cif73

47 minutes ago, CaleyD said:

 

... and well done to Richie for his part (as well as the lads).

Refreshing to hear a post-Celtic match interview with an ICT manager that doesn't slaver on about the wunderful Glashgow Sheltic being a turrific side. 

In recent seasons we've often lost last minute goals. This season we're starting to score crucial last minute goals. Very pleasing.

3 hours ago, alternative maryhill said:

That was a lovely surprise. As expected, we competed really well in the middle but struggled with Celtic's pace and trickery in the wide areas. So crucial that we didn't let the heads go down the way Sevco did last week, especially after the Draper decision, and fought until the very last minute. Obviously we got a bit lucky with a few shots off the woodwork, and Fon Williams was outstanding, but some of the last ditch defending was superb, and Foran got his subs spot on - Doran, Mulraney and of course Fisher all caused a few problems when we did manage to get forward. 5 points from 3 games against St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Celtic is good at any time, but after the start we'd made to the season, and with a rookie manager, it's a great achievement. 

Looking forward to going into work tomorrow as the only ICT supporter among around 1000 Celtic supporters and giving them a good GIRUY. :)

Spot on sir

3 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

                      OFW

McKay Meekings Warren Tremarco

            Tansey    Vigurs

Doran           Draper            King

                   Doumbaye

If Doran's not fit for starting 90 mins yet then I'd go Polly, just think Doran showed some good creativity against the Dons and is more capable of that bit of magin you need for a Celtic result than Polly. Up front, its any of our 3 but in both previous games I thought Doumbaye played well when he came on and caused problems for the opposition defence and was more effective at running with or holding up the ball than Fisher - might be worth risking him to start as he could be a bit of a surprise to Celtic.

 

 

               

Absolutely. I'd really like to see Doumbouya start. With his physicality, I think he could mix it up in the box and score a bit like Ofere in the home league match against Celtic in spring last year. 

Thoroughly spirited performance deserving of a point. A bit unlucky with Aberdeen goal given apparent foul on Polworth in build-up. Really fabulous goal from Vigurs although the rest of his play often seemed laboured and failed to exploit gaps in Aberdeen shape. Goal celebrations dampened by completely ridiculous OTT stewarding ... what are fans meant to do in a goal celebration ... just sit back and give clap hands a few times?! McKay an excellent addition in defence and much more threatening than Raven going forward. Defence gave their all for the cause, special mention to Tremarco. Tansey much more driven and creative. Draper covered every inch. Fisher ran his heart out but would like to have seen Doumbouya on earlier ... great physical presence. Polworth possibly unfairly criticised above (yes he on occasion lost possession but often looked our most menacing runner going forward and his shot against the bar was a decent effort that came to him fairly quickly after what I thought was a little push by Hayes on Draper in the box missed by the ref). Doran showed quick feet and sharpness when he came on. Poor ref performance ... too often an Aberdeen player would lose possession and just fall over in the knowledge they'd be rewarded with a free kick. Could have  won it today in the end although very fortunate not to lose a 2nd immediately after the 1st through obvious frustration and consequent lack of concentration leading to a speedy counter-attack (definitely where Aberdeen were most dangerous today). If we continue to show that grit, we will rise up the table (after next week lol!) and this inauspicious start may discounted as a brief return to the early season form we typically showed in years gone by while coming up the leagues. 

9 minutes ago, Moogthurso said:

Is he our no 10?

Midfielder I think

Larnell Cole once scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 Man Utd under-21 victory where Pogba also played but wasn't himself on the scoresheet. Permission to get excited .... ;)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2324844/Larnell-Cole--need-know-Manchester-Uniteds-hat-trick-hero.html

Agree to a large extent with almost every post above ... which seems paradoxical maybe.

However, Yogi's reign at Inverness was paradoxical ... on the one hand unprecedented cup/league/Europe milestones/achievements etc probably never to be repeated, often attractive passing football ... on the other hand petty fall-outs/benching fans' favourites, stubborn refusal to change approach, sideways tippy/tappy when having off-days, dodgy/unbalanced player recruitment.

The interview was strangely much the same ... plenty has been said of the negative above (which I agree is disappointing) ... but there was also positive ... he said he loved his time up here, "great bunch of lads" (should be his epitaph lol), acknowledged budget restraints were real, the Scottish Cup winning day was his happiest (or joint) in football and, notably post-departure, he jumped off his sofa in celebration hearing Meekings' winner go in on Saturday.

Over the piece, the positive times shared with Yogi far outweighed the negative times and that is good to hold onto.

Great moment ... loved the bit where Gary Warren then briefly sat on concrete wall a bit like Strachan celebrating versus West Germany in 86.

Well deserved 3 points in the end. Raw, unbridled passion from players and fans when the ping-pong scrambled injury time winner went in. Awesome. Felt like winning a cup semi/final. Hopefully this kickstarts our season.

On 8/14/2016 at 9:45 AM, dougal said:

One thing is for certain an ICT team under Yogi wouldn't have laid down the way they did to County yesterday

I stand by my six pointer claim I watched two teams that are destined for the bottom six yesterday, whether that equates to relegation battles time will tell

Dougal

Yes a confrontation between two "bottom 6" teams (as I believe they will be) is a 6-pointer irrespective of when in the season the game takes place ... imho. 

29 minutes ago, hislopsoffsideagain said:

If you weren't at the match, don't let the scoreline fool you into thinking this was a close game.  3-2 flattered us; if County had won by three or four there would have been little to complain about.  Other than the abysmal performance, of course...

We looked completely unprepared for this game.  County always press us high up the pitch right at the start..yet we didn't seem to have anticipated this at all.  We barely got out of our own half in the first quarter of the game, because we kept giving the ball away or having to punt aimless long balls.

All of the goals we conceded were dreadful in their own way.  We may as well have not had any defenders on the park at the first goal.  Gardyne was allowed lots of space and time to cross and Boyce was inexplicably unmarked about eight yards out.  McNaughton had been marking him, yet ended up about three yards away from him and miles underneath the ball.

The second goal might have been prevented had we not taken so long over substituting McNaughton (who took ages to limp off) that we had to play with 10 men.  It was a great first touch and finish by Boyce, mind, but if we'd not been playing a defender short it probably would have been preventable.  Despite the fact that McNaughton clearly couldn't continue, Foran didn't bother summoning Horner for a good minute or two afterward.  Amateurish.  For what it's worth, Raven (who Gardyne had on toast in the opening 15 mins) was a far better centre-back than McNaughton.

The third goal, the obligatory soft-goal-conceded-from-a-set-piece (three games in a row now!) was completely deflating, coming right at the start of the second half.  The long punt forward hung in the air for aeons.  Any half-decent keeper, and most lousy ones, would have come for it and claimed it.  Fon Williams stayed rooted to his line.  Worryingly, Warren was beaten remarkably easily in the air by Boyce.  Earlier, Fon Williams handled outside his box, but the ref played advantage and County inexplicably missed with the goal gaping.  Had it not been for the advantage, the keeper might have seen red instead of the subsequent yellow.

As for us, it sounds like our first goal was extremely fortunate, as County fans (and a few ICT ones) are saying the ref blew his whistle for an apparent finfringement before Boden scored, only to change his mind after the ball went in and he'd spoken to his linesman.  The County players were absolutely incensed.  The second was a great hit by Draper, but apart from a goalline clearance from Cikos shortly after, we didn't really look like scoring.

Lots and lots and lots to worry about.  The body language from the players was terrible.  It was striking that, during stoppages from injuries, the County players were receiving instruction and encouragement from their bench, whilst our management team stood with arms folded and our players wandered away from each other with hands on hips and heads down.  No-one looked like they wanted the ball except Boden, who rarely got it within about ten yards of where he was, and Tremarco, who was the only other player worth a pass mark.  We had four very decent midfielders on the pitch - Draper, Tansey, Polworth and Vigurs - all of whom were really poor in possession.

Anyone watching that fiasco could make the mistake of thinking that we had a rookie manager who was way out of his depth...

Excellent analysis

Need Meekings back asap to partner Warren at centre half. Boyce had way too much space for his headed goals. Not good to see an ICT player going off injured but it may have saved McNaughton further embarassment. From what I've seen so far, he seems to be living off former glories. Quite encouraged with Horner when he came on ... in an attacking sense as well. Had Richie got him on sooner we might not have lost the 2nd goal while down to 10 men. Cannot fathom the delay in substituting there when McNaughton was down for a while and took an eternity to limp off. That said, it was a silky finish from Boyce. 

8 minutes ago, Alex MacLeod said:

Shotts is in Dingwall is it?

You not heard the chant before then? You should get out more ;)

The ref is from Dingwall

If this was boxing, the ref would have long since stopped the fight! Abject, limp, toothless ... against a team bottom of the league and out of the cup themselves. The biggest question .... do i stay for the 2nd half?

12 hours ago, alternative maryhill said:

Very poor tonight. Going forward, Mulraney looked lightweight and on the rare occasion where he managed to get space to cross, his final ball was poor. King was slightly better, but the potential impact of both players seemed to be limited by the fact that they were played on the wrong wings - Mulraney, as a pacey left footer, should surely be allowed to use his pace to get to the bye-line and swing balls in with his left foot, while King contributed little from the left in the first half but looked a bit more effective when he was eventually switched to the right in the second. Where we really lost the game, though, was in the centre of the park: Polworth looked OK driving forward but both his and Tansey's distribution was poor, and neither seemed able to anticipate passes played into their opponents' feet or impose themselves physically; we at least had more of the play when Draper came on in the second half. We also allowed Alloa to push us back too deep in the first half in particular, and while they didn't create too many chances, there was too much scrappy, last ditch defending. McNaughton reads the game well, but his distribution was poor tonight, and he doesn't dominate opposing attackers the way Meekings can. As soon as Meekings is fit, he needs to come back into the team, and after tonight, Foran will hopefully also accept that we are a stronger team when Draper starts, whether it is Vigurs, Polworth or Mulraney who gives way. It was good to see Doran back as a second-half sub, although he didn't do a great deal, and Fisher had a few good touches and might be worth a start in place of Boden, who had a poor evening.

Some changes definitely needed for Saturday, starting with Draper being restored to the starting line-up; also, the players should remember to acknowledge the fans who travel to support them in these games; not one of them bothered to acknowledge a fairly healthy away support at the end of the game.              

Excellent, balanced analysis, alternative maryhill. Much better than my frustrated, late night rant. It was good to catch up with you at the game. By the way, that steward who encouraged you towards your seat became even more of an annoyance later on with his biased "commentary" on the game lol! I felt like telling him that a good steward is like a good ref ... they perform well when the focus of the game is not on them lol!     

Just back home now ... well that is an afternoon/evening of my life that I'll never get back. So glad I paid good money to take me and my kids down to the back of Stirlingshire beyond to watch that utterly toothless mince! By any measure that is a dreadful result and an opportunity missed. The team with much less resources but much more desire got what they deserved ... a place in the last 8 of the cup. Well done Wasps, hang your heads in shame ICT. Goodnight. 

Tremarco has scored 3 goals in 2 games! ... is he wee Billy in disguise?!

Sorry to say bye to Deano, a great keeper for us in his day ... but I wouldn't be surprised if we saw him again ... at Aberdeen CT. He admittedly loves life up here and they could do a lot worse. 

Would a club start signing players (even fans' favourites like Dave the Rave) on 2 year deals without a new manager's blessing? ... Just a matter of time before Richie is unveiled me thinks. 

4 minutes ago, CaleyHedgehog said:

Loving the interactiveness going on lately between the club and the fans. Thankyou to the board for keeping us so well informed - much appreciated. 

Agreed ... although a motivating force for transparency may be the fact that the loss of manager (and related uncertainties) unfortunately coincides with the release of season tickets for sale ;)

Best league away day ever. Only Hampden last season comes close. Great win on County's party day on their patch. Stunning 3rd goal made everyone relax and start our own party. Every player played their part. Only disappointment being that we kind of coasted the last 30 mins when we could have got more. Brilliant away atmosphere with lots of loud, enthusiastic, witty singing relentlessly taking the mickey out of County. Hope some of it finds its way onto youtube. Wish we played like that every/most weeks.