Everyone knew derby would be off
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle were not put out by the cancellation of Friday night’s Highland derby – because they already knew it had no chance of going ahead.
Caley Jags manager John Robertson has blamed the league for delaying the official decision, saying that both clubs knew last Thursday afternoon that the match would be off.
It was not until a 12.30pm pitch inspection on the day that an official announcement was made.
But Robertson says everyone knew long before then what the outcome would be.
“There was no anti-climax because we knew on Thursday that the game was going to be off,” he explained.
“League rules dictate that you have to leave it as late as possible.
“Fergie and Ketts came down to have a look at the pitch, and we were all in agreement that it had absolutely no chance, especially with the overnight weather.
“Our groundsman got he morning, and let me know and let the league know that there was no chance the pitch would be playable.
“But the league insists that you have to wait until the referee they send down sees it.
“They could easily have sent Billy Baxter here at 8.30, they didn’t, until eventually we got to see a wee bit of sense at 12.30.
“The game was never going to go ahead – no chance.
“Before the decision was made, we had the players training.”
He added: “We brought them in at 12 and had them training at the rugby club with a really hard running session because we knew there was no chance the game was going ahead.
“It’s a shame, because I’m sure there will have been one or two people who will already have made arrangements for coming up the road, but the league don’t always take that into consideration.
“It is what it is, we just have to wait now. Both clubs have agreed a date, and surprise surprise the league haven’t agreed to that yet.”
