THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Celtic PREVIEW 29th Dec 2013 @ 12:30PM Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO LIVE COMMENTARY (BBC) [uK/VPN Only]   TEXT ESPN BBC SKY Sporting Life VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel   TEAM LINEUPS TO FOLLOW

 

pffft.. eagle more like sea gull ;)

Thanks :-)

In case anyone hasn't noticed caley are now 4th !!!

And?? We also have a game in hand!

And ??

I don't see being 4th as being a problem that's all especially as we've still got a game in hand.

Methinks the big bird has a ruffled feather or a spoon bill ??

At this rate hibs will catch caley

Edited December 29, 201312 yr by Guest

It was only a matter of time before we slipped down the table, we did good to maintain second place for that long! we had done not bad in recent games considering forans out and we have had a few tough games.If we can bring one or two players in January and hold on to McKay and co. We could have a good crack at 2nd /3rd place in the new year.

 

Why was it only a matter of time before we slipped from second place ? Sounds like something Chick Young or Billy Dodds would spout. We have no divine right to second place but, by the same token, if we apply ourselves and Yogi gets the tactics right we have just as much chance of finishing the season in second as Motherwell or the media darlings of the 'New Firm'.

Take Commons strike out of the equation and Celtic were completely restricted by us for the whole game. What we lacked was either a Foran or a Vincent in midfield to craft openings and push us on and unfortunately they don't come in pairs. Both will be back for the main part of the season, so we will have options. We have enough in the team and in the management to see us back to second place or thereabouts by season's end. Caught by Hibs? Can't see it myself. 

Agree with the calls on here for Raven back, whether we keep Tremarco at LB and play Shinnie left mid. Williams looked a bit lightweight but that's the first time I have seen him so perhaps its not fair to judge him against celtic.

The defence earlier in the season before Raven got injured was solid, yes there have been some good performances with Tremarco at LB and Shinnie RB but I think other teams have sussed us out with that and we need to revert to our strongest unit. We also need to move the ball faster and as I have said more than a few times this season we need our wide players to go outside and pass the man to cross, thats the benefits Raven gave us overlapping, too often Doran and Ross come inside and we play too narrow.

I felt that we missed a great chance to get at least a point today - that was a poor Cellic team but we had no bite and lacked invention in the last third of the pitch - which looked in the worst playing condition fer a long feckin time. I really feel now more than ever that we need a target man up front to play with McKay - shure we look pretty when we play the ball at the back and in midfield but today we had 10 erstwhile Ray Wilkins and one wee forward - let's get back to 4-4-2 ASAP even if we gamble with Christie. Let's face it we never really looked like scoring apart from the Shinnie drive and wee Christie - never offside - could have eclipsed his Dad.

I have to take in to account that we were playing Cellic but I felt that we gave them far too much respect and we sat too deep, played sideways and backwards far too often. We even looked happy to take a 1-0 defeat.

I still feel Brill is dodgy and some of his kick outs were appalling - playing Raven and Shinnie is a feckin no brainer. Tremarco is solid but feck me this is a team game !! Warren and Meekings will always be solid - draper was my MOM - Ross was lost as was Williams - where e feck were they playing ? Watkins played better in the second half and hopefully he will run at County as he appears to be gaining in confidence.doran as ever went from yes to fer fecks sake - poor wee Billy must be so, so pished off.

Don't feed the turkey bughtmaster 

I blame Scotty - the sooner the **** goes back to Canada the feckin better

Theeagle reminds me of many Ross County fans.  Clearly isn't getting any real satisfaction from following his own wee team (Alloa in this case) and has become obsessed with all things ICTFC.  Unfortunately he doesn't have the strength of character to understand or accept his new found love and to justify hanging around he presents himself as a troll.

I wonder about Raven in midfield?  He's a decent crosser, so having that passing ability along with his tackling strength might just work better than G.Shinnie in midfield.

Overall a decent performance, just disappointing that there was no reward for it. Some good football got played at times, if anything we overplayed in the final third which led to a lack of goalmouth action. Though Forster had his fair share of saves to make from distance. 

 

As Davie said, take Commons out of the picture and Celtic offered very little, he was their only major threat all game. We had a shaky start defensively but managed to shore things up a bit more as the game went on. I was disappointed we didnt press the likes of Ambrose more, he lacks any real ability on the ball and took forever to get it under control.

 

Williams struggled again in centre midfield, I think at one point he got out muscled by his own first touch, the centre midfield situation needs re assessed. Maybe something to look at in January. Ryan Christie didnt get long but has obviously caught the eye of Yogi if he is prepared to put him into a game of such stature. Would like to see more of him for sure.

 

Another player I would like to see back is Mr Raven. The double left back thing has run its course, time to go back to a normal back four - in Raven we trust. 

 

A few positives to take from the game but we will need to be on full form for the visit of County in 2014. Both sides will see it as an opportunity to get some much needed points on the board. 

Theeagle reminds me of many Ross County fans.  Clearly isn't getting any real satisfaction from following his own wee team (Alloa in this case) and has become obsessed with all things ICTFC.  Unfortunately he doesn't have the strength of character to understand or accept his new found love and to justify hanging around he presents himself as a troll.

Fur gads sake maan :-)

Perhaps the Stirling starling has eaten too much turkey IBM ?

I'm going to stop watching Caley on TV at this rate, don't think I have seen them win once! We played OK I guess, all a bit subdued. although nice to see the place bathed in sunshine! Celtic did enough to win whereas apart from two cracking shots by Shinnie we looked a bit powder-puff. Our defence was pretty solid apart fronm the goal, and I though Tremarco looked good. Watkins looked quite good in parts, but our midfield although OK at breaking up play and passing backwards/sideways had no creativity at all. This was definitely a match where our lack of a plan B showed. Poor Billy, another game running around after crumbs, it's amazing that he has scored so many! I just felt how nice it would be to have a big b'stard up front with him who could occupy the defenders and lay the ball off...to be honest we could lose one of Doran or Ross to accommodate him and it would be noticed. Williams did OK I thought but he is not James Vincent... still a 1-0 defeat to the league leaders is no disgrace, and Christie could have spoiled their party late on!. Just have to make sure we don't slip up against County now.

Perhaps the Stirling starling has eaten too much turkey IBM ?

I'm not a bird of prey I'm a veggie but I do like fishing although I put them all back !!

I'm a bit baffled by the view that we played ok. Celtic ambled through the game as they knew that they did not have to do much more after scoring the early goal as we lacked any penetration and edge in the last third. In fact, I don't remember us ever being as toothless against Celtic since the first couple of seasons in the SPL (even when we ended up getting well beaten).

 

As much as we slag Lennon off, Celtic knew how we would play and what our strengths are and ensured that we were (in general) not allowed to play to these.

 

I thought we were crying out for Raven to give an ability to assist Watkins (who would not have been allowed to amble timidly through the game in the way he did under the old regime!) and switch Shinnie to the left back position to utilise the only real space on the pitch (nothing against Tremarco but he does not offer the same threat going forward).

 

In many ways I don't want to pick out individual players for criticism, however Williams only seems to be able to run around and offer little else (though he seems to be able to cross a ball on occasion). Criticism of Ross and Doran was also wide of the mark and they at least put effort into trying to find space and make things happen.

 

We seem to have lost that bit of sparkle in the last few games and I think Hughes has over reacted to the Aberdeen game by concentrating too much on stopping the opposition at the expense of attack. I appreciate that judging things against Celtic is not reflective of the majority of games, however the tepid performance against Partick shows that we have stopped getting at teams sufficiently.

 

1 point out of 9 over the space of a single week has probably changed our season for the worse.

Edited December 30, 201312 yr by Tree

I'm a bit baffled by the view that we played ok. Celtic ambled through the game as they new that they did not have to do much more after scoring the early goal as we lacked any penetration and edge in the last third. In fact, I don't remember us ever being as toothless against Celtic since the first couple of seasons in the SPL (even when we ended up getting well beaten).

 

As much as we slag Lennon off, Celtic knew how we would play and what our strengths are and ensured that we were (in general) not allowed to play to these.

 

I thought we were crying out for Raven to give an ability to assist Watkins (who would not have been allowed to amble timidly through the game in the way he did under the old regime!) and switch Shinnie to the left back position to utilise the only real space on the pitch (nothing against Tremarco but he does not offer the same threat going forward).

 

In many ways I don't want to pick out individual players for criticism, however Williams only seems to be able to run around and offer little else (though he seems to be able to cross a ball on occasion). Criticism of Ross and Doran was also wide of the mark and they at least put effort into trying to find space and make things happen.

 

We seem to have lost that bit of sparkle in the last few games and I think Hughes has over reacted to the Aberdeen game by concentrating too much on stopping the opposition at the expense of attack. I appreciate that judging things against Celtic is not reflective of the majority of games, however the tepid performance against Partick shows that we have stopped getting at teams sufficiently.

 

1 point out of 9 over the space of a single week has probably changed our season for the worse.

You will get gull bombed for telling it how it is.A fairly accurate reflection IMO

Since Hughes has got the reigns the fight seems to have gone missing

Celtic treated this game like a training session and weren't out of first gear in the whole 90mins as soon as they scored we never looked like getting back into the game

Dougal

In the  "guardian"  match report  it mentions Calley  deserved a draw

 

It also mentions Billy McKay is a Burnley transfer target

For me, that performance was very frustrating to watch. Celtic, even with having a full strength squad on the pitch were way way short of there best and were there for the taking. We lacked that final killer pass in the last 3rd of the park to get billy into a really genuine scoring position, hence why we where forced to take shots from the edge of the box most of the time. We are missing Vincent and Foran and it showed yesterday.

 

Apart from the 1st 10 mins when Celtic carved us open like turkeys, we were on par for most of the rest of the match. What frustrated me the most was when we were in possession in the middle 3rd with men forward, what did we do? We went backwards!!! We did this all afternoon and made me scream at the TV. I know keeping possession is important but you are not going to score unless you go forward. There just wasn't enough movement off the ball in the final 3rd and that's the reason we didn't score in my opinion.

 

On a positive note, Forster did have more saves to make so we did create chances but they were mainly from range. I think against the other teams in the league, That performance would have got us the win. Celtics defence was solid and only let us have a pop at goal from distance. Thought the 2 subs played well for the time they were on and would like to see Christie play for a bit longer against County. I think a win against county is vital for confidence and in the push for a European place.

 

Shows how limited partick are when the Well can take 5 off them. The signs were there on Boxing Day, as somebody said they're useless in midfield but we just didn't show up. Two points dropped, probably more important than losing 3 points today.

 

Aye, and you can add to that the fact that Partick have only won 1 of their last 15 games. No prizes for guessing who it was against. 

 

Aye, in a game the ref stole us two goals which would have won the game or us.

Peaks & troughs in football outside the OF in terms of consistency, we are going through a bit of a form dip but we are not playing too bad, first half V dons was awful but we still scored 3 and created others, a point away to PT is still an away point against a team we should be competing at the relegation end against (being realistic) and a narrow defeat to the champions elect.

 

Look at D Utd, 2 wks ago they were the new Barcelona with flair all over the park and scoring for fun, now its 2 heavy defeats in a row and club in crisis. We can start by playing better on Wed and taking 3 points from County, then build momentum again.

 

There were errors in the squad selection and positions which everyone seems to comment on but hardly a club in crisis like the doom and gloom posts on here seem to suggest from some.

With my critical , over critical hat on I suspect, if you play 5 across midfield with a little chap up front against a very experienced Dutch centre back twice his size, and pump long balls up to them., what do you expect?

Wow first time I have ever agreed with you !!