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Back to the field of dreams. CIS Cup business on Wednesday evening as Inverness head to the east end of Glasgow to take on table toppers Celtic. Neil Lennon's side are neck and neck with Rangers in the league while Inverness are struggling to find any consistency, and a spate of injuries to key players is stretching Terry Butcher's squad to the limits. Hopes of a cup shock will always be on the cards, although this seems a distant thought after Inverness crashed 1-3 at home to Hearts, and leaves Inverness pointless at home this season. Settle down, get the kettle filled up, put the kids to bed, and close the curtains, Alternative Maryhill has produced another explicit full length feature before the teams do battle......... read on. Celtic v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, CIS Insurance Cup, Wednesday September 22nd: Match Preview On Wednesday evening, Caley Thistle go to Celtic Park on CIS Cup duty, a little over ten and a half years since the club’s first and most famous match against the Glasgow side. It is a symptom of ICT’s success in the decade that followed that famous Scottish Cup victory, that a trip to face Celtic is now regarded among supporters as a far more routine event than it was in February 2000; yet after a season out of the top flight, and with a floodlit midweek cup tie in the east end of Glasgow having its own special resonances for Invernessians, it is hard not to feel an extra frisson of excitement as the game approaches. Previous fixtures Despite Inverness Caledonian Thistle perhaps being fixed permanently in some people’s minds as ‘conquerors of Celtic’ after the headlines of February 2000, the reality is that of all ICT’s league opponents, no club has taken a higher proportion of the available points than Celtic. Of the sixteen SPL matches between the sides, Celtic have won twelve and Caley Thistle only one, with three having been drawn. Cup ties are, however, a different matter: the teams have met on cup business four times and the honours are currently even. In addition to the famous 3-1 victory achieved by Steve Paterson’s team, John Robertson led Caley Thistle to what was arguably as great an upset when the first division side beat Martin O’Neill’s eventual UEFA Cup finalists in the quarter final of the 2003 Scottish Cup. The 1-0 victory in Inverness, courtesy of Dennis Wyness’s goal, was carved out against a team that had just beaten Liverpool in Europe, and while some pointed to a post-European hangover and the resting of several regulars as reasons for Celtic’s defeat, it should be remembered that Celtic’s starting line-up was still composed almost entirely of full internationalists, including Henrik Larsson and current Celtic manager Neil Lennon. The game which finally brought Celtic’s only Scottish Cup victory against ICT to date also looked for a long time as if it would finish in Caley Thistle’s favour. Graeme Bayne put the home side ahead after eighteen minutes, and thought he had added a second late in the first half, until realising it had been ruled out as offside. Celtic threatened sporadically, but IC T held on until the eighty-ninth minute, when Steven Pressley scored the equaliser with a header. Within two minutes the game had been turned on its head when Kenny Miller scored a late winner. There has been only one match between the clubs in the CIS Insurance Cup competition, and the omens for Caley Thistle from this game are not particularly good. The sides met at Celtic Park on Wednesday 23rd October 2002, with Celtic running out 4-2 winners. Understandably, this game has been overshadowed by the two Scottish Cup wins for Inverness that came on either side of it: Celtic supporters, far happier with the club under Martin O’Neill than they had been with John Barnes’ stewardship, probably felt content that the ghost of the earlier Cup defeat had been laid to some extent, albeit in a lesser competition, while few Inverness supporters realistically expected history to repeat itself. Yet almost three thousand of the faithful still travelled from Inverness and witnessed a typically bold performance from Steve Paterson’s team. Celtic took the lead through Shaun Maloney in just four minutes, but if the Celtic supporters expected Caley Thistle to roll over after that, they were mistaken. Paul Ritchie equalised on the ten-minute mark and ICT continued to try to attack and play football throughout the game. John Hartson and Alan Thompson scored again for Celtic before half time, and Hartson scored again on the hour to make it 4-1, but in 71 minutes Dennis Wyness pulled one back, and my memory of that final 20 minutes is of one of the most exciting, spirited and frustrating performances I have witnessed from an ICT side, with Liam Keogh denied a decent penalty claim and a Bobby Mann header cleared off the line in the final minute. Even Shaun Maloney, who won the man-of-the-match award, admitted that the Celtic players felt they were lucky to have hung on for the victory by the final whistle. It is unlikely, unfortunately, that as many Caley Thistle supporters will make the journey to Glasgow this Wednesday, but those who do attend will be hoping that they see similar spirit and endeavour, and just a little more of the good fortune that could take the team through. Current Form Five games into the SPL season, ICT supporters’ emotions and expectations for the season are likely to be as mixed as the performances of the team. Despite what was ultimately a well-deserved win for Celtic in the opening game of the season, the first quarter of that match provided hope that Terry Butcher’s first division champions could create chances and cause problems for sides in the SPL. The superb counter-attacking performance that brought a 4-0 victory away to Dundee United seemed to justify that optimism, yet that game was followed by a flat performance in a 1-0 home defeat to Hamilton. A point away to Hibernian in a 1-1 draw was a respectable result, yet neither team really seemed capable of taking hold of the game, while in Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Hearts, some encouraging signs, in the performances of young midfielder Nick Ross and recent signing Stuart Duff, were negated by the inability of the Caley Thistle defence to cope with the pace of Hearts’ attackers. There is no doubt that the team’s current defensive frailties are to some extent exacerbated by the injuries to full backs Kevin McCann and Kenny Gillet, who started the season promisingly; the return from injury of Richie Foran should add more strength and variety to the team in an attacking sense; and hopes remain high that Rooney, Hayes and Odhiambo can succeed at SPL level. Yet ICT supporters will undoubtedly feel more relaxed when the team has managed to string together two or three good results for the first time this season. There would be no better place to start than Celtic Park. Celtic’s start to the season was dominated by the team’s European exits, first from Champions’ League qualifying at the hands of SC Braga, then from the Europa League after a 4-0 humiliation in Utrecht. Questions were asked about whether Neil Lennon’s lack of managerial experience was showing through on the big occasions and about whether the players recruited to replace those remaining from Tony Mowbray’s short-lived reign were of sufficient quality. Yet in the league, Celtic have made a near-perfect start, with away wins at Inverness, Motherwell and Kilmarnock and two impressive home victories, 4-0 against St Mirren and 3-0 against Hearts. Neil Lennon’s new-look team might have failed in Europe, but plenty of his players are beginning to catch the eye domestically: of the new signings, central defender Danijel Majstorovich looks to be exactly the sort of big, ugly player that the foundations of Martin O’Neill’s Celtic teams were built on, while Baram Kayal and Efrain Juarez have added class in midfield; up front, youth team graduate James Forrest, the rejuvenated Shaun Maloney and previously-overlooked Paddy McCourt provide more creativity than has been seen in many recent Celtic teams. Yet after last season’s defeat to Ross County and this season’s early European defeats, still the question remains: can Neil Lennon’s Celtic win in cup competitions? Team News Speaking to the Sunday Herald, Neil Lennon promised that he would be ‘putting a strong team out’ for this fixture. However, with the strength in depth Celtic enjoy, it is difficult to predict how many changes Lennon will make from the team that lined up against Kilmarnock on Sunday. The same defence has started Celtic’s last three league games, conceding only one goal, but there has been more rotation in the attacking areas, with Shaun Maloney, Daryl Murphy, Paddy McCourt, Anthony Stokes, James Forrest and Georgios Samaras all featuring at points. Summer signing Gary Hooper, so prolific for Scunthorpe last season, may also come into contention after missing the start of the season through injury, having come through a closed-doors game last week. ICT supporters will hope that McCourt, and Scott Brown, both taken off injured against Kilmarnock, will miss out, but at the time of writing there has been no news on that front from Celtic. ***Latest Celtic News***As Alternative Maryhill had both fingers crossed, Scott Brown, Paddy McCourt and James Forrest will miss out, with Joos Hoiveld being left to the last minute to see if he can shake off a training knock. After an almost injury-free year in the first division, ICT’s players have been making up for non-lost time at the start of this season. Still definitely ruled out for Wednesday’s game are Gil Blumenshtein and left back Kenny Gillet, whose absence was sorely felt against Hearts. Danni Sanchez, who made such a promising late appearance against Hibernian, also missed the Hearts games through a knee injury, although pre-match reports that he hoped to be fit for that game suggest that the injury is not too serious and that he could still be in contention for an appearance against Celtic. On-loan right back Kevin McCann was also reported to be close to fitness for the Hearts game, despite ultimately missing out; given the ongoing absence of Gillet and the fragility of the defence against Hearts, McCann’s return against Celtic would be very welcome. Undoubtedly the most welcome news for Inverness supporters, however, was the return of club captain Richie Foran as a substitute against Hearts. Assuming he came through the game without a bad reaction, he must be in contention to start against Celtic. Yet with a game against St Mirren that must be considered the priority coming up on Saturday, Terry Butcher faces a difficult decision in choosing his team to face Celtic: does he field what he considers to be his strongest line-up, which would almost certainly include Foran, or does he shuffle the pack and give players who have so far been on the fringes of the first team their chances? All will be revealed on Wednesday. ***From the Inverness Camp***Danni Sanchez is still struggling and there is a possibility of Shane Sutherland and Graeme Shinnie making the starting eleven. Prediction Celtic will almost certainly be set up to attack from the off on Wednesday evening, and this could well suit Inverness players such as Jonny Hayes and Eric Odhiambo, whose effectiveness on the counter-attack was amply displayed against Dundee United. I can certainly see ICT scoring on Wednesday evening; reluctantly, however, with the Inverness defence still not at full strength, I predict Celtic will score more and reverse the scoreline that first put us on the footballing map. I sincerely hope I’m wrong. Celtic 3 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 If you have read this far, you will probably need a lie down..........thanks Alternative Maryhill. **TICKET UPDATE** Tickets are still available for our 3rd round CIS Cup game against Celtic this Wednesday at Park Head. Tickets can be purchased in person from the stadium, by telephone by calling 01463 227451 or via the internet by visiting www.ictfc.co.uk. Tickets will be on sale in Inverness until 12pm on Wednesday so hurry and get your ticket TODAY!! Tickets purchased over the phone or via the internet from Monday (20.09.10) will be taken to Celtic Park and will be available for collection from the ICT minibus in the main car park. In addition to this, the ICTFC Supporters Trust will take a supply of tickets to the game for purchase from the minibus. However, we do heavily recommend tickets are bought in advance from the Club to avoid disappointment. Prices are as follows: Adult - £15 Season ticket holder - £10 Concession - £5 (over 65 or under 16)

Hearts came up trumps... ...at Inverness after coming from behind to take all three points in the early kick off. Eric Odhiambo had given the hosts an advantage, but a Chris Innes own goal seconds before half time changed the complexion of the match. Hearts took full advantage of sloppy defending in the second period to wrap up the three points with goals from Ryan Stevenson and Calum Elliot to leave Inverness without a home point. 17th September 2010 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 - Odhiambo (37) TEAM: Esson, Proctor, Innes, (Golabek 72), Munro, Tokely, Duff, Cox, Hayes, Odhiambo, (Foran 73) Rooney, Ross (Sutherland 80) SUBS: Tuffey, McBain, Duncan, Morrison Booked:- Duff(30), Hayes(44) Heart of Midlothian 3 - Innes (og 45) Stevenson (55) Elliot (69) TEAM: Kello, Barr, Bouzid, Thomson, Jonsson, Palazuelos, (Mrowiec 67), Suso (Obua 78), Black, (Kyle 36), Templeton, Stevenson, Elliot SUBS: Ballogh, McGowan, Novikovas, Glen Booked:- Palazuelos(10), Templeton(81) Referee Iain Brines Attendance 4,515 Davie got the short straw for this one, here is his report For the first 36 minutes of this match, ICT positively welcomed back Ian Black to TCS and everything was rosey. Yet in that pivotal minute, he was forced off by injury and replaced by Kevin Kyle and our day became as dreich as the weather in Inverness. The sides lined up at mid-day for ESPN along lines that were predicted all week, the biggest cheer being reserved for one R. Foran, occupier of the bench. Chris Innes fitted into central defence, sporting a new natty skinhead and a sense of purpose in the early exchanges. Hearts first corner in 3 minutes was cleared by him, closely followed by Cox’s first foul on Ian Black in 4. The inevitable first yellow for a foul on Hayes after a typical tilt down his wing was for Palazuelos in 7. He wouldn’t be the last for the book in a nip and tuck first twenty that saw chances for both sides, most notably an Innes header that Kello had to look sharp with. The first of a succession of Hearts penalty claims started from Suso (is that really his name?) around then but the game changed. Stuart Duff breenged into Black, earning yellow in the process and the wee man hobbled off into renewed exile to be replaced by that man Kyle, 36 minutes. Kyle is an enigma. He is roughly the size of a small bungalow and just about as mobile. And yet, he’s as difficult to hit a ball around as one, attracting cross balls like a magnet and causing mayhem. It's like watching a fault line shift. Before the mayhem could start though, the third sweet passing move through the Hearts defence resulted in a finish for Eric Odihambo. Cue much happiness. In truth, the second move in the series could have been a finish for Rooney so 1-0 for ICT looked a good bet for a half time score, Nick Ross controlling most things with incisive pass and go movements to feed Rooney. In 43 minutes, just as half time looked distinctly welcome Jonny Hayes tackled Templeton in a manner that absolutely proved why he’s a forward. The yellow was bad enough, but the resultant free had a veritable herd of wildebeest charging at Ryan Esson, orchestrated by Kyle. In the end, it was Innes that got a hoof to it. 1-1. My notes said “Kevin f’n Kyle” It was about to get worse. Half Time 1-1 Half time was enlivened by a wee laddie’s kick about and a cracking announcement that the trains back to auld reekie were alcohol free. You could have heard the groan in Dingwall. The second half took about a minute to reveal a game more open than Paris Hilton, and it was obvious that defence was not the keyword of the day. Kyle was winning everything in the air by this time and was countered by a couple of good Eric chances and a hairs breadth escape from the second OG of the game for Bouzid. Something had to give, and it did in 55 minutes when Stevenson scored from a knock down header. I’m not telling you who by. Our fragile defence was beginning to look tattered and it was no real surprise that another goal arrived in 69 minutes from Elliot, courtesy of Suso. In between there were chances for Rooney and Ross, along with a glaring miss for a penalty from referee Brines. Roscoe will be glad. Foran appeared for some game time shortly thereafter, and ran manfully but in truth the game was gone by that time. Golly replaced Innes after an injury (hamstring, apparently) and Shane Sutherland came on for Ross. He thought he’d scored but Foran was offside giving him the pass that skelped off him and into the net. Full Time 1-3 It’s hard to be too disappointed or frustrated about the result. It showed the differences between contenders for a top four place and survival. Inverness suffered again due to the fact that our central defence has never recovered from the loss of Darren Dods, whilst Hearts proved they can import unpronounceable prospects to cover their deficiencies. We need a good commanding centre back and soon. There was enough today to suggest that the goals will come, and they need to next Saturday. This early, a result in Paisley looks crucial and a win at the methadome will go a long way to establishing a status quo with St. Mirren bottom of the heap. Just don’t talk to me about Kevin f’n Kyle.

High Noon at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium for the mid-day shoot out. The second half of the capital double sees Heart of Midlothian visit Inverness this weekend. Mixed fortunes last Saturday saw Inverness snatch a point at the Jambo's city rivals Hibernian, while Hearts were cuffed 3-0 by Celtic. Former Inverness cult hero Ian Black will return North with his new employers looking to give Hearts a boost towards the top half of the league, while Terry Butcher will be hoping to consolidate the Highlanders position in the cut throat SPL. CTO's davie has run the rule over both clubs and here are his thoughts prior to this weekends game. Welcome to the SPL’s family weekend, unless you sit in that section of the North stand when it’s that every weekend. Reduced prices, activities for the bairns and autograph signing amongst other things should pack them in. Hearts are our visitors, hot on the heels of our creditable away draw against the green half of Embra. Always the owners of a decent away support, they should contribute to an excellent atmosphere on Saturday. All we need is a bit of sunshine, like Leith…….. Team news from Gorgie Road is dominated by them getting back Rudi Skacel for a second stint at the club. Given that he scored 17 goals in his previous tenure, he’s worth watching, but Cyprus to Sneck might be a bit of a shock to the system. Defensively, they are a wee bit short with Wallace injured and Zaliukas not knowing what he wants to do, so the ever volcanic Jim Jefferies might have some shuffling to do on top of his usual ranting. Of course, everyone at TCS is familiar with Ian Black and his possible match up opposite Lee Cox is one to savour. As TB says; "It will be nice to see Ian Black come back. He did very well for us, even although we still went down. He showed a great attitude, so it will be great to see him. I just hope he doesn't do what Dougie Imrie did and score against us!" Quite. Hearts are a strong side, have top 3 aspirations. Two draws, one loss and one win suggests that they will be dangerous, even if their new away strip makes them look like Coventry (sorry Gringo) ICT have a similar patchy start, with two losses, one draw and one win so there’s not much in it. Saturday sees the return of Stuart Duff from seagull city, and Kevin McCann should return from injury at full back. However, Kenny Gillet is set to see a specialist about his knee after sustaining an injury at Hibs on Saturday, and Danni Sanchez hopes to shake off a knock in time (knee) What is it with this team and knees? It’s still too early for that other notable knee, Foran and the odd calf out, Gil Blumenshtein. Recent history suggests Hearts are dominant. 16 fixtures have resulted in 9 Jambo wins, 4 draws and 3 ICT wins. None of the results have ever been runaway, so a close game might be in the offing. 3-2, 1-0, even Sky’s comparometer has a hard time separating them. Davie reckons 1-0 Caleyjags. Adam Rooney to score again. You heard it here first………………..

Ginger Jaggy has printed his thoughts for this weekend’s clash of the coupon busters at Easter Road. Two teams capable of playing entertaining football on a good day, but also capable of pressing the self destruct button on a bad day go head to head in the Capital as three SPL points are at stake. This is the first of a Capital club double as ICT take on Hearts next week in Inverness. Often a happy hunting ground for Inverness, boss Butcher will be looking to get back on track after the lifeless performance against Hamilton Academical, although Captain Richie Foran will miss out. Hibernian Preview On Saturday we will be making our first trip to the capital to face Hibs at Easter Road. Caley Thistle’s return to the SPL has not been easy with the first five games seeing us face Celtic, Dundee United, Hibs and Hearts with Hamilton seen as the easiest game to pick up some points. But the rollercoaster has already started and fans of Caley Thistle have seen a couple of unexpected twists. The first game saw a brave performance put up but it was in vain as Celtic kicked off their title aspirations with a superb Paddy McCourt solo effort. But the first twist was a sensational 4-0 victory at Tannadice courtesy of two cracking strikes, from Kevin McCann and prolific goal scorer Russell Duncan (ok maybe not but it was a cracker). Adam Rooney scored twice to open his SPL account with again another decent finish from the edge of the box and then converting a penalty late on. The fans were on a high, but an old friend/foe (delete as appropriate) in Dougie Imrie popped up without a minute gone to seal Hamilton’s first victory of the season. Fans were disappointed after the fantastic result the week before but three points is not too bad as long as we had some points on the board coming into this mini break for the internationals. Our opponents have also had an up and down start to the season. Hibernian shot out of the traps last season and at one stage were in title contention but faded away badly as the season drew to a close. Hibs did get into the Europa league play offs but suffered defeat straight away as they crashed out tamely to the Slovenian club NK Maribor losing both legs. When they kicked off their domestic season they got off to a great start winning 3-2 at Motherwell with Stokes, Hanlon and Miller on the score sheet. Thereafter though, their season has gone from bad to worse with defeats and the loss of star striker Anthony Stokes to Celtic on transfer deadline day. The first defeat for Hibs was shaping up to be a decent performance before Kenny Miller scored a hat trick to give defending champions Rangers a comfortable 3-0 victory. They were also beaten 1-0 at relegation candidates St Mirren in Paisley which would have annoyed the Easter road faithful. So it is all to play for as both sides have 3 points and look to kick on up the table in the coming months. Caley Thistle has a great record against Hibs with Inverness winning 8 games out of 15 and Hibs winning just 5 with 2 draws. That record is helped by the fact that Hibernian have never won in the Highlands and with our last match ending 2-1 to us at Easter Road the vociferous away day fans will be hoping for the same. Inverness team news for this match sees Terry Butcher regain Chris Innes and Dani Sanchez to the squad. Caley Thistle have also acquired the services of Stewart Duff again, after his loan spell last season as he is a free agent and could be signed outside the window. He goes straight into the squad for Saturday. On the three injured players, Foran and Blumenshtein are running again but won’t be in action for a few weeks while Kevin McCann could return for the Hearts game next week although he is ineligible against his parent club for the visit to Easter Road. Hibs will be playing a bounce match to give their three new signings Darryl Duffy, Jonathon Grounds and Francis Dickoh a bit of match sharpness before Saturday. They also welcome back Kevin McBride who served a one match ban after his red card against Rangers. John Hughes also hopes to have Graeme Stack back after a back problem has kept him out of the last two matches and look for Michael Hart to be ready to face us on Saturday after hamstring trouble, also against Rangers. A familiar face in goals for Hibernian is that of our very own Mark Brown. John Rankin might also feature. One man to keep a close eye on will be Colin Nish who seems to have a habit of scoring against ICT. Last line up for Hibernian- Brown, Stokes, Wotherspoon, Nish, Miller, Hogg, De Graaf, Hanlon (60), Bamba, Thicot (70), Riordan (71) – Smith, Stevenson, Stephens, Currie, Galbraith (60), Rankin (70), Murray (71) The game will be tough as Hibs can be a good side on their day, but I think we can get a positive result out of it either by the odd goal or claiming what I would see as a creditable draw. Hibs can match the best when on form, and will be looking to bounce back from a surprise defeat to St Mirren but so will ICT from the disappointing home result to Hamilton, so it is shaping up to be a cracker. GingerJaggies prediction 1-1 ***Breaking News***No pun intended*** Word on the street is that Darryl Duffy has broken a bone in his foot and will miss this game.