THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Dundee Utd PREVIEW 5th August 2017 @ 3PM, Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage   AUDIO COVERAGE BBC Sportsound A few mentions on BBC Sportsound if we are lucky ! [UK Only]   LIVE TEXT (ONLINE) Sporting Life BBC    VIDEO SPFL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel   TEAM LINEUPS TO FOLLOW   Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC

Highlights for me, Calder was superb and terrorised their right side with a few sweet crosses put in, Vigurs looked confident and skillful but as pointed out he seemed to slow the game down at times however thought he did the full backs jobs well at times too,  thought Bell looked very sharp and possibly could have done more if had come on earlier. Draper looked solid as usual, Mulraney looked much more accurate along with his usual pace and was unlucky a few times. Low points for me include Polworth once again, seriously he must stop taking free kicks and corners as he is absolutely abysmal at them. Chalmers was too slow to react at times, ref was ludicrous 

Better team by far just lacking a cutting edge.

Some good performances Vigurs was a class above the rest with Calder running him a close second, was outstanding in first half and is far suited playing further forward.

Dundee Utd terrible gamesmanship or cheating which ever way you want to call it with that wee fraudster Billy King the worst culprit. Could not believe how many times the flow of the game was halted due them lying pole axed . 

 

Plus points - 

• Vigurs had one of the best games he's had in months.
• Calder had a cracker until he came off.
• Raven put in a solid display.
• The majority of possession and some good passages of play.

Negative points -

• We've signed an absolute dud in Joe Chalmers.
• Ridgers' kicking is appalling.  The poorest I've seen from an ICT keeper since Zibi Malkowski.
• Polworth is simply not a winger.  He looked far better in the second half when he was sitting narrower.
• None of our four strikers look like finishers.
• Our crossing and especially corners were atrocious.  Every single one was to the back post and thus straight at the keeper.

Draw would have been fair result today but with DU having no recognised striker playing today we really should have taken advantage of that but were not creating anything IMO Oakley is the only one of our strikers likely to score Baird for me is a poacher not an outright striker. Please if there is anything left in the pot can we get a proper goalkeeping coach as i dont think Esson is the man for the job our goalkeeping has been rank since Marsella left. As usual Ref was poor but from where i was sitting it was a stonewall penalty but so was Drapers.Not going to write anything about Polworth as my blood pressure will rocket!

Cannot disagree Polwoth is not a winger so I have no idea why he keeps starting.

Draper and Vigurs seem to be JR preferred central partnership so he really is going to have to up his game if he is to remain a first pick as I believe both  Mulraney and Seedorf are far better options out wide . 

Hate to say it but mediocre at best again today, no real influence . 

Needs a big performance and a couple of goals to boost his confidence , maybe play him behind Oakley who looked pretty decent today .

I missed the game today (first home game since work meant I missed the midweek Celtic game). Whilst disappointed by the result, I am heartened at some of the comments made.

Sounds like Calder may be a find if pushed forward, so I would put Raven in at left back until Tremarco returns, assuming Seedorf fit.

Other than that, starting Mulraney ahead of Polworth and possibly Bell ahead of Baird and we may have a decent team, with Warren also restored for Elsdon when fit.

Bit worried about the goalkeeping situation though.

We need to get the shooting boots in in midweek against Strathspey to boost confidence for Dunfermline next week.

I agree with most of the comments on the match against United. Calder and Vigures had good games. Polworth again disappointing, maybe some time coming off the bench would do him good. Mulraney can beat a man but needs to learn how to release the ball better, not enough end product. And we needed to put their keeper under more pressure at set pieces, he plucked everything out of the air. The final third is still a worry, we need to find more penitration, Oakley look OK but who partners him? I think when we get Doran Tremarco Warren Seedorf and Elbouzedi back we will have a side who can mount a challenge. 

Hugely frustrating.  We were good value for a draw, mainly because Dundee United offered little going forward too.  But for all our possession we were relatively toothless in the final third.

Our best passages of play came in the early stages, when Baird lined up wide right and Polworth tucked in to give us an extra man in the middle of the pitch.  Polworth, Draper and Oakley were linking up really well and the overload in the middle dragged United players infield, giving Calder loads of space.

Curiously, we drifted into more of an orthodox 4-4-2, maybe in an attempt to get Baird into the game...but the veteran striker remained anonymous and Polworth was wasted out on the flank.  We ultimately offered little other than high hopeful punts into the box, which United's excellent keeper and centre-backs dealt with fine.

The loss of Calder made things even harder; Mulraney had a great initial impact but United dropped so deep that he had no space to operate in.  I'd have liked to see him on the right flank, cutting inside and having a go at goal.

Some good performances - Calder, Vigurs (some misplaced passes in the second half but his attitude was light-and-day from last season), Oakley (who looks like he could be a flat-track bully against weaker defences than this).  And some stinkers - aside from Baird, Chalmers and Elsdon were awful on the left hand side of our defence.  If Chalmers can pass himself off as a professional footballer, there's hope for me yet.  McKay grew into the game, but I believe it was his panicky tackle that gave away the penalty?

As for Ridgers, I get grumpy with keepers who are poor with their feet;' for a professional goalie to be incapable of kicking the ball properly from hand is unacceptable.  Fon Williams was in the stand today, he must have had a good laugh.

A few reasons for optimism, but a few for concern too.  The defence will be fine with Warren and Tremarco in it.  But I'm not convinced this team is going to score too many goals.

Thought Inverness were by far and away the better team for the majority of the 90 minutes. Didn't see anything from United to suggest we can't finish above them. Our wingers will run riot in this league IMO. We just need a poacher to convert all these crosses and cutbacks into goals.  

Some harsh criticisms of Ridgers. Thought he commanded the box well and made some good stops. Some poor kicks for sure, but he was rushing as we were chasing the game.

Don't want to be the happy clapper, but I even thought 'whipping boy' Chalmers came into a game and made some good contributions towards the end.

Patience is a virtue. Most of our best players over the years were rank early doors and grew into the role. Let's give these lads a chance.

Edited August 5, 20178 yr by AlexJones

Well...   My thoughts are.....      Too many players not performing -  or not good enough!    Polworth was dire,  Draper did not play well,  Chalmers is a feckin donkey.     Baird & Oakley will really struggle to score against the big teams in this league.

I think we played ok, quite a few positives,  Calder looks a fine player, Vigurs was very effective and even covered a dangerous break in the first half and made an excellent block,  But as usual the final third let's us down, a lack of composure and poor final  pass let some good moves fall apart,  Don't know how many times the Arab keeper just plucked the ball out of the air.

Once we sort out the defence a bit, and get Chalmers away to feck, Get Baird and co working together we might put in a challenge......  but i'm not holding mt breath!

Edited August 5, 20178 yr by caley100

DU were very fortunate to come away with 3 points.  The penalty looked very soft and I thought we hand a stone-waller when Draper went down in the box.  It will be interesting to see be both incidents on tv.

Overall I thought we had a good first half with Calder playing some good stuff.

Polworth, who I rate, really has to start imposing himself in games.  He has the talent but IS NOT SHOWING IT AND HAS TO IMPROVE. 

 

 

Dont know how DU got away with the play acting and conned Thomson into stopping play every time we had a break on. Ref was terrible.

3 minutes ago, Kind of Blue said:

DU were very fortunate to come away with 3 points.  The penalty looked very soft and I thought we hand a stone-waller when Draper went down in the box.  It will be interesting to see be both incidents on tv.

Overall I thought we had a good first half with Calder playing some good stuff.

Polworth, who I rate, really has to start imposing himself in games.  He has the talent but IS NOT SHOWING IT AND HAS TO IMPROVE. 

 

 

Totally agree,  it will be interesting to see the penalty again, as from where we were sitting it looked like a dive, and nine bookings in the game shows how bad a referee Thomson is.

I can't say the match was a world class exhibition , but a lot of good play was seen from both teams , disappointed yes, but we live to fight another day.

I was not in a position to note whether the penalty was rightly called but judging by the way the United unit on the bench immediately jumped up and appealed it looked like  the Arabs had a good case.

United started with 3  centre halves and no fullbacks as such giving ICT a free run especially on the left with some superb play  on the left wing and on the left mid field .  Quite frankly  some great crosses  from the left were fritted away by some poor finishing

I can' t understand why corner after corner was floated in only for the  goalkeeper in Orange ( strange to be allowed to play in the colours of his team )  collected the ball with some degree of skill.  Why not a shrt corner or two which can be worked into the box

A word about discipline , so many bookings , is not good , I lost count, this will only result in suspensions in the later part of the seasons.  After the suspensions of last season we  really need to be more careful in not arguing with officials .

I was taught when talking to refs in my day. It was yes Sir, no Si,r 3 bags full Sir. .

I thought on the whole there were quite a few positives in the game for ICT. Talking to some D U supporters after the game many of them said they though Caley was the best team/

I think we can only get better as the team get some co-ordination up front

48 minutes ago, Laurence said:

I can't say the match was a world class exhibition , but a lot of good play was seen from both teams , disappointed yes, but we live to fight another day.

I was not in a position to note whether the penalty was rightly called but judging by the way the United unit on the bench immediately jumped up and appealed it looked like  the Arabs had a good case.

United started with 3  centre halves and no fullbacks as such giving ICT a free run especially on the left with some superb play  on the left wing and on the left mid field .  Quite frankly  some great crosses  from the left were fritted away by some poor finishing

I can' t understand why corner after corner was floated in only for the  goalkeeper in Orange ( strange to be allowed to play in the colours of his team )  collected the ball with some degree of skill.  Why not a shrt corner or two which can be worked into the box

A word about discipline , so many bookings , is not good , I lost count, this will only result in suspensions in the later part of the seasons.  After the suspensions of last season we  really need to be more careful in not arguing with officials .

I was taught when talking to refs in my day. It was yes Sir, no Si,r 3 bags full Sir. .

I thought on the whole there were quite a few positives in the game for ICT. Talking to some D U supporters after the game many of them said they though Caley was the best team/

I think we can only get better as the team get some co-ordination up front

The goalie was in pink 

Disappointing to lose but I think we can take a good few positives from that.  I thought there was real effort and determination in the team. 2 standout performances and sufficient from others to show the potential that exists.  Bear in mind that this is largely a new team and we were missing several players from the starting line up who would be first choice.  

The stand outs were Vigurs (again) and Calder.  Vigurs was immense in the first half and kept us in the game at 1-0 when he tracked back and made a perfectly timed tackle when McMullen, I think it was, was through on goal.  He faded a bit in the 2nd half but few seeing him today can seriously doubt what an important player he will be for us this season.  His corners, though were generally poor - they need more pace rather than being floated in.  Calder was also excellent.  His control in taking some drilled long passes was terrific and he seemed to mix it up pretty well between running with the ball and crossing it - some of his crosses were pretty decent too.  I said earlier that he looked promising but lacked confidence.  He seemed to play with more confidence today and I would think this performance will give him the confidence to believe he can do very well at this level.  

Unfortunately Calder's game ended prematurely following an incident with Toshney.  I'll be interested to see if the club says anything about this, but to me it looked as though Toshney put his hand into Calder's face with perhaps a finger in the eye.  Toshney then went to ground clutching his head as though it was a clash of heads.  What did the referee think?  F**k knows!  He was well placed to see the incident but despite the two of them lying on the ground, Calder clearly in distress and Toshney holding his head; from 5 yards away he glances down at them, waves play on and runs off after the play.  Unbelievable!  Had he seen it as I did then he should have blown for a foul and given Toshney a straight red.  If he didn't see it like that then it was an accidental clash of heads and he should have stopped the play immediately to get treatment for the potentially concussed players.

The referee was late stopping play then but  stopped play on a number of occasions when a Dundee Utd player went to ground having been fairly tackled.  Throughout the game he let both Toshney and Scobbie  constantly foul the players they were marking and engage in blatant holding.  Meanwhile he managed to book no less than 5 of our players for rather more trivial offences.  He was quite the most inept and one sided referee I have seen for a very long time.  We have a small squad and these bookings will be costly when suspensions inevitably kick in.

I was also pretty disgusted by Dundee Utd.  The amount of gamesmanship, play acting and downright cheating was also as bad as I have seen for a long time.  They seemed to have no ambition to play football and having gone into an undeserved lead did anything they could to try and stop us playing.  The only good thing about utd today was their fans who came in large numbers to support their team.  No doubt they are happy with the win but hopefully not in the manner of achieving it.

It could all have been different had we scored.  That would have brought Utd out more and created a bit more space to exploit.  Despite our superiority in midfield, we could not find the cutting edge to create decent chances or to finish any half chances we had.  That is a worry.  Today was the first time I have seen Bell and he looked the most likely to be able to nick a goal or two.  I'd like to see him get a bit more game time because I can't see Baird scoring many.  We really need to find our way to goal or else we will continue to lose games which our general play should see us winning.  

Doofer is no duffer ! !

Sounds as if the whole Scottish referee fraternity has a desire to penalise ICT at every opportunity and that for a long period of time now. This means that  there may be doubt about their motives and/or have been brainwashed or instructed by the upper level of beaks who run the Scottish football fraternity that Caley Thistle are still the  upstart team that can beat the likes of their darlings, Celtic and Rangers,  and should not be allowed to progress fairly. Especially when they should still be back in the lower leagues, don't you know, and preferably the Highland League, where their independent spirit can languish without being allowed to show us all up.

If you access this link then you will very quickly see what I mean --hardly ever a mention of ICT now or even in the past but for Celtic and Rangers there is not enough paper to print the goings on at celtic Park or Ibrox. So sickening isn't it?..........................              http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership

Last season I was shocked by the constant whistle blowing against our team --I saw this plain as a pikestaff in the live videos of the games that we overseas viewers were allowed to view. We are either "outsiders" or playing "above our station",  like.  A pox on their houses....these parochial twats. Show them on the park who really are, lads.

I thought that there was much to be positive about. The performance, by and large was much better than we witnessed in most of the Betfred Cup group stage matches and Vigurs had one of his best and most positive performances for the club. Don't forget this was against the best resourced club in the division and firm favourites for the title.

We had the bulk of possession and played the better football almost from start to finish but, as others have said, need more penetration in the final third but the forwards are new to the club and new to each other so hopefully that will develop and improve in the coming weeks. There is no doubt that we need more width and there is equally no doubt that Polworth is not the player to provide that width. He has the potential to be a strong positive for the team when played in his proper position but is frankly a liability when not. I am sure, however, that Robbo can't fail to see that and this experiment will not last long.

Finally, if that is going to be the standard of refereeing we are going to be seeing this season then god help us.

If Dundee Utd are considered the best team in the league, I think we'll do ok this season.  We were unlucky not to take something from the game.

Vigurs was excellent today but we're definitely lacking upfront.  Just can't see where the goals are going to come from.

45 minutes ago, Caley Skye said:

If Dundee Utd are considered the best team in the league, I think we'll do ok this season.  We were unlucky not to take something from the game.

Vigurs was excellent today but we're definitely lacking upfront.  Just can't see where the goals are going to come from.

Considering how hard goalscorers are to come by at any level I think we all rue the way Alex Fisher was treated, first by Foran, and then by our board in the aftermath of relegation, could have been the guy to build our attack on with Oakley and (perhaps) Bell offering something as well.

I take heart from the reports about yesterdays game, especially with Vigurs and Calder getting good reviews, and Mulraney and Oakley getting mentions, we probably need a month to pull our sh#t properly together....and a couple of morale boasting wins

Edited August 6, 20178 yr by Eagle4Caley

Did anyone catch the overall attendance yesterday? 

42 minutes ago, CableGuy said:

Did anyone catch the overall attendance yesterday? 

It was reported on the BBC website as 3,415.

43 minutes ago, Jaggernaut said:

It was reported on the BBC website as 3,415.

Yeh I seen that, but it dosent seem realistic somehow. North stand was pretty empty, even with the large DU support I thought more like 2500

14 minutes ago, CableGuy said:

Yeh I seen that, but it dosent seem realistic somehow. North stand was pretty empty, even with the large DU support I thought more like 2500

I totally agree. I said to my son that I thought it would be about 2,500. We sit in the main stand and the North stand looked a lot sparser than usual. I know that United took a healthy support with them, but I couldn't believe it was the attendance that was reported, it was better than most of our attendances last season in the premier league. 

Im sure i heard on Sportscene results, that Utd took 1100 fans with them?