DWH

10 minutes ago, CaleyCanary said:

Even that ain't guaranteed DWH- too easy to drop out the bottom end of this division!

Haha : yes, thought that after I posted!

Watched most of the match on TV (missed the first 20 minutes or so).

Same old, same old : zero creativity in the final third. I don't think even one half chance was created.

Utterly depressing : keep playing like that and championship football is a certainty for next season

ICT are notoriously slow starters : need to start on the front foot both in cup and league and not be left playing catch up.

We always seem to stick to a Highland tour for pre season matches : maybe a step up in quality of opposition might help the team in these early games?

4 minutes ago, bdu98196 said:

Conspiracy theories. Jesus. Its like message boards for west coast clubs on here these days.

Decisions go both ways but most folks only remember the poor ones. Simply this year had we played better in some games and had less draws or better concentration in latter stages of the games we wouldn't have been in the play-offs. There may be the odd contentious decision but over the course of 42 games we failed to be good enough to gain promotion to the Premiership.

Spot on

As always different folks see things in a variety of ways.

I feel we were really close to getting past the Arabs . A couple of dubious (that's being kind) refereeing decisions certainly didn't help but the bottom line is we failed to score a goal over 180 + minutes. A lack of creativity and sharpness up front is clear for all to see.  We were on top for a lot of the time (especially at Tannadice) but didn't make it count when it mattered. Here's hoping we can solve this issue next season.

As long as Utd fail to get up, I'll be happy.

Need to be far sharper in the final third. Far too much long ball stuff instead of moving it on the ground. No goals in 180 minutes is the main reason we failed.

1 minute ago, HawkeyeTheGnu said:

The only two championship sides to have made it through the playoffs in the current format are Hamilton and Livingston, both of whom finished second. 

Which I guess reinforces the point the original and subsequent posters made.

The dead wood self preservation types in charge of Scottish football need to be moved on .

Let's hope ICT can make it a first..................

No, I was  referring to the Scottish championship and the fact that should a 3rd / 4th placed team make it to the play off final, they would end up playing three 2 legged matches (in a pretyty short period), whereas the premiership team only have to play one 2 legged match.

As I've said before, only the Scottish football authorities could dream up such a skewed play off system.

Would be interesting to know whether a 3rd / 4th placed Championship team has actually achieved promotion?

Well done to all : third place is the best we could have hoped for realistically.  Play offs will be tough given the 'only in Scotland could that be dreamt up'  format but on the positive side, the opposition are no great shakes.

Looks like St Mirren will be the PL second bottom team : would certainly prefer them to Hamilton

Had a quick look at the crowds for this season.

Seem to be holding up pretty well in the circumstances  (Championship and pretty poor fare): most matches over 2,000. Don't think they were much higher in our SPL days??

It always amazed me that the higher we went in the leagues (as well as gathering a few notable cup scalps), the lower the crowds became.  A bit of it down to the novelty factor wearing off?

We've lost players in the past and will again in the future.

Let's concentrate on the play offs and see where that takes us.

3 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

Oh good, just what we need with the play-offs coming up.

He would still be with us for the play offs.

All but guaranteed to be in the play offs .

Hope Robbo has the guys at peak fitness levels for potentially six matches over a short period. With the proviso we can last the pace, no reason we can't beat any of our rivals and get back to the top league.

9 minutes ago, MrCaleyjag said:

I've never been to a game and had any thoughts about leaving the game early, I'm there to support my team no matter what and to stand and clap them off the pitch at the end. I understand people's frustration and possible anger at performances but the last thing players need to see is supporters/fans leaving in droves. 

At the fore front of your mind should have been to at least show some appreciation that the team actually got that far in the first place and take pride from that.

This goes for any supporter of any team by the way, I'm not purposefully singling you out.

 

Fair play : yes, I guess I am both pretty angry and frustrated at the relatively low level of expectation I now have from attending (admittedly not that many) matches over the last three seasons.

1 minute ago, old caley girl said:

I just think it showed the gap between a top half Championship team and a top 6 premiership one tbh. 

I personally enjoyed my day despite the result and I am grateful we got so far. 

I get that but as I said in past seasons, when we were always very much the underdogs (against Hearts at Tynecastle and Motherwell at Fir Park for example ), we could always put up a fight with the 'bigger team. That was sadly never the case on Saturday.

3 minutes ago, Scotty said:

I would disagree ..... 

The first half was indeed about keeping Hearts at bay but we did play some nice football too even if we had little or no end product. We were the underdogs and with all due respect to our squad, it showed. If that free-kick from Chalmers had gone in - and it wasnt far away - then it might have been our spirits that got lifted, and the end story could have been different ... but once Ikpeazu scored it was the Jambos who got a lift and the rest as they say is history. Our heads went down after that and we conceded the second and third.  I thought Walsh and Rooney were poor but other than that I would give pass marks to the rest. Jake Mulraney had an excellent game for them (unfortunately) and this and the strength of Ikpeazu were the two biggest factors for me.  

Sorry I have to disagree totally, and take no pleasure from it.

In past seasons, no matter what division ICT were in, or who they were up against, I always felt we were in the match and capable of scoring and getting a result. 

That feeling was very absent on Saturday. If I hadn't had one of my sons and  two of his friends with me, I'd have walked out long before the end.

Never have ICT had so little skill, leadership or fight.  The worst performance by far in any ' big'  match I have seen going back to the 1990s (cup match v Dundee Utd)

The match was never a contest : the first half in particular was all about about keeping Hearts at bay.

Very difficult  (impossible) to take any positives.

Yup : good away win.

Just keep  it going lads : a play off spot is well within our grasp. The higher the better though. We are capable of grabbing second place which would be ideal.

I reckon even if it turns out to be PT, they may well take at 15 to 20,000 so realistically Hampden is the only option.

5 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

Sadly, they will wait to see whether one final will be an Old Firm affair and then the Great God of TV will dictate the dates and times with the usual lack of any concern for travelling fans.

Did you really expect anything else?

Scottish football authorities are largely clueless and Old Firm obsessed.

Caught the final 25 minutes or so on TV (had been listening in the car before that). Played really well and fully deserved to win. Doran is still a great player : we are lucky he has stuck with us.

Always good to see the Arabs put in their place : another club who seem to think their rightful place is in the top league. Assuming we make the play offs, we may we may well be playing both Dundee clubs and probably Ayr. None are great so becoming more optimistic as time goes on.

Still ridiculous that the PL team gets a bye into the final : only the Scottish football authorities could devise such a crass system.

Looking forward to Hampden!!

A mixed bag looking at the comments but as they say a win is a win.

Agree with the comments on not playing as a team  : that has been very apparent since the slide began.

Our aim should be to get as high up the table as possible. County seem to have top spot sewn up so the play off farce it is (not chicken counting).

Good to see the guys hold their nerve for the penalties.

Fancy us to beat the Arabs and get back to Hampden

3 minutes ago, forresjags said:

Cannot believe we continue to play one way the long ball in the general direction of Jordan White. Every time we pumped it forward we just gave them possession to come at us again.We need some mobility up front that can stretch a defence we are so predictable. How JR thought offloading Oakley was good business beats me. 

 

 

 

Yup we were fond of the long hoof upfield when Billy Mckay was our main attacker as well!!

It was very noticeable County moved the ball on the ground and were so much quicker in getting forward.