# 2016–17 Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. season

The 2016–17 Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. season is the club's fourth season in the Scottish Premiership and their seventh consecutive season in the top division of Scottish football. Caley Thistle also competed in the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup.

## Summary
### Season

Caley Thistle finished twelfth in the Scottish Premiership and were automatically relegated to the Scottish Championship. They reached the second round of the Scottish League Cup, the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.

### Management

Caley Thistle were managed by Richie Foran, during the 2016–17 season. John Hughes departed the club during the close season on 20 May 2016, having negotiated his exit with the board. Hughes had previously raised concerns with the club's budget for 2016–17. On 30 May 2016, Foran was appointed manager on a four-year contract, marking his retirement as a player. Brian Rice remained as assistant manager.

## Results and fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Scottish Cup
## Squad statistics

During the 2016–17 season, Inverness Caledonian Thistle have used twenty-nine different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

### Appearances

    As of 20 May 2017
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premiership | Premiership | League Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Ryan Esson | 7 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ENG | David Raven | 26 | 1 | 19+2 | 1 | 4+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Carl Tremarco | 36 | 7 | 29+0 | 4 | 5+0 | 3 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Kevin McNaughton | 14 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Gary Warren | 40 | 3 | 33+0 | 2 | 5+0 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Josh Meekings | 18 | 1 | 18+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Liam Polworth | 38 | 3 | 26+6 | 3 | 5+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Ross Draper | 43 | 4 | 35+2 | 3 | 2+3 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | IRL | Dean Ebbe | 4 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | IRL | Aaron Doran | 19 | 1 | 6+11 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | SCO | Iain Vigurs | 39 | 5 | 28+4 | 1 | 5+0 | 4 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | SCO | Jamie McCart | 11 | 0 | 9+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | ENG | Billy Mckay | 14 | 4 | 13+0 | 4 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Jason Brown | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | IRL | Jake Mulraney | 32 | 0 | 10+16 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ENG | Greg Tansey | 44 | 7 | 37+0 | 7 | 5+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | ENG | Lewis Horner | 11 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Alex Fisher | 25 | 8 | 8+13 | 8 | 0+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Scott Boden | 19 | 5 | 3+10 | 1 | 5+0 | 4 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | SCO | Billy King | 32 | 3 | 17+9 | 1 | 5+0 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | SCO | Alisdair Sutherland | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Louis Laing | 14 | 0 | 14+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | SCO | Brad McKay | 29 | 1 | 25+2 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | EST | Henri Anier | 15 | 0 | 8+5 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | WAL | Owain Fôn Williams | 35 | 0 | 31+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | GUI | Lonsana Doumbouya | 20 | 6 | 17+2 | 5 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 |
| 29 | MF | ENG | Larnell Cole | 23 | 2 | 13+8 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 31 | GK | SCO | Cameron Mackay | 4 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | ENG | Cameron Gilchrist | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

### Overall goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Goals |
| 1st | Alex Fisher | 9 |
| 2nd | Greg Tansey Carl Tremarco | 7 |
| 4th | Lonsana Doumbouya | 6 |
| 5th | Scott Boden Iain Vigurs | 5 |
| 7th | Ross Draper | 4 |
| 8th | Billy King Billy Mckay Liam Polworth Gary Warren | 3 |
| 12th | Larnell Cole | 2 |
| 13th | Aaron Doran Brad McKay Josh Meekings David Raven | 1 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Competition | Score | Opponent | Date |
| Iain Vigurs | Scottish League Cup | 1–5 | Dunfermline Athletic | 26 July 2016 |
| Scott Boden | Scottish League Cup | 7–0 | Arbroath | 30 July 2016 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 8 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 41 | |
| 9 | Motherwell | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 46 | 69 | −23 | 38 | |
| 10 | Dundee | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 38 | 62 | −24 | 37 | |
| 11 | Hamilton Academical (O) | 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 37 | 56 | −19 | 35 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off final |
| 12 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle (R) | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 44 | 71 | −27 | 34 | Relegation to the Scottish Championship |
* ↑ 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.

### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | L | L | W | D | D | W | D | L | D | W | D | L | L | L | L | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | D | D | W | L | D | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | W |
| Position | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |

### Management statistics

    Last updated on 20 May 2017
| Name | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win% |
| Richie Foran | 14 July 2016 | 31 May 2017 | 45 | 11 | 13 | 21 | 024.44 |

## Transfers

Players In :
| Player | Age* | Pos | From | Fee | Date |
| Jake Mulraney | 20 | MF | Queens Park Rangers | Free | 1 July 2016 |
| Jason Brown | 19 | DF | Academy | N/A | 1 July 2016 |
| Ali Sutherland | 19 | MF | Academy | N/A | 1 July 2016 |
| Cameron Mackay | 19 | GK | Academy | N/A | 1 July 2016 |
| Scott Boden | 26 | ST | Newport County | Free | 1 July 2016 |
| Kevin McNaughton | 33 | DF | Wigan Athletic | Free | 12 July 2016 |
| Lonsana Doumbouya | 25 | ST | Cercle Brugge | Free | 25 August 2016 |
| Brad McKay | 23 | DF | St Johnstone | Free | 31 August 2016 |
| Dean Ebbe | 22 | ST | Bluebell United | Undisclosed | 4 January 2017 |
| Henri Anier | 26 | ST | Kalmar FF | Free | 16 January 2017 |
| Louis Laing | 23 | MF | Free Agent | N/A | 16 February 2017 |
Players Out :
| Player | Age* | Pos | To | Fee | Date | Notes |
| Danny Williams | 28 | MF | Dundee | Free | 1 July 2016 | |
| Nat Wedderburn | 26 | MF | Dunfermline Athletic | Free | 1 July 2016 | |
| Jordan Roberts | 22 | MF | Crawley Town | Free | 1 July 2016 | |
| James Vincent | 26 | MF | Dundee | Free | 1 July 2016 | |
| Dean Brill | 30 | GK | Motherwell | Free | 1 July 2016 | |
| Danny Devine | 23 | DF | Partick Thistle | Free | 1 July 2016 | |
| Liam Hughes | 23 | MF | Barrow | Free | 1 July 2016 | |
| Richie Foran | 36 | MF | Retired | N/A | 1 July 2016 | Took Managerial Role |
| Calum Ferguson | 21 | ST | Albion Rovers | Free | 2 July 2016 | |
| Ryan Williams | 25 | MF | Ottawa Fury | Free | 19 July 2016 | |
| Lonsana Doumbouya | 26 | ST | SKN St. Pölten | Free | 26 January 2018 | |
| Alisdair Sutherland | 20 | MF | Elgin City | Free | 1 February 2017 | |
| Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo | 26 | MF | RNK Split | Free | 17 February 2017 | |
Loans In/Returns :
| Player | Age* | Pos | From | Duration | Date In | Date Out |
| Billy King | 22 | MF | Heart of Midlothian | Season | 12 July 2016 | 29 May 2017 |
| Larnell Cole | 23 | MF | Fulham | Season | 31 August 2016 | 31 May 2017 |
| Cameron Mackay | 19 | GK | Elgin City | Return | 9 September 2016 | N/A |
| Jason Brown | 20 | DF | Arbroath | Return | 19 October 2016 | N/A |
| Jamie McCart | 19 | DF | Celtic | Half Season | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2017 |
| Billy Mckay | 28 | ST | Wigan Athletic | Half Season | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2017 |
| Jason Brown | 20 | DF | Cove Rangers | Return | 1 May 2017 | N/A |
| Cameron Mackay | 20 | GK | Elgin City | Return | 15 May 2017 | N/A |
Loans Out/Returns :
| Player | Age* | Pos | To | Duration | Date Out | Date In |
| Cameron Mackay | 19 | GK | Elgin City | Emergency Loan | 13 August 2016 | 9 September 2016 |
| Jason Brown | 20 | DF | Arbroath | Short Term | 26 August 2016 | 19 October 2016 |
| Cameron Mackay | 20 | GK | Elgin City | Half Season | 10 December 2016 | 15 May 2017 |
| Jason Brown | 20 | DF | Cove Rangers | Half Season | 27 January 2017 | 1 May 2017 |
| Billy King | 23 | MF | Heart of Midlothian | Season | 29 May 2017 | N/A |
| Billy Mckay | 28 | ST | Wigan Athletic | Half Season | 31 May 2017 | N/A |
| Larnell Cole | 24 | MF | Fulham | Season | 31 May 2017 | N/A |
| Jamie McCart | 19 | DF | Celtic | Season | 31 May 2017 | N/A |
* - Age at time of signing