Eagle4Caley

On 6/12/2025 at 8:54 AM, Eagle4Caley said:

Keeping Savage would be a big deal, ditto Allan...just feel they showed so much for us that someone will surely snap them up. Chalmers would work for us in this league, and when I saw Nolan released I had the same thought as you, he started off quite brightly for us, but tailed off a bit, but another season under Scott K and he could develop quite nicely. Replacing the lively Bray, the goals of Bavidge, and Dibiga in goal along with Savage/Allan are all big asks aren't they?

Blimey...not a bad result, goalkeeping situation sorted, an experienced right back, Chalmers in too, arguably a decent backline and midfield, esp with Longstaff and McKay in the wide or deep No10 positions. Obviously at the moment we need some cover [the youngsters to step up] but now two in up front please [Bavidge back on loan? And a traditional big guy to hold the ball up?] Can't wait for the fixture release now

44 minutes ago, mazza20 said:

Seen we're linked with a move for Joe Chalmers, experienced pro which will be good for the younger players and always thought he had good set piece delivery. Hopefully not on a crazy high wage either. Saw Nolan was released by United, wonder if he could tempted up? 

Also seen Christie had 'promising' discussions with Savage and Allan's agents so hopefully there's a decision either way soon.

 

Keeping Savage would be a big deal, ditto Allan...just feel they showed so much for us that someone will surely snap them up. Chalmers would work for us in this league, and when I saw Nolan released I had the same thought as you, he started off quite brightly for us, but tailed off a bit, but another season under Scott K and he could develop quite nicely. Replacing the lively Bray, the goals of Bavidge, and Dibiga in goal along with Savage/Allan are all big asks aren't they?

On 5/20/2025 at 3:15 PM, ictchris said:

We have the same kit as Palace, this basically counts as a trophy win for us.

TBF I have won a Palace top to the Scottish Cup matches at Hampden Park!

I need a half-n-half Palace/Caley shirt if I get a ticket to a Europa Cup tie

5 hours ago, Mr Eager said:

I don't suppose you can arrange for Eze to come on loan to us could you?

Ha!     Maybe Rak Sakyi [currently on loan at Sheffield United]   Or Franca [needs game time]

Munoz on the other hand...coz we need to replace Brannan

Meanwhile how about this display at Wembley...make the hairs tingle

16 minutes ago, CaleyHedgehog said:

Looks like you wont run out of liquid refreshment to celebrate Eagle4Caley - are you in a distillery in the pic?

Ha Yes...in Walthamstow, where my daughter Emma lives (seem to be a lot of micro-breweries in that area1) it was a great atmosphere, the match was on a big screen

Oh Gosh, thanks you guys for your lovely comments

What an EPIC day, what an EPIC season for a Palace/Caley supporting lad

As a Palace supporter I thought I might never see this day, I was strangely calm for most of the game, because Palaces defence was excellent, and on our breaks City always looked vulnerable. Well done Olly Glasner

A few drinks into the evening joined by other Palace supporting family

Palace in Europe!

As for the Henderson VAR moment...as Josh Meekings would say "it was nae a handball"

11 hours ago, The Mantis said:

Mixed feelings as Annan has a couple of fantastic pubs between the station and the ground . New Bayview is in a pretty uninspiring location near the docks - a bit like the Longman then.
Seriously though it’s a welcome change and for our many East of Scotland based fans there’s a new direct rail link between Edinburgh Waverley and Leven station which is within walking distance of the ground.
We have only played there once as they moved mid-season and it was played on a Sunday in our promotion season in 1999 with an early kickoff as their lights weren’t ready. We lost 3-2 after playing for most of the game without Paul Cherry who was red carded. 
Like ourselves, Dick will surely have a rebuilding job as many of his squad will not have the legs for the step up to League 1.

Watched the 2nd leg last night and was ridiculously interested and gunning for East Fife to get through because that rail link gives me another accessible away day...

I will be much calmer at 4:30pm this afternoon!

23 hours ago, The Mantis said:

Ah right. My apologies, my ageing brain is struggling to cope with teams trying to win to stay in our league and others trying to win to get out.
Mind you I’m not too fond of the Excelsiordome or whatever it’s called these days. Apart from losing a cup final there and suffering a record defeat, it’s soulless, out of town and far too big due to the 10000 seats.

Good point, we had a mare there in August 2023, an own goal in the first minute and a complete defensive hash up for their second. Billy Dodds got quite a bit of flak that day

It feels like an entire lifetime ago

Anyway East Fife have the edge over Annan in the play-off, I'm hoping they can close it out

14 hours ago, The Mantis said:

I'm referring to Airdries stadium not Cove's!   Obviously I'm not expecting  Airdrie to be relegated to our division

Think Airdrie will be way too strong for Cove, shame as their stadium is a good visit

Fingers crossed that East Fife beat Annan, as I have worked out the logistics of getting there from London! [Helpful the train now goes to Leven]

Both Montrose and Hamilton are on my awayday list for next season [esp now that Hamilton look like they will play at Broadwood stadium]

12 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

And Elgin?? The Immortal One would have been waxing lyrical about that albeit maybe remote possibility!

Elgin would be good....I fancy a trip to East Fife too!

15 hours ago, CaleyCanary said:

Eagle4Caley must be having a very good day

I certainly did! Struggling to keep the tears at bay

Days like yesterday are what football is all about

Yesterday was epic, we thoroughly deserved the win, Billy's goal was magnificent...the wait at the end for Annan's result just added to the moment

Keeping Bray to see out the season one of many crucial decisions I wish him well for the future [maybe  I will see him at Palace!]

Well done Scott Kellacher, cometh the hour cometh the man

I said elsewhere that ultimately being docked 15points was more significant than we thought, the club has rediscovered itself, team and fans as one

Inverness is such a fab place, the air is so pure, you guys are lucky

It's a privilege to be an ICT fan

-------

Got home at 2am, and watched the Palace v Villa FA Cup game, I didn't dare even follow it on my phone so only found out the result when I got to Inverness Airport

Ignoring the cash differences (!) there are similarities with the two teams that draw me. Palace fans support is epic, which I see at Caley away games, and the noise from the North stand was great yesterday, we need to build on this

What a lovely weekend

On 3/26/2025 at 2:29 PM, Eagle4Caley said:

So with 6 games to go, automatic relegation off the agenda, an unlikely promotion play-off place almost certainly unlikely, but ideally a relegation play-off to be avoided…what are people’s predictions for the last six games against these teams [with our records against them this season]

Queen of the South [a]    WLW
Cove Rangers [a]              DLL
Kelty Hearts   [h]              DDW
Stenhousemuir [a]           DWW
Arbroath [h]                      LLL [also L in League Cup!]
Montrose [a]                    DWD

Tricky eh?

I’m going  LWDLWD …will that keep us safe?

Surprisingly I’m going for the win against a promoted [?] Arbroath almost entirely on the basis that I’ve booked my flights up to watch the last [scheduled] home match of the season having just arrived back from India [bringing luck and fab weather]

Well...there you go, got the Kelty and Stenhousemuir results the wrong way around...but pretty good!

Except we needed no luck yesterday

Anyone want the lottery numbers!

Moving on from the Billy Mckay discussion, what a great result! [Which I predicted!] And gosh arent we lucky that whoever negotiated the Bray transfer ensured he stayed with us for the rest of the season. Having Savage back in the backline helped, and good to see Strachan back in the LB berth. 4 games to go, no more injuries or sendings off please [although Palace won with nine men on Saturday it's not recommended!]. I've predicted a draw at home next weekend...against a side that somehow managed to get thumped by Dumbarton, sounds absolutely predictable then, 2-2 probably with Billy M getting two including a late equaliser!

In sort of related news, I see Airdrieonians are having a real go at avoiding automatic relegation in the league above us, which might mean Dunfermline down in our league next season [yes I am assuming we will stay up]...or worse Hamilton

1 hour ago, tm4tj said:

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts It's a tough run-in given our plight 1. Arbroath 30 16 6 8 50 33 54 2. Cove Rangers 30 14 7 9 52 34 49 3. Stenhousemuir 30 14 7 9 42 30 49 4. Alloa Athletic 30 10 11 9 44 39 41 5. Q.O.S. 30 11 6 13 32 37 39 6. Kelty Hearts 30 9 10 11 32 32 37 7. Montrose 30 8 12 10 33 38 36 8. Inverness CT 30 13 9 8 35 31 33 9. Annan Athletic 30 8 6 16 31 56 30 10. Dumbarton 30 5 10 15 35 56 10

I'll settle for eighth right now but should we perform well we could get as high as fifth, as unlikely as it sounds. That will depend on others. It's in our own hands at the moment, but we might not see Longstaff or Bavidge again this season and that makes it more difficult.

29th

3:00:PM

Queen of the South (A)

League (League 1)

-

-

-

April 2025

5th	3:00:PM	Cove Rangers (A)	League (League 1)	-	-	-
12th	3:00:PM	Kelty Hearts (H)	League (League 1)	-	-	-
19th	3:00:PM	Stenhousemuir (A)	League (League 1)	-	-	-
26th	3:00:PM	Arbroath (H)	League (League 1)	-	-	-

May 2025

3rd

3:00:PM

Montrose (A)

League (League 1)

-

-

No predictions?

Bavidge is a loss, and Billy really needs to come to the party ... as for Luis, who has been good this season, fortunately Bray, Stewart, Brannan, Mackinnon and in particularly Paul Allan, all seem to be able to make things happen. Gilmour being solid helps this

9 hours ago, Northern_jaggie said:

Obviously finishing well clear of the relegation zone would be the preference, but a bit of extra revenue from the lower playoffs might help the coffers…not sure we operate at a profit though so that might not be true. 
 

The sadist in me wants to play Elgin in the playoff final, then beat them at home to stay up. Imagine the craic in that

No No, Lets avoid the Play-off and have Elgin promoted...a great away day for me, and another ground ticked off [and we can beat them 4 times!...just checking do we 'hate' them as much as County?]

53 minutes ago, big cherly said:

Interesting E4C. Every game is meaningful. And whilst any Annan victory now brings those teams above us closer, for me we have to focus on staying above Annan. I don’t know when Musa is back but I feel we will need his presence to help get it a there. Nothing against Aiden in goals for us against Alloa, just he is ‘green’, smallish and slight of frame, and expect teams I fear would exploit these facts.
Remi Savage is out for at least one game, so that influences my prediction. Annan have an equally tough last six matches.
So for what is worth:  We stay up with a game to spare but it’s a fraught first four remaining matches.

LDDLWD

bc

I wonder how much things rest in how soon Bavidge, Longstaff and MacLeod come back? Savage I think misses 1 game, so we are about to discover who decent Ewans is.  

So with 6 games to go, automatic relegation off the agenda, an unlikely promotion play-off place almost certainly unlikely, but ideally a relegation play-off to be avoided…what are people’s predictions for the last six games against these teams [with our records against them this season]

Queen of the South [a]    WLW
Cove Rangers [a]              DLL
Kelty Hearts   [h]              DDW
Stenhousemuir [a]           DWW
Arbroath [h]                      LLL [also L in League Cup!]
Montrose [a]                    DWD

Tricky eh?

I’m going  LWDLWD …will that keep us safe?

Surprisingly I’m going for the win against a promoted [?] Arbroath almost entirely on the basis that I’ve booked my flights up to watch the last [scheduled] home match of the season having just arrived back from India [bringing luck and fab weather]

A disappointing result, how much did both the Dumbarton game [a heavy pitch] and the Stennie game, empty the tank?

And obviously not having Bavidge may have taken a slight wind out of the sails, although we scored three goals after he went off in midweek. Longstaff a loss, and now Macleod.

That said it sounds a fluky win for Annan

That faint hope of promotion play-off place perhaps extingushed. But no way Dumbarton will catch us, and if we end up in the wrong play-off hopefully Bavidge and Longstaff will be back

Obviously the news today over a lack of buyer hardly helps the mood

But the 'fat lady' singing isn't even on the horizon.

Obviously one of those weekends, as I was at a freezing Sutton United on Saturday and they lost terrible 0-3 at home

3 hours ago, Robert said:

Musa has been called up by Gambia for their forthcoming internationals so will miss the Alloa game. 

Can we get the match postponed?   Not least as it leaves us with only one goalkeeper

What a result!

This is my thirteenth season as a proper match going Caley supporter...and its rapidly becoming my favourite season [after the Cup winning year].  Defying the odds, with a rebirth in the club developing after quite a bit of pain, with a real sense of purpose, and the rekindling of the bond between club and its supporters [Dumbarton away was a good demonstration], and playing the sort of football we've been craving for for a while. if we survive [its not really an if] it's a season the players can carry as a badge of honour and a treasured memory.. a 'band of brothers' season

Gosh am I getting too emotional?

Meanwhile....5th place looks do-able, a good incentive to keep the foot on the pedal. 

What a brilliant weekend away that was!

Got to Dumbarton from London Gatwick good and early [early enough to have breakfast in MacDonalds!] ...then took in the Scottish Maritime Museum [where a delightful lady told me all the history about the shipyard and Denny boat testing tank], a walk up the coast past the ground to the Castle [where an equally delightful lady took me around the castle and told me a great story about Robert the Bruce's heart!]...

Enjoyed a drink in the bar, with a Manchester City supporter ticking off another Scottish football ground

Anyway....

Always thought this was going to be a gritty match, the pitch hardly helped, it seemed almost impossible to play a true ball [esp for poor old Nolan!]. Generally we were much the better side, especially in the first half, yet Dumbarton had the more dangerous chances [in the second half], Dibaga and the bar saved us a couple of times, which made the last 10mins decidely nervy especially with Dumbarton winning late corners. But in the end Bavidge came up trumps and I experienced 'limbs' as everyone went bonkers with delight. It was lovely to share the full time celebrations with the team...and what a great turnout from our fans. Well done everybody

Playing Brannan at the back to allow Bray to play further forward helped mitigate the absence of Longstaff. I must say we did very well to get Savage last year and Dibaga/Allan this, and Gilmour really is becoming a worthy successor to some quality midfielders we have had in the past...and obviously the signing of Bavidge is the one that saves our season [unless things go strangely awry]

To cap off a great weekend both Palace & Sutton United won, I got upgraded at my hotel, and had the entire row to myself on my plane back home....A weekend of football doesn't get much better than that [other than winning the Cup]

13 hours ago, buckett said:

Not very entertaining but at least we didn't lose.

Could have gone either way!

Not losing was the important bit, at home too, and coming from behind, has a slightly more positive ring about it.

Obviously we want to win every game, maybe as we get closer to safety, the players get a bit more tense, sometime how match starts off dictates the entire game

Anyway I am up for Dumbarton next week, not losing there as important! But lets not take anything for granted

6 minutes ago, LisleRightPeg said:

Hopefully a good addition but what’s wrong with our youth system? Seems like a kick in the teeth to Callum Macleod and Matthew Strachan no? 

12 games [hopefully only 12] to go with a small squad, he can play FB and Midfield, it all helps