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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Hearts PREVIEW 11th September @ 7:45PM Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC LIVE (BBC) [UK/VPN Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO LIVE on BT SPORT SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC
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Friday Footie Newly promoted Hearts will be our next problem as we take them on this Friday evening at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in a televised match that kicks off at 19:45. Another tough task ahead as one of the front runners make their second journey to the Highlands this season, having already edged out Ross County 2-1 in Dingwall. Inverness have been in potential relegation form since the start of the season and are without a win since the Scottish Cup Final against Falkirk. That does seem like a long time ago now. We can't buy a win just now and our chances of that happening have been compounded by the sending off of the wreckless Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo in our last game away to Dundee. How dare he try that on the humble Nick Ross. The Jambos have continued their Championship winning ways into the Premiership and have earned their third position with five wins on the bounce before they were overturned by Hamilton Accies last time out as they ended the game with ten men. That red card has been rescinded though and Callum Paterson will be available for selection against Inverness. Who are the players entrusted with putting Heart of Midlothian back on the footballing map. In came defenders Blazej Augustyn and Nigerian international Juwon Oshaniwa. Three forward players also joined the maroon platoon in the shape of Igor Rossi Branco, Juanma Manuel Delgado Lloria and Gavin Reilly who was plucked from Queen of the South. Out went Kevin McHattie, Scott Robinson and Dale Carrick to Kilmarnock. Brad McKay is off to Perth, Gary Oliver went South to Queens. Jason Holt and Danny Wilson are at Ibrox. Those are the main arrivals and departures and Robbie Neilson will feel that his squad will be good enough to compete at the top end of the table this year. Hearts have also added Danny Swanson to their impressive squad. The former Dundee United midfielder joins them until the end of the season as Neilson assembles a squad capable of pushing on from last years dominating performances. Inverness were involved in transfer activity at the end of the last window. We had some good news, and some bad news. I'll start with the bad news. The inevitable happened as Ryan Christie has signed a four year deal at Parkhead to play for his boyhood heroes. The good news is that he will be staying with us until January before Celtic will probably recall him. I'm sure every fan will wish him well in his career after Inverness. That doesn't mean we are all happy about it, but unfortunately this was going to happen sooner or later. We also acquired the services of two forward players in Miles Storey and Tobi Sho-Silva. Storey has arrived from Swindon and has been capped by England at u19 level. He had not made the hoped for breakthrough at Swindon where he came through the ranks and had been farmed out to Portsmouth and Newport County. He also had talks with St Mirren but nothing came of that. Sho-Silva joins from Charlton and both players appear to be stop gap loan signings until January brought about by our lack of quality in front of goal. Before the international break, we squandered a one goal advantage at Dens park to end up with a draw. David Raven had given Inverness the lead on the hour but Kane Hemmings prodded home a very late leveller for a share of the points. We would have taken a point before the game, but it was disappointing to concede so late in the game for what would have been our first win of the season. However, the performance was still not encouraging and we are not creating nearly enough opportunities to set us up for our first three pointer. Hearts fared little better by going down at Hamilton, having fought back from being a goal down to go ahead, only for Accies to snatch all three points after Hearts were wrongly reduced to ten men. King and Paterson were the Jambos scorers in a see-saw game. That was their first defeat this term, and the Accies have now beaten Inverness and Hearts in successive games. Nonetheless, it has been an excellent start to life at the top table for the capital club. The treatment table has been kinder to Inverness this last fortnight with news that Josh Meekings, Ricjie Foran and James Vincent could be fit enough to be included in the squad for this encounter. However, Jordan Roberts could be out for a further six weeks with an aggravated groin problem. So he can be added to the long term list of Brill, Warren and Doran. It's been a tough start to the season for Inverness injury wise, let's hope that eases a bit in the near future. Not helping is Mutombo as he will be sitting this one out after his ridiculous red card against Dundee. Hearts will have Callum Paterson available after his sending off was overturned. Neilson has a nearly full set of players to choose from and the added bonus of latest signing Danny Swanson. Soufian El Hassnaoui is the only injury worry. tm4tj prediction:- Our troubles are well documented this season and I don't know where or when our first win will come. We can hopefully shore up the defence a bit once Meekings gets back to full fitness, but that won't happen overnight. Our new strikers will need time to get to know how we roll up here so I won't be looking for miracles this Friday. Unlike Juanma, our Spanish striker has not exactly set the heather on fire. It may be time to try something different as it's not happening for Dani at the moment. Maybe the competition will spur him on to greater things. Juanma has netted four times this season and Osman Sow is a big threat as well. Reilly is scoring too and Hearts attacking flair could prove too much for our bedraggled troops. We have only lost one more goal than Hearts, but they have scored 15 times to our 4, and therein lies the problem. Given that horrendous stat, I can't see us picking up anything against Hearts, other than a thrashing. Comfortable win for the visitors by a couple of goals and little in the way of goalmouth action for Inverness. I'll still go along though and keep my fingers and toes crossed for a much healthier outcome. Yogi believes otherwise and thinks we are a match for Hearts. He will probably be tempted to throw in one of his new attacking options at the deep end in the hope that we can end our dismal run.
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Dundee -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW 29th August @ 3:00PM Dens Park, Dundee Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Open All Mics (BBC) [UK/VPN Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Hamilton PREVIEW 22nd August @ 3:00PM Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Open All Mics (BBC) [UK/VPN Only] TEXT Sporting Life ESPN BBC SKY VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC
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Walking Wounded Two points from five games and the prospect of another blank day beckons at the City of Discovery as we take on the Dark Blues at Dens Park on Saturday, the game kicking off at 3:00pm. It's been a disappointing start to the season and there will be little respite against Dundee who have edged their way into the top half of the table, some five points better off than Inverness. Their opening day thrashing of whipping boys Kilmarnock at Rugby Park was followed by home defeat at the hands of adrenalin pumped Jambos. An entertaining derby draw against the Arabs then another Tayside derby game against St Johnstone saw the Dark Blues pick up another win before last weeks defeat to the once famous Aberdeen. All that means that Dundee are on seven points and sit sixth in the league. So who is playing for them this season. Well, we certainly know one of them very well. Yes, it's our own Nick Ross. The tidy midfielder has performed well for his new club after leaving the Highlands. Striker Rory Loy came in from beaten Cup finalists Falkirk and another scorer in the shape of Kane Hemmings arrives after joining from Barnsley. They have brought in defenders Kevin Holt (Queen of the South), and Daryll Meggat from Alloa Athletic. Goalkeeper David Mitchell left Stranraer and the man with the long name Julen Etxabeguren Leanizbarrutia is a defender who joined from East Fife. No longer at Dens are David Clarkson, Jim McAlister, Martin Boyle, Paul Heffernan and Kyle Benedictus. They are the main departures and that leaves Dundee with a squad ready for the rigours of the Premiership. Dundee's last league game saw them lose 2-0 to Aberdeen and they also had Gary Harkins red carded in the penalty incident where Adam Rooney scored the decisive second goal. They played a league cup game on Tuesday evening and were surprisingly beaten 3-1 by Dunfermline Athletic, the prolific Moroccan Faissal El-Bakhtaoui grabbing a brace. Any club looking for a striker could do worse than give him a contract. Whilst Dundee were losing at Pittodrie, we were going down at home rather tamely to Hamilton Academical by the same scoreline. A bright start which produced no goals for our strikerless squad was our downfall as the Accies had us chasing the game from one of our trademark sideways and backwards plays before we gave the ball away. Accies did the rest and the second goal just reinforced our plight at the moment with seven players unable to help out the squad due to injuries. Doran, Foran, Warren.................. It might be simpler to list who is fit for this game. Our crisis gets worse by the day with the news that Aaron Doran will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Greg Tansey came off against Hamilton with an achilles niggle but should be able to play if selected. Nonetheless, Dean Brill, Aaron Doran, Richie Foran, Gary Warren, Josh Meekings, James Vincent, Jordan Roberts............ any advance on that? Yes I hear you shout, Iain Vigurs, Greg Tansey and Dani Lopez are rumoured to be struggling for fitness. Meekings looks the best bet to get back into the squad, badly missed in the heart of the defence, his return can't come quick enough, and James Vincent could make the squad for Dundee. Rory Loy has been out for a few weeks and Dundee have their own injury situation to deal with. Nicky Low and Kevin Thomson should be fit enough to be added to the squad although they have all been struggling recently, but Etxabeguren is out and Simon Ferry is doubtful. Gary Harkins is out after his red card against Aberdeen. tm4tj prediction:- I fear it will get worse before it gets better. Inverness find themselves drawn back into the pack now. It's a massive change from last season when we were a cut above most teams and we all have to deal with that. Key losses such as Billy Mckay, Marley Watkins and Graeme Shinnie coupled with injuries to our main first team players have not been addressed and that is the problem here, but we have to knuckle down and get on with what we have. Dundee appear to have a stronger squad than last season and will be difficult to break down, but given their loss in midweek, that will give us a glimmer of hope that we can take something from this game. Greg Stewart is the man we need to keep quiet as he is capable of providing for others if he is not scoring himself. Another one to look out for is former Cowdenbeath and Barnsley man Kane Hemmings who is not shy at finding the net. A draw is our best bet, but it could be another defeat if we don't find our shooting boots soon. The international break can't come soon enough as our treatment tables are overflowing. Aside from League business, we have been drawn away to Livingston in the 3rd round of the League Cup. Not an easy task as they put St Mirren out in the last round with an excellent 2-3 win at Paisley. Here's a hard one to take. It has been confirmed that Billy Mckay will join Dundee United on loan for the rest of the season.
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Striking problem Matchday five this weekend as free scoring Hamilton come North to take on this seasons fall guys at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. In truth, they kept the best for last weekend and scored all of their goal tally for this season in the one game, a 4-0 hammering of Dundee United. The Accies have been busy strengthening their squad for this season and they have parted company with a few regulars since we last played them. Out has gone proven strikers Nigel Hasselbaink and Jason Scotland. Other notable departees are Stephen Hendrie, Jon Routledge and Darren Smith. Christian Nade returns to the Scottish Premiership from Raith Rovers and defender Antons Kurakins arrives from Ventspils. Midfielders Gramoz Kurtaj and Chris Turner have signed on along with keeper Alan Martin from Clyde. Carlton Morris comes in on loan from Norwich City. Hamilton have only played three games so far with one win, one draw and one defeat. They drew the seasons opener against Partick Thistle (0-0). Their next game was at Dingwall where they went down 2-0 to Ross County and there was no reason to believe they would come up with that convincing score against Dundee United. Their goals came from the tricky Ali Crawford, a header from Lucas Tagliapietra, on loan Carlton Morris from Norwich and a very late Cristian Nade strike. Our lack of fire power has been well documented so it was a welcome couple of goals that were scored at Parkhead, albeit after the points had gone when Celtic took their eye off the ball a little. Still, it was good to see Dani Lopez get off the mark and the talented Ryan Christie scoring his second of the campaign. John Hughes has been actively trying to get his hands on another striker and we have had Portadown's Darren Murray on trial all week. Yogi was reasonably impressed, but their may be a fee involved if we were to further our interest and the lad would need time to get up to speed. Inverness will have a similar squad to last week, so no returns for Aaron Doran, James Vincent, Jordan Roberts and Josh Meekings. Longer term injuries will keep Dean Brill, Richie Foran and Gary Waren out. Hamilton are in better condition, and Danny Redmond should return to the squad. Gaffer Martin Canning is not fit enough to feature though. tm4tj prediction:- We dominated all three games against the Accies last season but it looks as though the encounters will be a lot tougher this time round. Accies surprise routing of Dundee United has raised eyebrows and our lack of attacking options is restricting our progress somewhat. The Inverness fans are desperate to get the first win under the belt and would like that to begin tomorrow. I'm not so sure that we are ready yet with our side badly depleted and maybe we will have to be content with not losing. I'll go for a no scoring draw.
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Celtic -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW 15th August @ 3:00PM Celtic Park, Glasgow Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Open All Mics (BBC) [UK/VPN Only] TEXT ESPN BBC Sporting Life VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS To Follow Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC mods - please update anything in this thread as required tomorrow ..... not going to be around. taking the little guy up north for some sailing and BBQ and will be leaving real early !!!!
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Damage Limitation? After an inauspicious start to the new campaign, Inverness travel to Glasgow to face Celtic in the faint hope that we can get our season kick-started. I won't be holding my breath on that one given our inability to create sufficient opportunities for our front players, and their inability to convince the fans that they have the necessary credentials to fill the vacant strikers roll. There is no denying it has been a poor beginning for Yogi's men, although closer inspection will show that we have had a tougher than normal start to the season for various reasons. The major issues are obvious. No replacement striker since Billy Mckay left and multiple injuries to key players. With our budget, a wafer thin squad is easily exposed with a handful of injuries. We almost had enough injured players to field a team of crocks. There is also the millstone of expectation hanging round the players necks. In all honesty, some folk need to re-adjust their sights and get back to reality. Yes we won the Cup last season, got into Europe by finishing third and had players and manager of the year accolades etc. But, all that is history. We need to get back to business, and get back to it quickly, or this season will pass us by. You don't get a tougher place than Parkhead to try and get your first win of the season. Unfortunately, that's where our makeshift side will have to try and do the business. The back line in front of Fon Williams will most likely be Raven-Draper-Devine-Williams or Tremarco. Now, a lot has happened since the start of the season and midfield is anyone's guess, but with the return of Iain Vigurs, we will at least have someone who can spread the play and take free kicks in the vicinity of the goal area. So possibly Vigurs and Tansey in the holding and dispatching slots with Mutombo, the much wanted Christie and Williams or a fit again Doran foraying forward with last chance Lopez needing to up the pace. What better stadium than Parkhead to do this. Jordan Roberts is hoping to be fit and Vincent is another option if he is repaired, and the same for Meekings, who I'm sure will get a wonderful reception from the Celtic faithful. Celtic have signed Scott Allan from Hibernian overnight. What a surprise that was not. A bonus for us though is that Scott Brown is injured. Kris Commons is ready to go and that is a negative for us as he is usually a problem for our A defence, never mind our thrown together rearguard. tm4tj prediction:- Our least favourite away day is coming along at the wrong time for us and I can't see anything other than damage limitation today. Celtic in full swing is a dangerous beast. Their pace and movement in attack could prove too much for our deputies. Our best hope is that Josh Meekings recovers in time and takes Ross Draper out of the centre back position. Nothing against Ross, but he might get turned too easily and that would leave Fon Williams exposed. It's all ifs and buts at the moment, however, we can cling to our memories of the Scottish Cup semi-final and keep dreaming along that lines. That just leaves me with a prediction to do, and it irks me to say we are on a hiding to nothing.
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Partick Thistle PREVIEW 12th August @ 7:45PM Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO NONE http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_radio_scotland_mw is broadcasting the Killie/Celtic game and may have updates. We recommend the club twitter feed below instead .... TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen St Johnstone -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW 8th August @ 3:00PM McDiarmid Park, Perth Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Open All Mics (BBC) [UK/VPN Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC
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Third time’s a charm Next up for Inverness Caley Thistle is Partick Thistle at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in this week’s midweek fixture card. Caley Thistle currently sit 9th place in the table only gaining 1 point from the first two games of the season. Partick sit in at 11th having also started in similar style to Inverness where they only picked up 1 point however Thistle have failed to score a goal so far. Both teams will be eagerly looking to get their first win of the season which should make for a good game to watch for the spectators. Last Saturday saw Caley Thistle earn a hard a fought point which could have easily been all three. The performance at McDiarmid park was undoubtedly a massive improvement from the previous week and Yogi got the boys fired up for this one from the off as it only took a mere 9 minutes for Ryan Christie to drill the ball into the back of the net. I was pleasantly surprised with the ‘makeshift’ defence as I felt that Ross Draper and Danny Devine combined for a good defensive pairing. Liam Polworth got the nod ahead of Nat Wedderburn and it proved to be the correct decision by Yogi as he put in a good shift in the middle of the park with a range of very good passing play from the local lad. As the game went on the Inverness players started to tire and Tommy Wright brought on Graham Cummins who headed a bitterly frustrating equaliser for St Johnstone. Partick Thistle hosted last year’s league champions Celtic at Firhill. Celtic got all three points in what seemed to be a dominant 2-0 victory for the parkhead side. It was also said that the Jags played the game without a real striker and a couple of important players in defence were missing through injury/suspension - sound familiar? Tomorrow night’s game will see Pogba grace the highlands for the first time. Fortunately for the Caley Jags it will not be Juventus superstar Paul Pogba, it will be his older brother Mathias Pogba brought in from Crawley Town following his release. All the eyes will be firmly on how Pogba will fare against Inverness especially with the ‘makeshift’ back four. Alan Archibald has also added David Amoo from Carlisle United, Callum Booth and Tomas Cerny from Hibernian and also Gary Miller from St Johnstone. Thankfully for Caley Thistle, Partick Thistle will be without winger Kallum Higginbotham after he departed for Kilmarnock. Conrad Balatoni, James Craigen, Ryan Finnie, Scott Fox, Dale Keenan, Stephen O’Donnell and Ben Richards-Everton also left the club in the summer window. Last season’s results against Partick do not really paint a good picture for Inverness especially in the home fixture. Since Partick Thistle got promoted back up to the top flight in 2013, Caley Thistle have only won once against them at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Inverness New signing Iain Vigurs could make his second debut for the club tonight. Aaron Doran, Carl Tremarco and James Vincent could make a return to the side. Richie Foran, Josh Meekings and Jordan Roberts remain doubtful ahead of the game. Dean Brill and Gary Warren remain on the sidelines due to long term injuries. Partick Thistle Frederic Frans returns from his one match suspension. Steven Lawless and Danny Seaborne are injury doubts. Christie Elliot will be unavailable for the visitors. ICTRoughi’s prediction:- I honestly think we will pick up our first win of the season here. Partick Thistle always had our number last season in the league but I think the tides will change and we will get a good hard fought win.
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Injury Crisis? Following on from the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Motherwell last weekend, John Hughes’ men face a shorter away trip down the A9 to face St Johnstone in Perth. The major talking point for tomorrow’s game will undoubtedly be concerning the injury list that just seem to keep growing, how long will it be before Yogi himself has to dust off those boots? The Caley Jags could be going to McDiarmid park with an estimated 7/8 first team players sitting on the sidelines. Last weekend saw Inverness defeated by a rejuvenated Motherwell side at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. It was a very disappointing afternoon for all concerned at Caley Thistle where nothing seemed to go in our favour. Slack play from Greg Tansey gifted Motherwell a quick surge allowing debutant Wes Fletcher to score what proved to be the winner for the ‘well. The bad news didn’t end there as Gary Warren now faces several months out of action due to a devastating clash with Motherwell’s Stephen Pearson who also was left with an injury from the incident. After hearing the news that Gary had broken his leg I was a little taken a back, it was seen multiple times he was trying to ‘walk it off’ - a true warrior. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though as there were a couple positives to take from the game. Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo made a promising start to his ICT career and Owain Fon Williams made some crucial saves, both players will be looking to continue in similar vein tomorrow. St Johnstone went to newly promoted Hearts where they were narrowly defeated 4-3 by the Tynecastle side. Saints new boys John Sutton and Graham Cummins got on the scoresheet and our defenders will definitely need to be keeping a close eye on. Tommy Wright has made some good transfer dealings this summer window. He has added John Sutton from Motherwell, Graham Cummins from Exeter City, Joe Shaughnessy from Aberdeen, Brad McKay (big ‘K’) from Hearts and also brought back former player Liam Craig from Hibernian. Like Inverness, St Johnstone have managed to keep a hold of the core of their team with the only notable departures being Lee Croft, Brian Graham and James McFadden. Last season’s run of results against St Johnstone at McDiarmid park was a 1-0 loss aided by a dive that Tom Daley would have been proud of and was then followed by a 1-1 draw in April with Aaron Doran putting Inverness ahead before Brian Graham got the equaliser. The games against St Johnstone always prove to be stern tests for Caley Thistle but tomorrow could be a whole different challenge with the hinderance of our current injuries. The referee for tomorrow’s game will be none other than Scotland’s most lovable referee Mr William Collum. If I was a betting man, I would be straight down to the bookies before the game to bet on some form of controversy in the way of a red card or penalty for either team. Inverness John Hughes stated to the press this week that ‘one or two’ could return from injury. It’s also been said that Josh Meekings could still play despite his current injury. Long term absentees Dean Brill and Gary Warren will be unavailable for the Caley Jags. St Johnstone will be without Steven Anderson and Chris Millar. Steven MacLean will make a return from his suspension and there also could be a slight chance that captain Dave Mackay and Murray Davidson could make their returns for the hosts. ICTRoughi’s prediction:- With a combination of our current injury list and also the evident lack of fire power in the final third, I predict ICT won’t score a goal. I also think John Sutton and co will pose too much of a threat for our makeshift defence. We will give it our all as per but ultimately I think St Johnstone will win this one quite comfortably.
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Motherwell PREVIEW 1st August @ 3:00PM Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Open All Mics (BBC) [UK/VPN Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC
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Toothless A disastrous opening fixture for injury hit Inverness. Adding insult to injury, (no pun intended), Gary Warren took a nasty challenge from Stephen Pearson and it would appear that the club have confirmed he has broken a bone in his leg. With Meekings also taken off injured and Tremarco, Vincent, Doran, Roberts, Brill, Foran and Ferguson all requiring treatment things look pretty bleak at this moment in time. I doubt Motherwell will be winning any fair play awards after trying to catch Inverness on the hop. The tried to sneak a goal after play restarted following Warren's injury. Thankfully they guided the shot just wide. Unsavoury incident though. Rig has a report that is too good to waste, and here it is.......... A truly honking performance from ICT with the tone set early on when Warren hacked down Skippy after only a few minutes of the game gone with our fragmented side struggling to settle into anything approaching a rhythm. As was so often the case with Inverness when Hughes first arrived we were architects of our own downfall and helped Well score the first goal. A slack pass by Tansey was eagerly seized upon by Well and it looked like Fletcher and McDonald linked well to create a chance which was well saved by Fon Williams however he couldn't collect the ball and Fletcher followed in from close range to put Well ahead. As anyone who has seen an ICT game this season will know we have a lot of the ball but do absolutely nothing with it. As Motherwell sat back and defended in numbers ICT stroked the ball about with no real creative spark to open up the Steelmen. Even on the odd occasion when a break could have been on we seemed content to advance slowly out of defence and keep the ball rather than go for the jugular and try and get right at Well. At one point, collecting the ball from a wasted Motherwell corner we had all of our players within about 10 - 15 yards of the ball in a couple of big lines with no one further ahead of the player with the ball and no one seemingly trying to get into space to try and stretch the remaining defenders. We were exceptionally sluggish whereas Motherwell were much more direct and aggressive with and without the ball chasing it down and snapping into tackles making it hard for us to settle things down. McDonald missed a penalty after Johnson showed great skill to roll his marker and sprinted into the box only to fall over under what looked like minimal contact from Devine. Regardless, Allan gave a penalty and Fon Williams did well to block McDonalds spot kick which was a nice height for the keeper to get to and keep out. Wedderburn, who was struggling with the quickness of Motherwell players closing him down, was subbed for Mutombo who injected a bit more creativity and pace into a lackadaisical ICT side. This was pretty much how the first half played out with the only other notable talking point being what looked like a horrendous challenge by Pearson on Warren which resulted in the ICT defender having to be subbed off. Pearson looked like he launched himself hard into a challenge going well over the ball with studs showing. It seemed a clear red card but fortunately for Pearson Allan only showed him a yellow. Pearson himself went off later on as he seemed to injure himself in the tackle as well. Will be interesting to see it again on the highlights if it's covered. Half Time 0-1 Motherwell started the second half on top and ICT again were in a mess at the back. Some good work down the Well right led to a good chance to extend their lead but fortunately an effort by Fletcher (I think) hit the post / was saved by Fon Williams. Not long after that Chalmers (I think) who was still up from a corner looked certain to score as he waited to tuck away a loose ball from only inches out but somehow Draper came in to clear the ball away. The second half largely replicated the first with Well starting strongly and ICT struggling to create anything. A half hearted penalty claim from Tansey who looked like he may have been clipped in the box and a free kick late on from the same player which was headed wide were as close as ICT came to threatening anything close to a goal in a match that was not high on thrills. Full Time 0-1 A good win for Motherwell who looked comfortable throughout but a concerning defeat ICT who, despite missing a lot of first team players, struggled again to create any really good scoring chances. With Meekings and Warren both coming off injured our back four is completely unrecognisable from that of last season. If we aren't going to score then we could at least have looked to a relatively resolute defence to keep the opposition out. It will be interesting to see how a potentially patchwork backline deals with the upcoming games against St Johnstone and Partick. Date: 01/08/15 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3307 Referee: Crawford Allan Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Warren (Polworth 43), Meekings (Horner 46), Devine, Wedderburn (Mbuyi-Mutombo 33), Tansey, Draper, Williams, Lopez, Christie Subs (not used): Esson, Brown Scorers: none Booked: Warren (1) Sent Off: none Motherwell: 1 Lineup: Ripley, Chalmers, Laing, McManus, Hammell, Law, Lasley, Pearson (Leitch 61), Johnson, Fletcher (Moult 66), McDonald Subs (not used): Twardzik, Kennedy, Clarkson, Thomas, Ferguson Scorers: Fletcher (4) Booked: Pearson (37) Sent Off: none
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Back to business The domestic season opener arrives this Saturday with Motherwell the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium for a three o'clock kick off. Much has changed since Inverness won the Scottish Cup in May. Gone are second in command Russell Latapy, captain Graeme Shinnie, pacey frontman and Cup Final hero Marley Watkins, stopgap striker Edward Ofere and bit part midfielder and local lad Nick Ross. We also lost the services for the latter part of the season of striker Billy 'small k' Mckay. That's three strikers that have moved on and so far we have struggled to replace them. Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo is the man targeted with filling the role vacated by our front three. Dani Lopez has shown that he is not an out and out striker and Yogi will turn his attention to the Congolese Belgian in a bid to find the goals that were missing in the Europa qualifiers against FC Astra. Motherwell did well to trounce the Rangers in the Premiership play-offs and retain their top league status. They have sealed the services of Scott McDonald for the season, not a bad bit of business for the Steelmen. David Clarkson is another returnee at Fir Park having left Dundee. Striker Wes Fletcher has signed from York City and will get the number 9 jersey left behind by John Sutton who is off to Perth. They have also added a pair of Louis' to the squad; striker Moult from Wrexham, who scored 23 goals in the Conference last season, and defender Laing from Nottingham Forest. Another defender Keiran Kennedy joins from Leicester City. They have also drafted in 22 year old keeper Connor Ripley from Middlesbrough, and he looks certain to go straight into the squad for Saturday. Motherwell will be looking to get off to a more promising start after last season saw them flirt with relegation before eventually seeing off the Ibrox club in the play-off. Inverness failed to progress in Europe mainly due to a lack of presence in the final third, however their build up play has shown the same qualities that we possessed last year and if we can add a proven striker to the squad then it should be another interesting season. Yogi's squad has changed and this will be a massive test of his drawing power as his trophy winning team is being rebuilt. Keeper Owain Fon Williams played in the Europa games at the expense of Cup winner Ryan Esson. Injuries to Carl Tremarco, David Raven, James Vincent and Dean Brill has curtailed our ability to cover all positions as we would have liked, but in has come the gigantic Ned Wedderburn from the Blue Brazil and he has acquitted himself well so far. Jordan Roberts has also been brought in although injuries have interrupted his participation, and Dani Lopez has been tried as a front man, but that needs addressing. Richie Foran has made a welcome return to the squad, but is far from the do or die player we once knew. All of these players need more time to get up to speed, but it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. Inverness have secured the services of attacking midfielder Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo and he will be in the squad on Saturday. However, Jordan Roberts is struggling, along with Carl Tremarco and James Vincent. Richie Foran will be like a new addition and he will get stronger as his fitness returns to full throttle. Motherwell will be without Lionel Ainsworth who is carrying a two match suspension, and Craig Reid, but late addition, keeper Connor Ripley will be here. One man we all love to hate will be missing. Iain Vigurs has left Fir Park and was last heard of playing as a trialist for Inverurie Locos. Now that's a fall from grace. Incidentally, another former Motherwell player, Paul Lawson was trying his luck at Formartine. tm4tj prediction:- It's early doors as the league gets underway this weekend and with little to go on, I will be sitting on the fence for the season opener. No scoring draw on the cards, with Inverness strikerless and Motherwell looking to find their form. Go on, surprise me.
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THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Celtic -V- Inverness CT PREVIEW 23rd May 2015 @ 12:30PM Celtic Park, Glasgow Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Live Commentary (BBC) [uK/VPN Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC