Latest news with #CaleyThistle
Press and Journal
4 days ago
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Caley Thistle v Peterhead preview: Manager thoughts, team news, predicted line-ups and key battles
Caley Thistle can move on to positive points if they win Saturday's League One north derby against Peterhead. Saddled with a starting -5 point deduction as a result of going into administration last year, they got off the mark last week with an impressive 3-0 victory at Kelty Hearts, thanks to goals from Billy Mckay, Luis Longstaff and David Wotherspoon. A victory could even take them off bottom spot, but they welcome a team who are top of the table after the first 90 minutes of the campaign. League Two champions Peterhead hit the summit after a resounding 4-1 win against East Fife at Balmoor Stadium in their opening game. The Blue Toon shared the goals in their opening day win with Peterhead captain Jason Brown scoring twice, while David Wilson and Kieran Shanks were also on the scoresheet. 'You look at Stenhousemuir last year – they came up from League Two, and what a season they had (finishing fourth). 'When teams have got that momentum, it's a good thing for them, so we know we're going to be in for a hard game. 'Momentum is a big thing, and it's important that you try to get up to steam as quickly as you can. 'We watched Peterhead's game against East Fife, and they took their chances really well. They've got some good players with Peter Pawlett, Cammy Smith, and Jason Brown. 'We know we're going to be in for a hard game. I don't think there is an easy game in this league, so we'll need to approach Saturday the same way we did last week where our attitudes and work rate was right. 'If we work hard, we've got players that can hurt teams, so that's what we need to try and do this Saturday.' 'It'll be an extremely difficult game. 'I think Caley Thistle will definitely be there or thereabouts come May for the title. 'They are a really good team when we look at their squad – they've a good blend of experience youth, technical attributes and speed. 'They've got players that can chip in with goals and assists, so we have to be on our guard for them on Saturday. 'We know they'll be a threat and a difficult opponent because they're full-time. 'They'll use the pitch well, so it'll be a massive task for us, but it's one that we'll try and set-up to take points away from. 'It's up to use to execute the game plan.' The Caley Jags have a 'few knocks and niggles'. With right-back Ross Millen a doubt with a calf injury, midfielder Callum MacLeod is likely to continue to fill that void. Midfielder Paul Allan has a chance of recovering from a groin injury to feature for the first time since the 6-2 Premier Sports Cup cruise at East Kilbride. Midweek North of Scotland Cup doubles for on-loan Aberdeen striker Alfie Bavidge and ex-Forres Mechanics and Rothes attacker Jordan Alonge in the 6-0 win at Lossiemouth could push them into contention. For Peterhead, defence continues to be their major concern after starting the new campaign with only three fit defenders. Midfielder Dylan Forrest partnered captain Brown in a makeshift central defensive partnership last weekend while full-backs Wilson and Danny Strachan were the only other fit and available defenders. However, the visitors hope to have more options for the trip to the Highlands. Peterhead captain Jason Brown returns to his former club and he could have a tough afternoon against in-form Billy Mckay. Livingston loaneee Liam Sole has provided fresh pace down the left wing for Inverness since his summer arrival. If Danny Strachan can stand up to that challenge, it will boost the Blue Toon's chances. Caley Thistle (4-3-3): Munro, MacIntyre, Devine, Savage, MacLeod, Stewart, Chalmers, Wotherspoon, Sole, Mckay, Longstaff. Peterhead (4-2-3-1): Newman, D. Strachan, Brown, Wilson, Goldie, McGuffie, McCarthy, Barry, Pawlett, Smith, Shanks. McBookie make Caley Thistle the 8/15 favourites for this encounter. Peterhead are 9/2 if you fancy an upset, while the draw is priced at 14/5.
Press and Journal
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
EXCLUSIVE: David Wotherspoon reveals call that led to Caley Thistle return
David Wotherspoon has revealed his return to Inverness Caledonian Thistle was effectively sealed with a song after he reached out to manager Scott Kellacher. The experienced midfielder re-signed for the Caley Jags last month having previously netted five goals in 11 appearances for the club during a short stint from October 2023 until January 2024. Wotherspoon left Dunfermline Athletic at the end of last season and having enjoyed his previous spell with Caley Thistle so much, the 35-year-old got in touch with boss Kellacher to see if he could return to the Highland capital. The Canada international's enquiry prompted a jubilant response from Kellacher, who was a coach under Duncan Ferguson during Wotherspoon's time with Inverness in season 2023-24. Wotherspoon said: 'I've got to a stage in my career where I didn't want to be waiting around so I decided I would start making phone calls to see where people were at and if they were interested in me. 'I took it upon myself to phone the manager and he was delighted to hear from me. 'When I said to the manager about wanting to come back he started singing to me on the phone! 'That was how it started and I'm here now and looking forward to the season starting. 'I got on well with him when I was here before. 'When he took on the job last season I messaged him and I looked for the score every week to see how the manager and the club were doing. 'He was keen to get me on board and it's been great to be back. 'The manager and Billy Mckay (player-assistant manager) attracted me back to Inverness, they really wanted me to come back up and that was a big factor. 'I enjoyed my football when I was at Inverness previously and I'm very happy to be here.' Caley Thistle's season begins on Tuesday in the Premier Sports League Cup with a home clash against Elgin City. They will also tackle St Johnstone at the Caledonian Stadium and East Kilbride and Raith Rovers away from home in Group F before their League One campaign begins on August 2. During his career Wotherspoon has won the Scottish Cup twice and the League Cup once with St Johnstone and helped Dundee United win the Championship in 2024 following his first spell with Inverness. One of the reasons he's rejoined Caley Thistle is to try to help the club get promoted back to the Championship. Wotherspoon added: 'I had interest from elsewhere, but Inverness stuck out when I was looking at different options. 'The challenge of getting the club back up to the Championship also attracted me to come back. I think the Championship is where the club should be so that's where we're aiming to get to this season. 'With what the club went through last season I think staying up felt like they'd won something. 'They overcame the obstacles and now the club is in a better place thanks to people behind the scenes and we're looking to kick on now.' One challenging aspect of rejoining Inverness for Wotherspoon is that it means spending time away from his wife Sophie and their three children who are 11, eight and six, who live on the outskirts of Edinburgh. He said: 'My family understand the situation and why I wanted to come here. 'The club's been brilliant and I've managed to have the family up for the past week or so during the holidays. 'They've really enjoyed Inverness and they're going to try to come up as much as they can. 'When time allows the club are going to let me get back down the road to spend time with my family as well. 'They're understanding on that front, it's a family orientated club and everyone is in it together which is a great thing about the club.'
Press and Journal
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
STARTING XI: Dale Gillespie on title joy with Brora Rangers and the daunting task of facing Georginio Wijnaldum
Former Brora Rangers midfielder Dale Gillespie is the subject of this week's Q&A feature as he looks back on his time in the game. From his early days at Caley Thistle and Elgin City to the Highland League and youth football for Scotland, Gillespie picks out the highlights of his career. It was for Elgin City in a 4-2 loss at Stenhousemuir while I was on loan from Caley Thistle. Honestly, I've tried to forget my Elgin years as I was there for 17 games and lost 11 of them with two draws. Ross Jack was the manager when I went there and it was a really tough time for the club. For me, it wasn't a memorable spell. It has to be the undefeated season we had at Brora in 2014-15. When you are on a run like that the pressure builds to keep it going but to be fair, we handled it well. When we won the league two years in a row, we only lost one league game in those two seasons, and we went the whole calendar year in 2014 without losing a league game, so it was special. David Goodwillie was very good. We must have been 17 or 18 but he was well ahead of everyone his own age up in Scotland at the time. He obviously got his move down to England a couple of years later and he was a great player to be fair. Georginio Wijnaldum. We played against him he was in the Netherlands team which beat Scotland under-19s 2-1 at Broadwood in February 2008. He was at a different level. I remember he had the big dreadlocks in those days, and he was pretty special. This is an easy one – Martin McLean. He's from Stornoway, so they've got a different fashion sense over there. Big, thick woollen jumpers, and colour coordination was a big issue for him. Mental probably. On the park I was pretty calm, but off it I was bad, until I stopped drinking anyway. You can pass the ball from A to B faster than you can run from A to B. That was a classic from my old coach John Beaton. Tynecastle. That was the first time I was ever on the bench for the Caley Thistle first team, and I was just 17. I've never had so much abuse since that day, and I didn't even play. I was petrified. I have to pick one of my own. It was a volley in extra-time for Caley Thistle to win the North of Scotland Cup final against Elgin. The game was at Forres and I scored twice in that game. The winner was a 25 yarder and it's the best goal I ever scored. I'll go for Gavin Morrison because he's more sensible than I am and he'd give me a fighting chance of getting off the island. It's definitely golf. I've got the handicap down to scratch now but my wife complains that she sees me less now than she did when I played football.
The Courier
11-06-2025
- Sport
- The Courier
Freed Dunfermline midfielder could return to old club as Pars announce 2 more pre-season friendlies
Freed Dunfermline midfielder Joe Chalmers could be on his way back to Inverness Caley Thistle. The 31-year-old is out of contract after being released by the Pars last month and is being trailed by a number of possible suitors. He was one of 14 players who said goodbye to the East End Park club in the wake of a disappointing campaign. The Fifers avoided relegation to League One late on, in part thanks to the 15-point deduction suffered by Hamilton Accies. Chalmers made three appearances after the arrival of Neil Lennon as manager for the final seven matches. The pair had worked together previously at Celtic. However, after 30 outings across the season – and 125 during his three and a half years at the club – he was not offered a new contract. The experienced play-maker's availability has alerted rival clubs in the Championship. But it is understood Caley Thistle have held talks with the former Motherwell and Ayr United player and made clear their interest. He previously spent two seasons with Inverness after joining in the summer of 2017 and racked up 96 appearances before departing for Premiership football with Highland rivals Ross County. The Caley Jags are expected to be able to make new signings from next week after a deal to come out of administration was agreed. Chalmers could join up with former Dunfermline team-mate Paul Allan, who spent last term with the Highlanders and is in talks over a contract extension. He would also be heading in the opposite direction from Charlie Gilmour who left Inverness to sign for the Pars on a three-year deal earlier this month. Meanwhile, Dunfermline have announced two more pre-season friendlies to complete preparations for the new campaign. The Pars will kick off their warm-up games with a first-ever trip to K-Park to face SPFL newcomers East Kilbride on June 28. They will then make the shorter journey across the Kingdom to take on neighbours East Fife on July 8. The East End Park men could also fit in another friendly during the midweek window prior to their previously-announced meeting with Kelty Hearts on July 5.
Press and Journal
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Starting XI: Former Caley Thistle midfielder Richie Hart on the Rangers and Celtic players who were his toughest opponents
Former Caley Thistle midfielder Richie Hart starred for four seasons in the SPL before playing for Ross County then Dundee. Hart's career kicked off as a youth with the Staggies, and he also played for Brora Rangers twice, Dundee and Maltese side Hibernians and Ostersunds in Sweden. His best days were with ICT where he won the Division One title in 2004 as well as the Challenge Cup, and made 164 Inverness appearances, scoring 16 goals. My first senior debut was with Ross County under Neale Cooper away to Forfar Athletic (on February 8, 1997 in Division Three, now League Two). I was still at school and came of the bench late and managed to score the winner. I have been fortunate to have some amazing moments in football, but winning the First Division with Caley Thistle which got us promoted to the Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the best and a real pivotal moment for the club. That's a really tough question so I'm going to name a few. In my younger years, Billy Ferries (Ross County) and Alan Hercher (Brora Rangers) both played a huge part in me going to Caley Thistle. In my Caley Thistle years, it would have to be Dennis Wyness. We struck up a great understanding right from the off. On his day, he was unplayable and scored some unreal goals. Off his day, you were a man down! Seriously though, what a fantastic player. Another tough question, so I'll go for two. I played against (Rangers') Barry Ferguson at youth level and senior level and I couldn't get near him. He always seemed to have so much time and space. And (ex-Celtic winger) Shaun Maloney was such a talented footballer. He had that low centre of gravity, and was difficult to knock off the ball and so sharp. A top player. The only one that really springs to mind is Richie Britain – only because like of Martin 'Jimmy' Scott and Steven Craig used to slaughter him! As a player, hopefully it would be hard-working strong, fast – and someone they could depend upon. As a young lad on loan to Brora from Ross County, I remember tenacious midfielder and top guy Jocky Mackay saying to me one time that he thought I was a good player, but didn't play with enough desire. That instantly struck a chord with me and literally from that moment changed me in how I played the game from then on. Tynecastle always gets a mention and rightly so, but it's got to be Celtic Park for me. I managed to score there (in March 2006 in a 2-1 defeat) and it was the first game there since Jimmy Johnstone had passed away. The atmosphere was incredible. My favourite goal has to be my free-kick against Ross County for Caley Thistle (in a 2-0 win in Dingwall in March 2003). I still wind up County goalkeeper Tony Bullock about it and ask why he even attempted to dive for it. I also remember Paul Ritchie scoring an unbelievable volley down at Alloa (in a 6-0 win in Division One in March 2002). It was Van Basten-esque! Dennis Wyness and Paul both scored hat-tricks. This is the easiest question for me – Liam Keogh without shadow of a doubt. There wouldn't be much to do there, but there is no doubt Liam would keep the spirits high with his story telling. Plus, he would be very handy in fending off any wild animals. In the early days of Caley Thistle, we would all go for lunch together, have coffee or play snooker or golf. As time went by and things evolved, new managers, double sessions and the like, recovery became even more important. When I played in Malta though, we didn't train until the evenings due to the heat, so I could spend some time on the beach in the morning, get a sleep in the afternoon and then train in the evening – much to the annoyance of my wife Lisa, who was working all day! Graeme Stewart on title joy with Buckie and early days at Caley Thistle Clachnacuddin boss Conor Gethins on facing Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie Caley Thistle legend Ross Tokely on Barry Robson's shocking attire, 'absolute madman' team-mate and country music Former Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson on the day the Dons painted Glasgow red Steven Ferguson on Dunfermline captain's tragic death, Ross County boss Neale Cooper's 11 Kenny Gilberts quip and 'absolute genius' Paul Gascoigne Ex-Caley Thistle full-back Richard Hastings on facing Luis Figo and vital golden goal on way to Canada's Gold Cup glory Aberdeen FC Gothenburg Great Neil Simpson on the night he claimed Michel Platini's jersey Peterhead co-manager Ryan Strachan on his toughest opponent and favourite away ground
