Caley Stan

Just watched the first half of the BT highlights - I only sat through that painful second half to applaud the players for their season so certainly wasn't going to watch it again. 

Funny how differently you see things at the time - as I experienced the Doran chance, about 10 seconds seemed to pass between the sublime first touch and the failed attempt to lift it over the keeper. Turns out it all happened in a split second and there was someone on the line to deal with it anyway. Siegriest's save from Walsh's deflected volley was probably the closest we came in retrospect. 

Overall, and bearing in mind injuries, fatigue, the financial chasm, the size of the crowd and club we were up against etc., that was a great effort in the first half. If we'd got the first goal then something magical might've happened. We didn't, but i'm left with nothing but massive respect for everyone involved in the effort. 

A fitting 25th anniversary shirt would ignore Thistle colours completely and be sponsored by Macrae & Dick. 

The poor home fans might want to try getting behind the team.

We've overperformed this season. Robbo has squeezed every sinew out of a small and limited squad. Think Joe Chalmers playing on the right when Walsh got injured, Charlie Trafford changing his game and stepping up in the absence of Sean Welsh, and Jordan White's development into an effective battering ram once Oakley's departure made it clear that he was our only option up front. Most of us had written these players off, but they were all Robbo had to work with and he turned them into promotion contenders and cup semi-finalists. Some effort. 

On the flipside, it looks like we'll continue to suffer from unrealistic expectations. If United go up then then next season's league might look weak at first glance, but at least 3 clubs will have a significantly higher budget than us. We'll lose players now - Polworth gone and rumours around Donaldson, Chalmers, White and Doran. Robbo's building for another push, but most likely it will be another scrappy play-off push at best. A bit of patience from our support might help with that. 

14 hours ago, Scarlet Pimple said:

Why did we play more defensively today than aggressively in order to try to score? 

Because we started the game 3-1 up! 

I made a rare trip north yesterday to see us getting through to the next round of the play-offs. Couldn't care less about the performance, we did what we needed to do and if we got through it without any injuries or suspensions then we've managed it well. 

https://spfl.co.uk/news/spfl-play-off-schedule

"Kick-offs are Saturday 3.00pm and midweek 7.45pm unless stated".

No TV for the QF's.

Austin's been decent in the two games I've seen him start in recent months (at Falkirk and Ayr). He did a lot of running in those games. No signs of laziness. 

42 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

It’s a shame we don’t have such a good record against the teams near the bottom of the league.

There's a good reason for that though - we're just much more suited to playing against proactive teams. Today was a case in point. Ayr started out stuffy, White had 3 men surrounding him every time we hit a long ball, Polly and Chalmers couldn't find any space to play a forward pass from beyond the halfway line. Once we scored (against the run of play), Ayr had to open up and suddenly White was winning every ball and laying it off to midfield runners in space. We're a really well drilled side with great spirit, but the quality is not quite high enough to break (even bad) teams down. It's only once the space opens up that we start to create good chances.

This was a huge game and when I saw the line-up I feared the worst. In the end, McHattie was comfortable at centre-half and Rooney didn't have any disasters - still very worrying to think we might start next week with the back 4 that finished today. 

Polly and Chalmers in the centre of a midfield 4 - lots of fans have been calling for it for a while, and Robbo didn't have much choice today. It worries me, there's a real lack physical presence there, and it's surely no coincidence that Ayr had an awful lot of territorial domination, but once the game opened up it looked good - it's great to have Polly back there to receive the ball deep and it was even better once MacDonald came on for Walsh (who had had a quiet game) and looked really dangerous cutting inside from the right. Hopefully he can be a big player for us in the play-offs. Doran played well again, Austin was decent, and White, after a poor first half had a spell in the second half where everything he touched came off. He deserved it, he puts in a helluva shift. 

Somerset is great, can't wait to go back next month. 

****. So was that.

That was beautiful.

Walsh for Trafford please.

Robbo said before that the QoS game that he expected Walsh and MacDonald back the following week so I assume they're both ready. That leaves him with proper selection dilemmas. Chalmers and Trafford have done really well in the past couple of games so it would be difficult to drop them, but if everyone's fit then I think this our best team:

                          Ridgers

McKay   Donaldson  McCart  Tremarco

                  Welsh    MacDonald

            Walsh    Polworth     Doran

                             White

**** the SFA.

1 hour ago, RedCard said:

I’m the ‘passionate’ fan in question.

Are you the "fat baldy guy" or the one who's "well into his 50's"?

That was very comfortable in the end, a strange feeling. We came flying out of the blocks and maintained a really high intensity for the whole of the first half - Queens had chances on the break but but we could easily have put the game to bed before half time. They had a period of pressure after half-time, Dobbie got a few shots away and Ridgers made a number of decent saves. Then came the most pleasing aspect of the performance, the thing that's been missing from our season - we kept the head saw the game out calmly. 

Some more positives:

- Doran, Polworth and Welsh really trust each other with the ball, they're happy to play it to each other in difficult areas and we're so much more creative as a result. 

- Trafford and White, two of our most maligned players, are looking increasingly comfortable in their roles, they're playing out of their skins and the fans are responding. Trafford actually looks alright next to Welsh's calming influence. 

- Rooney came on and played where Chalmers was - it's clear that he's an option up there. 

Walsh and MacDonald are back next week but surely neither can go straight back into the team. We'll have competition for places for the first time this season. 

4 hours ago, tm4tj said:

"making the most of his skills as front man"

Best description of big Jordan yet. I thought he was superb today, really growing into his role in the side

He's the new Graham Bayne. 

2 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Yip - MOM choice will be across the board - I thought that Polly was at his creative best today, Chalmers scored a "worldie" and did well on the right. Trafford had his best game ever and probably would have been my MOM if he stayed on. White continues to improve and is my runner-up to Doran. I didn't think that he would last the 90 but he feckin had the Lucozade boost in the ninetyfeckinsecond !!

I'd go with Doran, White, Polly as well. McCart was also very good, and where did that Trafford performace come from? His pressing was immense and when when he had the ball he moved it on sensibly. Robbo deserves massive credit for turning this group of players into a team capable of producing that kind of performance. Best away day for almost 4 years - absolutely fantastic support. Despite everything we've just gone through, we've still got that thing about us that makes us capable of producing big results. Onwards. These boys have have showed up in the big games now - you'd have to fancy us in the play-offs. 

What a day. Even when we're on our knees this is our competition. Still 2 hours to wait for the highlights and only 2 beers left. 

If all defenders are fit then I'd expect to see McKay at right-back ahead of Rooney as in the replay. 

If Walsh and MacDonald are still out then that's where Robbo has a decision to make, with McCauley, Austin and Trafford the only realistic starters and the latter 2 necessitating a change from the 4-2-3-1 that he would surely prefer to play.

Personally, I'd be tempted to play Rooney in midfield rather than sacrifice the shape or risk McCauley. 

He scores a cracking goal then runs off to celebrate in front of the fans only to find that there aren't any. He missed us at that moment. 

                     Ridgers

Rooney   McKay   McCart   McHattie

McKay Trafford Chalmers McCauley

                  White Austin

Robbo chucked the Dunfermline game in order to seize the opportunity the cup offered to change the negative atmosphere around the club. It was a masterstroke. One more push and we're in the semi, everyone's excited, and we cruise into the play-offs on that high. Tuesday needs to be a day of rest.

Gazing at the table and loving that 5 point cushion. We should play the kids on Tuesday night.

That's the worst away performance I've seen this season. We missed Coll and Polly as you would expect, but the absence of Sean Welsh had the most impact, his replacement charged and lunged his way around the park in a way that seemed to unsettle his teammates as much as the opposition. We didn't get the forward midfield 3 into the game at all, and when we finally went to 4-4-2 we looked slightly more threatening but without creating clear-cut chances. 

It could've been worse - McCauley should've been sent off and a better side would've added to their tally in the second half. 

We are a very poor side without those 3 players.

If we're playing with a similar budget and standard of player than Morton or QoS, then our past achievements don't give us any advantage. They might even be a disadvantage if fans fail to accept the new reality. 

2 hours ago, tm4tj said:

Oh my, we're getting awful hard to please.

We are Caley Thistle, not Barcelona. Some of these guys might be *****, but they are our *****. Instead of the constant negativity, how about we just support the team.

I'd be having a go at them if I thought they weren't giving it everything, but I really don't think that's an issue with this team.