Huisdean

While I agree with most of what you have said Renegade, players have to take some responsibility and in the example you gave about Vincent, why didn't he just do what you said. Was it because the individuality has been coached out of him, was it because his confidence has gone and he did not want to take risks or simply he is frightened of the manager!!. Would be really interesting to know the real reason.

Or maybe start a KB for manager thread

As long as I can bring in Paul Sturrock as my assistant!   

How about Paul Hartley as then you would be guaranteed success if some posters are to be believed!!

Chorley ICT now has six members.

How many of those are you?

The paranoid one, the schitzophrenic one, etc etc!!

We may be giving him a sack this Xmas.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We are not but as the saying goes, every little helps.

Starchief

 I think there are plenty of posters who would want sacked now. See the new manager thread when Hughes was appointed and after certain results. As for names cannot be bothered to look but this is just my opinion.

Basically opinion seems to be broken down into several camps

Those who didn't want Hughes at any price and wanted him sacked regardless of what he may achieve

Those who were prepared to give him a go and who now think he should be sacked

Those willing to give him a chance

I will admit to being part of the third option for several reasons. Does anyone seriously think changing the manager now would instantly change things?. Hartley would have been just as much as a gamble as anyone despite some posters thinking he was the new messiah (what track record did he have?).All managers have periods when results do not go for you (Arsene Wenger anyone) but you do not build stability and the platform to take things forward but chopping and changing managers.

There were no really outstanding candidates queuing up for this post despite what people might think. We are not such a big club that we will get such candidates applying (Butcher was a big name but with limited managerial success).

Unless we get more supporters behind us, which was the most disappointing thing about yesterday, we will be a yoyo club, some good seasons and some not so good ones as you cannot keep overachieving year after year, as we are currently doing.

I think Mckay needs a rest either tonight or on Saturday so if tonight, move Watkins up front. Vincent was not great on Sunday so replace him with Nick Ross and Doran has to start (in place of Mckay).

A word to all those blaming the ref for the Foran penalty: If this was stonewall, so was Meekings' late tackle on Rooney in the first half.

No it wasn't. Meekings got the ball first, confirmed by TV pictures and Mark McGhee!. Could have been given but would have been borderline while ours was a stonewall penalty.

Was Doran on the bench because of the injury he sustained on Wednesday so could noy be risked for the full 90 minutes. No manager sets out to play for penalties, well not in Scotland, because it is too much of a risk.

Poor game overall but, as folks have sais, Aberdeen were there for the taking but we just lacked that bit of sharpness. Whether that was down to the number of games recently, don't know. Christie didokay when he came on but, in my opinion, was lucky to get on the bench ahead of Williams.

For the last 3 games involving ICT, we have witnessed very poor refereeing. The Willie Collum debacle against Dundee Utd, the ref at the Hibs game was poor, didn't let the game flow and was very inconsistent and we were denied a stonewall penalty with Foran yesterday. The referee had a good view of it but why he didn't give it is beyond me. As for our 3 bookings, only Foran's could be said to be justified as Aberdeen seemed to get away with similar fouls and not get booked. How Robson and Flood didn't get booked is again, beyond me.

Anyway, the ref did not cost us this game but now the guys have got a taste of the high liefe, here's to the next cup final next season. Well done ICT.

As everyone has said, poor game with nil nil written all over it from around 30 minutes in.

Some positives, which you have to look for in every game. Foran back to where he should be playing and noticeable difference although his distribution was poor (maybe down to pitch). I though Doran did play well, always looking for the ball and running at people. If he is injured for the final, a big loss. For me, Nick Ross may have played his way into the team. Always willing to take the ball, showed good skill but really needs to beef up. Williams as well did enough to justify a place in the squad and put in a power of work going forward and tracking back.

Some negatives however, too many high balls, we looked much better trying to pass our way through Hibs. Meekings is not a right back, Hibs sussed this out and did target him but fortunately they did not take advantage. Definitely missed an attacking threat down the right with Meekings there. Disappointed in Polworth. Always tries to play football but sometimes, the simple pass is the best option. Lost the ball too many times last night in dangerous areas which could have cost us. Free kicks not very good either.

Overall, not a disaster and looking forward to the final as I still think we can do it.

The only point I would make on this is that a lot of "fans" did not want Hughes in the first place so are just itching to find things to show him in a bad light and be sacked. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but the attitude that some posters on this thread have that Hughes needs to be sacked now, or at least if we don't deliver some good performances, very soon. Where would that leave, us, trying to find a new manager again, destabilising the club for several months and no guarantee we will be any better off with a new manager.

The same nonsense was spouted about Butcher when we had a bad run under him ( I think at the start of our Championship winning season in Div1) and look what happened.

Hughes may not be the manager some/many wanted but to talk of sacking him at the moment is premature in the extreme. That is not a happy clapper speaking, just reality. If this club starts to go down the lines of other clubs and firing managers afyer months in the job, we will suffer in the long term.

It's the refereeing inconsistencies that are bad. The tackle by a Hearts player on Billy Mackay in the semi was worse than any of the tackles yesterday yet no sending off. Another general point, players can commit foul after foul all over the pitch and are only rarely yellow carded but one "error of judgement" can get a player sent off. Football authorities have basically taken the discretion away from referees now with very few willing to stand up and make their own decisions.

While it would be great if we got 10000 plus fans going, it is what it is and the carping from some posters on this thread could potentially turn some non regular fans off. It seems to be that some fans would rather denigrate those who may want to come along for the final rather than welcome them.

While there may be lots of reasons for fans not turning out to support ICT but some of the negative comments on ICT on this forum just do not help.

Seriously think we need to think about whether Brill plays next week. His confidence does seem to have gone somewhat and I do think Esson needs to play against Hibs. No player is or should be safe from being dropped if performance levels dictate.

Some interesting posts and some not so interesting. The 4 4 2 formation does not seem to be working but that was not what cost us the first 3 goals. First two were poor defending, third soft and debateable penalty. Fourth a breakaway goal that Raven and Brill could/should have done better with.

Poor performance from many players but is this down to John Hughes?. I don't think so but that is just my opinion. Until the first goal, game fairly even but losing two poor goals then the penalty, then the sending off just killed the game. I actually thought we played better in the second half as Warren and Meekings seemed to improve but that could not be hard after the first half.

Some serious choices need to be made for the final now. I would seriously consider playing Esson against Hibs to see how he plays as I think Brill has gone off the boil. Hard as it may be, I think we seriously have to consider playing Esson. Vincent poor as well today, didn't look fit and don't think he has justified a place in the starting 11. While Raven generally going going forward, he was shown up defensively today but what cover have we got for him?. Foran also poor and showed little influence today so maybe a hard decision to take with him as well.

While we did not deserve to win today, giving United 2 goals of a start and a dodgy penalty basically took the game out of our reach against a United team who did not have to work hard for their victory and were by no means 5 goals better than us as some posters would appear to believe.

Finally onto the referee. I actually said to someone, jokingly, before the game when I discovered Collum was the ref that we would be playing against 12 men today. Well while he did not cost us the game, he certainly spoilt it as a spectacle. Both red cards were ridiculous, Tansey's at best was a yellow and Watkins was a foul only at best. Collum just could not wait to get the red cards out and if this continues, most games will end up with less than 11 men each week. What really irks me about Collum is his inconsistency where he will award fouls for certain tackles then let exactly the same thing go. Today, none of these went in our favour. We have been on the bad end of some refereeing performances but todays was one of the worst. The stand side linesman was just as bad getting decisions wrong or simply having the ref make the decion for him.

Roll on next Sunday where I am sure we will get a better performance. Aberdeen are by no means unbeatable so here's hoping the right ICT team turn up!

Surely not, their additional allocation can be released by all accounts so no need.

Yes, but they don't go on general sale til Monday. The less patient (and I guess by definition, less loyal) of the woolly masses may decide to take a shortcut.

Yesterday's defeat and the magnitude and manner of it will do little to encourage the casual supporter or non football fan swithering about whether to go or not.

As will your post!

I've said it before and I'll say it again; Dingwall is too narrow for wingers to be effective.  For that reason I'd go with a 4-3-3 - 

Brill

Raven Warren Meekings Shinnie

Draper Vincent Tansey

Doran Foran Mckay

While I think there could be a danger in getting overun in midfield with this, worth a try initially to see if it works and if not swtch to another formation

 

Subs - Esson, Devine, Tremarco, Ross, Watkins, Polworth, Williams/Greenhalgh

Seriously think the SPFL/SFA need to consider this when renewing contract with BBC who seem to treat football as a second class product when rugby is on. SPFL should insist on better timings and if the BBC don't want the rights, I am sure someone else will.

Problem is it's far from certain that anyone else will at the same price.

Very true but worth a try when the contract comes up for renewal. If the TV companies are getting good audience figures, strengthens the bargaining position of SPFL.

Seriously think the SPFL/SFA need to consider this when renewing contract with BBC who seem to treat football as a second class product when rugby is on. SPFL should insist on better timings and if the BBC don't want the rights, I am sure someone else will.

Why does Billy Dodds sound so anti-ICT?

Because he is.

He is the kind of wee nyaff that if he won 3 million quid he would moan it wasn't 5 million.

As the song says - you ain't somebody until somebody hates you!

And he still ain't somebody!!

Esson

 

Raven - Devine - Meekings - Shinnie

 

Foran - Tansey

 

Watkins - Vincent - Ross

 

McKay

This looks good to me. Devine definitely needs some game time as does Foran. Would maybe have been tempted to rest McKay but if we are winning comfortbaly, would hope he gets a rest.

 

Subs: Brill, Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Doran, Williams & Christie

What? Turned down Hibs?  They're a much bigger club though.  In fact, this year, there's even a possibility of making top six!?!?

I have it on good authority that Hibs did make him an offer but at less money than he was on at ICT!.

Some slight over reaction on here. Yes we dropped 2 points but we played so much better than in the semi final and it was just one of these days when the ball just would not go in the net. I know some folk are saying we looked scared to shoot but, especially in the second half, Hearts packed there box and it was really difficult to get space for a clear shot.

 

Totally agree with one of the earlier posters about some of our "fans". I have had a go at a father and son who sit in front of me as all they do is shout abuse from the kick off at our players and also had a go at someone for a similar thing in the game against Morton. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but some of these idiots simply do not deserve to be called fans.

Unfortunately, these are different ones in the main stand and it is Nick Ross they have it in for. The father who must be in his seventies is the worst.

I bet thats the pair of numpties who were sitting behind me and winding me up at the semi final. The son seemed to spend his afternoon shouting about how '*****' Billy Mckay is and how we should have sold him in January. I really don't know why people like that bother coming to games, if you are only interested in shouting abuse at your own players when things aren't going to plan then I'd rather you stayed at home. If I am near people like that again I might spend my day shouting abuse at them about how bad their support is see how they like it.