Bristol Rovers v ICT

[AJS]

If there is one common factor about most of our games this pre season its that Proctor has been ripped apart in almost all of them. Was never the best player but was always reasonably solid, he seems to be struggling though.

[TtotheOtotheM]

If there is one common factor about most of our games this pre season its that Proctor has been ripped apart in almost all of them. Was never the best player but was always reasonably solid, he seems to be struggling though.

Proctor got a lot of stick from the gaffer after Livi. I wont go in to it any more than that as it crosses a line, but put it this way, it would be understandable if his confidence was knocked.

[ictewd]

If there is one common factor about most of our games this pre season its that Proctor has been ripped apart in almost all of them. Was never the best player but was always reasonably solid, he seems to be struggling though.

Proctor got a lot of stick from the gaffer after Livi. I wont go in to it any more than that as it crosses a line, but put it this way, it would be understandable if his confidence was knocked.

Not much change here then

[Sean93]

If there is one common factor about most of our games this pre season its that Proctor has been ripped apart in almost all of them. Was never the best player but was always reasonably solid, he seems to be struggling though.

Proctor got a lot of stick from the gaffer after Livi. I wont go in to it any more than that as it crosses a line, but put it this way, it would be understandable if his confidence was knocked.

My understanding is terry very much overstepped the mark in his criticism of proctor after livi.

[sotonict]

there was no trains back from yeovil or bath for me so wasnt expecting to make them, however dad surprised me at work today and took me and my brother.

another great away day, met IHE, Capital caley and another gentlemen who came over who was constantly singing. i hope you dont have too much of a sore head this morning.

i was impressed with hayes, ginger right mid (1st half), tokely and ross.

i think we need more height in our team and couldnt help but think duncan would really help this young team with experience!

see you all saturday

[Dmacca]

I arrived 10 mins late as I still believed it was a 7.45 kickoff (obviously it turned out not to be!) so I had difficulty working out who was who at times, what with all the new or previously unseen faces on the pitch. Now, I realise that the team tonight is probably not our preferred starting eleven, but it's not that far off what we could be seeing in the SPL, especially if injuries strike. Let's just say the jury remains out...

Their first goal - the penalty looked very much like a dive from the other end of the pitch, their left winger tore Proctor to shreds (happened quite a bit tonight), cut inside the box and impressively fell over Tokely's feet - there wasn't an outstretched leg or anything... There wasn't much more action in the first half, a few attempts on goal at both ends but nothing very exciting - wasn't majorly impressed with Foran in the lead striker role, he looked pretty weak there, really hope he doesn't play there this season.

In the second half Bristol Rovers made something like 9 changes and still looked pretty good. They used the width of the pitch really well, whereas we insisted on playing balls down the middle of the park, expecting people like Nick Ross to compete with some giant centre backs. Ironically, our first goal came from exactly that, a bouncing through ball out did their defender and Nick finished it really well. With substitutions coming thick and fast in the second half we seemed to mostly have an attacking threat based on midfielders - not a recognisable striker among them. Good to see Jonny Hayes getting a run about in the second half - some nice touches and running, but still probably not 100% yet.

The frustrating thing was that we really lacked width, we didn't have anyone out on the the right wing for long periods of the second half, and it really held us back. Bristol's second goal came from McLaggon (who looked very good) running at Proctor, and he shot across goal from a very tight angle (all the Bristol fans around me had started groaning that he'd gone too far) when suddenly the ball was in the back of the net. Our second goal came from finally having someone out on the right, Hayes kept the ball in on the touch line, crossed low into the box and the defense just stood and watched as Nick Ross stuck the ball in the net. After that we had some more attacks, again by using the right wing! Why it took so long to realise this I don't know... I think our formation didn't really help matters.

Defensively speaking, if we have to rely on Proctor at RB all season we will struggle. He was good going forward, but did not cope well with their pacey wingers. The rest of the defence looked OK though, and Aldred did a decent job. The midfield didn't look all that good as an attacking force - we controlled the ball well, and put some good passes together, but the central 3 did not look remotely attacking minded - our number 8 (Tansey or Morrison?) spent a lot of time running towards our players in possession instead of in to space - still early doors there it seems. Nick Ross and Shinnie were good in their supporting roles, but Foran is not suited to the leading striker role he seemed to be in today. And we clearly had no proper striker to replace him upfront when he was subbed (tactical sub) in the 2nd half.

Nevertheless, it was a pleasant evening out, and there was some good footy on display by both teams. But I do think that there is still a lot of work to be done.

A good balanced report on events, both teams looking to play football, ending in a fair result, though as with most pre-season games the result was probably of little significance, but good for the fans.

Both teams looking to play the right way

[sotonict]

definitely a dive!

[Libero]

Just read this on a Bristol rovers froum:

But overall, I enjoyed the game, great standard of football from both teams, and rovers dominating a lot of the game against an Inverness side that really were trying, well done to all the lads, and fair play also to the Inverness fans who came down, especially the one who got on the pitch in his kilt, bless

Sound like anyone we know?

[tm4tj]

Andy Stewart

I believe there were a few who were thinking of taking the kilt with them.

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

Match Report from Bristol Evening News

Inverness: Tuffey; Aldred, Tokely, Proctor, Gillet, Morrison, Laing (Greig 68), Tansey, Foran (Hayes 60), Shinnie (Polworth 84), Ross. Subs: Esson, Smith, Stevenson.

Edited July 15, 2011 by Tichy_Blacks_Back

[bigfan]

Nonsense, he was MOM against forest, no one could break them down for first 20 minutes then in 10 minutes Proctor broke them down 3 times with his passing and direct running and we were 3 0 up. Fine against Clach, team were rubbish against Livi and he did a job out of position at LB.

If there is one common factor about most of our games this pre season its that Proctor has been ripped apart in almost all of them. Was never the best player but was always reasonably solid, he seems to be struggling though.

[+MrCaleyjag]

Nonsense, he was MOM against forest, no one could break them down for first 20 minutes then in 10 minutes Proctor broke them down 3 times with his passing and direct running and we were 3 0 up. Fine against Clach, team were rubbish against Livi and he did a job out of position at LB.

If there is one common factor about most of our games this pre season its that Proctor has been ripped apart in almost all of them. Was never the best player but was always reasonably solid, he seems to be struggling though.

Forest???

I presume you mean Forres!!! Glad however your optimism of the Livi game has shown through from your post, excuse me if I take what you say about Procs with a pince of salt judging by all the other posts that tend to follow the same general consensus which is the opposite of yours.

[Govan Jaggie]

Pitch and kilt. That will be me then! Dont ask me for a review. Didn't even know we had scored out first goal. It did get pretty dark with out the floodlights on.

[RedCard]

a bit of a blur for me too, remember our goals but thats about it! That orange cider has a lot to answer for

[AJS]

Just seen that penalty, i think that boy had more chance of sustaining injury with that dive as opposed to if Rosscoe had actually crunched him. That dive took some commitment.

[LancsDave]

Interestingly, my English team, Burnley, played at Bristol Rovers last night and even our local paper says that BR's 2-0 win was deserved. Now Burnley are a top 8 Championship side who played premier football the season before last. Where does that place ICT's 2-2 draw?

[caley100]

It proves not to read too much into pre-season friendlies.