RiG

I've not been involved in the last couple of pods due to other commitments and I've not had a chance to listen to the recent releases but the CEO has not, in the past, asked for anything to be edited or asked to approve what goes out so I see no reason why that would have changed.

When you're defending against someone looking to cut inside and strike the ball with their stronger foot you show them outside onto their weaker side. Duffy didn't do this which was bad enough but it was a slack ball from Carson that set up this opportunity for Dundee. Just so slack from us all round really.

Hello, another podcast was released yesterday which has a Q & A session with ICT CEO Scot Gardiner. The ICT Supporters Trust were also involved as were Section 94. You can have a listen in the usual podcasty places!

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.

Given that would make it 6 games without a win I think that would make it pretty obvious how we are coping right now.

There's definitely been a shift in mood over the last few weeks. It's weird to think that so many people are unhappy given that we aren't that far off a play off position (at least). For me though I am very concerned about the performances of late and issues off the pitch. You could argue Dodds has some kind of get out with recent injuries but I feel we've been playing really poorly for a long time now even before we started losing players to injury. It's been a tough watch even with results being not too bad a month or so ago. But it's a hard push to say what we've seen is entertaining which is why a lot of people like to go to a game. Off the pitch rumours swirl about altercations in the dressing room, players wanting to leave, jobs for the boys, the concert fiasco...it's all a bit grim really.

We were dreadful for long periods. Absolutely nothing going on in the final third of the pitch. Too often we tried to force balls wide towards Shaw and Doran instead of trying to patiently work the ball forward. When we did this in the second half it coincided with our best spell of the game. Then Carson's error let Arbroath back in and we resorted back to route one with Dodds also taking off Oakley (makes sense) and we were second best thereafter. Arbroath could easily have won it. Delaney looked good, Shaw had a good game and Mckay worked his socks off as usual. Beyond that though...

Highlight of the game was Mason Hancock getting booed after he was announced as Matt Hancock.

The fixtures for the various leagues have been out for around 4 months. It would be extremely naïve for three clubs involved in a ground sharing agreement not to be looking ahead at possible fixture clashes especially Queens Park who (apparently) agreed to groundshare at Ochilview after there was already an agreement in place between Stenny and Syngenta. This is a good summary of the farcical situation that QP have left themselves and supporters in: https://doingthe42.co.uk/?p=133

How are they solely at fault? This clash has been known about for months and yet not one of the clubs or league organisers have done anything about it. Incredibly hard to blame just one party here. It's a cumulative cock up from all involved.

Stenny are away that day. Syngenta are playing at home on the 12th.

Third time already this season that we've conceded 4 goals in a game.

I doubt it's going to create one.

The biggest battle of the evening looks like it'll be the Sportscene presenters v the Morton PA system.