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Great while it lasted. Oh well, the run is over !!!! After going 19 away league games unbeaten covering the full calendar year of 2010, the first game of 2011 saw that record evaporate. Collin Samuel scored in 85 minutes of the game and Caley Thistle had no reply. In fact, without Jonny Hayes' presence in the last few games, Caley Thistle have had no reply to anything !!! It was fantastic while it lasted, and it had to come to an end at some time, but when it came we let it slip away without too much fight, and if I'm honest, this has been coming for a while now. That's not to take anything away from the year long sequence of undefeated away results on SFL & SPL duty, but maybe it is for the greater good of the overall performances that we have got the good monkey off the back and we can now concentrate on picking up points at home as well as on the road. I suppose we should really be congratulating St Johnstone rather than bemoaning our loss today, after all, they have done something that none of the other teams managed. However, the manner of the defeat is what will be concerning the Inverness fans, after losing three very winnable games on the trot, three games that could have seen us all but safe for another SPL season and even pushing for top six. It could yet be a long and arduous road until the end of the season and the return of Jonny Hayes will be a bonus, so still plenty to look forward to. 2nd January 2011 McDiarmid Park, Perth ST JOHNSTONE 1 - Samuel (85) TEAM: Enckelman, MacKay, Anderson (Maybury 62), Duberry, Grainger, Taylor (Davidson 59), Millar, Morris, Craig, MacDonald (Samuel 72), Parkin SUBS: Smith, Caddis, Reynolds, May - Booked: none INVERNESS CT 0 - TEAM: Esson, Duff, Tokely, Munro, Shinnie, Cox (Sutherland 71), Innes, Ross, Blumenshtein (Foran 46), Odhiambo, Rooney SUBS: Tuffey, Golabek, McBain, Duncan, Sanchez - Booked: Sutherland (90) Referee George Salmond Attendance 3126 Alternative Maryhill has the grim task of sharing the details with us all. In the end it came not with a bang but with a whimper. Caley Thistle’s long unbeaten away run is over, and there is something very ICT about the fact that it ended on a grey winter’s afternoon against a lower-placed team rather than at the ground of a better-resourced, title-challenging side. Many supporters yesterday admitted to feeling slightly relieved that the run was over, believing that it had become a distraction, an additional pressure and possibly even a contributing factor to the team’s poor home form. There may be some truth in that and the biggest concern about yesterday was not really the final result, but the utter poverty of the side’s performance. In terms of invention and confidence, this ICT looked a million miles away from the team that dismantled Dundee United just a few month ago, and if they continue to play like they did yesterday, then the players will struggle to win another game all season. Considering the time of the year, there was a fine ICT support in attendance yesterday, probably somewhere between three and four hundred, and they deserved better, not only from the players but also from the St Johnstone stewards. Naelifts has already summarised their killjoy tactics very eloquently on the forum; suffice to say that if it is the aim of these guys to drive attendances down even further, then they are going the right way about it. Typically, the Caley Thistle supporters dealt with the persistent harassment with good humour and a few choruses of ‘sit doon for the Caley Jags’, and by the second half the stewards had got bored and given up trying to force everyone back into their seats, which raises the question: why bother in the first place? There were lots of calls for Terry Butcher to freshen up the team for this game after the successive defeats against St Mirren and Kilmarnock, and sure enough, he made changes. Few would have predicted the line-up that took the field for ICT yesterday, however. Richie Foran and Russell Duncan were dropped to the bench. Chris Innes came back into central defence, with Ross Tokely going to right back and Stuart Duff moving into midfield. Gil Blumenshtein also came into the side, playing what I assume was supposed to be a wide attacking role in support of Rooney, with Odhiambo on the opposite side. Innes had a solid enough game defensively, but Blumenshtein was utterly anonymous, and on yesterday’s evidence it is hard to see what he can bring to the side. Throughout the first half there was a clear lack of strength and bite up front, and no real composure or creativity anywhere in the side. If the purpose of the changes was to improve the passing in midfield and to allow better attacking play in the wide areas, then they did not work, unfortunately. The long ball is back, and that is always a bad sign for Caley Thistle. The first half, was, in all honesty, pretty poor viewing all round. St Johnstone looked more inventive in possession, particularly Chris Millar and winger Cleveland Taylor, and they created the better of the chances. Esson saved well from Taylor, Peter McDonald and from a Millar cross that deflected off Graham Shinnie towards the goal, and Liam Craig also went narrowly wide with a close-range header. Caley Thistle’s best opportunity fell to Adam Rooney, whose shot from eighteen yards after running onto a ball from Nick Ross was parried by Peter Enckelman. The rebound fell to Rooney and he had the chance to play in Odhiambo, but pulled his cut back too far behind his team-mate. Apart from these chances, though, the half was dominated by scrappy midfield battles and ineffective punts and crosses that were too easily dealt with. Half Time 0-0 At half time the consensus among the ICT supporters I spoke to was that the game had been poor and the team’s performance frustratingly ineffective, but that things could only get better. For a while, it seemed this was going to be the case. Terry Butcher has been criticised recently for not making changes quickly enough when the team is underperforming. He could not be accused of that yesterday. Richie Foran was brought on for Gil Blumenshtein at the start of the second half, and immediately made a difference, adding more aggression in midfield, more invention and accuracy to the team’s passing, and bringing Odhiambo into the game more. For the first fifteen minutes of the second half, Caley Thistle controlled most of the play: the only spell in the game when they looked the better side. Despite this, however, they created very few decent chances: Odhiambo was presented with a decent opportunity after neat build-up play from Foran and Ross, but despite making room for himself well, hit a weak final shot at the keeper; the closest ICT actually came to scoring in this period was when Nick Ross got himself free on the right hand side of the pitch and mishit a deep cross, which glanced off the crossbar. As the second half wore on, more uncertainty crept into ICT’s play, and St Johnstone came back into the game and began creating chances again. Ryan Esson had to make sharp saves from Dave Mackay, Sam Parkin and, on 75 minutes, from substitute Collin Samuel, after a poor Munro header back to his goalkeeper fell short of Esson and into Samuel’s path. In between times, Danny Grainger also had a chance inside the box, but shot over the bar after being closed down well by Esson. With St Johnstone looking the more likely to score, Terry Butcher made his second change and again resisted the temptation to give an opportunity to Dani Sanchez, instead replacing Lee Cox with Shane Sutherland. Sutherland worked characteristically hard but failed to make any real impact on the game. With about ten minutes remaining, St Johnstone had a decent claim for a penalty when Samuel’s downward header appeared to strike Grant Munro’s hand, but the referee ignored the appeals. Then, on 83 minutes, IC T almost grabbed an unexpected, and undeserved, lead when Eric Odhiambo latched onto a header across the area and hit a shot that took a slight deflection, forcing Peter Enckelman into a full-length save to tip the ball round his post. Two minutes later, however, St Johnstone got the goal their superior play merited. From a corner which the ICT defence failed to clear, Dave Mackay got a shot in. Ryan Esson made a block, and for a moment it looked as if he had saved Caley Thistle yet again, but Collin Samuel was first to the rebound and he hammered the ball into the roof of the net. St Johnstone 1 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 From that point, there was only going to be one winner. In sharp contrast to the Celtic game just five weeks previously, there seemed to be no self-belief among the players, and no sign of them being able to raise their game to create any real threat to St Johnstone. The solitary opportunity they had was a shot by Shane Sutherland, which was comfortably saved by Enckelman. At the end of the game, many of the ICT supporters remained to applaud in tribute to what the team had achieved with their thirteen-month unbeaten away run; most of the players, however, appeared too dejected to notice or acknowledge this as they trooped off the field. What now then for this Caley Thistle side? Despite three straight defeats and no wins in six games, there is no crisis in Inverness yet. Every team is likely to go through a poor period at some stage of the season, and ICT’s sudden dip in form has probably acquired greater significance precisely because the team has performed so well over the first part of the season. If ICT are going to turn their form around again, however, it is a little difficult at the moment to see exactly where the inspiration will come from. There is no guarantee of new signings this month, with the manager admitting that players will have to be moved on before others can be brought in, and although the return of Jonny Hayes should add some much needed pace and creativity to the attack, it is not healthy or fair to assume that he will make the vital difference between losing and winning. Yet both last season and this, Terry Butcher has proved himself to be a good motivator, and also someone who is unafraid to make changes and take unpopular decisions. We may not always agree with his team selections, but it is better that we have a manager who is prepared to keep examining his own decisions and change if necessary, rather than someone who adopts an ostrich mentality, or lays all the blame at the players’ feet. The hope is, though, that he can find the winning blend again sooner rather than later: hopefully Elgin in the cup next week will be the first step in that direction. Great report Maryhill, I think that just about sums up the feelings of most fans.

A new year, another away day. Inverness return to more stable surroundings in their first game of the new year. An away day fixture at McDiarmid Park Perth, will hopefully banish the blues from our two Xmas fixtures at home. We were left pointless as St Mirren and Kilmarnock left Inverness with all but the worst home record in the SPL, (thanks Hamilton). Maybe the fantastic away run has taken the edge off our home performances, but whatever it is Terry Butcher needs to address the balance and start picking up points at home in 2011. Conditions permitting we will have the chance to get back on track at Perth in what should be an intriguing fixture. Saints have started somewhat slowly this season after a consolidating first season back last year and their home form is on a par with ours. A meagre four goals at home for Saints is one reason for optimism amongst the Caley Jags fans that we can extend our undefeated run, but without Jonny Hayes our attacking options have been minimised and this will be no easy task. Alterative Maryhill is first to put pen to paper for 2011, here is what he has to say............ St Johnstone v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 2nd January 2011 A declaration of interest: I love Perth. Having spent a fortnight there every year as a child, it is tempting to drift into a Bannerman-esque reverie about boating on the South Inch, pitch-and-putting at Craigie and falling into burns at Buckie Braes. Football must take priority here, but there will be none of the cynicism that would accompany a preview of a game in the central belt: respect is due to St Johnstone. After all, we thistle-munching, cowpat-trampling, sheep-harassing yokels must stick together. Watching Mantis’s compilation of news reports from the time of the merger recently, I noticed that one name kept coming up as a model for what a unified Inverness club could achieve: St Johnstone. To some extent this was because, as a Premier League club, they had been held to a 2-2 draw by Highland League Caledonian in the 1992-93 Scottish Cup, a result which was subsequently used to strengthen the argument for an Inverness club’s inclusion in the Scottish Football League. However, there were also strong historical reasons for citing St Johnstone as a worthy model for the new Inverness club to follow. From a town of similar size to Inverness, reasonably remote from the industrialised regions stereotypically held to represent the ‘heartland’ of Scottish football, the Perth club had spent significant amounts of time in Scotland’s top division throughout its history, and had maintained an average crowd of around three thousand. As the Inverness merger underwent its difficult birthing pains, emulating this might have seemed hopelessly optimistic; seventeen years later, with ICT having spent six of the last seven seasons in the SPL to St Johnstone’s two, and with an average attendance consistently higher than that of the Perth club, few would dispute that Caley Thistle can be regarded as a club of similar size and stature to St Johnstone. Yet the Saints’ history still holds lessons for what Caley Thistle could achieve under the right conditions, and also contains a cautionary tale of how quickly fortunes can change in Scottish football. On the 30th December 1998, St Johnstone sat in fourth place in the SPL table, having accumulated 30 points from 21 games. That season, they would go on to finish in third place, winning a place in the UEFA Cup, as well as appearing in the final of the League Cup and the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. All this was achieved without the sort of reckless investment in the team that would be the downfall of clubs such as Gretna, Dundee and Livingston. Sound familiar? The following season, Sandy Clark followed this up with a fifth-place finish, but with the sale of playmakers such as Phillip Scott and Miguel Simao, and others such as Roddy Grant and Alan Kernaghan coming to the ends of their top-flight careers, decline set in, and a tenth place finish in season 2000-2001 was followed by relegation the next season. It took St Johnstone seven years to return to the top flight, with even now-highly-regarded managers such as Billy Stark and Owen Coyle unable to win promotion. When they finally made it back to the SPL in 2009-10, however, they did so debt-free and with a squad comprised of a good blend of promising youngsters and experienced journeymen, and comfortably held their own, finishing eighth. I guess the moral of the story, if there is one, is that a club of Caley Thistle’s size can achieve top six, Europe and all the things we have dreamed of this season, but that limited resources will always make sustained success difficult. On balance, though, I would rather that ICT continued to follow the example of Geoff Brown, the St Johnstone chairman, than those of Brooks Mileson or Calum Melville. All this is terribly sensible, but let’s not forget that St Johnstone has occasionally dipped its toes into the murkier waters of Scottish football. At the team’s Christmas party in 2000, George O’Boyle and Kevin Thomas were allegedly discovered washing down their pints of Inveralmond Thrappledouser with a couple of nosefuls of cocaine, and were subsequently sacked by the club; and the Letham Medici, Stuart Cosgrove, has frequently hinted at a youthful involvement with St Johnstone’s casuals, the Fair City Firm, whose steel-toecapped Hunter wellies wreaked havoc in towns the length and breadth of Scotland in the 70s and early 80s. The Caley Away boys will have to be vigilant on Sunday... A (Very) Brief History of the Fixture The unified Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s first competitive fixtures against St Johnstone did not take place until season 2002-03. That season, the Inverness side managed only one win against the Saints, Dennis Wyness and Richie Hart scoring the goals in a 2-1 home win in October 2002. St Johnstone won the three remaining games and ended the season in third position, one place and two points ahead of Caley Thistle. The following season the statistics were reversed, with ICT winning three games to St Johnstone’s one. By far the most significant of these was the final game of the season, when a 3-1 win for Caley Thistle, with goals from David Bingham, Barry Wilson and Paul Ritchie after St Johnstone had taken the lead, brought the SFL helicopter, the first division title, and SPL football north to Inverness for the first time in its history. Memories of that game will live forever in the minds of every Caley Thistle supporter who witnessed it, and for those of us who were stuck at work two hundred miles away and had to run out every five minutes to check the radio, the envy will never die. The only league game between the clubs this season, at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, finished in a 1-1 draw, meaning that the league record between the clubs ahead of Sunday’s fixture stands at: played – nine; wins – four apiece; draws – one. It couldn’t be closer. Current Form and Team News The popular perception is that St Johnstone have struggled to find form this season after the previous respectable campaign. In fact, the Perth side are only one point and place lower than they were this time last season, and in gaining two wins and a draw in their last four fixtures, and managing to hold Celtic until injury time in their most recent game, they would appear to be hitting their stride. By contrast, Caley Thistle have failed to win in any of their previous five fixtures, and although three of those were creditable draws against the current top three teams, successive home defeats to St Mirren and Kilmarnock have a few supporters worried that this could be the start of a slump. The magnificent undefeated away record remains intact, however, and hopefully the team’s determination to maintain this will lead to an improved performance on Sunday. St Johnstone’s biggest problem this season has been an inability to find the net. They have scored just twelve goals so far, compared to Caley Thistle’s thirty; only bottom club Hamilton have scored fewer. St Johnstone’s main goal threat has come from summer signing Sam Parkin, who has scored four league goals. His experienced partner Collin Samuel has had a disappointing season, and Saints’ second-top league scorers are midfielder Liam Craig and left back Danny Grainger, with two apiece. There is definite quality in midfield for St Johnstone, however, in the shape of former Chelsea player Jody Morris and ex-Livingston starlet Murray Davidson , and also at the back, where another combination of Livingston and Chelsea veterans, Dave Mackay and Michael Duberry, has restricted league opponents to twenty-five goals; the same number conceded by the Caley Thistle defence this season. At the time of writing, defender Graham Gartland, a recent absentee through injury, may be back in contention for Saints after coming through a closed-doors game successfully, but forward Marcus Haber is ruled out for the season; Jody Morris and fellow midfielder Jamie Adams, who missed the Celtic game through suspension, should be available. For Caley Thistle, the most significant injury is that to Jonny Hayes. While the winger has a tendency to drift in and out of matches, and had probably his poorest game of the season in the recent 1-1 draw to Hearts, he is undoubtedly ICT’s most potent creative force – witness the audacious strike at home against Rangers – and it is surely no coincidence that his absence has been followed by two of Caley Thistle’s least effective performances of the season. Despite some rumours to the contrary, it seems likely that he will miss out against St Johnstone, and it remains to be seen whether Terry Butcher will ask Shane Sutherland or Eric Odhiambo to try to fill his boots, each having been given an opportunity against St Mirren and Kilmarnock respectively, or whether he will try something different by drafting in either Gil Blumenshtein or forgotten man Dani Sanchez for a first start of the season. Elsewhere, right backs David Proctor and Kevin McCann remain unavailable through injury, and there is still no word of left back Kenny Gillet’s return to the match day squad, despite the fact that he is apparently back in training. Central defender Chris Innes is fit, which gives Terry Butcher more options at the back, but despite the recent defeats, Ross Tokely and Grant Munro have probably done well enough over the course of the season to remain the first choice pairing. Adam Rooney is likely to continue as the team’s only out-and-out striker, and despite Shane Sutherland’s decent performance against St Mirren, this must surely be a priority area for Terry Butcher in the transfer window, especially if Rooney chooses not to renew his contract. Prediction Given recent performances, and with the creativity of Hayes almost certainly missing, I can’t claim to be optimistic, but bearing in mind our determination to maintain the unbeaten record and St Johnstone’s difficulties in finding the net, I think a low-scoring draw looks the most likely outcome. St Johnstone 1 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1

More misery for home fans Killie piled on the agony for the long suffering home fans after emphatically trouncing Inverness in the Highland capital. Bryson, Kelly and Hamill put the game beyond Butchers strugglers, with Foran briefly giving the homesters some false hope. Ross Tokely was one of the few players to emerge from this game with his CV intact as an Eremenko inspired Kilmarnock taught Inverness a harsh lesson. Killie looked sharper to the ball while Inverness laboured over every task and but for a bright opening quarter the Ayrshire men had all the answers to the few questions that Inverness asked. 29th December 2010 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE 1 - Foran (71) TEAM: Esson, Duff, Tokely, Munro, Shinnie, Cox, Duncan, Ross, Odhiambo (Sutherland 80), Foran (Blumenshtein 83), Rooney SUBS: Tuffey, Golabek, Innes, McBain, Sanchez - Booked: Munro (18), Shinnie (18), Duncan (40), Tokely (78) KILMARNOCK 3 - Bryson (26), Kelly (68), Hamill (79) TEAM: Bell, Fowler, Wright, Gordon, Hamill, Taouil (Silva 87), Bryson, Kelly, Pascali, Sammon (Rui Miguel 90), Eremenko SUBS: Letheren, Clancy, Hay, Sissoko, Kennedy - Booked: Hamill (56) Referee Willie Collum Attendance 3735 Another home game, another defeat. It is now getting monotonous. A Hayesless Caley Jags look as though they have been found out in the top half of the league. Maybe it's not for us, but since hitting fourth spot in the league we look like a rabbit caught in the headlights. We have become a victim of our own success, the much publicised away form is being ruined by the equally publicised home form. We can't buy a home win just now and our thin squad looks increasingly fragile as the January sales window looms. Let's not take away all that the club has achieved so far, but the signs are ominous that our squad is starting to creak a little. Only a few weeks ago we had our first hat-trick in SPL games, now Adam Rooney has hit a lean patch and without his Irish supplier Jonny Hayes being fit, he appears to be isolated at times and is struggling to recreate the early season promise he displayed. The third piece of the Irish jigsaw, Richie Foran also looks to be suffering from the onus of the captains armband. A player who was giving 110% last season has not been firing on all cylinders this season and he looks as though he is carrying an injury. Time will tell if our fortunes will change for the better, but at this moment we need to regroup and get back to basics. davie will maybe put a more positive spin on the game with his match report, we certainly need some cheering up. Results and games come and go, but this one threw up a fundamental question; who was it that gave Mixu Paatelainen a black eye? The bear was in good form on the touchline, responding to his team’s dismissal of Caley Thistle. There were voices of dissention around the place, and more than one who was angered by this defeat, but the overwhelming feeling was that we were beaten by a better footballing side on the night. Maybe we are finding a level after a long period of overachievement, and as fans we have been getting a bit spoiled. First Half A free kick and a corner in the first couple of minutes after some good pressing play hinted that Caley Thistle were up for this one. Both chances came to naught, but chances they were and a statement of intent was required after Sunday. Kilmarnock were passing the ball well, Eremenko and Taouil showing promise but in ten minutes a Rooney shot brought the first save from Cammy Bell. This seemed to rouse Kilmarnock, who played with a lot more intent thereafter. Munro was booked for a challenge on Taouil that looked innocuous, and Shinnie followed him into Collum’s book for telling him that. The free kick in 18 minutes, taken by Eremenko, was delivered superbly to Esson’s top left corner and was saved just as superbly. 1-0 in the battle of Scotland’s third best keepers. The Killie midfield was bossing the game by this time, Cox and Duncan finding it difficult to build any rhythm, Bryson was looking more impressive and on loan Ben Gordon at centre back was building play well from Caley’s inability to link midfield and forwards. In truth something had to give, especially as Ross Tokely could form a brick wall for only so long. In 25 minutes, so long arrived in the shape of Bryson who scored from close range. Russell Duncan was booked in 30 odd minutes, leaving half our defence walking a tightrope. Further chances came and went for both sides, but 0-1 at the break seemed a fair reflection of play. Half time Inverness CT 0 Kilmarnock 1 No changes were apparent at half time, and after a brief spell of Killie pressure, Inverness began to assert themselves into the best period of the match. The passing was crisper and there was more direction to the play. Good chances fell to Rooney and Duff from a free kick, there was a feeling that it was now or never for ICT in terms of reclaiming the match, but the final ball, the incisive pass was lacking on too many occasions. When Kelly scored with a header from a lovely ball from Taouil in 67 minutes, it felt all over. The sucker punch delivered, the game would be played out. Inverness are better than that, and certainly fight harder than that, and the response within 3 minutes was heartening. Foran cottoned on to a ball on the left side of the penalty area and pinged a ball under Bell from a tight angle, which might have deflected off a defender on the way. 1-2 and game on? As someone once said, I can stand the despair, it’s the hope that I can’t handle and on 77 minutes the despair set in. Bryson sallied into the box and was upended by Esson. A penalty was always going to be awarded by the somewhat eccentric Willie Collum, but Bryson was doing a fair impression of taking off from Prestwick long before he was touched. As is now almost normal, Esson saved the penalty from Hamill low down to his right but the parry was picked up by Hamill and duly dispatched. 1-3 and Kilmarnock were away down the A9 with all 3 points. Eric Odhiambo left the field after 79 minutes to be replaced by Shane Sutherland. The few boo’s that he got leaving the pitch were curious and unmerited. The lad had done the best he could. Foran was next to be subbed, and Gil Blumenshtein showed enough in his cameo appearance to merit serious consideration for Sunday. A couple of deft touches and drives were suggestive of a good working understanding with Nick Ross. Hope reared her head again in 84 minutes when a quite brilliant stop from Bell prevented Rooney from making it 2-3. Full Time Inverness CT 1 Kilmarnock 3 We were beaten by a better side. Eremenko lit the game up in the same way that one M. Niculae used to do occasionally in terms of vision and technical ability. Kharkov must be good if they can afford to loan him out. MotM has to be Ross Tokely, as much for manfully trying to protect young Shinnie as anything else. He was a pillar again. Special mention has to go to the Killie fans who made it up a long way at this time of year and still found the energy to sing themselves hoarse, fair play to you. Let’s hope for a better result for Inverness to start 2011; a happy new year to each and every one at CTO and at Caley Thistle. Lang may yer lums reek.

Early chance to make amends Inverness get a quick return to the scene of the crime on Wednesday night as Kilmarnock are the visitors for the SPL midweek game. The players will be out to atone for the dismal Boxing Day defeat at the hands of St Mirren. An unimaginative performance from the home team once again frustrated the fans and left Inverness pointless. Our home record is in stark contrast to our away form and this is causing some concern. Only Hamilton have won less home games this season than ICT, and they find themselves bottom of the SPL at the moment. Kilmarnock have shown a dramatic upturn in their fortune since Mixu Paatelainen took over, and are one of the current form teams in the league. Terry Butcher was extremely downbeat after the match with St Mirren and felt gutted after all the hard work to get the ground prepared for the game ended up in defeat, especially after taking an early lead. Praise for Esson and the three youngsters Sutherland, Shinnie and Ross could not ease the pain of yet another home flop and I wonder if this will signal some changes to the way we approach our home games. Kilmarnock head North after a scare over their goalkeeping choices. With Combe still injured, Bell and Letheren were struggling with a stomach bug, but they seem to be on the mend and will be in the squad. davie will tell you about this evenings game, and remember it's a 7:45pm Kick Off Stroke rates are higher in Ayrshire than anywhere else in Scotland*. This is probably due to Kilmarnock FC appointing a series of formidably apoplectic managers, the latest of whom brings his team up the road for a midweek SPL jaunt. Welcome Mixu Paatelianen. This is a team that my spellcheck just doesn’t cope with, but seems to be gelling in a football sense quite nicely. Beware the Finn and his friends. If their Christmas spirit is anything like St. Mirren’s we might get another dose of humbug. Kilmarnock FC are all right. Lurking in deepest Ayrshire from 1895 onwards they have leathered footballs between the drink factory and Prestwick airport for years. This must make them the closest that Elvis Presley ever got to Scottish football. Possibly Ayr, but I’m not measuring. They also therefore qualify as the club closest to ICT’s best ever away day. 7, still can’t quite believe that one. Team News No Hayes. Again. Since going over his ankle in Dingwall, Jonny has missed out and boy have we seen how crucial he is to this ICT team. No instant out ball for the full backs. No fast breaks, no quality crosses (and goals) and no dragging half a petrified defence in his wake. Get well soon Jonny. Ironically, this has come at a time when the rest of the knees and ankles have improved, apart from Kenny Gillet. Chris Innes could be stiffening for the backbone in this one. There may be changes afoot, and guessing a line up for this would be difficult but for the limited options that TB has. The Opposition Eremenko, fit and worth a million, in what might be his last game before recall to Kharkov. Connor Sammon on fire (an expression I never thought I would use) After an extended Christmas break because the heating was on the blink, Killie should have no worries at all. For a club prone to penny pinching, internecine squabbling and factionalism as complicated as Balkan politics, they’re happy. Cammy Bell is still never better than Ryan Esson (get yer erse up here Levein for this head to head) but only if Cammy is fit. News has it he’s got the “turkey trots” and his fellow spewing companion Kyle Letheren are major doubts despite the immodium. Winger Forrester is out, having “done a Jonny” in training on these bad plastic pitches. James Dayton will also sit this one out. The rest of them are, unfortunately, fit. Form No win in the last four. Defeat on Sunday, and only two wins at home this season. Kilmarnock sit 3 points behind us. We have the edge in head to heads though; we hold the advantage on previous meetings between the two in Inverness. Of the 10 games played, Caley Thistle have recorded 5 wins, and Kilmarnock have come away with 3 victories. This included one SFA Cup win by 2-0. Generally, plenty goals to be found in these encounters, and ICT lead the scoring stats 22-16. The highest aggregate was an entertaining if disappointing 3-4 victory for Killie in December 2006. In April 2008 we handed out our biggest defeat to Killie. A David Lilley og was sandwiched between an opener from Dougie Imrie and a superb Marius Niculae strike into the top corner to make the final score 3-0. All the signals are that this could be tighter than an Aberdonian’s purse strings. 1-0 please. *I made this bit up, before you ask. "Stroke of genius if you ask me davie"