RiG

Cove put highlights up yesterday by the way. Parental discretion advised.

Alarming comment to make that there has been no work done with the back four. Maybe COVID has had something to do with that I don't know but it's somewhat concerning that after a good few weeks we have, based on this, done nothing to get the defence organised.

That was grim. Despite a first half that was arguably quite even in terms of chances created as soon as Cove were two goals up the game was over. Duku and Sutherland both passed up decent chances for us with Duku perhaps missing the best opportunity when he rounded the keeper and decided to take about 74 touches in the box before having a shot. Neil and Draper looked quite suspect at times. Unfortunately for us our entire defence looked even worse with Broadfoot and Deas really struggle to understand where one another was. Duffy looked incredibly rusty at RB and was continuously beaten by Leitch down the Cove left side whilst Harper, although reasonable enough getting forward, is a little suspect defensively for me. Wonderful opening goal for the home side. nice little dinked ball over the top of the ICT defence and McIntosh sent a superb curled effort beyond Ridgers into the net. Barely a moment later Cove had a second. Another ball over the top found Megginson and he easily beat Ridgers for number two. With this the game was pretty much over as we struggled to get anything going in the second half. Walsh had the best chance when Duku sped past a Cove defender and cut the ball back from the bye line but Walsh saw his effort blocked and then cleared off the line. Cove's third goal looked, from the opposite end of the pitch, a little similar to the chance Walsh had missed. Bursting run into the box, ball cut back and Yule finished well to wrap things up. Although a penalty from Duku saw us get on the scoresheet it did nothing to mask a pretty desperate performance. I don't particularly care about going out of the League Cup, we have been dreadful in it since this new format was introduced, but I am bothered about the poor performances against Stirling and Cove Rangers. The latter had nothing to play for, only had 14 fit players available and were absolute toilet for their first three games yet they cigared past us no problems. I'm also worried that there were evident problems on the pitch which Dodds did nothing to address. The players still seem to be adjusting tot his 442 / 4411 setup Dodds is trying to implement. Last night we were outnumbered in midfield and struggled in the centre of the pitch for long periods yet nothing was done to change it which was a concern. When we did look threatening it was when we had the ball on the deck and were passing it around but too often we were sending high balls up towards Duku and Sutherland who struggled to control them under pressure from Draper and Neil. It was evident this wasn't working yet it seemed to be our main way to "attack". We need to improve and quickly.

We had a lot of the ball but didn't create too many clear cut chances. From an ICT perspective the defending for the second goal was a shambles. Carson completely switched off and let his man run off him. Nice free kick for the opener but I can't help but feel we didn't defend that set piece particularly well either. A couple of nice passing moves at the edge of the box saw us score two decent goals and although we dominated in terms of attacking with Stirling content to sit back and hit on the counter we struggled to really test the keeper. Doran had the best chance to win it when he sclaffed a shot wide with only the keeper to beat. That said, Stirling looked decent on the counter and although Broadfoot was pretty decent for most of the game he did have a comedy mishap with Deas (I think) where the two of them went for the ball and both missed it leading to a clear chance for Albion to grab a winner but they hit the post / bar. That penalty shoot out was pretty rotten. Almost as bad as the one between the two sides back in 2017 in the same competition. That's us possibly out of the competition already as we will probably need to do our usual of get at least a point from Hearts or avoid losing 3 - 0 only to contrive to lose 4 - 0. Meh. On the plus side it was great being back at a game again.

All that's missing from this thread is Wynthank popping up to tell us all how we should never have gotten rid of John Hughes...

Wait, you have to keep face coverings on during the game!?

Can you get refreshments at the game? Looking forward to getting along for the first time in something like 16 months at the weekend.

Being pernickety here (apologies!) but the SPL died a death a long time ago. We want to get back to the Scottish Premiership. The fact that folk still refer to the top tier as the SPL shows what a roaring success the rebranding of the leagues has been.

Broadfoot signs. https://twitter.com/Record_Sport/status/1413946060414803983?s=19

Hello, our season preview pod is out now featuring interviews with Michael Gardyne, Manny Duku and Tom Walsh. We look over the other sides in the division and try to identify what "DoddsBall" might be. And there's also a chance to win a signed ICT shirt by Danny MacKay!

I doubt a lot of junior sides, even some League 1 and 2 sides, have the financial backing that Kelty have.

Announced a couple of hours after I took the plunge and renewed my ST

It was a very revealing interview and interesting to heard "behind the scenes" of the challenges faced by the club that we have long suspected they faced (recruitment) and the tedious COVID requirements (disinfecting balls). Good to see it get some traction in some of the (online) papers with the P & J, Edinburgh Evening News and Edinburgh Live among others all picking up the comments.

Bin colts and the non Scottish teams and bring in more Highland / Lowland League sides. Actually, just sack the whole competition. The SPFL have completely ruined it over the last few seasons.

I think it would be better if the stripes were also on the back of the shirt as well although perhaps this is to make it easier for the players names and numbers. Don't think I like either of the strips enough to bother buying one this season sadly.

I don't massively mind the pop up one in between forums but it was the lag it created as the ad fired up that was the issue for me.

Does anyone else get pop up ads when moving into the Caley Thistle section of the forum?

Have you seen who is reporting it in the DR? Scott Burns is typically very on the nose with transfer rumours.

Kirk Broadfoot incoming it seems...

A big benefit for Storey in his first spell was his link up with Christie. We know he (Storey) has pace so playing him on the shoulder of the last defender with Christie playing slide rule passes through to him was a great setup. Take that creativity away and stick Storey wide right and you have the headless chicken we have become more familiar with over the last couple of seasons. He's had a couple of nice finishes during his second spell but I think overall it's been a little disappointing. However, one thing we saw more when he played on the flanks, was a pretty good work rate. I seem to recall a game against Ayr United where he was up and down the right side trying to attack but also getting back to help defend as well (typically when Rooney went on a rampage forward). He certainly didn't seem to be afraid of getting stuck in when required.

Given that the players salaries aren't exactly public knowledge (unless the players are informing the website) I would take it with a very large pinch of salt. Brad Mckay negotiated a new deal a year or two ago when we were in the Championship so the likelihood of us playing close to £1,000 a week for him in the second tier are virtually remote. Wouldn't be surprised if these are just salaries from Football Manager...

Each to their own but I fully agree with what Robbo said recently when he said it wasn't right for everyone else to be at home, staying safe, whilst the players from clubs all over the country were travelling all over the place possibly bringing who knows what back to their families.

No but if we are expecting these guys to be going up and down the country to entertain us then surely the least they can expect is to be double dosed so, if they did catch COVID-19, it will hopefully be pretty mild for them on the back of having two doses of the vaccine.