Scotty

More agony for the travelling support Immortal Howden Ender was one of our well travelled fans for this encounter at the Rock and he was less than impressed with the fare on display from his beloved Caley Jags. Many fans have seen it all, League Championships, Scottish Cup wins and European football. Sadly, it looks like relegation is the next step in the decline of our club. Despite going ahead in the eighth minute through Bell, we were unable to build on that and second half goals from Froxylias and Wardrop made it a long journey home for all the suffering fans. Wasted Journey Well perhaps the omens were there long before we kicked off. Glasgow city centre awash with Old Firm neds, the nice wee train journey to the Rock cancelled due to engineering works and roadworks bringing traffic chaos to the Erskine Bridge. Underground to the West End and an empty student pub. Uber to Dumbarton and quaffing in the Stags Head watching part time Old Firmers watching the game. And then a walk down to a ground that resembles a Sunday League setting and then watching 90 minutes of Sunday League fare. At the time I was quite happy with the first half performance. A superb Polworth through ball splits the defence and Bell finished well in the 8th minute and we were in charge for the majority of the first 45 minutes. Again I have to comment on the lack of enthusiasm and celebration to herald that early goal. We looked neat enough but it was tippy tappy stuff with most balls going either sideways or back. OFW did appear to ooze more confidence to those in front of them and those brave few sitting in the stands. And if Bell had notched a second when through on goal 1:1 and we had gone 2-0 up – well who knows. Trafford and Oakley both had half chances, OFW had little to do and it really should have been 2 or 3-0. There was a sense of a standing ovation, albeit muted, as the boys trooped off at half time. And very quickly after the restart it became clearer what had happened. Stevie Aitken had given us far too much respect. He had decided to sit his team deep, allow us the ball in our own half and defend deep. The elements were also in our favour in the first half as well. Dumbarton lined up like a pack of dogs looking for the fox. From then on they defended, allowed us the luxury of possession in our own half but they pressed and pressed and looked to break at every opportunity. Froxylias basically ran the show. It took them a mere 2 minutes to equalise and we never looked like getting back. Froxylias fired home in the 47th. Froxylias bent a curling free kick at our goal in the 63rd minute, OFW made a good stop, albeit over dramatically and Wardrop reacted, knocked in the rebound whilst our defenders watched. OFW looked as if he had pulled his groin or his knee and he never took any further kicks and threw the ball out if necessitated. I suspect that he will be missing in action for a few weeks. And why oh feckin why did Robbo appear to leave the playmaker role to Donaldson? Why didn’t Vigurs drop back? Is Gary Warren collecting yellow cards? Hope I get him in Top Trumps. If he dived then that was ridiculous. I thought that he was practically in with a chance of a goal. Judging by his muted reaction he was guilty. That all happened in the 79th minute and Robbo had not even appeared to have considered a substitution at that stage. How Oakley stayed on after the hour stupefies me. And then to add insult to injury the decision is made to hook Tremarco and take on Mulraney. A certain poster on here gave Mulraney some gentle stick and his reaction almost led me to go on the park and give him a slap. He clearly does not want to be here. Tremarco himself also looked bemused as he trooped off. And then we leave it to the 87th minute to bring on Baird for Oakley. And we keep on hoofing to the skyscraper front three of Bell, Baird and Mulraney !! And remember the name Colin Steven. Another in a long list of embarrassing, amateur referees. He lost control and came up with a bevvy of ridiculous decisions – albeit both ways. And then it was back to the Stags Head, on to the Uber, on to the Underground, on to Central Station and home to Chorley. Travel cost me around £75 and I will NOT be spending that type of amount to watch absolute dross. I have booked for Livi and Dumfries. I am going there for the pre-match and post-match activities and I will not be considering any other games unless the team show a distinct improvement or even if they showed some enthusiasm and fight. Those two ingredients are sadly lacking. OFW - Nice to see him back. Back four looked more confident. Spectator for most of the first half. No chance with either goal but may have over-dramatised the free kick save. McKay – Back at full back. To be honest I hardly noticed him which probably says it all. Warren – Sorry but has become a luxury and his lack of discipline is shocking. And he was mighty quiet for a captain. He basically looked cheesed off. Donaldson – Who the feck gave him the playmaking. Libero role. Dzebi-Zade would have done a better job. Chalmers – Sweet left foot was noted once and then it was a case of Sweet Feck all. Polworth – Roving role again. At least he gave 100% and looked most likely to produce something. Great through ball to Bell for the goal. Vigurs – Some lovely touches but plays throughout in an area ten yards either side of the half way line. If we could afford such a luxury and have a couple of beavers beside him – well. Trafford – Dougal’s comment about fitness and diet may come in to play. He looks the part but dies after the hour. Mind you he runs for Vigurs. Tremarco – As with OFW it was nice to see him back but not as an offensive , wide player. Needs to either go back to left wing back or even central defence. And why he was not allowed to play for 90 minutes to enhance match fitness beggars belief. BELL – Starved of any delivery in the second half. No support up front. Worked his socks off and should have got a first half brace. OAKLEY – Inept and provided zilch basically. Already mentioned Robbo’s selection and tactical boo-boos. However, we did have the quote of the season so far. Robbo talking about the poor marking from his defenders said “We’ve worked in training all week about marking men in the box – I’ve never seen space score a goal in my life Here's the longer version from Sons TV. Date: 23/09/17 Venue: Your Radio 103FM Stadium Attendance: ??? Referee: Colin Steven Dumbarton: 2 Lineup: Gallacher; Wardrop, Hill, Barr, McLaughlin, Hutton, Froxylias, Dowie, Walsh (Wilson, 79), Stewart (Gallagher, 88), Nade (Morrison, 71) Subs (not used): Smith, Johnston, Roy, Ewings Scorers: Froxylias (47), Wardrop (63) Booked: Walsh (9), Barr (51), Hill (77), Wilson (91) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams; Mckay, Donaldson, Warren, Chalmers, Polworth, Trafford, Vigurs, Tremarco (Mulraney, 77), Bell, Oakley (Baird, 86) Subs (not used): Ridgers, Mackay, Zschusschen, Cooper, Elsdon Scorers: Bell (8) Booked: Warren (61), Vigurs (84) Sent Off: Warren (79) a

Defensive woes the big issue. Inverness' defensive frailties allowed St Mirren to run away with the game in the second half as they notched a 4-2 victory over the Highland club. A first half goal from young sensation Lewis Morgan gave the Buddies the lead at the interval. The second half exploded into life around the hour mark when a phenomenon known as strikers goal afflicted Inverness. John Baird was the scorer. However that seemed to annoy the Buddies and they replied a minute later through Buchanan. Five minutes later Liam Polworth levelled again only for St Mirren to kick on once more through Smith and McShane, two goals in a minute and our defence exposed once more. That crazy spell of five goals in thirteen minutes ended the scoring and the result puts St Mirren to the top of the league where they will be difficult to shift. We remain in seventh place. Immortal Howden Ender will have a full report for us later...................... POOR PAISLEY RETURN It actually felt good going back to Paisley. No re-match drinks in the Alamo, presumably avoiding the fly ridden buffet ?!! Often criticised as a Legoland stadium but I would have a similar set-up in Sneck in a feckin second. There was a good atmosphere and only 3610 in attendance – they pack their wee Ultras into the corner by the away end. That works a feckin treat as well. We mustered 150 and it was more of a case of the Under70’s than the Under 17’s !! Jack Ross mentioned that his team were “enjoying their football” and that was clear to see. They are young, pacey, eager, energetic and confident. That apparently was the first time that Midden scored more than 3 against us. It could have been 6 or 7 but the same could be said to us – yes we could have scored 6 or 7 as well. We suffered from poor finishing whereas they benefitted from poor defending. We came out of the blocks at the start of both halves. For 15 minutes of both we looked good and in charge. Our heads do appear to go down easy but the way that we conceded the goals must have infuriated anyone outside of our back four. Baird was unbelievably amateur in the 2nd minute when he fell for the Midden offside ploy. All he had to do was to look and hold back. However I also thought that Calder could have fired in a shot also. Minutes later Calder misfired from a similar position. And then we took a breath and Midden came back into the game. Warren mistimed. Mckay went on his back foot without a thought of a direct challenge. Where was Raven. They allow Morgan to run and run and shoot. Shure it deflect off McKay but that was there to be stopped by Ridgers. 31 minutes and we are behind when we could have been 2-0 up. Enuff said. So lets move on to the second half and we start in 5th gear again. Polly misses an utter 1 on 1 sitter, Warren misses a very good headed opportunity and instead of being 4-0 up we are still 1-0 down. Then we take on Bell for the “injured” but wholly ineffective Calder and his flick ends up with Baird equalising in the 61st minute. But it is 1-1 NOT 5-0 !! And then we blow it again. 3 mins later in the 64th. Trafford is turned 3 times, falls on his erse, we do not compete against the cross, Ridgers does not compete or focus and we are behind again to a gift. But then we get a bit of luck on 69 minutes. Polly drifting offside is abetted by a ridiculous touch from a Midden defender and this time he nets the 1 on 1. So what do we do – we feckin give away another goal 4 mins later in the 73rd minute. Warren, Chalmers and McKay enact a scene from a Keystone Cops movie and Smith puts Midden ahead. Cue our heads going down and Midden smelling blood. And it does not take them long to kill us off. 2 minutes in fact. In the 75th minute Raven falls over this time and the ball eventually is cracked in by the ex-Tink McShane. Cue substitutes methinks. Completed by Midden but not by Robbo. Unbefeckinleivable Jeff. The game then petered up. Polworth looked shattered but so did Vigurs. One for effort and the other for not being feckin fit enuff. SMILEYMOMETER RIDGERS Possibly one of the worst ICT goalkeeping performances that I have ever seen. Not only the goals but his distribution was equally shocking. He has clearly lost confidence and so have others in front of him – in themselves and Ridgers. RAVEN Love the man. Will always be a fave but he is fading fast. He can still think a game but does not have the required energy or pace required. Given zilch help from Cooper though. CHALMERS Again not helped at all by Calder but another who looks wholly lacking in confidence. Pity as he does appear to have a pretty sweet left foot. WARREN No lack of determination from another old warhorse. Unbeatable most of the time in the air but as with Rave looks susceptible to pace. Misses Meekings or a likewise defensive partner. McKAY Can’t believe how much he dithered today and was hardly seen in the game, apart from mistakes. POLWORTH Would be surprised if any poster picked any else for MOM. 120% and literally ran himself in to the ground. TRAFFORD Liked the look of him BUT he appeared to be given the role of providing defensive cover fer Polly and Vigurs. VIGURS Great vision, great touch, great left foot but sussed by Midden and dealt with - although this resulted in him chastising others and losing his focus. CALDER Simply nothing other than a wing back (Please note Robbo). Could he not reminded that he is required to shoot and defend. Injury was a way out ?!! COOPER Did ZILCH apart from make Raven look even worse. BELL Put it like this. He more that deserves a start next week. Would prefer him out wide in the place of either Cooper or Calder. Have to agree with a lot of what Robbo said after the game. It could have been so different but you do not win games with our frailities at the back. But his attempt at a 4-5-1 simply did not work. You simply cant havea defence like ours and starve it of cover. It looked like the ploy was to play Calder and Cooper in advanced positions to assist Baird. Vigurs to sit and be a lazy playmaker, Polly to have a free, roving role – leaving Trafford to try and sit in front of the defence. Robbo stated that he wanted to push Midden wide. Well that totally fecked us as they ran feckin riot. And the decision not to take on Treamrco and Oakley – Well. And to end with – Willie Gollum was absolutely shocking and both sets of fans joined in to Anti-Gollum chants. Footage of the goals from Caley Jags TV and Robbo's post match reaction. Date: 09/09/17 Venue: St Mirren Park, Paisley Attendance: 3610 Referee: Willie Collum St Mirren: 4 Lineup: Samson, Demetriou (Kirkpatrick 85), Irvine, McGinn, Buchanan, Morgan (Duffy 92), Smith (Todd 87), Baird, McShane, Reilly, Eckersley Subs (not used): R.Stewart, Sutton, R.Stewart, Whyte Scorers: Morgan (31), Buchanan (63), Smith (73), McShane (74) Booked: Buchanan (6) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Ridgers, Raven, Chalmers, Warren, Polworth, Baird, Vigurs, Calder (Bell 56), Cooper, Mckay, Trafford Subs (not used): Esson, Tremarco, Elsdon, Oakley, Mulraney, Donaldson. Scorers: Baird (61), Polworth (69) Booked: Vigurs (33), Mckay (89) Sent Off: none a