Queens ***GAME OFF BERT***

[tm4tj]

 Storm Bert Incoming?

***GAME OFF***

 

We are scheduled to take on Queen of the South at Palmerston this Saturday afternoon should Bert allow a window of calm to let the game go ahead. Two wins on the trot for Scott Kellacher and his administration hit squad have given the Caley Jags a glimmer of hope of avoiding relegation to League2. I'm sure Scott would rather that we played this weekend to keep us on a roll, but Bert might put a stop to that. The sad news that Dumbarton have also entered administration has given us further incentive to maintain our form and focus on gaining another place in the table. It's not the way we would like to escape relegation, but the antiquated rules in operation hit those that can ill afford them and that's the sad state of the game outside of the top table. Anyway, should the weather relent, then Palmerston it is for us.

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Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info & Preview

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Our Season so Far on the park

INVERNESS CT:  D L D D W D D D L  / W L D W W  Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. We beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers at Recreation Park. Last time out we had a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Cove Rangers who opened the scoring through Adam Emslie. James Nolan on loan from Manchester United's youth squad levelled the game before the hour. Next up was a home game against Stenhousemuir. Quite frankly this was a dull game with neither side able to score although Musa Dibaga did make a wonderful penalty save in the first half. Relegated Arbroath was our final game of the opening round of fixtures and despite creating enough chances, we came away from Gayfield with our second defeat of the League1 campaign. Away from League duty last weekend, we put up a good fight against Livingston in the Challenge Cup at Almondvale but lost out 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after it finished 2-2 over the ninety minutes. Paul Allan and Charlie Gilmour were our scorers during the ninety minutes.

Our first game in the second round of fixtures turned out to be Duncan Ferguson's last stand. It ended like his first game in charge, a win as we defeated Annan 1-0 at home. Administration and management removal followed by five players being released and fifteen points being wiped off our total. First game after Admin was at Dumbarton with Scott Kellacher as head coach and Billy Mckay his assistant on and off the park. Alas it ended in a 3-1 defeat after a promising first hour. Kelty Hearts came North next and went away with a point in a 1-1 draw. Kell's got his first win in week (unlucky for some)13, a deserved 2-1 win at top of the table Cove Rangers. Alloa were up next at Inverness in matchday 14 and another 1-0 win thanks to a second half strike from Charlie Gilmour.

Our first win of the season was in the Duncan Ferguson era on Matchday5:

A first half goal from Billy Mckay in a turgid encounter was enough to secure all three points. A bit of pinball around the visitors goal ended with Billy scoring from close range. Referee Gavin Duncan was the focal point of many a strange decision as he ignored two big penalty claims for the hosts, and a brilliant goalline clearance from an Adam Brooks effort kept Queens in with a chance. Despite a late flurry from Queens we held on for our first win of the League 1 campaign. The downside of these industrial challenges today was that both Duffy's left the field injured, Flynn on a stretcher. Duncan Ferguson was also red carded for continually questioning the referee's decisions. One in particular when Brooks was booked for simulation instead of being awarded a penalty. Baffling incompetence from the ref! On the plus side, the pitch looked in fantastic condition.

The points were more important than the performance. However, it was encouraging to kick-start our season today and put us only three points off the pace in the table. Billy Mckay beavered away on scraps and got his reward in the first half and Brooks was unfortunate a couple of times. Musa Dibaga did not have too much to deal with, but he seemed to read situations well and took the pressure off the defence with some good catches under pressure, especially when Queens were hurling massive throw-ins into our penalty box in the final quarter of the game. Devine and Savage were solid in the heart of the defence but it was disappointing to lose both full backs to injury. That goal was Billy Mckay's last goal for the Caley Jags and his 113th for the club. Time for some more now the shackles are off.

This is how the table looked after Matchday5

	Team	Pld	Gd	Pts
1	Kelty Hearts	5	5	9
2	Stenhousemuir	5	3	9
3	Alloa Athletic	5	2	9
4	Queen of Sth	5	1	7
5	Inverness CT	5	0	6
6	Montrose	5	0	6
7	Annan Athletic	5	-4	6
8	Dumbarton	5	0	5
9	Cove Rangers	5	-3	4
10	Arbroath	5	-4	3

Here's the scheduled fixtures and the current table after Admin for Inverness & Dumbarton

Pos	Team	Pld	Gd	Pts
1	Kelty Hearts	14	10	22
2	Arbroath	14	1	22
3	Alloa Athletic	14	5	21
4	Stenhousemuir	14	2	21
5	Cove Rangers	14	4	20
6	Queen of Sth	14	-3	18
7	Montrose	14	1	17
8	Annan Athletic	14	-15	14
9	Inverness CT	14	0	4
10	Dumbarton	14	-5	0

 

Queen of the South's tale of the tape at Palmerston (7 games).

Home wins: 5 v Cove Rangers 2-1, Annan Athletic 2-0, Arbroath 2-1, Montrose 1-0, Dumbarton 2-1.

Home loss: 1 A 5-1 hammering from Kelty Hearts on 5th October.

Home draw: 1 A 1-1 Draw with Alloa Athletic on 9th November

This was Queens last starting XI in a 2-1 defeat at Dumbarton last week. Michael Ruth opened the scoring in the second half but ten minutes later Queens thought they had secured a point when Kyle Doherty netted. Alas for them, and us, Tony Wallace won the points with a 95th minute winner. McKechnie and Hewitt both have three League goals, as has our own Danny Devine. Queens have scored 12 League goals, the same as Inverness. The main difference though is 11 of those have come at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+CaleyHedgehog]

Never mind Annan Athletic, we are only a mere 18 points off the top of the table, and we are Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Anything is possible (except controlling Bert). 

C'mon Caley - we love you 

[+Stu160284]

I don't care what anyone thinks/says....with a good run of form we can claw back the 18 points between us and top of the table! At the very very least we are capable of finishing in the playoffs.....C'mon ICT let's keep this run going

[Yngwie]

12.15 pitch inspection.

[Robert]

That’s a disgrace with the distance involved. Everyone knew there was weather expected and last season games were called off for travel reasons.

The team are there as they traveled last night. 

[Satan]

Game is off

[ymip]

Given the logistics involved and the weather warnings issued by the met office the game should have been called off yesterday on safety grounds.  An extremely poor show from both the SPFL and Queens. 

[+snorbens_caleyman]

Absolutely disgraceful - incompetent if not downright negligent.

Who schedules and arranges pitch inspections - the SPFL or the home team?  

In a just world, there would be a strong case for compensation for wasted time and money.

[Yngwie]

Was there any scope to delay kick off by an hour or two? I see they’ve done that at Montrose v Annan to allow a thaw to kick in. Temperature in Dumfries is currently 8C and rising.

[Yngwie]

12 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Was there any scope to delay kick off by an hour or two? I see they’ve done that at Montrose v Annan to allow a thaw to kick in. Temperature in Dumfries is currently 8C and rising.

Actually Radio Scotland just mentioned that our game is off due to waterlogged pitch, not snow itself.

[izzy]

Absolutely disgusting !! No consideration for travelling fans.Travel Club bus left at 8.30  drove through horrendous conditions only to be told game off when we reached Stirling .Whoever is responsible needs to get their act together and get this sorted out.

[Robert]

Montrose 1-1 Annan at half time. 

[+Fraz]

[Robert]

1 hour ago, Robert said:

Montrose 1-1 Annan at half time. 

Montrose won 2-1.

Leaves us still 10 points off Annan but with a game in hand. 

[STFU]

It's not the responsibility of clubs, the SFA or the SPFL to make any call on travel conditions. It's only for them to decide if a pitch and stadium is in fit condition to host a match.

If people (including the team) decide to travel despite weather warnings and police advice then that's on them and they should fully accept there's a risk matches will be called off closer to kick off than they might like.

Travelling to a football match is not 'essential travel' by any definition of the term.

[Huisdean]

26 minutes ago, STFU said:

It's not the responsibility of clubs, the SFA or the SPFL to make any call on travel conditions. It's only for them to decide if a pitch and stadium is in fit condition to host a match.

If people (including the team) decide to travel despite weather warnings and police advice then that's on them and they should fully accept there's a risk matches will be called off closer to kick off than they might like.

Travelling to a football match is not 'essential travel' by any definition of the term.

Nonsense. Fames have been called off before due to poor travelling conditions or even poor conditions around stadiums for spectators. SPFL could and should have intervened in this and called games off in advance. If the team had refused to travel , on police advice, the SPFL could have sanctioned them for not fulfilling a fixture. 

[Robert]

42 minutes ago, STFU said:

If people (including the team) decide to travel despite weather warnings and police advice then that's on them and they should fully accept there's a risk matches will be called off closer to kick off than they might like.

The team travelled south on Friday.

Last season games were postponed due to weather warnings but that did not happen this weekend.

To me, that smacks of a change of approach by the SPFL.

One game was postponed on Friday. All the other postponements were on Saturday, and came when travel was taking place to the games.

Where travel would be through the amber area, in my opinion those games should have been postponed on Friday. As I say, it happened last season.

Whilst I’m delighted Annan lost, did the extended travel time and a two hour delay to the kick off impact their performance?

[STFU]

2 hours ago, Huisdean said:

Nonsense. Fames have been called off before due to poor travelling conditions or even poor conditions around stadiums for spectators. SPFL could and should have intervened in this and called games off in advance. If the team had refused to travel , on police advice, the SPFL could have sanctioned them for not fulfilling a fixture. 

I think they'd be hard pressed to sanction a team in such circumstances.  Are there any precedents?

[big cherly]

2 hours ago, Huisdean said:

Nonsense. Fames have been called off before due to poor travelling conditions or even poor conditions around stadiums for spectators. SPFL could and should have intervened in this and called games off in advance. If the team had refused to travel , on police advice, the SPFL could have sanctioned them for not fulfilling a fixture. 

I understand your argument, however the cancellation of matches by the authorities (SFA or SPFL) is something they would want to avoid unless advised / instructed by the Police or Gov’nt. Liabilities and costs not covered by there insurance is a real factor (ie televised games), and unless a pitch is unplayable or a team cannot ‘field’ a team the powers to be would look for the game to be played. Responsibility for officials, teams and spectators travel arrangements is not their responsibility. 

An argument for summer football maybe. 

Edited November 24, 2024 by big cherly

[+snorbens_caleyman]

18 minutes ago, big cherly said:

Responsibility for officials, teams and spectators travel arrangements is not their responsibility.

Strictly speaking you are correct.  But if a team bus crashed in blizzard conditions at, say, Drumochter, with serious injuries or worse, and the team was travelling against police advice because the authorities had not postponed a game, then the authorities would be open to extremely serious criticism and perhaps even litigation for negligence.

They can't ignore the wider consequences of their actions or inactions.

[STFU]

2 hours ago, Robert said:

The team travelled south on Friday.

Last season games were postponed due to weather warnings but that did not happen this weekend.

To me, that smacks of a change of approach by the SPFL.

One game was postponed on Friday. All the other postponements were on Saturday, and came when travel was taking place to the games.

Where travel would be through the amber area, in my opinion those games should have been postponed on Friday. As I say, it happened last season.

Whilst I’m delighted Annan lost, did the extended travel time and a two hour delay to the kick off impact their performance?

Damned if they do and damned if they don't. Precisely why the home club and football authorities should only be making decisions based on stadium/pitch conditions.

If the visiting team has travelled early then that decision can be left later.  If a team decides not to travel because of a legitimate weather/police warning then the match should be postponed at that point in time. I find it hard to believe the travelling team would be sanctioned for doing so.

There are always going to be times when conditions are marginal and again it's for fans to make a personal call on whether or not to risk it.  That is their decision and they are responsible for it.

[STFU]

1 minute ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Strictly speaking you are correct.  But if a team bus crashed in blizzard conditions at, say, Drumochter, with serious injuries or worse, and the team was travelling against police advice because the authorities had not postponed a game, then the authorities would be open to extremely serious criticism and perhaps even litigation for negligence.

They can't ignore the wider consequences of their actions or inactions.

Precisely why I find it hard to believe that a team would be sanctioned for refusing to travel when a legitimate weather/police warning was in place.

[+CaleyHedgehog]

What I don't understand is why did QotS not call the match off much sooner, at the point when there pitch became flooded. They wouldn't be happy if they travelled all the way up here, when it was obvious the day before that a game was going to be unplayable.

Treat others as you would wish to be treated.

[bishbashbosh]

Paul Third: SPFL failed fans after ignoring weather chaos

Supporters were treated abysmally and ignored by the football authorities at the weekend.

Fans braved treacherous conditions, some in vain, in the hope of watching their side on Saturday. Image: SNS

by Paul Third

November 24 2024, 12:00 pm

 

Football without fans is nothing – yet it seems the authorities which run Scottish football seem to have forgotten that.

How else can you explain the ludicrous events which resulted in farcical scenes across the country?

It was a week of yellow and amber warnings being issued on a daily basis so the SPFL cannot say they were caught unaware by the chaos which unfolded on Saturday.

We all knew Storm Bert was coming and an amber weather warning was issued on Thursday for Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Aberdeenshire, Highland and Argyll and Bute.

This warning followed yellow warnings which had already been issued for parts of the country.

The message from Police Scotland was clear. Superintendent Vinnie Fisher, deputy head of road policing, said: “All road users should consider whether they really need to travel in adverse weather.”

In a week where parents had been checking to see whether their children’s school was closed or opening later, or whether school transport was operating, in football it seems warnings are trivial affairs best ignored.

Saturday was farcical

The postponement of Elgin’s home game against Clyde was announced on Friday. It was the only game where an early and entirely sensible decision was made.

What followed was ridiculous.

We had it all from pitch inspections, late call-offs and rearranged kick-offs with little more than an hour’s notice to team buses getting into difficulty trying to get to games.

Throughout it all, the interest of fans was completely ignored.

Someone at the SPFL needs to explain why a game of football going ahead is more important than the risk to those who make the game what it is.

Why are there no protocols in place if the advice is not to travel unless absolutely necessary. And no, a game of football does not come into the ‘absolutely necessary’ category ever.

That may be a bone of contention for the football die-hards – and let’s be honest, anyone prepared to make a trip to watch a game on Saturday comes into that category – but even if you were willing to go the customer service was appalling.

 

It was past noon before Queen of the South’s home game against Caley Thistle was postponed. If you are a Caley Jags fan, you were well on your way to Palmerston Park when you heard that news.

And what about poor old Stenhousemuir? They were stuck in the snow at Broxden roundabout on their way to Balmoral Stadium only to find out the game was called off due to public safety.

Then there’s the fans who went to Ibrox to watch Rangers face Dundee United or to Paisley to see Aberdeen face hosts St Mirren.

The kick-off time for the Rangers game was moved to 3.45pm as Dundee United had been delayed in getting to Glasgow due to the conditions.

Aberdeen’s game was delayed an hour due to the snow and subsequent pitch inspection required.

This cannot happen again

Clearly the weather was horrific, hence why the warnings were issued in the first place. Nobody can say they didn’t know it was coming.

Jokes about Bert and Ernie were made all week due to the naming of the storm. But it’s the powers that be in Scottish football who were the real muppets in this sorry affair.

By effectively putting their fingers in their ears and ignoring what was coming they put players and fans at risk. As a customer service exercise it was appalling.

It cannot be allowed to happen again.

If rules are not in place to govern events like the ones which unfolded then that in itself is unforgivable.

If action is not taken now to ensure this doesn’t happen again then it’s downright negligent.

ps……….

i took the grandkids to RC v Motherwell on Saturday. Hardly any wind from the house to the game, bit of rain during game, but we were well up the east stand as a lot of people gave it a miss. 
might have been over a hundred away fans, in good cheer, giving earache to the linesman and referee who forgot his yellow cards in the first half, and a 6 or 7 minute check for a VAR offside on Motherwell goal which from my seat on the 18 yard line looked well on side. Goal stood.

wouldnt have fancied their trip home with the weather and zero points.

[IBM]

A good story from Paul Third but as usual the blazers getting paid big wages in the SPFL are incapable of making a decision when they should.