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ICT -V- Motherwell : Matchday Thread


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Blimey, what a turnaround from Tuesday night.

To be honest, at 1-0 I thought Motherwell looked much more likely to score...but the second goal just knocked the stuffing out of them.

We look so much better with Tokely in the centre of defence, Duff at full back and Duncan in midfield, we really do.

Stonking finish by Sutherland for the first goal, nearly took the net off! Lovely breakaway for the second which Foran finished, and Cox missed a great chance before MacDonald came off the bench and scored with his first touch.

And to cap it all, a nice sunny day :thumbup:

Can't believe Foran got man of the match though; Tokely and Hogg were excellent, Sutherland put in a good shift, and for me the stand out man was Lee Cox, who buzzed all over the pitch for the full 90mins.

Motherwell beat Celtic, we humped Motherwell, so that should make next week's cup game a cinch :biggrin:

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That's what happens when the players get their heads in the right place and play with a bit of self belief.

Due to injuries the team pretty much picked itself, and due to the team we were forced to play, the tactics pretty much picked themselves.

Admittedly, I feared the worst. We were missing players in key positions and as a result the only game plan realistically available was the much criticised (at home) bide our time and hit on the counter.

Was perhaps a bit of the old "stars aligned just right for us" in the fact that Motherwell probably got a sniff of blood from our abysmal home record and especially off the back of the game on Tuesday and set up to come out and attack us today....something that allowed the counter-play to be more effective on home soil than it might otherwise have been.

However, take nothing away from the team. The effort continued (don't think we ever lost that) but the belief was back. When a pass was played it was expected to get there and players were moving forward from that. Stark contrast to Tuesday night when a pass was played and players hesitated to see if it was successful before moving forward. Our attacking play was also a lot more positive, every time we got in and around the area we looked like we were going to do something, players had support and chances were being taken (even if not always successfully).

Today we saw a team who'd set aside their frustrations at players being played out of position, at being asked to do a job that perhaps doesn't come natural to them, at not being able to buy a home win. They recaptured the belief that has allowed us to be greater than the sum of our parts.

Not going to get ahead of myself, and one game doesn't prove we've turned the corner...but if we have, then it couldn't have come at a better time ahead of next weeks cup match.

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Foran was outstanding I thought, and my MOTM by a mile....followed by Nick Ross.

Strange game. First half was dire I thought, and Motherwell were the better team in my opinion. They played some neat passing movements, but never really looked threatening.

Second half was a lot better, and we caught them on the break time after time. Still too much lumping it anywhere for my liking, Duff being the worst culprit for this. In fact, I'm not sure Duff should be anywhere near the team, he seems to want to take an extra touch everytime, before ballooning out of play for the umpteemth time.

Much needed win though, thats the main thing. Is Hayes injured again??

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This was a very comfortable and confident performance, despite the absence of Hayes and Doran - if anything the scoreline actually flattered Motherwell.

Given that they (Motherwell) made Celtic look decidedly average last week, the timing for next week's cup-tie could not be better.

Bring on the Celtic!!

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Superb result especially with 3 scored and none conceded ! Definitely made painting the bathroom much more enjoyable! Here's to next week and in terms of injuries our best squad to choose from in a while!

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Superb result. We looked back near our best going forward and played some nice stuff. Macdonald looked very good when he came in too so good to have options. Delighted also to see Shane get his first goal and it was a total peach too. The standout performers for me were Cox, Esson, Foran and Ross. Essons save at 2.0 was sensational and went a long way to ensuring the win.

On the negative, our defending, at least in the first half was ropey at best, and at a time when Motherwell were dominating possession, our back 4 showed little composure and hoofed it anywhere, usually back to the opposition. No point being too critical given our injuries though but at the moment I think Duff is our best right back available and against Celtic we will struggle with today's back 4.

We've been short of confidence of late so it was good to see once the 3rd goal went in we looked more like the ICT of a few months back.

Bring on the shame FC.

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my only question about the match was "who are you and what have you done with the real shane sutherland" what a goal, and he showed some actual ball skills and decent passing, with any luck he might be a decent player by next season.

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Pretty routine win for ICT. Motherwell had a lot of the ball without doing too much with it. Great goal from Sutherland which came after a nice move from Inverness who actually passed it (!) before he cut inside his man and lashed it into the roof of the net. Foran netted after a good run and set up by Nick Ross and Alex MacDonald wrapped things up finishing from close range after Foran teed him up following a Munro throw in.

Whilst Well had a lot of possession they had very little to show for it but they were finding some space in the wide areas to get balls in for Sutton etc. to attack. Aside from one really intense period towards the end of the first half we weren't in too much danger. They really fizzled out in the second half and their number 22 was gash. Good win ahead of a tough game next week.

I thought Sutherland, Ross and Hogg were really good for us today and Foran improved on previous performances. No real poor performers but I think those guys stood out a wee bit more from the rest.

Well done lads!

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Ho ho ho! That was a decent game of footie. Thought Motherwell made an open game and we took absolute advantage. only one team ever going to win, the clean sheet was a real bonus. MOTM for me was Hogg. He has class; good vision good distribution and he can tackle. Streets ahead of Tuesday.Bring on the opressed FC

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Fantastic turn around from Tuesday night and great too see Shane get off the mark, such a great strike too, hopefully thats one of many. And Alex McDonald getting his 1st goal too.

Thought Butch got the tactics spot on today with Hogg and Tokely playing centre half, back four seemed much more solid and Duncan covered so much in midfield today and imo justified his cause for a starting place.

Richie Foran, take a bow, played out of his skin today and by the looks of it was back to his best today. Motherwell for me looked sluggish, even when they were dominating in the 1st half, was very suprised to see Humphrey not starting, given Munro was at left back. By the time he was on it was all but over really was also funny watching the not so inspiring Francis Jeffers get bustled about by our backline, he never looked like scoring.

Great to see us get back to winning ways and very pleasing to see us end a difficult week on a high.

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Great result, should give the players a big boost, Cox, Russell, Hogg were the stand outs.

Dont know how Young Nick is getting plaudits he was really off the pace and the game passed him by mostly apart from one run where he managed to set up Cox?. anyway i'll put it down to lack of match fitness.

Foran did well and fought for the cause but not MOM.

Young Macdonald did well, came on scored, nealy got another and nearly got booked!

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great day all round. The sun was shining and Caley were definitely puring today. Motherwell did have a lot of possession and it was pretty neat but never dangerous. The chances they did create was well dealt with by center 2 and esson. Shane great goal happy for him as he was in my year at high school, the second half was really good with us attacking at pace on the break. Foran was no where in the 1st half but was superb in the second finishing off a brilliant team goal and then his cross for McDonald was top notch. Great result and it gives us a fighting chance to at least battle for a top 6 spot but we must put that on hold for the cup. This result and performance should give the boys a really boast and hopefully confidence that they can really stick into the tims next week

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Over the moon with this result, and it was so out of character given the displays of late.

What a way to open your scoring account, well done Shane, fantastic strike giving Randolph no chance. We started brightly but seemed to fall into old habits pretty quickly. The goal was probably against the run of play, but Motherwell for all their midfield possession seldom bothered Esson, and Hogg and Rossco stood their ground. Approaching half time we were very much on the back foot but Well still could not penetrate our back line.

Second half went much the same way until we scored again, then we looked like exploiting Motherwell every time we broke forward, and only when the game was lost did they introduce the most dangerous player on the park, Humphrey, but it was too little too late for them. Esson and the woodwork denied Well a consolation goal, but by then they were well and truly stuffed.

For me, Russell Duncan, Lee Cox, Chris Hogg and Esson were a touch ahead of the rest. Shane will hopefully gain a lot of respect for his stunning strike which should give him loads of confidence, maybe Nick Ross needs a goal to compliment his tidy play, as he seems to fall short when nearing the goals. He did perk up a bit late in the game and played his part with one great run but lacked the legs to go the whole way, and he also helped in the build up to Forans goal when he interchanged with Rooney.

Cox deserved a goal and should have done better when one on one with Randolph, in the end it mattered not as wee Mac bundled the ball home with his first touch, and almost did it again moments later, unfortunately he fresh aired.

So, all smiles this weekend. Well done everybody at ICT for turning our fortunes round, even if it is just for this weekend.

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I was pleased with the formation when you have such good defenders and such a solid midfield it was always going to be hard for them to break us down. With Ross and Rooney up front to knock them in.

We held our formation well, controlled the game and closed them down when required,it wasnt a racing up and down the park all day, leaving large areas exposed when we lost the ball, we seemed to let the ball do most of the work with plenty of passing which was good to see.

Well done to the scorers but it was a great team effort that won the day.

I would be happy if that team was picked for Celtic with MacDonald and Hayes if available coming on as a super subs when Celtics legs tire.

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Have to say I thought Cox was outstanding in the middle of the park yesterday. He was everywhere! Also, credit to Iain Brines, very good game from him yesterday! Almost unheard of from a Scottish ref

Disagree. I thought Brines was mince. He wasn't as bad as others we have had recently but some of his decision making was very questionable.

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I think if you could have chosen which 3 players you would want to score it would be the 3 who got goals yesterday. I've been very impressed with Sutherland this year but he was really needing a goal. Scoring will do his confidence no end of good and also for young Macdonald. Foran has missed one or two recently and whilst many have praised Pernis for his save from Foran last week, in truth Foran had acres of space at the near post and should have simply tucked it away there rather less spectacularly than trying to power it across goal into the far corner.

Whilst Rooney did not score, the other 3 scoring was good for him. For too long he has been the lone striker and the weight of expectation has fallen from him. His place is not under threat and knowing there are others in the team who are scoring helps to take some of the pressure to score off him. This performance is just what was required before the Celtic game. A good performance there should help confidence to be transferred to the rest of the league season

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is there problems with some players? terry's after match interview on bbc.co.uk

"If there is a key to the win today it was the lads talking about having respect for each other.

"Probably some of them don't get on as much as they have done. It's nothing major but sometimes it's about putting that to one side and busting a gut for your mate."

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