We're on the Telly again

 

One of the last traditional grounds this Friday night as we visit Greenock to take on Morton in the cinch Championship. This game kicks off at 7:45pm. If you are unable to attend the match, don't worry, BBC Scotland have got your back and have chosen it as your preferred Friday night viewing. Maybe the Beeb have a sort of sadistic tendency and look forward to more pain being inflicted upon us as we struggle to get eleven fit players on the park. The olde magic sponge has lost it's magic and Robbie Deas is beyond that having suffered a broken shin bone against Raith Rovers to become the latest victim of the Caley Jags Crippling Curse. We wish him well in his recovery.

MATCH/TICKET/BUS/INFO

SUPPORTERS BUS 07462218717 2:30PM

Venue

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	20	12	4	4	46	18	+28
Away	17	10	3	4	35	19	+16
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	37	22	7	8	81	37	+44

We have the edge over Morton, but honours are even over the last six meetings. The worrying trend recently has been losing home games. That 6-1 thrashing we dished out at Cappielow feels like a long time ago now. However, with injuries dominating our headlines just now, we will do well to get out of this with anything. It could be a long night on Friday. 

Last 10 Competitive Meetings

0 - 1 (H)

1 - 0 (A)

0 - 1 (H)

6 - 1 (A)

1 - 1 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

2 - 0 (H)

4 - 1 (A)

0 - 1 (H)

2 - 2 (A)

Earlier this season we went down 0 - 1 to Morton at the Caledonian Stadium, a Grant Gillespie penalty in the 85th minute doing the damage. That was Austin Samuels' last game for us after going off injured in the 24th minute.

More rubbish than the streets of Edinburgh:  The fans turned up looking for a reaction after the feeble attempt at Firhill last Friday. They would leave disappointed after 95 minutes with lots of questions unanswered as they slumped to a second defeat in a row to a bang average Morton side who had previously only ever won three games at the Caledonian Stadium in nineteen encounters. Goalless at the break, Grant Gillespie slotted home a penalty with five minutes remaining after Duffy handled in the box. Woeful stuff from Billy Dodds and his hapless team. Simply another inept performance from the Caley Jags who are now six points behind early leaders Ayr United.

Ayr United beat Partick Thistle 4-2 on Tuesday night and that leaves the table looking like this, It's all very tight at the top end of the table.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Ayr United	12	6	3	3	26	17	21
2.	Inverness CT	12	6	3	3	15	11	21
3.	Partick Thistle	12	6	2	4	25	21	20
4.	Queens Park	12	6	2	4	19	19	20
5.	Dundee	12	5	3	4	19	16	18
6.	Morton	12	5	3	4	15	13	18
7.	Raith Rovers	12	5	1	6	13	13	16
8.	Cove Rangers	12	3	3	6	16	20	12
9.	Arbroath	12	2	4	6	8	15	10
10.	Hamilton Ac.	12	2	4	6	9	20	10

FRIDAY 28TH OCTOBER

    Morton v Inverness

Queen's v Dundee

SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER

Arbroath v Ayr Utd

  Hamilton v Cove R  

    Rovers v Partick

Last Time Out

Injury ravaged Inverness were held to a draw by Raith Rovers who must have thought they would break their hoodoo. Over twenty years since they have beaten us over ninety minutes. Robbie Deas was magnificent leading the back four by example and scored a wonderful headed goal off Zak Delaney's inviting dipping cross. Unfortunateley he was injured late in the game and we have now been told the extent of that. He has broken his right leg. That took the shine off a great defensive effort with Mark Ridgers also denying Raith with four vital saves. 

Morton earned a good away point at Dens Park as the Dark Blues ended the game with ten men. Dundee's Josh Mulligan was red carded with ten minutes remaining after two late bookings in a four minute spell. Morton are unbeaten in their last four games since being hammered 5-1 by Partick Thistle with three wins prior to the draw at Dundee. They also dished out a five goal thrashing of their own over Accies who beat us recently.

Latest Team News

Well, what can we say that's not already been said. Multiple injuries that will see us struggle to be competitive for the forseeable future. Most serious are Deas (broken right leg), Sutherland (ACL), Walsh (ACL), Roddy MacGregor (ankle), Devine (knee), Dan Mackay (knee, extent not known). Add Allardice, Duffy and Samuels who are hopefully getting close. Max Ram and Sean Welsh are just back after injury and game time is all part of their rehab. Let's see what Billy Dodds has to say about any players likely to be ready for Friday night.

 

Eck's Morton menu:

Morton have announced the signing of former Celtic, Hibs, Livingstone and St Johnston defender Efe Ambrose today (Wednesday) ahead of the clash with Inverness. 34 year old Ambrose has been capped 51 times for Nigeria in a glittering career. Imrie is building a solid squad at Cappielow and they have one of the best left backs in the Championship in Lewis Strapp. Up front Robbie Muirhead and Jai Quitongo will cause probems and on loan Irishman Jaze Kabia will be out to prove he's ready for a start.

 

Here's Dougie talking after the Dundee game.

One for the diary.

We have been drawn to face Stirling Albion at home in the 3rd Round of the 2022/23 ScottishCup.

3rd round ties to take place on weekend of Saturday 26th November.

We have played Stirling Albion twice previously in the Scottish Cup. The first encounter was a 6-1 win at Forthbank in 2007. The second game required a replay in 2016 when we won 2-0 in Inverness after a no scoring draw in Stirling.

 

 

 

Well another game where we could have played till midnight and never scored. Again, wrong tactics for me from Dodds. You have to control the midfield, that means playing one up top with midfield supporting. Playing Oakley with Bill Mckay just doesn't give us enough. And I really thought his subs were bad, and as for his interview after the match, that is just unprofessional, creating something that should have been kept in the dressing room, now we all want to know what happened! I'm starting to get the feeling that Dodds is losing the dressing room, if he hasn't lost it already. I don't see these players wanting to run through brick walls for him, there's no zip and no passion.

The combination of defensive errors was a bit freakish, but missing Deas and Devine we can expect to be vulnerable at the back, especially with Allardice missing as well.  If we are vulnerable at the back, we have to be more incisive and clinical up top, and that is where we struggle at the moment.  We have only scored 4 goals in our last 6 games.  We huffed and puffed tonight with good possession but very rarely threatened.  Often when it looked like we might threaten, we turned back and played a safe ball which only served to allow Morton's defence to get back in position.  And when we did shoot, our shooting was woeful with only 2 shots on target and their keeper never seriously tested.  You don't win games by keeping possession, you win them by scoring goals.  

1 hour ago, CaleyCiuin said:

Rodgers has been superb over the last few years and one of our most confident players. On some occasions he has been the difference between loss / draw / win. Recently however, he has been below his normal high standards, basic mistakes have crept in . Change is inevitable!!!!! 

He's still the best keeper we have 

4 minutes ago, caleyboy said:

He's still the best keeper we have 

Totally agree. 

 

The morning after the night before. I had fully expected us to lose, with such a depleted squad and makeshift team, against a form side. The scale of the defeat was really down to uncharacteristic individual errors, mainly at the back, but not helped by some poor finishing too.
However, the thing that troubles me is the now very public rift between Dodds and Ridgers. We know from recent experience that an unhappy dressing room doesn’t win matches, and it can take a long time to heal. Concerning.

Day following the night before: We have more injured than any other team in the league why?Bad luck or is there another reason?

We are not sharp enough up front and don't threaten the opposition goal.Oakley and McKay doesn't work.

Our midfield are not strong enough and we have lost too many good defenders to injury.

Allied to all this the tactics are questionable. However  the players don't become bad players overnight, so surely they can get together thrash out the issues,put round pegs in round holes and all make sure they know their role.

We huffed and puffed last night,but never looked threatening.However when Morton went forward you had to hide behind a cushion.

Time to sit down,reflect address concerns,build up confidence and togetherness and make sure we are never embarrassed on TV again.

Edited October 29, 20223 yr by Douglas Mackenzie

Dodds and Ridgers need to sort out there differences this week and put this sorry episode behind them. It seems there has been a problem brewing between the two for a few weeks now.  Ridgers form hasn't been great at times recently but he's not been getting a lot of protection from those in front of him. It doesn't help we've not had a settled defence either. If I had to choose I'd much rather have Ridgers in goal than Dodds in the dugout. 

Edited October 29, 20223 yr by SteveA

Confidence is everything for a goalkeeper.

Last night's back four is nowhere near good enough for this level and to be fair anyone missing their first choice CBs in this league would struggle badly, particularly if their first choice central midfield isn't there to protect them either

I remember when Ridgers first arrived and he had a dreadful few months. The big catalyst for his improvement was that we signed Coll Donaldson and the back four improved dramatically; when he had the likes of Matthew Elsdon in front of him he was being peppered with shots constantly and the number of goals we conceded clearly rocked him. But he has not become a bad goalie overnight, nor has Cammy Mackay suddenly become anything more than a cheap 'break glass in case of emergency' backup keeper. Even if he is having a bad patch Ridgers is our best choice in goal both in the short and long term.

It's hard to comment on Dodds' decision to sub him at half-time; if they've had a falling out and words have been said then it's certainly possible Ridgers crossed a line. However we were 3-0 down on live TV and playing like s*** so no wonder tempers were flared. If Dodds wants to send him a message by subbing him then fine. But for him to then make it clear on live TV that the substitution of Ridgers was not injury-related seems to me like really poor management. What does he expect to gain from humiliating the player like that? It's certainly not going to improve Ridgers' frame of mind. Surely what happens in the dressing room should stay in the dressing room?

We are in a bad place right now - as would be any other team in this league with our injury list. That's mostly bad luck. But we need to muddle through the best we can till players start coming back; if morale is a mess then results won't improve even with a stronger squad. Feels to me like whatever Dodds does next regarding his goalkeeper is going to be pivotal in lots of ways.

 

We were dreadful last night terrible performance. Morton had 6 shots 5 on target and they scored 4 of them. We had 11 shots 2 on target and didn't convert any of our chances the first 3 goals were totally avoidable too. Only so much you can blame on injuries the players on that pitch just simply didn't give 100%. Seems to be drama happening behind closed doors which clearly is affecting morale. Like last season this could be our best chance of going back up and we're messing it up gonna be a tough few weeks if you ask me..... 

2 hours ago, hislopsoffsideagain said:

... nor has Cammy Mackay suddenly become anything more than a cheap 'break glass in case of emergency' backup keeper.

I respectfully but firmly disagree.  Because of no streaming I have seen very little of ICT this season, but I did see a lot last season.  Cammy had a very good run for a few matches, and I don't remember him being any distance behind Mark in terms of goalkeeping.  i also remember starting a debate by saying that his ball distribution was better than Mark's - rolling it to a team-mate instead of hoofing it downfield straight to the opposition.

Obviously I don't want any rift between the manager and any players, but Cammy playing in goal for a few games wouldn't bother me.

At least last nights debacle should be the last time we witness that  horrific away kit.

Having said that it must have been very nostalgic to old jaggies within our support seeing their team getting seriously pumped in the red and black would have brought tears to a glass eye. 
 

Dougal
 

 

 

3 hours ago, SteveA said:

Dodds and Ridgers need to sort out there differences this week and put this sorry episode behind them. It seems there has been a problem brewing between the two for a few weeks now.  Ridgers form hasn't been great at times recently but he's not been getting a lot of protection from those in front of him. It doesn't help we've not had a settled defence either. If I had to choose I'd much rather have Ridgers in goal than Dodds in the dugout. 

Totally agree and think a lot of fans will choose Ridgers over Dodds

Apart from the first five minutes, it was the stuff of nightmares.

As someone else said we never looked like scoring and our defence was awful especially in the first half.. No passmarks as far as I could see.

I travelled far enough, but really feel for folks who travelled from Inverness to be dished up a performance like that.

Table after todays games

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Ayr United	13	7	3	3	28	17	24
2.	Morton	13	6	3	4	19	13	21
3.	Queens Park	13	6	3	4	21	21	21
4.	Inverness CT	13	6	3	4	15	15	21
5.	Partick Thistle	13	6	2	5	25	24	20
6.	Dundee	13	5	4	4	21	18	19
7.	Raith Rovers	13	6	1	6	16	13	19
8.	Cove Rangers	13	3	4	6	20	24	13
9.	Hamilton Ac.	13	2	5	6	13	24	11
10.	Arbroath	13	2	4	7	8	17	10

It's so close at the top but we need to start scoring goals or we will be slipping down the table.

 

Positives - may as well make several weeks’ defensive howlers in the one game, same as Partick the other week.

Negatives - unless Ram and Duffy, or some other pairing, develop an understanding quickly, we’ll be shipping four every week.

Agree with the statement above, Billy and Oakley doesn’t work. Oakley is better as an impact sub - give Billy an hour first.

2 hours ago, IBM said:

It's so close at the top but we need to start scoring goals or we will be slipping down the table.

And we no longer have the best defensive record to counter our lack of goals after last night’s debacle.

No interview (yet at least) in the club’s report:

https://ictfc.com/report-morton-4-0-ictfc-28-10-2022

Edited October 29, 20223 yr by Robert

I say,

We've almost been as bad as Patrick Thistle lately. 

Eh what? 🧐 

Heard from a few different people that the window got smashed on the supporters bus Friday night?

15 minutes ago, WYNESS101 said:

Heard from a few different people that the window got smashed on the supporters bus Friday night?

Hit by one of Boyd’s wayward shots?!

22 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Hit by one of Boyd’s wayward shots?!

nah....corner flags got them

Reflecting on where we are this season so far.

Injuries haven’t helped us and we’ve been woefully inconsistent.

Last season no one beat us in the normal league season by more than one goal. This season we’ve been battered 4-1 and 4-0 already.

We are struggling in front of goal.

That is not a recipe for success but somehow we remain in touch at the top so if we can sort the issues out we can still win the league or get in the play offs.

Equally we could easily find ourselves in a battle at the bottom.

Whatever is going on between Dodds and Ridgers needs sorted. MacKay is a decent stand in but Ridgers is our best ‘keeper and has done little wrong.

About last night, we left the centre halves exposed too often. Ram is young and a prospect but needs experience alongside him. Duffy is not used to playing on the left side of the pairing so was unable to give him the guidance.

With our midfield issues and the benefit of hindsight, we’d have been tighter and more competitive with Carson alongside Welsh in midfield and a back four of Duffy, Ram, Delaney and Harper.

I’ve said before that our formation leaves us light in midfield. We need to consider playing 4 5 1 which can switch easily to 4 3 3 when we are attacking.

I’m a great fan of Mckay and he’s been one of our best players again this season but he’s often coming deep to try to influence the game when he’s best as an out and out striker.

Oakley has his strengths but the front two pairing is not working.

Boyd, ignoring his wayward shots, tries to be positive so dropping him into the midfield trio and tasking him to get up in support of Mckay could be effective. Doran could also play that role leaving Boyd wide.

Then have two wide players to get forward and track back: Boyd or Doran and Shaw if we are working with players available last night, but hopefully Samuels this week.

That would give us a starting line up next week of (if we don’t have any new injuries or players back):

Ridgers

Duffy Ram Delaney Harper

Samuels Carson Doran Welsh Boyd

Mckay

Just my thoughts and probably very wide of the mark, but we need to play to the strengths of the players we have available, whilst tightening things up and having a threat up front. 

1 hour ago, Robert said:

Reflecting on where we are this season so far.

Injuries haven’t helped us and we’ve been woefully inconsistent.

Last season no one beat us in the normal league season by more than one goal. This season we’ve been battered 4-1 and 4-0 already.

We are struggling in front of goal.

That is not a recipe for success but somehow we remain in touch at the top so if we can sort the issues out we can still win the league or get in the play offs.

Equally we could easily find ourselves in a battle at the bottom.

Whatever is going on between Dodds and Ridgers needs sorted. MacKay is a decent stand in but Ridgers is our best ‘keeper and has done little wrong.

About last night, we left the centre halves exposed too often. Ram is young and a prospect but needs experience alongside him. Duffy is not used to playing on the left side of the pairing so was unable to give him the guidance.

With our midfield issues and the benefit of hindsight, we’d have been tighter and more competitive with Carson alongside Welsh in midfield and a back four of Duffy, Ram, Delaney and Harper.

I’ve said before that our formation leaves us light in midfield. We need to consider playing 4 5 1 which can switch easily to 4 3 3 when we are attacking.

I’m a great fan of Mckay and he’s been one of our best players again this season but he’s often coming deep to try to influence the game when he’s best as an out and out striker.

Oakley has his strengths but the front two pairing is not working.

Boyd, ignoring his wayward shots, tries to be positive so dropping him into the midfield trio and tasking him to get up in support of Mckay could be effective. Doran could also play that role leaving Boyd wide.

Then have two wide players to get forward and track back: Boyd or Doran and Shaw if we are working with players available last night, but hopefully Samuels this week.

That would give us a starting line up next week of (if we don’t have any new injuries or players back):

Ridgers

Duffy Ram Delaney Harper

Samuels Carson Doran Welsh Boyd

Mckay

Just my thoughts and probably very wide of the mark, but we need to play to the strengths of the players we have available, whilst tightening things up and having a threat up front. 

Yes, I agree, I have said for ages now that we need to control the midfield first and foremost, if we have any chance of taking anything from games. Playing 442 when you have most of your first choice players out is football suicide, and so it turned out. We needed five in the middle, to try and protect the novice back four, and runners to support Billy Mckay when we attacked. But one of our failings is keep turning back when we receive the ball, it let's the opposition time to get into shape and behind the ball, Morton on the other hand recieved the ball and immediately were on the front foot, putting us under pressure.