Hearts -V- Inverness CT - Preview

It's a Marathon, not a sprint!

We seem to have run out of breath in our race for second place as the vultures gather to swallow us up and spit us out further down the pecking order. Our fall from grace has been as rapid as our rise to the top and at the moment there seems to be no end to it.

Motherwell deservedly leapfrogged us to go clear in second as we just managed to hang on to third spot by our fingertips, but with our confidence shot it looks like being a long few weeks until the split before we will know our fate. It would be a shame to throw away all the early season endeavour, but since we last played Hearts in the league cup semi-final, our season has disintegrated before our very own eyes and the 'punching above our weight' doubters are having a field day with certain players being singled out for more criticism than the government.

It's no coincidence that our run of misfortune has heightened since captain Richie Foran has been sidelined, his fiery brand of Gaelic football absent since the cup game at Kilmarnock, but the enigma of our number one choice is a mysterious one. Who should play in goal was even polled on CTO and Reguero came out on top with two and a half times more votes than Esson. However, we don't pick the team and Ryan has been in goals for the five games since the two sides met at Easter Road, which has yielded one SPL point and seen us dumped out of the other national competition. What has Antonio Reguero done to deserve being dropped? He never saved a penalty in the shoot-out, but neither did MacDonald the Hearts keeper. Don't get me wrong, I believe both our goalies are of an equal standing, but results seem to indicate otherwise, and maybe a return to first team action will be the spark that ignites our smouldering SPL embers. Maybe the defenders feel a greater urgency to protect our Spanish import, but whatever it is I hope Butcher gets the choice right in time to halt our decline.

Capital Caley has been busy preparing this weeks words for your pleasure, in between warming up for the Highland March.....................

On the Road Again

Caley Thistle head on the road to the Lowlands once again. With no wins in 6 games, the ICT faithful will be desperate for a win on Saturday. The bad run of results started with a defeat to Hearts in the League Cup Semi Final. Mr Magoos team beat Inverness on penalties to end our League Cup ambitions for another season. This Saturday is a chance for the ICT players to redeem themselves. After a heavy 3-0 defeat to Motherwell last Saturday, Caley Thistle are in desperate need of points to keep their top six hopes on track. Hearts have been poor and inconsistent all season and also suffered a 3-0 defeat last Saturday at the hands of Kilmarnock. Diggers is usually the venue of choice for many Caley Thistle fans before a Hearts game. Again, a couple of the Highland Marchers will be incorporating a bit of walking before the game. This week, an 18 mile walk from Linlithgow. Hopefully three points will be the reward.

The last time Caley Thistle went to Tynecastle back in August it was a 2-2 draw. Richie Foran was sent off in the first half for ICT and Hearts led 2-0 at half time. Andrew Shinnie scored with a penalty to get one back for Inverness before late sub substitute Conor Pepper equalised with the last kick of the ball.

It was a great finale to the game that will live long in the memory of fans in attendance that day. However, the disappointment of the League Cup Semi Final defeat to Hearts is still fresh in the mind.

A win is needed on Saturday as the ghost of the League Cup Semi defeat is still lingering about. It seems that ever since the defeat, confidence has dropped and victory on Saturday can help rid the team of the Semi Final ghost. In previous weeks although results have been disappointing, there have been chances and decisions that if it went our way could have changed the outcome. Caley Thistle were pretty dominant in the first half hour against Motherwell last Saturday. They were playing great passing football and got the ball into the back of the net only for it be ruled out for offside. Motherwell soon scored and from there ICT seemed to struggle. What Inverness need is a bit of luck. The players are good enough but it just isn’t going their way at the moment. If ICT are going to get back to winning ways, a victory against the team that started the bad run would be fitting. It would give the lads a confidence boost ahead of next weeks Highland Derby. It would indeed exorcise the ghost of the League Cup.

Richie Foran is still likely to be injured for Caley Thistle but reports suggest that he should be back to fitness within a week. Terry Butcher should be able to pick the same team that started against Motherwell, although he may opt to freshen things up. The debate over Esson and Reguero still rages on with Caley Thistle fans and it will be interesting to see if Esson starts again against Hearts. My prediction is he will start, but there has been certainly a few interesting changes to the team throughout the season. Hearts have had many changes throughout the season and surprisingly into February they have the same manager as they did at the start of the season. Surely a record for Hearts under owner Vladamir Romanov. Hearts are in turmoil off the field. Romanov is desperate to sell the debt ridden club and there are growing concerns down Gorgie way about the clubs future. Interestingly enough, and breaking with SPL tradition, Hearts players aren’t interested in Nandos. They are more inclined to eat out at Krispy Kreme. Could all these doughnuts be the reason for such a poor season? Luckily there is no Krispy Kreme or Nandos in Inverness which should help the players get out of the current slump in form.

CapitalCaleys prediction:- This Saturday is an ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways. Hearts are in disarray. They are there for the taking. But they still have a lot of quality in their team. The Caley Thistle players will be desperate to make amends for the Cup defeat to Hearts. Inverness have the quality to edge this game. I’ll go for a 2-1 victory for the Caley Jags. This is the players chance to get rid of the ghost of the Semi Final. They have shown this season that they not only have the skill but the grit and determination to get results. Lets put Hearts to the sword. Lets put that ghost of the Cup to the sword! :ictscarf:

Midweek results were favourable for us with Dundee United beating Motherwell and St Johnstone dropping a point to Celtic. There will be plenty of twists and turns to come yet as outwith the Champions from Glasgow and relegation certs Dundee, every other team is capable of taking points off of each other, and anything gained from Celtic is a bonus, with points dropped to Dundee a mini disaster. Yes, it's very tight and it looks like going down to the wire.

***Latest Team News***

Inverness are likely to be unchanged injury wise, with Foran out for at least another week, but the question of goalkeeper remains. Esson or Reguero :ponder:

Hearts have lost the services of Andy Driver who is off to America. Marius Zaliukas, Jamie Hamill and Callum Patterson are not available, but Ryan