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The Long Man

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Everything posted by The Long Man

  1. The Long Man
    I do think Foran going is the one lift the team would get that would change morale enough to give us a chance, slim as it is. If he stays, it is more of the same, so what have we got to lose by showing him the door?
  2. The Long Man
    I really don't think Sutherland has anything to do with it. The board took a huge gamble on Foran, which was partly dictated by circumstances, and seemed like a possible solution at the time. Their failure is in not acting when the writing was on the wall, in January/February. All appointments are a gamble, including Butcher and Hughes, which they were at the time.
  3. The Long Man
    Who would want to take a team almost certainly doomed to relegation and take them down?
  4. The Long Man
    The time for post mortems and rethinking where we are going will be at the end of the season. I can only imagine they are horrified at where we are, but the question is what they are capable of doing about it. Going down would seem to be the ideal time to bring a young ambitious manager who has shown some form already.
  5. The Long Man
    We're screwed then. What exactly has he shown to deserve such loyalty? He should walk of his own accord after what he has done.
  6. The Long Man
    Go now Foran, for god's sake. Show some dignity and self-respect by handing over to somebody else. We can't possibly do worse with any stand-in the club can find. We might even scrape a result here and there, which will be infinitely better than you remaining with such utter shambolic cluelessness. What a disaster you have been.
  7. The Long Man
    Another spin of the random selection wheel. Fisher on the bench, would like to see him come and show the boss what he has been missing.
  8. The Long Man
    I believe since Xmas we have had the squad to survive and improve. Richie's constant hashing around and lack of any visible strategy or settled style of play is demoralising for fans. Goodness knows what it is like for the players. He just doesn't appear to learn from previous games, every one is like the lottery with the revolving doors of selection and tactics.
  9. The Long Man
    Another spin on the roulette wheel that is Foran's selection policy. Let's hope we get lucky with this one.
  10. The Long Man
    Every time I have seen Fisher he has worked far harder than the like of Doumbaya when he was here, and looked promising. It is a mystery why he is not given a chance of a prolonged run. Same with King. Richie's haphazard selections don't inspire confidence in me, and the players must feel similarly confused, especially when, having been given a chance, they do well.
  11. The Long Man
    At this stage of the season and in our position we are still tinkering with formations and positions, every week a new page from the Foran big book of coaching ideas. This is rank amateurism I am afraid. We seemed to get it right against Rangers, and here we are back in the russian roulette of Richie's ever changing revolving doors.
  12. The Long Man
    Damn, just as I thought we would go in at half time with a healthy 0-0.
  13. The Long Man
    Magnificent. sir Billy is back where he belongs and does his best work. I do believe he will save us. What a shot in the arm for all of us and the players. The contrast to the indolent team before is stunning. As Foran said last week, this is like the old Inverness. Hurrah, the bugle has sounded.
  14. The Long Man
    Rather than being stabbed in the back, Richie seems to be doing his best to stab himself in the front. Our resident psychologist might have a view on whether he is consciously or subconsciously looking for a way out via the sack. His head sounds like a mess, these post match interviews are absolutely toe-curling to listen to, and have been since his spaced out performance after the county game. So I can only guess at the torture he is going through, and whether he would be glad to be released from it. But trying to shuffle the blame on to the players is the last resort when you are the manager, and you can surmise how they will react to that when they hear it. He is making the board's decision for them. It is very hard to see how he can stay like this, especially if the players have given up on him. Whatever your view of Butcher and Hughes style and tactics, you at least knew what they were, the players certainly did, and they stamped their authority on the team. It is very difficult to see how Richie can do anything like that, just when we need someone to organise the scattergun signings into a unit and motivate the squad.
  15. The Long Man
    Not enough.
  16. The Long Man
    Doumbaya off, Vigurs on. Would suggest Richie is seeing too much pressure from PT and cannot afford two strikers.
  17. The Long Man
    Live on BBC Scotland Medium Wave; http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_radio_scotland_mw Patrick Thistle well on top according to commentary. Sigh.
  18. The Long Man
    Please drop the Doum and freshen up that forward line. We have better players on the bench.
  19. The Long Man
    I think we have to stop pretending that we have anything other than a powder puff attack. I am sorry to say that Lonsana has very little to offer other than his height - and winning headers seldom leads to anything useful. He has had long enough now, and I can't see any progress- when he had two clear chances on Wed night he couldn't even test the goalkeeper. When Fisher came on, he was immediately more effective, challenging and winning balls, scrapping and harrying. We looked far better with him. And the other change was just as good - Doran suddenly gave more options, through crosses and shots. Cole looks like a promising kid, and should not be preferred over a proven and experienced player. He's a bench player. Those two should start tomorrow, with Polworth maybe behind Fisher. On top of that we have to cut out the cheap goals we give away. We are in a relegation battle , no use to pretend otherwise. Those three matches after the break are huge. We may have a couple of players in by then, but we have to shake up the current system, which is not working, Richie.
  20. The Long Man
    Very interesting. I hope Richie is doing some studying
  21. The Long Man
    Interesting points. My version of pressing is not leave any space, but to deny them the space by not giving them time to find their passes. However, good insight from ictfc that they had planned to do that but were outplayed - you do have to acknowledge that Rangers were fast and accurate in their movement. My concern was that we let them run at us without disruption, although our backline were heroic in keeping them out (as well as some rotten finishing from them). I am sure it is a good learning experience for Foran and the players, and we can take some comfort from the fact that we nearly got a point. But we do have to sort out our best attacking option.
  22. The Long Man
    That's a complete mischaracterising of what is being said. No one is talking about headless chickens. It is called the pressing game, as practised by more than few leading clubs. It does not mean playing out of position or leaving gaps. Fisher did a good job, and made a significant difference by doing exactly that.
  23. The Long Man
    No contest. Doom is way out of his depth.
  24. The Long Man
    yes, unfortunately Doumbaya was feeble, and doesn't look good enough for this level. I was also very dissatisfied with his work rate. When Fisher came on, the difference was immediate. He started harrying the keeper and the back four, pressing them into making mistakes from which we could win the ball higher up the field. Indeed a couple of our attacks started this way. Prior to that, they had a leisurely time passing the ball out without challenge. We stood off them too much after they scored, although they have got pace and were far more accurate in passing than us. When Dorran and Mulraney came on, the game was transformed as we started running at them and giving them problems. We need to sort out that midfield and give it some shape. It's very hard to discern where Vigurs, Polworth and King were supposed to be, and what their role was.
  25. The Long Man
    It's a crying shame that just at the time a young, developing player needs to be involved and playing regularly, he cannot get a regular first team game. Of course you can understand the lure of the 'big time', and maybe he will get a chance this year, but I always though he left us prematurely and would have benefitted enormously from another season of first team football here. And then he could have picked from a more appropriate range of suitors. I thought Hughes was over eager to get Ryan out of the door, with him virtually holding up a 'for sale' sign in interviews, and the way Celtic waited until the last day of the transfer window was particularly cynical. He was still developing his game, and you worry that that will be stunted in the Celtic reserves. Same with Mackay Steven who I thought showed great promise. Although maybe there is a case for signing the best of young talent, it seems counter-productive, and a great disservice to the players themselves, that they get stuck in limbo - some of them will eventually get discarded, and will have wasted precious time. It weakens the Scottish game and the players themselves. Who knows what the answer is, but there must be a better development plan for our brightest and best. Limited squad numbers?
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