This is NOT a training Drill

 

This away day is not a training drill as our binned regime might have once thought about, but this will be a fans celebration of the support, leadership and friendship of one extraordinary fan, Johndo Mackenzie, otherwise known on CaleyThistleOnline as The Immortal Howden Ender. Johndo was a regular at home and away games for many a season, befriending everyone he met, olde or young, it mattered not to Johndo.  With his amiable larger than life character, he could be found leading those with the best of intentions astray on occasion. He was partial to a cheeky wee conga, one example at Rugby Park and he was not shy when it came to starting chants, easily recognisable in his kilt and often tastefully coloured beard and mullet:

O2-O2B-O2BA-JAGGY...

GIVE ME AN I...

OH INVERNESS, IS WONDERFUL...

WHO PUT THE O AND THE Y IN COUNTY...... rant chant rinse repeat.

Johndo gained the respect and legendary status within our support and this weekend we are dedicating this away day to him, as a mark of respect for his unstinting services to supporting our club, his cameraderie, his genial presence and most of all to show our love for his family friends and the man himself.

Respect & Rest in Peace Johndo, we will carry on your work here whilst you sip a large voddie & coke.

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Match/Ticket/Johndo Special info & Supporters Bus

Heart Foundation Donations for Johndo

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Alan Savage has steadied the ship since removing Scot Gardiner and going through the books with a fine toothcomb. He has done in one week what the entire board and CEO failed to do in five years of tyranny. Give this man the freedom of Inverness.

Of course, there is the minor matter of a game of football to deal with on Saturday as well when we take on table toppers Kelty Hearts at our training ground away venue of New Central Park, Kelty. So who is playing for Kelty these days? Former Inverness defender Brad Mckay's loan ended at the close of last season and he now plays for Brechin City. Scot Allan is a new recruit joining from struggling Arbroath. Michael Tidser, once of Ross County is also at Kelty as is robust defender Tam O'Ware who has been at Morton and Partick Thistle.

The hosts season so far

Kelty Hearts top the League table at the moment with two wins and a draw. They opened their campaign with a draw (1-1) at Montrose followed by a 2-0 home win over Stenhousemuir and then a convincing 3-0 win at Arbroath. Ross Cunningham has scored three, with Scott Allan scoring twice and Scott Williamson with one strike.

<<< That was their starting XI at Arbroath.

Players In: Callum Flatman, defender (Hearts); Murray Thomas, forward (Hearts); Brody Paterson, defender (Hartlepool United); Scott Allan, midfielder (Arbroath); Scott Mercer, defender (Bonnyrigg Rose); Murray Miller, midfielder (Stirling Albion); Liam Brown, midfielder (East Kilbride); Ryan Adamson, goalkeeper (Cumbernauld Colts); Luke McCarvel, forward (Cumbernauld Colts); Robbie Cole, midfielder (Civil Service Strollers).

 

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after match day three 1. Kelty Hearts 3 2 1 0 6 1 7 2. Q.O.S. 3 2 1 0 4 1 7 3. Annan Athletic 3 2 0 1 4 3 6 4. Alloa Athletic 3 1 2 0 4 3 5 5. Dumbarton 3 0 3 0 5 5 3 6. Montrose 3 0 3 0 2 2 3 7. Stenhousemuir 3 1 0 2 2 4 3 8. Inverness CT 3 0 2 1 2 3 2 9. Cove Rangers 3 0 1 2 3 6 1 10. Arbroath 3 0 1 2 1 5 1

 

Latest Team News

Inverness are reportedly interested in young Aberdeen striker Alfie Bavidge. Alfie, 18, is the son of former Caley Jags striker Martin Bavidge who made 96 appearances for the Caley Jags. That makes him the grandson of Mitch Bavidge, the former Caley striker. Incidentally, Alfie was on loan at Kelty Hearts last season scoring nine goals in twenty-five appearances and has been capped at u16, u17 and u19 level for Scotland.

Jack Newman will be missing after going back to Dundee United for now with a knee injury which means that Musa Dibaga will get his second start. Luis Longstaff is out for a month with a thigh injury, Ethan Cairns has been out with a health issue recently and no word on him.

 

Got a photo of Ferguson Jnr being sent on.

A 0-0 draw may be a bit disappointing but for the first time for a while, it has been a better week to be a Caley Thistle fan than a County fan. 

22 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

A 0-0 draw may be a bit disappointing but for the first time for a while, it has been a better week to be a Caley Thistle fan than a County fan. 

Had Rangers scored any more the county fans would have needed to start counting on their second hand.

Great day out ( apart from the match which was a bit forgettable ) in memory of our unforgettable Johndo.   Great to meet up with some old faces, Isla making the game again and an appearance from a blast from the past in Ian Coia!  - looks like he may be re-converted.

Football, 2 goals in 4 games is totally honking, signing an 18 yr old Bavidge is not going to sort it.

Young Ferguson is a very poor attempt at a striker, and unless DF changes his tactics and gets new players in we are going to struggle. 

 

44 minutes ago, caley100 said:

Great day out ( apart from the match which was a bit forgettable ) in memory of our unforgettable Johndo.   Great to meet up with some old faces, Isla making the game again and an appearance from a blast from the past in Ian Coia!  - looks like he may be re-converted.

Football, 2 goals in 4 games is totally honking, signing an 18 yr old Bavidge is not going to sort it.

Young Ferguson is a very poor attempt at a striker, and unless DF changes his tactics and gets new players in we are going to struggle. 

 

A good CTO turn out at the game. It was a great day and so nice to see so many people that I haven't seen in a while

To be fair to Ferguson Junior, he is good at keepy uppies in the warm ups.

To be fair to Ferguson Senior, it is only in the last week that he has had some stability created by Savage. There are bound to be good players still available without clubs so finding the right one is very important. Strikers are normally difficult to find unless returning from say Hong Kong...that's going back a few years.

14 minutes ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

To be fair to Ferguson Junior, he is good at keepy uppies in the warm ups.

The kindest thing I can say about him so far is that he ‘offers something different’. Make of that what you will!

A long way to go, we’ve just started the season. Let’s not get too high or low on a 0-0 away from home. Like all ICTFC fans I want the team to win every game, but we know that’s unrealistic to expect. 
As a few guys have rightly already mentioned, taken where we were two weeks ago, for me its just satisfying to know we’re in a hell of a better place than we could have been had the dice rolled a little differently. 
 

Regarding the team. I’m for blooding the younger players early! They will run all day long and learn (for good or bad) quickly. The older heads will keep a grip on things as they gell and improve as a team.  
Don’t underestimate the effect on player moral and added effort the announcement of A Savage’s intervention and the group’s plan for the club. It stabilises the player’s security for at least the season and provides a platform to if not reach a play off spot, make the season more hopeful. 
DF will have been told I expect (by CC more than AS), he has to deliver a more forward playing game. He has the support of these two individuals for now, but DF knows it’s not up for debate and he has I expect till January to deliver a better product. 
I will be present next Saturday and will be looking for and expect a ICTFC victory. 

Edited August 25, 2024Aug 25 by big cherly

23 minutes ago, big cherly said:

A long way to go, we’ve just started the season. Let’s not get too high or low on a 0-0 away from home. Like all ICTFC fans I want the team to win every game, but we know that’s unrealistic to expect. 
As a few guys have rightly already mentioned, taken where we were two weeks ago, for me its just satisfying to know we’re in a hell of a better place than we could have been had the dice rolled a little differently. 
 

Regarding the team. I’m for blooding the younger players early! They will run all day long and learn (for good or bad) quickly. The older heads will keep a grip on things as they gell and improve as a team.  
Don’t underestimate the effect on player moral and added effort the announcement of A Savage’s intervention and the group’s plan for the club. It stabilises the player’s security for at least the season and provides a platform to if not reach a play off spot, make the season more hopeful. 
DF will have been told I expect (by CC more than AS), he has to deliver a more forward playing game. He has the support of these two individuals for now, but DF knows it’s not up for debate and he has I expect till January to deliver a better product. 
I will be present next Saturday and will be looking for and expect a ICTFC victory. 

Hahaha……….. you expect a victory,,,, hahaha 🤣 

 

Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Matchday 4 1. Kelty Hearts 4 2 2 0 6 1 8 2. Alloa Athletic 4 2 2 0 5 3 8 3. Q.O.S. 4 2 1 1 4 2 7 4. Montrose 4 1 3 0 3 2 6 5. Annan Athletic 4 2 0 2 4 4 6 6. Stenhousemuir 4 2 0 2 5 6 6 7. Dumbarton 4 0 4 0 7 7 4 8. Inverness CT 4 0 3 1 2 3 3 9. Arbroath 4 0 2 2 3 7 2 10. Cove Rangers 4 0 1 3 5 9 1

Ferguson Jnr looks like he's been forced into football by his Dad despite knowing himself he isn't very good at it. 

You've gotta laugh at Ferguson slaughtering the Kelty pitch. This would be the same pitch he was happy to train on 5 days a week a few short weeks ago. The guy is a clown and irrespective of the cost we need to to get rid. The fact he continues to bring his hapless son on when we're chasing a win is reason enough to pull the trigger. The board members present yesterday were left in no doubt what the travelling support think of our manager and it's high time they took heed.

12 minutes ago, ymip said:

You've gotta laugh at Ferguson slaughtering the Kelty pitch. This would be the same pitch he was happy to train on 5 days a week a few short weeks ago. The guy is a clown and irrespective of the cost we need to to get rid. The fact he continues to bring his hapless son on when we're chasing a win is reason enough to pull the trigger. The board members present yesterday were left in no doubt what the travelling support think of our manager and it's high time they took heed.

He's not the brightest is he? 

Genuinely wouldn't surprise me if "Big Dunc" knew nothing of the Kelty pitch despite our plans to train there. Given that we never told players about this move I wouldn't be surprised if Ferguson also wasn't told or, if he was aware, he didn't know anything about the facilities he was just happy to be a bit closer to home.

Saturday wasn't as bad as I thought but I've not been subjected to the same torture as many on here. There was some nice passing in parts but it never led anywhere save for one good chance in second half which was skied over from close range. Pretty standard for us under this manager. His attitude was summed up when we were making a sub and the player, I can't remember who it was, came running off to let his replacement on as they clearly wanted the win. Ferguson told him to slow down and take his time coming off  The mentality of this guy is mind boggling. He'd rather stay safe and take a draw than take a chance and go for it. As expected the following day he was bigging up taking a point away to the league leaders.

After the final whistle, as the away support waited by the changing rooms to be allowed to leave the stadium, Ferguson spotted us, turned and sarcastically clapped his hands while saying "Well done lads(!)". He doesn't want to be here so won't he just go?

Edited August 26, 2024Aug 26 by RiG

Everton are in free fall so a change of Management seems likely pretty soon.  Perhaps he might be asked back to coach their young players by whoever takes over. 

That said, QOS this Saturday with our improved home support gives us a good chance of a win after their defeat at Montrose. Alex Ferguson came close to being sacked by Man U in his early days and our Fergie will hope history repeats itself if the ship is turned. There has to be a good chance we bring in an experienced striker this week assuming we can retain goalkeeping cover. 

We just do not know what will happen this week. 

4 hours ago, RiG said:

His attitude was summed up when we were making a sub and the player, I can't remember who it was, came running off to let his replacement on as they clearly wanted the win. Ferguson told him to slow down and take his time coming off  The mentality of this guy is mind boggling. He'd rather stay safe and take a draw than take a chance and go for it. 

That is horrendous.  Hardly gets the team fired up.  Reminds me of the first leg of the Montrose play-off.  Everything was so flat in such a massive game.  It's sideways and backwards all the time, and slow, slow, slow.  If anyone does manage to summon a bit of energy against all instruction, they're slated for it.  "Get back, Billy - you're too far forward!"  No wonder we're just lumbering along, drawing and not scoring.  We're so far stuck in the rut from all the negative conditioning brought by the manager that we just can't get out of it.

4 hours ago, RiG said:

After the final whistle, as the away support waited by the changing rooms to be allowed to leave the stadium, Ferguson spotted us, turned and sarcastically clapped his hands while saying "Well done lads(!)". He doesn't want to be here so won't he just go?

How things have changed since his first game at Arbroath!  

13 hours ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

Everton are in free fall so a change of Management seems likely pretty soon.  Perhaps he might be asked back to coach their young players by whoever takes over. 

That said, QOS this Saturday with our improved home support gives us a good chance of a win after their defeat at Montrose. Alex Ferguson came close to being sacked by Man U in his early days and our Fergie will hope history repeats itself if the ship is turned. There has to be a good chance we bring in an experienced striker this week assuming we can retain goalkeeping cover. 

We just do not know what will happen this week. 

Difference between the two Fergusons is quite stark though…

Alex Ferguson went to United with a proven track record of success, so there was a certain degree of confidence that he could turn things around and succeed.

Our Ferguson, however, has a proven track record of failure and I’m sure I’m not the only one with a certain degree of confidence that he’s quite incapable of turning things around!