matchday thread Inverness CT -V- Rangers

[davieB]

Hugely disappointing performance, especially the first half. We stood do far off them and just let them dictate the game. It was just crying out for someone to put in a crunching tackle and close them down quicker. In saying that, I was impressed with their movement and speed, although we made them look a lot better than they actually are., 

Much better second half, although I never really felt we might get an equaliser. The two missed headers aside, we created little. And to be fair, if they'd had a bit more composure in front of goal it could've been worse. Oh well, onwards and upwards. 

On another note, I never realised how big Kranjcar is! And class with it too. The guy breezed through the game and all their movement came through him. Even at whatever age he is now, he's head and shoulders above anyone else I've seen this year. 

[Huisdean]

Cannot believe some of the posts on the game. I thought we played pretty well for the most part and could/should have got a point at least which would have been deserved. We did need more pace and it was noticeable that our best spell came when Doran and Mulraney  introduced. I don't think we can afford to play Vigurs and Polworth together the way we are playing this season as neither are good at providing defensive support so to play them both is a luxury we cannot afford. Genuinely think Polworth needs to be the one to drop out as he is not playing well (as is Vigurs but I think Vigurs can provide that extra bit of class we sometimes need).

On another night things will go better for us but a special mention to Ross Draper who was immense for us. Where would be without him.

On other matters, someone has already mentioned the so called ICT fans waving a tricolour. These idiots are not fans and should be ashamed of themselves ( in case anyone responds with this was done to support our manager/Irish players, why was this not done previously?). I also take it Rangers FC do not understand irony. Cars stating give racism the red card displayed by both teams at the start then RFC fans proceed to sing racist and bigoted songs all evening with no sanction. When will the SFA/SPFL grow some balls and actually take some action against the clubs for this. Although a good crowd last night, very noticeable the number of rangers supporters in the main stand, three in front of me who hardly uttered anything all night but gave me dirty looks when shouting on ICT and criticising Rangers.

Finally, Willie Collum. How is this clown still a referee at this level. Last night, he gave fouls that nobody else saw, missed blatant fouls, for both teams, played advantage for Rangers on every occasion yet stopped us twice when we had good potential breaks on. Marked reluctance to caution Rangers players early on yet no hesitation in booking Tansey. Maybe he should dress up as a clown to match his persona.

[Robert]

After pressing and chasing everything at the start, we gave Rangers too much space and time and I felt we were lucky to just be one down at the break. 

Second half much better and we could have won a point with better finishing. That said, the best team on the night won, and whilst the referee was poor, that did not change the outcome.

Fon Williams did well, but perhaps more varied distribution would have helped, rather than aiming for Doumbouya.

Raven did ok in my eyes, Tremarco is becoming consistently good, Warren and Mckay had their moments but stuck to the task despite being booked.

Polworth out of position is not working, and disappointed in Vigurs. Tansey played some decent balls but not influential enough on the whole. King has his moments, but may be better as an impact player coming off the bench or playing on the right. Draper good again, but I was right in line with his challenge late on and he was lucky not to be sent off.

Rangers neutralised Doumbouya and I'd have but Fisher on earlier. Both had horror headers though!

Doran and Mulraney lively and deserve a start.

Next week I'd start Doran, Mulraney and Fisher, in place of King, Vigurs and Doumbouya.

A lot to be positive about though, and hopefully three points against Killie!

[CaleyD]

 

[CaleyD]

 

[Robert]

And despite the defeat, up a place this weekend and above County!

[ictfcsince94]

Was initially disappointed last night, and thought we'd been hopeless and were lucky to just come out at 1-0 down. But I've just watched the hour-long highlights on by sport, and actually a draw would've been fair. We finished much stronger as Richie said, but why do we have to go a goal down to get started? And too much negative backwards passing again, why is .that rearing its ugly head again? 

If we had taken our chances we could've come out winners! And losing to a goal like that isn't as painful as it would be if it was a soft goal. Just a shame we're going to see so much of it in the goal of the month polls!!

And don't even get me started with the scum fans in the home end!! I don't know what the club/stewards can do to avoid this, especially when they aren't wearing colours, but these jokers need outed at every opportunity! #fanpower 

hearing rumours of damage to the south stand....any 'leaked' pictures of this? Or at least confirmation it happened. 

[RednBlackComeback]

What a pleasant Friday evening enjoying the presence of the visiting rangers fans. How I've missed their unique brand of religious bigotry and hatred! Though quite how they managed to fit through the turnstiles with the massive chips on their shoulders is anybody's guess? Special mention also to the authorities who continue to turn a deaf ear to the spouted bile.

Anyway, to the match itself, commenced after a minute silence impeccably and respectfully observed by every Inverness fan for the passing of rangers fan ryan baird, and after a good first 10-15 minutes when we should have scored we fell out of the game and rangers bossed us for the remainder of the first half and deservedly went in at HT 1-0 up.

Second half saw an improved Inverness performance, especially after our double substitution, and we were unfortunate not to level the match. We had just one corner in the whole game but had we had more I'm sure we'd have scored one goal at least against a fairly average rangers defence. 

Ultimately a disappointing night but not disastrous, and results today went in our favour too ;-)

[Row S]

1 hour ago, RednBlackComeback said:

What a pleasant Friday evening enjoying the presence of the visiting rangers fans. How I've missed their unique brand of religious bigotry and hatred! Though quite how they managed to fit through the turnstiles with the massive chips on their shoulders is anybody's guess? Special mention also to the authorities who continue to turn a deaf ear to the spouted bile.

Anyway, to the match itself, commenced after a minute silence impeccably and respectfully observed by every Inverness fan for the passing of rangers fan ryan baird, and after a good first 10-15 minutes when we should have scored we fell out of the game and rangers bossed us for the remainder of the first half and deservedly went in at HT 1-0 up.

Second half saw an improved Inverness performance, especially after our double substitution, and we were unfortunate not to level the match. We had just one corner in the whole game but had we had more I'm sure we'd have scored one goal at least against a fairly average rangers defence. 

Ultimately a disappointing night but not disastrous, and results today went in our favour too ;-)

That pretty much sums up how I felt too.

It would have been more insulting to the Brit loving hoards of Rancid fans if a Scottish Saltire had been displayed instead of an Irish Triclour. As well as the sectarian bile they were singing there was a fair amount of anti Scottish stuff in there too. I wasn't pleased there were so many of them in amongst the home crowd either but I suppose taking money off them is payback to our club's coffers.

[CableGuy]

Overall, it was not the worst night performance wise, typically Rangers looked to have upped their game both Defensively and Attacking which wasn't ideal for us. Watched the highlights back tonight, didn't see at the time just how open Doumbouya was and to be honest that should have been either in the back of the net or at the very worst saved by Foderingham. That could have altered the whole dynamic of the game at that point. This I feel is where once again, we are struggling, a confident clear cut striker. I genuinely don't believe that Doumbouya is what we have to rely on, he's not quick or nimble enough and although good at winning the ball in the air he's clearly not yet up to speed confidence wise. Fisher would appear to be the better of the 2, but frustratingly it was always Boden that "looked" the part of the goalscorer, smaller, quicker and potentially direct. In reality he's been none of these, and even watching him in warm up before the game, he's got the look of a player on his way out the door. I cant see him ever being the player I hoped he would be. As others have said, Doran and Mulraney changed the pace of the game and I really hope both get a start against Kilmarnock. Vigurs seems to pick and choose when to perform and frankly is really starting to annoy me. Rangers looked a decent side on Friday, but I really feel we made them look a lot better than they actually were and could and should have hurt them more than we did. Once again it was left far too late to mount a credible attack, and if only we'd stamped our authority on them earlier in the first half, we could have given ourselves a real fighting chance at taking the lead 

[The Long Man]

yes, unfortunately Doumbaya was feeble, and doesn't look good enough for this level. I was also very dissatisfied with his work rate. When Fisher came on, the difference was immediate. He started harrying the keeper and the back four, pressing them into making mistakes from which we could win the ball higher up the field. Indeed a couple of our attacks started this way. Prior to that, they had a leisurely time passing the ball out without challenge. We stood off them too much after they scored, although they have got pace and were far more accurate in passing than us. When Dorran and Mulraney came on, the game was transformed as we started running at them and giving them problems. We need to sort out that midfield and give it some shape. It's very hard to discern where Vigurs, Polworth and King were supposed to be, and what their role was.

Edited October 16, 2016 by The Long Man

[forresjags]

No idea why Boden has fallen out of favour, but lets be honest he should still be given a chance to stake a claim.

The 2 that are playing at the moment have got a couple of goals between them, hardly prolific.

 

 

[RiG]

Don't really get this desire that some fans have of the main forward chasing after the ball when it goes back to the keeper and across the back line. Given how easily Rangers were passing the ball by us and carving us apart in the first half having Doumbouya charge out of position to try and get near the ball would only expose those behind him. Far better to keep the shape of the side than run about like headless chickens.

If Doumbouya goes thundering in then that leaves a lot of space in behind him (something which Rangers seemed quite good at exploiting) which would likely require another player to come out of position to cover. Fair enough when you are chasing the game towards the end of the match. 

Edited October 18, 2016 by RiG

[The Long Man]

That's a complete mischaracterising of what is being said. No one is talking about headless chickens. It is called the pressing game, as practised by more than few leading clubs. It does not mean playing out of position or leaving gaps. Fisher did a good job, and made a significant difference by doing exactly that.

[RiG]

9 hours ago, The Long Man said:

That's a complete mischaracterising of what is being said. No one is talking about headless chickens. It is called the pressing game, as practised by more than few leading clubs. It does not mean playing out of position or leaving gaps. Fisher did a good job, and made a significant difference by doing exactly that.

Earlier in the game Rangers were passing straight through us exploiting gaps in the midfield and between our defence and Tansey, Vigurs etc in the middle of the pitch. It made much more sense to sit off them a little bit more and try and plug the gaps in middle of the pitch that they were finding so easily and make it harder for them to play through us. If you start asking the players to press the opponents then that by default creates space for the opposition and Rangers looked very useful at exploiting that space on Friday. Fisher came on at a totally different point in the game where we had to go and take more risks and press much higher up the pitch. It did get some results but at times we also found ourselves susceptible to a Rangers counter attack as well. It would have been a very risky approach to adopt at a point of the game when Rangers were well on top.

Edited October 19, 2016 by RiG

[ictfcsince94]

1 hour ago, RiG said:

Earlier in the game Rangers were passing straight through us exploiting gaps in the midfield and between our defence and Tansey, Vigurs etc in the middle of the pitch. It made much more sense to sit off them a little bit more and try and plug the gaps in middle of the pitch that they were finding so easily and make it harder for them to play through us. If you start asking the players to press the opponents then that by default creates space for the opposition and Rangers looked very useful at exploiting that space on Friday. Fisher came on at a totally different point in the game where we had to go and take more risks and press much higher up the pitch. It did get some results but at times we also found ourselves susceptible to a Rangers counter attack as well. It would have been a very risky approach to adopt at a point of the game when Rangers were well on top.

Speaking to some of the players on Monday night, one of the problems they had was that The Rangers midfield were rotating their positions, so our guys were getting dragged out of position/not able to latch onto a player to effectively press.  The desire and game plan was to press, but this was negated by what The Rangers were able to do in midfiled.

[RiG]

Yup, you have to give credit to Rangers for the way they played. I don't like saying that but they did really well in the first half. We were bamboozled at points with their very neat and rapid interplay. Holt, McKay and Krancjar looked pretty good. Still think that we'll have a better time of things against Killie this weekend.

[The Long Man]

Interesting points. My version of pressing is not leave any space, but to deny them the space by not giving them time to find their passes. However, good insight from ictfc that they had planned to do that but were outplayed - you do have to acknowledge that Rangers were fast and accurate in their movement. My concern was that we let them run at us without disruption, although our backline were heroic in keeping them out (as well as some rotten finishing from them). I am sure it is a good learning experience for Foran and the players, and we can take some comfort from the fact that we nearly got a point. But we do have to sort out our best attacking option.

[PerfICT]

The pressing game can be very effective, but requires full team effort and enormous concentration: One player switches off and the game is up. The sitting game requires less effort and can be hard to break down - equally, it can lead to a very boring game. The very best can flick between the two systems at will - with pressing spells interspersed with sitting spells to give the players a break. I think Barcelona under Gaurdiola gave themselves 6 seconds to win back the ball with a high press and then settled into a sitting pattern if unsuccessful.

 

So, you pays your money and takes your choice: Very few if any teams can press for the whole 90 min and you do leave gaps, while watching 2 sitting teams can be ditchwater to watch.

Edited October 19, 2016 by PerfICT

[12th Man]

Just wanted to mention that I saw a black leather glove falling to the ground on the way home, after the the Rangers match.  There were too many in the vicinity to start randomly asking people if they had dropped a glove.

I Noticed that it's still there on the way to the Killy match and its under the Kessock Bridge, just off of the path on the New Century House side .

 

Edited October 22, 2016 by 12th Man

[RiG]

I was reading a couple of pieces on the excellent, albeit somewhat dry, TheInsideChannel website. 

http://theinsidechannel.com/a-guide-to-mauricio-pochettinos-tactics-at-totteham-hotspur/

http://theinsidechannel.com/guide-pressing-soccer-tactics/

Worth a wee read.

[The Long Man]

Very interesting. I hope Richie is doing some studying