Inverness CT -V- Dundee Utd - Preview

[tm4tj]

The Post Dodds Era Kicks-Off

 

Life without Billy Dodds starts on Saturday, and it couldn't be tougher with Champions elect Dundee United visiting the Caledonian Stadium for a 3:00pm Cinch Championship encounter to round off a week of turmoil down the Longman. It was a no brainer really. The Board terminated the contract of Billy Dodds, and by association, Barry Wilson was struck off as well. No wins in our opening five games and only one point from fifteen had Inverness languishing at the foot of the table on our own. DoddsBall was in full swing. It was a sacking in the making after Dodds got a stay of execution with a Cup Final against Celtic at the end of last season. The big mystery was why was Dodds given a two year extension and who rubber-stamped his contract? The other mystery is where does John Robertson's loyalties lie and who pays his wages as he is more often than not seen at the Global Energy Stadium in Dingwall? Two down and more to go is the current theme coming from the support, so who is next?

John Robertson and Charlie Christie will oversee this fixture on Saturday and until a new managemnt team is appointed.

 

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Billy Dodds & Barry Wilson

Match/Ticket Info

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Venue: H2H v Dundee Utd

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	33	10	10	13	35	43	-8
Away	28	7	10	11	36	42	-6
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	61	17	20	24	71	85	-14

United do have the edge over us but we have had our moments. A 4 - 0 thrashing of United at Tannadice in 2010 will live long in the memory banks. 

Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dundee Utd going back to Oct 20th 2018: Only one win over the last ten games!!!

1 - 2 (A)

0 - 3 (H)

1 - 4 (A)

0 - 3 (A)

0 - 1 (H)

0 - 2 (H)

2 - 1 (A)

0 - 1 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

1 - 1 (A)

The last meeting between the sides at the Caledonian Stadium was in November 2019 and the home fans were left scunnered in a 0 - 3 defeat.

SCUNNERED:  Dundee United cruised to victory in the Highlands as disparity on the park mirrored that off the park. United were worthy winners as Inverness struggled to find any momentum and it was left to desperation and Mark Ridgers to keep the score down. Shaun Rooney deflected a forced Paul McMullan cross/shot into the net. A reaction save from Siegrist blocked a James Keatings effort before the break but that was as good as it got for the hosts. Nicky Clark stroked in the second as we unravelled and a cheap penalty saw Lawrence Shankland complete the scoring, but not the agony as we failed to trouble the United keeper with a series of fluffed attempts whilst United looked more likely to increase their lead.
A poor day at the office that had the home fans shaking heads long before the end as we lose ground on the three teams above us.

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Ayr United thrashing Queens Park 5-2 tonight 1. Raith Rovers 5 4 1 0 10 6 13 2. Dundee Utd 5 3 2 0 11 2 11 3. Partick Thistle 5 3 1 1 14 6 10 4. Arbroath 6 3 0 3 10 8 9 5. Queens Park 6 3 0 3 8 10 9 6. Dunfermline 5 2 2 1 6 4 8 7. Airdrieonians 5 2 0 3 5 10 6 8. Morton 5 1 1 3 7 12 4 9. Ayr United 5 1 0 4 3 12 3 10. Inverness CT 5 0 1 4 3 7 1

       Friday 22nd September

1.  Queen's Pk 2-5 Ayr United   

         Saturday 23rd September

1.   Airdrie v Raith Rvrs
2.   Dunfermline v Morton             
3.  Inverness v Dundee Utd
4.  Partick v Arbroath

Last Time Out

We didn't know it at the time, but It turned out to be Billy Dodds last game in charge. Ironically, it happened to be our best performance of the season. However, the result remained the same, and we lost a 23 year unbeaten record to Raith Rovers who find themselves top of the league ahead of this weekends fixtures. An aesthetically pleasing first half gave way to a less impressive second forty-five before we succumbed to a late sucker punch when Jamie Gullan hammered home after a defensive lapse. Hard one to take but that's what happens when you're down. 

Championship form so far: L L L D L  One Point from fifteen

 

The Arabs are everyones favourites for the title, but they dropped two points last week when Morton came back to earn a point shortly after Mathew Cudjoe had been sent off. Robbie Muirhead capitalised on a defensive error on the hour after Louis Moult had given United a first half lead with his fifth strike of the season.

Championship form so far:  W D W W D  Eleven Points from fifteen

 

Latest Team News

The Robertson/Christie combo will be without MacGregor, Nicolson and Welsh who have been out for a few weeks and nothing has changed there. Wallace Duffy is still a doubt. However, we are in limbo, therefore who knows if Robbo and Charlie will rock the boat too much. It's a difficult enough task to pick up a team low on confidence, even moreso when the title favourites come calling. Harry Lodovica will be available for selection after his red card at Arbroath.

 

 

Dundee United (Manager Jim Goodwin)

In: Declan Gallagher, defender (St Mirren); Louis Moult, forward (Burton Albion); Ross Docherty, midfielder (Partick Thistle); Kevin Holt, defender (Partick Thistle); Liam Grimshaw, midfielder (Morton). Loan in: Jordan Tillson, midfielder (Ross County); Jack Walton, goalkeeper (Luton); Oliver Denham, defender (Cardiff City).

Out: A number of players were deemed surplus to requirements at Tannadice as United up their game in their bid to bounce back into the Premiership. Charlie Mulgrew retired and the exprienced Steven Fletcher and Peter Pawlett are away amongst others.

Louis Moult is a proven goascorer and will need close attention. Glen Middleton is a handful as well and an able provider. To be fair, as expected, United appear to have the strongest squad on paper in the Championship.

Dundee United Team v Morton last week 1-1:

Walton

 

Grimshaw (Meekison 84)   Gallagher   Holt   McMann

 

Tillson   Glass (Sibbald 69)

 

Middleton   Watt (Fotheringham 68)  Anim Cudjoe (58)

 

Moult

 

Subs not used: Newman; Freeman, Stirton, Graham, Mochrie, Denholm

 

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Don't forget, there's still an open meeting at the Innes Bar to discuss our current plight amongst other things.

Dodds no more. But there's still Gardiner, Robertson and more to discuss.

Come along and have your say.

Innes Bar (Beer Garden)

61 Innes Street

Inverness

IV1 1NR

TIME: 12:00-2:15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bdu98196]

Hoping for more structure, shape, organisation and identity in our play. Will be interesting to see who our DoF plays based on his recruitment involvement and what formations. It'll be an indication of how Dodds was perceived by others within the football structure.

Realistically signs of improvement over Doddsball will be welcomed. Result wise anything other than a defeat will be positive and from where we are or were with Dodds perhaps unexpected.

[Satan]

Realistically it's hard to know what to expect today, after positive feedback about last week at raith (away against unbeaten table topping side).

United team sheet/squad looks far superior in most areas so do we look to stifle and scrap for the unlikely draw or risk charlieball and go for the win?

Interim management bounce and fragile confidence makes for an unpredictable afternoon ahead, perhaps the only glimmer is uniteds early season inconsistency.

 

[tm4tj]

Updated table after last night when Ayr United humped Queens Park 2-5 

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Raith Rovers 5 4 1 0 10 6 13 2. Dundee Utd 5 3 2 0 11 2 11 3. Partick Thistle 5 3 1 1 14 6 10 4. Arbroath 6 3 0 3 10 8 9 5. Queens Park 7 3 0 4 10 15 9 6. Dunfermline 5 2 2 1 6 4 8 7. Airdrieonians 5 2 0 3 5 10 6 8. Ayr United 6 2 0 4 8 14 6 9. Morton 5 1 1 3 7 12 4 10. Inverness CT 5 0 1 4 3 7 1

[Jaggernaut]

It was interesting to hear Charlie say that they are going to try and get the ball forward as soon as possible, always looking for a forward pass. That was one of my bugbears with Dodds tactics, this constantly passing back and across the back four.

[Satan]

2 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

It was interesting to hear Charlie say that they are going to try and get the ball forward as soon as possible, always looking for a forward pass. That was one of my bugbears with Dodds tactics, this constantly passing back and across the back four.

Looking for a forward pass and making the pass ain't the same thing.

[Yngwie]

Another absolute sickener, these late goals. 

[ICTPaisley]

Better or worse than Dodds? Or the same? (I know the outcome is)

[RednBlackComeback]

We never really looked like scoring. A utd winner seemed inevitable even when they went down to 10 men!

[Broonerz]

Absolutely nothing in the final third.

defensively a lot better (goal apart) but created nothing. Worrying times.

 

[mazza20]

As said before, didn't look like scoring, would say I felt our passing was better today, actually playing it into space at times instead of straight to feet or up to the opposition CBs. If we're going to stick with wingers and crosses into the box then Mckay needs someone up front with him 

[robbo1985]

Aside from one or two errors in the second half, I thought Ujdur had a very good debut - he looked comfortable on the ball, didn't panic even when under pressure and his distribution was excellent.

Like others have said though , we just look so lightweight up front. I'm afraid we need two new starting strikers in January - hopefully it won't be too late by then ......

[Yngwie]

I guess we can’t blame this one on Dodds getting tactics wrong?

[Yngwie]

Against a team with a wage bill probably 3 times ours, a draw would not have been a bad result at all, but so disappointing to lose late on when 11 v 10.

[robbo1985]

The team gave it everything today , I don't think they can be faulted in that department.  We are just very much lacking quality in the final third.... gutted we lost the late goal once again

[Satan]

Missed some very decent chances today.

Costly.

[Jaggernaut]

Absolutely gutted by the result. Although United had the better chances, and hit the bar and the post, I thought we might get away with a point, but there was a sting in the tail. I couldn't see what happened for the goal, but I could feel it coming. I thought it was a better performance, but we didn't really create a clear cut chance, we always seemed to pick the wrong pass. We really need to work on our game in the final third, we take too long to get shots off sometimes.

So, it's on to Arbroath now, and we need to pick up points very soon, or this season may become terminal. 

[jed5697]

It felt like you were waiting for a Dundee utd goal and when it didn’t come and they had a man sent off there was an opportunity to get a win. Unable to put the ball in the net = missed opportunity. Unable to clear ball and lose last minute poor goal; very familiar. Making a double sub before free kick leading up to the goal in hindsight was a poor decision. Probably harsh not getting a draw but that’s football and you win games by scoring goals. Blah blah blah blah…and so it goes on

[Douglas Mackenzie]

I thought all the boys give it all today and that was a much better overall performance.The defence looked more solid today and the new Australian lad looked good.We need to sort out play in final third because we had chances today and made wrong choices.Now we need a striker.A better game to watch than of late.We need our new Manager to get in and get confidence up and then we need to sort out behind the scenes

[+DoofersDad]

Disappointing to lose that.  Good effort and more solid at the back with Ujdur and Boyes looking like they could be a real asset to the club.  We actually created quite a lot of chances, but it was in this area that the lack of confidence showed.  Shooting was either tame or off target, and at times players took an extra touch and the chance was gone.  Having said that, credit must go to Dundee Utd for a lot of good defensive work in closing us down quickly and snuffing out our opportunities.  They have only conceded 2 goals in their 6 games and if they continue in that vein, they will win the title at a canter.  Good to see both Doran and Samuels looking energised following Dodd's departure.  With the right manager in place, I see no reason why the current squad can't get into the promotion play-offs.  

[WYNESS101]

First home game of the season for me today.

1st half was awful for both teams not much really happened.

Second half was a lot better. We looked really good in spells and did create a lot of chances but sadly couldn't put them away. Not too sure what happened for the red card was it something he said to the ref? The new defender looked decent reminded me of a Grant Munro no mucking around at the back just clear it if there was any pressure. He was my MOTM. Austin changed the game for us when he came on looked very quick on the wing and was unlucky on a few shots he pulled off.

I'm taking away a lot of positives from that second half performance today.

[WYNESS101]

[tm4tj]

Dodds in!

[IBM]

1 minute ago, tm4tj said:

Dodds in!

Definitely not  

that was a better game of football but we just can’t score goals 

[WYNESS101]

Was that a bigger home support than normal?