Matchday Thread: ICT -V- Montrose

[TheKarl]

Thank f*ck for that.

Not the most of encouraging starts, but then again, I suppose we've been playing highland leaguers all pre-season, this woulda been a step up from what some of the new boys are used to.

[stevico1]

Bit close for comfort that one

[IanICT]

Any landing you walk away from.

[DornochCaley]

We where lucky.

[Fanoffooty]

Phew :021:

[Caley Mad In Berks]

Begs the question as to how useful all these friendlies versus Highland League opposition really are!

[KennySim93]

Lionel got the winner as well!! :021: :021:

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Just got in - 5-3 - sounds like a really feckin entertaining game - can anybody tell me about the build up to the goals.

Annan or Stranraer away next :021:

[bauhaus]

Did Esson save pens or did the Gable enders miss!

Who took ours, positives - we in the next round, another game under the belt towards full fitness, and we have at least 5 picks to take penalties this season

[TSTtiger]

Just got in - 5-3 - sounds like a really feckin entertaining game - can anybody tell me about the build up to the goals.

Annan or Stranraer away next :021:

about 3 steps then a shot into the net

[stevico1]

Lionel got the winner as well!! :021: :021:

And I bet he flicked it up and sent it in with an overhead kick :021:

[Scotty]

Any mention of the attendance?

1072

[Johnboy]

Hope we don't have to sit through many more performances like that this season.

[L_G]

we dont have a "tweeter" at today's game but I have enabled our feed on the front page of the main site. just need a catchy name for it now ... any suggestions ?

would have had a tweeter if there had been a wireless connection available at the stadium. Should be sorted for next week.

[kencar]

To quote that well used phrase "WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH!"

There is not a hope in hell we will win the league with performances like that.

It really was dire stuff . Not sure if it was complacency, ring rustiness, the hot weather or just lack of basic footballing skills but we weren't at the races at all. Things weren't helped by Butchers odd substitutions! We ended up with McBain up front for extra time when Foran was taken off for Hastings!!

We could have no complaints if Montrose had gone through, in fact, they probably deserved it more than we did.

Can't say I'm too impressed with the new faces. Cox was probably the pick of the bunch and he is rock solid in the tackle but faded as the match went on. Stratford was very average and his set pieces and crossing left a lot to be desired. Ross looked quite lively in the first half but he's too small to cope with any physical contact and his crossing is just feeble. Hayes was rubbish. Simple as that. He didn't seem very quick and pretty much everything he tried resulted in him losing possession. I was glad when he got subbed before half time. There must be more to come from him otherwise how the hell did he get a contract.

Note to Butcher Tokely is no center back, get him back to rightful place at right back. Also tell Munro to get his finger out. He seems to be going backwards as a player and looks a shadow of the man he was besides Dodds. Hopefully this Bulvitis is good cos a Munro & Tokely partnership will get torn apart week in week out.

Still we scraped through which is something. Think I'll keep my ,money in my pocket and give the United friendly a miss. That game dulled my enthusiasm for the new season drastically

[TheKarl]

To clarify.. was it the 5-3 were saying or 5-4 BBC are saying?

[YaBoy]

Oh dear.

[AJS]

It was worth going through just to see Lionel score the winning pen. :021:

But in all seriousness we can forget about winning anything if we play like that each week. Players to scared to shoot, Duncan still can't pass and we still aren't hitting good crosses in to the box.

Was ashame to see Hayes get injured at the start but the majority of folks need to get their act together before the season starts.

[gordyfromsneck]

I was relentlessly optimistic last time this season and I see no reason to break with that, so no bad notes today. The team seemed to come into their own in extra time, with Cox in particular putting himself about great style, the new Blackie. The RB Stratford didnt seem to do much wrong, and on accasions worked well with the no 7, in fact they both seemed to read each other better as the game went on. Lionel and Russel looked very animated. The no 11, Hayes? looked serioulsy threatening. Foran showed flashes of class. Nice seeing Richie getting a run at midfield.

But - I should have guessed I couldnt do it...

No finishers. Rooney seemed to be pulled out of position often. No one coming forward to help.

Roy looked knackered. Supersub status beckons for him, again.

Rosco gets caught out at centre, just doesnt read the game. Where Big Bobby had a few distribution tricks up his sleeve, Rosco has one.

Where was The Eagle?

Crap game, on paper we shoudl have buried them by 20 mins.

If Terry can get the best perumtation out of that, then things may be well, but again, I feel it wont be pretty.

Bring on The Arabs.

[SMEE]

To quote that well used phrase "WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH!"

There is not a hope in hell we will win the league with performances like that.

It really was dire stuff . Not sure if it was complacency, ring rustiness, the hot weather or just lack of basic footballing skills but we weren't at the races at all. Things weren't helped by Butchers odd substitutions! We ended up with McBain up front for extra time when Foran was taken off for Hastings!!

We could have no complaints if Montrose had gone through, in fact, they probably deserved it more than we did.

Can't say I'm too impressed with the new faces. Cox was probably the pick of the bunch and he is rock solid in the tackle but faded as the match went on. Stratford was very average and his set pieces and crossing left a lot to be desired. Ross looked quite lively in the first half but he's too small to cope with any physical contact and his crossing is just feeble. Hayes was rubbish. Simple as that. He didn't seem very quick and pretty much everything he tried resulted in him losing possession. I was glad when he got subbed before half time. There must be more to come from him otherwise how the hell did he get a contract.

Note to Butcher Tokely is no center back, get him back to rightful place at right back. Also tell Munro to get his finger out. He seems to be going backwards as a player and looks a shadow of the man he was besides Dodds. Hopefully this Bulvitis is good cos a Munro & Tokely partnership will get torn apart week in week out.

Still we scraped through which is something. Think I'll keep my ,money in my pocket and give the United friendly a miss. That game dulled my enthusiasm for the new season drastically

Absolutely fair summation of the game today.

It was like watching the second team today. Cox i thought put in a decent shift (one of the few). The other signings look pish!

I thought that was the weakest ever right side to the team we have ever had. The boy Ross was way out of his depth today. Stratford aint no right back and i do NOT rate Tokely as a centre Half.

We are going nowhere if todays show was anything to go by.

As usual, there was absolutely NO service to the front two today. we severly lack craft, guile and dig in midfield.

Final Thought......the majority of that team today looked too lightweight to deal with Div I

Edited July 25, 2009 by SMEE

[Jay_7]

Oh dear.

We really were f**king hopeless today. We started off reasonably well but then this long ball pish started and it all went downhill from there. We'd be as well not having a midfield.

Esson - Bizzare shout in the first half for a corner that he was no where near. Improve your communication!

Stratford - Pish. Just plain pish. There better be more to come from you this season.

Tokely - Can't think of anything of note that Tokely did for the entire game. A couple of good clearing headers but that was about it.

Munro - Not good enough for a captain. If you want to be captain, I suggest you start laying into your players that aren't pulling their weight.

Djebi-Zadi - Just f**k off. You're not a footballer and you're fooling no one but Butcher. Total liability in the team.

Ross - Not bad I thought. Looks a little light weight and could do with working on his crossing but apart from that he could turn into a decent wee player for us.

Duncan - Just f**k off. You're a disgrace to the ICT shirt and you're not a footballer. Abysmal effort today.

Cox - Clear man of the match. Decent shift put in and looks like a valuable acquisition.

Hayes - Didn't really see enough of him to be able to pass judgement but it appeared we missed his pace on the left when he went off.

Foran - Surprisingly disappointed. He appears to have magically lost his aerial ability over the summer and just looked like he couldn't be arsed.

Barrowman - Just f**k off. If you can't even do basic forward duties against a team like Montrose, why the f**k are you one of the highest paid players at our club? Again, like Duncan and Djebi-Zadi - you are not a footballer.

McBain - Contender for man of the match with Cox. Didn't quite have the pace of Hayes but still managed to beat his man a couple of times.

Rooney -Poor today. Didn't appear to ever want to shoot and when he did it was weak and straight at the keeper. Frankly, I expected more from you.

Hastings - Considering how long it's been since has had first team football with us I'm surprised at how well he did on the left wing.

Butcher - Not sure what your game plan was today unless your game plan was long ball pish. McBain up front? What the hell were you thinking? You have a lot of work to do sir.

Officials - F**king woeful - I hope this isn't the standard we can expect for this season.

Ball Boys - Can the club not do something about this?! Our ball boys are hopeless!!

Edited July 25, 2009 by Jay_7

[dead_ball_specialist]

Absolutly dreadful today. Where do you even start? We were matched for 120 minutes on a perfect pitch (no excuses) by a part time 3rd division team. If there were doubts about Butcher before, surely we should be asking serious questions after todays debacle. It was afterall, a penalty shoot out away from being the worst result in our clubs history.

Esson :) :) :) :) :) The man who saved us in the end. Still don't understand why Butcher decided to drop him for Fraser for those key games last season. Thank feck he's still at the club.

Stratford :021: :021: Assume he was number 2? Looked physically lightweight and technically poor. His passing and crossing was laughable. On todays showing nowhere near good enough.

LDZ B) B) B) Solid if unspectacular. Didn't really get forward enough, we need to use him more as an attacking option IMHO. Nice goal celebration.

Tokely. :huh: :huh: :huh: Struggled to mark Montrose's big number 9 throughout. Montroses goal came from Rosco and Munro being beaten to a 50-50 ball over the top (as when he was sent off against falkirk) by a striker who looked about 12 years old. FFS BUTCHER, TOKELY IS NOT A CENTER HALF!!! Get him out on the right, imagine how much damage he could have done with the space and time that Stratford had!!!

Murno B) B) B) Fairly solid. Didn't really put a foot wrong.

Duncan :( Absolutly shocking. The less said the better.

Ross :021: Too lightweight, didn't pose any threat to montrose whatsoever. Not ready for the first team. Nowhere near as good as Zander Sutherland IMHO.

Hayes B) Looked like a lost wee boy at times but had a few good touches and dribbles before he was injured.

Cox :) :) Hard in the tackle, some decent passes. But nothing special. One of our better outfield players today, but mainly because everyone else was shocking.

Foran :) :) :) :) Worked hard and made things happen. Bad misjudgment by Butcher to take him off.

Barrowman :huh: Didn't really do anything of note.

Rooney :( Carried on where he left off last season. Slow, sluggish and totally one dimensional.

McBain B) Ended up playing up front. Ridiculous. Not his fault though.

Hastings :) :) :) Came on late and looked sharp. Hopefully we see more of him this season.

I hope todays showing was just a blip but i have my doubts. If we don't improve drastically in the coming weeks we can forget about mounting a title challenge and should start worrying about another relegation dogfight.

Edited July 25, 2009 by dead_ball_specialist

[kiltarlity]

I though the ref was terrible.. And so were we!!.

Cox was my mom (If he can play like that with bad arm, what can he do when arm better!).

[Jay_7]

The RB Stratford didnt seem to do much wrong, and on accasions worked well with the no 7, in fact they both seemed to read each other better as the game went on. Lionel and Russel looked very animated. The no 11, Hayes? looked serioulsy threatening. Foran showed flashes of class.

What game were you watching? I can't agree with any of that at all. Well except about Hayes looking threatening but the rest just didn't happen at all.

The only thing Straford could do right was over lapping Ross on the wing. That was it. His passing was attrocious, the corners that seemed to be left to him to take were hopeless. As the game went on, he over lapped Ross more and more because Ross was knackered. It wasn't that they were working well together at all.

Lionel and Russel were both absolutely abysmal today. I reckon both players 'completed pass' stats today were in single figures. Both need to just give up as footballers, they have been masquerading as such for quite long enough.

Foran showed nothing but laziness all afternoon. He just didn't chase balls, he couldn't even compete in the air any more!

[YaBoy]

Oh dear.

We really were f**king hopeless today. We started off reasonably well but then this long ball pish started and it all went downhill from there. We'd be as well not having a midfield.

Esson - Bizzare shout in the first half for a corner that he was no where near. Improve your communication!

Stratford - Pish. Just plain pish. There better be more to come from you this season.

Tokely - Can't think of anything of note that Tokely did for the entire game. A couple of good clearing headers but that was about it.

Munro - Not good enough for a captain. If you want to be captain, I suggest you start laying into your players that aren't pulling their weight.

Djebi-Zadi - Just f**k off. You're not a footballer and you're fooling no one but Butcher. Total liability in the team.

Ross - Not bad I thought. Looks a little light weight and could do with working on his crossing but apart from that he could turn into a decent wee player for us.

Duncan - Just f**k off. You're a disgrace to the ICT shirt and you're not a footballer. Abysmal effort today.

Cox - Clear man of the match. Decent shift put in and looks like a valuable acquisition.

Hayes - Didn't really see enough of him to be able to pass judgement but it appeared we missed his pace on the left when he went off.

Foran - Surprisingly disappointed. He appears to have magically lost his aerial ability over the summer and just looked like he couldn't be arsed.

Barrowman - Just f**k off. If you can't even do basic forward duties against a team like Montrose, why the f**k are you one of the highest paid players at our club? Again, like Duncan and Djebi-Zadi - you are not a footballer.

McBain - Contender for man of the match with Cox. Didn't quite have the pace of Hayes but still managed to beat his man a couple of times.

Rooney -Poor today. Didn't appear to ever want to shoot and when he did it was weak and straight at the keeper. Frankly, I expected more from you.

Hastings - Considering how long it's been since has had first team football with us I'm surprised at how well he did on the left wing.

Butcher - Not sure what your game plan was today unless your game plan was long ball pish. McBain up front? What the hell were you thinking? You have a lot of work to do sir.

Officials - F**king woeful - I hope this isn't the standard we can expect from the game.

Ball Boys - Can the club not f**king do something about this?! Our ball boys are f**king hopeless!!

What he said. An absolute shambles, Butcher hs a lot of work to do. That boy Stratford is quite possibly the worst footballer on the planet.