THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Alloa Athletic PREVIEW 24th August 2018 @ 3PM, Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage   AUDIO COVERAGE BBC Sportsound BBC Sportsound [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

I've just realised Chalmers was playing.  World Hide and Seek champion in the making.

Shocking really how we couldn't achieve the 3pts today.  Rooney is never a right back I'm afraid.

Shocking decision by Rooney to make the challenge but let's be honest we should have been out of sight by then.

Terrible substitution by Roberston taking off Welsh, lost the shape in midfield when he came off and switched to Chalmers and Polworth both not renowned for their ability to track back .

Onlye positive for me was the outstanding performance from Calder who must be given a run of games.

2-1 up against 10 men then Walsh loses the ball on the touchline and, instead of chasing and attempting to win the ball back, he stops and his opponent is allowed to run almost the length of the park, win a penalty and the points are thrown away! Alloa then blow their best chance of the game when they really should've scored and won all three points!

It's completely idiotic how we contrived to fail to win that game!

The substitutions, apart from Calder who looked like the only footballer on the park during the short time he was on it, were baffling! 

??????????????

 

Wow, where do you start with that display?

I thought we started well, but we  do that in a lot of matches, and when we don't capitalise and score in that time, it always comes back to bite us in the end.

I thought we should have started with two wide men, there was an unbalance in the team. Tremarco and Walsh were bombing down the left and only Rooney on the right, and he was exposed on numerous occasions.  I have said it before on here, is Rooney any better than Seedorf? I don't think so, and giving away that penalty was just criminal.  If Robertson is going to play Polworth (how he stayed on the whole game baffles me, does he have some hold over Robertson?) Welsh (who was our best in the centre of the park)and Chalmers ( who was anonymous most of the game), in the middle of the park, he needs to sacrifice a forward for a wide player. And as for the forwards, I just don't think that Austin and Oakley look like a pairing that will get us a lot of goals in a season. Why are they not fighting to get the ball and take the penalty, after Robertson had taken off the player who scored the first one. Most strikers love getting their name on the score sheet,  but ours seem to hide when we are looking for someone to step forward. And as for White, did he touch the ball?

I have come to the conclusion now that Ribertson has no idea how to play against 10 men, at times i thought that Alloa had the numerical advantage,  we were our predicable and ponderous style, slow build up and waiting till the opposition is in place and try to play through them. It doesn't work Robertson!!!. We need pace, two wide men, control the midfield and close teams down.

We have now played the two teams that were promoted last season, they both went down to 10 men and on both occasions we couldn't beat them. I think the best we can look forward to now is a mid table finish, and we can't even look forward to winning the Irn Bru cup this season because of Robertsons stupidity. 

 

The cup run last year flattered Roberston in which was a pretty below average season .

Finishing half way down the table which included 2 part time teams has to be improved on this year.

Agree pretty much with that. In all honesty we looked like winning but for three or four excellent Parry's. (see what I did there) Missed penalty but plenty of positives. Polly, Chalmers, Austin were off the pace again. Need to make better use of the ball around the opposition goal. Could have won 8-3. But always remember, I was there when ICT scored a penalty. Unfortunately I was there when we missed our umpteenth one as well.

That's two consecutive games where we have been at home against newly promoted clubs reduced to ten men relatively early in the match and failed to secure the points.

While the draw a fortnight ago was a disappointment, the dropping of three points today was unforgivable.

Ayr are resurgent and brimming with confidence and may well 'do a Livingston' and secure back to back promotions. By contrast, Alloa have a tiny budget, were bottom of the table and are very likely to be relegated again come the end of the season.

We played quite well until we scored and then,bafflingly, instead of pressing home that advantage, began to freewheel apparently confident that, now we were in the lead, more goals would come naturally. I am sorry but we are not good enough to take anyone for granted in that way.

We were gifted the lead and a numerical advantage right at the start of the second half and should have secured ourselves at least a two goal cushion before comic book defending by Rooney, what on earth was he thinking of, cost as dearly in the end.

John Robertson is a reasonably competent manager but he has his shortcomings. Last time around he had the experience and guile of Donald Park to rely on together with the talented and tight knit squad assembled by Steve Paterson. Now he has the benefit of neither and it shows.

I doubt we can afford to replace him and I doubt we could afford anyone better to replace him even if we could. There is no need to panic YET.However, he, the coaches and the players will have to do a great deal better between now and the end of the year if we are not to become detached from the promotion race.

Edited August 25, 20187 yr by Kingsmills

How are we going to survive if we can't even beat teams reduced to ten men for most of the match.

8 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

That's two consecutive games where we have been at home against newly promoted clubs reduced to ten men relatively early in the match and failed to secure the points.

While the draw a fortnight ago was a disappointment, the dropping of three points today was unforgivable.

Ayr are resurgent and brimming with confidence and may well 'do a Livingston' and secure back to back promotions. By contrast, Alloa have a tiny budget, were bottom of the table and are very likely to be relegated again come the end of the season.

We played quite well until we scored and then,bafflingly, instead of pressing home that advantage, began to freewheel apparently confident that, now we were in the lead, more goals would come naturally. I am sorry but we are not good enough to take anyone for granted in that way.

We were gifted the lead and a numerical advantage right at the start of the second half and should have secured ourselves at least a two goal cushion before comic book defending by Rooney, what on earth was he thinking of, cost as dearly in the end.

John Robertson is a reasonably competent manager but he has his shortcomings. Last time around he had the experience and guile of Donald Park to rely on together with the talented and tight knit squad assembled by Steve Paterson. Now he has the benefit of neither and it shows.

I doubt we can afford to replace him and I doubt we could afford anyone better to replace him even if we could. There is no need to panic YET.However, he, the coaches and the players will have to do a great deal better between now and the end of the year if we are not to become detached from the promotion race.

PS Can we please please spend a few hours at training practicing penalties!

Poor result. pretty similar to the Dunfermline game. We started poorly, even when we were 1-0 up we weren't playing particularly well. When we were 2-1 up we still weren't looking comfortable. It when was Calder came on and provided width (similar to the Dunfermline game when Doran came on) that we started to look a lot better. Polworth was moved into a central position and rather than have one wide creative player in Walsh being easily marked we now had 2 wide players on the pitch that allowed us to be a threat down both wings rather than trying to play on one side of the pitch. The second penalty was disappointing, fair play for Donaldson for trying but as others have already said, a striker should be wanting to take penalties and increase their goal tally, are they not hungry for 3 points every game and a golden boot come the end of the season? Disappointing to only have 5 points from our first 3 games when we could have had 9.

We brutal again today so slow in the build up dozens of sideways passes shocking stuff Polly and Chalmers were crap again Polly actually looks depressed on the field Rooney is an absolute clown Calder should start at right back! Embarrassing that our strikers left it to big Coll to take a penalty! Fcuk nos how Robbos gonna turn this around he swapped our best wide player for a Beith does he even exist surely not another Mcnaughton!

6 minutes ago, Alan Simpson said:

We brutal again today so slow in the build up dozens of sideways passes shocking stuff Polly and Chalmers were crap again Polly actually looks depressed on the field Rooney is an absolute clown Calder should start at right back! Embarrassing that our strikers left it to big Coll to take a penalty! Fcuk nos how Robbos gonna turn this around he swapped our best wide player for a Beith does he even exist surely not another Mcnaughton!

Nah, I thought we played quite well today. 

4 minutes ago, Caman said:

Nah, I thought we played quite well today. 

Who did u think played well Polly?

4 minutes ago, Alan Simpson said:

Who did u think played well Polly?

Every ICT player was immense.  Even Salah wouldn't get a game for us just now. 

1 minute ago, Caman said:

Every ICT player was immense.  Even Salah wouldn't get a game for us just now. 

Haha class sarcasm is the lowest form of wit tho brother! Sure I seen Chelsea scouts looking at big Rooney hope we can hold on to him he's a joy to watch

Haven’t been to a game since losing to Killie in the relegation season but hope to be at most if not all derbies and a few others. Now I am not going to argue with people who have been to the games as they have the best views of seeing the whole 90 minutes but I find this doom and gloom outlook on the season a bit laughable. I looked at my phone and saw Alloa had equalised and did roll my eyes but we had a worse start last season. County lost to Morton today, which I didn’t see coming, I think this league is going to be tight with points being taken off each other. I agree that not winning against 10 men and two promoted sides is not great but to say that means our season is going to be awful is a bit premature. Early season is always a bit of a phoney war, you want to start well but we will know far better how this season will pan out closer to Christmas. The fact that we are creating chances makes me less worried, yes we need to start putting teams away so they can’t get back in to games but again strikers are weird creatures. Austin scored quite a few last season when he joined but has struggled so far, if he gets on a roll then I am sure the goals will start flowing. Drawing today was awful but not terminal in our promotion/play off chances but we have to start winning games when we are on top. As for penalties sort it out!!!

As much as anything else I'm p'd off with Rooney for costing me 5 points for the 2-1 win in Gringo's NPL ?

5 hours ago, KennySim93 said:

Why's Coll taking a pen when Welsh scored one earlier in the game?  Surely he should have taken it again?

Unfortunately Welsh had been subbed by then.    

I've come to the (sad) realisation the maybe this is us and we can't get better!  Some good performances today and some awful displays.    Oakley was poor, as was the link play between him and Austin as almost nothing of a goal threat materialised from either,  Chalmers is a neat sideways passer of the ball.

Now, we know Polworth can be an excellent and important player for us but at this moment he is lacking his mojo big style, so many passes went astray it was quite saddening to see    

Once again our inability to kill of opponents is going to cost us, combined with our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot it's going to be a frustrating season friends.

4 minutes ago, caley100 said:

Unfortunately Welsh had been subbed by then.    

I've come to the (sad) realisation the maybe this is us and we can't get better!  Some good performances today and some awful displays.    Oakley was poor, as was the link play between him and Austin as almost nothing of a goal threat materialised from either,  Chalmers is a neat sideways passer of the ball.

Now, we know Polworth can be an excellent and important player for us but at this moment he is lacking his mojo big style, so many passes went astray it was quite saddening to see    

Once again our inability to kill of opponents is going to cost us, combined with our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot it's going to be a frustrating season friends.

As poor as today's performance was, that is a bit defeatist. We can get better. We demonstrated that during the last ten weeks of last season with substantially the same squad of players.

What is needed is more commitment, more belief and more consistency. Much of that is down to the players but some of it also to the manager and coaching staff.

It is always harder to play against 10 men; We were drawn into being over confident when we perished the opening 3 fixtures; We have finally unearthed a penalty taker; we remain unbeaten in the league; we are making chances; we have a better squad and changes are easier to consider or make; we are a better team away from home; looking like a league where many are capable of beating each other and there will be no runaway leaders - "Always look on the bright side of life" 

13 hours ago, Alan Simpson said:

We brutal again today so slow in the build up dozens of sideways passes shocking stuff Polly and Chalmers were crap again Polly actually looks depressed on the field Rooney is an absolute clown Calder should start at right back! Embarrassing that our strikers left it to big Coll to take a penalty! Fcuk nos how Robbos gonna turn this around he swapped our best wide player for a Beith does he even exist surely not another Mcnaughton!

As I said on another thread White wanted the ball but Donaldson wouldn’t give it to him so it was an arrrogant decision for big Coll to take the penalty when a striker wanted to take it. 

 

Simply not good enough.  For me, I need to see much more passion, belief and desire to find space and drive forward for 90 mins, not ten in the first half and maybe 15 in the second?    Too many invisible players yesterday and yes, bizarre that our CB took the pen but who else wanted it?  He was perhaps a bit casual, but at least he wanted it.  As Mr Toepoker stated - an omnishambles.  I’m at Dunfermline next week and was there last year in the first game where we were royally humped. I’m not looking for a repeat.......

Lazy copy and paste from P & B.

We were really poor yet again. Far too narrow for most of the pitch with an alarming reluctance to take opposition players on until Calder came on in the second half. This coincided with our best period of the game where Parry was under real pressure from a number of crossed balls and he was made to pull off some smart saves from close range.

Opening goal was pretty straightforward as Mckay strode in to meet a Polworth corner and channelled his inner Laporte and battered a header into the net. The Alloa equaliser came from what looked like a pretty debatable free kick. Zanatta drove between two ICT players an then threw himself to the ground. Nice cross sent to the back post and it looked like it ended up in the net thanks to a deflection off Donaldson or Oakley.

Second half kicked off with some absolute madness from Karadachki. After wrestling with Oakley and conceding a free kick he then spent the few seconds leading up to the free kick grappling with Donaldson before dragging him to the ground and conceding the penalty. Welsh stepped up to send the keeper the wrong.

Calder then won a penalty after he went down in the area. Looked a bit soft to me. He just seemed to run past the Alloa defender and then fell over. No ICT player seemed to really want to take the penalty, Welsh was off the pitch at this point having been subbed, so Donaldson stepped up and rattled the bar.

Parry then, as mentioned, pulled off a number of good saves to deny Doran and White and ICT were made to rue their wastefulness when Rooney channelled his inner Ross Tokely and decided to hack at some Alloa attacker multiple times before bundling him over in the box for the third penalty of the day which was dispatched by Flannigan. Zanatta could have won it for the visitors but his tame shot was right at Ridgers.

All too familiar a tale for ICT fans. Dominate the game in terms of possession but tend not to create much and when we do we are wasteful in taking those chances. Very little width for most of the game until Calder came on and gave Tremarco someone to link with ahead of him instead of having to turn back inside all the time. Welsh had a decent game and we definitely lost a bit of composure in midfield when he went off (presumably due to fitness issues). Donaldson, penalty miss aside, was good at the back but the rest of the squad is quite poor. Austin, Oakley and White all continue to work hard up front but none of them look like they will be particularly prolific for us this season. Rooney was really poor. Defensively naive and poor bringing the ball out from the back.