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Thick and fast The games are coming thick and fast and it's another fraught weekend ahead as we travel to East End Park, Dunfermline, to take on second top 'Pars' for a 3:00pm kick-off as the league enters a crucial stage with only seven games left for the Caley Jags to determine where we finish this difficult season. April will be a tough month with games coming up against Morton (a) Queens (a) Dundee (h) Hearts (a) Ayr United (h). This game can be streamed from Pars TV for £12 on PPV and you can find out how to do it by clicking HERE. Remember to register first then pay then click on 'watch' icon. Simples. We play Buckie Thistle in Scottish Cup action next Tuesday 23rd March and PPV for that game can be found HERE In midweek we had an encouraging result at Stark's Park where a Daniel Mackay goal gave temporary boss Neil McCann his first win in charge of Inverness at the sixth time of asking. Raith were reduced to ten men after ten minutes when Iain Davidson was red carded after leaving Nikolay Todorov on the turf when he challenged him from behind. Difficult to see exactly what happened on the replay but the referee was in no doubt and his card was coming out of his top pocket before Toddy hit the ground. That was Dan's 4th goal this season. That result coupled with an excellent win for Ayr United at Dens Park shows the table like this with Alloa to play Dundee on Friday night. OFFICIAL PREVIEW Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 20 14 3 3 48 21 27 45 2. Dunfermline 18 8 6 4 27 19 8 30 3. Raith Rovers 19 8 5 6 32 25 7 29 4. Dundee 19 7 6 6 34 35 -1 27 5. Queen of the South 20 8 3 9 32 40 -8 27 6. Inverness CT 20 5 9 6 26 23 3 24 7. Ayr United 20 6 6 8 25 24 1 24 8. Morton 20 5 7 8 17 25 -8 22 9. Arbroath 20 5 6 9 17 26 -9 21 10. Alloa Athletic 20 4 5 11 24 44 -20 17 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Dunfermline Athletic 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 3 - 0 (A) 1 - 2 (H) Oh Danny boy... 4th goal this season We played at East End Park on the opening day of the league campaign but went down 3-1 after Todorov opened the scoring in the second minute. Captain Euan Murray levelled with his head before the interval and the Pars eased away with two goals in the final twelve minutes through Ryan Dow and a belter from Declan McManus. Up in the Highlands we came from behind to earn a point after Kyle Turner drilled a low shot behind Ridgers in the first half. The equaliser was a spectacular left footed strike by Miles Storey with twenty-five minutes left and that's how it ended. ***Latest Team News*** Miles Storey played the last half hour against Raith with Kevin McHattie leaving the bench to take up some time added on. Still missing were Aaron Doran, James Vincent and Lewis Toshney. James Keatings was a used substitute against Raith but he came off injured twelve minutes after coming on. With McCann not giving much away I'll guess that one or two are still carrying knocks and we will be along similar lines to Tuesday night with maybe Miles Storey starting. Dunfermline have put promising midfielder Kyle Turner out on loan to Airdieonians. They have taken Craig Wighton on loan from Hearts and the big striker is relishing the challenge with three goals in three games. Another good loan signing is Scott Banks who had spells at Dundee United and Alloa Athletic. Former Caley Jags wage earner Owain Fon Williams is the current No1 at East End Park. View full article

Just keeping his hand in.

Danny boy special for St Patrick's day

Raith tv is pretty good. Decent commentary, replays etc

It's only half time! The second phase of the double header is at Stark's Park Kirkaldy as Inverness head South on Tuesday night for a 7:00pm kick-off. Part one ended all square in an enthralling no scoring draw at the Caledonian Stadium last Friday night in front of the BBC cameras and a covid restricted crowd of 000. You can Stream this game live from RAITH TV FOR £12. Log in/register, pay then select game. Follow instructions from Raith TV. Friday's game saw Neil McCann struggle to get a squad together with injuries denying him three or four first choices. Regulars Cammy Harper, Aaron Doran, James Vincent and Miles Storey all missed out which left us down to the bare bones with three youngsters, the departing James Keatings, knackered Wallace Duffy and crocked Kev McHattie our only outfield choices. That'll be one of the reasons we made no subs in this game. Here's hoping we get a couple of our missing bodies back into contention for a start soon. Despite our skeleton squad, we warmed to the task midway through the first half and by the end of the game we gave as good as we got. It could have been a high scoring draw but for various reasons it ended 0-0, not for the want of trying from both sides. Closest to a goal for the hosts were captain Sean Welsh who headed onto the post and Roddy MacGregor who drove the ball into the ruck of bodies lying on the grass on the goal line. He should really have scored, after all it was only two yards out. Raith missed opportunities from Ugwu and Mendosa amongst others in a flying start and before the end both keepers made excellent saves. Overall a point each gives no complaints from me. Since then Neil McCann has added Billy Dodds to his coaching staff to help get the best out of the players at his disposal. Interesting, let's see how that goes. Read about it here Championship fixtures tonight: Dundee v Ayr United & Raith Rovers v Inverness CT, both 7:00pm Kick-Off. Rescheduled 2nd rd Scottish Cup Tie: Buckie Thistle v Inverness CT Tuesday 23rd March 8:00pm Kick-Off PPV £10 on BUCKIE TV Last updated: 13.03.2021 at 12:06 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Hearts 20 14 3 3 48 21 45 2. Dunfermline 18 8 6 4 27 19 30 3. Raith Rovers 18 8 5 5 32 24 29 4. Dundee 18 7 6 5 33 32 27 5. Q.O.S. 20 8 3 9 32 40 27 6. Morton 20 5 7 8 17 25 22 7. Inverness CT 19 4 9 6 25 23 21 8. Ayr United 19 5 6 8 22 23 21 9. Arbroath 20 5 6 9 17 26 21 10. Alloa Athletic 20 4 5 11 24 44 17 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Raith Rovers 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 4 - 3 (H) 4 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) ***Latest Team News*** We were hit with some unannounced call-offs for last Friday's game as McCann was keeping his injury problems close to his chest. Missing for a couple of games now have been Miles Storey, Cameron Harper, James Vincent and the recently returned Aaron Doran. Wallace Duffy was given the night off as well and that all left us a bit thin on the ground. Kevin McHattie is clearly not fully fit and Lewis Toshney featured once on the bench but has since disappeared. OFFICIAL PREVIEW John McGlynn has a simpler task of naming his squad, in fact he has the luxury of picking and choosing who he plays and who goes on the bench and who to leave out altogether, whereas our hands are tied. Ugwu or Duku, .......... Here's a reminder of the teams from Friday night: ICT: Ridgers; B Mckay, Devine, Deas, Allardice, MacGregor, Carson, Allardice, D Mackay, Sutherland, Todorov Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Nicholson, Harkness, Duffy, Keatings, McHattie, Raith: J MacDonald; Tumilty, Benedictus, Hendry, K MacDonald, Kennedy, Tait, Musonda, Ugwu (Duku 85), King (Armstrong 66) Gullan (Mathews 66) Subs (not used): Thomson; Davidson, Abraham, Spencer The Wyness Shufflers have produced another gem... View full article

Here's all the misses

And now a man with three d's in his surname has joined the cause. I give you Billy Dodds

The most glaring stat I got from the game was this. Where else could you replace one striker with another and half of the total sum of their surnames are u. I give you Duku replacing Ugwu.

That was a big upgrade from the Morton game, so well done to the guys and manager for that. It appears that Doofers Dad is right, Pixie Lott does make us look sh!te.

Down to the bare bones by the looks of it. What is going on???

Down Down Deeper and Down After the lethargic jaded performance on Tuesday night comes the visit of second place Raith Rovers, the first of a double header against the Kirkaldy side who we play again next Tuesday night at Starks Park. First up we are at the Caledonian Stadium where points are at a premium for both clubs but for different reasons. This game can be seen on BBC Scotland on Friday night with a 7:45 kick-off. This season has been a disaster on and off the park. The pandemic apart, we are at an all time low being beaten regularly by clubs that have struggled to get points off us over the years through all the divisions. Now we can't beat Alloa home or away, Queen of the South, Morton, Arbroath are all jumping on the bandwagon as we struggle to perform and points are being given away like nobodies business. What's going on? Managerless, aimless, leaderless, goalless, headless, gutless, useless, hapless and hopeless are all being used to describe our demise. At this moment in time I don't fancy our chances in a play-off situation with any club, or Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup for that matter. It's time to smell the coffee and get our heads out of our ar5e5 before it's too late. Should the unthinkable happen and we get consumed by relegation then that could trigger the death knoll of our club. Part time football beckons, and with that comes anonymity and even less income. It's a slippery slope that's so easy to slide down but one that's very difficult to climb back up. What can be done to halt the slide? Well, picking up three points would be very welcome but that's not so easy given our fixture schedule and small squad. Another factor in all this has been the stop start season and poor playing conditions. I know I know, it's the same for both sides I hear you say, but conditions like the Morton game levelled out the skill factor in favour of the technically poorer squad whilst ensuring we were brought down to a lower level. Yep, it's clutching at straws, but it's all we have at the moment. We need a leader on the park and direction from the dugout. That's not happening at the moment. Injuries have crippled our season and even Pixie Lott makes us look sh!te. Unfortunately, the league table does not lie and prior to the Raith game we sit second bottom of the table having all but caught up on our games in hand. Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 19 13 3 3 46 21 25 42 2. Raith Rovers 17 8 4 5 32 24 8 28 3. Dunfermline 17 7 6 4 26 19 7 27 4. Queen of the South 19 8 3 8 30 37 -7 27 5. Dundee 17 6 6 5 31 32 -1 24 6. Morton 19 5 7 7 17 24 -7 22 7. Ayr United 18 5 6 7 22 21 1 21 8. Arbroath 19 5 6 8 17 24 -7 21 9. Inverness CT 18 4 8 6 25 23 2 20 10. Alloa Athletic 19 3 5 11 21 42 -21 14 Saturday games in the Championship, all 3:00pm kick-off. Dundee v Arbroath Dunfermline v Morton Hearts v Ayr United Queens v Alloa Athletic Our record over the years against Raith Rovers is one of total dominance. It's almost 21 years since Raith Rovers last won, a 2-1 win in the Highlands when first half goals by Jay Stein and Ivan Mballa were enough to see off a depleted Caley Jags who replied through Paul Sheerin ten minutes before the end. Since then we have been totally dominant winning eighteen games and drawing just three. Unfortunately our recent demise could result in another team changing the balance of power. Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Rovers going back to Saturday, April 24th, 2004 2 - 0 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 4 - 3 (H) 4 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (A) We played Rovers in a League Cup game at the start of the season and that ended in an entertaining 3-3 draw with Rovers getting the penalty shoot-out bonus point. The second encounter was the first game with fans allowed in. A covid restricted crowd saw Inverness tame the high scoring Rovers and emerge from the game with a deserved 2-0 win with goals from James Keatings and Scott Allardice. We sat 5th in the table after that game, only three points behind Raith in second place. After trouncing Queen of the South the following week at Palmerston we were level with Raith on ten points. There was little evidence of the slump that was about to follow once the postponements set in. We even managed to draw with Dundee, surrendering a lead to a late goal. Then came Alloa. They hold the Indian sign over us recently and if that is our benchmark, then the rot set in after another failure to beat the Wasps. Only one win in ten games since the defeat to Alloa, and that was something of a surprise result at Ayr. That is simply not the form of a team looking for promotion, but it certainly smacks of relegation. A couple of the players have been speaking in the local press, Allardice and Duffy have used the word embarrassing and I can't disagree with that. They are implying that it's all down to the players to dig their way out of this hole. I can't disagree with that. Allardice added we should forget all talk about promotion, can't disagree with that either, he is spot on. I suppose it's good to know that the players realise we have a problem. Let's see if we get a reaction to our dismal performance against Morton where the most disappointing aspect was our inability to create enough chances coupled with some bog standard Caley Jags shoddy defending. Time to change the record guys. Brad Mckay is another who has stuck his oar in as he said "if anyone thinks Inverness Caledonian Thistle doesn’t care about bouncing back from their poor form and fighting against relegation, they’re wrong." Well, the fans are waiting guys, show us you care and let's get a result please, preferably a positive one! Championship Managerial Merry go Round: I see that Morton and Ayr United have made their moves to escape relegation. Morton have dumped Antone McElhone from the gaffers seat since they beat us and in comes the experienced Gus McPherson. Ayr United have signed on former Livingston and Morton manager David Hopkin. Meanwhile, we have under fire Neil McCann still helping out. Arbroath's manager Dick Campbell has been awarded Manager of the Month after a series of great results in February. Three wins and two draws tipped the scales in Dick's favour. Makes our 1-1 draw at Gayfield feel like a result! ***Latest Team News*** Neil McCann will have to decide whether he plays James Keatings or leaves him out against his future employers. Aaron Doran managed some game time against Morton but it was under difficult conditions. Kevin McHattie made the bench with Lewis Toshney on it for the previous game, so hopefully these defenders will be ready for selection soon as we need a steady hand at the back to compliment the brashness of youth. Up front we missed the pace of Miles Storey against Morton. Raith Rovers have been steadily building their squad and have a few to look out for. We are well aware of the trickery of Kai Kennedy, something we sadly lack since he left us. He will be joined next season by James Keatings who has signed a pre-contract at Stark's Park. Hell mend him! Manny Duku was well policed last time at Inverness but he is a goal threat. Raith will be without the services of defender Fernandy Mendy for three weeks as 'Nando' has been called up to play in the African Nations Cup for Guinea Bissau, which means he misses tonight's game at Inverness. More Pre-Match info/video will be added when available... View full article

Use it or lose it situation.

The Scottish Cup is the least of our worries.

That's Allardice on six bookings now. Here's the table. Don't look if you are easily offended. Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 19 13 3 3 46 21 25 42 2. Raith Rovers 17 8 4 5 32 24 8 28 3. Dunfermline 17 7 6 4 26 19 7 27 4. Queen of the South 19 8 3 8 30 37 -7 27 5. Dundee 17 6 6 5 31 32 -1 24 6. Morton 19 5 7 7 17 24 -7 22 7. Ayr United 18 5 6 7 22 21 1 21 8. Arbroath 19 5 6 8 17 24 -7 21 9. Inverness CT 18 4 8 6 25 23 2 20 10. Alloa Athletic 19 3 5 11 21 42 -21 14