(FM13) Super Caley go ballistic or they are atrocious: a Scandinavian Shankly story

[deltablue]

Great way to seal the titles. 

[withnail316]

5 hours ago, dllu said:

You made Roddie cry. Shame on you.

Rage is a far more likely story after his team's performance...

5 hours ago, deltablue said:

Great way to seal the titles. 

Cheers. It was a tighter title race than I would have liked, but a great way to win it.

[withnail316]

The Scottish Cup Final
Sunday 21st May 2017
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Celtic
Hampden Park, Glasgow

Another season comes to a close, and for a second year in a row, we're involved in the showpiece final. Thanks to the League Cup final result, whatever happens today will mean one club wins two major trophies this season - either we'll win *the* double, or they'll win *a* double. There's been very little between us in the five meetings this season, one win each and three draws, and a very close title race. I expect a much improved Celtic performance from last week, too. 

The team largely picks itself. Oliver Norwood and Tom Hately are suspended, while Conor Pepper is injured, so my big decision was over who starts up front. Shane Sutherland got the nod ahead of Araújo, in what was likely to be his last ever match at the club, while Xuxa started ahead of Clifford in midfield. 

First half

It was Celtic who made the brighter start, and Tony Watt tested Brian Jenks early on from distance. It was Watt who broke the deadlock too, latching on to a Samaras pass and drilling home from 18 yards after 29 minutes. It took us 12 minutes to respond. Clemens picked out David Wotherspoon with a throw, and the winger curled in a perfect near-post cross which was glanced home from 8 yards by Shane Sutherland. Two minutes later we were in front. O'Hara exchanged passes with Xuxa on half way, then sent a long pass forward for Sutherland. He brought it down, then sent a reverse pass into Celtic's area for Luke James, who gleefully drilled under the keeper. 

Half time: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-1 Celtic

Second half

All quiet until the 68th minute , when Celtic skipper Scott Brown received his second yellow for a foul on Clifford. On 87 minutes, I thought we had sealed it. Clifford picked out Wotherspoon, who put an early right wing cross into the feet of Sutherland, but he fluffed his lines from 8 yards. Celtic immediately broke, and Tim Matavz played a 1-2 with Tony Watt, before drilling home a volley from 18 yards. The 10 men had levelled it at the death.

Full time: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-2 Celtic

Extra time

Nothing happened at all until the 105th minute, when Sutherland picked out James in the box. I expected the Englishman to bury the chance and grab his 50th of the season, but he was denied by the cross bar from 12 yards. We dominated, but couldn't find the breakthrough... it would take penalties to decide the cup winners.

Celtic 1st penalty: Tony Watt - saved by Jenks!
Inverness 1st penalty: scored by Luke James
Celtic 2nd penalty: scored by Matavz
Inverness 2nd penalty: scored by Conor Clifford
Celtic 3rd penalty: scored by Samaras
Inverness 3rd penalty: scored by David Wotherspoon
Celtic 4th penalty: Patryk Małecki - saved by Jenks
Inverness 4th penalty: scored by Wanderson!!!!!!

Full time: Inverness Caledonian Thistle (p) 2-2 Celtic (AET)
 

[withnail316]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Season summary 2016/17

League (SPL)
Media prediction: 2nd
Finished: 1st (champions)

Cups
Scottish Cup: winners
League cup: finalists (lost to Celtic)

Europe
Champions League: eliminated at the group stage, finished 4th. (won by Manchester City)
Europa League: won by PSG

Top scorers
Luke James: 54 appearances (50 starts): 49 goals (34 in the league)
Shane Sutherland: 44 appearances (40 starts): 23 goals (15 in the league)
Araújo: 35 appearances (13 starts): 11 goals (6 in the league)

Top assists
Ryan Gauld: 13 in all competitions
Luke James: 12 in all competitions

Positives
Another outstanding league season, even if the title race went right to the wire. Luke James especially has been absolutely unplayable, and his 49 goals very much tell that tale. It was brilliant to add another cup too, and we were just a whisker away from a treble. Once gain, the squad is in good nick, and I'm feeling quite prepared for the change of style I'm planning for next season. The board have also invested £5.5m in a stadium expansion of 4,604 seats, which will give us a total capacity of 13,812. They are also spending £3.8m on our youth facilities. 

Concerns and disappointments
The biggest concern is the future of influential midfielder Stuart Armstrong. He's asked twice about a move this season, but selling him would definitely weaken us. Still, my other concern is over cash with that investment of £9.3m on infrastructure, so selling him for a large fee might just be necessary. Our European form was also disappointing, but we weren't done any favours with the draw. I shall keep my fingers crossed we get a bit luckier next season. 

Ambitions
Secure a first treble, and make more of an impression in Europe

Manager's player of the year
That can only go to Luke James, who won both player of the year and football writers player of the year this season, too. 

Attendances
Lowest attendance: 6,941 (v Željezničar Sarajevo, CL qualifying)
Highest attendance: 10,696 (v Sparta Prague, game played at McDiarmid Park)
Average attendance: 8,922 - 98% of capacity (8,896 in the league)

Finances
£3.6m in credit

[withnail316]

I have a dilemma. I said a while ago that I wanted to sell striker (and club legend) Shane Sutherland this summer, and I still do. I didn't anticipate receiving any enormous offers for him, as despite his valuation being as much as £3.8m over the last year or so, I didn't believe he had the stats to improve many clubs with decent sums of money to spend. Instead, I'd have taken about £2.5m for him from an English side. 

However, I decided to put him on the market with a starting price of £4.5m, which would be our second biggest transfer fee ever, just to see what happened - and Rangers immediately offered exactly that, plus the 50% of the next deal I have a habit of asking for. They've just been promoted from the second tier (again) and aren't very good, but Sutherland improves them immensely... and I really don't want to do that! 

It seems like a daft decision to sell to another Scottish club, but it's a huge sum of money for somebody who I have long decided is surplus to requirements. Definitely one to ponder.

[dllu]

5 hours ago, withnail316 said:

 

Edited August 8, 2018 by dllu

[dllu]

1 hour ago, withnail316 said:

It seems like a daft decision to sell to another Scottish club, but it's a huge sum of money for somebody who I have long decided is surplus to requirements. Definitely one to ponder.

Don't. Not for all the money in Scotland.

[withnail316]

12 minutes ago, dllu said:

Don't. Not for all the money in Scotland.

I was planning on playing tonight, but I may just sleep on the offer instead. 

[Tajerio]

1 hour ago, withnail316 said:

I was planning on playing tonight, but I may just sleep on the offer instead. 

I'd sell.  One good striker isn't going to improve Rangers that much.  And you haven't really had any trouble beating up the other Scottish sides--bar Celtic--in any case.  Plus that 4.5 million is by itself more than your existing cash on hand, isn't it?

[withnail316]

46 minutes ago, Tajerio said:

I'd sell.  One good striker isn't going to improve Rangers that much.  And you haven't really had any trouble beating up the other Scottish sides--bar Celtic--in any case.  Plus that 4.5 million is by itself more than your existing cash on hand, isn't it?

I'll be honest, I'm leaning towards it. I'm going to be playing with one striker next year, and these are the first-team options I have:

I've also got these four in the reserves/youth team:

And finally, here's Sutherland himself:

It's a tricky decision, but I think I'll probably take the offer. 

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Great season with a great climax Withnail.

If you don't want Sutherland then sell him. You can use the money elsewhere. I very much doubt Rangers will be topping you or Celtic any time soon.

[withnail316]

2 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

Great season with a great climax Withnail.

If you don't want Sutherland then sell him. You can use the money elsewhere. I very much doubt Rangers will be topping you or Celtic any time soon.

Cheers Nobby. In the end, I accepted the offer. It's huge money for a player who is only the fourth best in his position, and we do need the cash after spending so much on the stadium and the youth facilities. 

[withnail316]

It hasn't taken long for the big clubs to sniff around Struan Parratt, the young striker who was in the youth intake this year:

Not convinced I can hold those clubs off, to be honest!

[withnail316]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Season preview - SPL 2017/18

Media expectation: 2nd
Board expectation: challenge for the title

Transfer budget (remaining): £4.3m
Wage budget: £180,000p/w (£30,000p/w under budget)

A pre-season which has taken an eternity to get through, but we're finally about ready for the friendlies to start. Just to restate, the board have backed me once again over the summer by spending almost £10m on our youth facilities and the stadium, that coming after they spent £11m on infrastructure last year. It's quite handy then that we're straight into the group stage of the Champions League this season. Long may that continue! On that note, both the league and the club's reputation is on the rise...which is nice.

As for this season, once again the board seem pretty reasonable in their requests of me. A title challenge and the Scottish Cup final, while the League Cup isn't important and we're not expected to make any progress in Europe. Personally, I'm aiming for the treble, but I won't set any European targets until I've seen the draw. 

I am beginning to worry a little about just how much money we're spending on wages. I may yet look to trim some fat in the squad, although I don't anticipate any major sales from within the first team. It is still late-June however, so I may yet change my mind before the window closes in August. The biggest sale so far is, unsurprisingly, Shane Sutherland, who joined Rangers for £4.5m + 50% of any next sale, which is the second largest transfer fee received since I've been at the club. Both the fans and the board were pretty unhappy with my decision to let him go, but I'm increasingly confident it was the right thing to do. Also leaving us is defender Matthew Cooper and striker Brian Brosnan, both have joined Shamrock Rovers for £500,000 and £425,000 + 50% respectively. Left back Wayne Corr leaves us without playing a first team game, he's off to Burnley for £350,000. There have been a couple of important loan deals out of the club, too. My two top youth prospects, Martin Nilsson and Neil Wilson, have both joined feeder club Queen of the South in the First Division. I may reassess both deals when January comes around, but both players need some first team football. I've sent a couple of others out on loan too, but I'm less convinced that any of them have a future with the club beyond their loan spells. I'm still trying to keep hold of young striker Struan Parratt too, although considering he isn't even 16 yet, he can stay in the reserves/youth team for the time being. 

It's been an easy-going summer of new additions so far. You've already seen Lee Harris, the attacking midfielder who'll join for free from Forest. I'm planning on retraining him to play as an inside forward on the right of a front three, as I'll not use an AMC every week (especially in Europe) and we could use a lift in quality on that flank. I did consider a French winger on a free this summer too, but simply couldn't justify the £18,000p/w wage he wanted to sign. Instead, I'll stick with Power and Wotherspoon there while Harris develops, and then try and move one of them on in the next couple of windows. The other first team addition I've brought in is young Austrian midfielder Andreas Fischer, who arrives for £1.2m from RB Salzburg. He's likely to be my "spare" midfielder in the squad this year (I tend to like having one more central midfielder than I need to cover in case of injuries - so five when I'm playing 4-4-2 with two in and two spare, or seven for 4-3-3) but there's definitely some potential about him. Speaking of potential, another new one in is defender Dirley Rodrigo who had a preposterous buy-out of £230,000 in his contract at Sport Recife. I may yet loan him this year, but I might stick him in the reserves instead for a season. Time will tell. 

Finally, I'd tried to bring central defender Abdoul Karim Keita back on loan from parent club Arsenal for another year after he'd proved a highly capable stand-in last season. Arsenal had other ideas however, but they did send Marcao instead. 

 

[withnail316]

Remember me saying I didn't anticipate any more big sales? It'd be fair to say I didn't see this coming:

He's a good player, but he's a top earner thanks to a poor decision (from me) to offer him a "match top earner" clause. I just can't turn that down. 

EDIT: and matched by Premier League Everton...

Edited August 11, 2018 by withnail316

[withnail316]

Just about there in terms of the season starting, but a few more transfers to confirm. Firstly, Oliver Norwood took the offer from Everton so he's doubled his wages, and £4m is a huge sum of money for us. Also leaving us is Greg Tansey, who spent last year out on loan at Hull City, but he's off to Chesterfield (who are now a Championship club) for £525,000. Goalkeeper Jordan Archer joins Sligo Rovers for £140,000. We've now brought in £10.5m this window (and £40m since I've been at the club.)

Arriving at the club is goalkeeper Mickey Boer, who was transfer listed at Feyenoord and available for £210,000. I've immediately loaned him out to Motherwell for the season, and he'll come back next season to replace Piotr Leciejewski as our number 2. The final arrival is midfielder James Wallace, who comes in on loan from Southampton. We've also agreed a future fee of £1.4m for him, but we'll need him to lower his wage demands if we are to make it a permanent deal, I suspect. 

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Cha ching.

[withnail316]

August

SPL: Dundee United 1-4 Inverness
A dreadful first half saw us behind at the break, but goals from Araújo, Wotherspoon, Armstrong and Clifford ensured we started the season with the points. 

SPL: Inverness 2-1 Hearts
Another poor first half, so I switched us back to 4-4-2 in the second half, and we took control of the game. Luke James levelled on the hour, and David Wotherspoon fired home from distance with 10 to play. 

SPL: Hibernian 0-3 Inverness
After finishing off against Hearts back with a 4-4-2, I stuck with it for this game. A much better performance, with Luke James causing all kinds of problems. He made the first for Araújo before smashing home one himself, and Liam Polworth tapped home a third just into the second half. Job done. 

SPL: Rangers 1-2 Inverness
Once again Luke James was instrumental, drilling us in front in the early moments. Araújo's thumping header on 30 minutes made it two before Sutherland inevitably pulled one back for them, but a much deserved win. 

The Champions League draw has been made:

Better than last year. I fancy us for third. 

Also, one final bit of transfer news. I fell out with Max Power after his performance in the Hearts game, and he reacted really badly to criticism, so much so he demanded a move. I listed him, and Rangers came in with a £2.5m + 50% deal. That means Stuart Armstrong is likely to play as a RM/RW this season as I couldn't find a replacement who I didn't deem a panic buy. 

[withnail316]

[withnail316]

September

SPL: Inverness 3-1 Celtic
Celtic completely dominated this game, but they simply couldn't cope with Luke James. He bagged a perfect hat-trick, and all Celtic had to show for their efforts was a 94th minute Tony Watt tap-in. 

SPL: Inverness 2-1 Ross County
I'd gone with a 4-4-1-1 for this one, and we looked very comfortable until the last couple of minutes. Murray Wallace nodded us in front from a corner on half time, and Ryan Gauld curled a peach of a free kick home after 62 minutes. It was annoying to concede late on, but it's not the end of the world. 

Champions League Group E: Inverness 2-2 Manchester City
A hugely creditable draw against the champions of Europe. Araújo put us in front after 10 minutes with a bullet header, and although City soon took control, Les Harris curled home a leveller with 10 minutes to play for his first goal for the club, and we could even have won it in stoppage time. Still, delighted with a point. 

SPL: Aberdeen 2-3 Inverness
A real ding-dong battle with one of our biggest rivals, and Araújo was brilliant. He powered us in front after 10 minutes, and then made a double for Luke James in the second half. Between that, we'd lost a couple of sloppy goals for Aberdeen to lead, but I'm delighted with the way we responded. 

League Cup 3rd round: Inverness 4-0 Peterhead
A much changed side, and some much needed game time for Conor Pepper. He bagged a hat-trick and made another one for youngster Struan Parratt to set up a tie with Ross County next month. 

SPL: Inverness 5-0 Kilmarnock
Just beginning to find our groove. Gauld had two goals in the first 7 minutes, and Araújo tapped in a third before half time. The Brazilian got another in the second half, and Luke James put the icing on the cake late on. 

[Nobby_McDonald]

What a start to the season.

[withnail316]

October

Champions League Group E: Sporting CP 3-3 Inverness
Another creditable European draw, but we should probably have left with all three points. Florian Heinrich was in the back four as Mark O'Hara had torn a hamstring, and he was a colossus in this game. He nodded us in front after 32 minutes to give us the lead at half time, but we conceded just a few minutes into the second half. Sporting took the lead with 20 minutes to play, only for Stuart Armstrong to level immediately afterwards, and with 10 to play, Luke James had put us back in front. Frustratingly we couldn't hold on to that lead, but there's plenty to be encouraged about in Europe this year. 

SPL: Falkirk 0-1 Inverness
An average performance, but our run of victories in the league goes on. The only goal came just before half time, with Araújo playing a give and go with James, and then smashing home from 18 yards. 

Champions League Group E: Napoli 1-1 Inverness
We got very, very lucky to get out of Italy with a point, and I'll now be bitterly disappointed if we don't finish at least 3rd in this group. We fell behind to a brilliant free kick after 22 minutes, but keeper Brian Jenks had a fairly quiet first half. I changed things to a 4-4-2 at half time and we asked a few more questions in the second half, with the leveller coming from an OG from Ryan Gauld's cross in the 63rd minute. That was how things stayed until the 87th minute, when we gave away a cheap penalty - but Jenks guessed right and made a brilliant save. 

[withnail316]

1 hour ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

What a start to the season.

Definitely can't complain!

[deltablue]

Rangers are doing poorly! 

[withnail316]

35 minutes ago, deltablue said:

Rangers are doing poorly! 

They really are. McCoist is still the manager despite their relegation two seasons ago, and he has 4 of my old players in his team every week. I expected them to be a top 4 side this year, but they have been dreadful. 

[withnail316]

Yeah, this can't last...

EDIT: it didn't.

Edited August 17, 2018 by withnail316

[withnail316]

First offer for a little while. No thanks.

[withnail316]

'Crashin' In' to Europe's elite...

[withnail316]

November

SPL: Inverness 4-1 Dundee
One of our best displays of the season, Dundee simply couldn't live with us. Xuxa fired us in front from distance early on, and Ryan Gauld curled home another cracking free kick after 30 minutes. Strikers Araújo and Luke James got in the act in the second half with a goal each, too. 

League Cup quarter final: Inverness 2-0 Ross County
I picked a young XI here, but this was settled by goals from two regulars. Araújo has been outstanding replacing Sutherland up top so far this season, and he put us in front in the first minute. David Wotherspoon lashed home a second six minutes later, and this tie was done. We'll meet First Division Motherwell in February in the semi final. 

SPL: Inverness 2-0 St Mirren
The games just keep coming this month, and St Mirren are often a tricky opponent. They were no match for us here though, Luke James and Florian Heinrich with the goals. 

Champions League Group E: Inverness 1-0 Napoli
Sensational stuff, but boy did we have to be patient. I'd decided to go with a 4-4-1-1 (counter) and we sat in for much of the game, but with 15 minutes to play I decided to go for it, and we got the reward for that late pressure. Wanderley was the scorer, the goal coming in the 92nd minute. 

SPL: Inverness 2-2 Hibernian
Our run of league wins comes to an end, and we had to come from behind twice to get anything out of this game. Luckily, we have a knack of recovering from tricky positions, and Wotherspoon and Araújo found the target to give us a share of the spoils. 

Champions League Group E: Manchester City 3-1 Inverness
Our record unbeaten run of 25 games has come to an end, but we didn't disgrace ourselves here. Stuart Armstrong finished off a first half counter to put us in front, and it took City to the 57 minute mark to level. They took the lead with 18 minutes to play, and we got caught in the 88th minute with a third when we had been pressing for a leveller. Ah well. 

December (1)

Scottish Cup 4th round: Queen of the South 0-3 Inverness
Another young side for a cup tie, but we were much too good for our feeder club. Araújo again put us in front, and Gauld and youngster Parratt made it three by half time. 

Champions League Group E: Inverness 2-0 Sporting CP
Simply glorious, we're into the last 16 of the Champions League, and we're beginning to look quite a handful for anybody at our place. Wanderley and Ryan Gauld were the heroes on the night. 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by withnail316

[kidthekid]

top work in qualifying for the last 16

[withnail316]

2 hours ago, kidthekid said:

top work in qualifying for the last 16

Thanks mate. 

[withnail316]

The offers are getting better...

[withnail316]

This Celtic team is pretty tidy:

[withnail316]

December (2)

SPL: Celtic 2-2 Inverness
What a battle, we felt very lucky to get out of the east end of Glasgow with a point. Billy King put Celtic in charge with two goals in the first 40 minutes, and we also lost David Wotherspoon to a broken ankle in that period of time. Araújo scored a ridiculous volley just before half time to get us back into it, and in the second half, Florian Heinrich powered home a header from a corner to earn us a valuable draw. 

SPL: Hearts 0-4 Inverness
Luke James had gone more than a month without a goal, but that run came to an end at Tynecastle where he bagged a hat-trick. Conor Pepper got the other one on an increasingly rare start up front. 

SPL: Ross County 1-1 Inverness
A very ordinary display in the Highland derby, but Conor Pepper secured a point with time running out. 

SPL: Inverness 4-2 Dundee United
The first of three seasonal home games in a row, and a very comfortable win. Murray Wallace, Scott Laird and Wanderley put us three up after 20 minutes, and although United scored a couple of goals in the final 15 minutes, Luke James made it safe in the 92nd minute. 

SPL: Inverness 2-1 Rangers
I've no fear of Rangers at all, but we almost let them leave our place with a result here. It took a late Luke James goal to secure the points, Araújo had put us in front before Sutherland (inevitably) scored for them on his return. 

SPL: Inverness 3-0 Aberdeen
A change of shape for this one really freshened the side up, and Conor Pepper took his chance to grab a double. Araújo got the other, his 15th of the season. 

SPL: Kilmarnock 0-0 Inverness
Really frustrating day at the bottom club, but we got what we deserved. 

[withnail316]

Cannot remember the last time I was offered as many jobs as this over the course of a couple of months.

The answer is still no. 

EDIT: and Stoke now, too. 

Edited August 19, 2018 by withnail316

[withnail316]

A little transfer news. With Wotherspoon's injury, we're looking very short on the right hand side of midfield. Stuart Armstrong has been playing out there since we sold Max Power in the summer, and Nick Ross has been used out there too since Wotherspoon got hurt. Ross is desperate to leave the club though, so I've had to bring in another option. That was Ireland international Sean Murray, who was on the transfer list at Premier League Watford. He's arrived for £800,000.

I've also accepted that James Wallace's loan deal will not become a permanent deal in the summer as the last time I attempted to offer him a contract, he wanted £36,000p/w, which is three times more money than my current top earner, and totally unrealistic. I've instead secured a deal for this lad on a free in the summer.

He's just as effective in defence as he is in midfield, and considering we're quite a young side, that little bit of experience could be quite handy. 

 

[withnail316]

I've genuinely never had so many job offers in a season. It's getting ridiculous. 

Lennon was the next cab in line for the Swansea job, hence why this came up. Mark Hughes of Watford was given the Celtic job, and I've been linked to Watford immediately afterwards.

Meanwhile:

LEAVE ME ALONE!!

Edited August 19, 2018 by withnail316

[Nobby_McDonald]

I'd be delighted to be in such demand and high regard.

[withnail316]

11 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

I'd be delighted to be in such demand and high regard.

If they were offers I had to think about, I would be. None of these have even slightly tempted me though, and I'm receiving the same kind of offer on a weekly basis. 

[withnail316]

January

SPL: St Mirren 4-3 Inverness
A hugely frustrating day, not least because we were 3-1 up going into the final 25 minutes, but St Mirren are a good side. Araújo scored all three of our goals in the first half.

SPL: Inverness 1-0 Falkirk
Much better, and a lot more solid defensively. Luke James with the only goal. 

SPL: Dundee 0-2 Inverness
Two more Luke James goals secured a very comfortable victory.

SPL: Dundee United 1-2 Inverness
We had to work much harder on the other side of the road in Dundee, but two Conor Pepper goals saw us come from behind to pick up the points. 

SPL: Hibernian 0-2 Inverness
Luke James and Wanderley saw us take advantage of a Celtic slip and open a lovely little gap at the top of the league. 

[deltablue]

I imagine the rest of the squad call Murray 'probie'

[withnail316]

Youth intake

Not bad at all...

[withnail316]

13 hours ago, deltablue said:

I imagine the rest of the squad call Murray 'probie'

Sorry DB, I suspect I haven't been getting enough sleep the last few days so that's gone miles over my head...

[withnail316]

February

League Cup semi final: Motherwell 0-4 Inverness
Motherwell are flying at the top of the second tier, and almost certain to be back in the SPL next year, but one of their best players has been on-loan goalkeeper Mickey Boer - from us. He was ineligible for this game, and I think it really showed. All four goals came in the second half, with one from Gauld and three from Araújo to set up another final against Celtic. We'll also meet Celtic in the quarter final of the Scottish Cup at Celtic Park in a few weeks time. 

SPL: Inverness 1-1 Hearts
I only made a couple of changes for this game, but I should have made more as we were running on empty. Xuxa powered us in front, but Hearts deserved their point. 

SPL: Dundee United 0-1 Inverness
We're looking a bit tired at the moment, but I was grateful for a clean sheet and a scorcher from Wanderley secured the points. 

SPL: Inverness 0-0 Celtic
This game came just before both sides were involved in Champions League last 16 ties, which may have impacted my team selection a little. We were the better side on the day, but a point isn't an awful haul at this stage. 

SPL: Rangers 0-3 Inverness
An outstanding performance at Ibrox, and a first pair of goals for Sean Murray, who has made a shaky start to life in Scotland. He also made the other for Luke James, who smashed home from 20 yards to put us in front. 

SPL: Ross County 0-3 Inverness
Much more like ourselves, the Staggies simply had no answers to the questions the players posed. Araújo and Florian Heinrich had us cruising before half time, and late on Conor Pepper scored his 50th league goal for the club to seal the points. 

Scottish Cup quarter final: Celtic 3-0 Inverness
Sadly, you can pick up yellow and red cards in one cup competition and be suspended for the other in Scotland, and that cost us here. Celtic were at full strength, and took full advantage. I'd hope we're much better when we meet them at Hampden in the League Cup next month. 

[withnail316]

UEFA Champions League
Last 16

1st Leg: Inverness 0-1 Bayern Munich
Football is cruel sometimes. We were outstanding here, dominated large portions of the game, but just couldn't find the breakthrough. However, when we conceded a 92nd minute corner, I knew what was coming - and it did. Heartbreaking. 

2nd Leg: Bayern Munich 0-0 Inverness
Another great performance, and had the lino's flag stayed down when Wanderley lashed home from 6 yards with three minutes to play, things could have been so different. Still, a great effort. 

[withnail316]

[kidthekid]

great season so far, valiant effort against Bayern 

[withnail316]

10 hours ago, kidthekid said:

great season so far, valiant effort against Bayern 

Cheers. A little disappointed with the Scottish Cup exit, but the SPL and Europe have been great.

[withnail316]

March & early April

League Cup Final: Celtic 1-2 Inverness
After being struck down by suspensions for the Scottish Cup quarter final defeat, I was delighted we were just about at full strength for the League Cup final. We were in front inside 12 minutes, when Luke James slotted home from Tom Hateley's right wing cross, but Celtic took charge from that point. Long-term target Craig Sibbald levelled for them after 25 minutes, and Brian Jenks had to keep us in the game with several saves before half time. The second half was quite cagey, but with 10 minutes to go it was substitute Conor Pepper who smashed home from 10 yards, and we clung on for another trophy. We'd won the League Cup!

SPL: Aberdeen 0-1 Inverness
Tight and edgy, but we were more clinical in front of goal against our old rivals. A thumping Araújo header on the stroke of half time was the difference between us. 

SPL: Inverness 3-0 Kilmarnock
A first game in the newly expanded Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, with over 13,000 fans cramming into the ground. Araújo slotted us in front in the first quarter of an hour and James doubled our lead before the break. Nick Ross curled home a peach with 15 minutes to play to seal the points. 

SPL: Falkirk 1-2 Inverness
The wins keep stacking up, and we move ever closer to another league title. Stuart Armstrong and Luke James were the difference here after a Mike Bassett-like half time team talk. 

SPL: Inverness 2-0 St Mirren
The Buddies are often a tricky side for us, but they simply couldn't lay a glove on us here. Araújo put us in front just after half time, before Armstrong again drilled home a cracker from 25 yards. 

SPL: Inverness 5-2 Dundee
Things look a little bleak for Dundee, but they gave a decent account of themselves here. We were behind in the very first minute, but two goals in 4 minutes from Luke James had us in front before the clock hit the 20 minute mark, and Wilfried Sarr rolled home a third on half time. Araújo drilled home goal number 26 of the season after an hour, and although Dundee found the target again straight after, Heinrich scored a thumping header in stoppage time to seal it. 

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A few clubs are beginning to sniff around Araújo now. He is definitely our best striker, but we have lots of up and coming options up there, not to mention both Luke James and Conor Pepper, so I'd probably consider an offer over our transfer record if one came in.