Foran in a plea for passion as Inverness battle to stay alive
SEVEN years a brave and bold member of Scotland’s top flight. And it could all come to an end today. As things stand, Inverness Caley Thistle are seeking refuge in confusion; the longer they can at least cast a degree of uncertainty over the relegation issue, the better.
Yet boss Richie Foran knows that, should they lose at home to Hamilton in today’s ludicrously scheduled lunchtime kick-off in the Highlands, they will have invited a series of results that would put his team out of the Premiership by early evening.
If he occasionally sounds like a man clinging to a life raft by his last hangnail, that is perfectly understandable.
Like many of his managerial rivals hoping to cut him and his players loose, Foran recognises that survival — a long shot even if Caley Thistle do manage to pick up just their fifth win of the season today — is no longer a matter of simply laying out a detailed tactical game plan.
‘Of course, players are still playing for contracts and their careers,’ said the rookie head coach, digging deep into his motivational resources in the wake of last Friday night’s humiliating 4-0 derby loss in Dingwall.
‘They’re playing for their futures. We’ve not spoken about winning, drawing or losing the game. All we’ve spoken about is passion and pride for this club because the supporters deserve to see that at least.
‘Previously, I was concentrating more on our shape and tactics going into matches, although I’ve always emphasised passion, pride and work-rate.
‘After the defeat to Ross County, we have players who are angry, disappointed and hurt — but there’s nothing we can do about the past. We can only affect the next four games.
‘The full focus is on winning the match. I’m looking for more passion, hunger and desire than we showed last Friday night.
‘In terms of playing for the jersey and playing for the club, fighting for every ball, that’s what we need to do.
‘The battle is there. I’ll pick a physical team and they need to be mentally stronger than we have been.
‘It’ll be a huge boost for us if we win. There are still 12 points up for grabs. But talk is cheap — go out there, man up and perform on the park.’
It is a sure sign that we have reached the dog days of a Scottish season when dyed-in-the-wool fitba’ folk start demanding that players man up. To fight for every ball and be mentally strong.
Foran’s declaration of war on Hamilton, insisting that he is picking a physical side in the hope of knocking Accies off their stride, at least threatens to generate a modicum of box-office interest for broadcasters who boobed by picking this game for live TV.
‘We need to be nasty and hungry,’ added Foran, warming to his theme: ‘I questioned the lads this week, so I need a reaction.
‘They know the consequences. We can’t do anything at the moment (in terms of signings) for next season, but we’ve put out what we’re looking for to the network we work with. We know what positions we’re looking for but there are still players here who can win contracts.
‘Some of them are definitely playing for their futures.’ Josh Meekings, Aaron Doran and Owain Fon Williams remain out for Inverness, although club captain Gary Warren is welcomed back to the heart of defence after suspension.
For one squad member, extra drive is provided by desperation to avoid the humiliation of a second successive relegation.
Henri Anier, who went down with Dundee United last season, confessed: ‘What I experienced last year was not a nice feeling and it is an extra motivation.
‘But I see this as a different situation from last year, totally. We still have four games to go.
‘I think at this time last year, it was gone already for United. They are different clubs. Is there more positivity? Yes.
‘Obviously, nobody wants two relegations on their CV but you need to just stay positive. That’s the same in everything you do in life. Better days are coming and so we just keep working.’
Better days, as the Estonian calls them, may seem some distance away for the teams at the bottom end of the table.
Hamilton at least know they can take a giant leap towards actually enjoying their football again by winning today.
Accies veteran Dougie Imrie said: ‘The only way to enjoy it in this situation is to win games. I’ve been here before and it’s not nice but we have a cushion over Inverness.
‘Our form up there is not too bad so, although it’s going to be hard, we are going there with confidence we can win.
‘If we can win two of the four games left, I think we’ll be fine.
‘We are in a not bad position, seven points clear of Inverness with other teams round about us.
‘We just need to concentrate on ourselves and do our job properly — then we should be good enough to get the two wins we need to keep us up.’