Matchday Thread: ICT -V- Montrose

[SMEE]

^Im not about to dispute that Stevie. As you probably know, today was my first look at Zadi. I wasnt expecting much, and i was proven right, BUT he was one of a small band that can say they at least tried today.

[YaBoy]

Then again....it was only Montrose

This was the attitude of the players today, and why the game went to penalties.

[Guest birdog]

woeful absolutely woeful, I have never seen a worse ICT performance since we shipped 5 to county. After reading the rave reviews about our new signings I was pretty confident about this match but I must say the over all performance leaves a lot to be desired. I really hope that this gets sorted soon.

The only thing worse than the football was my tweeting, due in the main to meeting up with an old shipmate before the match- sorry guys.

[Wyness13]

Bloody terrible game but it's early days yet.

I think the game on Tuesday will be a better means of judging how well the team are capable of playing together as they clearly underestimated which (to be fair to them) was a reasonably good third division side.

Enough of this slagging players so early on, give them time to adjust to the new squad and get back into the swing of playing competitive football after an incredibly draining season - if we aren't mounting a considerable title threat by Christmas then it's time to start girning.

[Georgeios]

I hate to say i told you so it seems, when I said RD was pish, i got the whole back bone, exsperience line, i rated him, i disagrees with Jay_7 a long time ago over him... I watched him at elgin.... he was shi& even agenst them, i will ask anyone to tell me i was wrong now after hearing how poor he was today?? I hope it turns round for him, he was great 3 years ago it just took the Elgin game for me to take off my rose tints...

Im not writing him off, or saying he shouldnt be in the side, but he needs to up his game, i got the feeling watching elgin he didnt care that much.. maybe he is just board of us now..

Anyway, RD you are great, you have been great, you need to get your finger back out and show us what we as fans fell in love with..

Still no over head from LDZ eather..

Edited July 25, 2009 by georgeios

[Alex MacLeod]

one of our worst performances I cam remember, the team looked like they had not played together before,

again as last season we lacked the final finish

we need to score goals in div 1 if we can have a chance of going back up,

on a positive we won ( just)

A few of them hadn't played together before. Unfortunately there was a few missing today so I dont think we seen what will be the first team. They haven't gelled yet as a team but I think once we get into the season proper we will see some good stuff. We've got players with pace but they need to train the ball to keep up with them. Cox looks good. Hayes as well. I thought Esson was part to blame for their goal. He seemed undecided on whether to come for the ball and got lobbed. Great save with the penalty though. Tokely needs to be on the right. Young Ross done well but he needs to strengthen up a bit. Juries still out on Stratford. Some good play down the right with Ross but his crossing and setplay needs a lot of work. I dont think Foran was at his best. Zadi was Zadi.Duncan had a reasonable game but his passing needs to improve. What really frustrated me was the lack of drive. The lack of gusto. Nobody wanting to take responsibility to make the plays. And that bl**dy long ball.

I just hope things improve when Butcher's sorted out who his first team is.

[tokelyisvictorious]

we created plenty of chances, and when we get dougie and eric back we will score those chances.

the only worrying aspect was the link between the midfield and attack, and once butcher sorts that out, perhaps with sanchez and eagles, then we will be fine.

the best thing about today was the result. we got there in the end and we will need to play in a lot more of those types of games before the end of the season.

[Wilsononourwing]

I thought that Zadi didnt do much wrong today. He and Cox and Foran were about the only ones i thought can say got pass marks. Then again....it was only Montrose, so he should be coasting through such games anyhoo.

Perhaps today against lower league opposition but I bet that if he is played regulary this season he will give away more goals than anyone else in the team

Zadi is definitely not our worst defender (or player). Sometimes the criticism of him is unfair. The only criticism I would have today was his reluctance to run at Montrose.

However his recovery from mistakes is excellent aided by his pace.

Barrowman was in my eyes officially the worst Caley player on the pitch - couldn't read a book let alone a pass , and couldn't hit a barn door with the ball in a million years. Send him over the bridge - and no not the Kesssock Bridge but the Black Bridge!!!

[Alex MacLeod]

Could have been worse I suppose. We could have been the Div1 team that got beat by a div 3 team. Nae luck Ayr United. Couldn't have happened to a better team.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Georgeios--would it be too much to ask for you to refer to the players by name.?

I had to look up the team sheet to figure out who RD was. Thought at first Lionel had changed his name to Rionel, Ryan, Randolph or Ripper.

Thank you ever so much G.

When I saw the score I was stunned. What is amiss I thought?

Aha! The magic formula was again missing ? No drive? No gellin'

Was it the Pimple who earlier said that this campaign was not going to be easy this season? If Scarlet was in Dingwall just now then the answer would probably be "I tink so".

[Jay_7]

I hate to say i told you so it seems, when I said RD was pish, i got the whole back bone, exsperience line, i rated him, i disagrees with Jay_7 a long time ago over him... I watched him at elgin.... he was shi& even agenst them, i will ask anyone to tell me i was wrong now after hearing how poor he was today?? I hope it turns round for him, he was great 3 years ago it just took the Elgin game for me to take off my rose tints...

It's not often I get to use the smug smiley, but I am extremely pleased that someone agrees with me about Duncan. He has been poor for a long time now - I cannot for the life of me comprehend why he was given a new contract yet Wyness was released.

[monthemo]

we had a good day out today and we were happy to take the draw considering you had us pinned for most of the first half. we didnt play much good football today (normally we pass the ball around) but we did enough to hold on and the lads looked ******* knackered in extra time (hence the hoofing).

the referee was a bloody disgrace in the second half, think ICT got nearly every decision, including a blatsnt penalty which young nicoll was booked for diving on (although foran got away with it twice!).

twas nice to be up in inverness again and I hope it was a minor blip for you. seems some of your young fans werent keen on us having a bit of a sing song on our "big" day out

[Downinthedumps]

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!!

What an a##hole you are blaming the young ball boys for the teams poor show. They are just 10 to 12 year olds you ****.

[Jay_7]

we had a good day out today and we were happy to take the draw considering you had us pinned for most of the first half. we didnt play much good football today (normally we pass the ball around) but we did enough to hold on and the lads looked ******* knackered in extra time (hence the hoofing).

the referee was a bloody disgrace in the second half, think ICT got nearly every decision, including a blatsnt penalty which young nicoll was booked for diving on (although foran got away with it twice!).

twas nice to be up in inverness again and I hope it was a minor blip for you. seems some of your young fans werent keen on us having a bit of a sing song on our "big" day out

Fair play to Montrose, you fairly gave us a scare! There were a fair few decisions that the referee got wrong today - it was a decent penalty shout you had. I have to say I was not impressed with your big number 9's flying forearm smash into the back of Cox's head. Not good craic that at all - and he just got up and walked away without waving to the ref to stop play.

It's rude to be noisy in the main stand or something like that.

[Jay_7]

What an a##hole you are blaming the young ball boys for the teams poor show. They are just 10 to 12 year olds you ****.

What a bizzare post. Care to point out where I've blamed the ball boys for the team performance?

[CaleyD]

the referee was a bloody disgrace in the second half, think ICT got nearly every decision

Your #2 was a feckin carthorse.....lost count of the number of times he fouled our guys, only for the Ref to wave on play. Twice we could/should have had penalties and on one of those he could easily have been sent walking for denying a goal scoring opportunity.

The assault on Hayes that saw him having to leave the pitch and no award for us when one of your guys ploughed through Cox.

One blatant missed hand ball, twice pulling the ball back when we chose to play a face free-kick....and then moments later allowing Montrose to play it quick without batting an eyelid.

Those are just the obvious things that the ref let slide in Montrose's favour....so I fail to see how you can come to your above conclusion!!!

[monthemo]

the referee was a bloody disgrace in the second half, think ICT got nearly every decision

Your #2 was a feckin carthorse.....lost count of the number of times he fouled our guys, only for the Ref to wave on play. Twice we could/should have had penalties and on one of those he could easily have been sent walking for denying a goal scoring opportunity.

The assault on Hayes that saw him having to leave the pitch and no award for us when one of your guys ploughed through Cox.

One blatant missed hand ball, twice pulling the ball back when we chose to play a face free-kick....and then moments later allowing Montrose to play it quick without batting an eyelid.

Those are just the obvious things that the ref let slide in Montrose's favour....so I fail to see how you can come to your above conclusion!!!

hegs had your men sewn right up for the whole game, sure he dived in a few times, but he got the ball (mostly :D ), saying that, all of our back 4 had you tied up.

Which "handball" was that? As for playing it quick; I don't think we had any free kicks in the 2nd half :022: . ploughing and assaulting?? were you watching the same pisspoor game as us?? We could sit and argue about it but I have better things to do. Well done for your win, thanks for a good day out!

have to say though, you lot are a right negative bunch. the poor new ICT guys will be wondering why they have signed up to play for a bunch of ungrateful sods who are already on their backs after 1 "competitive" game. it will do nothing for their confidence.

[TSTtiger]

I thought that Zadi didnt do much wrong today. He and Cox and Foran were about the only ones i thought can say got pass marks. Then again....it was only Montrose, so he should be coasting through such games anyhoo.

Perhaps today against lower league opposition but I bet that if he is played regulary this season he will give away more goals than anyone else in the team

think munro could win that award tbh but time will tell.

anyway i'm not going to get in too much of a twist over a pishy challenge cup game, lets see where we are and how we look after the first half dozen league games

[Themidgetmaestro]

lets not try to lose the plot after our very first game

Montrose had a game plan, they knew to reduce Foran's threat as much as possible and they did that, Montrose were closing us down at every oppurtunity and we had to avert to our (dreaded) long ball tactic. I still believe we need a creative player in there to open up the play and produce some much needed magic. Although, i feel we should of beaten Montrose in normal time i feel we might of underestimated Montrose a bit. Big lesson to all Caley fans out there. We're no longer the Spl club and we can't start creating false ambitions of 9-0 hammerings. We're fortunate to of kept Terry and Maurice (whom both of them could of easily move back down south for high paid jobs)

So, come on caley fans, we're through we've got a lot to look forward to this season and instead of creating hostility right from the off we should be backing the team.

[Caley Mad In Berks]

have to say though, you lot are a right negative bunch. the poor new ICT guys will be wondering why they have signed up to play for a bunch of ungrateful sods who are already on their backs after 1 "competitive" game. it will do nothing for their confidence.

Wasn't at the game, nor at any of the pre season 'waste of time' friendlies, but I have to agree with our Montrose supporter who has accurately assessed the mentality of a lot, maybe most, of our so called supporters. ffs what did you expect? We were a poor SPL side last year, and probably deserved to be relegated, even though I blame TB for not keeping us up when we were virtually safe with three games to go. But, beating half a dozen Highland league teams is not in my opinion adequate preparation for a season when we have to compete with, and beat, the likes of Dundee, Dunfermline, Partick, and even Ross County. Look forward to a few more disappoinments fellow ICT supporters. Having said that, I hope I can can on here at the end of the season and eat my words.

[BIGTAMS]

Jay_7....your comments directed at the ball boys is bang out of order. First off, they're just kids so there's no need for the expletives. Also, we only had 6 lads available for today and with no crowd in the North and South stands to knock the ball back down towards the pitch they were always going to take longer to retrieve it. If you want to volunteer for future games and show them how it can be done better then the clubs number is 222880.

Fair enough the expletives are out of order, but the rest of it isn't. The ball boys are there to retrieve the ball as quickly as they can. If Djebi-Zadi thought of it earlier he'd have beaten the ball boy in charge of the "West Stand" to ball no sweat at all. Even if each ball boy was actually given a ball to put back into play then spend the next 10 mins retrieving the ball that went out it'd be an improvement.

The other obvious solution would be to make Djebi-Zadi, Duncan and Barrowman ball boys. They'd be a lot more productive in those positions.

It's not just the game today though, this has been an issue for several seasons now.

What rubbish you write as usual to blame young kids who are trying to do their best for the club and btw we WON, if you have a problem with the ball boys, bring it up with the guy in charge of them, he will be DELIGHTED TO MEET YOU and answer any questions you may or may not have faceless one.

[FortressICT]

Highlight of the game for me was, all the little boys trying to get wide with the Montrose boys. Was worth the entrance fee alone.

[Jay_7]

What rubbish you write as usual to blame young kids who are trying to do their best for the club and btw we WON, if you have a problem with the ball boys, bring it up with the guy in charge of them, he will be DELIGHTED TO MEET YOU and answer any questions you may or may not have faceless one.

:022: Is there something in the water? Like I said to the other bloke that jumped to conclusions - care to point out where I've blamed the ball boys? I'm sure if you trawl around though there'll be other threads you can join in with without knowing what's going on or understanding what's been said

[RiG]

I am seriously puzzled by some of the stuff on this thread. I would comment on the game more but it really doesn't warrant it so I'll be keeping it relatively short. We were very poor. In fact that is the worst I have seen us play for a long time. I ended up leaving before the end so I could get my train back to Aberdeen. Also, I had simply stopped caring.

Hopefully Butcher fires a rocket up the players backsides before next week. At the back we seemed okay. Montrose didn't offer up too much but there were some pathetic passing from Djebi Zadi at times one of which almost led to a goal and then Munro and Esson seemed to lose all sense of communication that nearly led to the opening Montrose goal. Nothing down the left or right to speak of.

In midfield we had so little creativity it beggared belief. How we miss a player like Black or Rankin in the middle of the park to provide a wee spark of creativity or a goal threat. In the wide areas, Ross started okay but faded very badly as the game went on. Stratford and him had one or two good moments but on the whole were poor. Maybe some more games together will help but I wasn't encouraged by yesterdays showing. Cox seemed good. Really fired up and got stuck in but he seemed overwhelmed at times by Montroses midfield and he often found himself crowded out. Duncan did his usual get stuck in but then give the ball away. With Black gone we seem to have a midfield that can't pass. Worrying indeed.

Up front we were toothless. Enough said. This long ball mince that was served up was garbage. We had a nice wee attack in the second half that saw about 8 - 10 wee passes played between our players on the right which ended up with us carving through the Montrose backline. We can do it but for whatever reason we choose not to pass the ball. I don't see why. The only player I thought that could come out of the game with their head held up would be Cox.

As Yngwie mentions, it will be interesting if the people who think we have "the best squad in the division" have a different opinion now. We talked pre match yesterday of the last team we had in the First Division with Ritchie, Bingham, Wilson up front, a bustling, energetic midfield of Keogh, Hart and McBain with a rock solid defence marshalled by Mann and Caff with marauding Tokely and Golly as full backs. That team would have mutilated yesterdays outfit and if that is what we have out as our team most weeks in SFL1 I think we will do well to hit 5th.

[tokelyisvictorious]

monthemo has it pretty much spot on.

It makes me embarrassed sometimes when there are the *rseholes in the main stand who heckle the moment a player makes a minor mistake. I felt sorry for the new boys yesterday for having to play in front of them. I would personally ban them from all of the games, they offer nothing in terms of support and even heckle the manager. Most are the older generation who believe that because they have been following the team fro the last 20 years or whatever that they have the right to get on the back of anyone who doesn't perform upto the standards of billy urquhart or alan hercher. It's ridiculous. The ict away support is ten times better, albeit ten times smaller, but mainly because these people don't make the trip.

Makes me glad I am a north stander, don't know what these people get out of going to a football match.