Falkirk -v- Ict : Matchday Thread

[RichieKass]

Cental Belt bias? Grow up for god sake.

I wasn't at the game today but my flatmate and several other friends were there all of whom said it was worse than any game they've witnessed in a good while, however...

Since Butcher has been at the club I think it's been obvious we have players who have the fight and the want to stay up, beating rangers, drawing with celtic and clocking up a few wins - granted with not always pretty performances. Yes we failed big time today but what no1 here seems to take into account that when you are in a situation of such high pressure and you start playing badl phsycologiclly it becomes VERY hard to break out of and I imagine ever player on the pitch is devestated with their performance today and will work their asses off to improve. Sometime you have a very bad day on the pitch and you just can't get away from it the whole 90 mins no mater how you try.

Yes, i know these guys are professionals and i know they get paid a lot because they are expected to perform but it's hardly as if this is the 5th defeat on the trot each with a dire performance. We fecked up a big game, okay but I think some people need to take a step back.

Whilst I sympathise for those who spent time and money going to the game I do think some peole need to put this in perspective instead of being a shower of pessimistic sods all the time.

Sh!t performance, let's look forward and hope we improve, i'm sure every single play at the club is gutted about today, now can we quit with the teuchterish moaning and laughable allegations of central belt bias?

[kilda]

Seems to me that we aye blame the officials when it is the team that is shied. What exactly do we expect from a team largely composed of rejects.

[tm4tj]

Looking for positives from the worst defeat I have ever witnessed in any of the leagues since ICT came to be. Rossco and Mihadjuks, after that maybe Proctor, the rest were not up to it. We started slowly then gradually started to get to grips, got on the ascendency then condeded a goal, from a rather suspiciously offside looking position. However the linesman was perfectly placed and to our disbelief/horror/amazement gave the goal. Rooney should have done better after mugging Pressley but his shot from an angle took an age to cross the box and unfortunately passed in front of the far post. Again, not sure how close it was as it was at the new stand end of the ground. Second half we started brightly but Munro who performed poorly again looked suspect as Stewart left him trailing in his wake as a long punt from the keeper bounced through the heart of our defence and Stewart slotted home past a helpless Esson. All the previous weeks efforts were now being undone as we lost our shape, and our keeper, Esson hauling down Finnegan when he skipped onto a through ball, it was all looking rather untidy from us by now. Three nil down, and one man down, worse was to follow as the Bairns exploited our new formation, playing with ten men, again, we seemed to throw the towel in and a fourth or even fifth was on the cards. Imrie missed a great chance for a consolation in amongst the goals but volleyed wildly over from twelve yards. So, humped 4-0 by our nearest relegation candidates does not make good reading, however you dress it up. The game was very untidy, the ball took a hell of a battering, and so did we.

I thought Falkirk were poor in the first half and did not merit the lead at the break, but we are our own worst enemies just now and capitulated, whilst the Bairns took the chances that we offered them.

Well done to Falkirk, they rolled their collective sleeves up and got stuck in, we ran away like wee boys and took a sore one for it. Terry, the honeymoon is over, lets see what else you have in store for us, because that was an abysmal performance in front of a healthy away support.

Well done to Mr Ceske for not rising to the bait and being constructive.

Come on guys, lets get over it and knuckle down for the next few games.

[gillian black]

He nos he will always be in the team and since hes captain no1 will replace him

This is too true. We were at our best this season when Butcher first arrived as players are forced to raise their game to retain a place in the first team. Munro is in need of another player to be vying for his place in the team. I personally would like to see Rossco sporting the captain's armband as based on today's performance he is the only player who cares.

You are joking?, at least I hope you are. We did play against 13 yesterday,but no point in sour grapes, we just have to get on with it, I beleive refs etc fed up travelling to Inverness and would like to see us going down.

My match analysis.

1. Falkirk unlike Celtic and Rangers chase us for 90 mins, they play or at least try to play football, this means the ball on the park and not in the air, it means using the 11 men they have on the park, working together, using their brain as well as their feet.

2. Esson, he did okay with what he had to work with, ie, no defence, and them not knowing how to defend, didnt get time to catch his breath before the ball was right back where he'd just left it.

3. Munro and Djebi had a nightmare, Munro hoofed the ball Every time it came near him, Mihadjuks, the less said the better, Tokely at least tried for most of the game.

4. Proctor, Duncan,Black,Foran, the whole midfield, if given half a chance Might have been able to do something, resulting in the 1st half all they did was shuttles as the ball was hoofed up the park at every turn, so running around like headless chickens, chasing the ball

5. The front 2 Imrie and Rooney made Pressley look like a super star, I thought he was going to bring out a deck chair to sit on, as he had no work to do.

To say it was a bad day at the office is putting it mildly

[alternative maryhill]

That was the best ?21 I've spent in a long time, I'm so glad I went.

We played great football, keeping it on the deck whenever possible. The back line was so organised, inspiring confidence in the rest of the team to show some flair and creativity with the ball.

And special mention to our hosts, who anticipated a larger than usual away support for such a vital game and made sure there were enough sections set out for us. And to the stewards, who kindly showed everyone to their seat and asked if there was anything else they could do to make us feel more welcome.

That was nice of them, wasn't it? Particularly the way they pointed out that we should sit at the front so we could be closer to our heroes.

4-0 maybe wasn't a fair reflection, but it was an awful performance, and hopefully just a one-off. My biggest worry is that we started the game in such a negative, anti-football fashion: long ball stuff, no attempt at building moves from the back. Falkirk play the ball nicely on the deck themselves, but clearly they are fragile and can be broken down, or they wouldn't be bottom of the league, When we did start trying to pass it, at the start of the second half, it was too late to get it going properly: the players hadn't played themselves into the game and were falling over each other and being dragged out of position. When the second goal went in it was all over.

It's going to be interesting to see how Butcher reacts to this tactically. Does he stick to route one and hope for more solidity at the back next week, or does he encourage more football being played? I'd like to see Vigurs feature as he's the best passer we have and had some cracking matches earlier in the season (most notably against Falkirk in the 2-1 game), but I think I'm hoping in vain: don't think he's even had a minute as a sub since Butcher arrived, has he? More of the ball on the deck might allow Imrie to get more into the game too: he was as ineffective as I've ever seen him in the first half yesterday.

One positive from yesterday was Foran: he was always looking for the ball, used it well when he had it and seemed to be encouraging / nagging the other players constantly. He could be very influential over the rest of the season. As lots of others have pointed out, though, he should be up front: the only times we looked remotely dangerous yesterday was when he was in and around the box. It would be interesting to see how Foran and Morais would do up front with Imrie playing wide and Black and Vigurs in the middle.

As for the defence, I'd put yesterday down to a bad day at the office for Grant, who didn't have a great start to the season but has looked much better alongside Pav. No point in calling for his head at the moment. Lionel, however... the effort he puts in is tremendous, but he looks constantly bewildered to me, as if he's surprised to find a football bouncing around him. If Butcher doesn't have much confidence in Hastings, why doesn't he give Roy a shot at the back?

Came on here thinking I would resist any knee-jerk reactions and calls for mass changes. Oh well...

[Harry Chibber]

Ref was awful but I think we could have played for another 90 minutes and wouldn't have scored a goal. I agree with alternative maryhill, Foran never stopped although could have easily been sent off, Pavels was the only other player I would give pass marks to!

we have real problems if we are conceding the way we are and not scoring

Stewards were a fcuking joke but you are never surprised by that now-a-days

on another sour note... I don't know who it was but some f@nny from our own support was trying to get himself in a fight with Barrowman. I'm the first to admit that Barrowman has had a dismal season but the abuse he got from the front row of supporters was a disgrace... he wasn't even on the pitch ffs!

I am yet to see a league win this season, probably best if I stay away for the rest of the season

Edited March 22, 2009 by Harry Chibber

[alternative maryhill]

Ref was awful but I think we could have played for another 90 minutes and wouldn't have scored a goal

we have real problems if we are conceding the way we are and not scoring

on another sour note... I don't know who it was but some f@nny from our own support was trying to get himself in a fight with Barrowman. I'm the first to admit that Barrowman has had a dismal season but the abuse he got from the front row of supporters was a disgrace... he wasn't even on the pitch ffs!

I am yet to see a league win this season, probably best if I stay away for the rest of the season

Probably not a bad idea. Red card also for Caley Stan's mate Nicholas, who was at his 5th ICT game yesterday. He has now seen us lose 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0. Someone should call Norris McWhirter.

[Glen Mhor]

You'll have a job calling Norris McWhirter - he died in 2004.

[Johnboy]

You'll have a job calling Norris McWhirter - he died in 2004.

His brother Ross Macwhirter also no longer with us.

He was murdered by the IRA after unwisely making some derogatory remarks about them.

[MissICT]

caley were shocking yesterday!!!!

It was hell watching them!!!

and to make things worse Esson was sent of!!

was it a sending of?

[Yngwie]

I've sat through many thrashings and dismal performances over the years, but yesterday was the first time in my life that I have left a game before the final whistle.

[The Mantis]

I often went and watched Falkirk a year or two before our merger time and I always liked the club.

I think they're in much the same boat as us - very little money to buy creative players. I also think the standard in the SPL is woeful compared to even 10 years ago. Yogi would probably kill for some of the players that Jefferies had, such as Stainrod, McCall, Weir, Cadette....

I think they are now a very physical side who also pass the ball reasonably well (as we can do when we're not in the mindset of panic and punt). Like us they can't score goals (except yesterday obviously). I think that Calum Murray let some bad challenges go yesterday and penalised us a few times at crucial points in the game (e.g. the first goal).

But anybody who thinks refs are biased needs to grow up.

The day after, I'm trying to be positive about our performance without sounding like Brewster. But we really played no football at all and deserved to lose. On the few occasions we did get it on the carpet, we were as good as Falkirk but the end product was always a high cross mopped up by Bullen or Pressley or whoever.

I think there's not much point in criticising Black, Duncan, Foran and Proctor as they must have all had stiff necks from seeing the ball whizz into orbit over their heads.

I'm worried that whatever Terry and June brought us has just disappeared down the pan. The second half last week and the whole of yesterday were just dire. We now need a performance against the Midden.

Edited March 22, 2009 by The Mantis

[Yngwie]

Having seen the highlights, first did look offside to me but they don't have a good camera angle on it. What speaks volumes though is that the Falkirk fans hardly celebrated. Pressley said the players couldn't believe the flag didn't go up.

And Esson's red was never a red.

[Kieran]

Having seen the highlights, first did look offside to me but they don't have a good camera angle on it. What speaks volumes though is that the Falkirk fans hardly celebrated. Pressley said the players couldn't believe the flag didn't go up.

And Esson's red was never a red.

Where did you see the highlights?

[MissICT]

Having seen the highlights, first did look offside to me but they don't have a good camera angle on it. What speaks volumes though is that the Falkirk fans hardly celebrated. Pressley said the players couldn't believe the flag didn't go up.

And Esson's red was never a red.

Where did you see the highlights?

I'm dieing to see this red card incident! (we could appeal!!)

we can't change the offside goal :thumb04:

[tm4tj]

Highlights up on BBC site now. The second goal was a combination of poor play. Grantie made a feeble challenge, the ball gets headed forward, Pavels misses it, the ball gets knocked through, and Rossco is trailing in the wake unable to make up the ground.

Poor play all round. Penalty looks like a penalty to me. Esson was booked earlier as well, protesting about the first goal.

Bad day at the office.

Edited March 22, 2009 by themann4thejob

[lizi]

Highlights were on Setanta prior to the Dundee Utd v Celtic game this afternoon.

Steven Pressley a pundit in the studio, commenting that he and Calum (ref) got the decisions right! Also thought the first goal may have been offside and thought Esson hard done by!

[HumbersideDude]

Ref was awful but I think we could have played for another 90 minutes and wouldn't have scored a goal

we have real problems if we are conceding the way we are and not scoring

on another sour note... I don't know who it was but some f@nny from our own support was trying to get himself in a fight with Barrowman. I'm the first to admit that Barrowman has had a dismal season but the abuse he got from the front row of supporters was a disgrace... he wasn't even on the pitch ffs!

I am yet to see a league win this season, probably best if I stay away for the rest of the season

Probably not a bad idea. Red card also for Caley Stan's mate Nicholas, who was at his 5th ICT game yesterday. He has now seen us lose 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0. Someone should call Norris McWhirter.

I,ve got another jinks here. The future Mrs Dude has been to 5 ICT games with me in the past year. Lost the lot! As well as Scotland v Croatia, Draw. Dewsbury v Batley at rugby league, Lost. Horse racing at Perth and Market Rasen, couldn't pick my nose never mind a winner.(on-line betting, well in profit when she is not around).

She is great at other things, .......eh wait a mimute I'll think off something.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Dewsburydude

[gordyfromsneck]

I'd be very interested to find out why Finnigan wasn't offside for the first. Bloody awful attempt at a clrearance for Pavels for the 2nd, like a poncy wee flick. Main culprit. And yes, Esson got the man and not the ball, quite unnecessarily, but it looked more like an error of judgement than anything deliberate. Fourth was very well taken.

Yes, I too was thinking of the day we goot gubbed by Clyde 5-0 a few seasons ago, but, and mark this well, it did not start a run of failures. Put a line under it, bad day at the office. Terry has come home from his honeymoon and finds that he has a lot to do.

[MissICT]

I have just watched the highlights and was definitely not a sending of !!

Esson got to the ball!

appeal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ICTFCkev]

F*ckin dire performance yesterday..

Big round of applause to our fans yesterday for keeping the atmosphere goin right till the end :thumb04:

Most had anough after the pen tho, and I dont blame anyone for leaving early, they should not pay to be put through that.

[caleyblue]

cost me ?150.00+fuel to go yesterday cant believe how bad we were as a team wouldnt pick out one player they were allrotten just hope it was a one off

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Just watched the Setanta highlights and Finnigan looked well offside. Rooney came back to tackle but there is no doubt that the linesman made a mare.

Second goal - Higdon took his marker Granty out of position - won the header - looked like Pavels left the second header to Lionel - who stood there in DOH mood - Rosscoe tried to fill in but Stewart outpaced him. They can all share the blame.

Third goal - Lionel at complete fault that the cross came in - I thought that Esson was unlucky.

Fourth goal - Well Rosscoe was out of position - he was going fer it - Granty got pulled out of the middle and Lionel was jogging back to cover.

[BonnybridgeICT]

Falkirk's first goal was a shocker - couldn't believe it when the linesman didn't flag. At the time my eye was caught by the falkirk player who scored, thinking he's a mile offside... when he tapped the ball in, I calmly looked to the linesman and waited for the flag. I was stunned as he untethered his labrador and sauntered back up towards the halfway line. Have just watched the tv highlights now and still can't believe the decision - the inactive player surely becomes active as he wallops the ball into the net!?! The game was a non-event up till that point with neither team playing well. The gift of a goal gave Falkirk the momentum, woke up their fans, and practically handed Falkirk the game.

Esson straight red card was a farce. He had already been booked so probably would have went anyway, but a straight red? The Falkirk player was running across goal and not straight towards it. As we've seen with Celtic in recent months where Boruc (on Dargo) and McManus, their 'last man' escaped a straight red on the basis that the player was moving away from goal.

All that said though, we were rubbish. We missed the simple cutting pass up front time and time again, and then on other occasions just tried to walk the ball into the net. Very frustrating to watch. Sometimes a shoot on sight policy isn't such a bad idea, especially when Falkirk's goalie had been dodgy early on and repeatedly dropped the ball like it was a hot tattie. I also thought our midfield was posted missing for much of the game, and we lacked a bit of fight in the middle. Lionel was a major liability at times by trying to do too much.

Only consolation was the sight of Lionel booting about 4 footballs over the tents and out the stadium. Hopefully that'll be just enough to tip Falkirk financially over the edge Oh, and other plus point was Pressley having to go off after his arthritis played up.

Full marks to the singers in our fans who kept the away support noise going even though the team was letting us down. The chants of "you only sing when you're winning" summed up the great effort of our fans despite the score.

[davie]

This makes me feel as if it was worth breaking my collar bone not to go after seeing the "lowlights" on setanta.I have been saying all season that Granty has got to go. His mistakes have cost us goals and points and he is simply too pedestrian and unimaginative to hack it in the SPL. He is a lower league hoofer who needs to get back there asap.

Duff, although inexperienced, would benefit far more from a cd pairing with Pavels. Time, however, is running out.