hislopsoffsideagain

I just finally remembered to vote on the Killie game (went with Odhiambo, Shinnie and Esson) and it occurred to me - what are the standings at the moment? Are we still doing an player of the month thing like we used to?

Having watched it on Alba, I think the red card was harsh - certainly looks more like a tangle of legs than a stamp. Not that I'm complaining.

A deserved win for us today. We looked a little nervous at the start of the second half but things were pretty comfortable after Rooney put us two up. I slagged our centre-halfs rotten after the Hearts defeat, but Aberdeen's backline managed to be even more hopeless.

Well done lads, it was a really great performance.

Smileymometer:

Esson :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: pretty comfortable game, made one good save in the first half and one in the second

Duff :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: Coasted through the first half,and looked comfortable in general. Cool as a cucumber

Tokely :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: after a tricky start he bustled Vernon out of the game. Perhaps lucky only to booked for his challenge on Megginson though

Munro :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: had a shaky moment late on but otherwise did fine

Shinnie :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: (in a Bruce Forsyth accent) didn't he do well! Showed good positional sense and got stuck in

Foran :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: did a good job in the centre, kept his discipline and protected the defence well

Duncan :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: massively up for it, and it showed. Some very important challenges in the second half

Hayes :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: goal was probably a fluke but he left Considine with twisted blood

Odhiambo :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: needs new boots - kept losing his footing like in the last home game. Worked hard and was a nuisance throughout

Ross :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: solid rather than spectacular, but put in a decent shift again

Rooney :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: My MOM today - ran himself into the ground today. Diamond and Ifil will have nightmares about him. Deserved his goal and could have had more

Oh man, I'm bricking it now!

Come on defence, earn your corn!

It's one thing to write off this game as unwinnable, play a bunch of reserves and think only of the next league match (a la Mick McCarthy and Wolves last season).

It's another thing to rest 3 or 4 guys, and basically play half a team - now we've been thumped, and our first choice defence now have even less confidence than after the Keystone Cops act against Hearts.

TB - what were you thinking?

Just back from a match that was as damp as the weather. It's not often I have a big rant against our own players, but after that load of keystone cops defending today, I feel entitled to vent a bit.

I can cope with players having bad games - which is why I politely applauded David Proctor at the end, even though he had a stinker - it was distressing to see how easily Templeton skinned him. But as for Munro and Innes - well, boys, you took one look at Kevin Kyle when he came on, and you wet your pants. The number of 50-50s and high balls towards him that our centre-halves refused to contest - well, I lost count after only a little while. Innes apparently can't do anything except tug shirts; Munro, meanwhile, should take a look at Rossco, who at least made Kyle work to win the ball when he moved to the centre.

In short, Grant and Chris - I would feel quite comfortable about accusing the two of you of being cowards. Either grow a pair, fast, or prepare for a deserved period warming the bench.

Further up the pitch, we created plenty of chances but, Eric's goal aside (he needs new boots, by the way), we were poor in the box. Rooney worked hard as usual. I thought Nick Ross was as good as anyone today. But it was an off day for Jonny Hayes.

As you can tell, I'm absolutely fed up. Hearts won that game by being slightly less bad than us.

I'm pretty sure I had been reading the site since 01/02, but only joined in about 03/04-ish - you can tell by the username, which came from the most used phrase I heard at Caley during the 2003/04 season...and I swear, he WAS always flipping offside...and he ran like a duck! (Worth it all, though, for the winner he scored at Clyde).

Oh dear god, it's hard to think of how that could have been more excruciating.

We were hopeless - chalk and cheese from Tannadice

They were hopeless - after Imrie's wonder goal Hamilton basically bullied us out of it - and, as always, time-wasted to death I've seen paint dry in less time than it takes them to take a goal kick.

The ref was hopeless - every time the ball was in the air, there centre-halfs gave Rooney and co a shove in the back. And how he missed someone tugging Munro's shorts down in the box is beyond me - we could see it at the halfway line. He gave Cerny a talking-yo about time wasting with 20 minutes left...and then let him take an age over a further EIGHT goal kicks.

And it was a terrible, terrible game, a midfield scrap which we lost.

Just not enough muscle in the midfield - Cox and Duncan were overrun and poor Nick Ross kept bouncing off "bigger boys", like a 9 year old playing against a bunch of teenagers. Rooney had zero service for most of the game.

And what the heck was going on at the back? The number of times Munro got beaten in the air (mainly by misjudging its flight) was appalling - particularly as he had a height advantage on their forwards. Proctor also had a total mare after going to right back - his touch and passing were simply woeful.

I hate Hamilton and that prat Reid so, so much. Which makes today's lousy performance and result really hard to take.

Think I'll just add to the general praise - we. were. awesome. There are a few questions marks though - such as...

Which goal was more awesome, McCann's 30 yard screamer into the top corner, or Duncan's audacious lobbed volley (I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it)? Has to be Duncans....the way he swung his foot at the ball it should have gone skywards

Has anyone got a superlative that sufficiently describes just how well Adam Rooney played? Fandabbydosy

Will people stop slagging off Eric Odihambo now after that sensational performance? Yes

Is Lee Cox the Duracell Bunny in disguise? Seriously, the guy was still running full pelt in the 92nd minute. Disguise isn't working

How on earth is Garry Kenneth a Scotland international? Slept with Levien?

What did Ryan Esson do to relieve the boredom? Played noughts and crosses on the worn bit of grass in front of him

How good will we be with Rossco and Richie Foran back in the team? How good is sex first thing in the morning?

Could Terry's cheesy grin have been any wider when he was saluting the fans at the final whistle? Probably not

Those are the only things I could think of for now...

Job done. We never got out of second gear, but then we never really needed to, especially after the gift of a second goal.

I do hope we look a bit sharper at the back when we play Celtic though! At times Munro, Tokely and Golabek looked like they were moving in slow motion. Difficult to tell how bad the injuries to Innes and Munro are - Innes pulled a thigh muscle, while Munro I think had a gash on his foot...his sock was blood soaked as he went in at half-time.

Sanchez and Blumenshtein together? Not for me. One or the other, I think. Neither did anything to stand out.

MOM for me would be Lee Cox, who put in a superb shift to go with his goal.

Anyway, it's a definite improvement on the Montrose game from last season.

We've got a very strong midfield, and are very well endowed between the sticks. I remain to be fully convinced about the rest of it though.

With an on form Rooney we'll score enough goals, no worries, but if he doesn't rediscover last season's form, or gets injured, we are really back to the drawing board in terms of tactics.

The defence did well at First Division level. However, I thought we needed to be signing the new Dods this summer, but it appears there isn't one. There's a lot resting on the current guys, but the one thing we can count on from Grant and Rossco is total commitment, and that in itself will win quite a few vital tackles for us.

Are you on rather more intimate terms with our keepers than the rest of us? :_wink:

I'll get me coat.

I suspect the second striker we used last season (either Odihambo or Sanchez) might be dumped, in favour of playing Proctor, Duncan and Cox all at the same time to give us more solidity. In theory at least. But none of those trio are particularly good at getting forward and to be honest, I'd rather we gambled on the same attacking shape we had towards the end of last season.

Blumenshtein (or Blumanshtein, or Blumstein, or Bluemangroup, or however you spell it) is a bit of a wildcard - there is as much chance that he will be a waste of space as that he will become a legend. But I guess he can't be worse than Bajram Fetai...

Good effort.

In that case I will take the chance to plug my blog - http://nareystoepoker.blogspot.com as well

The second half was a complete non-event, but that's fine by me! I'll take 3-0 against County any day.

Obviously the sending off of Keddie was the big moment. No doubt he was the last man, but did he get the ball? I was 50 yards away so I can't really say, but the County protests were huge. To cap it all, Foran's free kick took a massive deflection and went in. Hayes delivered a beautiful cross for Odihambo to score, possibly in off his shin, but he had the entire six yard box to himself, such was the poor defending. Jonny got himself a lovely breakaway third, racing clear and finishing with panache.

Can't remember County having a shot on target? The only downside was Hayes getting poleaxed late on and getting helped off with what looked like a rib injury. That'll sting for a while, I think - I hope he'll make it for Saturday.

The highlight of the match had to be Adams and Brewster refusing to give Malpas the spare ball back, and kicking it into their own dugout so he had to fetch it. They really are complete morons!

A smileymometer:

Esson :D :D Hard to remember him doing much; he dealt with the swirling wind well enough though

Proctor :D :028: Solid, and his distribution was better than normal (not saying much, mind!)

Tokely :008: :008: :) :) Misjudged a header or two in the first half, but otherwise was completely dominant

Munro :) :) :) :) His most comfortable game for ages. Didn't give Di Giacomo a sniff

Golabek :) :) :) Still makes some hairy passes now and then, but worked like a demon

Cox :) :) :) :) :) My Man Of The Match. Used the ball intelligently, showed a cool head in midfield and defended diligently. Outstanding

Odihambo :) :) :) The game seemed to pass him by a bit. But all that matters is that he scored!

Duncan :) :) :) :) Continued his good form, always seemed to be in the right place

Foran :) :) :) :) Looked a bit bored in the second half, but was a danger from the word go.

Rooney :) :) :) Spurned the one chance that came his way, but never stopped running

Hayes :) :) :) :) Far, far too good for this division. Scott Morrison had twisted blood by the end of that game

Subs: Not really much time for Eagle or Sanchez to make an impact

Good god, that was easy. It's no exaggeration to say that we could have made it into double figures. Sanchez should have had four! That said, we appear a better team when he is on the pitch (I haven't worked out why, but we are!)

It helps when the defending is that bad - especially at the first goal when their boy on the goalline trod on the ball instead of clearing it. A couple of defenders both took fresh-air swipes at the third goal as well. Every time we went forward it looked like we were going to score. I lost count of the number of sitters - Rooney mishit the ball from two yards out, Hayes had one cleared off the line, Ross shot straight at the keeper when clean through...it was men against boys, it really was.

MOTM has to be between Foran, who looked hungry and menacing and took his goal well, and Russell Duncan, who laid on the second and fourth goals, and is in awesome form right now. A generally excellent team performance though, no question.

First things first...Russell Duncan, take a bow. The man was absolutely magnificent today.

Secondly, I'll take 0-0. We weren't at the races in the first half. The half-time change made us much better - we dominated for the 20 minutes after the break, with Eagle hitting the post and Hayes spurning a great chance. That said, County had the initiative towards the end, and propbably shaded it overall. The Dundee result makes our point today look like a good result.

Thank goodness Foran will be back for Tuesday.

I think Dundee have had the jitters pretty much all season - they know perfectly well that their resources are far and away ahead of anyone else's in the division - look at the money spent on Griffiths and Harkins. Fact is, they should be out of sight, especially considering that no-one else has shown any consistency either.

From reading P&B, most Dens fans seem to think that Jocky Scott is hopeless when it comes to tactics, and it seems they are often reliant on a bit of individual class, usually from Harkins or Griffiths, plus a fairly stout defence, to get them out of trouble.

That said, I'd rather have the jitters and be six points clear, than be jitter-free and six points behind. It's Dundee's title to lose. Their next two games will tell us how much backbone they have - away to both the bottom two, which should be worth six points to them (though Ayr have hit a good run). More dropped points and they could go from jitters to brown trousers. But maximum points coupled with us or County dropping some and they are probably there.

If you offered me the scenario of having to beat Dundee on May 1st to win the league right now, I would bite your hand off.

Thanks, Charles.

Looking out the window now, it's just astonishing that the game has been called off.

What a load of rubbish.

My back garden is playable, for goodness sake.

That's pathetic. What is the point of undersoil heating then?

That. Was. Awesome. When was the last time we were ole-ing at the Longman?

The first half was tight, but after we went in front only one team was going to win - we looked much more likely to score than the visitors ever did. I was surprised by how toothless Motherwell were, mind you, but we were really up for it. Our back four, including Rossco at left back, were fantastic. Bully was absolutely magnificent, even without taking his goal into account. Even his yellow card was good - a tactical foul after he had been skinned and the winger was racing towards the box. Extend his loan, quick style!

And after seeing Imrie's Lazarus moment on the touchline, I can forgive him just about anything. Hard to think of an ICT player who didn't have a great game tonight. For me, our best performance of the season, and why can't we play like that every week?

I'll compose the site's match report when I find the energy to do it...but here's my two cents.

1) We are ridiculously lucky to have Ryan Esson. His stop from Bob Harris in the first half was right out of the top drawer.

2) No arguments with Foran's red card. I'm going to dare to say that the ref perhaps should be cut a bit of slack regarding the other reds as I think he was told to send them off by his assistants.

3) I was accompanied to the game by a mate of mine who isn't into football much, but he described the game as "lazy football" and he wasn't wrong. Too often easy passes were misplaced and silly fouls committed. We were mediocre for long periods, responding only with little injections of quality here and there - Hayes' goal being a prime example. We have a lot of players who look like they can't be a***d putting in a full shift. This has been going on for too long.

QOS in contrast looked like a well organized bunch who made up for a lack of quality by grafting really hard; they deserved their point, I think.

Duncan gets a game because last week he was great, and because he is a better option than Cox or Stratford.

However unimpressive Russell looks when he's playing, we always appear a weaker team when he is not on the pitch.

I've just had the dubious honour of writing the match report, which should be posted soon I hope.

What upsets me is that Dundee did not play particularly well in the second half, but managed to rip us to shreds. Considering the position we were in at half-time and the performance up to that point, the final result is nothing short of catastrophic. Frankly, too many players thought it was won at 2-0, and most of them could have done with a concrete injection into their spine in the second half.

I'm absolutely gutted. How on earth do we recover from a setback like that?

As for Imrie, rumour has it that he's been telling everyone he can that he's leaving us for Hamilton in January. On today's events, I say good riddance.

That was a very dull game, lit up only by a real piece of magic by Odhiambo. When his strike flew in, I felt a massive urge to do an Alan Partridge impression - "He's got a foot like a traction engine!"

As stated above, we always seemed in control, though Airdrie created one or two chances. Somebody - Foran or Rooney? - managed to head wide from two yards in the second half, Rooney blazed one over when he should have scored, and their keeper made some good stops in the first half.

As someone has already said, Duncan looked good today. Rossco was as good as I've seen him this season. Foran put in a shift and defensively we were relatively solid, though we always look on the brink of a big cockup.

On the other hand, Imrie had a real off day, and I am still far from being a fan of Sanchez - his goal was very jammy indeed.

The three points are all that matters, and the other results have definitely gone for us today!

The strategy on corners yesterday is a good one. Ever wonder why teams don't leave players up when defending corners? The theory is that if you crowd the box with your own players, it makes it much harder for a forward to attack the ball. I'm fed up of people moaning that we don't leave forwards up the pitch when we defend set pieces - I have seen Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona this season on the box regularly bringing everyone back to defend corners.

So, if we have two people over the corner kick, then two defenders come out to them, leaving more space for our boys to attack it. As we also found yesterday, one of the players going to defend the short corner is often the man protecting the edge of the box and so the ball can also be cut back for someone to have a strike from distance - it's just a shame that yesterday it was Duncan!