DoofersDad

Well that was a pretty feisty derby! Losing that game is hard to take as we could easily have won it by 3 or 4 given the pressure we put them under. It was a terrific, positive performance from our lads, urged on by fantastic vocal support. To be that dominant against the side that is top of the division demonstrates that we aren't far from being a very good team indeed. Most criticism of the team here seems to be centred around the need for a more prolific striker, but I'm not sure where folk think we can magic one up from at a price we can afford. There are plenty strikers in this division who will be on far more than White, Oakley and Austin are on but who do not score with the regularity White and Oakley are hitting the back of the next with. Sure, White in particular has missed a few he perhaps should have scored but he gets himself in the right place and I feel that with a shade more fitness and confidence he could potentially become quite prolific. I don't think Austin's attitude is quite as good as White or Oakley but he strikes me as a more natural goal scorer. I would like to see him given a bit more game time. Regardless of the views on the strikers, we really should be scoring more goals from midfield. Walsh has scored a few recently and with the service he got yesterday he probably should have been on the score sheet. There were some terrific balls played to him by several different players and whilst he usually did well to get himself into a position to shoot or cross the ball, he lacked the accuracy which might have given us a comfortable win. Doran, Polworth and Chalmers all had efforts on goal but all were rather tentative and didn't unduly trouble Fox. We need to see a bit more sharpness in their shooting. Defensively, we continue to be let down by a lack of concentration. Draper made space for himself well on the edge of the box and got away a better shot than any of our midfielders could manage. Donaldson stood and watched Ridgers dive to his left to save whilst Mckay anticipated the rebound and was left unchallenged to slot home when the rebound duly arrived. It was disappointing to see players getting involved in a stramash near the end. I don't know whether there will be repercussions when footage is looked at closely, but players must learn to let the officials deal with matters. We really can't afford to lose players with suspensions with such a threadbare squad. The referee already had the red card in his hand for Graham's cyinical challenge when Rooney and Polworth charged in. Ironically that was one of the few things he did get right.

HT 1-1 FT 3-1 ICT Oakley Opp Mckay Crowd 6322 1st yellow Vigurs Straight Red Polworth

The Trust Board will be meeting on the 10th Jan when a new Chair will be elected. Can I suggest that the new Chair gets in touch with you and Scotty in the New Year to discuss how best to place threads relating to the Trust on CTO?

HT 1-1 FT 1-2 ICT Walsh Opp Tidser Crowd 1869 Ist Yellow Tumulty Ist st red Polworth

He'll be able to buy Kew Gardens with his gardening leave money.

Good post. Interesting stats. The point about Polworth driving forward is an important one because all too often when he does try to drive forward, there is so little on in front of him. Not only is there not an obvious ball for him to play but opposition defenders can close him down without leaving someone they are marking, or even leaving any real space that other attackers can run into. We simply don't get enough players forward quickly enough to stretch the defence. We have a wide park and our game should seek to exploit the space that allows. Welsh, Chalmers and Trafford never get forward enough in my view and as a result we are always outnumbered up front except when we break quickly after corners etc. Playing 2 up front obviously leads to you being a bit more stretched at the back but it is hardly a novel concept and works well for many teams. As you say, our strikers do, in fact, have decent conversion rates and they would be scoring more if they saw more of the ball. White, like Polworth, has also come in for a fair bit of stick, but whilst there are some obvious weaknesses in his game, he is good at being in the right place at the right time, which is why he has scored as many as he has. Get more guys forward to open up a bit more space for Polworth's creativity and goals will come.

Jennifer Aitchison is Secretary, Kath Fraser is Treasurer and I am Vice Chair. Don was Chair and therefore as he decided to step away from the Board, we currently have nobody officially as Chair. In line with standard practice, the appointment of Office Bearers will be on the agenda of the first meeting of the Board after the AGM. This will take place early in January and we will communicate the key points from that meeting in due course. The other Board Members are Laura Grant, Lynne Macdonald, Ewan Macrae and Stewart Murdoch. Laura is representing the Trust on the group organising the celebrations for the club's 25 anniversary. The objectives of the Trust are dictated by Supporters Direct and are defined as:- "The Society’s objects are to benefit the community by: 4.1 being the democratic and representative voice of the supporters of the Club and strengthening the bonds between the Club and the communities which it serves; 4.2 achieving the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and ownership of the Club; 4.3 promoting responsible and constructive community engagement by present and future members of the communities served by the Club and encouraging the Club to do the same; 4.4 operating democratically, fairly, sustainably, transparently and with financial responsibility and encouraging the Club to do the same; 4.5 being a positive, inclusive and representative organisation, open and accessible to all supporters of the Club regardless of their age, income, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexuality or religious or moral belief." As you will be aware, the Supporters Trust had been largely inactive for a while prior to the calling of an EGM in May. Following that, the new Board has focussed on getting the Board back on to a sound constitutional footing, sorting out the membership lists and getting a website up and running. The aim was to get this done prior to the AGM and this has been achieved. The Board is now in a position to consider how to move forward and will start to pro-actively consider how it does that at the next meeting. More information on the Trust Board and its activities to date can be found on our website https://ict.supporterstrust.org/

For the bulk of the first half I thought the 2 sides were pretty evenly matched but Utd started to get the upper hand as the game progressed and were certainly the better of the two sides in the 2nd half. In that sense, this was a point won rather than two lost. The memory of Utd's home drubbing by Ayr is still fresh and I think there are some who felt this might be a game we could win easily. But they have been far stronger away from home this season, winning 5 and losing only to Ayr. I think they feel the weight of expectation at home these days and as a result are more relaxed and effective on the road. With our injury hit, threadbare squad, I would have taken a draw before the game. Our team is young and inexperienced and I accept that at times it can be a bit frustrating to watch. Having played well to start with and scored a very good goal, I thought we were quite capable of getting a second and that getting a 2 goal lead might have rattled Utd. Unfortunately we seemed to lose any grip on the game and looked less and less like scoring. With only 13 fit players in the 1st team squad it is not surprising that the substitutions appeared uninspired. Robbo does not exactly have a lot of options. Folk have complained that we are slow on the break. There were times today when we actually broke with good pace, but when we did, there was a tendency for the player making the break not to see the pass that would have led to a goal scoring opportunity. It is also a bit of a concern how rarely Doran and Polworth seem to be able to find and take shooting chances these days. With their premiership experience they really should be able find that extra yard of space or not take an extra touch in order to get a few more shots away. On the plus side, I thought Doran put in a generally good shift today but he is missing the spark of old that might have made the difference. The game wasn't a great spectacle because the defences tended to be on top and both sides cancelled each other out. But we didn't really play that badly. We will play worse and win this season, but we will need to play better if we are to end the season in the play-offs.

Each year, at least one third of Board members must step down and submit themselves for re-election if they wish to continue on the Board. Ewan Macrae and I (Peter Mutton) stood down and were re-elected. Jennifer Aitchison and Lynne Macdonald had previously been co-opted members but stood for election and were elected. Kath Fraser, Laura Grant and Stewart Murdoch remain on the Board.

HT 0-1 FT 1-3 ICT Walsh Opp Aird Crowd 2619

The meeting took place last night with 11 members present. As this was an adjourned AGM, the Rules allow for the meeting to take place despite not having the numbers present which would normally constitute a quorum. There were 2 main items to report. Firstly, the meeting approved the revised Rules which had previously been registered with the Financial Conduct Authority but without the consent of the membership. Having the Rules now formally approved puts the Trust on a firmer constitutional footing. Secondly, Don Johnstone informed the meeting that for personal reasons, he was withdrawing his nomination for re-election to the Trust Board. Don has put in a huge amount of effort and done a brilliant job in leading the efforts to get the Trust Board to a position where it can kick on and be an effective voice in representing the supporters of ICT. The meeting thanked Don for all his efforts and wished him well in pursuing other priorities in his life. Other Board members standing for re-election were duly affirmed in post. The Board will meet in early January when the office bearers will be confirmed. In the meantime, Jennifer Aitchison, Kath Fraser and I will continue in our respective roles of Secretary, Treasurer and Vice-Chair so that the Board can continue with the work in hand. Board members will be present at the desk at the far end of the Sports Bar prior to the Dundee Utd game on Saturday. If anyone wants to come along and hear a little more about what the Trust is up to or have some issues that you feel the Trust should be aware of, then we would be delighted if you would come and have a chat with us.

Let's hope his sportswear lasts more than a season before being consigned to the gardening.

Thanks for posting this. The episode is even more bizarre than one could ever imagine! It's all very sad, but we are clearly well shot of him

Today’s game is off. Waterlogged pitch. Now there’s a surprise.

It was a really interesting session with Robbo last night. He was honest and forthright and didn't duck any questions. In addition to the excellent summary from ICT-Stew, Robbo spoke of his concerns about the pitch which he described as "gone". We can see that with our own eyes and there are clearly major decisions to be taken by the Board in relation to that. Interestingly he referred to the astroturf facility the Rugby Club have and he described that surface as "magnificent". In talking about finances he indicated that he has reduced the wage bill by over £1million which seems an astonishing amount for a club of our size. He also says he has cut down on payments to agents from about £100k to just £9k! I like that! But with no regular investment (donations) coming into the club, he felt there is a need to do more to attract people, particularly young kids to the games. This may be an area where the Supporters Trust can work with the manager to explore various initiatives with the club. On the player front, he said that Angus Beith was now just a couple of weeks away from being ready for selection. We'll keep our fingers crossed that it will be worth the wait. Also, OFW is back and whilst he apparently would prefer to play in the States, nothing has come up yet which he wants to sign up to. If nothing by way of a loan deal for him comes up in January then he would come back into the squad as our highest paid player (I think) until his contract expires. In that case, young Daniel Hoban would likely go out on a loan deal. For me, the over-riding message was that the club has to be realistic about the kinds of contracts it can afford and we all need to understand that we are very limited in terms of the kind of players we can bring to the clubs. Seasoned pros, particularly those with families to relocate, simply are not going to move up here for the wages we can afford. We therefore need to attract younger lads who show potential but who, for one reason or another haven't quite made the grade elsewhere. We have to accept that if they make the grade here, then likely they will move on to in due course. The other route is to develop our own and he spoke with great enthusiasm about the youngsters currently coming through the system. As I say, a very informative and interesting session. I am sure he will be willing to come to Q&A sessions again and I can assure you, it will be well worth the effort to come along and hear what he has to say.

Absolutely. The referee seemed to think it was OK to play less than an hour before he then called it off. It would be interesting to know what weather recordings reveal about any change in the strength of the wind and how that compared to what was forecast. It is rare for games to be called off due to high winds and I have no idea what the rules say about it. Clearly it is appropriate to call a match off in circumstances such as we famously encountered at Celtic Park a few years back and I suspect it might be appropriate if the ball moves when placed for dead ball situations. One feels for the team and those fans who have travelled down for this and who will return home late despite the postponement. One can't help but suspect that the game should have been called off earlier. No doubt we will hear more in due course.

I'm not in a position to take this on but would like to thank you for what you have been doing. It is an informative site and vigilance in keeping it updated and accurate is much appreciated. Regarding Wikipedia in general, I am a great fan and use it a lot. I know it has its critics and the quality of any particular entry is very dependent on the individuals who contribute. From time to time I do look at entries for things I know quite a bit about and rarely find anything wrong. It gives confidence when researching things I know less about. Wikipedia is a tremendous resource which you can read without being accosted by advertisements from all angles. Wikipedia is the first site millions of people go to in order to find out information and this makes it particularly important that sites are kept up to date and informative. But it can't function without willing volunteers and donations from users. I sincerely hope someone will come forward to continue Jack's good work.

HT - 1-0 FT - 2-1 ICT - Walsh Opp - Moore Crowd - 2289

The scoreline rather flattered us but it's a nice scoreline to have. It'll give the lads a bit of confidence, it allowed the manager to take Polworth off early with Friday in mind and to give both Harper and Macgregor some game time. Both did well but Macgregor looks to have that little bit of quality to open up defences. A genuine prospect in my view. I expected Edinburgh to sit back and look to hit us on the break but instead they came out looking to attack. That approach led to our first goal, allowing Polworth to set up Walsh for an early opener in similar fashion to Saturday. The similarities to Saturday kicked in again soon after when poor defending led to big Blair Henderson receiving the ball unmarked on the edge of the 6 yard box. However, poor defending by Edinburgh meant that it was us who got our noses in front before half time. There really was little to choose between the sides at half time and it wasn't till we got a bit of a cushion with a well worked third that we began to look comfortable with players and fans alike enjoying the football. A couple of quick fire, close range efforts from Jordan White completed a welcome hat-trick and ended the game as a contest. At the death, great work from young Macgregor set up Aaron Doran for a well taken 6th to put the icing on the cake. There was just time for a brief rendition of that rarely heard football chant "we want seven" before the referee blew the final whistle. Edinburgh never gave up and worked hard. They'll be wondering how the margin was so big. In truth, it looked as though their keeper has not had much practice this season. I can't see Robbo swooping to sign him in the January window. Finally a word on Shaun Rooney. He had a game of two halves - our half and their half. In our half he continued to show the same defensive vulnerability we have seen on several occasions this season, but once past the half way line he turned into a potent attacking force. He terrorised their left back and put in several good crosses and runs into the box. Maybe. like Graeme Shinnie, his future is as a midfield player?

I'm looking forward to it. I think the lads will understand the importance of winning this and will be fired up for it. They'll need to be because Edinburgh are a decent side and in Henderson they have a striker who will punish the kind of defensive slackness we saw on Saturday.

HT 1-0 FT 3-0 ICT Oakley Opp Blair Henderson Crowd 1214

If it is to be fixed, then those responsible for fixing it need to be clear what exactly it is that needs fixing. It is clear from reading the match threads week in week out that people have hugely different perceptions of what is good and what bad about the team, which players are playing for the shirt and which are not, what formation we should be playing etc etc. We'll have all sorts of different views about the non footballing aspects of the club too. Clearly you can't please all the people all the time but if we want to stop long term fans drifting away, the club needs to understand why. It is therefore very important that folk can feel free to voice their frustrations on platforms such as this without fear of getting attacked by others who hold a different view. Only by expressing their views can others know what is turning people away from the club. And only by understanding what is turning people away can the club take measures to try to address those concerns,

Agreed. I think the keeper did well to keep it in play. More importantly, the ref failed to spot the two handed shove in the back on Oakley in the 2nd half. From the footage it was crystal clear and the referee was pretty close to it. From my angle in the North stand I saw Oakley go down but couldn't see the push.

That was a hard one to take. We dominated for much of the game, but the hard truth is that very poor defending gifted them 3 chances which they efficiently put away whilst we created several decent chances which we should have done better with. There were at least 3 missed chances which certainly should have been put away. A bit more sharpness in front of goal and concentration at the back and we could have romped that. I felt McCart was excellent and that Polworth played better than I have seen him play all season. I didn't think Falkirk looked like a bottom of the table team (in fact, they aren't bottom any more!). They worked hard as a unit and were noticeably quicker than us getting back behind the ball after attacks had broken down. In Zac Rudden I think they have found a striker who will help them get comfortably mid table before long. They have taken 7 points from their last 3 games which is more than any other side in the division. The referee didn't help either. Whilst we were trying to play football, Falkirk were trying to stop us by fair means or foul. How the officials failed to notice all the holding Harrison and Brough were doing is beyond me. BBC Stats show 14 fouls against us and only 7 against Falkirk. It's a joke. At the end you could see the frustration of everything getting to the players and that probably led to the sucker punch at the end. All very disappointing but I am not as gloomy as many on here. There were enough positives there to make me think that when things click,there is a big league win in this side sometime soon. Hopefully the frustration and disappointment of today will get taken out on Edinburgh City on Tuesday evening and we'll kick on from there.

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