CELTIC1CALEY3

Somehow we also need to get the referee on board the team. I have massive respect for Bobby Madden and in particular what he has come through but realistically he was not balanced in his overall judgement on Saturday.

We may get lucky and have 4 home and 4 away. Before the split we have Aberdeen away - amazingly tough- St Johnstone home - extra tough - and Motherwell away - very tough. In the split fixtures we will have fixtures against Hamilton, Ross County, Motherwell, Dundee and Kilmarnock - I cannot see Killie who play Rangers, Celtic and Hearts overtaking Partick (nor Dundee or Ross County for that matter). So far we have played Hamilton away twice this year, Ross County away once, Motherwell will be twice, Dundee once, and Killie once. In theory we would therefore play Hamilton at home, Ross County away, Motherwell home, Dundee away, and Killie away. But that is not certain. I strongly suspect we will have Ross County away on the last day of the season when I hope we will have something to play for.

BBC highlights show that at an early corner Connor Sammon blatantly charging straight into Brad Mckay without even looking at the cross in order to stop him having a close shot at goal. This could explain why Brad later got angry with the referee and was booked.

Looking to the next two sets of fixtures our game against Aberdeen is very unlikely to result in any points coming our way. Ross County should be favourites to beat Dundee. Motherwell against Hamilton is likely to be a draw. We can but hope Rangers get their act together and beat Killie. We obviously hope Killie then do not upset Celtic's home celebrations of the title. However, even though on 33 points they would be miles from us.Hamilton v Ross County might be a County win. Ideally Hearts will beat Dundee. A second win against St Johnstone would be a relief but leave is still dangling near the edge.Partick would be desperate to beat Motherwell. Dundee's final game before the split is against Hamilton. We have quite a good record against Motherwell but a second win down there might be too much to ask. It is certainly not looking too good but the fans must retain faith.

A point at Pittodrie on Tuesday could be a lifesaver. It will take an enormous effort to achieve that though.

We should in no way blame players. Their careers are partly regulated by the transfer window and other restrictions. It is not an easy life and come the season end many will be without clubs for months or even forever again. It is a very short career and realistically we should wish Greg well and trust like everyone else they seek to get at least a point at Pittodrie.

''Ross County left-back Kenny van der Weg is poised to reject a new two-year contract and leave the Scottish Premiership club this summer as the 26-year-old has struggled to settle in the Highlands, describing Dingwall as boring.'' https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/789762/dutch-star-kenny-van-der-weg-ready-to-quit-ross-county-after-struggling-to-settle-in-the-highlands/

Heard Jim McIntyre on STV last night make it clear Ross County need to win the next four games to have a good chance of getting into the top six - clearly not coming for a draw so putting pressure on his players to get four wins in a row. He has decided Celtic away is a straightforward loss which is fair. Here are the games where the County plan to harvest their 12 points: Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Ross County Partick Thistle v Ross County Ross County v Dundee Hamilton Academical v Ross County Ross County v Celtic I just wonder whether Alex Neil might be brought in if the County lose a few. McIntyre invested very heavily in January so probably did so on the basis of a top 6 promise to Uncle Roy.

County were slightly unlucky against Kilmarnock and we were a little lucky against Partick. However, Celtic apart, we have points from the other four games. If every single player in our side and every single supporter had a game where we all needed to be focussed, it is Saturday. A defeat is unthinkable. A draw might take us level with Hamilton or if they were to lose heavily at Ibrox above them. It is time to really believe we can beat Ross County again without over committing. It should be a tense match so it will be interesting to see what support comes from over the bridge.

First target is clearly not to lose against Partick. Then review.

I do not think McCart is eligible against Celtic. In addition Carlos and Jake picked up injuries against Rangers. As an aside, we played Rangers for most of the game without our top scorer when Carlos went off injured.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted he does not expect Celtic to go through the domestic season unbeaten, despite Saturday's 2-0 win over Hamilton Accies extending their league winning streak to 21 games.(Sunday Post)

The Championship would result in pay cuts and job losses and perhaps wilderness years. The reality has sunk in. New players have been very positive. The old work ethic has returned. The supporters have stuck with the club despite some clear frustrations. Richie shaved off his beard!!!

J'taime! Picture courtesy of the Daily Record

Having just returned having been to Celtic Park yesterday, Celtic were actually outstanding. We have caused them significant trouble over the years but no one really expected any repeat performances. We come back at least £100k richer as a club, Aberdeen used to get battered worse than us,and we can now focus on one competition. Apart from recent history with our poor run in the league, there is no reason why we cannot squeeze points out of the next three very difficult games despite the adversity starting this Saturday with a lot of injuries and key suspensions. In addition Billy King was injured against Celtic but is unavailable against his parent club. Hearts will have a certain focus on the Scottish Cup replay and possibly on the next round if they get a good draw. Problems started yesterday with the second goal (its nature and timing) just before half time. We worked very hard in the first half despite playing a team who are completely undefeated on the domestic front this season. Had we come out at 1-0 for the second half the game might have been much tighter. We have now got that game out of our system and if we refer to Hamilton's far worse trouncing at Celtic Park last season (19 Jan 2016 and 8-1) , they dusted themselves down and reacted very positively to the result. We can rest assurred that everyone connected with the club will do everything this week to do the same.

..a big huddle....

...and from a Rangers fan ' Clancy was also the ref who bottled it when the Inverness player was clean through and got taken out by Sviatchenko. Even Sutton was slating him. ' I like that word bottled!

Ryan Calder Essen, David Hastings Raven, Gary Warren-Mann, Brad Tokely McKay, Carl Golabek Tremarco, Greg Christie Tansey, Ross McCulloch Draper, Iain Sheerin Vigurs, Billy Wilson King Billy Wyness Mckay Henry Teasdale Anier Subs confirmed - Aaron Bavidge Doran, Larnell Glancy Cole and Scott Byers Boden Manager Richie Ronaldo Foran ns

Dear IHE Further to our recent conversations, I noticed yesterday that both linesmen were unable to control their flags in the high wind and that this lead to a goal being disallowed for Inverness and to King Billy getting booked for questioning this frequent problem. I am sorry for this act of God and will correct it next time at Paradise. Please ensure all players fight like demented tigers and do not let a little Moussa steel the show. This is your moment, Your obedient servant Lord Believe

Gary has to be available for the Celtic game. However, we have three players suspended for the Hearts game (that will be Gary's first SPFL game after the 11th.) http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/resources/documents/Disciplinary/CurrentSuspensions/Season2016/17/PlayerSuspensions/LOS30 (02 FEB 2017) VM.pdf So against Hearts expect Drapes in the back four unless Josh is back.

Who can save us?

Ryan Essen will need to come back this Saturday if we lose through another GK error.

This is the time to believe we can get up to 10th place. After that we can revise our aspirations. However, here are some inspirational quotes to help us help the team: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/03/bill-shankly-quotes.html

Hang on a minute. Teams like Aberdeen and Mothewell have considerable experience fighting the drop. We have relatively little and from a motivational point of view we gained ground yesterday with a poor performance. We now focus on Hamilton and for either manager, a win will feel like an enormous boost. Potentially Hamilton have more to lose so may start more motivated - they have supporters boycotting the club, Canning is on a slightly worse run than ICT. It is difficult to imagine a second consecutive worse performance. So we all need to be positive about this game. Against Partick we eventually put out a solid back five. They all played well. The front six were out of sorts!! That does not mean that the six selected for Hamilton cannot take on a much better shape and will Billy likely to return we have another option. Boden is due to get some time and luck. Let us not go down the route chosen by the Hamilton supporters or indeed those of Kilmarnock. Steady as we go and focus wholeheartedly on not losing to Hamilton.