Does anybody know when our friendly's are released 

All first team players will play a part of the game against Keith as it is a testimonial so everyone should get themselves down there

St Mirren lost 4-0 against Charlton Athletic in their pre-season friendly in Spain today.

Elgin 0 ICT 0 H-T

....oh and Peterhead 1 County 0 after an hour or so

Edited July 13, 201311 yr by Tichy_Blacks_Back

Elgin 0 ICT 1 76 min

Elgin 0 ICT 2 83 min

Edited July 13, 201311 yr by Tichy_Blacks_Back

FT Peterhead 2 County 0

FT Elgin 0 ICT 2

Foran and Warren with the goals

Highlights 

 

Gratifying to see that Helgin are as crap as ever and Borough Briggs is still a shitthole.

I like Borough Briggs! It's a typical 'Highland League' ground where you can still sit down on a grass embankment with a wee hip flask of malt whisky (I know someone who knew someone that did that once ).

 

Brother in Law who lives in Essex just found out that ICT playing v Charlton soon.

 

He rang Tulloch Stadium as he is going with a load of his Engerland work mates to the game for a day out to support ICT. The response he got from the person who answered the phone at the stadium was 'I don't know anything about a game in London against Charlton'. He was simply going to ask prices and if tickets needed etc.

 

Surely all the staff who answer the phones are briefed about our pre-season friendlies. This portrays a very bad image of the club.

On the Charlton website

 

Saturday, July 27th (3pm) - Inverness Caledonian Thistle (h) *Paddy Powell testimonial*

 

Charlton will play their final pre-season friendly before the start of 2013/14 at The Valley on Saturday, July 27th (3pm). This is the club's only home friendly and is also a testimonial match for former Addicks winger and current groundsman Colin 'Paddy' Powell.

 

Tickets are on general sale, priced £10 adults, £5 over 60s, U21s and disabled, and £1 U18s for the friendly against the Scottish Premier League side.

 

The club intends to open the lower west, lower north and east stands for the fixture, and full details on the game, including hospitality package information, are available here.

 

http://www.cafc.co.uk/tickets/ticket-prices/

I see the ICT Fans page has described yesterday's performance as "great".  Well that's one thing it wasn't.  Elgin were a far better team than Forres and seemed far more up for it and organised.  Foran had a very poor game in the middle, though did improve when he was moved up-front.  Greenhalgh and Pepper were pretty decent, but we once again saw that Ross Draper is not and never will be a winger.  Warren and Meekings were very solid in the middle.

 

One final point to make though; these short corners are a load of rubbish.  The last three games we've seen these abominations and only once yesterday did one not result in giving away possession.  No surprise that the two goals came when we abandoned them and went for the more traditional (and more effective) cross into the box.

It wasn't "great" in terms of an entertaining game of football, but it was pretty decent as far as the team getting a bit more of a workout and testing some of the stuff they've been trying out on the training ground to see how it works in the real game.  If you're going to these games expecting a show, then you'll come away more disappointed than not most of the time.

 

Elgin obviously planned to sit in from the off, making it very difficult for us to play through their 8 man defence.  Further evidenced by the fact that our own back line spent most of the game camped on the half way line.  This meant that it was almost certainly going to take a goals from set pieces for us to win the game...and that's precisely what we did.

 

We're going to get ugly games like that in the league this season, so it was good to see us maintain discipline and concentration to grind out the win.

I see the ICT Fans page has described yesterday's performance as "great".  Well that's one thing it wasn't.  Elgin were a far better team than Forres and seemed far more up for it and organised.  Foran had a very poor game in the middle, though did improve when he was moved up-front.  Greenhalgh and Pepper were pretty decent, but we once again saw that Ross Draper is not and never will be a winger.  Warren and Meekings were very solid in the middle.

 

One final point to make though; these short corners are a load of rubbish.  The last three games we've seen these abominations and only once yesterday did one not result in giving away possession.  No surprise that the two goals came when we abandoned them and went for the more traditional (and more effective) cross into the box.

You say short corners didnt work at least 3 occasions, but how many times does lumping it in the box not work, and a centre half just clears it, and launches a counter attack? Yes it worked twice, but at a higher level that wont happen all the time. Short corners are needed, they can exploit lack of organisation (if the attacking teams sharp) and pre season offers the chance to work on these. Obviously not every short corner will work in the same way as you dont score from every corner which is crossed in the box. From what i can see (from the highlights) one very nearly came off. If you just lump the ball into the box at every attempt, better teams will become accustomed to defending against you and will pick you off. Variety is important imo.

I would hazard a guess that you're more likely to score from a crossed corner than a short one.  While one or two are good to throw into the mix when needed and to do something different, I would say that crosses are far more likely to get you goals (you're getting the ball into the box for a start!).  When you look at the team we have now, crosses seem like the far more logical tactic.  Draper's over six foot, Warren's dangerous in the box (who scored against Keith from a crossed corner), as is McKay (as we all know) and we now have someone who can (at least it has been said in the press anyway) in Greenhalgh, whip a good cross in, though Polworth seemed pretty capable on Saturday, as has Shinnie in the past.  Short corners allow for the opposition to push up and press the ball, making a goalscoring opportunity more difficult.

 

If anything, I'd like to see more moves like we had in the 3-2 win away to Hearts.  For those who weren't there, Warren and Draper would wait at the edge of the D, and as the corner was whipped in, would both make a looping run round the back of the box and meet the ball around six yards out.  McKay would also make a run through the centre.  It worked very effectively, and while doing it too much can be cottoned onto by other teams, we've never seemed to have used it again.  I'd like to see more of that this season.

 

Overall, the odd short corner is fine, but crosses into the box seem like a far more effective and logical tactic for what we have.

Edited July 15, 201311 yr by Renegade

I'm reading 'The numbers game, why everything you know about football is wrong'... and it outlines the stats from scoring after crossing a corner into the box and they are pretty minuscule! It suggests that there is a much greater opportunity to score by playing it short and attacking the goal by passing.

Surely though, that depends on what players you have at your disposal and also how good you are at short ones (in our case not very!)?

Then maybe all the more reason to work on them pre season with nothing at stake.

I'm reading 'The numbers game, why everything you know about football is wrong'... and it outlines the stats from scoring after crossing a corner into the box and they are pretty minuscule! It suggests that there is a much greater opportunity to score by playing it short and attacking the goal by passing.

 

Sounds like an interesting read....right up my street.  Off to order a copy now, prepare for me to get even more annoying than usual when it comes to matters of "fact"

I remember a few years back, Charles Reep produced a load of stats and stuff in support of route 1 football. Most goals are scored by random chance so get the ball in the box quick and fast and often. Latched onto by Wimbledon and suchlike.

Edited July 15, 201311 yr by TheMantis

Pre season simply has to be all about experiment. Looked like a great wee short corner in the highlights clip which could so easily have resulted in a goal. But at the end of the day it is as much about looking at the weaknesses of the opposition and that can only really happen in the SPL although I would hope that we have studied Charlton. To me it is all about variety and delivery. After all if a training ground routine works once it is unlikely to work again.

A short corner can cause a defense to panic and lose shape allowing for the whipped cross into the box to someone who's now unmarked. Short corners allow retaining possession whereas the long corner can lose you that. Its all about what feels right at the time. I wouldn't knock either method because both can result in a goal if executed well.

I would also re-iterate what others have said in that pre-season friendlies are all about chopping and changing, experimenting etc and not about entertaining fans.