2007–08 Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. season

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.

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
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

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 ^[1]

Scottish Premier League

Clydesdale Bank Premier League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic (C)	38	28	5	5	84	26	+58	89	2008–09 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Rangers	38	27	5	6	84	33	+51	86	2008–09 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3	Motherwell	38	18	6	14	50	46	+4	60	2008–09 UEFA Cup First round
4	Aberdeen	38	15	8	15	50	58	−8	53
5	Dundee United	38	14	10	14	53	47	+6	52
6	Hibernian	38	14	10	14	49	45	+4	52	2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round
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
12	Gretna	38	5	8	25	32	83	−51	13	Resigned from the Scottish Football League

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Gretna: 10 points were deducted from Gretna for going into administration.^[2] They subsequently resigned from the Scottish Football League because the administrator concluded that the club could not continue to run as a business.^[3]
Intertoto Cup: The highest-placed team who applied for the Intertoto Cup and not in an automatic UEFA Cup spot was awarded a place in that competition, Falkirk and Hibernian were the applicants.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

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

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	ICT Scorer(s)	Attendance
R4	12 January	Hibernian	A	0–3		9,622

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	Ridgers, AllyAlly Ridgers	Clachnacuddin	Free[4]
1 July 2007	Cowie, DonDon Cowie	Ross County	Free[5]
4 July 2007	McDonald, DeanDean McDonald	Gillingham	Undisclosed[6]
17 July 2007	Niculae, MariusMarius Niculae	Mainz 05	Free[7]
14 August 2007	Watt, StevenSteven Watt	Swansea City	Loan[8]
31 August 2007	Małkowski, ZbigniewZbigniew Małkowski	Hibernian	Loan[9]
31 August 2007	McGuire, PhilPhil McGuire	Dunfermline Athletic	Loan[10]
31 August 2007	Proctor, DavidDavid Proctor	Dundee United	Free[11]
31 January 2008	Imrie, DougieDougie Imrie	Clyde	Undisclosed[12]

Transfers Out

Date	Name	Moving to	Fee
1 June 2007	Golabek, StuartStuart Golabek	Ross County	Free[13]
28 June 2007	Dargo, CraigCraig Dargo	St Mirren	Free[14]
1 July 2007	Dods, DarrenDarren Dods	Dundee United	Free[15]
31 August 2007	Ridgers, AllyAlly Ridgers	Elgin City	Loan[16]
31 August 2007	Sutherland, ZanderZander Sutherland	Elgin City	Loan[16]
1 January 2008	Morgan, AlanAlan Morgan	Kilmarnock	Free
17 January 2008	Rankin, JohnJohn Rankin	Hibernian	£110,000
29 April 2008	McCaffrey, StuartStuart McCaffrey	St Johnstone	Free

References

1. "Caleythistleonline 2007-08 results".
2. "Crisis-hit Gretna facing uncertain future". London: The Times. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
3. "Gretna relinquish league status". BBC Sport. 3 June 2008.
4. "Ridgers poised for Inverness stay". BBC Sport. 8 May 2007.
5. "Inverness line up County captain". BBC Sport. 1 July 2007.
6. "McDonald joy at Inverness switch". BBC Sport. 4 July 2007.
7. "Romania striker joins Inverness". BBC Sport. 17 July 2007.
8. "Defender Watt moves to Inverness". BBC Sport. 14 August 2007.
9. "Malkowski heads to Caley Thistle". BBC Sport. 31 August 2007.
10. "Transfer Window". caleythistleonline.com. 31 August 2007.
11. "Proctor moves back to Inverness". BBC Sport. 31 August 2007.
12. "Caley Thistle sign Clyde's Imrie". BBC Sport. 2 March 2008.
13. "Golabek & Bullock back at County". BBC Sport. 1 June 2007.
14. "St Mirren sign up striker Dargo". BBC Sport. 28 June 2007.
15. "Dods seals move to Dundee United". BBC Sport. 22 June 2007.
16. "Inverness duo farmed out to Elgin". BBC Sport. 31 August 2007.