More from the Highland News

[Alex MacLeod]

Who's set to lead attack?

Published:  04 August, 2007

GRAHAM Bayne looks set to provide Caley Thistle with an unexpected lift for the SPL opener against Rangers on Saturday.

With Romanian international Marius Niculae ineligible to play due to his work permit not being cleared, Bayne could be set for a quickfire return to the team after a toe injury kept him out of the 2-1 pre-season win at Ross County last weekend.

Boss Charlie Christie is hopeful Bayne will be ready and he delivered mixed news about his other sidelined stars.

He said: ?Graham will have a chance, but we will know better after he has trained a bit later this week. Fortunately, his fitness levels are so high naturally, he?s got a chance. Dean McDonald certainly won?t be available for this week, but we are glad that his ankle damage doesn?t look as bad as it could have been. Ross Tokely is back on the training ground after missing the Ross County game, while Marius?s work permit, I am told by the administration side of the club, won?t be through, which is clearly a disappointment, but we will go on without him.

Young Garry Wood looked set to go on loan, however Christie will retain him at least for this weekend, due to McDonald and Niculae?s situations. He explained: ?Garry?s situation will purely revolve around how the other forwards are injury-wise. I may well have to hold on to him for this weekend to give us some sort of cover in attack. However, I?m also very aware one or two of our midfielders have played up front many times and that does give us options.?

Meanwhile, Christie explained why he?s not following up his interest in Frenchman Giany Joinville, who played in Dingwall last weekend.

He said: ?We thought long and hard but we decided against offering Giany a contract. He showed potential, there?s no doubt about that, but I want somebody that I can be sure of who will come in and do a job. He looked a little bit out of sorts during the Ross County game, so we decided not to pursue him.?

And even more......

Let's get off to a flyer!

Published:  04 August, 2007

CHARLIE Christie will ask his players to banish bad history when the Clydesdale Bank SPL kicks off with the visit of Rangers this Saturday.

In the Setanta-screened 12.30pm clash, Caley Thistle and Walter Smith?s Rangers will officially get the top-flight?s season started and it will offer the Highlanders a chance to start with a result that would, once again, open eyes wide across Scotland.

A win and a draw at Ibrox, followed by a pulsating, last-gasp 2-1 clincher against the Glasgow men had Rangers reeling and football fans recognising by the minute the quality within the walls of the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.

A much changed side under Walter Smith, along with Ally McCoist, has helped turn Rangers around after the disastrous Paul le Guen era last season and means this will be nothing short of as tough a test that ICT could have been landed with.

The manager knows Caley Jags have been notoriously poor starters over the years, but he?s confident a performance of 100 per cent effort could just be the foundation for another famous afternoon for the club.

He told the HN: ?Every team is looking to get off to a good start. To be honest, that?s something we?re not recognised for at Caley Thistle. Over the 12 years, I think you could count on the one hand the number of good starts we?ve had, but that?s a challenge for us to rectify. We had a really disappointing result when we lost to St Mirren last year, a team who had just come up from the first division.

?The good thing for me is that the game has caught everyone?s imagination. Rangers are a vastly improved side from the first half of last season. They have made some really good acquisitions and spend millions in the process, which is the luxury the Old Firm have. I do believe though that if we are at our best and we work our socks off then we can compete with these teams now, especially at home.?

Although proud of what was achieved against the Gers last term, Christie reckons it counts not a jot this weekend.

He explained: ?To take seven points out of nine was phenomenal, especially for a club of our size.

?We must remember though that?s in the past, it?s done and dusted and I don?t believe that counts for much at all. It?s a brand new season, we have new personnel and Rangers certainly have new personnel. They have a huge incentive, to try and get closer to their great rivals, Celtic, but we?ll have seven or eight players who have achieved good results against the Old Firm, so they know what they can achieve.?

Overall, ahead of the big kick-off, Christie is keeping his feet on the ground because he knows clubs with more resources than his have dropped out of the SPL.

He said: ?First and foremost, we must stay in the SPL. Dunfermline, who are arguably a bigger club than us, have a far greater wage bill, and they had more players in their first-team pool last season, got relegated. Staying in the league is our main aim, but we have talked as a group today about how we must try and do better against those teams around us.

?We also must turn some of those drawn matches into victories ? that could make a big difference to where we finish.

?We are at our best when our work ethic is 100 per cent as a team and a unit. I feel last year we played with more verve and attacking flair than we did in the previous two years in the SPL. We want to keep that up and enhance that if we can. I do look though at the games where we were at our best last season, Rangers at home, Hibs at home and Motherwell away and it?s about matching that in every game.?

The ICT boss, himself such a key on-field figure in helping the team grow and improve on the way to the SPL in 2004, reckons the players? desire, spirit and character bring something extra that money cannot buy.

He said: ?It?s incredible what the club has achieved and that shouldn?t be under-rated.

?We were tipped to go down in our first season by so many people and to finish eighth, seventh and eighth in our first three years, competing for the middle spots every season is massive achievment and I must take my hat off to these players.

?I have again witnessed in the close season some of the salaries paid by other clubs round about us and I can?t deny that it?s a bit of an eye-opener, but that highlights further that what we have got going in that changing room should never be undervalued. I don?t think some people realise just what that means to this club.

?The players, and the coaching staff, are desperate to keep going in the right direction, but we must temper that with what we are achieving in the position we?re in.?

[RiG]

I'd love to see Bayne fit enough to start against Rangers. He has always caused their defencce problems whenever he has played. I always mind him going up against Boumsong at Pittodrie and poor old Frenchie just couldn't hack it.

[Murchison]

Bayne would be a massive boost for Saturday. While he may not be prolific in his scoring, he is always a handful for any defender which has been commented on by some before. He also seems to manage to sneak some goals against the Old Firm so more of the same for Saturday... PLEASE.