Having not been able to attend many games these days, due to family commitments.........i feel slightly blessesd to be spared this long ball crap being served up anytime i make it to a game.

Now....there are Crows that have mastered if something isnt working, to change tact, to solve a puzzle to win a peanut. So why cant ICT players realise the same. Yesterday..it was a mostly a long punt up the park to the forwards. This is OK SOMETIMES......but not 90% of the time. Watch Match OF The Day, and you will see that the top teams play mostly ball to feet and create a lot of chances that way. Coincidentally, I observed yesterday that our best chances were created when we played the ball to feet too!

I was actually going to start a thread on the same thing and I have to agree with the OP. This long ball garbage that ICT have resorted to since Brew returned is for me, one of the things that cost ICT relegation. It's also interesting to note that ICT seem to create more chances when the ball is on the deck. This could clearly be seen yesterday. Butcher has said that he wants to "win ugly", well from what I could see, playing ugly football does nothing but bring ugly results for ICT, but that's part of his game plan and he's done that almost all the clubs he managed.

There times when the long ball stuff can work. Obviously going all out for an equaliser in the last minute of the cup final would be a prime example, but the way ICT go into every game with this mindset IMO does more harm than good, with Munro being the main culprit. Time to punt the punt, and bring back attacking football.

If we maintain current form then we are on target to win the league and people are calling for changes to the way we're playing?

Bizarre!!!!

Projected final table based on current form. Check the Projected Points based on recent form column.

Edited March 21, 201016 yr by Caley

These projected tables mean squat IMO. The focus at the moment should only be on Airdire. I'm in agreement though that it's much better to keep the ball on the deck. There was some decent passing at points yesterday in the second half. Long ball stuff just doesn't cut it.

These projected tables mean squat IMO. The focus at the moment should only be on Airdire. I'm in agreement though that it's much better to keep the ball on the deck. There was some decent passing at points yesterday in the second half. Long ball stuff just doesn't cut it.

completely agree with that

If we maintain current form then we are on target to win the league and people are calling for changes to the way we're playing?

Bizarre!!!!

Exactly, we haven't always been playing this long ball malarky. We need to change BACK to keeping it on the deck. I think it's only started to creep into the team over the past few games going by what people have been saying (haven't seen us play since Killie). We need to get back to playing the way we were.

The derby was always going to be a tense affair. I found the game to be totally enthralling, but then again maybe I'm easily enthralled.

Lets not beat about the bush, County are a good side. Are they better than us, probably not. Will they win the league, probably not. Are they good enough to win the league, yes. Do they have the depth of squad to do it, probably not. The if's and but's are endless.

We all agree that our long ball game is not what we really want to see. If we had scored from a route one approach on Saturday I doubt many would have been complaining.

Others have commented on us being unable to do well against the top sides in the league. The only team that we have not matched or beaten in the league is County, and therein lies the problem.

Others have questiones our ability to win handsomely. Well, we have the top goal difference in the league after a shakey start. Look at practically every league in Britain and the team with the best goal difference are usually the winners, the team with the worst are usually bottom and very few teams are out of line between top and bottom, it's almost like drawing a graph where the figures are from positive to negative.

It's an uncannily straight line graph from best to worst, or arrow from top to bottom.

Variety though, is the spice of life.

If we maintain current form then we are on target to win the league and people are calling for changes to the way we're playing?

Bizarre!!!!

Could not agree more...

I want ICT to be back in the SPL next season and quite frankly don't really care how we do it! I'll take a 1-0 win in every match from now until the end the season from a long ball quite happily.

It's in our own hands now and people want to change things?! Madness. Personally I thought Butcher got it tactically spot on for the County game. After Morton he realised how much we miss Foran and the way he holds the ball up and brings Rooney in to things, knew how much damage a loss would do to our title hopes and sent a team and tactics out to achieve a result. If we'd nicked it, great, but we didn't lose and that was mission accomplished.

A team will normally play to the teams strengths. Rooney has a good level of pace, so the long punt can be quite successful for us, sometimes. Think Adam has scored quite a few from the long balls over the top this season, and missed a good few too. But yes if Johnny Hayes has a few decent touched early on it is far more pleasing on the eye for him to do a Messi down the wing, with a cross or coming inside to link up well.

But if Ryan Esson scores the first tomorrow night with a panic clearance from a bad back pass, or Foran finishes of a 25 pass finish, I think I will cheer just as loudly at this stage of the season.

Horses for courses. Aidrie could be a passing attacking team tomorrow night giving an open game, but sadly I dont think so. If we go a couple up, confidence flows and we play on the deck more, but pressure does determin players form too, and over the top sometimes is the easiest way to play into the game initially, and let the touch come.