THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Kilmarnock PREVIEW 11th August @ 3PM Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Sportsound & Open All Mics Live discussion and Goal flashes [UK Only] TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel BBC Sportscene TV programme [UK only] ICT Official Website Highlights [Worldwide - Registration Reqd (free)] TEAM LINEUPS

What's the red card for?

Bait

Red Snapper perhaps?

Did we play well for twenty five minutes and then cave in or did we play well for twenty five minutes then the other team changed things and we were caught out? What I am seeing is a positive change to our style of play and a positive attitude within the team. It is going to take a few games to get things right but it will happen and we will have a very good season.

Tactics are not just about what we do. They are about what the other team does as well. On saturday Killie done a better job of sussing us out than we did of sussing them out. They changed their play to counteract our dominance and we didn't respond.

That is what I was going to ask before I was so rudely interrupted !!

Can some body with a footballing brain, qualified or unqualified attempt to clarify what exactly went wrong. As I posted after the Midden match my concern was that our system was positive but if the likes of unqualified peeple such as maself can suss how it works and where the potential flaws are then what about the more qualified peeple ? I was hoping that a home game would provide me / us with a concept of what Plans B,C and D would be - how we could change the system quickly if necessitated. As Alex states it is not what we do but how we are able to change the system and style. Some teams do this time after time and often in relation to the opposition.

Or was it simply a case of some players playing poorly - or out of position - or not used to playing with each other etc., etc., etc.

What's the red card for?

Bait

Red Snapper perhaps?

All it needs is stale bread to hook davie

The main problem on sat was we didn't get hold of the round white thing for enough of the game, it was that simple

The main problem on sat was we didn't get hold of the round white thing for enough of the game, it was that simple

Mixu Paateleinen's napper?

What's the red card for?

Bait

Red Snapper perhaps?

All it needs is stale bread to hook davie

Not biting. Enjoy yer holiday.

The crowd was poor both in terms of numbers and noise. The guy next to me, for example, clapped when Shinnie scored and at no other time. I just do not get the mentality of people who attend and cannot be bothered to even applaud when players play well. Then there were the usual hecklers who shouted abuse to our own team whenever a move broke down. How on earth do they think that is going to motivate the guys? Then there were the ones who left early - a couple of guys left, one saying "I've had anough of this sh*te". It's not what goes on on the pitch that might put me off going to games, it is being surrounded by people like that which p***es me off.

This is exactly why I would rather be in the midst of a more intense/positive crowd, even if it's smaller, than one that is so quiet and negative as it appears that ICT home games have been for a while. I can enjoy a game, no matter how bad the quality of the football, but being surrounded by people who only focus on the negatives would drive me crazy. Then again, I am definitely a glass-half-full person.

Oh Dear..

Did we play well for twenty five minutes and then cave in or did we play well for twenty five minutes then the other team changed things and we were caught out? What I am seeing is a positive change to our style of play and a positive attitude within the team. It is going to take a few games to get things right but it will happen and we will have a very good season.

Tactics are not just about what we do. They are about what the other team does as well. On saturday Killie done a better job of sussing us out than we did of sussing them out. They changed their play to counteract our dominance and we didn't respond.

That is what I was going to ask before I was so rudely interrupted !!

Can some body with a footballing brain, qualified or unqualified attempt to clarify what exactly went wrong. As I posted after the Midden match my concern was that our system was positive but if the likes of unqualified peeple such as maself can suss how it works and where the potential flaws are then what about the more qualified peeple ? I was hoping that a home game would provide me / us with a concept of what Plans B,C and D would be - how we could change the system quickly if necessitated. As Alex states it is not what we do but how we are able to change the system and style. Some teams do this time after time and often in relation to the opposition.

Or was it simply a case of some players playing poorly - or out of position - or not used to playing with each other etc., etc., etc.

Killie definately changed their tactics although not sure if this was deliberate or whether forced by their injuries. This seemed to push us further and further back, again don't know whether this was down to Killie or players decided easier to sit back and defend. We did defend well but the promlem with playing so deep was that there was then no outlet and inevitably the ball ended up back with Kilmarnock. Certainly you could hear fans telling the team to get up the pitch, and I think Terry and Mo as well but we seemed to lack a leader or someone on the pitch to put that into operation. After ithe initial spell, we also got overun in midfield as kilmarnock seemed to flood this and often we only OTJ and Draper gainst several Kille players. Sutherland and Doran did track back sometimes but generally only in the wide areas leaving too mucg space in the middle of the park.

Altough generally passed off the park for long spells, little cutting edge from Killie and we certainly had the better chances but didn't take them. My one major worry is that, at the moment, I don't think we have a plan B to change tactics although that may be down to the new players getting used to our system. I also think the system we have doesn't work particularly well at home but we don't seem to be able or want to change this. I say all this from a fans perspective, not with any insight as a coach but it does worry me that we are a bit one dimensional in terms of tactics/systems.

After about half an hour or so, ICT were swamped. Kilmarnock had long long episodes of the ball with little pressing from ICT and were able to move the ball around with relative ease. Also, when they did lose the ball, they were very quick to win it back.

Now leads to a point no-one has yet mentioned. From what I could see, both Butcher and Malpas were in the technical area for ninety minutes, with Butcher sat in the dugout for most of the game. As anyone who's ever stood pitch-side will tell you, there's no way you can really see what's going on from down there. Perhaps had Butcher (or Malpas even) had been in the stand, something could've been done to try and grab hold of the game once again.

Don't know that your description reflects the game I saw. The BBC report suggested ICT had 56% of possession which seems more consistent with my impression of a very strong first quarter from us but with Kilmarnock edging the game after that. It also reflects more passing and maintaining possession better than last season's long ball tactic.

I agree that you see the game better from an elevated position but you can shout more effectively from the touchline. There needs to be communication from someone with a better view to those on the touchline.

I think the thing was from what I could see, Kilmarnock seemed to be more capable of retaining the ball when attacking with it - as well as pressing to in it back. This particularly seemed to be particularly effective when their full back (the number five) seemed to bomb forward, usually with loads of space to run into.

I know some managers like to be close to the players to shout and stuff, but Butcher seemed to be sat in the dugout predominately for about 80 minutes. Surely he'd have been better off sat in the stand for that time.

On this topic as well, as is often the case, the manager, assistant and the coaches (apart from Duncan Shearer doing his media work) were all congregated in the same area and watched from the game from basically the same angle. Would it not be better to have one in the Main Stand, another in the North Stand and others around as well to get an all round view of the game and then find some way of reporting back to the dugout? I seem to recollect when Real Vallodolid came a couple of years back, they had a guy sat about three-quarters of the way down taking notes and stuff. Could this not be something ICT could perhaps consider as well?