Eagle4Caley

For Caley

Almost a goal...was it over the line?

Pretty decent half for Caley there... Storey the busiest forward, the midfield duo of MacGregor and Allardice doing well to keep RR quiet. Harper is a decent full back. Kennedy impressiving, although not yet got the killer final ball. Defensively look solid so far..... Even seeing the cars pass by on the A9 behind is making me feel happy! (yes strange)

How did we not score there! Storey hit the bar, spinning and shooting from close in under pressure

Great defensive block by Kennedy, coming back from along way

Harper and Kennedy doing well on the left

Keatings! Yes!

Works on Firefox Storey just hit the bar

All good now...I'm excited In solidarity with the guys in the stadium. I will wear a mask!

I've got the dreaded wheel of death at the moment, but I am assuming the stream hasn't gone live yet

You mean Tizer!

That's being a little unfair of John Robertson IMO (but obvs your entitled to yours) ….he has had to entirely reconstruct a defence after last seasons exits, plug gaps in the midfield (that lost the creative influence of Polworth and Vigurs in recent seasons), and try and add firepower up front. All on virtually no money, suffering a large number of injuries to key players and of course a disjointed start to the season. Clearly our first choice CB would be Toshney, but presumably we only got him because of the 'fragile' label. I'm guessing that Deas and Toshney would be the go-to pairing. Carson would surely walk into the midfield if fit. Likewise I get the feeling Sutherland will be our first choice forward I am a firm believer in the notion that a squad that is effectively new, needs time to get the right balance and blend, level of understanding, and get key people into form, and that is not done in a few games in my view (however inconvenient that is). Of course it's the same for many teams but if shorn of key players the margins of success soon edges against you. Raith of course have the momentum from a successful promotion campaign as we can see in the league. Hearts despite relegation seem to have the financial and hence quality edge. That said my overall impression is that we have played pretty well in most games. Happily guys like Deas, Allardice and Kennedy seem to have done well, and we have bedded in some younger players. No one seems to be complaining about Duffy, and Todorov seem to be contributing more. I think with a few more players back from injury, we stand a decent chance in a competitive league. Obviously we don't want a season long battle against relegation, but I'm not sure what advantages we have that would make it unacceptable if we went down, it certainly isn't money, if Partick and Falkirk can go down, no reason why we should be immune.

Yes...I love a surprise! But would have taken a 3-1 if I could have spirited a goal up North for the equaliser. Overall though encouraged by the preformance and closeness of the result.

I'm just gutted that for the 2nd time my hopes of flying up to Edinburgh to watch Caley play Hearts have been thwarted (previously it was high winds). The weather down in Surrey is perfect for an Autumn game, and it looks the same for Edinburgh. This will be an interesting test, in theory Hearts are the favourites, but I have good feeling that we can do well. Handy to have Doran available, and be interesting to see if Kennedy can be influential. Can Toddy keep his scoring run going, is this the season Daniel really makes a mark? If we can be tight at the back, anything is possible. Can't believe how much Hearts want to stream the game, people are complaining about sub £15 to watch a Premier league game down here to the extent that it looks like it'll be abandoned. (Palace are playing so poorly, wasting our attacking capabilities, I defo wouldn't pay) If Hearts had been charging a tenner, I think they'd get more take up. Worth noting that a NOW TV Sports day pass is £9.99 for access to all Sky Channels!

I enjoyed those highlights, some good action at both ends, two good saves from Ridgers, and a couple of off-the-line clearances. Toddy's effort in the first half was sooo close to being in. Have to say seeing the ground bathed in sunshine, with blue sky overhead and the sea behind, has certainly made me pine for the time I can come up again.

Can't see much discussion about the actually game, maybe to do with having to watch it via a streaming services (which seemed to have it's hiccups) I wonder how many actually used the streaming service? Anyway on reflection getting a draw yesterday seems an OK result given that we put out every fit player we had on the pitch or bench and were still 2 short Comparing our starting 11 to last year this time, and only Ridgers and Keatings are the same, although Todorov and MacGregor came on as subs, that really is an incredible change, and given that our entire starting back line from last season are even at the club, it's quite alot to cope with. Arguably our starting midfield if fit would certainly include a combo of Carson, Welsh, Vincent and Doran. Some might say that professional footballers should be able to gel quickly, so it doesn't matter who is put out, but the squad has only really been together since what, mid-Sept at the earliest. From the stats page on BBC Sport it looks to have been a very even game, with roughly equal possession and shots, and corners Good to see Toddy get on the scoresheet again, we need him to keep it going, just to stay in touch with the top half of the table. Any one with a streaming view got any comments on how the new guys like Duffy, Deas, Devine and Allardice played (and Kennedy who got 15mins)? Any ideas on who out of our injured pack might come back soon? Hearts away in two weeks time already looks a tough one, this was a match I had hoped to get in to watch, back in the heady days of August when I optimistically booked flights up.

I have a horrible feeling it is because I'm a supporter, my other side Palace, always seem to be top of the injury table! If I was on a boat you'd throw me over-board On a more serious note, it could be coincidental bad luck, but we obviously build our squad from scraps in the lower leagues and cast-offs....one reason for this is maybe some players are more injury prone than others, so can't establish careers elsewhere. To counter this, we'd probably need an additional 5-6 players in the squad.

Surely it was Billy McKay, as we've struggled to find a regular goal scorer since. If I could turn the question around slightly...probably the one person we'd like to be injury free for the season is Lewis Toshney, after that it would be Aaron Doran, after that David Carson, and after that Sean Welsh...If we had those four guys in the side on a regular basis, I think we would do pretty well ….. and obviously Billy McKay back

TBH missing those players when we have a small squad is a big handicap, then seeing Toddy go off so early (and having scored a goal)....however early days, and whilst it's a shortened season, we'll need a few matches with some players back to work out the best balanced formation. Doran and Carson are probably the ones with the creativity and Storey on hs day can be a real threat. Given that we were 1-1 until the last 15mins, did we run out of puff, or were we eventually found out Brad seems to be getting a fair bit of stick, but in his first two seasons with us he was a key player at the back, what's gone wrong? Is it decision making, lost technique, or lost confidence How did Deas and Duffy do at the back?

Another season, another almost new line-up to get used to, especially in defence I guess Duffy is our go-to RB now, surprised not to see McHattie at the LB berth in your pick We seem to have a bit of squad depth with options in defence, although Toshney looks like an occasional player due to his glass-like physic! Is Kai Kennedy just a bit of padding do you think given the shortest of the loan, or are we looking at him before deciding on something longer term? (as Doran's replacement?) MacGregor, Vincent and Storey give us some good options...don't know enough about Allardice

Where's YouTube when you need it

Yes...my trip to Edinburgh in November booked optimistically in late July, looks like a forlorn hope now, even the options of some of the City main attractions look risky to pre-book. I think the abilility for Championship and below clubs to admit some home fans looks viable, until the costs of doing so (logistically) come into play, more stewards for marshalling, and costs of pre/post match cleaning. I think that ICT could easily handle 1500 or so supporters spread around the ground.

Sounds like everyone who has recived it has said that the away shirt is really nice The away shirt is also Palace's goalie option, so I have a good reason to buy that as well! Waiting with baited breath for my home shirt my family have bought me for my birthday

I never really thought that Rooney was a very good defensive right back...excellent going forward, but just never seemed to be able to get back quickly. TBF there are lots of full backs about for whom defending seems a lost art....which explains why Aaron Wan-Bissaka was so highly rated at Palace (no one ever got past him) and went to Man U for big money, after a season and 8games. Often think that a really solid full back who can pass forward with accuracy is better than a marauding type.

I very much agree with your last sentence about McHattie, and in an ideal world paired with Toshney could be a great pairing. Caley seem to have a knack of finding good CB pairings. In terms of full backs, I think wistfully that Seedorf and Calder had the makings of an excellent full back pairing given time (somewhat unfortunate that Calder was involved in a court case that saw him leave us), certainly they were speedy and had some skill.