On 9/6/2019 at 6:45 PM, Robert said:

Could be an interesting line up. Robbo saying Kellacher and Wilson will be in charge tomorrow, pick the team and decide any substitutes. He also says that MacKay, Harper, MacGregor, McHattie, Welsh, Trafford and Todorov will start. 

Storey also starting so 7 changes from last week. Only Rooney, Donaldson and Doran starting who started last week. 

MacKay

Rooney Donaldson McHattie Harper

MacGregor Welsh Trafford Doran

Storey Todorov

Machado and Hyde amongst the subs  

 

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Jack Waddington: Surprised they've gone with Cammy over Mark... 

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Robert: Very dominant 45 in a sunny stadium. 

Morton parked the bus until we scored and probably the poorest away first half performance from any visiting team in a while. 

Cracker from Todorov and second from Doran. 

Impressed by Harper. 

More of the same second half, please. 

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Jack Waddington: The atmosphere seems to have returned in the form of some Czech Tourists...

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Robert: Comfortable 3-1 win. Tod had a penalty saved. Good to see Machado get some game time.

Shame we can’t play Morton every week! 

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17 hours ago, Robert said:

Comfortable 3-1 win. Tod had a penalty saved. Good to see Machado get some game time.

Shame we can’t play Morton every week! 

Jack: 8 goals and 1 conceded in less than a week. Things are looking up...

 

Caley 100: Very comfortable win, should have scored 3 or 4 more, Good to see Welsh playing well, some good performances from fringe players.

McGregor had some nice touches but got caught in posetion a few times, Machado is really wee! Jeez , he also needs to work on final ball as this let him down after some good work.

Pity about the pen, keeper saved them a few times.

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Robert: I really enjoyed this afternoon. In some ways, we were better than last Friday, particularly first half. Just a shame only 1021 of us were there to see it. 

Morton set out to play 11 behind the ball, trying not to give us space. We patiently held possession and probed for chances. 

The first goal was a gem from Todorov, a curling strike from at least 20 yards. Doran got a bit lucky for the second when the mall seemed to bounce back to him, but he finished well. 

That was us 2 up after 30 and only then did Morton start to do anything positive, but we were well on top. 

Second half was a bit more balanced, but we remained on top and comfortable. Storey ran in from the right and put the ball through the goalie’s legs for the third. 

Shame we conceded. Looked like we lost their scorer in the box (but I did predict 3-1 on Gringo’s board....). 

Todorov then had a penalty saved. 

We had eight changes to last week’s starting line up, so we do seem to have strength in depth this season, so will hopefully cope with injuries and suspensions. 

MacKay has a comfortable afternoon. Other than the goal, he had a couple of saves and a couple of strong pass backs to deal with. 

Rooney was less attacking today. He had MacGregor ahead of him initially, but Storey was wide right in the second half. Rooney tended to stay behind them. He was getting less support when defending than he gets from Walsh  

Harper was impressive at left back. He pushed forward well and had a few decent crosses. He was also our corner kick taker on the right side. 

Donaldson and McHattie had a comfortable time in central defence, with Coll having a few forays forward and some neat touches. McHattie played very calmly despite being out of position. He will give us another option in central defence. MacGregor started wide right but was switched with Storey and moved up front. He had a quiet first half but was more prominent in the second. 

Doran had a good game, and was helping Harper also. When subbed, he left from the opposite touchline and was warmly and deservedly applauded all the way back to the dug out.

Great to see Welsh back. He was probably the pick of our team today. He takes the pressure off the defence so well and was very positive. Trafford also had a good game, and won the penalty, albeit it looked a bit soft  Storey had some good runs, particularly once playing wide right  Todorov scored a great goal, just a shame about the penalty.

Machedo was very lively when he replaced Doran. He has pace and touch, and should turn into a great asset for us.

White replaced Todorov whilst young Hyde got a cameo late on for Storey.

We scored 8 goals in 104 minutes from the 42nd minute last weekend to the 56th today, hopefully boosting confidence and we can put a run together  

Great that our home form seems transformed from last season. Still early days, but 5 wins from 5 in league and cup.

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10 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

Good summary from Robert and another thoroughly enjoyable game.  

I think many of us will have been pleased to see Todorov get a start, but I wonder what others thought of his performance?  His goal was excellent but other than that I didn't see much to impress.  His first touch often let him down and he didn't seem to be able to shield the ball and bring team mates into the game anything like as well as White does.  Football is a team game and he seemed to forget that when he took charge of the ball for the penalty.  The fact that he took the penalty was rather more of a concern than the fact he didn't score.  It looked pretty clear that Welsh was the designated penalty taker and I doubt that Todorov has endeared himself to his team mates or the management by that incident.  The miss gave Morton a lift.  They got a goal and put a bit of pressure on us.  Getting a 2nd would have made for a very nervy last few minutes when we really should have been 4 up and looking to match last Friday's scoreline.  I think it was quite telling that Todorov didn't get the full 90 minutes but was subbed for White.

I think Todorov looks like a more natural goal scorer than White but White brings more to the team.   I would certainly like to see Todorov get another start fairly soon, but he may be more effective coming off the bench as an impact sub.  When we get back to League business I fully expect to see White leading the attack.

Robert: I agree with that assessment. 

I’d like to see what the White / Storey combination could do. It may mean a reshuffle given Storey seems best coming in from wide positions as he did best today when playing wide right rather than up front. 

Its good we are having these discussions as we are looking at how we can build on what we have achieved in the last couple of weeks. 

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Satan: A bit negative about Toddy there... ?

I thought he brought more threat to the front line,  his movement was excellent, he can fairly move for a big guy, most of his aerial challenges were won, and a lot of his flick ons went to players wearing blue. Didn't notice his first touch being particularly bad  but then after watching White for so long there's not much difference.

A different type of forward for sure, maybe it's down to the management to select a team to play a certain way,  rather than select the same 11 and expect them to play differently.

A good run out for a lot of players, liking forward with interest to dunfermline.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                          Morton team for the Challenge Cup game

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morton sat deep to frustrate caley early on and despite lots of slick passing caley did not create many chances. Todorov shot that curled beyond the Morton keeper opened the scoring. This was followed by a great ball over the top from Welsh to Doran who slipped the ball under the advancing keeper. Miles Storey nutmegged keeper at the near post for the third. Very enjoyable match and could easily been five or six. Well done everyone involved. ?

Class game. Machado did rather well considering it was his first Actual game for the club, however, though he did throw off his markers multiple times, his crosses went a touch too high, can definitely see him either in the line-up or on the bench away to Dunfermline.

I did say I wasn't expecting us to haul in another 5-0 win, but they learned from Saturday's mistake and bolstered their defence and started their other new keeper, who has likely confirmed his place in the lineups.

The Attack was decent, Miles Storey and the lot of them mugging off their markers (even though nothing came of quite a lot of them), the midfield was meh, they did their job and the defence was the same. But, we really took a gamble in playing Cammy in nets, he wasn't exactly the best on the field on Tuesday night, but after the performance yesterday, though I still wouldn't constantly rely on him (Rather have Ridgers), I know he's alright as a backup.

Realistically from here on out, (assuming if Elgin beat Dundee this afternoon) the only team we really need to be wary of is Wrexham...and maybe Partick...

Apologies to original posters, I appear to have broken the topic and merged the original posts into one big post.?

My bad!

I have tried to add names to the posts, if they are wrong pm me and I can add correct names. 

My still bad.

A very enjoyable afternoon in the sun at the stadium for the Jags.  I have never seen such a negative performance from a team, in the first half, like I did from Morton, they just tried to park the bus and had no out ball,  last weeks result was obviously fresh in their thoughts. We played some neat passes and it was just finding a way through the massed ranks of their eleven,  and we did with a fabulous strike from Todorov, and the second looked like Doran had over run the pass, only for the ball to emerge past the keeper and into the net. Storey had the beating of their right back for pace time after time, and had put in a few good crosses, and nutmegged the keeper for Thistle's third. We could have had a fourth, when we were awarded a penalty when Trafford tumbled in the box. I would have liked to see Welsh take the penalty, even though he missed the last one against Clach on Wednesday night, but Todorov had grabbed the ball and it didn't look like he was going to give it up, Welsh was the penalty taker last season,  and I think, if he is on the pitch, he should take them, unless he is constantly missing them. Todorovs miss seemed to spur Morton into life and they were being far more offensive and grabbed a consolation goal when our defenders seemed to lose their player.

All in all, there were some really good performances. Welsh, Doran, Storey and Todorov stood out for me, and keeper MacKay's distribution was first class. Mchatttie and Donaldson were solid at the back and both full backs put in good shifts up and down the wing and some good crosses. I though Trafford had a far better second half and MacGregor had some nice touches to link the play. Machado has great feet, and just needs to know when to lay the ball off to a player in a better position,  but I love his directness. 

As I said in a previous post, I think we now have the strongest squad we have had in quite a few seasons. In past seasons we have had a good first eleven and a bench that wasn't as strong, but now we have competition for all areas on the pitch. Good results can breed confidence, so lets hope we can take it into our next game at Dunfermline. 

9 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

Class game. Machado did rather well considering it was his first Actual game for the club, however, though he did throw off his markers multiple times, his crosses went a touch too high, can definitely see him either in the line-up or on the bench away to Dunfermline.

I did say I wasn't expecting us to haul in another 5-0 win, but they learned from Saturday's mistake and bolstered their defence and started their other new keeper, who has likely confirmed his place in the lineups.

The Attack was decent, Miles Storey and the lot of them mugging off their markers (even though nothing came of quite a lot of them), the midfield was meh, they did their job and the defence was the same. But, we really took a gamble in playing Cammy in nets, he wasn't exactly the best on the field on Tuesday night, but after the performance yesterday, though I still wouldn't constantly rely on him (Rather have Ridgers), I know he's alright as a backup.

Realistically from here on out, (assuming if Elgin beat Dundee this afternoon) the only team we really need to be wary of is Wrexham...and maybe Partick...

Elgin did indeed get a win against Dundee!

Hopefully a home draw against one of the non Scottish sides so we get new opposition. 

Really impressive outing for the young lads. Harper looked like he had been playing LB for years and whilst I suspect Tremarco will regain his place it's good to know that we have a capable deputy there to come in. Hopefully Robbo starts to give Harper some more game time as this could well be Tremarcos last season as a player with us.

MacGregor was excellent. Seemed to be playing right midfield for a period in the first half but looked like he came in towards the centre in the second and Machado was a real live wire. Some of his crossing wasn't great but his movement off the ball is excellent. Both MacGregor and Machado were unlucky not to score. I think we've got some real players for the future in those three.

Thought harper had a brilliant game, looked calm on the ball and puts in a good tackle. Macgregor didn't do much in the first half but looked direct and was wanting to try take players on in the second half. 

I would try get Harper involved as much as we can now, Tremarco wont have much longer left and looks like we have a good replacement.

 

 

Great to see Welsh back as well. He and Trafford both performed well in central midfield and Storey looked lively on the right flank. Worth praising Donaldson and McHattie also. Donaldson had the cigars out for most of the game and McHattie again showed he's a capable back up at this level for us. Yes he's not the greatest defender but we're going to struggle to sell a back up slot to anyone of any real talent so he works well for us based on this.

Staying in this cup will give us a real competitive run out for the youngsters and fringe players , as well as keeping them ticking over it can give valuable rest for the core players from our squad,  hopefully avoiding the injuries and burn out from the end of last season.

Slightly better depth of squad should enable us to do this.

At home to Alloa in next round.

20 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

At home to Alloa in next round.

Easy but *****...