Eagle4Caley

So true... and often how you finish a season can carry through to the following season (injuries and departures permitting of course)

Great result to finish off the season, 4 wins out of 5, (and how do we lose that Dundee Utd match) so we were clearly better than bottom 6, we just cocked it up with a couple of home games in March (at the same time as falling short on the Scottish Cup). Considering the horrendous start to the season, the loss of Christie and the injuries in many respects not bad. However it seems as if Yogi has used up quite a bit of credit with fans (and the board?), with some unrest over Ravens departure and perhaps Foran...although if those two events actually allowed us to sign Storey permanently and extend deals for Roberts and Mutombo, would that compensate?? I do also think he has done well with a miniscule budget, even if some tactics and comments have grated on people. Lets hope that deals get done as quick as everyone seems to want, and the summer is peaceful, from my point of view the missus is now a fan and wants to come up again, so that cool!

Watched the game on BT Sport, I overall really enjoyed it if not the result, felt we had been mugged by Dundee U, their first goal to tbh was very good, but we got done by a couple of breakaways. We were pretty much in change for much of the game, but breaking down a team that's pretty much 'parking the bus' is never easy. Two great goals from us, and Storey nearly scored with a great effort first half, and Roberts wasted his headed opportunity in the 2nd. For much of the first half we were passing around and through DU, reminded me a bit of St Mirren away last Spring (ICT's passing gets some stick, but compared to Palace they are pretty good at it) . Mutombo looked very tidy in the first half and Storey very busy (I see the comment on him being caught offside, but he correctly sits right on the shoulder of the defender, and not every time he gets pulled up is he actually offside. I don't get the Devine criticism, he seems to be the scapegoat when we don't get the win. Roberts was pretty good, but I feel we miss a true winger, also commentator made a very valid comment about Christie going to Celtic and not playing...probably would have made the differenc last night. Still we are easily safe now, when at the start of the season it looked like we would be anything but

Well it was lovely seeing Inverness on the tele in the sunshine! Overall we were the better side..quite how the Killie went in at HT 1-0 to the good is beyond me, although they looked sharp straight after the break. The penalty/sending off sealed the points for us really...thought Storey was excellent as were Vigurs/Polworth. And defensively largely solid. Enjoyable game to watch And CMIB if you think you've got a smile on, watching the snooker, imagine my smile when my other team won their FA Cup semi-final. So for the third year running I am off to a Cup Final, just hope Palace can match Caley's result from last year!

'Great' is an over-used word, but surely the best league position achieved by ICT in 2013/14, bettered in 2014/15, a League cup final, a Scottish cup win, followed by a semi-final appearance, all on what must be the lowest or 2nd lowest budget in the SPL, playing a style that although frustrating at times, isn't just hit and hope, with classy wins amongst the mix is worthy of some credit. Not a 'Great' coach perhaps, but a pretty decent one....if last years over-achievement was in part due to few injuries, and a nucleus of decent players now gone on to 'bigger' things(?) then this years under-achievement is in part down to poor luck with injuries and average luck on recruitment (and let's face it BIG clubs get that wrong all the time) Not yet time for Richie in my book, sentiment only gets you so far, what evidence is there that RF is a better manager than JH

I think he is being honest actually, in response to losing two of our better players...although with Vincent's injury record less of a miss perhaps, no matter how grateful I am for his cup final goal. I can see a lot of frustration in Hughes comments, he has virtually no money to play with. The suggestion that we are interested in two Partick Thistle players is probably just a smokescreen to molify the fans. We hardly ever sign anyone from the Scottish leagues, Wedderburn, is the highest placed player we have signed form Scotland for a while, before that it was probably Andrew Shinnie following Rangers travails. He is right in terms of spending power we are probably in the bottom two in the SPFL, and that comment is aimed at managing expectations. Let's be honest in a league that is hardly known for eye-catching signings from outside its own league, Inverness are shopping at the 4th and 5th level of the English leagues, usually for players at dead ends of their careers.... and on pretty low wages probably (and usually short contracts). If any of them look half decent and do well in our league, they get hoovered up by the 10 teams above us in the spending power league Which makes our record in the SPFL and Cup's even more impressive Can't see it changing without a rich investor (and I haven't won the lottery yet!).... so we need to do more with bringing youngsters through. We also need to shape our contracts better so that we actually get transfer fees from sales

Is it Roberts turn to fall out with Hughes? He was easily our best player first half against Hamilton, and hasn't featured since I think we need to get at least a point against Hearts, because Dundee Utd away looks a tough one

Don't rule out Dundee Utd to complete the great escape via the play-offs, I think they have enough momentum and the players to bridge that gap to Kilmarnock, and then the play-off is against either Hib's or Falkirk

Took my wife to the Hamilton match last week, the steward on our turnstyle, said we couldn't take a small bottle of water in with us......but we could buy it inside! I couldn't understand the logic behind that, but had travelled too far to argue! Oh and I took at least one photograph of the match!

Strangely we battered them after Roberts had gone off, when I thought he was our best player in the first half, reminded me quite a bit of Marley Watkins. Perhaps it needed Foran to lead the line with Storey on as well. Couldn't decide what to think about Liam Hughes, his record shows he not much of a striker, and he didn't dominate the centre halfs but was determined in an awkward sort of way. Draper had one of the better games I've seen him play...except for that bloody awlful give-away that led to the goal. The defensive line-up has changed abit from a year ago, but I thought Devine and Tremarco were pretty sound. Wedderburn is not the most cultured of player is he! On the plus side my wife came up with me and enjoyed the game (and Inverness) and wants to come back!

I must admit when I saw the team selection I thought it was a bit bizarre, not so much Foran and Highes upfront, but no sign of Roberts, Storey, Polworth or Danny Williams,any one of which would have been needed to provide the ammunition for the forward pair...I thought Roberts coming off on Saturday was in part to save him for tonight. Was Tansey injured or suspended? At least we gave it a go in the 2nd half, in some respects a run to the quarter final isn't too bad given the funny season we have had, feel we missed out though, the team and performance that beat Aberdeen a few weeks ago would surely have won this tie.

Agree...maybe the fayre offered up on Tuesday was not great, but that must be the 5th away in a row since the excellent home win against Aberdeen. We have a very small squad, and yet more absences, this time through illness (are others suffering a bit as well)?...so we were left with one fit striker upfront, who has not that long returned to fitness himself. I'm not surprised to see at the end of the winter the guys running out of a bit of energy. And the departures of Christie and Watkins, with Doran and Vincent injured, have left a creative hole. I take IHE's point about team formation, I guess in one sense it does make sense to try and get all three of the most experienced midfielders into the side. Be interesting to see what happens against Hamilton with Warren presumably out...Draper at the back with Devine, and hopefully one of Storey or Mutumbo back

Come on Caley, Storey and Roberts to score!....if things work out I could endf up going to both English and Scottish Semi Finals! and just a week away from my trip up to Inverness (nice!)

Just think if we beat Hibs tomorrow we could face either Celtic, Rangers ........or Mckay & Ofere in the semi

I wonder, given that we are playing 6 games in 18days, four of which are away, and we include two games against Hearts and the Cup match, whether there is a bit of 'energy management in that second half performance??

Pretty much what I would have said CMIB! Definitely worth the £18 I shelled out to BT for the month! Having not had a chance to see Caley live this before now this season due to ill luck (matches being called off) I thought we were pretty impressive, strong, aggressive (almost too much) good movement and mostly slick passing (almost shades of Arsenal) ...maybe one of Caley's best performances this season I would think, not least because we kept it going for most of the 90+ minutes. Tremarco and Horner impressed (was this surprising for the latter?), Storey very effective down the left, except perhaps for the final ball, and now we can see what Roberts is about. As for the penalties, well Shinnie had pretty much lost the ball anyway before he got clipped, Draper was certainly facing a high boot and a block for his successful award...as for Draper on Ash Taylor...that 'collision' was pretty much identical to Mile Jedinak's on a Watford player last weekend which resulted in a penalty against Palace (bollox!), fortunately for Caley, Collum not enforcing the law in that instance. A great game to watch on TV with the wife, who by now must be getting a tiny bit as excited as I am over our impending trip up for the Hamilton match!

Wow fantastic (that's Palace getting a point a Swansea!) But seriously what a great result!, Good to see Miles back on the score sheet, and a first goal from Roberts, so refreshing to get the late winner instead of the other way around.Just told my wife if we win the next round, she's coming to the Semi!

Congrats to Ross County...it's got to be good that the 'mighty Celtic' get pulled down a few pegs by a Highland team, how fantastic would it be if Caley managed to get to the Scottish Cup Final again so that two Highland teams were contesting silverware in the same season

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Now , we just need Roberts to actually play and prove he is a great find, or Mutumbo to finally settle and start sticking the ball in the net, and life will be sweet

TopSix...I'm confused, the 4 posters above you said that JV had a 'great game', 'ran his socks off', 'was absolutely everywhere' and even 'MOTM' ....not that anonymous?? Were you being ironic, or did JV do a lot of running, but not actually touching the ball?

A great result, and sounds like we played pretty well, and kept a clean sheet when we most needed to. Tansey again in the goals, and good to see Storey back on the score sheet.... it will be an excellent New Year if he gets signed on again. Two points behind County and a game (albeit a tough away game) in hand

Having got to the midpoint of the season, up to 6th in the table, what do people think 2016 will bring? We are now in a post Ryan Christie, Marley Watkins, Shinnie Bros and Mckay era, a period that saw us in the top six three seasons running and with a Scottish Cup win and a League Cup final apperance, and our first sortie into Europe to boot. It was a tough start to the season, with injuries, suspension, key players sold/not retained and little money for reinforcements....and irritably we've developed a knack for only playing 45mins and sitting deep on leads. Maybe that was inevitable, with a defence that has hardly been stable and new players taking time to blend in or just plain settle in. However considering what has happened at Dundee Utd, and also Motherwell (who finished 2nd in the league not so long ago) we may have done really well to avoid a potential meltdown! Arguably December has been a pretty good month going unbeaten with plenty of goals scored albeit with draws snatched from potential defeats and wins (but we would have taken a draw at Aberdeen before the start!).... and winning at Hamilton despite initially losing the lead twice, is probably a sign of the never-give-up mentality coming back. Good signs are the emergence of Polworth, Vincent still being fit, Devine developing as a solid defender. Williams has been a bit quiet recently (probaly suffering a bit as Mr Versatile in a shuffling line-up) but I expect him to push on. Tansey seems to be increasingly the rock that the team is built around, and Wedderburn now seems to have Yogi's confidence and seems to be putting in some performances. Fon-Williams has done well enough, although I am not convinced he has the fans confidence (am I wrong?) but it has to be a small boost that he could be going to the EUFA championship for Wales (albeit as an un-playing understudy to the mighty Wayne Hennessey) Question marks are whether we can retain Storey (we clearly want to!) and whether the now-fit Roberts proves to be the real deal, likewise Lopez-Robles and Mbuyi-Mutombo have much to do to impress. Vigurs has provided some impetus in certain games, but seems a stop-gap. I feel over the close season we may be looking at new full backs, as much as I like Tremarco, I don't feel Yogi sees either him or Raven as long term (or have I got it wrong with Raven?) A problem for us is that in reality with small crowds we have a very low income stream, and the SPFL as a package doesn't seem to generate much income, therefore player retention and recruitment is a bit of a lottery....I could see another sale in the summer being required to maintain rebuilding/regeneration, and the most valuable asset now is perhaps Meekings My hopes for 2016 would see us achieve a top 6 finish for this season which I would consider a mighty achievement. Scottish Cup wise... in reality cups are a lottery, it needs two goalscoring sources to improve the odds, but I don't see us getting beyond two rounds, and would take the top six finish first and foremost. For the start of season 2016/17 I would like us to go into it with a decent goalscoring threat (and one not on loan!) and a couple of fast overlapping fullbacks. Happy New Year to you all

Well you wouldn't want to leave early from a Caley match these days! Polworth seems to have come of age, that's some hell of a winner .... Up to sixth, just have to stay there now! In Madrid at the mo, took a tour of the Bernabau....almost as impressive as the Tulloch Caledonian!

Strangely I felt this had the makings of a draw (or worse) last week....Mckay scoring what was almost the winner was totally in keeping with a rollercoaster season I too am surprised that Raven can't see to get into the side....has there been some sort of falling out with Yogi? and Meekings injured, was a nasty surprise Given that we have been playing with what seems like a makeshift defense, and a makeshift attack, (with Storey fortunately, proving to be somewhat of a revelation) and arguably having not really replaced the two Shinnie brothers (yes I know Andrew has been gone a while), McKay, Watkins and now with Christie missing... a position two points off the top six, yet just 4 off the bottom two is perhaps unsurprising, ie. we are currently punching at or slightly below our weight January will be interesting (and not probably not in a good way) with Christie gone, and Storey possibly too....Other than the obvious need to keep hold of Storey and get a decent back up or partner, it seems to me we need new full backs (2) and a charismatic leader in the middle. We probably have the money (wages and no fee) for one player....and that could be just for Storey or his replacement! Anyway having written off the game with 10mins to go, I did enjoy watching the Sky teleprinter suddenly pop up with an equaliser! Happy Christmas everyone

Sounds like a typical Caley win this season good enough for 20mins to win the game, then a bit rubbish and hanging on, mind you that was a bit of our story last year, but were probably better for longer periods of each game and good had enough for the cup run. Interesting defensive line up at the moment, Raven/Tremarco not first choice full backs, will we be looking for a new RB come the summer. Good to see Vigurs on the score sheet,.... have we seen the last of Christie because of injury. If we can't retain Storey after his loan spell, life could get interesting again in the New Year Anyway three points is three points, lets hope we don't gift Dundee Utd an early Christmas present next week, although somehow I can see it being 1-1 with Mckay getting on the scoresheet again