PaderbornCaley

The season of six-pointers begins We are off down to the Kingdom of Fife this weekend as Inverness travel once more to East End Park, Dunfermline, to take on Jim McIntyre's basement boys in the proverbial six-pointer. Yes, it's that time of the season again where results start to become more crucial as time runs out for the bottom sides. For Inverness, it's more of a must not lose game, but for Dunfermline it really is a must win game. In the wake of his sides 4-1 defeat by money troubled Rangers Mr McIntyre told BBC Sport "I have no doubt in my mind that we will stay in the league. I think we've got the players." He may well have the players but he also needs the points and at the moment his club remain firm favourites for the drop in most peoples eyes. Eight points separate the teams at the moment and Inverness have a massive goal difference advantage which is worth another point come the end of the campaign. However, we have failed to beat Dunfermline over ninety minutes in the four games played this season. I would suspect Terry Butcher would be happier with a point than his counterpart, and considering our expansive injury concerns then we may have to settle for that. We lost Roman Golobart and Andrew Shinnie the last time we played here, and both players were instrumental in securing our passage into the next round of the Cup. Maybe Greg Tansey will score here, it's the only place he has achieved that so far with three goals in the two games at East End Park. Our undefeated run of seven games came to an end in the cup against Celtic and last weekend at Celtic Park Ryan Esson's clean sheets stopped as well. However losing by the only goal of the game was not a disaster and it was a much improved performance from the one which saw us slip out of the Cup rather tamely the previous week. The lack of a proven goalscorer was evident as chances came and went without so much as a shot on target, and the opportunities were there begging for someone to make the run at the right moment, but our misfiring midfielders are no match for a poacher and the chances went astray. Snowman Rally this weekend for me, but Capital Caley will size up the possibilities and probabilities for us ahead of this clash, and once he gets back to Glasgow, he will offer us a full match report on the events of the day, if the Elizabethan has not dulled his senses. This preview is dedicated to Inverness fan Gordon Urquhart, a member on this site known simply as gordyfromsneck who sadly, passed away suddenly as a result of a heart attack in Zambia this week. I know that Gordon always checked these articles from afar to keep in touch with his team of choice. Condolences to family and close friends of Gordon and his wider family on this and other internet forums that he was a prolific and well respected contributor to. RIP Gordyfromsneck. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It’s been an interesting week in Scottish football. The gudgies finally lost a game. Jim Leishman announced he will stand for election for Fife Council, and of course the big news from Glasgow....... Partick Thistle lost again. Other than these events, there wasn’t much to report in the world of Scottish football. This Saturday sees two tax paying teams go head to head at East End Park. The results have been very even this season between Dunfermline and Caley Thistle. A 3-3 draw in Fife at the start of the season, preceded a 1-1 draw in Inverness. The Scottish Cup threw up another 1-1 draw in Sneck, with the replay delivering yet another legs eleven score line during 90 minutes. Caley Thistle finally beat the Pars 3-1 after extra time, in a well deserved victory. Regarding ex Inverness Thistle boss Jim Leishman announcing his candidacy for Fife Council, I feel I need to warn his potential constituents. If you vote for him, remember it will only encourage him! In fairness to Jim, he has to be Labours equivalent of Boris Johnson and is bound to brighten up the council chambers. Leishmans political party are as low in the polls as The Pars are in the league. Dunfermline haven’t won at home all season and Terry Butcher will be hoping his injury ravaged Caley Thistle side can pile on the misery for the Pars. Unfortunately, if Caley Thistle are to beat the Pars, they will have to do it with yet another changed starting XI after Steve Williams was harshly sent off against Celtic last Saturday. It’s still unclear whether Gregory Tade will be fit for the game after his training injury last week. I’m sure the ex Raith Rovers man will be wanting to put one over his old rivals and compound their woes this season. Dunfermline have had financial problems as well of late. Their decision to close a stand to save money on stewarding has been seen as more proof that the game is in dire straights in Scotland. However, it is also good business sense. After all, we all have bills and taxes to pay. It would be ridiculous to imagine a team not being able to afford their taxes but spending money on things they don’t need! That just wouldn’t happen now would it! The 3-1 cup victory came in the middle of January. A month that saw us also beat Hearts and Motherwell in the league as well as gaining a point against St Mirren. So far, February has not been as successful. A cup exit at the hands of Celtic and a narrow defeat at Parkhead in the league last weekend is no disgrace but Butcher will be desperate to get back to winning ways on Saturday. Although Caley Thistle have had an injury nightmare all season, the team have gelled well over the last 2 months and the constant changing of the starting XI appears to have created a fully united first team squad. Apart from the Celtic Cup game, Caley Thistle have been playing consistently well since December. During the last 4 league games, they have conceded only once. A win on Saturday will take us 11 points clear of the Pars and 10 points clear of Hibernian with a superior goal difference and a game in hand. This is the most important game of the season. Caley Thistle must win to keep their chances of top six alive. They must also win so that a large enough gap is created that they can at least see the season out with ease if they do not make top six. Most Highland football fans want to see the Highland derby next season – in the SPL. Another win on Saturday will see the Pars one more step closer to relegation. County may have lost out to St Mirren in the Cup, but they should be promoted come the end of the season. A Caley Thistle win will all but effectively make it a 3 horse race for relegation, between Dunfermline, Hibernian and Rangers. For once, lets do things the easy way. Three points and climbing would be Parfect for Caley Thistle. Dunfermline are without a home win this season, drawing five of their thirteen games at East End Park. They have however scored more goals at home than Inverness (15-13), but it's their defence that has let that has let them down, conceding 36 goals at home. On the road, Inverness have found the net 17 times, but have shipped 25 goals. All the stats point to Dunfermline's defensive home form being the main reason that they are in this predicament and that is the reason Inverness have a 19 goal advantage in the goal difference stats. It's ten games since the Pars recorded a win against Inverness, 3-1 in the Highlands in March 2007, and you have to go back to the old first division days in Inverness' first season up to witness a Dunfermline home win. That was in season 1999/2000 when the Fifers won both home matches. The Pars had just dropped out of the SPL and Inverness had just come up from the second division. Their was a gulf in class then, but the tables have turned and Inverness now hold the upper hand. CapitalCaley’s prediction – The games have been close between the two sides this season, but I have faith in the weakened Caley Thistle starting XI. It’s difficult to guess what players will start each week but we have real quality in our squad. Owain Tudur-Jones came off the bench on Saturday against Celtic and it would be good to see him feature again. With players like Jones coming back, we have that bit more class than Dunfermline. The Pars are sometimes difficult to break down so I’m going to go with a 1-2 Caley Thistle victory. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness have the regular list of sidelined players still missing. That's Hogg, Golobart, Shinnie and Doran all out, alng with the suspended Steve Williams. Proctor and Tokely are ready to step back into the back four in another change of defence. McKay and Tade are hopeful of recovering in time to face the Pars, although Tade has been unable to train until Friday and a place on the bench may be his starting position. Owain Tudur-Jones came through a bounce game against the Arabs in midweek unscathed, but he may have to settle for a benched start as well. Gnakpa and Winnall are raring to go and with our dearth of quality strikers at the moment Butcher could be looking to freshen up the attacking options after a shot shy outing at Parkhead. Dunfermline will be without the injured midfielder Mark Kerr and striker Andy Barrowman. With Gallagher out for the season, blunderman Chris Smith or his apprentice Ian Turner will be between the sticks, it appears to make little difference, although Turner has a back injury and Smith has drawn the short straw we are told. Kyle Hutton will be eligible to play this week, Rangers not allowing the youngster permission to play against them last weekend, and Nicky Phinn could return to bolster the Pars midfield. That was the week that was.....................the week the tax man caught up with the bad boys, but for the rest of us, we just have to get on with it....................crucial game on Saturday for both clubs, come on the Caley Jags.