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Dundee at The Hedge We travel not to Dundee, but Brechin to face the Dark Blues in our final Group D game with little to no hope of progressing. Dens Park is still recovering from closed season work and the tie will be held at Glebe Park, Brechin. It's been a sombre week amongst our fanbase with the sad passing of Johndo Mackenzie, or as we know him on here, The Immortal Howden Ender. Tributes to Johndo can be read on the forum by clicking on the link below. News of investment came through this afternoon but it's too early to decide if this will be a sustainable solution for the Caley Jags. You can read the official statement from the club and our thoughts on the CTO forum by clicking the links below. We will post more on this subject as the investment story gathers pace. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/ Bus Info Investment Statement Investment discussion on CTO Johndo Tributes on CTO Nikola Ujdur off to QP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our opponents, Dundee, had this squad on duty on Tuesday night against Annan Athletic. Dundee eventually won 3-1 with a couple of late goals to see off Annan. Simon Murray opened the scoring after half an hour but Annan levelled less than ten minutes later. Murray got his second with five minutes remaing and Seb Palmer-Houlden sealed the win in the 90th minute. Dundee top Group D table having thumped Bonnyrigg Rose 1-7 before easing to a 2-0 away win over Arbroath. It would be nothing short of miraculous should we qualify for the knock-out stages, although that might not be enough given our Head 2 Head defeat to Annan. Danny Devine should be fit and Jack Walker has recovered from a head knock sustained against Arbroath. Duncan Ferguson talking ahead of the Dundee game Last time out saw us lose a penaly shoot-out to Arbroath but football took a back seat that night as news of Johndo's departure filtered through on that day. RIP my friend, you will be missed by all who crossed your path and I will miss your colourful match reports when you offered them on away visits to far flung places. Who remembers this one at Killie with the cheerleader making an appearance at 1:40...

Group D Also Rans Fellow Championship drop-outs Arbroath head North on Tuesday night for what looks likely to be a dead rubber with both sides off the pace in Group D of this seasons League Cup. With Annan Athletic sitting top of the group on 7 points, one ahead of Dundee, it will take a brave man to predict that either Inverness or Arbroath can scrape into the knockout stages of the competition. Some promising performances from the young guns on Saturday and a repeat of that would be pleasing, but let's not forget that Arbroath will be a step up in level from Bonnyrigg. It may also lay down a marker for the League campaign but both squads might be reduced in numbers with so little at stake. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info RIP Johndo, the one & only Immortal Howden Ender ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is with great sadness that one of our long term Caley and then Inverness CT supporters has passed away. Johndo Mackenzie, or as most of us on CTO knew him as Immortal Howden Ender, suffered a heart attack this morning after a couple of recent scares. Scotty has put a lovely tribute on the CTO site and you can read it by clicking the above link. Rest in peace my friend, you were one of a kind, and although you may have 'moved on', you will always be Immortal to those that knew you. Fixtures Tonight Inverness CT v Arbroath Dundee v Annan Athletic Fixtures on Saturday Bonnyrigg v Arbroath Dundee v Inverness CT (@ Brechin) Here's the Group D Table ahead of Tuesday nights fixtures. Dundee as you would have expected beat Arbroath 2-0. However the Smokies suffered a shock 3-0 home reverse against Annan last Saturday having being reduced to ten men (Scott Stewart 42') whilst we were beating Bonnyrigg 3-0 after a slick first half display. We lost our opening fixture 1-0 at Annan which, although not impossible, makes it highly unlikely that we will progress given our final fixture is away to Dundee at Brechin. Our goals against Rose were well taken by Adam Brooks, Keith Bray and Luis Longstaff. Arbroath have failed to score in their two fixtures. Arbroath have also made big changes after dropping out of the Chamoionship. Jim McIntyre is still the manager. In: Jack Wilkie, defender (Dundee); Layton Bisland, defender (Dundee United); Calum Gallagher, forward (Airdrieonians); Robbie Hemfrey, goalkeeper (Airdrieonians); Gavin Reilly, forward (Queen of the South); Liam Callaghan, midfielder (Montrose). Out: Scott Allan, midfielder (Kelty Hearts); Michael McKenna, midfielder (Falkirk); Zak Delaney, defender (Greenock Morton); Kyle Robinson, forward (Athlone Town); Leighton McIntosh, forward (Queen of the South); Jay Bird, forward (Exeter City); Derek Gaston, goalkeeper (Stirling Albion); Darren Lyon, midfielder (Clyde); Jess Norey, midfielder (East Fife); Ally Adams, goalkeeper (East Fife); Keaghan Jacobs, midfielder (Gala Fairydean Athletic); Ricky Little, defender (Beith); Kenan Dünnwald-Turan, midfielder. Loan ended: Max Boruc, goalkeeper (Hibernian); Adam Mackinnon, midfielder (Ross County); Charlie Reilly, midfielder (Dundee); Connor Teale, defender (Fleetwood Town). This was Arbroath's starting XI against Annan Athletic on Saturday. Gavin Reilly & Calum Gallagher missed out through injury and Colin Hamilton went off injured after 20' to be replaced by Stowe. Scott Stewart was red carded and will be suspended for the visit to Inverness. Jim McIntyre was no a happy chappy after the defeat to Annan. He felt they were poor in the final third, the final pass was poor and they lacked quality. Sounds familiar. "What positives can you take from this afternoon Jim?" Jim replied: "Not a lot". For Inverness, Danny Devine took a hip knock on Saturday and is a major doubt. Ethan Cairns has been out injured and Lewis Nicolson is still recovering. Ferguson is hinting that our time is probably over in the League Cup and therefore we may be fielding a pretty young side. With that in mind and despite our financial predicament, £18 for a ticket seems a bit steep given the liklihood of a reduced squad full of upcoming youngsters.

Young Guns N' Roses Welcome to the Jungle. For the second year in a row Bonnyrigg Rose came calling in a League Cup group stages encounter. Last season when we had selection choices we edged them 2-1 thanks to a first half brace from the discarded Aaron Doran. It would be a much more difficult task this season with the young guns on the park...... or would it. Inverness cruised to a 3-0 half time lead thanks to crisp strikes from Adam Brooks, Keith Bray and Luis Longstaff in an entertaining forty-five full of neat one touch possession football. With the job done at the break, the second half was an anti-climax with few opportunites and rakes of substitutions which put paid to any thoughts of flowing football and copious amounts of goals. Good win for the young guns who were applauded off the pitch at half time, something unheard of last season. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A grey day at the Caledonian Stadium with a sparse crowd in attendance, brought about by the stubborness of the suits to listen to the fans, saw Inverness get the game underway. Plenty of slick passes coupled with good ball retention led to a smart opening goal when Brooks flicked home Mathew Strachan's inviting cross from the left wing. Only moments earlier, a curling cross come shot from Luis Longstaff missed the back post and striker in equal measures. Inverness continuued pressing the visitors and scored a deserved second when Bray held off a challenge in the box to turn and shoot into the bottom corner. On the half hour, Brooks was denied a second when keeper Tom Ritchie pushed his shot onto the post, and minutes later the keeper denied him again. Number three came when Longstaff made his way into the right side of the box before shooting low into the bottom corner. An enterprising opening half and a deserved advantage at the interval as applause broke out around the inside of the ground. Half Time: 3-0 The second half was in stark contrast, but we can't complain at the score. Nothing of note happened after the break apart from Cameron Ferguson getting booked for, well, doing nothing. Danny Devine took a head knock and was replaced after an hour. Hopefully just a precaution as he will be an important player for us this season. All five subs were used by both sides which broke up play in the second period and it was Inverness that got their first win of the season. Full Time: 3-0 Really good win for our young team with some good performances all round. Adam Brooks looked lively and could have had a hat-trick. Mathew Strachan and Calum MacLeod never put a foot wrong and pinged in some dangerous crosses. Luis Longstaff was the pick of the older heads and will be a useful player in League 1. Keith Bray took his goal well and did some sterling work along the right side of the park from back to front. 682 in attendance and one on the bridge. Not great, but given the way the club has treated players, fans, sponsors etc then hardly surprising, in fact maybe more than was anticipated. The same fixture last season had 1077 fans attending and nobody standing on the bridge. With Annan beating Arbroath 0-3 and Dundee not playing today, it looks like our League Cup campaign will be over after the Group Stages. That means a weakened squad will probably see out our final two group games against Arbroath on Tuesday night and Dundee next weekend to allow us to prepare better for the League 1 campaign. a

A Rose by any other name Bonnyrigg Rose are the visitors in our second Group D League Cup game. Both sides lost their opening games and will be looking to get back on track. Only one competitive fixture between the sides and that was in last seasons League Cup group stage in which Inverness struggled to get the better of the Rose before edging it 2 - 1. We were fortunate to have someone on the park to inject that bit of extra quality to get us the win. That will be difficult to replicate this season. His name was Aaron Doran, our very own rose, and now abandoned by the club in his hour of need. Shameful stuff from the club, knee surgeon and all. Plenty of discussion around the club looking for new investors and you can read all about it on the link below. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Dundee Tie Moved Knee Surgeon Statement (no mention of Aaron) Investment Topic on CTO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jags a thorn in the Rose: 2 - 1 The first ever meeting between The Caley Jags and the Rose was played out during a thunderstorm. Torrential rain of biblical proportions fell half an hour before kick-off and that dampened the grass somewhat. Inverness were quick off the mark and opened the scoring after four minutes when Aaron Doran took advantage of a defensive error to score from ten yards. No pun intended, but the floodgates never opened as Inverness made heavy weather of the next thirty-five minutes before Doran curled in his second of the game from just outside the box. What a beauty! HALF TIME: 2-0 Big chance right at the start of the second half for Rose but Cammy Mackay saved with his feet from Smart to deny the visitors who are far from out of this tie. A raft of substitutions on the hour saw the hosts tighten their grip on proceedings as the heavens opened once more with Billy Mckay and Austin Samuels passing on great opportunities. Doran also denied his hat-trick by Martin's reflex save. Keiran McGackie headed home in the 90th minute following a set piece but it was too little too late for the Rose who gave a good account of themselves as Inverness fiddled with their line-up. FULL TIME: 2-1 <<Image painted by local artist and ICT fan Sophie Robb>> To put it all into context, here's our starting XI from last season. Lewis Nicolson is currently recovering from injury and Charlie Gilmour and Adam Brooks are the only starters currently in the squad. Starting XI: Cameron Mackay; Lewis Nicolson, Wallace Duffy, Zak Delaney, Charlie Gilmour, Roddy MacGregor, David Carson, Aaron Doran, Austin Samuels, Nathan Shaw, Adam Brooks. Just a reminder from last season what we will be missing>>> Bonnyrigg Rose <<This was their team v Dundee last week. Players IN: Aaron Arnott, midfielder (Raith Rovers, loan to permanent); Bradley Rodden, midfielder (Stenhousemuir); Kalum Higginbotham, forward (Tranent); Sean Murphy, midfielder (Tranent); Kieran Somerville, midfielder (Tranent); Ben Scarborough, midfielder (Luncarty). Players OUT: Reis Peggie, defender (East Fife); Sam Gormley, defender (Edinburgh City); Jason Jarvis, midfielder (Edinburgh City); Jonny Stewart, midfielder; Declan Byrne, forward; Conor Doan, midfielder; Jason Jarvis, midfielder; Robbie McGale, midfielder; Ross Gray, midfielder; Bradley Barrett, midfielder Starting XI from last seasons fixture:- Paddy Martin; Josh Grigor, Neil Martyniuk, Conor Doan, Robbie McGale, Jason Jarvis, Jonny Stewart, Ross Gray, Reis Peggie, Dean Watson, Smart Osadolor. Rose drew 2-2 with Annan on Tuesday night and lost the bonus point (if you believed the BBC report) in the penalty shoot-out (7-6). Brad Barret scored an early goal for Rose before Annan struck back through Paul McGowan and Paul Smith before a late strike from substitute Brad Rodden took the tie to penalties. As it turns out, Bonnyrigg won the penalty shoot-out 7-6 after Annan's Ryan Muir had his spot kick saved by new loan signing keeper Tom Ritchie from Aberdeen FC. That result will give us an indication that Rose won't be just turning up to make up the numbers. Kallum Higginbotham was a sub and provided the assist for the 87th minute equaliser. That's their starting XI from Tuesday night at Annan>>> Dundee beat Arbroath 2-0 on Tuesday night to top Group D.

League Cup Opener ends in defeat New look Inverness made the long trek to Galabank Stadium for the opening game of the season to face Annan Athletic in the League Cup group stages. Most of our injured players made the game but Jack Walker and Ethan Cairns missed out. Annan added Aaron Quigg to their squad today and in former Dundee midfielder Paul McGowan they won't lack determination, skill or experience, something we lost over the summer. We'll just have to see how it pans out. Tommy Goss headed in the opening goal midway through a fairly even first half but we trailed at the break. No more goals after the interval and it ended 1-0 to Annan. In other news, Cammy Harper has changed his shirt number to No3 at Carlisle United and Roddy MacGregor scored on his debut for Queens Park... Sigh! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness got the season underway on the 3G surface as captain Billy Mckay sets the ball rolling. Annan were first to threaten through Aidan Smith who saw Keeper Jack Newman save low to his left after eight minutes. Adam Brooks had our first effort after being fed through on goal but shot just wide five minutes later. Annan opened the scoring in the 21st minute through a Tommy Goss header. Brooks was denied from outside the box as Jamie Smith saved his effort on the half hour and following a corner Aidan Smith's header from a tight angle was denied by Newman with a super save. Billy Mckay shot over ten minutes before the break as the visitors looked to draw level before the interval. Brooks again missed the target shooting over after a lengthy injury break for Jake Davidson. Possession was even over the first 45 but it's the hosts that have the one goal advantage. HT: 1-0 No changes at the interval and we were very close to an equaliser two minutes into the second half as Adam Brooks saw his initial effort hit the post and the rebound fell to Calum MacLeod in the box. Alas, his effort came off the bar and Billy Mckay couldn't quite scramble the ball in. Meh! Keith Bray brought out a save from the keeper and Aidan Smith did likewise at the other end before being booked a minute later for a late tackle on Charlie Gilmour. The hosts continued to dish out the rough treatment and Quitongo was booked minutes later for being late on Bray. Brooks continued missing the target, shooting wide after the hour and he would be replaced by Robbie Thompson for the last twenty minutes. Thereafter a spate of substitutions and one of them, Calum Mackay, had an effort saved by Jamie Smith. A late header by Ferguson never troubled the keeper and it was defeat in our opening match. FT: 1-0 Narrow defeat in the opening League Cup game at Annan but nonetheless an encouraging display by the the young squad. Johndo was at the game looking to tear the team to shreds but came away with a different perspective after watching the new look squad compete with Annan. Positives - I attended in the belief that this report would be a total slagging. We were the better team, we played the better football and we did not deserve to be beaten, We were quicker going forward, we tried to use width, we tried to hit the bye line. Some of the forward thinking 1-2 touch football was a joy to watch. We worked for 90 minutes. We looked solid at the back. Newman *** Rarely tested but looked solid. Strachan *** Looked raw and needed support of those around him. Not scared of going forward, Davidson **** Huge improvement in what I have seen before. Devine **** Gawd do we need to keep him fit Savage **** Appears to have become some fans boo-boy. On today's performance totally undeserved. Always in space and looking to go forward. MacLeod ***** MOM - first time I have seen him and very, very impressed - Roddy MacGregor + Gilmour **** Solid as ever Bray *** Some great touches and full of energy but may be better utilised centrally. Longstaff *** Ran and ran, some great touches - so left footed - play him wider left. McKay ** Sorry but he was the weak link today. NOT a forward any more. Our Harry Kane !! 20 30 minute man. Brooks *** Plenty of pace and energy, Could/should have had a hat trick. Needs big man up beside him, Now if we had Goss we would have options and walked it. Ref was poor and allowed too many fouls to go unpunished. (nothing new there) Negatives - Oh jeez many of our final balls and finishing was shocking. OK we made the chances but blew them all. There were a number of occasions when we played the ball back when there was a forward ball. Some of our support are still in the boo-boy category and lets get rid of the dynasty but lets support those on the field - including Dunc. I bet there will not be many of the blindfolded agreeing with this report. On reflection I actually did want this to be a slagging, ended up pi$$ed of with score BUT encouraged by the performance. Highlights from Annan Athletic Date: 13/07/2024 Venue: Galabank Stadium, Annan Attendance: 427 Referee: Jordan Curran Annan Athletic: 1 Manager: Wullie Gibson (player manager) Lineup: J Smith; Gibson, Dixon (Quigg 85), T Muir, Quitongo (K Fleming 69), Todd, McGowan, P Smith, R Muir, A Smith, Goss Subs (not used): G Fleming; Maxwell Scorers: Goss (21) Booked: Goss (24), Aidan Smith (52), Quitongo (55) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Newman; Davidson, Devine, Savage, Strachan (Keogh 79), Bray, Gilmour (Ferguson 75), MacLeod, Longstaff (C Mackay 75), B Mckay (Corner 75), Brooks (Thompson 69) Subs (not used): Rebilas; Sam Nixon. Scorers: none Booked: Keogh (88) Sent Off: none a