Tepid … Caley 0-1 Hearts
By: Ian Rose |
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That’s the best word I have for it. Slow. Weak. Boring. I frankly doubt a Hearts fan could say much better, but they’re the team with the points. In fact, they’re the team in third position after 14 SPL matches. We’re the one in tenth. They’re the ones ten points from the Champions League. We’re the ones four points from relegation.
The last time we had three matches in eight days, we lost all three. In comparison, this past week was a success. Four points from three matches isn’t terrible for us, but with our home form slipping from poor to just dreadful, there are all kinds of reasons for concern. Only the dire play of Hamilton and St. Mirren have kept us from bottom. We deserve little of the credit for that.
It’s not an easy season to be a Caley fan … not that there’s ever been one of those. At Easter Road, we looked like a team, but whether that was a solitary blip or something we can repeat remains to be seen. The disastrous trip to Ibrox notwithstanding, we are so much more comfortable on the road this season, and we need to start taking something from home matches.
It gets no easier Saturday, when we go to Kilmarnock to face a tough Killie side. At least it’s on the road, so there’s some hope.
Season Progress
At this point last season: 14 matches played, 13 points, 12 goals for, 32 goals against
This season: 14 matches played, 14 points, 15 goals for, 21 goals against
Comparable fixtures last season: 14 matches played, 24 points, 19 goals for, 14 goals against
Comparable fixtures this season: 14 matches played, 14 points, 15 goals for, 21 goals against
Category: Postgame
Rooney hits SPL goal 200 for Caley, Saves a point
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
Frankly, there’s not a lot to report from today’s 1-1 with Falkirk. We didn’t continue the pace we set Saturday with the big win away at Hibs … but we also didn’t fall back into the terrible habits that produced a record-tying defeat to Rangers the week before. It was, to be absolutely honest, a poor game to watch. Michael Higdon opened the scoring and Falkirk looked easily the better of the sides in the first half, punishing us for our timidity at playing 4-5-1 at home. In the second half, we fielded the side that should have started, a 4-4-2, and Falkirk went 4-3-3 … and some excitement was found, but not a lot. Thanks to Adam Rooney, we equalized and managed a point from this one, but I can’t bring myself to be excited or disappointed. It was clearly winnable, but the way the first half went, a draw isn’t so bad. Maybe it’s the midweek timing, but I’m very unemotional on the match as a whole.
What does excite me, though, are two other facts. First, Adam Rooney’s equalizer was Caley’s 200th goal in the SPL. Since our promotion in 2004, we’ve had our ups and downs, but every milestone like this passed makes us feel like a more permanent top-flight side. Thanks, Adam - it was maybe the ugliest goal of the year, but I’ll take it.
Also, the future looks bright for Caley, as our youth side exploded out of the third round of the Scottish Youth Cup, beating Annan Athletic 8-2. Great stuff from the youngsters - grow up quick and start scoring for the senior side!
Our SPL record against Falkirk remains even, at 6 wins for each, and 2 draws.
Category: PostgameTwo points make a trend : Caley v. Falkirk Preview
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
This is a busy week in the SPL, with a midweek fixture between two full weekends. For the Caley, it’s a chance for redemption, a chance to take a side that was just a few days ago one point from the drop spot, and rise into the middle third of the table. The away win at Hibs was a great one, and not nearly as close as the 2-1 scoreline would have you believe. We owned that match, more than we’ve owned a match since the opening day at Pittodrie.
Now, instead of 11th place and a point from relegation, we’re 9th place, with Falkirk, St. Mirren and Hamilton below us. There are just three points separating us from 6th place Kilmarnock. We have the chance with this match to prove it wasn’t just a one-off, that we can do more than get the occasional result. We can take the positives from Saturday and convert them into a real trend upward.
Unfortunately, a return home to Inverness is not exactly a recipe for success for this Caley team. Nine of our thirteen league points have come on the road, and based on road records alone, we are the fourth best team in the league, behind the Old Firm and just behind the Dons. We’ve stopped the rot - we’ve stopped the losing streak. Now, we need to prove we can do something at home.
Falkirk is an odd, odd team this season. They have proven goalscorers, like Michael Higdon and Steve Lovell. They haven’t lost in three SPL matches … but they’re still sitting in 10th place, on 12 points from as many matches. As soon as they hit their stride, as they did beating until-recently-high-flying Killie, they hit a snag, gifting Hamilton their first point in seven matches.
This will be our third meeting with Falkirk this season. The first, on the road, was a great comeback win for us, 2-1. The second was, of course, less positive, a 1-0 CIS cup quarterfinal defeat. But at home, we have traditionally done well against the Bairns, with 3 wins and a draw from six SPL meetings. As if the feeling of Saturday’s win wasn’t enough motivation for us, this match can also decide the leader in our all-time SPL series with Falkirk, which stands right now at 6-1-6 in 13 matches.
It’s hard to call this one, because we have seen so many different teams take the pitch both for Caley and for the Bairns. The safe pick for such an unpredictable match would be 1-1 draw, but that’s a tired pick. I’ll go 1-0 to the Caley, with Ryan Esson picking up a much-deserved clean sheet. Mon the Caley.
Category: Match PreviewHibs 1-2 Caley : A Great Step Up
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
As I said before the match, all we needed was something positive, something to stop the bleeding. We got that and more from the Caley today, taking all three points against Hibs and showing definitively that we can, on our day, play a fine game of football. It was 2-0 until right at the end, when Riordan got his consolation, and I don’t begrudge it to him. By all logic, he should have gotten on the scoreboard earlier, when he lined up for a penalty. But amazingly, Ryan Esson, in for benched Mikey Fraser, stopped the pen. I can’t remember the last blocked penalty for Caley in regulation.
A lot of positives today. Dougie Imrie, though still no scoring machine, is a force to be reckoned with on the counter attack, as is Ian Black. Great job to the fan favorites, Blackie and Cowie, on their goals today. Esson proved himself worthy of the starting spot in goal, and I imagine he’ll keep it next week.
This is big in a lot of ways for us. First and foremost, combined with a Hamilton-Falkirk draw and a Hearts win over St. Mirren, it takes us from 11th to 9th. It also takes us from one point above relegation at the start of today’s action to three points out at the end. It does wonders for our confidence, and gives us faith that Ryan Esson might do something special for us between the posts. It stops the losing streak, and with two winnable home matches coming, gives us a chance at a streak in the opposite direction. And, if you’ve been following this blog, you know I’ve talked about the disturbing trend of us losing fixtures we won last season. Well, this one, the first away trip to Hibs, was a 1-0 loss last fall, and we’ve reversed that.
Great day for us, and well done to the few Caley hopeful that made the trip down to Edinburgh. You deserve this even more than the rest of us do.
Season Progress
At this point last season: 12 matches played, 10 points, 11 goals for, 29 goals against
This season: 12 matches played, 13 points, 14 goals for, 19 goals against
Comparable fixtures last season: 12 matches played, 21 points, 17 goals for, 12 goals against
Comparable fixtures this season: 12 matches played, 13 points, 14 goals for, 19 goals against
Category: PostgameStop the Rot: Hibs v. Caley Tomorrow
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
Not much more to say than this: We need something. A win would be fantastic, but more than a win, we need a point. Five losses in a row have broken this team down - you could see it in their faces last weekend. Rangers were on their game, no doubt of that, but we were defeated more by our own mindset.
Caley travels to the green side of Edinburgh tomorrow to face Hibs at Easter Road. You can go to the Hibs Offside for a more detailed … oh, wait … what’s that? Nevermind.
Though the Hibees have been gracious guests on their trips to Inverness, giving up more points and goals to us in Caledonian Stadium than any other SPL side, we’ve had much less success in the capital. In six league trips to Easter Road, we only have two wins, and four losses.
As I said at the start, a draw would be a fine result. We don’t need to win big - we don’t even need to win. We just need a bandage, which I why I hope Craig Brewster concentrates on defense this time around. Steven Fletcher and Colin Nish are potent scorers, and we need to shut them down. Our own scoring failures aren’t the biggest concern (regardless of how much I talk about them) - conceding five goals last week is.
Mon the Caley.
Category: Match PreviewLucky 13 - All of our rounds in the SPL
By: Ian Rose | 1 Comment
The SPL season is a funny sort of beast. Its 38 matches (at least that’s standard) can be divided into four parts. First, there are three rounds, where each of the 12 SPL sides plays each of the others once. Then, after the 33 matches of the 3 rounds, there’s the split, where each team plays the five other sides in their half of the league once. For today’s post, though, we’re only dealing with the rounds.
It may be nothing but coincidence, but the superstitious fan in me has to take note that the round of matches that ended with Caley’s 5-0 demolition at the hands of Rangers was in fact our 13th round in the Scottish top flight. Since our promotion after the 2003-04 season, here’s a look at all of our 11-match rounds in the SPL. In a way, the fact that we’ve survived worse than this gives me some hope.
| Season | Round | W | D | L | Points | Goal Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-05 | 1st | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | -8 |
| 2004-05 | 2nd | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 | -4 |
| 2004-05 | 3rd | 7 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 10 |
| 2005-06 | 1st | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 0 |
| 2005-06 | 2nd | 3 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 5 |
| 2005-06 | 3rd | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 2 |
| 2006-07 | 1st | 4 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 2 |
| 2006-07 | 2nd | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | -10 |
| 2006-07 | 3rd | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | -1 |
| 2007-08 | 1st | 3 | 1 | 7 | 10 | -8 |
| 2007-08 | 2nd | 7 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 5 |
| 2007-08 | 3rd | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | -13 |
| 2008-09 | 1st | 3 | 1 | 7 | 10 | -6 |
So, what should we take from this table? First, it has been worse. Three of the previous twelve rounds in the SPL for Caley resulted in less than the 10 points we gathered this time, and twice, we’ve had worse starts to the season. Second, look at how similar last season’s start was to this one … exact same record, 3-1-7, and almost the same goal differential. Also, not-so-fun-fact, both of these rounds included the two matches tied for our worst results in the league, 5-0 losses away at Celtic last season and Rangers this one.
Last season’s dismal start was followed by an explosion at Caley. New manager Craig Brewster and Romanian striker Marius Niculae picked up monthly awards in December. Should this give us hope, or give backing to those that believe Brewster’s days in Inverness should be at an end? You decide.
Category: Caley Thistle Team NewsRangers 5-0 Caley … The Worst
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
The worst result we’ve ever had at Ibrox. The worst result of a five-match losing streak. The worst result in an increasingly poor season. And, to finish up the superlatives, this is tied for the worst result in the club’s SPL history.
I won’t go into a huge amount of detail here, but here’s the jist of it. Rangers, who had never scored more than three on us in the league, score five. Kris Boyd, he of the discarded Scotland shirt, put an unanswered hat trick past us in the span of only 14 minutes.
If there’s any way for this to be worse, this also marks the end of the first round of play in the SPL. We’ve now played everyone in the league once. In the next few days, I’ll be looking at the first eleven matches, trying to figure all that went wrong, and what little went right, and chart a course in my mind that leads to anything but a relegation fight come May. And hopefully, a course that ends the season with Craig Brewster still at the helm. I’m one of his biggest defenders, but I have to say, I’m starting to waver.
I’m getting off the internet for a while, to get some distracting, real-life work done. But I’ll be back tonight to survey the wreckage. This one stings.
Category: PostgameThe seventh invasion of Ibrox: Match preview
By: Ian Rose | 2 Comments
I said it would be a big week, and so far it has been massive … a massive disappointment. Of the three big matches in eight days starting this Saturday past, two are done. A league loss to Motherwell that saw more unnecessary home points dropped, and a controversial (but no less poor) loss at Falkirk that took us out of the League Cup, once again in the quarterfinal round. Now, we face the biggest challenge of the three, a league trip to face Rangers. Luckily, we have a bit of positive history to look back on as we travel south to Glasgow.
Category: Match Preview0 for 4: Caley loses another league cup quarter
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
I’m beginning to sound like a broken record here. Great chances, blah blah, poor finishing, etc etc. Another evening of striking problems, with a side of refereeing mistakes, saw us lose the fourth (of four) league cup quarterfinal in the history of the club.
Last year, it was away at Aberdeen, two seasons before that, away at Livingston. In 2000, away at Ayr United. Considering our very kind draws the past few Cup seasons, I won’t dare complain about draws, but the fifth time we reach a quarter, I would like to see one at home.
Neil McCann scored the game’s only goal early, from a possibly offside position. It would not be the last questionable decision from referee David Somers. But let’s be clear - the ref didn’t lose this match for us. He didn’t make it any easier, but our utter inability to put ball into net was once again to blame. Adam Rooney had a great chance on a header, Don Cowie a good look too.
Apparently, according to Craig Brewster, the ref actually apologized after the final whistle for not awarding a penalty in Caley’s favor, when Gerard Aafjes brought Rooney down in the box. I’m all for the whole idea of respecting the officials - they are, or are supposed to be, the defenders of the game. But when an official clearly knows, before the match has even ended and he’s had the chance to sit with a cup of tea and watch the video, that he made a mistake, there’s a problem. If he knew it was a penalty twenty minutes later, what changed in that time?
Whining over. We lost this one, or at best deserved to finish the 90 minutes at a draw. All credit to the Bairns - they played better in stretches than I’ve seen from them in a while, and their keeper made some very solid saves. I’d sincerely like to see them do well in the tournament, though the next time we see them, we could be forgiven for just a small chip on our shoulder about this one.
Category: PostgameNot quite a preview: League Cup Quarterfinal
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
I’m not going into a huge amount of detail tonight, as I’m embroiled in other sporting matters, unrelated to Caley and even to football, but tomorrow, I assure you that my full attention will be on the quarterfinal league cup matchup between our beloved Caley Thistle and the Bairns of Falkirk. We are both of us teams that need a lift, that could use a semifinal berth to lift the spirits of a disappointing run of league play. On form, this one is hard to call. We’ve already beaten the Bairns in Falkirk once this season, 2-1 on goals from Cowie and Imrie. But the 2-1 scorelines have been a bit less on our side of late, losing by that line exactly in three league matches running. They, on the other hand, are coming off of an away win at Kilmarnock that took them off of the bottom of the league table, and in fact puts them even on points with Caley.
This is a hard one to call, but the Caley Thistle have been to three league cup quarterfinals in their history, and all have ended in the wrong column for us. Will we be fourth time lucky? Considering that both of the Old Firm are still alive in this tournament, we certainly can’t blame the draw if we don’t make it.
Mon the Caley.
Category: Match Preview
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