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APPLY WITHIN The application forms are already in the post as Inverness Caledonian Thistle are searching for a new head coach after it was revealed that John Robertson is returning, but his new title will be Sporting Director. That leaves his former position of Football Manager/Head Coach up for grabs after interim manager Neil McCann left the post at the end of the season. Neil did his level best and almost got the Caley Jags a shot at the play-offs, but we fell just short of achieving that. His parting shot was this go at selling the club to prospective applicants. CEO Scot Gardiner said: “I am very happy to see John return from what was a particularly difficult time for him and his family. I’m doubly pleased that he is taking the new role of Sporting Director at ICTF “We are glad that John is going to help everyone keep the momentum going as there is still so much hard work ahead of us. We will look to give the fans and our partners more details of our plans in the coming days and we will now take the steps required to fill the Head Coach vacancy at our fantastic club with immediate effect.” Whoever the new man at the helm is going to be, he/she will have a massive amount of negotiations to contend with as there are more than a dozen players out of contract at the moment, Including top scorer Nikolay Todorov, striker Miles Storey and birthday boy Aaron Doran. More to come as this story develops....

Season ends in stalemate Inverness opened the scoring early through Daniel Mackay in the sixth minute. We were unable to build on that and Ayr levelled before the break when Aaron Muirhead converted a penalty after Baird went down in the box. Level at the break but Sean Welsh bagged a penalty two minutes into the second half only for United to level again through Josh Todd. No further scoring but results elsewhere meant that Ayr were safe and Dundee jumped above Raith Rovers to finish second. The final game of the season for Inverness saw Ayr United come North looking for a point to keep themselves in the Championship as Morton take on Arbroath in the other crucial game at the bottom. For Inverness, we fell just short of a promotion play-off place and Neil McCann would be in charge for his final game as temporary manager. Aaron Doran was on the bench and Scott Allan played the final game of his loan spell for Inverness CT. Tom Walsh was on the visitors bench with veteran forward Michael Moffat fronting the Ayr side. Scott Allan set the ball rolling as Inverness kicked off towards the South stand. Todorov forced the Ayr keeper to hastily knock the ball wide for an attacking throw in the fifth minute as we looked to get forward and it paid off moments later as Daniel Mackay got on the end of a tidy ball into the box from Welsh to slot past Morrison for the opening goal. Not the start the Honest Men were looking for. Ayr got their first corner in the twelfth minute and from the return ball back into the box it almost bounced straight into the net,however it was knocked out for another corner which offered Michael Moffat an opportunity but he was crowded out at the back post. Midway through the half and the visitors had grown into the game as it became a midfield battle with little goalmouth action. Just after the half hour Todorov got his head on a deep cross from Carson but it was too tight an angle to worry Ayr too much and the danger was cleared. Penalty to Ayr seven minutes before the break as Baird went down in the box under some flailing legs, Deas or possibly Carson as he was raging. Despite some serious protests and a booking for Carson, Muirhead buried the ball low into the net. Last action of the half saw Todorov volley a difficult chance over the bar after a great ball through from Allan. Half Time: 1-1 Inverness got a penalty of their own when MacGregor was sent tumbling in the box. Up stepped MotM Sean Welsh to comfortably score to restore our advantage. We almost threw the lead away a minute later as a short pass back put Ridgers in trouble but Ayr were unable to take full advantage and we eventually mopped up. Scott Allan was setting up players at will, but nobody had the clinical finish to put the gloss on the moves. Shane Sutherland was one who received a great ball but he shot over from a great position after cutting inside. That was his last involvement as he was replaced by Arran Lyall. Inverness paid for their profligacy as Ayr equalised again, this time through Josh Todd who drilled through a ruck of legs into the net. A couple of late corners ended with a header from Danny Devine flashing across the visitors goal, but out for a goal kick. A bit of a mix-up in the Ayr box let Ayr off the hook as two Caley-Jags players left the ball for each other after Arran Lyall had created the chance. Ayr saw out the game with neither side trying too hard to win all three points. Full Time 2-2 Surprise surprise, the final game of the season petered out to a 2-2 draw which suited Ayr United as Morton failed to win at Arbroath, which means Ayr stay in the Championship and Morton go into the relegation play off to fight for their survival. A drab affair, typical end of season maybe with Inverness unable to shake off Ayr United overall and a point apiece was just about right. Best on the night was Sean Welsh. That's all from us folks, enjoy the break and see you for the start of the new season More reaction to follow... Date: 30/04/2021 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 0000 Referee: Craig Napier Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Neil McCann (temporary manager, last game) Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Deas, Harper, D Mackay (Doran 68), Welsh, MacGregor, Sutherland (Lyall 58), Allan, Todorov (Storey 76 ) Subs (not used): C Mackay; McHattie, Vincent, Allardice Scorers: Mackay (6), Welsh (47 pen) Booked: Carson (39), MacGregor (87) Sent Off: none Ayr United: 2 Manager: David Hopkin Lineup: Morrison; Houston, Baird, Roscoe-Byrne, Reading, Todd, Chalmers, Muirhead, Miller (McKenzie 53), McCowan (Murdoch 90+2), Moffat (Walsh 69) Subs (not used): Urminsky; Barjonas, Wright, Zanatta Scorers: Muirhead (39 pen), Todd (67) Booked: Miller (27), Houston (65) Sent Off: none a

The end is nigh For us, it's the final game of the season as we have missed out on the promotion play-offs despite a tremendous last six weeks which saw us go on a six game winning run including a derby Scottish Cup win over Ross County. Unfortunately we left ourselves an uphill task after the first two thirds of our season was decimated by injuries, covid and inclement weather. Ayr United head North with Championship survival high on their agenda as they look to avoid the relegation play-offs with Arbroath and Morton the other contenders. The game is a 19:45 kick-off on Friday night. Our season ended last Saturday at Tynecastle in an error strewn first half where Hearts scored three times without reply. MotM Gary Mackay-Steven scored twice and McEneff netted the other via a slight deflection. Our misery was exacerbated at the third goal as Robbie Deas ushered the ball back to the advancing Mark Ridgers. Unfortunately, as Ridgers dived down to gather, Deas dropped his guard too early and the ever alert GMS stuck his leg between them to prod the ball into the now unguarded net. Comedy goal, but we were not laughing. It ended at 3-0 and season over with Dunfermline and Dundee consolidating their places in the play-offs. So near, yet so far! LIVE UPDATES PPV LIVE STREAMING £10 OFFICIAL PREVIEW ICTFC MEDIA SILENCE CEO Scot Gardiner said: “We very much stand shoulder to shoulder with the other clubs and sports to convey the message that online abuse and discrimination of any kind is completely unacceptable.” CTO MEDIA SILENCE Enough is enough! CTO will join with Scottish football to support a boycott of social media in response to continuing racist and discriminatory abuse online aimed at players, staff, supporters and others associated with the game. It should and will not be tolerated and we will have no social media posts from 3:00pm on Friday through to midnight on 3rd of May. Ayr United now find themselves in a three way battle for survival after a goalless draw at Queen of the South. Arbroath are sucked into the mire along with Morton, and they meet at the Smokie Dome on Friday night. Ayr are the best placed of the three threatened clubs and a draw will ensure their Championship status. An Arbroath win will also see Ayr safe and relegate Morton. All games kick-off at the same time of 7:45pm. Table with one game to go before play-offs Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 26 16 6 4 59 24 35 54 2. Raith Rovers 26 12 7 7 45 32 13 43 3. Dundee 26 11 9 6 47 40 7 42 4. Dunfermline 26 10 9 7 38 33 5 39 5. Inverness CT 26 8 11 7 34 29 5 35 6. Queen of the South 26 9 5 12 38 49 -11 32 7. Arbroath 26 7 8 11 28 34 -6 29 8. Ayr United 26 6 10 10 29 35 -6 28 9. Morton 26 6 10 10 22 33 -11 28 10. Alloa Athletic 26 4 7 15 29 60 -31 19 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Ayr United --- Ayr last five games DLDLD --- ICT last five games WWDDL 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) Venue (H to H) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 9 9 1 32 18 +14 Away 21 10 4 7 40 26 +14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 40 19 13 8 72 44 +28 Neither side have won in their last three games with points becoming difficult to claim as the season comes to a climax. We have had some memorable games against Ayr United over the years, this one might have too much tension to go down as a classic and with a point suiting Ayr, that's maybe where the smart money will go. ***Latest Team News*** Neil McCann has indicated this will be his last game in charge according to this article in the Inverness Courier. I'm sure we are all grateful for his and Billy Dodd's input since coming in to cover for John Robertson. After an iffy start, we almost made it to the play-offs. So cheers guys. Last outing of the season and it's a fair bet many will not be back next year with something like 18 players out of contract in the summer. Those that are already contracted to be here next season: 2022: M Ridgers, Duffy, Devine, Harper, MacGregor, D Mackay, Welsh. 2023: Allardice, Deas, 2024 Carson. The rest have not committed themselves yet or may not have been offered a new contract, so some tough talking ahead and none more important than who will be in charge. Brad Mckay is suspended after his red card against Dundee. Latest Ayr boss David Hopkin has brought in young Motherwell keeper Peter Morrison since the 3-0 defeat to Dundee as young Finnish keeper Viljami Sinisalo returned to his parent club, Aston Villa, after picking up an injury. Corrie Ndaba missed out against Queen of the South with a knock picked up at Arbroath. Tom Walsh and Joe Chalmers are still on the books and Michael Moffat returned to the starting XI last week. So, get your old Ayr guitar out one last time... Caramel Wafer Cup Final scrapped Raith & Inverness CT joint winners of Chocolate Cup. The Scottish Professional Football League (the “SPFL”) today announced that the final of the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cup will not take place and that Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Raith Rovers have been declared joint winners of the competition for Season 2019/20. Official Player of the Year voting