Six pointer incoming

 

Another crucial game and this time a big six-pointer as we travel up Byres Road to take on Partick Thistle who still have two games in hand over us and only one point behind. Kick-off is on Friday night at 7:45pm and it's another TV game for us, live on BBC Scotland channel.

Match/Ticket/TV/Supporters Bus 07462218717

Venue

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	22	9	6	7	36	33	+3
Away	20	5	6	9	21	28	-7
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	42	14	12	16	57	61	-4

Last 10 Competitive Meetings

3 - 3 (H)

0 - 0 (A)

3 - 1 (H)

1 - 3 (A)

1 - 3 (H)

2 - 1 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

1 - 0 (A)

3 - 2 (H)

1 - 1 (A)

Partick hold a slim advantage overall in the head 2 heads, but over the last ten meetings Inverness have a very slight edge.

The first fixture this season resulted in a 3-1 win for Inverness back in September: After a difficult first half, Inverness ran out comfortable winners against Partick Thistle in a second half goal blitz. The visitors dominated the first forty-five and Scott Tiffoney drilled the opener out of nothing as the defence backed off. Manny Duku was denied by a combination of keeper and post but it was Partick that should have scored a second, however Mark Ridgers did well to deny Brian Graham. Harsh talking at the break saw Inverness come out for the second half with the bit between the teeth and Kirk Broadfoot was the unlikely hero as his twenty yard shot evaded the outstretched fingertips of the keeper to level the score. Shane Sutherland did well to drill in the second from an angle after the keeper fluffed his lines allowing Shane to slot in from twenty yards. The third was a peach as Duku stepped over the ball and Aaron Doran fired high into the net for a brilliant goal and game over. That's five wins out of five and the run goes on...

The second encounter was 0-0 draw at Firhill at the end of October: Partick Thistle survived to earn a point after the woodwork saved them twice and keeper Jamie Sneddon denied Sean Welsh from the spot after guessing the right way. Inverness were well on top but it's only a point which means Killie pull further away at the top. Performance of the day was from Arbroath who came from two down to beat Dunfermline Athletic 4-2.

The last meeting was at the beginning of February, a thrilling 3-3 draw: Partick Thistle struck early to add to our gloom through Brian Graham but Billy Mckay squared the game after twenty minutes with a close range finish from a Carson cross. Graham scored his second with a header soon after, Scott Tiffoney once again the provider and he almost scored one for himself but for a fine save from Ridgers. Shane Sutherland equalised just on the interval with a header from a McAlear corner. With twenty minutes left Deas conceded a stone wall penalty and Graham notched his hat-trick. Substitute Cammy Harper drove into the box but Sneddon blocked his shot and moments later Pearson appeared to hit the bar with an angled drive from twelve yards and Mckay rolled one past the post. We got the draw with the last head of the ball deep into stoppage time when Broadfoot headed in a cross from McAlear.

 

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Arbroath 27 12 12 3 39 19 48 2. Kilmarnock 27 14 5 8 34 19 47 3. Inverness CT 27 10 10 7 35 26 40 4. Partick Thistle 25 10 9 6 38 24 39 5. Raith Rovers 27 9 12 6 34 30 39 6. Morton 27 7 10 10 30 35 31 7. Hamilton Ac. 27 7 10 10 29 41 31 8. Ayr United 27 7 8 12 25 40 29 9. Dunfermline 26 4 12 10 24 40 24 10. Q.O.S. 26 5 8 13 26 40 23

It's getting very tight at the top of the table as the business end of the season gets into full swing. There's a very fine line between remaining in the play off places or dropping into the middle of the table. It's almost as if nobody wants the automatic promotion spot as the top five clubs draw their way towards promotion, not one team taking the bull by the horns, which is just as well as we are on a ten match run without a win, probably the biggest losers in the top five which will drop us out of contention soon if we don't stop the rot.

Saturday Fixtures all 3:00pm

Arbroath v Dunfermline

Killie v Accies 

Queens v Morton    

Rovers v Ayr Utd  

Partick are also back in action against Queen of the South on Tuesday night at Firhill.

Last Time Out

Inverness drew with a resurgent Hamilton Accies last Friday in an entertaining draw at The Fountain of Youth. Whilst our first two defeats were poor results, given the context of this encounter it could be seen as a decent point away from home had we not been on a run of ten games without a win. Anyway, 1-1 it finished with Josh Mullin arrowing a strike high into the net for Accies and Sam Pearson opening his account for the Caley Jags.

Partick were in action in midweek and came from behind to get a point at Gayfield against League Leaders Arbroath. An early strike from Colin Hamilton was not enough for Arbroath as Partick levelled through Ciaran McKenna on the hour.

Latest Team News

Billy Dodds has the usual suspects out injured plus two or three isolating/covid and Roddy MacGregor abducted by an Alien. Official Preview might reveal all, but somehow I doubt it.

Don't know about the Partick players, but I understand their pitch is on the treatment table!

 

Eric the Stat has this info on Parick since the January sales:

Outgoings

Harry Stone - Goalkeeper recalled to parent club Hearts in the window and subsequently loaned out to Albion Rovers FC

Shea Gordon - The central midfield player is on loan to Queen of the South for the rest of the season.

Jake Hastie - Attacking Left Wing from Rangers FC recalled and now on loan to Linfield FC.

Zak Rudden - The 22 year old Centre Forward is on loan to Dundee FC and is expected to have a permanent move to Dens Park this summer.

Incoming Players

Andy Firth - A goalkeeper who rose through the Liverpool FC U18, U21 and U23 system, was transferred to Rangers in 2019, now on loan at Firhill until end of season.

Robbie Crawford - The Globetrotting versatile Midfield player has transferred to Partick from Motherwell FC. The one time Rangers FC player has had spells in Iceland, Finland and in the USA with USL Championship club Charleston Battery.

Kyle McAllister - An Attacking Right Winger on loan from St Mirren until the end of this season.

Alex Jakubiak - The Centre Forward is on loan from Dundee FC where he has suffered a number of injuries since joining in August 2020, including a thigh tendon in a game against ICT. (Jakubiak was injured once again in bizarre fashion, suffering a dislocated shoulder during an altercation at a Dundee nightclub..... allegedly)

 

Pitch played no part, we kept the ball in the sky for the best part of 90minutes.

 

A season that promised so much is petering out badly. Chances are we will end up on the bottom half of the table.

This was our real chance to gain promotion but we have blown it big style. We have decent players we are not getting the best out of. At times we dominate games, including most of the second half tonight, but we can’t score when on top and we end up chasing games.

11 without a win, with the league leaders next, says it all.

I’m not one to call for the heads of Managers, but something has to change or next season could be very painful.

8 games left for Dodds & co to prove us all wrong. Can they?

Partick were not all that good, thats what makes it worse. I wouldn’t be betting on them going up (either)!

I've not posted in quite a while but that was terrible again.  A very slight improvement in the 2nd half but that was solely down to having an extra player within 20 yards of their box when we were shelling it forward.

We are utterly rudderless. It's completely shambolic and summed up by Billy Dodds screaming at McAlear for having the audacity to play a 10 yard ball sideways to a teammates feet- he was bawling for him to leather it into the corner. Stoneage football from someone out of his depth.

I don't care about anything else anymore other than results and they just aren't coming.

I don't care how we play, I just want a win ............... I don't care who we put out on the pitch, I just want a win .............. I don't care about promise or opportunities or passages of play or formations or pressing well or any other sh#te BD will come out with, I just want a win

BD flattered to deceive at the start of the season and is being found out and no one is doing anything about it

When some are now comparing our recent results to our worst era under Foran……….. when is it too early / late to make some structural changes. 

Just looked at the BBC stats. They say we had 19 attempts but 1 on target.

Next week they have to focus on shooting practice as that is a shocking statistic and highlights what we need to do.

We also need to find ways of giving Mckay chances. I think he only had one attempt all night.

Dodds says the second half performance was excellent……

Post match interview was the usual predictable stuff, same every week.

I’d love to see him being asked a difficult question about our dismal run but it never happens.

 Not for the first time this season….,,,,, Just not good enough !!!

I can't see us winning another game this season.

6 minutes ago, Robert said:

Just looked at the BBC stats. They say we had 19 attempts but 1 on target.

Next week they have to focus on shooting practice as that is a shocking statistic and highlights what we need to do.

We also need to find ways of giving Mckay chances. I think he only had one attempt all night.

Dodds says the second half performance was excellent……

Unfortunately it's gone way beyond that and the worrying thing is that even if we did practice all week on shooting practice, yes we'd score but we'd conceded three.

We can't even get the basics right, the fundamentals of football that you and I could point out and instill in a team without any coaching badges or professional insight.

We need a complete and utter reset on so many levels and we just don't have the backroom team to do it.

8 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Post match interview was the usual predictable stuff, same every week.

I’d love to see him being asked a difficult question about our dismal run but it never happens.

He won't though especially by the BBC, not while he's working on open-all-mics and Sportsound.

43 minutes ago, forresjags said:

Thank f***k Doran off, offered nothing again, for a player with so much experience jeezo.

Agree 100%, a waste of a wage imo, get rid.

The club really need to rip up the current script and start thinking about the future. This was our best chance of promotion since we dropped out of the top flight and we are now struggling to make a playoff spot. Big changes required at the club. Too many coaches have been lingering about despite failing under different managers. If managers aren't going to use our youth system why have it? 

32 minutes ago, Row S said:

Mid table and no play offs again for us. Partick are no great shakes and were there for the taking. 

Have to agree, but the table doesn't lie, we are just not good enough.

Does any one know what has happened to McGregor?  Long term injury?  Or just fallen out of favour.  Imo he was much better than any of those we took in during the transfer window.

Our run of 6 points from 11 games is the same as the run that got Peter Grant sacked at Dunfermline.  In terms of form we are the worst in the division by a considerable distance.  If we hadn't fluked a few 1-0 wins in the first few weeks of the season we'd be in bother.

Very lucky not to be 2 or 3-0 down at half time. Yes we improved second half........we couldn't be any worse! Created chances to win the game, but made a complete arse of all of them. Then suckered by a simple set piece goal! We all could've written the script before the game.

Please just f*** **f Dodds and take the entire "coaching"🙄 staff with you!

 

I have been to every home game and two away games this season. I am convinced the players are better than the recent run of results. I think the manager & coaching staff are the biggest factor  in not getting the best from this team. Notwithstanding finance, when is enough , enough ?

13 minutes ago, CaleyCiuin said:

I have been to every home game and two away games this season. I am convinced the players are better than the recent run of results. I think the manager & coaching staff are the biggest factor  in not getting the best from this team. Notwithstanding finance, when is enough , enough ?

It's hard to tell either way? They are so poorly set up on match days it's pitiful. 

Just thankful for our first round of results .. A slow start & we'd currently be in Dunfermline's sights for the run in .. or worse. Not huge margins between most of the teams in the league now and tight games need a cutting edge which has deserted us at a crucial stage of the season.  I agree we need a rethink as there just doesn't seem to be a long term strategy, from the coaching staff at least. To end on a positive note I've enrolled a new neighbour to come along v Arbroath who's moved up from Englandshire but persuading him to sign up for next season could be the challenge. At least he can't be viewed as a glory hunter ! #ICTevangelist

As others have said we were lucky to get points early in the season, only 2 in the last 6 games!  

 

1 hour ago, Caley Mad In Berks said:

Does any one know what has happened to McGregor?  Long term injury?  Or just fallen out of favour.  Imo he was much better than any of those we took in during the transfer window.

According to his father on the radio a few weeks ago he was injured and had covid but that was all he said.

1 hour ago, CaleyCiuin said:

I have been to every home game and two away games this season. I am convinced the players are better than the recent run of results. I think the manager & coaching staff are the biggest factor  in not getting the best from this team. Notwithstanding finance, when is enough , enough ?

When is enough, enough you ask?

 

A simple one word answer to that is, NOW!

 

Any other club would have sacked the dud by now but ours are to patient, it's pathetic tbh, it's time they stopped hiding and answered us ffs as I'm getting very angry at their lack of leadership!

 

Oh and it doesn't help when Charlie Bannerman is arguing with me on FB about demanding (and that's what I'm doing, DEMANDING) a change of manager! It's about time these pundits etc (such as Michael Stewart and Leanne Crichton)stopped backing or defending HIM due to being a former colleague, he rightly needs SLATING!!

Well here is more of a fecking Pishedaffmometer. Feel like catharsis is necessitated !! 

I will start off with the McGregor question as to where the feck is he ? If he has been sidelined and not injured that in itself is diabolical. Next we move to the suggested preference to McKay rather than Ridgers. To me that is a no-brainer. Ridgers is by far the first choice keeper and is way ahead of McKay - especially in regard to such a tie. Carson has never been a full back to me. He is a combative holding midfielder. He is wasted at full back. As fer the usual rest of the back line it is a cacophany of central defending "stackers". Perhaps somebody should advise Dodds that central defenders dont like chopping and changing, especially to full back. I suspect in training they have competitions on the furthest they can launch headers and the furthest they can aimlessly hoof, preferably first time. I also suspect that lately they are also perfecting smashing balls on the ground like missiles towards strikers and missing out any midfelders in their way. And who are they aiming at ? I suspect in training that Billy has Hardy on his shoulders to provide a better feckin target. And what has happened to our "spying" prowess. Pearson, Samuels and Chalmers are costing us spondoolachs. Playing BOTH Pearson and Samuels last night as feckin "wingers" was ludicrous. Do either have the build, strength or guile to fly past defenders. And then get in a position to put crosses into our two midgets up front ? That means that we have two players doing next to feck all. Surely we have better in the waiting Academy. And Doran is back in favour and given a bit of a Number 10 role. Love the guy but he was adept at such a role TEN feckin years ago. And now for what I view as being more of a positive. I feel so sorry for Walsh who is the only player who tries to control a ball and play an easy pass. McAlear has a great engine and a good touch but gets a bollicking for playing an easy ball. I can just hear the guidance from the bench - "Fer fecks sake hoof the bloody thing". I even feel sorry for Shane who has done more out wide than our three loanees put together. At least he has the club at heart. And finally our two minions up front. I really like the look of Hardy and feel that he and Billy could be am effective partnership if there was more structure behind them. I would put Billy in the Walsh bracket and you can see how cheesed off that he is with the ammunition that he is being fed. Unfortunately he also appears to have given up to a degree and confidence is waning.

Thank you all. I feel better now.