Well fer the first year in seasons we sneaked in a better home than away record in the SFL. I suspect that such a statistic will be much harder to acheive again in the SPL. I reckon that a 4-5-1 away from home will bring points but it is our home form that has to be maintained if we are not going to go in to the split in an apprehensive position. I actually think that we should go 4-5-1 at home as well - comments ?

Long ball pish too?

Not necessarily - use the width as I have always done.

Long ball pish too?

If it gets results I don't see why not. Yes I'd love to see us pass the ball like Arsenal or Spain but we've a limited pool of talent. So when in doubt, HOOF it.....

Long ball pish too?

If it gets results I don't see why not. Yes I'd love to see us pass the ball like Arsenal or Spain but we've a limited pool of talent. So when in doubt, HOOF it.....

See...this is where i disagree.....ad rather play nice footie, be entertained and take beatings, than win ugly.

Long ball pish too?

If it gets results I don't see why not. Yes I'd love to see us pass the ball like Arsenal or Spain but we've a limited pool of talent. So when in doubt, HOOF it.....

See...this is where i disagree.....ad rather play nice footie, be entertained and take beatings, than win ugly.

And presumably accept relegation along with it?

Long ball pish too?

If it gets results I don't see why not. Yes I'd love to see us pass the ball like Arsenal or Spain but we've a limited pool of talent. So when in doubt, HOOF it.....

See...this is where i disagree.....ad rather play nice footie, be entertained and take beatings, than win ugly.

And presumably accept relegation along with it?

Dont get me wrong....i want sucsess too....but....for me...firstly...i go to footie to be entertained. Sucsess is a bonus. Im a realist and i would be happy with anything other than finishing 12th this coming season. Being in the SPL has to be the goal for us now. If we can acheive that whilst playing decent footie too...al be a very happy man. No pie in the sky here!!

Edited July 18, 201015 yr by SMEE

Long ball pish too?

If ICT once again go a Brewster-esque mentality of punting it up the park at every opportunity next season, it'll be a season to forget. It's interesting to note that when ICT play a more attacking, passing based style of play they have more success. It's no coincidence that managers like Paterson and Robertson were successful ICT managers, while more defensive minded managers like Baltacha and Brewster were not. If you were make a table of the best ICT managers first to last, it's likely to show what is almost a scale of the attackingness of ICT at that time. It's also interesting to note that ICT began having more success under Terry Butcher, when he decided to take a more offensive approach.

Some teams, such as Egil Olsen's Norway and Tony Pulis's Stoke have had a degree of success when taking a more direct and defensive apporach using the players at their disposal. ICT are not on of the those. It is a fact that when ICT play, to a certain degree, an more attack minded, passing based system, the club has more success. I for on believe that a major factor in ICT's 2008/09 relegation was down to Craig Brewster obsession with the long ball garbage we were subjected to, that was not just boring for the supporters to watch, but completely ineffective most of the time, in the process taking talented ball playing midfielders like Ian Black out of the game. It's not football, Brewster mentality of rather not conceding a goal, than scoring, in my opinion cost ICT. Take a mentality like that next season, and it might not be such a happy time in the SPL for Caley Thistle.

Long ball pish too?

If ICT once again go a Brewster-esque mentality of punting it up the park at every opportunity next season, it'll be a season to forget. It's interesting to note that when ICT play a more attacking, passing based style of play they have more success. It's no coincidence that managers like Paterson and Robertson were successful ICT managers, while more defensive minded managers like Baltacha and Brewster were not. If you were make a table of the best ICT managers first to last, it's likely to show what is almost a scale of the attackingness of ICT at that time. It's also interesting to note that ICT began having more success under Terry Butcher, when he decided to take a more offensive approach.

Some teams, such as Egil Olsen's Norway and Tony Pulis's Stoke have had a degree of success when taking a more direct and defensive apporach using the players at their disposal. ICT are not on of the those. It is a fact that when ICT play, to a certain degree, an more attack minded, passing based system, the club has more success. I for on believe that a major factor in ICT's 2008/09 relegation was down to Craig Brewster obsession with the long ball garbage we were subjected to, that was not just boring for the supporters to watch, but completely ineffective most of the time, in the process taking talented ball playing midfielders like Ian Black out of the game. It's not football, Brewster mentality of rather not conceding a goal, than scoring, in my opinion cost ICT. Take a mentality like that next season, and it might not be such a happy time in the SPL for Caley Thistle.

Well Said Renegade!

Long ball pish too?

If ICT once again go a Brewster-esque mentality of punting it up the park at every opportunity next season, it'll be a season to forget. It's interesting to note that when ICT play a more attacking, passing based style of play they have more success. It's no coincidence that managers like Paterson and Robertson were successful ICT managers, while more defensive minded managers like Baltacha and Brewster were not. If you were make a table of the best ICT managers first to last, it's likely to show what is almost a scale of the attackingness of ICT at that time. It's also interesting to note that ICT began having more success under Terry Butcher, when he decided to take a more offensive approach.

Some teams, such as Egil Olsen's Norway and Tony Pulis's Stoke have had a degree of success when taking a more direct and defensive apporach using the players at their disposal. ICT are not on of the those. It is a fact that when ICT play, to a certain degree, an more attack minded, passing based system, the club has more success. I for on believe that a major factor in ICT's 2008/09 relegation was down to Craig Brewster obsession with the long ball garbage we were subjected to, that was not just boring for the supporters to watch, but completely ineffective most of the time, in the process taking talented ball playing midfielders like Ian Black out of the game. It's not football, Brewster mentality of rather not conceding a goal, than scoring, in my opinion cost ICT. Take a mentality like that next season, and it might not be such a happy time in the SPL for Caley Thistle.

Fully agree with this.

If it gets results I don't see why not. Yes I'd love to see us pass the ball like Arsenal or Spain but we've a limited pool of talent. So when in doubt, HOOF it.....

Long balls have their place in the game, and can be used effectively at certain times in a game and in certain situations. Also, as you say, when it's the only option, hoof it by all means. The only problem is that, for example in Brew's second spell, it seemed to be the first option.

^Yeah...dont get me wrong...I am not Naive enough to think that the long ball doenst have a part to play in the game....just....ffs...please...mix it up a lil. You watch ALL the top Premiership sides, a lot of their game is about ball being played to feet and the passing game.

But playing 4-5-1 home and away can lend to this. We went through a great spell when we had Rankin, Black and Cowie in the middle of the park but unfortunately also had the tactical ineptness of Brewster plus the pacy Niculae or the skilful Bayne as the lone striker. Rooney can do that job plus we now have pace and skill on the wings - all that is needed is a playmaker.

But playing 4-5-1 home and away can lend to this. We went through a great spell when we had Rankin, Black and Cowie in the middle of the park but unfortunately also had the tactical ineptness of Brewster plus the pacy Niculae or the skilful Bayne as the lone striker. Rooney can do that job plus we now have pace and skill on the wings - all that is needed is a playmaker.

Agree with this, and I think there's a good chance these are the tactics Butcher will adopt. Long ball wasn't ever really a managerial poicy last season as far as I could tell - the central defenders just seemed to have a tendency to revert to the punt when things weren't going as planned, particularly in the first half of the season. I'm guessing Butcher will be looking at playing either Blumenstein, Sanchez or Odihambo in behind Rooney - will be interesting to see who he starts the season with. I still think Sanchez could be effective in the SPL if he gets the space to make passes, but I'm also looking forward to seeing how Blumenstein shapes up.

The old adage.."the best defence is attack" is as true today as it was yesterday. :008:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Home - played 3 won 0 drew 0 lost 3 for 1 against 5 minus 4 GD points 0

Away - played 2 won 1 drew 1 lost 0 for 5 against 1 plus 4 GD points 4

Bring on Paisley.

Aye we're definately better set up to gather points on the road and i wouldn't mind seeing us trying our away tactics at home but there's probably more to it.How many folk will be on the players backs if we sit in at home and hit on the counter?

We've seen this pattern develop over numerous seasons in the SPL under different managers.At the moment our defence needs to be stronger to make this work, and with Gillet now out too we could be in for a few hard weeks