Is Dodds the Man 4 the Job

 

Cove first foot the Caledonian Stadium on 2nd January with many fans questioning whether Billy Dodds should still be in charge as we head into 2023 in a massive slump and slide towards the bottom end of the table. Yes there has been an incredible amount of injuries to contend with, but the majority of the support are questioning his ability to turn things around. It can't be an easy task trying to run a team on a shoestring but it's the nature of the beast, and has been for some time. Money does not affect the style of play though and that is a major concern with many citing the current team as one of the worst since we joined the leagues back in 1994. Has he lost the dressing room? The feud with Ridgers? He was removed at half time against Morton. What now for Cammy Mackay who shipped five at Partick? For Dodds' sake, I hope we can get a few players back as soon as possible, otherwise his position will become untenable, a word that is usually followed by news of a new manager. And what of Robbo? Is that a burden the club can do without? Come to think of it, maybe a complete clear out is the only answer.

Have a good New Year when it comes 

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Match/Ticket info

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Only six competitive meetings v Cove

1 - 0 (A)

4 - 1 (H)

1 - 1 (H)

1 - 3 (A)

3 - 2 (H)

2 - 0 (H)

Recent form table over last six games, horrendous stuff and shipping goals like nobody's business.   Overall Home Away   Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts   1. Dundee 6 5 1 0 11 4 2 0 0 3 0 3 1 0 8 4 +7 16 2. Queens Park 6 4 1 1 17 8 2 1 0 8 3 2 0 1 9 5 +9 13 3. Morton 6 3 3 0 12 6 2 0 0 6 1 1 3 0 6 5 +6 12 4. Partick Thistle 6 3 1 2 15 9 3 0 1 13 6 0 1 1 2 3 +6 10 5. Cove Rangers 6 2 3 1 11 8 2 1 1 6 3 0 2 0 5 5 +3 9 6. Ayr United 6 2 2 2 10 10 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 7 7 0 8 7. Raith Rovers 6 1 2 3 8 13 1 2 1 8 9 0 0 2 0 4 -5 5 8. Arbroath 6 0 4 2 5 11 0 2 1 3 6 0 2 1 2 5 -6 4 9. Inverness CT 6 0 2 4 5 15 0 2 1 3 4 0 0 3 2 11 -10 2 10. Hamilton Ac. 6 0 1 5 7 17 0 1 1 6 7 0 0 4 1 10 -10 1

We opened our home League games with a 4 - 1 win over newly promoted Cove Rangers back in the middle of August.

Austin Powers: Man of Mystery Goals:  Austin Samuels scored twice as Inverness registered their first win of the Championship this season. Aaron Doran and substitute Nathan Shaw opened their accounts with Robbie Leitch tapping in for Cove just after the interval. An ultimately comfortable win for the hosts that bumps them up the table into second spot behind Dundee.

Sadly we have been found out since then and are now just two points above Cove in 7th place on 23 points. We also surprisingly beat them 1 - 0 at Balmoral Park against the run of play as we started to struggle with injuries but still picked up points somehow.

Cove kept at Bay: Our first visit to Balmoral Park on League business ended with a hard fought win, our fifth on the bounce. Inverness opened the scoring after twenty minutes through Steven Boyd, his first of the season. However Roddy MacGregor was helped off the pitch after being injured in the build up to that goal. Allardice stayed in the dressing room at the interval to be replaced by Lewis Hyde. Ridgers did well to deny Cove after the break and right at the end Cove were reduced to ten men as McIntosh was sent off. Still joint top as Partick also win with Dundee and Morton leading the chasing pack.

That win at Balmoral left us joint top with Partick on 20 points. Dundee were three points further back but they now top the table on 34 points.

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Current table at the end of 2022 1. Dundee 18 10 4 4 30 20 34 2. Queens Park 18 10 3 5 36 27 33 3. Ayr United 19 9 5 5 38 27 32 4. Morton 18 8 6 4 27 19 30 5. Partick Thistle 19 9 3 7 40 33 30 6. Raith Rovers 19 7 3 9 24 26 24 7. Inverness CT 18 6 5 7 20 26 23 8. Cove Rangers 18 5 6 7 27 28 21 9. Arbroath 19 2 8 9 13 28 14 10. Hamilton Ac. 18 2 5 11 16 37 11

MONDAY 2ND JANUARY - All 3:00pm

Dundee v Arbroath    

Hamilton v Raith Rovers

Morton v Ayr United

     Queen's v Partick Thistle

  Caley Jags v Cove Rangers

Latest Team News

Your guess is as good as mine??? Its two steps forward and three steps back on the injury front.

Here's Billy Dodds to tell us all about it.

 

Well done to Billy Mckay: star man in the SPFL Team of the Week:

https://twitter.com/spfl/status/1610320123595743232

 

Oh dear

Jim McIntyre sacked by Cove Rangers after that thrashing...

Just on the news, Cove sacked their manager. Who seen that coming.

Me obviously 

2 hours ago, tm4tj said:

Oh dear

Jim McIntyre sacked by Cove Rangers after that thrashing...

Obviously more financially stable than ICT to be able to pay off a manager.

Where on earth did that come from?

Caught the end of the first half and all of the second on a stream. Great to see us moving the ball well and fighting to get it back when we lost possession. Hopefully we will build on this and get back oup the table.

28 minutes ago, Jaggernaut said:

Obviously more financially stable than ICT to be able to pay off a manager.

They stayed in The Kingsmills overnight. 

Enough said.

First game in a long time for me and was blown away by the commitment and determination from the team. In first 20 we could have scored 2 or 3 - Billy’s hit the post, Lewis Hyde should have scored as well. Defensively we looked very nervous and I include the keeper on that - in particular corners were a major concern. 

the difference came when we got the second goal we didn’t sit back we kept pressurising them into mistakes and Cove certainly helped in that department. 
Having the spine of the team with so much experience is brilliant - we really need Danny D to marshal the defence and develop these young lads. 

Hyde and Welsh give a bit of stability in the centre and with Dan McKay and the loanee winger giving loads of pace, we looked pretty potent going forward. 

we’ve deserved a bit of luck and we certainly got it on Saturday. 

18 minutes ago, FrontRow said:

First game in a long time for me and was blown away by the commitment and determination from the team. In first 20 we could have scored 2 or 3 - Billy’s hit the post, Lewis Hyde should have scored as well. Defensively we looked very nervous and I include the keeper on that - in particular corners were a major concern. 

the difference came when we got the second goal we didn’t sit back we kept pressurising them into mistakes and Cove certainly helped in that department. 
Having the spine of the team with so much experience is brilliant - we really need Danny D to marshal the defence and develop these young lads. 

Hyde and Welsh give a bit of stability in the centre and with Dan McKay and the loanee winger giving loads of pace, we looked pretty potent going forward. 

we’ve deserved a bit of luck and we certainly got it on Saturday. 

Thought Hyde grew into the game really well, and Welsh had some important tackles that we've been missing without Allardice! That Henderson ball to Doran for Billy's 3rd goal looked like something De Bruyne could come out with!! Looks a really promising player for sure

1 hour ago, FrontRow said:

Hyde and Welsh give a bit of stability in the centre

I thought Welsh had his best game for some time, pulling the strings in midfield. Hyde has worried me recently but I thought he also had his best game. I think his half at right back against Partick earlier in the season set his development back, but he is hopefully on track now.

It will be interesting whether we keep Carson at right back on Saturday with Duffy back or whether he moves into midfield with Welsh.

Oh to have Allardice back though. We’ve missed his calm solidity. 

Edited January 4, 20232 yr by Robert

Billy’s hat trick: look at the ground he made up to be on the spot to turn his third in after it came back off the post from Doran’s header:

and Danny’s goal:

It’s a pity they’ve not put the own goals on line. I’d like to see them again, particularly the second one. It was a good laugh at the time!

23 hours ago, tm4tj said:

Me obviously 

You must have got it while I was typing, am slow wi one finger.

4 hours ago, Robert said:

Billy’s hat trick: look at the ground he made up to be on the spot to turn his third in after it came back off the post

My attention was caught more by the utter laziness of the defender who just stood and let it happen!

18 hours ago, Robert said:

Billy’s hat trick: look at the ground he made up to be on the spot to turn his third in after it came back off the post from Doran’s header:

and Danny’s goal:

It’s a pity they’ve not put the own goals on line. I’d like to see them again, particularly the second one. It was a good laugh at the time!

Why, oh why, have we gone back to using the pixelot camera? 🤦

I had also wondered about the camera. What happened to the wonderful highlights package Andy and his team put together for matches previously, from the other side of the ground?

 

It seems a shame that we've waited so long for a win yet three days later there's no sign of footage of two of the goals, let alone a highlights package.

1 hour ago, hislopsoffsideagain said:

I had also wondered about the camera. What happened to the wonderful highlights package Andy and his team put together for matches previously, from the other side of the ground?

 

It seems a shame that we've waited so long for a win yet three days later there's no sign of footage of two of the goals, let alone a highlights package.

Don't think Andy and team have been at club this season sadly. 

There is nowhere for a camera on that side of the ground now. The podium used has not been there since the concerts. 

1 hour ago, hislopsoffsideagain said:

I had also wondered about the camera. What happened to the wonderful highlights package Andy and his team put together for matches previously, from the other side of the ground?

 

It seems a shame that we've waited so long for a win yet three days later there's no sign of footage of two of the goals, let alone a highlights package.

Was wondering about that myself.  Andy and his team did a great job and it was always good to watch the highlights of the game whether you had been to the game or not.  Watching the highlights is just another little thing that connects people with the club.  It probably helps to encourage people to attend an extra game or two, or buy some ICT merchandise from the shop.  At least there was a report of this week's game on the Club's website, which is more than can be said of our previous victory which was against Stirling Albion in the Scottish Cup!  That meant there is no mention on the Club's website of what, I believe, was Max Ram's first goal for the club.

On the subject of the report of last Saturday's game, I note it was written by someone called Marko Srsen.  I know nothing about Marko but I am assuming English is not his first language.  Despite that, he has written a very good report.  However, although his use of English is generally excellent, there are a few things which don't read well.  It would have read much better if someone at the Club had bothered to spend just a couple of minutes with Marko in editing it.  Not only would that have made it a better read for us punters, it would have been a great help to Marko in further improving his grasp of our often confusing language.  

These little things matter to people and make them feel valued.  It is just another indication of things not being right at the club.

 

18 minutes ago, Robert said:

The podium used has not been there since the concerts. 

Maybe it was sold off in part payment of debts?

22 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

On the subject of the report of last Saturday's game, I note it was written by someone called Marko Srsen.  I know nothing about Marko but I am assuming English is not his first language.  Despite that, he has written a very good report.  However, although his use of English is generally excellent, there are a few things which don't read well.  It would have read much better if someone at the Club had bothered to spend just a couple of minutes with Marko in editing it.  Not only would that have made it a better read for us punters, it would have been a great help to Marko in further improving his grasp of our often confusing language.  

There are a couple of entries in google for that name in Inverness area. The relevant one appears to be a student at the UHI who has a now deleted twitter account that references himself as an "Aspiring young Football Journalist. Currently volunteering at Scottish Football clubs" ... The other was from 2014 and may or may not be related but the origin of the name appears to be Croatia.  

 

47 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

Maybe it was sold off in part payment of debts?

I'm told that as only the TV companies use it now it is put up and taken down for each televised game. 

I thought the reason they stopped working with Andy was because they now employed a video analyst to do it?

47 minutes ago, STFU said:

I thought the reason they stopped working with Andy was because they now employed a video analyst to do it?

That would be silly if it was the reason ... 2 different occupations and skillsets. Video Analyst is surely for the coaching side. They video the game (or use footage provided by the media team or a system like, dare I say it Pixellot) and analyse that footage from a coaching perspective, whereas Andy would film (very well) and put together the media package for public consumption. I suspect we would get damn site better footage if Andy was doing it and supplying it to the video analyst. 

If we are back to using that garbage pixellot system, then it's definitely a step backwards.  My son was watching one of these "worst" compilations on YouTube recently and this one was about football ... Wouldn't you know it, the pixellot footage where it concentrated on the ref's baldy head from the Caledonian Stadium made it onto that lowlight reel!
(and now I know I am going to go down that YouTube history rabbit hole to try and find it!! ) 

 

It's lovely to see all the goals and thank you for showing them. But is this really the best we can do?  I honestly feel you could get better footage from somebody using a phone. Surely we can do better!