Search the Community

The Groundhog Derby Yes, it's time for the Groundhog Derby. It's the fifth time these two clubs have met this season, and despite Inverness having played some of their best football of the campaign, we have only three draws and a defeat to show for our efforts. I fully expect Bill Murray to appear at one of these games with Sonny & Cher blaring out of the tannoy........They say we're young and we don't know, we won't find out till we grow............ This replay has come about after a thrilling 2-2 draw at Dingwall when Inverness were pegged back in time added on having led the Gadgies twice. Aaron Doran gave the visitors the lead but Ross Stewart levelled before Brad McKay restored our advantage. Josh Mullin was the man that broke the Caley Jags' hearts with that 91st minute equaliser which takes us back to the Caledonian Stadium for this replay......................I got you babe............... County are the team to beat in the Championship, and the IrnBru Cup. They are going along nicely with big spending Roy keeping them in credit whilst Inverness are the poor relations at the moment. That is beginning to show somewhat with the better depth of squad at Dingwall. We are a bit thin on the ground, and once you take three or four regulars out of the equation we struggle badly as at East End Park at the weekend. Fourth place in the league looks to be our target and that would be sufficient to get a play-off slot. Coll Donaldson and Liam Polworth missed the game at Dunfermline although Donaldson made the bench but was rested. Sean Welsh was benched for the most part, coming on with a couple of minutes left. We are having to play some players through the pain barrier with our replacements a bit off the pace at the moment. Darren McCauley is one of the strugglers and he was replaced for his own good after picking up an early booking and threatening to get a second before being subbed in the first half. County played an IrnBru Cup game against East Fife and that enabled them to rest one or two with this cup tie in mind. Their XI were just strong enough to get by East Fife and that puts County into the fizzy pop final. Maybe they can keep the cup in the Highlands. Robbo was not happy with our application at East End Park and has threatened changes, but that is not likely to be a major event given our lack of resources and the changes will probably involve the regular senior players starting. Mark Ridgers was partly at fault after an uncharacteristic error, but I would expect him to be in goal for this one. Hopefully Coll Donaldson will be back in central defence with Jamie McCart alongside him. That looks to be our best pairing and that will leave Shaun Rooney and Carl Tremarco as our wing backs. We really missed Polly at the weekend and fingers crossed he will return for the cup game. Chalmers, Welsh, Walsh and Doran are the next best across the midfield and wide areas with Jordan White and or Nathan Austin up front. That is an area of concern as strikers scoring goals is not a common feature for us at the moment. Daniel Mackay featured in a couple of u19 internationals last week. Maybe he could get a chance to feature at Inverness with our other strikers firing blanks just now. County have no major concerns ahead of this game. Site Admin Scotty has this to add from our site sponsors FANSBET Ahead of our replay against County, Fansbet are allowing CTO users to suggest what the special bet to be promoted on their site should be for the game next week ? If you want a specific special listed please put them in the thread on CTO and they will chose one at random, assign it odds and feature it before the game in the fan boosts section. : https://www.fansbet.com/en/betting/sports/fan-boosts/

Mission Impossible? Seventeen years on and the result that shocked Scottish Football still sends a shiver down the spine of Caley Thistle fans. Supercaleygoballistic...... you know how it goes, gets an airing every time these two clubs meet, especially in the Scottish Cup. At the time nobody thought it was possible. Inverness were being dismissed with contempt borne through ignorance. How could a mid-table first division side knock the mighty Celtic out of the Scottish Cup on their own patch. Well, they did, and they did it in style. Celtic were no longer invincible and Inverness wrote themselves into the history books. The damage was far reaching at Parkhead and heads would roll in the aftermath of that game. Feb 8th 2000 is etched on the minds of Inverness Caledonian Thistle fans, just as the Lisbon Lions are for the Celtic faithful. Is it possible for the current crop of Caley Jags players to emulate their predecessors and cause what would be a major upset, considering Celtic's dominance in the domestic game this season and given the transformation made by manager Brendan Rodgers? The simple answer has to be NO and there are a number of reasons for that. Not least the current form of Celtic, sweeping all before them and 27 points clear in the Premiership. The present squad have overtaken the run by the famous Lisbon Lions. The Celtic squad is littered with International players. Brendan Rodgers has moulded his own style into the Celtic team and has brought some excellent quality to the team like Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair. They have scored a phenomenal 65 goals in 24 league games whilst conceding only 16. That's 2.7 goals scored per game and a meagre 0.666 against per game. Is that a sign of the devil? But it's not what Celtic have to offer that concerns me. It's what Inverness don't have to offer that is the greater worry. We are bottom of the Premiership on merit alone. We fail to keep clean sheets on a regular basis, only 2 from 24 games. We are scoring goals at a rate of 1.16 per game. We have no current International players on our books, other than a couple of squad reserves in Owain Fon Williams and Billy Mckay and crocked Kevin McNaughton. Our manager is a newcomer to the job, unlike his counterpart who has a proven track record at the highest level. We no longer have the element of surprise on our side. Playing each other three or four times a season has scuppered that. Man for man, our current team could not lace the boots of our Feb 8th 2000 squad. We no longer possess players that play for the jersey, willing to lay it all on the line for ninety minutes and go through the pain barrier just to pull on the famous Inverness Caledonian Thistle strip. All over the park we could replace present players with golden oldies. Jimmy Calder was somewhat unorthodox as a keeper, but he could keep the ball out of the net and saved around 50% of penalties he faced. Ross Tokely was maybe not the most gifted, but was a difficult man to get beyond and solid in the air and worked well going forward. Stuart Golabeck: Toughest tackling full back I have ever seen. Scared of nothing and had enough pace to cover for big Bobby. Richard Hastings, a young fit Canadian International with plenty of energy. Bobby Mann was an absolute colossus. Calmness personified in the face of adversity and on his day the best centre back in the country. Mike Teasdale, always there when you needed him and skillful for a big lad. Mark McCulloch, no nonsense tough tackling midfielder who never shirked a challenge. Barry Wilson, how we could do with him now, a tremendous pacey winger with skill in abundance and a goal threat. Paul Sheerin was able to keep a cool head and fitted the Caley Jags ethics. Charlie Christie was one of the most talented players to come from the Highland League, twinkle toed and dedicated to the cause. Dennis Wyness, legend and goal scorer extraordinaire. Kevin Byers, Martin Glancy and Martin Bavidge all did their bit as well. Every one of them would not look out of place in today's side and most would be certain of a start every week. Let's not forget Pele. His philosophy was score more than the opposition. It worked well most of the time and entertainment value was top drawer. Back to the present day though and we have got to rise to the challenge, albeit a daunting one. Current form shows that Celtic are bullet proof and we are favourites for the drop. The Bhoys brushed aside St Johnstone in their last game thanks to a dubious penalty going their way and ran out big winners, scoring five after coming from 2-1 behind, Moussa Dembele scoring a hat-trick after coming on around the hour mark and bagging a hat-trick in 24 minutes. However, this is cup football and we are forever optimistic. We have to believe that the impossible is possible. Richie Foran never shirked a challenge as a player and this is one challenge he will relish. Let's not forget that we have dumped favourites Celtic out of the Scottish Cup on three occasions now, so maybe it's not such a big deal any more. Thought it might be worth mentioning that Celtic have only dropped one point this season. Now who could that have been against? Tom Rogic will miss another few months of action after an ankle operation ruled him out for the forseeable future. Stuart Armstrong and Leigh Griffiths look set to sit this game out as they near fitness but won't be risked. Why should they be when Dembele and Sinclair are on the books along with a squad of full international players. Josh Meekings will be missing for at least another couple of months. That's a blow as we have struggled defensively from the start of the season. Kevin McNaughton and Lewis Horner are other long term casualties. David Raven played the ninety minutes against Dundee as did Jamie McCart, but he will be unavailable to face his parent club in the cup. Brad Mckay could step in and Ross Draper has been known to drop deep to play in the back line when we have no other options available. Billy Mckay has had two games to get to know the current incumbents and that will benefit him greatly. Billy King came back against Dundee and showed up well. tm4tj prediction:- If I'm being realistic then we should have no chance whatsoever and this could be a rout. But as I said, it's cup football and away from the pressure of gaining league points. It's a difficult place to go and get any sort of result but that's what we have to do. We were not given a scooby in 2000 and it's the same now. Here's hoping we can get stuck in and emulate the class of Feb 8th 2000. However, I'm not holding my breath on that as wins at Parkhead are as scarce as an Iceberg Lettuce. Celtic to be in the hat for the next round leaving Inverness to concentrate on avoiding relegation. Nostalgia is making a comeback. Here's the respective sides that played that famous game 17 years ago. Celtic 1 (Burchill) Jonathan Gould, Tom Boyd, Olivier Tebily, Stephane Mahe, Vidar Riseth, Colin Healy, Regi Blinker, Lubomir Moravcik, Eyal Berkovic, Mark Viduka and Mark Burchill. Ian Wright replaced Viduka at half-time after the Aussie took the huff. It mattered not a jot. Key players such as Henrik Larsson and Paul Lambert were unavailable through injury. Shame! Inverness CT 3 (Wilson, Mann, how dare they say that Moravcik scored it, Sheerin pen) Jim Calder, Mike Teasdale, Stuart Golabeck, Bobby Mann, Mark McCulloch, Richard Hastings, Paul Sheerin, Ross Tokely, Barry Wilson, Charlie Christie and Dennis Wyness. Kevin Byers, Martin Glancy and Martin Bavidge all made late appearances in the game. Key players such as....................erm, they were all on the park beating Celtic.

Roberts Stunner Puts Caley Jags Through With Late Winner. Number 39 scored in the 39th minute to put Inverness ahead before the break. Miles Storey it was that claimed the goal to give the visitors the lead with Stephen McManus in close proximity. We were down to one hand on the trophy when Scott McDonald equalised after the break as McManus powered a header goalward. Jordan Roberts restored two hands on the trophy with a fantastic winner in the 91st minute and it's Inverness that go into the quarter finals after a hard fought game. Inverness travelled to Fir Park to take on Motherwell after being paired with the Lanarkshire club in the last sixteen of this seasons Scottish Cup and came away with the trophy still in their grasp for now. Much had been made of the young guns being kept off the buses, but there was still enough away fans to encourage the side to defend the trophy, and substitute Jordan Roberts became an instant hero with a spectacular winner as the game entered injury time. Inverness went unchanged with Carl Tremarco at full back and Danny Williams in a more attack minded midfield position. New signings Liam Hughes and Ryan Williams joined Jordan Roberts on the bench. Mark McGhee riled the home support before a ball was kicked by leaving top scorer Louis Moult on the bench, but veteran striker Scott McDonald led the attack. First to have a crack at scoring was our man in the news this week, Aberdeen target Greg Tansey who tried his luck from 35 yards with a free kick, but Ripley gathered reasonably comfortably as the ball curled round the wall, the ball bouncing into the keepers arms. Ripley didn't look so comfortable when an unlikely scorer Carl Tremarco looped a header goalwards, the keeper scrambling backwards to tip the ball onto the bar before eventually grasping the ball as it bounced to safety. Scott McDonald hit woodwork for the Steelmen when a brilliant cross from Cadden was glanced onto the top of the bar with Fon Williams beaten, the ball bouncing up and over for a goal kick A let off for the Cup holders and they rubbed salt into the wound by going straight up the park to open the scoring. Mutombo did well chesting down the long ball forward before slipping a ball wide down the left. Carl Tremarco was well advanced and raced onto the ball before firing a low ball across goal. Miles Storey was closely followed by Stephen McManus and it appears as though the big defender got the final touch as the ball bounced into the net in the 39th minute. That goal was all about the quality down the left from Tremarco who was having an excellent game. As the half drew to a close, Fon Williams plucked an effort from Cadden out of the air but it was the visitors who held the upper hand. Half Time 0-1 McDonald brought out a regulation save from Fon Williams as Motherwell looked to get back into the tie. Mutombo was booked as he looked to be fading out of the game and was subbed soon after, Jordan Roberts at last getting a fair crack of the whip, I wonder what he can do. Motherwell striker Scott McDonald was willing to shoot on sight when it wasn't really the best option, Fon Williams once more gathering comfortably. Stephen Pearson fresh aired what looked like a glorious chance to score and Danny Williams brought out a reflex save from Ripley at the other end as Inverness looked to extend their lead. On 66 minutes, Devine was booked after bringing down Chris Cadden as he broke clear. Devine not convinced it was a free kick and neither was I. However, from the corner that followed the aftermath of the free kick McMannus powered a header on target and Scott McDonald was handily placed to divert the ball into the net away from the keeper. Game on! Motherwell fans frustration eventually won the day as McGhee eventually brought on Louis Moult with around ten minutes of play left. However, it was another substitute that produced the goods to shatter the Steelmen. As the game entered time added on, Jordan Roberts outmuscled Morgaro Gomis just inside the Inverness half. He strode forward and jinked onto his left foot before unleashing a thunderbolt that flashed behind a diving Ripley into the keepers top right corner, the net just doing enough to stop the progress of the ball. What a goal and a great way to get off the mark for Roberts who has had his season badly curtailed through injury. The timing of the goal was of course, impeccable leaving Motherwell only time to wonder at the strike but not enough to be able to do anything about it and it was game over. Full Time 1-2 Well well Well, what a way to get into the next round. We probably just deserved to edge it but as expected, there was little between the sides and it was fitting that it took an exceptional strike to win the tie. A couple of paragraphs from our onsite viewers who saw the game like this and concurred that we deserve to be in the hat. Rig thought so as well and gave Tremarco top points:- "Anyway, might not have been the best game but I think we deserved that. I felt we created the better chances overall and whilst Motherwell edged the first half we were the better side in the second. Great play by Tremarco to make the first goal. Not seen him show that kind of speed, well, ever! Perhaps an error by the Well defence thinking they had more time or another man over but credit Tremarco for getting to it and then playing in such a good ball to Storey. So it went in off McManus but we'll take it. Disappointing goal to concede. Devine didn't cover himself in glory with a rash challenge when Motherwell broke which led to the corner from which they scored but we really need to defend set pieces better. I thought Tremarco was perhaps our best player. He was good defensively and offered a good bit of support going forward. Devine had a game that encapsulated his season. Some heroic defending one minute and then he was losing his man which nearly saw us concede. Mutumbo started well but faded quite a lot. Didn't give Raven much help defensively and, like Williams on the left, had a habit of coming inside a lot meaning we weren't playing with a lot of width for most of the game. Jordan Roberts showed some very nice touches when he came on and hopefully we'll see him starting in games in the near future. Looks a good one." Alternative Maryhill was as ever, more philosophical, but agreed that we shaded it:- "Not a vintage performance, but we did deserve the win. Both full backs played well, and I thought Draper was the pick of the midfielders and that Danny Williams looked our most dangerous attacking player: some excellent movement, particularly at the start of the second half, and he had one clever flick that Ripley saved at his near post. Mutombo started well, but I thought he faded before the end of the first half was over, and he does still look a little lightweight, both in possession and when trying to close down opponents - I'd like to see him work a bit harder in the latter respect. There's clearly talent in there, but he does still look a bit of a luxury. Not as much, though, as Vigurs, who I thought was extremely disappointing. He was ponderous in possession, didn't close down enough or fight for the ball when he lost possession, and was frequently negative in his passing. Tremarco's run and cross for the opener was about the first really decisive piece of play that we had managed, despite a few passages of neat interplay. The second half was better, although we did lose our way for a while around the time of the Motherwell goal, something that wasn't helped by the substitution of Storey for Polworth, when Vigurs would have been a far more obvious candidate to be replaced. In a way though, it was good that Motherwell scored, because it made the impact of Roberts' goal all the sweeter. What a strike. If you weren't there, you'll enjoy seeing it on TV. The Motherwell Twitter account, from deep in a well of its own salty tears, described it as 'speculative'. How bitter." Date: 06/02/16 Venue: Fir Park, Motherwell Attendance: 3907 Referee: Steven McLean Motherwell: 1 Lineup: Ripley, Hammell, McManus, Kennedy, Law, Pearson, Lasley (Moult 83), Gomis, Johnson, Cadden, McDonald (Ainsworth 88) Subs (not used): Samson, Laing, Chalmers, Leitch, Thomas Scorers: McDonald (67) Booked: Pearson (76) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Devine, Tansey, D.Williams, Vigurs (Hughes 88), Mbuyi-Mutombo (Roberts 56), Storey (Polworth 70) Subs (not used): Esson, R.Williams, Wedderburn, Brown Scorers: Storey (39), Roberts (91) Booked: Mbuyi-Mutombo (54), Devine (65) Sent Off: none

Cup Defence. It's time to continue the defence of our trophy as the Scottish Cup fifth round draw takes us to Fir Park to face the 1952 & 1991 winners Motherwell. It's not the most glamorous of ties and certainly a tougher one than we would have liked at this stage, and one that Motherwell will feel they can win, but that's the luck of the draw I suppose. The transfer window came and went and it caused a bit of a stushie up North with the Greg Tansey affair taking all the headlines. The on off saga detracted slightly from the fact that Inverness did add a couple of players to our squad. Liam Hughes and Ryan Williams are both midfielders and will hopefully add a bit of craft to the squad. So, rightly or wrongly, Greg Tansey remains an Inverness Caledonian Thistle player for now amid much speculation and guesstimating. Greg's official agent is blaming a third party for all the confusion. We'll not add to the mystique and leave it at that, content that he will be pulling on an Inverness shirt this weekend. This is a cup game, but as far as league form goes there's not much between the sides and home advantage could be the deciding factor. Inverness sit just three points above Motherwell, the main disparity being a much superior goal difference. We have sored more and lost less showing a difference of 13 goals in our favour. We have played twice already this season and it's one win apiece. We opened our campaign with a 0-1 defeat to Motherwell in the Highlands. We were in a transition period then, prior to our injury ravaged era and went down rather tamely to an early Wes Fletcher goal. In the reverse fixture at Motherwell we pulled of a surprise but nonetheless welcome 3-1 victory. A Greg Tansey penalty and a Miles Storey deflected strike saw us go in at the break two ahead. Iain Vigurs scored a superb volley after the break before Louis Moult pulled one back for the Well. But that's how it ended, 1-3 for Inverness and a mini revival started in December to boost our points tally. Motherwell made their way to this stage by thrashing Cove Rangers 5-0. They took just two minutes to open the scoring through Moult and were 2-0 up after six minutes when Scott McDonald scored. Further counters from Marvin Johnson and Stephen Pearson put them in at the break four up and Pearson added his second to end the scoring after the hour. Since that game, the Steelmen have been thrashed 6-0 by Hearts, lost 2-1 to County, drawn with Dundee and lost a late goal when slipping to defeat at Partick. While Motherwell were cruising into the next round, we made heavy weather of our tie at Forthbank and Stirling Albion fully deserved another crack at their Premier opponents. It took two spectacular goals to see off the Binos in the replay, many Inverness fans just happy to get into the draw, but not overjoyed by another lack lustre performance. Their pessimism justified in our next league game, a drab 0-0 draw with Partick following on from defeat at Kilmarnock. Carl Tremarco is the latest player to extend his contract. That comes on top of Gary Warren, Ryan Esson and Ross Draper putting pen to paper, so some good news for Caley Jags fans after a nail biting transfer window comes to a close. Inverness can call on their new signings to boost the squad. Yogi looks likely to flood the midfield given our lack of strikers available. Dean Brill is almost ready to pull his gloves on, but Aaron Doran and Josh Meekings are out. James Vincent has been a recent omission and his box to box play has been missed. Richie Foran and Jordan Roberts continue their rehab on the bench. The unfortunate Alex Fisher is out for six weeks with a chipped ankle bone. Motherwell have added Morgaro Gomis on loan from Hearts, and he is eligible for this game. A couple of notable outs is David Clarkson who has been loaned to St Mirren and midfielder Liam Grimshaw has returned to Manchester United. There's not much fresh news coming out of Fir Park, but defender Ben Roberts is reported to be struggling to make this one. tm4tj Prediction:- It's a chance to forget the rigours of league football and serve up a footballing treat for the fans. Inverness as holders will be looking to remain in contention and Motherwell will be hoping home advantage will benefit them. On paper, it should be tight. Louis Moult will be one to keep an eye on. He has scored 13 goals this season and has picked up 5 yellow cards, so one way or another, an exciting prospect. We have been under the hammer recently, struggling to create sufficient opportunities for Miles Storey, but the young striker has been plugging away and the goals will come, eight so far for him. Our last game at Fir Park saw us run out 3-1 winners, it'll be tighter than that and might take a replay to sort this one out. Of course, we have put Motherwell out of the cup at Fir Park before. Barry Wilson scored with a spectacular goal from all of 75 yards. I believe next season it will be up to 80 yards, gets better with every passing year. Bring it on! The romance of the Cup goes on for some teams. Ross County have an intriguing home tie against the first Junior side to reach the 5th round, Linlithgow Rose. They are well travelled in their quest for cup glory having been to Galashiels, Inverness, Wick and Forfar. Good luck to Ross County in that one. The big tie is the Capital clash that pits Hearts at home to Hibernian, a club looking for their first Scottish Cup triumph in over a century. And good luck to East Kilbride as they try to inflict Celtic's third domestic defeat in a row. We are all East Kilbride. Shock troopers Annan Athletic were rewarded with a home tie against Greenock Morton after pumping Hamilton 4-1 in the last round. There's an early kick off at Ibrox where Championship leaders the Rangers take on Premiership strugglers, managerless Kilmarnock, and an all Premiership game at Tannadice as basement side United play Partick Thistle. The final tie has Dundee visiting the Sons of the Rock at Dumbarton.