2007–08 Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. season

Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.
2007-08 season
Manager	Craig Brewster
Scottish Premier League	9th
Scottish Cup	4th round
Scottish League Cup	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Don Cowie (9); All: Marius Niculae (10)
Highest home attendance	7,753 vs. Rangers, 20 January 2008
Lowest home attendance	3,420 vs. Kilmarnock, 19 April 2008
Average home league attendance	4,753

The 2007–08 season was Inverness Caledonian Thistle's fourth in the Scottish Premier League and 14th since the merger that created the club. They also competed in the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup.

Scottish Premier League

Caley Thistle finished 9th of 12 teams in the SPL, on 43 points from 38 matches. They managed only a disappointing −11 goal differential, from 51 goals scored and 62 allowed. It was a mixed season for statistics, as this tied the club's record for goals scored in an SPL season, set in 2004–05, but also demolished their record for SPL goals conceded by 14. But overall, it could be called a poor season for the Caley, with the lowest total points and lowest finishing league standing since their promotion in 2004.

The exception to this poor form, and the main reason for the team's survival in the SPL, was the month of December. A streak that included wins against Hearts and Celtic earned Craig Brewster Manager of the Month and Marius Niculae Player of the Month honors.

Scottish Cup

To go along with the lackluster league season was a short and poor Scottish Cup. Caley Thistle entered the tournament in the fourth round, and faced Hibernian at Easter Road. Dean Shiels scored a hat trick and sunk Caley's hopes for a cup run at the first possible point as the match finished 3–0 to Hibs.

League Cup

The League Cup provided a bit more positive news for Caley Thistle fans, as the club reached the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons, on the strength of a 4–1 win over Arbroath and a 3–0 win over Gretna. The run stopped abruptly, however, away to Aberdeen, who beat Caley Thistle 4–1 on the strength of another hat trick (albeit including two penalties), this time from Barry Nicholson.

Results

All the results of the regular matches

Scottish Premier League

4 August 2007 Premier League	Inverness CT	0–3	Rangers	Caledonian Stadium
12:30			Ferguson 16' 90' Novo 64'	Attendance: 7,711 Referee: Clarke

11 August 2007 Premier League	Motherwell	2–1	Inverness CT	Fir Park
15:00	O'Donnell 85' McCormack ((goal\|90}}		Tokely 82'	Attendance: 4,259 Referee: Freeland

18 August 2007 Premier League	St Mirren	2–1	Inverness CT	Love Street
15:00	Miranda 19' Corcoran 55'		Cowie 58'	Attendance: 3,309 Referee: Collum

25 August 2007 Premier League	Inverness CT	0–3	Dundee United	Caledonian Stadium
15:00			Dillon 46' Robson 58' 81'	Attendance: 4,178 Referee: Underhill

1 September 2007 Premier League	Hibernian	1–0	Inverness CT	Easter Road
15:00	Fletcher 2'			Attendance: 13,258 Referee: Smith

15 September 2007 Premier League	Celtic	5–0	Inverness CT	Celtic Park
15:00	Vennegoor of Hesselink 15' 59' Donati 41' Nakamura 56' McGuire og70'			Attendance: 56,020 Referee: Thomson

22 September 2007 Premier League	Inverness CT	2–1	Hearts	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Wyness 64' Brewster 90'		Black og34'	Attendance: 4,918 Referee: Tumilty

29 September 2007 Premier League	Inverness CT	4–2	Falkirk	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Wyness 7' 54' Duncan 18' Black 32'		Milne 28' Arfield 47'	Attendance: 4,011 Referee: Somers

6 October 2007 Premier League	Kilmarnock	2–2	Inverness CT	Rugby Park
15:00	Koudou 1' Nish 56'		Ford og22' Cowie 61'	Attendance: 4,456 Referee: Brines

21 October 2007 Premier League	Inverness CT	1–2	Aberdeen	Caledonian Stadium
14:00	Wyness {goal\|58}}		Young 8' Tokely og62'	Referee: Smith

27 October 2007 Premier League	Gretna	0–4	Inverness CT	Fir Park
15:00			Wyness 2' Cowie 31' Wilson 73' McBain 75'	Attendance: 1,096 Referee: McCurry

3 November 2007 Premier League	Rangers	2–0	Inverness CT	Ibrox Stadium
15:00	Boyd 1' Cuéllar 63'			Attendance: 48,898 Referee: Collum

10 November 2007 Premier League	Inverness CT	0–3	Motherwell	Caledonian Stadium
15:00			Clarkson 15' 53' Smith 87'	Attendance: 3,608

24 November 2007 Premier League	Inverness CT	1–0	St Mirren	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Cowie 6'			Attendance: 3,699 Referee: Allan

1 December 2007 Premier League	Dundee United	0–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Tannadice Stadium
15:00			Black 20'	Attendance: 5845 Referee: Brines

8 December 2007 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2–0	Hibernian	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Niculae 42' 78'			Attendance: 4224 Referee: Clark

12 December 2007 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3–2	Celtic	Caledonian Stadium
14:00	Rankin pen' (41), Proctor 57', 68' Cowie 61'		Vennegoor of Hesselink 24', 26'	Attendance: 7004

22 December 2007 Premier League	Heart of Midlothian	2–3	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Berra 62', Kurskis 86' Velicka pen' (88)		Duncan 22', Rankin pen' (52), Bayne 90+3'	Attendance: 16202

26 December 2007 Premier League	Falkirk	1–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Falkirk Stadium
15:00	Aafjes 34'			Attendance: 5265

29 December 2007 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3–1	Kilmarnock	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Niculae 42', 76', Cowie 52'		Nish 87'	Attendance: 4169

2 January 2008 Premier League	Aberdeen	1–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Pittodrie Stadium
15:00	Nicholson pen' (82)			Attendance: 13327

5 January 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3–0	Gretna	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Niculae 34', 42', Rankin pen' (39)			Attendance: 3919

20 January 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–1	Rangers	Caledonian Stadium
14:00			Darcheville 89'	Attendance: 7753

9 February 2008 Premier League	St Mirren	1–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	St Mirren Park
15:00	Mehmet 75'		Munro 27'	Attendance: 3609

16 February 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	1–1	Dundee United	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Paatelainen 84'		Buaben 68'	Attendance: 4087

20 February 2008 Premier League	Motherwell	3–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Fir Park
19:45	Clarkson 7', 42', Porter 10'		Cowie 19'	Attendance: 4526

23 February 2008 Premier League	Hibernian	2–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Easter Road
15:00	Nish 3', Fletcher 5'			Attendance: 12552

27 February 2008 Premier League	Celtic	2–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Celtic Park
19:45	McDonald 45', Samaras 61'		Niculae 70'	Attendance: 56787

1 March 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–3	Heart of Midlothian	Caledonian Stadium
15:00			Karypidis 22', Elliot 33', 47'	Attendance: 4489

15 March 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–1	Falkirk	Caledonian Stadium
15:00			Clarke 86'	Attendance: 4012

22 March 2008 Premier League	Kilmarnock	4–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Rugby Park
15:00	Wright 37', Bryson 50', 57', Flannigan 64'		Black 13'	Attendance: 5100

29 March 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3–4	Aberdeen	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Bus (o.g.) 20, Duncan 40', 46' , McBain 57', Munro 90+10'		Aluko 7', Nicholson 45', Miller 53', Maguire 90+3'	Attendance: 5655

5 April 2008 Premier League	Gretna	1–2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Fir Park
15:00	Barr 80'		McBain 71', Cowie 73'	Attendance: 431

19 April 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3–0	Kilmarnock	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Imrie 10', Lilley (o.g.) 71, Niculae 79'			Attendance: 3420

26 April 2008 Premier League	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Glen 80'			Attendance: 15423

4 May 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	6–1	Gretna	Caledonian Stadium
14:00	Imrie 1', McAllister 24', Wilson 51', Cowie 70', Tokely 88', Vigurs 90+1'		Hogg 26'	Attendance: 3639

10 May 2008 Premier League	Falkirk	2–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Falkirk Stadium
15:00	Higdon 28', Finnigan 68'		Wilson pen' (90)	Attendance: 5631

17 May 2008 Premier League	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–0	St Mirren	Caledonian Stadium
15:00	Proctor 54'			Attendance: 3783

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Falkirk	38	13	10	15	45	49	−4	49
8	Heart of Midlothian	38	13	9	16	47	55	−8	48
9	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	38	13	4	21	51	62	−11	43
10	St Mirren	38	10	11	17	26	54	−28	41
11	Kilmarnock	38	10	10	18	39	52	−13	40

Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

Scottish League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	ICT Scorer(s)	Attendance
R2	28 August	Arbroath	H	3–1	Niculae (2), Wyness	1,246
R3	25 September	Gretna	H	3–0	Bayne, Wilson, Wyness	1,717
R4	31 October	Aberdeen	A	1–4	Bayne	7,270

Scottish Cup

12 January 2008 Round 4	Hibernian	3–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Easter Road
15:00	Shiels 5', 53', 84', Morais 88'		McGuire 88'	Attendance: 9622 Referee: Conroy}

Club Records Set

(+) Tied - Most SPL goals scored: 51 (also scored 51 in 2004–05)
(−) Lowest SPL finish: 9th (previous was 8th in 2004–05 and 2006–07)
(−) Least SPL points: 43 (previous was 44 in 2004–05)
(−) Worst SPL goal difference: −11 (previous was −6 in 2004–05 and 2006–07)
(−) Most SPL goals allowed: 62 (previous was 48 in 2006–07)

Transfers in

Date	Name	Moving from	Fee
8 May 2007	Ally Ridgers	Clachnacuddin	Free
1 July 2007	Don Cowie	Ross County	Free
4 July 2007	Dean McDonald	Gillingham	Undisclosed
17 July 2007	Marius Niculae	Mainz 05	Free
14 August 2007	Steven Watt	Swansea City	Loan
31 August 2007	Zbigniew Małkowski	Hibernian	Loan
31 August 2007	Phil McGuire	Dunfermline Athletic	Loan
31 August 2007	David Proctor	Dundee United	Free
31 January 2008	Dougie Imrie	Clyde	Undisclosed

Transfers out

Date	Name	Moving to	Fee
1 June 2007	Stuart Golabek	Ross County	Free
28 June 2007	Craig Dargo	St Mirren	Free
1 July 2007	Darren Dods	Dundee United	Free
31 August 2007	Ally Ridgers	Elgin City	Loan
31 August 2007	Zander Sutherland	Elgin City	Loan
1 January 2008	Alan Morgan	Kilmarnock	Free
17 January 2008	John Rankin	Hibernian	£110,000
29 April 2008	Stuart McCaffrey	St Johnstone	Free

[2] Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.