HELLO AIRDRIE

 

Tuesday nights fixture is now of the crucial kind if we want to progress in the ViaPlay League Cup, or like the sponsors, we will not be participating for much longer. Given results over the weekend we find ourselves in big trouble with the prospect of getting out of the group stages diminishing rapidly unless we can find our feet and turn over the Diamonds. Not an easy task given their performance on Saturday as they beat Dundee 1-0 with a late penalty to follow up their 2-0 defeat of Dumbarton in their opening fixture. With Dumbarton beating us and a bonus win over the Rose, they are tucked in behind Airdrie in second place with Dundee and ourselves struggling in 3rd & 4th place. Dundee are at home to Dumbarton the following night and will fancy taking three points from that one, so it's win at all costs for us on Tuesday night. 

Kick off 7:45pm Tuesday 25th July

GAME INFO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Team		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD  Pts
1	Air	2	2	0	0	3	0	3	6
2	Dum	3	1	1	1	2	3	-1	5
3	ICT	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3
4	Dun	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3
5	Bon	3	0	1	2	1	3	-2	1

 

Team News

Inverness have signed wide player Luis Longstaff on a two year deal from Cove Rangers. Most of our squad have had a run out over these games with the exception of Max Ram who is not match fit yet. If this is still pre-season then it has been somewhat of a failure. The only bonus has been Billy Mckay notching his record equalling 101st goal for the club. That's a fantastic achievement and hopefully it won't be too long before he secures the outright leadership in the goal scoring charts.

 

 

Airdrieonians stunned Dundee at the weekend taking all three points to put them top of the table on six points having also beaten Dumbarton in their opening tie. Plenty of useful players at Airdrie. We know all about Nikolay Todorov but let's not forget that this side hammered Falkirk 6-2 in the Championship play-offs at the end of last season. 

 

Starting XI v Dundee

 

Rae

Watson   Fordyce   Taylor-Sinclair   Ballantyne

Frizzell   McCabe   Aiken

McGregor   Gallagher   McGill

 

Subs: O'Connor (53 McGill), Todorov (78 Gallagher), Telfer (81 Frizzell)

 

It's a long time since we last played Airdrie, in any shape or form. 20 years ago we won the Challenge Cup in Perth 2-0 with goals from Bingham and Hislop against the then Airdrie United. Our last game against an Airdrie XI was a 4-0 win over Airdrie United at the Caledonian Stadium in 2010.

 

Blast from the Past:

Ian Broadfoot reports from the Caledonian Stadium in 2002, probably the final game v the original Airdrieonians.

Steve Paterson's 300th game in charge produced a very welcome victory which stopped a slide down the league. Caley Thistle lay fourth last Saturday but slipped to seventh in midweek without kicking a ball. This win resulted in a climb to fifth. The first half was a nervous period with Caley Thistle trying hard but achieving little. Airdrie's best chance came in the first minute when they were awarded a free kick 20 yards out. Mark Roberts drove the ball goalwards and Nicky Walker dived to make a good save. In 13 minutes a high David Bagan cross proved troublesome to Airdrie keeper Allan Ferguson but he tipped it over. Five minutes later a Barry Robson corner from the right reached Grant Munro beyond the back post but he could only bundle the ball over for a goal kick. Stuart Taylor created a chance for himself at the other end in 29 minutes but he wasted it with a scuff past the post. In 33 minutes the home sides best first half chance fell to Dennis Wyness after good interplay with Charlie Christie but the striker hit it over from 10 yards. A minute later Owen Coyle reached a corner at the back post but left it to Taylor but he mishit to concede a goal kick. The tempo of the match changed in 50 minutes when Robson sent over a cross from the left and Martin Bavidge scored at the back post despite Ferguson getting a touch. This lifted Caley Thistle and calmed a few nerves. They kept on top after that but could not score a second goal. Robson strode through the Airdrie defence just after the goal but his shot deflected off Alan McManus. On the hour mark Ferguson raced out of goal to the touchline to just beat Bavidge to the ball. Ferguson saved Airdrie again in 76 minutes when he dived at the feet of Wyness as he stretched to reach a Bavidge curling ball but it went harmlessly for a goal kick. The nerves returned in the last few minutes as Caley Thistle worked hard to preserve their lead. With three minutes left Airdrie nearly stole an equaliser when a seemingly harmless Taylor header beat Walker but came back off the post into the relieved keepers arms. Despite a seemingly endless three minutes of added time Caley Thistle held on to win.

Saturday, March 30th, 2002, 3:00pm

Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
Attendance: 1,709
Referee: C Hardie

 

Airdrie Info: They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club following the liquidation of the original Airdrieonians club, formed in 1878. The club's official name was changed in 2013 with the approval of the Scottish Football Association to the traditional name of Airdrieonians.

I suspect people are calling for the manager's head based on a little more than the last 2 games 😂

Having watched the Youtube "highlights" I'm not sure what's more embarrassing, our defending or the quality of the footage. Seemingly shot on a 1970s Super 8 camera.    

I think we need a reality check.

Our players returned for pre season about two weeks after all the other teams.

We only had two friendlies against low level teams.

The fact that we’ve struggled in the group should not be a surprise. As is said above, we have rotated players and treated the games as pre season.

The time to worry is if we are struggling about five games into the new league campaign.

I agree with Doofer’s Dad that the injury to Nicolson impacted our first half. The players could see how serious it was. Whether we would have avoided the mistakes is another matter.

I saw enough in the first 15 and after the break to be hopeful that we can have a good campaign. We played some decent stuff and were being positive. Shaw and Longstaff are happy to take players on which creates space. Gilmour could grow into the Allardice role.

Yes we have been shaky at the back but we’ve mixed the pairing up. We’ve looked best when Duffy has been playing but I’m sure Devine will come on to his game soon.

I understand the negativity but feel it is far too early. Let’s see where we are in mid September.

And I really hope Nicolson is not as badly injured as we fear. He’s a real prospect. 

Whilst it was a disappointing result, I won't get to fussed about going out of the cup, given that we seem to have tried to give as many players as possible game time, in what has been almost a pre-season style campaign after a late finish to last season

Sure in the end, peoples views are often affected by the result, but given many comments on this match and what I heard about the Dumbarton game, there have been enough elements to be quietly happy about, and with a bit of luck we might have picked up more points, but obviously we seem to have start slowly in the last two games, and mixing up the team for game time has obvs had a disjointing affect. 

Absolutely no point in people calling for Dodds head after two poor games, given his record here and him just signing a new contract. Likewise Defence obviously needs to sharpen its game, but Devine, Duffy and Delaney have all been strong performers [if not consistent enough]. the Nicholson injury sounds a blow, but other youngsters look promising, and the new boys all look useful

I did wonder if Airdrieonians would be this years Queens Park given two strong seasons in the League below..I will find out more at the end of August went I pop up there for the away league fixture. 

1 hour ago, STFU said:

I suspect people are calling for the manager's head based on a little more than the last 2 games 😂

People are calling for the managers head after the dismal last 4 seasons ! Getting into the Scottish cup final by default is not something you reward after 4 awful seasons ? Maybe an awful lot of fans are missing something??

7 minutes ago, caley1 said:

People are calling for the managers head after the dismal last 4 seasons ! Getting into the Scottish cup final by default is not something you reward after 4 awful seasons ? Maybe an awful lot of fans are missing something??

*2 seasons feels like 4

All three goals came from us giving the ball away in our own half.  Really poor.

I hope that this is just the pre-season affect.

50 minutes ago, caley1 said:

People are calling for the managers head after the dismal last 4 seasons ! Getting into the Scottish cup final by default is not something you reward after 4 awful seasons ? Maybe an awful lot of fans are missing something??

Totally agree with you. The football we play under Dodds has been some of the worst for many a season. I struggle to think of any home games that got me excited last season, the cup game against Kilmarnock being the exception. The club had the perfect time to change the coaching team, with Dodds contract having run down, but to award him with a two year deal is mind boggling. So, if things aren't going well this season,  we are stuck with him for two years, or maybe more, if the club award him another contract!

I can't tell you the last time that I was excited for the start of a season, pre-season should be the time where you ramp up and the suspense builds up for the new season to start but the apathy I have towards our team and more so the management team has killed my enjoyment.

Billy Dodds has not and will not be the man for us and will not guide us anywhere other than down which he has already been doing. He should never have been given a new contract and the board should be ashamed of themselves. 

The League Cup should not be used as pre-season friendlies which I have said numerous times, for a club like us who needs as much financial income as we can get/gain, it should be treated seriously to entice fans in and try and progress as far as we can. We came back too late for pre-season and will now be chasing our tails for weeks trying to catch up with other teams in a league that is very competitive, I can't even bring myself to say that I hope no one runs away with it as even if they do we won't be in the running.

I'll apologise in many months if I am wrong but we will languish in the bottom half and finish somewhere between 6-8th in the league.

Too many times have I read that we were good in part for 45mins, 60mins or we tried our best or we did some things well. A match lasts 90mins and if we can't compete for the full extent of it why do we bother to give praise for some of it, over the course of a season that's a lot of minutes where we have been sub-standard or will be sub-standard. If we have any aspirations of promotion, which I seriously doubt from board level, then we can't afford to be sub-standard.

Some will see this as an over the top rant about a manager that I do not like in the slightest, but I personally don't think it is. Just because he has been given a new two year contract doesn't mean I have to like it and doesn't mean I have to bow down to him, he's not immune to criticism and it's only a matter of time before we get his ridiculous after-match interviews and the blame game will begin.

What I thought was interesting last night was the difference between the two managers. The Airdrie manager stood at the edge of the allocated area and every break in play etc. he would be discussing things with his players looked like he was giving them instructions to go this way or that way etc. all in a cool calm manner.  Billy and Barry for most part leaned against the wall and didn’t really interact until someone made a mistake then started shouting at them. Seemed totally opposite to each other. He clapped and shouted a bit more in second half but entirely different style of management 

2 hours ago, ictchris said:

All three goals came from us giving the ball away in our own half.  Really poor.

I hope that this is just the pre-season affect.

If u look back similar quotes were made in previous seasons . Dodds is one awful coach . How many would come out and say Hell yeah what a great last 2 seasons that was and reward it .Bloody awful the last 2 seasons wake up !!

18 hours ago, Gringo said:

With us now out of the competition there will be no point fielding a strong team against Dee. Let's the kids have a go. 

Unusually I disagree with you Gringo. I think we should identify our strongest 11 on Sunday and play them. We need to be as ready as possible for the league season. 

Airdrie will be this years Hamilton

I believe that every coach in this league has got our number now, and know how we are going to play, and they counteract it, or they change tactics at half time and end up winning. Dodds seems incapable of doing this, and we know from previous seasons that he has no plan B.

I really don't accept the "pre-season getting-to-know-each-other" argument.  I saw the Dumbarton game because it was streamed, and at one point the commentators noted that we had six of the Cup Final team on the pitch.  Most of the rest aren't newcomers either.

So either we have quality players and a good game-plan, or we don't.

I say we don't.

1 hour ago, MrCaleyjag said:

I can't tell you the last time that I was excited for the start of a season, pre-season should be the time where you ramp up and the suspense builds up for the new season to start but the apathy I have towards our team and more so the management team has killed my enjoyment.

Billy Dodds has not and will not be the man for us and will not guide us anywhere other than down which he has already been doing. He should never have been given a new contract and the board should be ashamed of themselves. 

The League Cup should not be used as pre-season friendlies which I have said numerous times, for a club like us who needs as much financial income as we can get/gain, it should be treated seriously to entice fans in and try and progress as far as we can. We came back too late for pre-season and will now be chasing our tails for weeks trying to catch up with other teams in a league that is very competitive, I can't even bring myself to say that I hope no one runs away with it as even if they do we won't be in the running.

I'll apologise in many months if I am wrong but we will languish in the bottom half and finish somewhere between 6-8th in the league.

Too many times have I read that we were good in part for 45mins, 60mins or we tried our best or we did some things well. A match lasts 90mins and if we can't compete for the full extent of it why do we bother to give praise for some of it, over the course of a season that's a lot of minutes where we have been sub-standard or will be sub-standard. If we have any aspirations of promotion, which I seriously doubt from board level, then we can't afford to be sub-standard.

Some will see this as an over the top rant about a manager that I do not like in the slightest, but I personally don't think it is. Just because he has been given a new two year contract doesn't mean I have to like it and doesn't mean I have to bow down to him, he's not immune to criticism and it's only a matter of time before we get his ridiculous after-match interviews and the blame game will begin.

Well, let’s just think about who cares or will change their opinion on what is posted on this forum. 
 

# the CEO - no chance 

# Chairman - nope

# board members with influence - mmm (based on the last 2 seasons)?

# the supported trust board - you kidding! 

# the season ticket holders - some I suspect but have no clout (ie unlike the top 5 teams in Scotland ).

So, we can rant all we like, but it doesn’t really count for anything. The  forum is just an outlet to allow ICT fans to put down the views, and for the most it does that pretty well I believe!

Just enjoy the footie - who knows, we might be pleasantly surprised!

bc

Edited July 26, 20231 yr by big cherly

The first goal was horrendous goalkeeping, really poor mistake from Cammy and i dont think he moved his feet well for the 3rd either.  I think he's in a tough position as perennial back up as he hasn't had a proper run in a first team in his entire career. He's barely played 50 competitive matches and he's about to turn 27.  He always seems rusty which makes the defence in front of him jittery. I'm not sure who the under 18 keeper is but I'd like to see Cammy get out on loan for 6 months.

I’d made the trip down from Orkney for the game tonight. I was sat beside either friends or family of Lewis and when he was injured it really was the most gutting time I’ve watched football hearing the despair from his personal supporters. I thought his studs caught the turf causing the knee to turn. He looked great in the early stages and I can only wish him a speedy recovery. All the best Lewis.
 

I thought Shaw was really superb tonight, he lit up the wing and delivered probably 80% of crosses into a dangerous area. He had the main stand on their feet when skinning his man in a way I’ve not seen since the days of Johnny Hayes or Barry Robson and I thought he deserved to be on the winning side.  With players like him we have hope of a good season.
 

I noticed that within seconds of the first goal for us Dodds and Wilson pulled Samuels to come on for Longstaff which was clearly a pre planned move. It was the wrong move, despite him looking a bit tired.  Why change it after coming back from two down? Nuts. 
 

The root cause of the successful Airdrie attack was a severe lack of protection from the midfield to our defence, the 4-4-2 formation left us wide open I felt.  Dodds stuck with the formation for most of the game and the like-for-like changes just serve to make sure the fresh players beat the men that the subbed didn’t…it doesn’t address the strategical issue that was plain to see. 
 

I couldn’t fault the players, it was the way they were played. 

Edited July 26, 20231 yr by Northern_jaggie

25 minutes ago, Northern_jaggie said:

I’d made the trip down from Orkney for the game tonight. I was sat beside either friends or family of Lewis and when he was injured it really was the most gutting time I’ve watched football hearing the despair from his personal supporters. I thought his studs caught the turf causing the knee to turn. He looked great in the early stages and I can only wish him a speedy recovery. All the best Lewis.
 

I thought Shaw was really superb tonight, he lit up the wing and delivered probably 80% of crosses into a dangerous area. He had the main stand on their feet when skinning his man in a way I’ve not seen since the days of Johnny Hayes or Barry Robson and I thought he deserved to be on the winning side.  With players like him we have hope of a good season.
 

I noticed that within seconds of the equaliser Dodds and Wilson pulled Samuels to come on for Longstaff which was clearly a pre planned move. It was the wrong move, despite him looking a bit tired.  Why change it after coming back from two down? Nuts. 
 

The root cause of the successful Airdrie attack was a severe lack of protection from the midfield to our defence, the 4-4-2 formation left us wide open I felt.  Dodds stuck with the formation for most of the game and the like-for-like changes just serve to make sure the fresh players beat the men that the subbed didn’t…it doesn’t address the strategical issue that was plain to see. 
 

I couldn’t fault the players, it was the way they were played. 

That is Dodds all over, he hasn't got a plan B, he subs like for like and nothing changes.

7 minutes ago, Jaggernaut said:

That is Dodds all over, he hasn't got a plan B, he subs like for like and nothing changes.

The whole coaching team seem lacking in any ability to get the best from any players. It’s why we remain in the Championship and struggle!

29 minutes ago, CaleyCiuin said:

The whole coaching team seem lacking in any ability to get the best from any players. It’s why we remain in the Championship and struggle!

Too true. The coaches seem to have a job for life at ICT.  It needed a fresh approach, new ideas from new coaches, but we get the same old same old.

1 hour ago, Jaggernaut said:

Too true. The coaches seem to have a job for life at ICT.  It needed a fresh approach, new ideas from new coaches, but we get the same old same old.

The opportunity was there . The contract was finished . Something quite not right at our club the last couple of years and it stinks . 

I’m always in the North Stand and will be glad to get back to my usual seat to enjoy the game without being within earshot of Mr Dodds.   So much swearing at his team, is that his way to encourage?   In my successful working life I was a team leader and NEVER would have shouted at one of my team - you’re a f..king amateur, which was shouted on Tuesday evening at an established team member.  I cannot recall ever being advised that insulting someone, especially in public, encouraged better performance.   Plenty times the f word was used towards his players.  If I was in his team I would be raging - so much for being a leader - huh - Mr Dodds’ tactics are so obvious other teams know how to play against us and his lack of vocabulary only shows up his many failings.  

1 minute ago, lizi said:

I’m always in the North Stand and will be glad to get back to my usual seat to enjoy the game without being within earshot of Mr Dodds.   So much swearing at his team, is that his way to encourage?   In my successful working life I was a team leader and NEVER would have shouted at one of my team - you’re a f..king amateur, which was shouted on Tuesday evening at an established team member.  I cannot recall ever being advised that insulting someone, especially in public, encouraged better performance.   Plenty times the f word was used towards his players.  If I was in his team I would be raging - so much for being a leader - huh - Mr Dodds’ tactics are so obvious other teams know how to play against us and his lack of vocabulary only shows up his many failings.  

Only one Amateur and it’s Dodds .Way out of his depth .  

7 minutes ago, lizi said:

I’m always in the North Stand and will be glad to get back to my usual seat to enjoy the game without being within earshot of Mr Dodds.   So much swearing at his team, is that his way to encourage?   In my successful working life I was a team leader and NEVER would have shouted at one of my team - you’re a f..king amateur, which was shouted on Tuesday evening at an established team member.  I cannot recall ever being advised that insulting someone, especially in public, encouraged better performance.   Plenty times the f word was used towards his players.  If I was in his team I would be raging - so much for being a leader - huh - Mr Dodds’ tactics are so obvious other teams know how to play against us and his lack of vocabulary only shows up his many failings.  

There are some teams that would run through brick walls for their manager, that is something that is quite obvious not applicable with Dodds.