dead_ball_specialist

ICT 3 - 2 Livingston at telford street in the scottish cup, cracking goals from daisey ross and mike teasdale and an amazing late winner from alan hercher. Some terrific free flowing attacking football from our then brand new signings Teasedale, Thompson and Daisey, and memorable performances from christie, mcarthur, hercher etc under the floodlights, one of the first times we featured in scotsport tv highlights a brilliant game. Stenhousemuir 0 - 1 ICT another scottish cup adventure against higher division opposition in our second season, good atmosphere and tension throughout and a stunning long range winner against the run of play from Brian Thompson, a classic underdog performance, under the cosh but pulling out an awesome (in those days) result and getting rangers (gazza, laudrap etc) in the next round.

"How come, if the team is meant to be so fit, that we can't sem t competein the second half of home matches on our large pitch which our super fit player ought to be able to increasingly exploit as the game goes on ? " True. We used to run teams off the park and totally dominate the closing stages of games when Brewster was in his first spell in charge. He even had the likes of Golly fighting fit. Perhaps we've gone backwards on that front, or maybe the other teams have just caught up??? Whenever we have a lay off for internationals I always used to expect us to be the sharper team when we returned based on Brewsters repuation as a tough trainer, but the last few times this has happened we've come back rusty as our results in those games reflect. It might also be that we're playing a much more negative game now (flooding the midfield, lazy long balls, full backs rarely overlapping, hardly any movement in the midfield etc) so we don't wear our opponents out as much as we used to when we were a free flowing attacking team.

Vigurs was one of the few home players who actually looked like he was trying to play football out there today. Nice to see some passes ALONG THE DECK, something that appears to have gone out of fashion at TCS recently. No wonder we struggle to retain possession when even the simplest of short passes end up being unnecessarily chipped or drilled making it harder for the receiving player to control. I noticed this loads of times today.

The anti-marius comments on this thread are a total crock, the guy was a class act. Tokelyisvictorious, looking at rooney today I realized how much we MISS Niculae, i.e. somebody who can win headers, control the ball, bring other players into the game, pick out a pass, beat a man, burst the net etc etc, none of which I have seen rooney do in any of our home games this season.

Disaster!!! Fraser 4 Tokely 3 McGuire 4 Duff 6 Hastings 6 Black 8 Cowie 6 Vigurs 7 Mcbain 6 Rooney 5 Wood 7 Tokely had a Zibi. There's more chance of brigitte jones finding a man than one of his passes. Proctor must start at right back when he is fit, our best run of wins last season came when tokely lost his place - coincidence? He was certainly the weakest link today, but he wasn't alone in the dire department. Fraser was poor for the first goal, when's the last time he won a match for us? He's too easy to beat, rather like Les Fridge he makes simple saves look spectacular but any decent effort is a guaranteed goal. Give Esson a chance. McGuire is a lightweight, he misreads through balls far too often and is too easily brushed aside. Duff and Munro should start next week surely. Individual performances aside, the biggest moan of the day has to be our long ball tactics. Brewster seems to want to play 2 big lads up front and hammer the ball up to them all day long. I always thought long ball worked best with a big man - little man combo? Whats the point of Wood or Rooney winning a header when they have no runners to pick out? I thought Wood had a solid game today, some neat touches and clever lay offs. We retained possesion more when the ball was played to him than when it was played to rooney, who didn't really seem to know what to do when he got posession, and whose first touch was heavy too often. We only seem to start to patiently work our way up the park when bazza is introduced. Why don't other players ever work the ball into the corner like he does? Fair enough we have a young inexperienced team who will be individually inconsistant, but we've scored 2 goals in 3 home games against 3 of the worst defenses in the SPL. You don't have to be Gus Hiddink to realize that our home system and tactics need to be reviewed.

A bit harsh no? Broadfoot has had a pretty good season so far. Is he really any worse than McManus or Caldwell? And any Scotland teamsheet that doesn't have christian dailly on it can't be that bad.

It's nonsense to tip any player as a star of the future, you can never tell how they will develop. Wasn't so long ago ICT fans were talking up Scott McLean as a future international. More recently Blackie was being hyped up as a premiership superstar in the making lol. How about Brian McLoughlin at celtic, Sandy Robertson at Rangers, or Burke and Bagan at Killie? Good young players don't necessarily go on to become great players. Some never really get any better, some go backwards (Jason Young one time Livi's star player, now in the juniour leagues) On the other side of the coin you have late developers, solid players who don't particularly stand out in their early years but keep improving; Craig Brewster didn't become a professional footballer until his mid twenties, Billy Dodds earning a move to rangers late on in his career is another good example. How a player develops probably has more to do with their work ethic and IQ than with their natural ability.

I was having doubts about his tenure as scotland manager but his starting lineup tonight is spot on, cooom on!

We seem to struggle against St Mirren at home for some reason, there's usually not much in this fixture so it's not the home banker that some seem to think. A cavalier attacking formation right from the start probably isn't a good idea, the worst thing that could possibly happen would be for us to concede the first goal and allow them to set up shop and hit us on the break a la hamilton. Individually, St Mirren have a pretty p"sh defense but they have bulk and they're tough to break down when they dig in, so I would say our emphasis ought to be on getting the ball to the wingers as Imrie, Wilson, Tokely etc have the beating of their full backs. Long balls ain't gonna hack it, we need to play to their weakness's not their strengths. Fraser Tokely McGuire Duff McBain Black Wilson (Sutherland 70) Imrie Cowie Rooney Barrowman I think the Rooney - Barrowman partnership will only work if we provide quality service from wide areas, no long ball dross or lazy chips over the top to chase from Black. This mostly seems to happen after we take Bazza on, he and Tokely bring the best out of each other so why not give Bazza a run out from the start? If he tires bring on sutherland to run at the tired defenders.

It wasn't that long ago Livi were stealing our best players, nice to see the tables turned on them. I'd rather not see us splashing the cash, prudence has always been the ICT way. Sutherland, Vigurs and Duff alreadly look like capable additions to the first team squad.

A very lucky point for ICT today, if Hibs weren't so toothless they could easily have had 4 or 5 - it was like shooting practice for them. Nish won every high ball with ease and our marking was a shambles. It's hard to think of many positives from the game. Duff impressed with some excellent tackling and used the ball well - he deserved man of the match this week (as opposed to last weeks sympathy vote) he doesn't deserve to lose his place when Munro returns. I think we could be looking at a Duff - Munro partnership. Vigurs and Wilson also played well from the bench, hopefully they feature for longer next week. You might have thought that with Duncan out of the side our passing would improve - not a bit of it. Blackie, Cowie and Imrie struggled to find an ICT shirt all afternoon. After all the paper talk about addressing the lethargic display of last week it was dissapointing to see so much slackness in our play - it was almost Highland league standard at times. It's a real worry that we couldn't get a hold of the game against easily the poorest hibs side to visit the Caledonian stadium. They were there for the taking, even Cowdenbeath humped their full strength side in pre-season. Barrowman and Rooney were starved of service, it's hard to think of many chances that fell to them. But they failed to win or hold the ball all afternoon. Rooney in particular did absolutly nothing, I was suprised he stayed on the park for 90 minutes. One last moan, why was Djebi-Zadi introduced as a left winger? Perhaps Brewster thought we needed some height to counter hibs big men but I thought it was a negative substitution. I would far rather have seen Imrie replaced by Zander Sutherland i.e. somebody who can actually produce something. Anyway 3 games in and we're already looking a bit stale and short of ideas. Time to ring the changes.

_______________Esson___________________ Tokely____Proctor______Munro_____Hastings _______________McBain__________________ __Sutherland_________________Imrie_______ ________________Cowie__________________ _________Wilson_________Barrowman_______

We were poor today but to be fair Hamilton looked a good side, and we didn't really deserve to lose. Overall we probably made more chances but didn't get any breaks in front of goal. The starting line up was a bit baffling, why do we play Roy McBain on the left wing? It just doesn't work, ever! He couldn't hack it as a left winger for ross county in the second division. Keep him in the middle ffs! A side effect of putting mcbain out on the left flank for the first half was that Imrie was shifted out to the right, again not his natural position and he wasn't particularly effective. Russel Duncan ;) another poor performance, glad he was taken off. he seemed to be having some handbags with Brew. Hopefully his moaning will see him dropped next week. Phil McGuire oh dear, how bad does he need to be to actually get dropped???? Barrowman :thumb04: didn't do enough. Rooney did more in 45 minutes than he did in the whole game. He needs to up his work rate sharpish. One last moan, far too much long ball gash! We were playing against one of the biggest back 4's in the SPL. High drilled balls are meat and drink to them! Even Blackie was at it, he kept lazily chipping the ball into the box rather than do anything skillful or creative. I would have taken him off rather than Cowie. Our best spell came after we introduced Barry Wilson :018: hopefully he starts next week.

hahaha I take it you haven't read his column on the BBC football website? He's a half-wit. Remember a comment he made a while back about Gerry Francis, something like "Before I met him, I thought I knew alot about football" thats about a man who couldn't hack it as QPR manager :015:

If you misread your team-mates, and miscontrol the ball as badly as Graeme Bayne then you are automatically going to find yourself 'running your heart out' whenever you're on the field aren't you? :tic01:

The same negative jibes were made the first time he arrived after being punted as a crippled dud by killie, but Brewster managed to turn him around and bring the best out of him. Is it really far fetched to think that we can repeat that?

Easy Calder McArthur Mann © Dodds Hastings Teasdale Wilson Robson Christie Wyness Brewster

He has some dangerous moves. Most ICT players are pretty boring guys, maybe he can bring some much needed colour to the squad. And if he doesn't entertain us on the park, he might give us a laugh later on with his gay dancing in love2love. At least I wouldn't be the worst dancer in Inverness anymore. :003:

"Miroslav Klose, who joined the illustrious club of players to have scored a hat trick at a world cup finals in 2002. The only englishman to have done so?" Co-commentator "Geoff Hurst?" "Yes, quite right, Geoff Hurst famously in 1966."

Holland have already won the group, hopefully they will rest some of their stars and just go through the motions.

How about Roy McBain? He couldn't get a game for County, and was released on a free. Couldn't 'hack it' in the second division apparently. Signs for ICT and has been a stalwart. Alan Smart couldn't 'hack it' for ICT (or CT as we were then) in the third division, he goes on to be a prolific goalscorer down south and plays in the premiership. Some players are late developers. Have you actually seen Barrowman play recently birddog?

Anyone else notice the ball they're using for the tournament seems a bit dodgey? A bit balloonish don't you think? Alot of players seem to be struggling to get a clean purchase on it.

Sex, drugs, and sausage rolls!!!!!! Almost everyone there will be absolutly minging by now, if you don't like listening to it, just be grateful your too far away to smell it :003: I couldn't be fecked this year, kind of glad I didn't go now because I've been hearing from mates that are there that some of the prices are completely extortionate. Apparently it cost one of my mates 16 quid for two hot dogs. Lets just hope that no ICT players have been arrested this year.

I could have made it Alex, but I had too many distractions in my formative years. :003: Bayne is attracting attention from the first division 'sleeping giants'. Quite appropriate considering that he plays like one. :004: I on the other hand, attract attention from the stunners on the love2love dance floor. Who would you rather have eyeing you up? The babes, or Derek McInnes and Jim McIntyre? No contest really. You see, I have all the attributes you need, fancy footwork, flair, pinnache, and positioning. Except I learned to apply them to pulling rather than football. :blah01:

Off the Germans ... sorry apparently you should never write off the germans :clapping03: