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Another typical ICT performance from this season showcasing perfectly why we will continue to struggle - a porous, error strewn defence and an utterly toothless attack. We're currently conceding about 2 goals per game on average and our attack simply isn't good enough to get three goals. We're not in the Paterson days any more.

Whilst not really knowing much about Livi or their players individually I was really impressed with (cliche alert) how well organised they were. Whilst we had a lot of the ball we seldom seemed to trouble Livi who looked really comfortable sitting back a wee bit, inviting us on to them and trying to get us to break them down. We did create a couple of excellent chances to score but this tended to be the exception rather than the norm. For the majority of the game Livi defended well and easily kept us at bay. In the first few moments Vigurs played in Baird who shot right at the keeper and in the second half Polworth cut in from the flank and drove a ball across goal evading Bell and Baird. These were perhaps the best chances we created during the course of the game. Even the goal by Bell was somewhat fortunate as, looking at the highlights, it seems to be more of a cross than anything else.

The three Livi goals had all the classic hallmarks of ICT defending this season. Got a set piece to take? We don't defend it. Fancy whipping a cross into the box? We won't clear it properly. The opener was actually quite well worked by the Livi players in the box who pulled their markers (Warren and Trafford) all over the place and they ended up  running into each other freeing up Todorov to side foot in the first. The second, as mentioned above, comes from us failing to deal with a cross and Warren being asleep and standing much further back than the rest of his defence playing the Livi guy onside. Whilst the third, although another fantastic strike, is the result of even more atrocious defending from a set piece.

Warren.png

There were few bright spots for ICT yesterday. The midfield trio of Polworth, Vigurs and Trafford were reasonable enough but Vigurs and Trafford faded badly late into the second half. Bell, despite an energetic start, also dropped off as the game went on with very little going right for him when he tried to beat his man. Cooper was non existent, the defence all over the place again whilst up front Baird certainly works hard but seldom seems to be in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the net or fluffs a great chance. He reminds me of Mckay when he first signed for us. Sadly for ICT, Baird is not in his early twenties and we need him to be much more clinical now rather than after a season as we had with Mckay.

With each passing week the faint hope I had for us sneaking into the playoffs in 4th diminishes a little bit more and its clear that supporters are largely starting to drift away already. A shade over 2,000 fans yesterday should set bells ringing at the club. Last season our average attendance was something like 3,800 and whilst we won't enjoy the large away crowds this season as had in previous years its clear that several hundred home fans have deserted ICT since the summer. It really doesn't bode well for the future. 

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2 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

I only watched the highlights but look at the different post reactions to our goal and their three goals. :cry:

That was just weird. The reaction to equalising was muted - like the consolation goal in a 8-1 thrashing! There was more reaction after the offside goal. 

Defending for all three was appalling - too much space given to the opposition. 

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10 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

Unless he intends to use some of the younger lads. He said at the open night that we have some talented youngsters and if they are good enough they will be considered for the first team. 

If thats the case why not consider them earlier during pre-season as part of the squad and sign less but better quality (more money) experienced pro's rather than a lot of repeatedly failing jobbers. Sadly I think his interview is just saying the 'right' things for the sake of it, just like RF last year there are no big changes which will improve things, the quality is not there and its his signings at fault.

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Pass the ball back to the goalkeeper who hoofs it up the park to the smallest player on the park our centre forward . We where good to be fair for the first 10 minutes after that a team of strangers. We appear to be run by a bunch what Doris Rice do for his money?

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I think as Big Sam said " Respect the point", If we are to get out of trouble - play for the draw , and hope for a win,  maybe  an option, 

Do a John Hughes keep possession and not give the ball away. Desperate times call for a more conservative approach, maybe ?   One point from 9 at home is not  what any of us expected . 3 points from 9 away from home is still not acceptable.

I didn't boo at full time but a lot of people around me did.

It wasn't just a defeat it was a diabolical performance, dished out by an opponent that went about their business in a professional   workmanlike way. A team who had a plan, like Morton before  did against us.

We can't underestimate these teams. They might not have superstars, but they are well organised and will not give up.

I was impressed by  Livingston, they tackled hard, counter attacked  and basically made our life a misery.

My mind went back to last season and the Celtic match at home, how ICT was one of the only teams to get a result against the unbeaten champions, how have we sunk to this level I will never know.  

No point crying over spilt  milk , life must go on, I.C.T has to rise from the ashes and concentrate on a simple game and try to keep the ball or these teams in this league will have us for breakfast.

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Altogether  very poor stuff most of which has been talked about in prior posts,  What i would like to ask did anybody see Warren having a real go at Mackay during the first half? can't remember if it was after they scored but Warren raced across the 6 yd line to remonstrate with Brad about something he obviously didn't like!   the ref (fanny) took them both over for a talking to.

 

 

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Embarrassment, the longer this goes on the more detached I feel. I actually made my peace with relegation and was looking forward to a season of hopefully being one of the big dogs and showing the others how we do it. I realistically didn't see us getting a huge amount off DU Dunfermline and Falkirk but certainly seen Morton Brechin and livi as the sure wins, anything else a bonus. To be 6 games in and 1 point off the bottom is frankly disastrous. The problem I see is nothing changes and nothing can change, week in week out we field the same deadbeats we play the same type of football and make the same mistakes over and over. Robbo now talking about dropping various experienced players smacks of exactly the type of desperation Foran showed mid-season last year. It can't be a coincidence that we still can't get it right on the training pitch midweek, there has to be something rotten at training level. Is it that they now simply don't know what else to try,  would anyone else know... Is it something simple is it something fundamental? The bit that gets me every time I think back to the game preseason against Elgin, for lower league part time team they looked stronger, more confident, more agile, more tactfully aware and more willing to win. This amazed me at the time, but it would seem most of the teams around us now play like this and it's purely then on the day who takes their chances. We rarely do, and we can't defend to save our lives. I never thought id be saying this but Richie Foran must be sitting at home chuckling and feeling relieved that a certain portion of the heat and focus of failure is now off him, Yogi on the other hand must be having the biggest laugh of all. 

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42 minutes ago, caley100 said:

Altogether  very poor stuff most of which has been talked about in prior posts,  What i would like to ask did anybody see Warren having a real go at Mackay during the first half? can't remember if it was after they scored but Warren raced across the 6 yd line to remonstrate with Brad about something he obviously didn't like!   the ref (fanny) took them both over for a talking to.

 

 

Yeah I saw that it was before anyone scored. They were both in our penalty box after a Livi attack & then Warren just lost it with Mackay pointing at him & then pointing to certain positions in the box probably telling him to defend better & stop leaving him in the lurch. Brad looked like he did not appreciate what Warren had said to him & started giving some of his own words back it looked pretty heated & they both looked pretty pissed off with each other can't imagine what it must be like in the changing rooms!

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There have been some great games between these 2 clubs over the years, but yesterday was not one of them. The standard of football was higher in the Pele / Leishman days. Livi had players who looked half a stone overweight, and played like a pub team for the majority of the 90 minutes, their tactics seemingly consisting of parking the bus, hoofing the ball out the park - or lining it at best. Fair play though, it was good enough to win comfortably yesterday. They were well organized, hard working, and played to their strengths.

Inverness have too many players low on confidence and unwilling to take responsibility with the ball. Vigurs apart, everyone seems to want to play it safe all the time. Take a man on, gamble with a risky pass, have a dig - it's not as if we're up against Sergio Ramos and Manuel Neuer at this level, know what I mean? The more questions you ask, the more errors your opponents will make. That's where the majority of goals come from at this level - defensive errors. Let's stop trying to score the perfect goal all the time.

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7 minutes ago, Super Caley Man 94 said:

Yeah I saw that it was before anyone scored. They were both in our penalty box after a Livi attack & then Warren just lost it with Mackay pointing at him & then pointing to certain positions in the box probably telling him to defend better & stop leaving him in the lurch. Brad looked like he did not appreciate what Warren had said to him & started giving some of his own words back it looked pretty heated & they both looked pretty pissed off with each other can't imagine what it must be like in the changing rooms!

Our central defensive 'has-been' and our 'never will be' falling out on the pitch. Tremendous!!!  

Let's replace them with Elsdon and Donaldson next week then?

Oh no, we really are f***ed!!!

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On 9/16/2017 at 11:43 PM, Northern_jaggie said:

I'm sorry but anyone who states on this forum that any of Vigurs, Trafford and Cooper deserve a start in this ICT team need a WORD WITH THEMSELVES!! Vigurs especially was utter mince, how on earth can anyone defend such an inept performance. I can only think they forget the 80% of the game he doesn't perform for the tiny flashes he produces. The missed passes, flaky tackles and off the ball positioning was unforgivable. I made a point of watching him after reading some criticism, but the pundits are right. Look at our run of form when he is in the team. Polworth drove forward with intent but didn't have the ability to do anything at all useful as an end product. That is a terminal failure and he is destined for the likes of Elgin City. Bell looked good in the first half because he was fit enough to run about, he died in the second half. Warren was past it two seasons ago and he didn't even look like a footballer today. Brad Mackay, if you watch it back, didn't event lift his head to look where he was putting the ball and his distribution was so bad.  Positives for Ridgers and Raven today especially in the first half, Carl wasn't afforded enough time to make a difference and Oakley looked like misplaced enthusiasm. Trafford didn't make a positive pass or take a shot all day. 

I was shocked when viewing the warm up to see crosses being put into the box hit towards a striker only to see an empty net hardly rippled once despite several attempts, there were no defenders included as part of the exercise. Wow, what a sight. 

2k crowd all disappointed today. I cant blame Robbo, he is trying to mould a pot from sharn. 

A team with Doran, Tremarco and an on form Mulraney will make a slight difference. 

I believe both Trafford and Vigurs deserve a start in this ICT team. What better alternatives were you thinking of ?

     

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I noticed on the news today, John Hartson is a coach at Livingston . No wonder Livingston  played so well, with John in the background urging them on 

We could do with a personality like him to inspire our guys, I feel

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On 9/16/2017 at 11:43 PM, Northern_jaggie said:

I'm sorry but anyone who states on this forum that any of Vigurs, Trafford and Cooper deserve a start in this ICT team need a WORD WITH THEMSELVES!! Vigurs especially was utter mince, how on earth can anyone defend such an inept performance. I can only think they forget the 80% of the game he doesn't perform for the tiny flashes he produces. The missed passes, flaky tackles and off the ball positioning was unforgivable. I made a point of watching him after reading some criticism, but the pundits are right. Look at our run of form when he is in the team. Polworth drove forward with intent but didn't have the ability to do anything at all useful as an end product. That is a terminal failure and he is destined for the likes of Elgin City. Bell looked good in the first half because he was fit enough to run about, he died in the second half. Warren was past it two seasons ago and he didn't even look like a footballer today. Brad Mackay, if you watch it back, didn't event lift his head to look where he was putting the ball and his distribution was so bad.  Positives for Ridgers and Raven today especially in the first half, Carl wasn't afforded enough time to make a difference and Oakley looked like misplaced enthusiasm. Trafford didn't make a positive pass or take a shot all day. 

I was shocked when viewing the warm up to see crosses being put into the box hit towards a striker only to see an empty net hardly rippled once despite several attempts, there were no defenders included as part of the exercise. Wow, what a sight. 

2k crowd all disappointed today. I cant blame Robbo, he is trying to mould a pot from sharn. 

A team with Doran, Tremarco and an on form Mulraney will make a slight difference. 

Vigurs did nothing, sorry? Who slipped a cracking ball to Bell for our goal? 

Polworth - Some numpty slagged him off in the North Stand near the end and told him to 'look like you give a f**k'  

Well we'll be a lot worse off without both the above next season when they sign PCA's or leave at the end of the season due to the d**kheads who slag off two of our best and pretty much only decent players.

Ridgers - Does he realise he CAN come out of his six yard box and try and win the ball? He is totally useless and has no presence in the box. Can I go in goal next Saturday as I would do better!!!!

As for Mulraney, what does he do but run with the ball a bit, fall over and get stupid bookings. He certainly has had hardly any assists, and what comes round more often, Haley's Comet or a Mulraney goal????

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On 17/09/2017 at 12:44 PM, Laurence said:

I think as Big Sam said " Respect the point", If we are to get out of trouble - play for the draw , and hope for a win,  maybe  an option, 

Do a John Hughes keep possession and not give the ball away. Desperate times call for a more conservative approach, maybe ?   One point from 9 at home is not  what any of us expected . 3 points from 9 away from home is still not acceptable.

I didn't boo at full time but a lot of people around me did.

It wasn't just a defeat it was a diabolical performance, dished out by an opponent that went about their business in a professional   workmanlike way. A team who had a plan, like Morton before  did against us.

We can't underestimate these teams. They might not have superstars, but they are well organised and will not give up.

I was impressed by  Livingston, they tackled hard, counter attacked  and basically made our life a misery.

My mind went back to last season and the Celtic match at home, how ICT was one of the only teams to get a result against the unbeaten champions, how have we sunk to this level I will never know.  

No point crying over spilt  milk , life must go on, I.C.T has to rise from the ashes and concentrate on a simple game and try to keep the ball or these teams in this league will have us for breakfast.

Lawrence as a fellow BOG resident you answered your own question. JH's team kept possession because without the ball the opposition can't hurt you. That's how he managed to get results with a huge injury list in his last season. RF had no idea and ditched the fundamentals which JH had instilled in the squad. The players may have overdone it at times but the basics were sound.

Some of our support may be understanding this now

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14 hours ago, wynthank15 said:

Lawrence as a fellow BOG resident you answered your own question. JH's team kept possession because without the ball the opposition can't hurt you. That's how he managed to get results with a huge injury list in his last season. RF had no idea and ditched the fundamentals which JH had instilled in the squad. The players may have overdone it at times but the basics were sound.

Some of our support may be understanding this now

We were terrible in his last season at times. Winning 4 out of 5 after the split put a gloss on the season that was probably undeserved over the piece. 

While retaining possession makes it harder for the opposition to score as they don't have the ball, our implementation was often flawed. In attack we were so ponderous that the opposition were able to constantly reorganise behind the ball. In defence, opponents pressed us in our defensive third and waited for the inevitable mistake. 

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People are blinded by Vigurs. One decent pass is cancelled by many many other mistakes. Polly runs like forest gump and runs out of ideas. Is it a coincidence these two have been integral to the team since our demise?? 

You are right though Caman, moaning at players whilst in the ground doesn't help confidence amongst the players. There is no need for that language on here. 

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Vigurs played really well in the first half hour. As well as the ball for the goal, he also played a bute in for Baird in the first minute - these are the kind of killer passes that should win games - and this praise from Vigurs biggest critic last year (when he was truly mince, except for the last few games).

Polworth at least shows some heart: With about 10 minutes left, he charged back from an attacking pisition to put in a challenge on the edge of our box, while everybody else gave Livi the freedom of the park.

Trafford, Vigurs and Polworth would be my first picks on the teamsheet. The rest are the problem...

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On ‎19‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 7:49 PM, wynthank15 said:

Lawrence as a fellow BOG resident you answered your own question. JH's team kept possession because without the ball the opposition can't hurt you. That's how he managed to get results with a huge injury list in his last season. RF had no idea and ditched the fundamentals which JH had instilled in the squad. The players may have overdone it at times but the basics were sound.

Some of our support may be understanding this now

To be perfectly honest, I felt  that under JH we overdid the slow build up. Not because it wasn't affective  but once teams realised what we were doing they crunch tackled us hard  knowing the ball wasn't going to be played forward quickly.  That caused a lot of the injuries you refer too. 

I didn't know you lived nearby, If you call in I have whiskey in the jar, as they  say - next to Andersons. You can put me straight on my debatable tactics ?

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