PALMERSTON

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I just have to remark that the day out to Palmerston was "the best trip" again - so nice to go back there. The wee bar under the main stand - the 5 minute crawl to the away stand - great support fuelled by alcohoel (well t least 7 of us !!) - blood and thunder game - EFFORT +++ from the players - back to the wee bar - Travel Lodge to get changed - my 60th burthday cake (wee bestards!!) - off to the Hole in the wall - and enjoying watching the dancers in Jumping Jacks - Fan bloody tastic.

Here is ma Palmerston Smileymometer:

ESSON B) B) Is there a better goalkeeper in the SFL ?

PROCTOR B) B) B) Solid enuff if not spectacular - did a job and cant ask fer more than that.

BULLLY B) B) B) B) I thought that he played better than I have witnessed before - strong and made no errors. First time I can recall that he outshone Granty.

GRANTY B) B) B) Solid again but I bet he has feckin nightmares about Lionel.

JIMMY ZADI B) B) B) Feck me - I had forgotten about his total lack of positional sense, wandering and miskicks BUT he does have the recovery pace, strength and determination to survive in the SFL - And I bet his ears are sore with the amount of shouting Granty did at/to him !!

FORAN B) B) B) Put in a great shift but allowed himself to be wound up by Queens. I take it that he was given the second yellow card for persistent fouling as it was never a bookable offence when Bazza deliberately left his foot in.

DUNCAN B) B) B) B) I thought that he was feckin immense in midfield - I didnt see the sending off but A Queens fan told me that he tried to stop the Queens player from getting the ball to restart the game quickly, got a slap for his effort and retaliated with a handbag. Bottom line is that the Queens player had to go and the ref had to do something to Russell.

COX B) B) B) Yeah he put in a good shift but was outshone by Duncan - in some ways that mat help as I thought he distributed the ball well.

HAYES B) B) B) Why does he fade out of a game in the second half ? He was our potential match winner and ran at Queens whenever he had the chance in the first half but erarely did in the second. If he could put 90 minutes of consistenct together he would be a brammer.

ERIC B) B) Really disappointed me - but where did Tel play him ?!! He has pace and movement but I am concerned that he is too lightweight and I would describe his ball control as "dodgy" - still it is early days.

ROONEY B) B) B) B) B) My MOM - I thought he did a fantastic job as the lone striker - He often looked like getting the better of their back two - and ran and ran and ran - but also held ther ball up and distributed effectively. He can only get better.

SUBS - I would just like to say that Imrie made a huge difference but I take it that he is offski.

TB - B) B) B) Again I felt that he played too defensively in the second half and I would have hooked Eric at least 10-15 minutes earlier.

REF :029: :019: Some of his decisions - both ways - spoiled the match as an entertainment value. No woner Tel kicked the doord in.

AWAY SUPPORT B) B) B) B) B)

[The Mantis]

Can't disagree with much of that - apart from

REF Some of his decisions - both ways - spoiled the match as an entertainment value. No woner Tel kicked the doord in.

being overgenerous...

[Scarlet Pimple]

Pleased by your report on Rooney IHE!

Looks like he may actually fit in and make an impact.

Good for him.

Any man who works as hard as he appears to be doing deserves praise.

[latviaman]

As Victor M would say I don't believe it!!

Actually a kind word for Narius, told you all given time , he will be ok!

[KingBeastie]

The ref was a disgrace - demoted after messing up in the SPL last week then has another shocker.

Great day out tho (Grandad!).

[Georgeios]

As Victor M would say I don't believe it!!

Actually a kind word for Narius, told you all given time , he will be ok!

We beleve!! i just need Eagles to get a run out... and improve.

[caley100]

Dont hold your breath...

[tm4tj]

Pretty accurate summation IHE.

I would have given Lionel another smiley, he did pretty much what he was asked to do and his distribution was pretty good, apart from a couple of sliced clearances. Eric was woeful, nothing went right for him. Esson was superb and Proc had a good solid if unspectacular game. Bully had upped his game for the weekend and looked better, Grantie was caught out by Weathersons pace a few times but stuck to it and scavanged some balls from his toes. Jonny was once again electric, even in the second half willing to sprint down the wing, but more back tracking left him less effective as is now the norm for us. Cox came on stronger as the game wore on and eventually had to stand up for himself when Duncan was offed. Duncan had been having a great game. He was on the wrong end of a heavy challenge early on, this was probably what triggered his revenge mission. Cute work from Queens there. Foran did get wound up too easily and was also on a mission to get the early bath. You could see it coming and he might have been better left in the dressing room at half time. Up until he went off, he was winning plenty and putting himself about. Rooney was tremendous, tenacious and his bustling style was proving difficult for the Queens rearguard. Imrie did much better this week when he came on almost setting up the winner with a couple of menacing pieces of wing play. Good effort for the short while he was on. Roy did get on the pitch, but it was too late to make an impact. Sandshoes was the sacrificial lamb a few moments after coming on. Forans red card saw to that.

My criticism of the management would be to have made changes earlier and calm Russell and Richie down before it was too late. Eric was crying out to be subbed such was his display.

The ref fellow was just hopeless, he dished out yellows too early instead of ticking off the culprits, making it difficult for him to then not dish out cards for worse misdemeanours.

I counted approx seventy ICT fans in the away stand section, pity that the Barry bit went pear shaped, but thats life.

[+Wanderer]

ROONEY :023: :D ;) B) B) My MOM - I thought he did a fantastic job as the lone striker - He often looked like getting the better of their back two - and ran and ran and ran - but also held ther ball up and distributed effectively. He can only get better.

Agree with that up to a point.

Rooney is, without doubt, yer archetypal target man. And a good one at that. Add to this his energy and willingness to run for the cause - late into the game on Saturday he was running from side to side harassing the full backs - and we have a player of considerable merit.

My worry is the amount of time he is spending with his back to the opposition goal. As a target man he was marked by 2 central defenders and had no choice but to lay off the ball backwards. The ball movement was Defender>Lone Striker>Midfield/Defender (over and over again). You could see Hayes and Odhiambo moving wide but Rooney rarely used them. The ball invariably ending up with a player only too happy to hoof it.

Rooney is spending too much time in the centre circle, back to goal, trying to pick out a free player; too much time and too often, the Queen's defence had it worked out fairly quick.

If this, like Tokely's signature clearance to a non-existent inside right, is an explicit management tactic then roll on the new regime. We must learn how to mix-up our attacking options during the game, and not just switching Hayes from wing to wing.

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

My criticism of the management would be to have made changes earlier and calm Russell and Richie down before it was too late. Eric was crying out to be subbed such was his display.

Foran and Eric should have stayed in at half-time. I could see that from where I was sitting. When in became clear that Queen's were going to 'emphasise' every challenge in the second half (see Eric's collision with one of the hulking centre-halves - I was looking for the grassy knoll) they should both have been hooked there and then.

The ref fellow was just hopeless, he dished out yellows too early instead of ticking off the culprits, making it difficult for him to then not dish out cards for worse misdemeanours.

I disagree about the cards. He let a couple of agricutural tackles go - indeed Foran could have been carded a tackle earlier - and then became very pernickety. He then eased up again (I though Eric was going for the incident above) before carding anything and everything from the Foran second yellow onwards. A firm hand early on might have kept emotions in check. Then again, maybe he was a useless tool who couldn't run a bath.

[Georgeios]

Over all, we seem to have this chip on our sholders when they play just now, someone needs to tell the team its not big or clever to try and act the hard man, Foran, Duncan, Imire, Tokley, Bull, Butcher off the top off my head have all picked up a fair old collection of cards, Ref talk to each other about who to watchout for and grip soon so if we continue to be the way we are then we will suffer, big fines and punishments are the way forward, 0 Cards a month should be rewareded, its not big or clever to act like a **** end of story peeps wise up!!!!!!!

[absent friend]

Maybe the cards are a reflection of the increased 'effort' being given by the team as a result of their team talk - Terry's size 12 must be quite intimidating.

At half time maybe Foran had been given a heart to heart and promised to tone it down and considering, as stated on here, Foran was the best player on the park at that time, TB would have received belters for subbing him at halftime.

Hindsight is wonderful.

The snippet from the Tube of the game shows up some interesting areas, Foran tackling a player running away from our goal with all the defenders in place to take care of it, being a pro - WHY?. Jabi looking confident and getting stuck in, although we only see a wee bit of his game. Our shots at goal making their match report embarrassing.

[Govan Jaggie]

Great day out and thank to all.

[RedCard]

Great day out and thank to all.

Same from me, great weekend with good friends. My flight to Poland last night was a quiet one, my poor liver hates away trips to Palmerston but what do livers know :)