far from that day we were this weekend. 15/10/11 McDiarmid Park, Perth St Johnstone 2 - Sandaza (12), MacKay (65) TEAM: Enckelman, MacKay, C.Davidson, Wright, Anderson, Morris, Millar, Craig, Moon (M.Davidson 64), Sheridan (Haber 20), Sandaza (Gibson 81) SUBS: Mannus, Durnan, Caddis, May Booked: Millar (32), Craig (43) Sent Off: none I.C.T. 0 - TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Proctor, G.Shinnie, Piermayr, Tansey, A.Shinnie (McKay 74), Ross (Chippendale 58), Davis, Foran, Tade (Sutherland 56) SUBS: Tuffey, Gillet, Meekings, Cox Booked: Proctor (30) Sent Off: none Referee Craig Thomson Attendance 2909 It was a gloomy day over MacDiarmid and it remained like that on and off the pitch on a very sad day to be a Caley Jag. The opening stages saw little threat from either side but that was about to change just 12 minutes into the game. Cillian Sheridan broke up the pitch with pace and played a neat ball into the feet of Francisco Sandaza. The Spaniard's control was instant but what Inverness fans will question is how he was allowed a shot goal without so much as a challenge. The ball bounced awkwardly from Tokely and the challenge never materialised. Sandaza spun round and the ball was rifled into the roof of the net with Ryan Esson just standing and admiring as the ball flew past his face. That was to be the theme of the game as from that point on Caley Thistle became second best at everything. When Inverness did have control of the ball they kept it ok until reaching the penalty area where there was no creativity or movement to engineer a shot on Enckelmans goal. On the other hand Saints looked dangerous when on the ball and Sandaza almost got his and Saints second with some wonderful ball control in the box. He managed to evade several legs but his magic was finally stopped when Esson took control and blocked his effort out for a corner. Anything Inverness did produce was just not good enough with Tansey and Shinnie blazing over the bar. David Proctor had the best chance when his header was tipped over by Enckelman following a corner but it was pretty comfortable for the Ex Aston Villa goalkeeper. It was Saints again who should have gone into the break with another, when once more poor defending allowed early replacement Marcus Haber to see his shot agonisingly bounce against the post and then Liam Craig's follow up was brilliantly blocked to keep the contest alive. Half Time 1-0 After the interval the 400 or so travelling supporters hoped that there would be an improvement in the proceedings but in fact it got worse. St Johnstone created two decent opportunities before they finally put the game beyond us. Dave MacKay's long range strike was well saved by Esson before Kevin Moon missed a sitter from about 7 yards out. When the second did finally come it was no more than Saints deserved and everything Inverness deserved as well. A brilliantly whipped in ball from Jody Morris was just punched away to the edge of the area by an under pressure Esson but he was powerless to respond to Dave MacKay's first time follow up from 14 yards which nestled comfortably in the bottom corner. Butcher made changes to try and get back into the game and one of the changes, Aidan Chippendale almost did exactly that. The winger tried his luck just on the edge of the box but his bullet of a shot was fantastically tipped onto the bar and over by the big Finn. That was it after that. Caley Thistle tried to put pressure on the saint's backline but constantly looked like they were banging their heads off a brick wall, there was just no inspiration. The game was now long over as a contest and petered out giving Derek McInnes victory in what could potentially be his last game in charge for the Perth club. Full Time 2-0 For Butcher it is a matter of raising the players for next week's big basement battle in the highlands against Dunfermline. If Inverness want to win that one then there must be a dramatic improvement in performance. No match highlights found

Inverness looking to end Super J's super start to the season Off down the A9 to Perth this weekend as St Johnstone host Inverness CT in the next installment of SPL games after last weekends International break. (why do we bother) The Super J's have made a storming start to the season amassing 15 points from their first 10 games and are riding high in fifth place on merit, the same points as fourth placed Hearts. The downside of all this media attention is that manager Derek McInness has been touted as a possible replacement for Keith Millen, the fall guy at struggling championship side Bristol City. McInnes has been in charge at Perth since Owen Coyle moved on and he has guided St Johnstone back into the SPL and to a couple of solid eighth place finishes in the league. Part of the success story for Saints this season has been the new front pairing of former Celtic player Cilian Sheridan and ex-Arab, Fransisco Sandaza. Sheridan is on loan from CSKA Sofia, the Bulgarian side and he has notched 3 goals in four games while Sandaza scored his 7th of the season at Kilmarnock. He was released from Brighton last season and McInnes snapped up the Spaniard who had plenty SPL experience at Tannadice, scoring 11 times in 38 appearances. It is worth noting that Saints have taken 11 points on the road, and some of this can be attributed to the pace of these strikers, quick on the break and deadly at finishing. Their home form shows only one win and two draws, which indicates a different style of play being deployed when away, which obviously suits their front two. Wins at Parkhead, Motherwell and Kilmarnock have eased the Super J's into the top-six and they sit 7 points above basement team Inverness. However, closer inspection will show that they put up the shutters at Parkhead and although they trounced Motherwell 0-3, they rode their luck somewhat at Rugby Park before winning 1-2. Luck, a word that has been used liberally on the CTO forum last week as some folk believed we were fortunate to sneak past the other Saints up in Inverness. Not so, for anyone who was at the game it was plain to see there was only going to be one winner, and the margin would have been enormous but for some poor finishing by Foran and Tade. However, you have to be in it to win it and a great performance from Andrew Shinnie helped Inverness over the finishing line. Foran and Tade also did their part, Foran delightfully nodding the ball into Shinnie's path for the opener and Tade being in the right place at the right time to bundle the ball off his knee into the empty net after Shinnie smacked the post for the second time in the match. If you can't take Muhammad to the mountain, take the mountain to Muhammad. International break last weekend saw Scotland prolong the agony, well for a few days anyway until Spain showed the enormous gulf in class between champs and chumps. They really get in the way of proper football these International holidays. However, as far as Inverness is concerned at the moment, the longer the better as players near the end of their long injury lay-offs. It would be great to see Jonny Hayes, Cox, Tudur-Jones and Hogg pulling on a strip in the near future. Things can only get better once a fully fit squad is ready to go. So, Inverness on the move with some more encouraging displays and St Johnstone sitting pretty should make for an entertaining game, and fixtures between these two sides can be close, with often the one goal separating the sides. That is apart from the last encounter of last season when Inverness ran out convincing winners in the televised match at McDiarmid Park. Saints had started the game brightly but it was Inverness that provided the finishes to ease past St Johnstone, who were on a goal drought at the time. 3-0 was the final score as goals from Innes, Doran & Foran earned Inverness seven points out of a possible twelve against Saints. Doran's goal in particular was a delight, a curling shot from outside the box as he ran at Maybury. This avenged the defeat that ended Inverness' long unbeaten run at New Year when Collin Samuel came off the bench to nick the winner in a dour game that gave Saints only their fifth home goal all season, but one that took away the year long undefeated away tag from the visitors. Another win at Perth for Inverness by 2-0 and a 1-1 draw completed last seasons fixtures between the clubs. Since season 2002-2003 there has only been one draw, last season, and Inverness hold the upper hand in terms of wins, leading 7-5 in that respect. That includes a Scottish Cup win at Dingwall, when the clubs played the tie at Victoria Park during our SPL season at Pittodrie. Stuart Golabek heading home the deciding goal in that one at a very miserable, wet and windy midden of a park. In this away fixture, St Johnstone are ahead four games to two, so not a particularly happy hunting ground for Butcher's boys, although last season we broke even with one win apiece. We have scored seven times in Perth, with the home side scoring eight. The stats tell us there is very little between the sides and home advantage seems to be the deciding factor for most of the games, and with only a solitary draw in thirteen games it looks like the three points are up for grabs by the side that is hungrier for success. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Latest Team News St Johnstone will have Frazer Wright and Murray Davidson both available for what could be Derek McInnes' last game in charge before being lured to Bristol City, but Sam Parkin and Sean Higgins will miss out. Inverness will be without Aidan Chippendale, he has a viral infection and will not be in the squad for tomorrows game. Jonny Hayes, Josh Meekings, Billy McKay, Kenny Gillet and Lee Cox all took part in a bounce game against St Mirren and came through that unscathed, but this game could be too soon for them after their lengthy injury lay-offs. Cox, McKay and Shane Sutherland all scored in that kick about which ended 3-3. Tudur-Jones, Doran and Hogg are further behind in terms of recovery and will not be included. Hogg is recovering after minor surgery to his knee . So, it looks as though Butcher's injury problems are starting to ease and that can only be good news for the Inverness boss who will soon have the headache of deciding who to leave out of the squad, decisions decisions. The unknown quantity could manifest itself in the shape of Billy McKay. He scored in the bounce game and needs game-time to get up to speed after a succession of knocks has curtailed his appearances, maybe an alternative to our industrious pairing up front that could provide the finishing touches to the plethora of chances that come our way. Andrew Shinnie, the deserved MotM last time out, is relishing his role as an attacking midfielder and showed the way against St Mirren with the opening goal and striking the post in the lead up to Tade's winner, boss Butcher reckoning that he is the most gifted finisher in our squad. It's all about the players gaining confidence after a stuttering start to the season and the last few games have shown us that we are not too far off the mark. tm4tj Prediction is getting more difficult as players start to return from injury, although some of the aforementioned casualties are maybe not ready for the rigours of the SPL yet. Butcher has not yet ruled anyone out from making the bench and the most likely returnees would be Cox and Hayes, both badly missed in our early games. One thing that could decide the outcome of this game is the strike pairing of Richie Foran and Gregory Tade. Both getting in the right positions, but unfortunately both showing remarkable profligacy in front of goal. Should that change, then someone will be on the wrong end of a drubbing one day. I fear that this may not be that day yet, and Sheridan and Sandaza are not so generous in the box and have been scoring freely recently. This one could come down to which defence copes best and for that reason I am going to sit on the fence, a scoring draw, possibly 2-2.

[caption id="attachment_4776" align="alignleft" width="359" caption="Ma & Pa Gringo out for a stroll"][/caption] More catch-up from Junior Gringo Here we go for the second edition of Gringo's Gossip. A new feature we're trying out this season to give an 'amigos' view of all things ICT as well as other football related....erm....gossip! The first edition of Gringo's Gossip saw Caley Thistle languishing at the bottom of the league with no wins in their first 5 outings. Well, we're still sitting rock bottom of an SPL that's starting to look quite tight in the bottom section, but fortunately for us they've now got two good wins under their belts, and players that once seemed out of sorts are finally starting show a little ability. Andrew Shinnie is certainly someone who falls into that category in my opinion. Having watched his display at Tannadice, I wasn't overly convinced he was able to bring anything to the team that we already had; yet he fully justified the man of the match accolade in the recent home win against St Mirren, with a good display of composure, desire and skill. Another player who I think deserves a bit of credit lately is big Ross Tokely. I remember speaking to fans at both of the aforementioned matches who were of the impression that Rossco seems a little lost alongside the new faces in our back line. I am sure that his red card against Rangers and the failed appeal will be remembered by many fans, but if you watch the big man closely, you'll see he is definitely one of our more consistent performers and a somewhat unsung hero so far this season. Our problems at the moment lie in the treatment room, and up front. A lack of composure and confidence in front of goal the cause of more than our fair share of missed opportunities. Tade alone has missed an embarrassing number of decent chances, and Richie Foran is also guilty for one or two going awry. Tansey and Davis are creating from the midfield, with Nick Ross doing a sterling job down the right. With these players at their best, chances will keep coming, and things can only get better once players start returning from injury. We do, however, need to find goals from somewhere. Maybe now is the time to give Shane Sutherland a proper chance? Only he and Mr Butcher will know the answer to that. Despite the woes of injuries and a lack of confidence in front of goal, our most disappointing situation came in the form of a cup upset against Ayr United. So full of confidence were the ICT faithful, given the last meeting between the two teams (a 7-0 victory for Inverness CT in their championship winning season), that a cup shock at the hands of The Honest Men seemed far from a realistic possibility. Not only were our very own fans and players left stunned, but Ayr then went on to knock out a very good Hearts side in the next round just a couple of weeks later. Perhaps that shows just how unpredicatable the game of football really is. (I should know, considering the way my current '10p Bowling' results are going) '10p Bowling' is a game created by caleythislteonline.com user Yompa (Formally known as InterTheNet), whereby fans have to gamble on sports results over the course of a weekend, spending no more than £1, with each bet costing no more than 10p. There is no winners prize and no wooden spoon, but the banter that is created between the 'bowlers' makes the weekend football card a whole lot more interesting. It's certainly keeping us Highland Marchers entertained! (Anyone wishing to know the rules and join in the banter is more than welcome to do so. Details on the Betting Forum will appear in midweek) Some fans have a routine before a football match, or a superstitious chore or item of clothing they must carry out or wear before a game. Others take it as it comes and some ask the question of how to make their own matchday experience a much better one. Playing things like '10p Bowling' is one way to get people talking, generates some banter and makes a whole weekend of football that little bit more interesting. But another way to be entertained, particularly on an away day, is rowing! Yes, you heard right... Rowing! My first away day of the season saw me take in the game at Tannadice against Dundee United. It's an away day I always look forward to as I share it with a couple of good friends, one of whom happens to be a Tangerine Orange. Getting the Official Travel Club Bus (TClub Bus) was a new experience for me, as usually I get the train down, or walk it! The entire trip down was full of song and laughter, and the journey back too was entertaining. Nothing more so than the 'Rowing Competition' between the Travel Club Bus, and the Supporters Club Bus (SClub Bus). Leaving Dundee ahead of the SClub Bus, the TClub bus soon passed our TClub bus upon hitting the dual carriageway towards Perth. Unhappy by this manoeuvre, the fans on the TClub bus tried to entice the driver to catch up and overtake. As the TClub bus gradually caught up and pulled out, the majority of TClub Bus users knelt on their chairs facing the back of the bus, and began to act out rowing motions as if they were oaring their way past the SClub bus. It certainly brightened up the TClub Bus spirits after the 3-0 defeat, and more antics later came to the fold. An auction of various food items a highlight, none more so than a sandwich being sold off by individual ingredient, and a sausage roll costing one lucky punter £1.10. Back to more serious topics now and a major change at Boardroom level, as George Fraser stepped down from his post as Chairman at the clubs latest AGM in September. In steps a surprising, yet very welcome replacement, in the form of one Kenny Cameron. Kenny is a true gent and his interactions with the fans can only be a good thing for the club. He has the clubs best interests at heart and I personally feel the board has made the right decision in appointing Kenny to the hot seat, even if it is for a short period of time. Kenny's Appointment Announced. Who knows who will take over the permanent role of Club Chairman, but for now I'd like to wish Kenny all the very best in his new role. Finally I would like pass on my thanks to the club and also to my old man. Many of you will know that I had the opportunity to play for Caley Thistle alongside some of my boyhood heroes, in a Legends match at Caley Stadium organised via a competition through FlyBe and The Inverness Courier which set up the Curry Hoose as the opponents. Having the opportunity to play was a huge surprise and one I grasped with both hands (or should that be feet). Scoring a Hat-Trick made the night all the more memorable. But the whole set up and idea to have these events shows just how much of a community club Caley Thistle are. I just want to thank the club for inviting me along, and my dad for his cracking article with regards to my participation. I'm still waiting for Terry to get the footage and sign me up, but perhaps that is a dream too far... you never know!