I say,

We're going to get royal pumped on Saturday IMO. 

End of Dodds?

Eh what? 🧐 

A much better game against a cynical Ayr team. 

Fair result and pretty obvious that Carson is a more dynamic central midfielder than flying fullback. Gives us bite and tenacity that has been missing in recent weeks.

Need to secure a win soon cannot afford a carbon copy of the winter run of last year

 

With the exception of the Hamilton game, and I'm only talking about home games as those are the only ones I attend, we have played some decent stuff this season. A bit mystified why some posters think this is the worst ever team, it isn't by a long chalk, and when you consider the injuries we have, that's not a bad achievement. 

Against Arbroath and Ayr, we have played some good football despite what some on hear state, but mistakes have cost us dearly in both games. With just a small bit of luck, we would have had 6 points. We are not playing too badly in the games I have attended but really need a bit of luck to go for us. 

I'd have taken a point before the game but disappointed not to have got all 3.  We played well in the first half and would have gone in at the break with a comfortable lead had a couple of well worked chances not ended up with tame efforts straight at the keeper when a bit of composure  would have seen the ball side-footed past the keeper into the net.  Nathan Shaw showed great composure for his 2 goals and others need to follow his lead.

The surprise return of Danny Devine showed what we have been missing in central defence and David Carson showed why he should be playing in midfield.  I was, however, rather disturbed to hear Billy Dodds' comments after the game saying that both Devine and Welsh  were not fully recovered from injury.  If they weren't fully recovered, they should not have been playing.  Putting players who have not fully recovered from injuries into a highly competitive match environment puts them at serious risk of aggravating their injuries.  It was a real worry to see Devine forced to go off in the 2nd half and I sincerely hope that was simply a reflection of a lack of fitness .

Oh, and why did people boo Logan Chalmers?  It only made him play better.  In fact, he played very well, and after he came on as sub, he was far and away Ayr's most effective player.

8 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

I'd have taken a point before the game but disappointed not to have got all 3.  We played well in the first half and would have gone in at the break with a comfortable lead had a couple of well worked chances not ended up with tame efforts straight at the keeper when a bit of composure  would have seen the ball side-footed past the keeper into the net.  Nathan Shaw showed great composure for his 2 goals and others need to follow his lead.

The surprise return of Danny Devine showed what we have been missing in central defence and David Carson showed why he should be playing in midfield.  I was, however, rather disturbed to hear Billy Dodds' comments after the game saying that both Devine and Welsh  were not fully recovered from injury.  If they weren't fully recovered, they should not have been playing.  Putting players who have not fully recovered from injuries into a highly competitive match environment puts them at serious risk of aggravating their injuries.  It was a real worry to see Devine forced to go off in the 2nd half and I sincerely hope that was simply a reflection of a lack of fitness .

Oh, and why did people boo Logan Chalmers?  It only made him play better.  In fact, he played very well, and after he came on as sub, he was far and away Ayr's most effective player.

 

1 hour ago, DoofersDad said:

I was, however, rather disturbed to hear Billy Dodds' comments after the game saying that both Devine and Welsh  were not fully recovered from injury.  If they weren't fully recovered, they should not have been playing.  Putting players who have not fully recovered from injuries into a highly competitive match environment puts them at serious risk of aggravating their injuries.  It was a real worry to see Devine forced to go off in the 2nd half and I sincerely hope that was simply a reflection of a lack of fitness .

I took their appearance as a big positive that they wanted to play which I found reassuring after recent events.

I assume the plan was for them to play for as long as they felt able to and then replace them. Devine did well but ran out of steam whilst it was not apparent that Welsh had an issue. I also thought Ram was struggling at one point in the first half but he ran it off.

I’ve been critical and worried recently, and probably fuelled some of the speculation, but I take heart from the attitude and commitment everyone on the park showed, and am happy to give the backroom team the benefit of the doubt again.

We are missing Deas, Delaney, Allardice, MacGregor, Mackay, Samuels, Walsh and Sutherland, with Devine and Welsh not fully fit. I’d imagine that, of the 8 who are out, Delaney, Deas, Allardice, Samuels and Sutherland would have been starters today, possibly also MacGregor and Mackay, so I just hope we start getting players back whilst we are still close to the top of the table.

The cup weekend gives a bit of a breather but we then have in form Dundee in a fortnight. 

 

How can people still support dodds... 3 points out of 18 is not good enough.

He's keeps out of the lime light when we lose then shows his face when we draw. He's not playing our number 1 keeper and where is Austin Samuel's. Is it because they said things he doesn't want to hear? 

 

I for one have given up on him.

 

A much better performance than most of our recent outings, but that wouldn't be hard. I wonder if our performance had anything to do with the rare appearance of Lionel Nessi??? He emerged from the tunnel like some heroic returning warrior, and inspired the team to a wonderful point!

Thankfully Dodds played five in the middle, something that should have happened weeks ago, and with Carson installed back in the middle, next to Welsh, where he belongs, we were much more solid in there and harder to play through. Devine at the back made a huge difference, and it was significant that they scored their second after Danny had hobbled off the pitch. Shaw again was my man of the match and he gave their left back a torrid time. But how we miss the talents of Logan Chalmers, he turned the game for them, and had the beating of Harper at left back, I've said it on here many times, Harper is not a left back, he is a midfielder all day long, but I know he had to go back to fill in for the injured Delaney. My pick of the players were Shaw, Devine and Welsh, but a word must also go to what must be our most frustrated player, Billy Mckay, who gets endless high balls pumped up to him, only for the CBs to head them right back, note to team.....Billy is not a six foot target man, and hasn't a hope of winning those balls, so why do you persist game after game after game doing what doesn't work. We play our best football on the deck, with quick passing moves, that's where our two goals came from.

Two shots on target and two goals, just think what we could achieve if we had more shots on target! Three points out of a possible eighteen is not a good return, but it is a point I didn't think we'd get before the game, so, hopefully all the players come through, unscathed and are fit for the Cup game, as we are going to need that sort of performance to get to the next round.

15 hours ago, caley fan1 said:

How can people still support dodds... 3 points out of 18 is not good enough.

He's keeps out of the lime light when we lose then shows his face when we draw. He's not playing our number 1 keeper and where is Austin Samuel's. Is it because they said things he doesn't want to hear? 

 

I for one have given up on him.

 

What did he not want to hear? 

2 hours ago, tm4tj said:

What did he not want to hear? 

That he's a Poundland version of Robbo

 

Odd game looking back at it. I thought Ayr were on top before we took the lead. They had some nice chances to open the scoring the best of which fell to Akinyemi (I think) which drew a fine stop at close range from MacKay. Despite it being against the run of play Shaw took his goal well. Not sure who played the ball through to him but he rounded the keeper well to score.

After that I think we were the better side and looked a lot more comfortable than we did at the start of the game. We were probably helped when O'Connor went off injured. He looked very lively and was keeping Duffy and Ram occupied with some clever runs in behind them before his injury.

Second half I think we started quite well with some half chances created before Ayr got their equaliser a little against the run of play. Chalmers had been forcing Harper back since he came on and he broke down the ICT left and crossed for MacKenzie to find the net at the second attempt. After this we seemed to completely collapse and Ayr were on top and looking certain to get the three points. It was no real surprise when Akinyemi got his goal. After what must have been the millionth long ball towards Mckay one of Ayr's 10 ft tall defenders easily won the aerial dual and his header sent Akinyemi off towards goal and he finished well past MacKay.

Fortunately, despite seemingly throwing away at least 1 point, we got an equaliser when some scrappy play at the edge of the Ayr box saw the ball fall to Shaw and he got a shot away early sending a low drive across goal past the Ayr keeper. Another well taken strike.

The game seemed to change when Ayr had to make changes. They looked weaker when O'Conner went off and much stronger when Chalmers came on. For ICT we played some decent stuff at times but too often there were some bizarre passages of play where we continued to smash the ball towards Mckay who won almost no headers all day against the giant Ayr CBs. No idea why we persisted with this approach.

Shaw had a good game, Devine was a reassuring presence when he was on the pitch and I think Harper did well until he had to go up against Chalmers who took him to the cleaners a couple of times. Decent away support up the road from Ayr as well.

22 hours ago, caley fan1 said:

How can people still support dodds... 3 points out of 18 is not good enough.

He's keeps out of the lime light when we lose then shows his face when we draw. He's not playing our number 1 keeper and where is Austin Samuel's. Is it because they said things he doesn't want to hear?

I for one have given up on him.

 

There's no point in giving up on Dodds, I doubt he's going anywhere, and TBF, as much as one can point out bad runs, one can also point out good runs, the key question being how much does a thin squad and lot's of injuries affect the play and the results?

Not to sure how bad Samuels injury is, but as a man who relies on speed, he needs to be in tip-top shape.

2 points from 18 and we have some fans trying to tell others that they have no cause for complaint?

Can I also highlight that we started the season with only 5 points from the first 18 and that was before the "injury crisis".  Not suggesting that injuries aren't having an impact, but there's evidence to show that we are just as capable of poor form when we have a mostly intact squad.

Can I also echo what was said above about the worry that we are playing players who aren't fully recovered.  That is irresponsible.  What is even worse is the admission from our Manager that we are utilising players when he has identified that it is detrimental to their mental health.  Has he forgotten the events that caused his predecessor to stand down and open the door for him to get the job?

It's just a game of football.  It's entertainment.  We should not be consciously and deliberately subjecting anyone to undue physical or mental risks.  What's just as bad is that the club, including the Sports Director who suffered from mental health issues, is allowing this.

....or it's purely soundbite to support his outrage that the SFA/SPFL didn't allow him to recall loan players?

Either way, it's just another matter that shows the utter shambles that is the running of ICTFC these days.

It's 3 from 18, or you could look at it like this, 18 from 33.

Too many snowflakes about for my liking. 

25 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

It's 3 from 18, or you could look at it like this, 18 from 33.

Too many snowflakes about for my liking. 

Thank you for strengthening my argument.

I love that your snowflake comment makes you the very definition of a snowflake 😂

7 hours ago, STFU said:

2 points from 18 and we have some fans trying to tell others that they have no cause for complaint?

Too many are happy just to judge success on the failure of others. They yet again will see 'play-offs' as success and cite injuries etc as the reason for not achieving more, if we fail they will accept other excuses all while strengthening the position of the current incumbents.

Don't dare to suggest that this seasons Championship and the quality of teams and play is a bigger pile of dug ***** than even last, with it being embarrassing how bad the teams all are (us included)

As for how the board all just walked away from the concert fiasco without any tarnised reputations, they really are teflon for the **** not to stick.