matchday thread Inverness CT -V- Rangers

[Scotty]

THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Rangers PREVIEW 14th October @ 7:45pm, Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Sportsound Open All Mics [UK Only] TEXT ESPN BBC Sporting Life   VIDEO SPL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel   TEAM LINEUPS Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC

[tm4tj]

Meekings out with hamstring injury. David Raven in at RB, probably Brad Mckay at centre back.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Not sure about that line up. Rangers appear to have pulled in Hill to match Doumbouya.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Shocking missed free header from 3 yards out in the 3rd minute by Doumbouya. Type of chances we need to bury 

[Hiro]

1-0 down is probably fair. I thought we had a great first 15 but after that we were second best. I'm sure it would have been different if Doumbouya had buried that sitter.

The balance of the midfield was a major problem for us for chunks of that half. Polworth is playing too narrow which means Mckay and Wallace are constantly getting 2 on 1 against Raven. I have no idea where Vigurs is supposed to be playing and the issue us that it doesn't look like he does either. Most if the time im not too critical on individuals but Vigurs effort has been atrocious. I've list count of the number of times he's put in a powder puff  tackle and then just ambled back. It's embarrassing watching Tansey and Polworth sprint past him busting a gut to get back. 

I don't think Doumbouya is having a good game. He needs to hold the ball up better and bring others into play and get us up the park. Wouldn't be averse to seeing Mulraney/Doran and Fisher for Doumbouya & Vigurs if things don't improve.  The are rank at the back and there are goals in this for us.

[+jagster]

Can't disagree with much of that tbh. We are giving them far too much time on the ball. We need to force them higher up the park and I certainly don't think we are out of this. A big half required 

[Hiro]

Disappointing to lose that but on the bright side we are streets away from the turgid football we produced last season. We're setup to be so much more positive and it's moles better to watch. Still lacking a goalscorer though.  Would have thought that Doran has done enough for a start next week.

[us2]

nice to see that rangers still singing banned songs and ripping seats apart sfa need to act but they won't

[bdu98196]

Willie Collum is a disgrace, usually he's awful for both teams but tonight his incompetence could be seen as bias.

Before the game I said we needed to play king mulraney and fisher to get in behind their slow defence but the starting line up failed to do that, but once we changed in the 2nd half I thought we looked really dangerous znd had them pegged back. Unfortunately I think RF got it a wee bit wrong tonight and some players let him down. But Mckay played well at CB and Tremarco made some great last ditch tackles with Draper covering everywhere as usual.

Vigurs yet again showed no heart or desire again and let the game pass him by, with Doran fit there really can't be many reasons to play Vigurs now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Caley Mad In Berks]

Disappointing.  Every time I get all my local Englandshire friends fired up to watch us, we let ourselves down.  But, fair play, that was a goal worthy of winning any match.  We looked sharper with  Mulraney and Doran on . Should have got them on earlier imo.  Probably OFW our best player again.  One stunning save and several other good ones. But, overall, we were definitely second best on the night.  

Hoping for better things next week

[tm4tj]

Vigurs was playing 

[+DoofersDad]

Overall the league's newcomers were worthy winners and looked to be a pretty decent side.  They kept possession well and were always looking to break forward quickly.  But we played well too,  Defensively we were pretty solid and if truth be told, we created the better chances and created enough to have won the game. Mulraney and Doran both provided a real threat when they came on and will surely get more game time soon.  We will certainly play worse this season and win. 

The difference was in the finishing.   Gilt edged chances were missed by our two strikers at either end of the game that you would expect a street league striker to bury.  We had other chances but Foderingham was never seriously troubled.  At the other end, Fon Williams was called into action a few times from less good chances and Miller's  goal was a finish of real quality.    

It is always disappointing to lose but I hope those "occasional" supporters who helped to get the crowd over 7000 will have enjoyed the game and will come back again.  Despite the disappointment of losing it was a thoroughly enjoyable game and a world away from the sterile negative football of last season.  It was good to see a sizeable number of fans standing to applaud the team off the field at the end.despite having lost.  That didn't happen last season.

 

[forresjags]

Thought we were pretty poor tonight good start and a decent finish but for 60 minutes looked for route one which failed miserably.

We are certainly better than that performance.

Some decent performances Draper, Warren and Mackay some not so good .

Think Mulraney due a run of games we were really lacking pace tonight

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

FON WILLIAMS 7/10 – No chance with the goal but look assured and kept us in it, although he did not really have that much to do.

RAVEN 6/10 – Worried when I heard of his inclusion but he was more like the Raven of old.

WARREN 6/10 – Worries me with his undisciplined impetuousness at times. Warriors do not put themselves at risk and do not take one for the team when there is cover.

McKAY 5/10 – Lucky not to be dismissed. Went for balls that were never his. Clearly a better full back.

TREMARCO  7/10 – Continues to be solid and consistent. Never given a chance of being an attacking option.

POLWORTH 6/10 – I simply cannot believe that he is being played wide right. Drifted inside most of the night and was culpable at not giving Raven cover on quite a few occasions.

TANSEY 5/10 – Scored him lower as he feckin annoys me. It was probably a 6 ½ out of 10 but why did he keep his best display of the season to the Showroom game.

VIGURS 5/10 – Almost the same comment as Tansey. Appeared to make more effort tonight than he has done for weeks.

KING 5/10 – Followed up from a disappointing game at Hamilton to another. Clearly right footed and not looking comfortable wide left.

DRAPER 8/10 – My MOM for again filling in so many positions in one night – even taking over the main striker role in the second half. He showed his frustration by dropping too deep at times.

DOUMBOUYA 3/10 – Thought that he was shocking even giving him a let off for the glaring 3^rd minute miss. Simply does not appear to be Premiership quality. No real pace, won little in the air and allowed himself to be bullied.

MULRANEY / DORAN 6/10 each – Have clearly staked the claims to start next game.

FISHER 4/10 – Missed another chance at glory. My preference to start as he is more mobile, pacier and better in the air – What the feck more does he need !!

[scottwhat]

Been going to the odd Caley game for a while now since moving up here. Never posted on here before, but after tonight's game I feel very mixed - positive that we could have won the match against a very good Rangers side, but frustrated that the reasons I think we didn't may not be addressed.

in summary, we looked good early on because we passed out from the back, kept the ball and forced gaps to appear. Rangers had quality players and they reacted by seriously upping their game; we did well to go in at half time only 0-1 down, and that is no discredit to Caley, more a credit to Rangers. I understand why we started hoofing it at that stage - to clear imminent danger. Butt he second half was much more equal. Yet we continued to hoof it - not from imminent danger, but just in general. WHY? We could easily have drawn or even won this match if we had not seemingly changed our approach simply because Rangers went through the gears for a while.

A quick summary of the squad we have for me highlights some small changes I think could really make the difference.

Goalkeeper; Fon Williams has really come on leaps and bounds, and at his confident best his reactions are top notch. Needs to work a bit on distribution, but he is not alone in that.

Defence: In Tremarco, Warren and McKay we have 3 defenders who are easily capable of doing what we need them to do, but please, stop the hopeless hoofing when there is not an imminent threat. They're all capable enough on the ball. Raven looks as though his best days are behind him unfortunately.

Midfield: Tansey leads the troops well, if I have any criticism it is that he tries for glory a little too much - no denying though that when he does it gets the crowd going, and that can't be so bad. Draper alongside him is a perfect complement, when we play them together.

Forwards / Wingers: Mulraney can be frightening with his pace, but the end product is almost invariably lacking. Again, it may help if the ball was not hoofed at his head so often. Great to see Doran getting back to his best. Like Doran, Vigurs and King both have their moments - we have to accept that comes with the territory. My main frustration is with arguably the most talented player; Liam Polworth is capable of magic, sees things others do not and finds space where there is none. BUT, the work rate is seriously lacking. Loses the ball and doesn't help get it back, doesn't press, makes only aesthetic attempts to stop crosses. If he scored 40 goals a season, fine. But as it is, we play with 10 men without the ball in return for a few bits of magic once in a while. It WILL cost us if it hasn't already. Not good enough and such a waste of talent.

Strikers: I like Doumbouya. Reminds me of Ofere in that he can frustrate the life out of you as a supporter, but would you want to be marking him? Of course you wouldn't. I'd stick with him. Unlike Ofere, seems to have a reasonable work ethic too. I love Ross Draper, but not as a striker, and certainly not as a partner to Doumbuoya. He has fantastic qualities that we need, but I've seen ships turn faster than Draper in the final third. If we are going to play somebody off Doumbuoya, you need pace there. Either the wingers need to run past him or you need to play him with a pacey partner. I think Alex Fisher still needs time to be ready for that, but I would imagine the likes of Vigurs could cause some real damage some days with a bit more freedom to push on. Draper back in midfield alongside Tansey would be one step towards making me feel a lot easier about giving it to them.

[ictfcsince94]

Can't really argue with any of that IHE.

i think our decision making let us down a few times in the final 3rd as well, one in particular the Doran should have squared back to Polly and he went for the redic tight shot that was never really on.

Willie Gollum was pathetic! Is he really the best Scotland have to offer?! 

[12th Man]

Great goal by Kenny Miller, a bit unfortunate for us not to score but at least on recent form we are in the top 5 and still above Rangers.

http://www.soccerstats.com/formtable.asp?league=scotland

You could tell Rangers had a lot of quality about them but we still managed to put in a decent performance.

 

[Caley Mad In Berks]

Great crowd figure, especially for an evening, televised, game.  First time we've been over 7000 for about 6 years, and the 18th time (I think) at the Tulloch. (8 v Celtic, 7 v Rangers, 2 v Aberdeen and 1 v Hibs).

We'll be lucky to see half of last night's figure next week v Killie!

[12th Man]

 

15 minutes ago, Caley Mad In Berks said:

Great crowd figure, especially for an evening, televised, game.  First time we've been over 7000 for about 6 years, and the 18th time (I think) at the Tulloch. (8 v Celtic, 7 v Rangers, 2 v Aberdeen and 1 v Hibs).

We'll be lucky to see half of last night's figure next week v Killie!

 Yes but the turnout for Killie won't be closet Rangers fans.

Good cash boost for the club all the same.

 

Edited October 15, 2016 by 12th Man

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I blame the merger

[Ronaldo]

A reasonable performance all round but I think any other team in the league would have scored against them last night

[tm4tj]

Terrible first half from the moment Doumbouya missed that header. I did not realise Vigurs was playing until about half an hour when he fouled someone. We afforded them the freedom of the park in the first 45. Tansey sprayed passes all over the place, unfortunately most found Rangers players. Second half we pressed higher and made a fist of it, but never looked like scoring. Should have done better with two or three opportunities but we passed them up. Tremendous goal to win it, nothing we can do about that.

Pretty disappointing performance overall. Once again, too much respect given. So much for having a go at them from the start. Fortress Longman. More like a sand castle with the school bully kicking it to pieces.

[wynthank15]

If we are going to press high which we did you cannot allow their midfielder to drop deep, receive the ball from the keeper and turn, which is what they did all night. Our midfielder has to go with his man. The result was we were caught short up the park with Raven having an extra man to mark on numerous occasions. Either commit to the press or sit in. To be fair we were much better second half.

That said we had the two best chances on the night and should have at the very least hit the target with both. Doumbouya is not up to it at this level and useless in the air for such a tall man, Vigurs  whom I am a fan of needs to work much harder defensively. Both subs had an impact, Draper did the work of two men and Tremarco had an excellent match. If we could only find a quality striker we would have a very decent side. With our budget this has always been the problem as we can't retain our strikers when they succeed ie Wyness, Dargo, Rooney, Mackay, Watkins etc I think we will be better next time the teams meet for having played against the Rangers system which they don't change.

[Eagle4Caley]

Rather disappointing, we started brightly then after 10mins or so it rather fell to pieces, Doumbouya very isolated, and Rangers just did what they had to better than us.....once I heard Kenny Miller was on 99goals for them I kinda knew he was going to score...to be fair it was a great effort, but finishing was the difference between the sides as Doumbouya and Fisher both had decent chances in space. Thought the defence was pretty good, we were hardly battered although OFW pulled off a fine save to keep out a second. Is it me or does Warren (and Draper) pick up cards rather too easily? Mckay was decent at CB but was also a bit rash a couple of times, lucky to stay on. Game changed a bit with Mulraney and Doran coming on and for the last 20mins there seemed every chance we could get an equaliser, but our finishing let us down. Terrific crowd as well for a Friday night match on the box, are there a lot of locals who support Rangers?

[RiG]

Massively disappointed with ICT last night. Didn't think much of Rangers who, whilst dominating most of the first half, didn't look overly threatening for much of the game. That said, we offered so little in the final third that it's hard to say we really deserved more than what we got. Doumbouya, Fisher and Boden are all much of a muchness. I'd trade all three for one month of having Billy Mckay back at the club. The misses from Doumbouya and Fisher were awful and I thought the former had a poor game overall seldom winning the ball in the air and struggling to hold the ball up when it was played to him. Given the weakness in the centre of the Rangers defence I was disappointed we never tried to test that more.

We seemed to have more success stretching the Rangers defence when Doran and Mulraney came on and we played with proper wide players. As discussed above and at length in the previous ICT match threads I really don/t understand why Foran plays Polworth out on the flanks given his propensity to come infield and leave his defender exposed. We saw this last season when Horner got roasted against Dundee United and it still seems to happen now. He looked much more assured in the middle against Dundee when Mulraney started on the flank but then against Hamilton his influence on the game was significantly curtailed to accommodate the returning Vigurs who hasn't had a good game since the hat trick against the Pars in the League Cup. Hopefully next week we'll see Mulraney and Doran in the side as King was again poor despite a decent start.

Rangers looked decent in the first half, very slick passing and really quick when attacking. They seemed to have a lot of space to go at us especially in the middle of the pitch where Vigurs and Tansey were often absent.  Cracking strike by Miller. missed it at the time due to some fat Rangers fans being chucked out of the home end for starting on ICT fans - classic - but having seen the highlights it was a smashing hit. 

I thought Fon Williams did okay for most of the game. Cracking save to stop Rangers going two up and he didn't seem overly troubled in the second half. Tremarco and mckay had good games I thought and the aforementioned Doran looked lively when he came on and he seemed to kick start a wave of attacks for ICT in the second half. Just a shame his final pass or shot was the wrong decision almost every time! 

Cringing at the ICT fans who took along an Ireland flag tot he game to wind up the Rangers support. It seemed to work as one of the fans in the West 'Stand' tried to vault over the barriers and fight the fans with the flag. I guess they could say it was for Foran but the "Up the RA" chant was pathetic and quickly shouted down by other fans in the immediate vicinity which was good.