The result, along with some others in the league (notably Ross County -spit- losing to Queen of the South and Raith beating Partick, makes the First Division a very tight race. Caley sit in sixth, but only four points separate us from new league leaders Queen of the South and Dundee, tied on 23 points to our 19.

Today’s win makes it four unbeaten in the league, our last loss coming October 10th to QotS. In our last two matches, we’ve outscored our opponents 9-2. Granted, those opponents are among the worst in the league, Ayr and Morton, but we’ve had big problem in the past putting away the teams that we should beat, and with the league as close as it is, goal difference might very well make a difference, so two blowout wins in a row are meaningful. More important, though, is that we did it at home. Caledonian Stadium has been all too friendly to visiting teams this season, with Caley only taking two points from five matches before today. Meanwhile, we have remained undefeated this season on the road, with four wins and two draws from six matches. We are the best road team in the league.

That away record will be challenged in the next month, with road trips to three of the five teams ahead of us (Ross County, Dundee and Queen of the South), with one home game with Airdrie mixed in. We are in form, but it’s a hard road ahead. It’s going to be a very interesting November.

Mon the Caley.

Extra time provided no particular gains in terms of style or production. There were a few chances for us, most notably Adam Rooney’s lob that hit woodwork, but for the most part, we were wanting to dribble it into the net rather than shoot. And so it went to the lottery of penalty kicks, a lottery that, this time, we won (5-3).

I’ve said it before, and this match didn’t make me a liar – our preseason friendlies have been too easy. Montrose should have been on the weak end of the teams we faced in our run up to the First Division kickoff, but instead they were a step up from a series of Highland League whipping boys (that we still didn’t precisely whip).

But, there are ugly wins and pretty losses and all things considered, I’d rather take the former. Caley Thistle move on to the round of 16 in the Challenge Cup, with the next round coming in mid-August, after the start of the league season. Three of our First Division leaguemates are already out (Ayr, Livingston and Raith Rovers), and so we can count ourselves happy to not be on that list.

Mon the Caley.

So, what’s been going on, you ask, in good ol’ Sneck? Well, I suppose I’m contractually obligated to tell you. Here’s the roundup:

Out: Iain Vigurs, Garry Wood, Brian Kerr and Phil McGuire are no longer Caley Jags. Kerr has signed for Dundee, so we’ll see him a few times out, and McGuire left for … well, McGuire just sort of left. I’m not sure whether anyone’s calling it a retirement, but he’s not headed anywhere in particular either. Good luck to both the lads. Not the same kind of goodbye to Iain Vigurs and Garry Wood, who left Caley for Ross County. I liked Vigurs a lot, but anyone in that shirt is my enemy, and I can’t wholeheartedly wish Iain or Woody well in their dingy new digs.

In: Lee Cox from Leicester City. We got the 18-year-old on a one-year contract. We’ll see how the young midfielder, who spent some time at Yeovil Town last season, does north of the border.

Staying: Richie Foran, David Proctor and love-him-or-hate-him defender Lionel Djebi Zadi have all signed new contracts. Foran in particular pleases me, as I thought we might lose him.

Not a lot else coming out of the front office these days. We’ll be starting our First Division campaign against our old SPL rivals from a few years back, Dunfermline, a road match exactly one month from tomorrow. It seems like the season just ended, but that’s what’s great about being a football fan. You can practically hold your breath through the offseason.

Dundee and County in particular are spending this offseason, but we have something they don’t, and that’s five seasons in a row of top-flight football under our belts. As much as the team disappointed last season, I hope we can keep a lot of the remaining questionable players, because while we were playing Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Hearts and the rest, our new league-mates had nothing like the same level of competition.

Let’s show them where we deserve to be, especially the Does over at Victoria Park. Mon the Caley.

Ian,

Mike Smith
Chief Executive
ICTFC

Of course, I’m disappointed. I liked to believe until now that the reach of the FootballDataCo culture, the idea that total brand control rather than outreach is the way for football to move forward, hadn’t quite yet spread to Inverness. Mike Smith’s email tells me otherwise. And though I am disappointed, I’m not disappointed in the club. Executives come and go, as do business strategies and ideas. They are temporary, and they represent the club itself in only the most legal sense. The club is more than its current leadership. As I told Smith and the rest of the front office in the initial email, they are fully within their legal rights to deny use of the crest. The easiest thing for me to do now would be to criticize them and rant about how their short-sighted, old-media ideas are holding them back, but what this comes down to is a simple disagreement. I believe that the club is better off spreading its brand than protecting it, and better off embracing its fans than not. The front office is more conservative in their views, wanting control of the brand in an internet age where that is increasingly difficult, maybe impossible.

The Wolves Offside held a contest to decide their new Offside crest, and though that’s a tempting idea, I don’t think that’s what I’m going to do. To be honest, this blog is not primarily for Caley Thistle fans. It caters mostly to football fans in general, and attempts to give Caley Thistle a place at the table in terms of the new media coverage that the big clubs take for granted. And so, I’ll be choosing a new crest for the Caley Offside. Any suggestions are welcome, and thanks for your support.

1. Pittodrie has always been tough. We’ve won at Pittodrie a grand total of once, the opening match of this very season. A 1-0 loss at Aberdeen is no shameful result.

2. The Dons have everything to play for. With Dundee United beating Hamilton by the same meager scoreline, Aberdeen needed the win to stay up in fourth place.

3. It took a 79th minute header to stop us from drawing the fourth-placed team in the league. We belong in the SPL.

4. I have to admit, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Dons. It’s not just that they are the closest side to ours geographically, and really the only other northern Scotland team in the league, but many Caley fans had Aberdeen as their SPL team before Caley moved up. If we have to lose to anyone (and I do not like losing), best we do it to them.

This was our most challenging match remaining in the season, and perhaps our least important. Almost every match from now on is essentially a relegation six-pointer. As has been mentioned around the internets, this may be the best relegation race in the SPL era … and although I wish we weren’t a part of it, it will be a fun one to watch.

Mon the Caley.

On Wednesday, Caley traveled to Ibrox, and came away victors, 1-0, with a penalty the only score.
Today, Falkirk were the visitors, and Caley the hosts, for the Scottish Cup quarterfinals, and once again, 1-0 to the away side.

Oh well. Obviously a Cup semi would have been fantastic, but if we had to win one of these two matches and lose one, I think we got the order right.

Our horrific record in Cup quarterfinals continues, but we’re still one above Falkirk in the league, and that’s the measure of success right now. Let’s hope this doesn’t give Falkirk too many ideas of staying up themselves.

In other news today, Celtic went down 0-1 to the same St. Mirren side that they beat 7-0 less than a week ago. Oops.

Falkirk and Caley are certainly both going to meet the split on the bottom half. So the question is, what are the schedules up to that point? The answer is that they are very different, and very much in our favor. Here they are:

Our five
Home vs. Kilmarnock, Away vs. Falkirk, Home vs. St. Mirren, Away vs. Aberdeen, Home vs. Hamilton

Their five
Home vs. Caley, Home vs. Rangers, Away vs. Celtic, Away vs. Kilmarnock, Home vs. Hearts

That’s right. Their last five matches include meetings with #1 Celtic, #2 Rangers, and #3 Hearts, while ours include only one top-half opponent.

You have to like our chances, especially given that the momentum is all with the Caley.

1. We’re off the bottom of the table, and out of the relegation spot.
2. We’ve taken four points from the Old Firm in our two matches under Butcher.
3. The Terry Butcher gamble has worked.

Much more later on this fantastic day to be a Caley fan.

That’s the highlands in February folks. Snow so thick you can’t see the penalty area (thank God). Snow so thick you need the new-fangled yellow football. Snow so thick … (wait for it) … Caley wins at home!

No real highlights here, because I didn’t watch the match. But congrats to Pavels Mihadjuks on opening the scoring, and Adam Rooney (remember Adam Rooney? Seems a month since I heard a peep from him) for sealing it. An assist goes to Ian Brines for not calling that penalty. As far as karma goes, we either just made a withdrawal or just got slightly deeper in debt, depending on what shirt you wear on Saturdays.

I make no secret of the fact that I care about league survival about 50 times more than a cup run. But a win at home has been a rare thing for this team lately, and it can’t hurt. Especially since we’re still waiting for the return of Filipe Morais. Bring on the quarterfinals.

Congrats to Queens Park for scoring on Celtic and making it match, even if they did eventually succumb, and to Falkirk for kicking out Hearts. Note to Falkirk fans: That is the first and last time I will congratulate you for a win this season. I have a lot of respect for your club, but if one of us has to go down, I’d love it to be you.