ICT -V- St Mirren : Matchday Thread

[bishbashbosh]

started well and took the game to them until they scored with their first real chance.

foran miss was pathetic

have said on here before i dont think tade and foran will score a 1/2 doz goals between them in spl this season.

shinnie equaliser was from a superb knock down from foran though.

tade runs himself ragged , chases down players but his first touch is woeful.

his first 1-1 with keeper he did well to get past the very slow lee mair. any striker with even a small football brain would have shot across keeper. if he beats the keeper he scores if keeper saves, ball may come back for onrushing others. tades passes ball into side netting at near post.

2nd 1-1 he takes a terrible first touch when through which takes him to left and the same scenario as 1st 1-1. his angle on goal is greatly reduced. goes in on keeper when a shot across again is required. shut down by keeper too easily

3rd 1-1 it looked easier to score just curl it in to net. may have hit it out for throw in.

didnt celebrate his goal very much, think he was totally embarrased ball back of post hit him, he did not hit ball.

enough chances to win this game comfortably. as agaainst hearts

but if you cant takes your chances it can come to a last minute equaliser, got lucky today that their second was flagged for offside. 1 point from game would have been a travesty.

one more gripe, why cant we shut down a game when winning with a couple of mins to go. g shinnie had ball near half way line, just pass ball towards corner flag and chase. tries a killer pass which was straight to their player, they go on the attack.

also esson on 2 occassions with seconds to go kicks ball from goal down middle of park, goes straight to their keeper who punts up field and we are under pressure again.

kick to corners, run down clock, simples

thought a shinnie was very good today, the boy is a footballer. super finish for goal, hate to think what tade or foran would have done with it.

probably smashed someones windscreen in carpark

[TopSix]

Bit of a coup signing getting Shinnie in from Rangers. Rfc ST holders I know were surprised at him being given a free. Great relief picking up 3 points. It's a shame we're now going in to a break. Would have been nice to see the team get stuck into St Johnstone sooner.

[hislopsoffsideagain]

have said on here before i dont think tade and foran will score a 1/2 doz goals between them in spl this season

Errr...they already have four between them, so I think it's a pretty good bet they will get at least that half dozen.

Edited October 1, 2011 by hislopsoffsideagain

[Renegade]

thought a shinnie was very good today, the boy is a footballer. super finish for goal, hate to think what tade or foran would have done with it.

probably smashed someones windscreen in carpark

No I disagree. The thing with Tade is if he has to think about it, he'll miss. The ball was in to Shinnie in a flash and he had only one choice - to smash it. The three chances Tade missed were all ones he had to think about. The one last week where he failed to score against Celtic was one he had to think about - and it's been the same for all of his misses this season - they're all ones he'd have had to think about. All the goals he's had this season are ones where the balls been there and boom - he's scored. That was the same today, more prominently the goal against Hearts and the one against Kilmarnock. If he doesn't have to think about it, he'll score and had he been in the position for Shinnie's goal today, he would've scored. That is the crux of Tade.

[caley100]

have said on here before i dont think tade and foran will score a 1/2 doz goals between them in spl this season

Errr...they already have four between them, so I think it's a pretty good bet they will get at least that half dozen.

Dont hold yer feckin breath.... ths sitters that Foran/Tade missed tday were feckin scary...

Tade is a feckin donkey, all running/effort no finish...... but we were warned before we (terry) signed him were we not? most of scotland knew it but mr butcher didnt obviously read the book.

However the 3 points were well worth it, thought Proc/Rossco were brill, Shinnies were good and Davis showed some good work. MOM was between Rossco/Proc/Shinnies .... tricky but rossco shaded it.

Great day out apart from weather... typical rain at weekend when temps during week were in the 20's at times!

[Alex MacLeod]

I just find it very sad that, after our very poor performances, and even after we win, some folk have to find fault. We won. We've gone three straight games at home without defeat. Even if, after all that you feel some things aren't right at least try and let it by you and give praise. Positivity makes players feel good and helps them play better. Negativity makes them nervous.

[+Tree]

The missing easy chances is indicative of the pressure which Foran and Tade are feeling in terms of having to score. This is not helped by our shipping goals at the moment which means we need to get goals in the back of the net.

Anyway, Tade is simply following on from where Wilson Robertson (younger fans will be saying 'Who') left off in terms of one on ones

[bishbashbosh]

have said on here before i dont think tade and foran will score a 1/2 doz goals between them in spl this season

Errr...they already have four between them, so I think it's a pretty good bet they will get at least that half dozen.

on todays showing i dont think so. dont even think tade will be claiming his "goal" today

[TopSix]

Tade is a feckin donkey, all running/effort no finish...... but we were warned before we (terry) signed him were we not? most of scotland knew it but mr butcher didnt obviously read the book.

He probably saw the guide price of out and out strikers who can put the ball in the back of the net! For the budget the gaffer is working with I still think Tad? is an excellent signing. He works hard, has great stamina and never gives up. I really like seeing that in an ictfc player. I know a couple of raith season ticket holders - they're both missing having Tad? in their side massively.

[Hiro]

Can't understand all the Tade bashing going on. He's a potential rough diamond, with a bit of hard work and refinement he could prove to be a very good signing. He gives everything for the team and his endeavour alone makes him a good guy in my book.

And another thing. I'm hearing a lot moaning about his scoring record, well actually if he continues scoring at the current rate he'll end up with 13 league goals from 38 games. Only a handful of players scored more than that in the SPL last season and a certain Mr Rooney finished on 15 from 38 and I seem to remember him taking 3/4 chances to get a goal. A little persepctive wouldn't go amiss.

[Scarlet Pimple]

If Gregory Tade was pulled back into midfield ,then, who would you suggest that Terry puts in his place as a striker? And the same question re Foran?

If Tade is not deadly up front, surely he could be pulled back with advantage and this would take the pressure off him to score goals. It does seem odd that a fella who is not a natural goalscorer is obliged to consistently play this role. Removing him would take the pressure off and free up his energy to run ...and run.. . and stride forward and take strikes at goal. The defences would not be able to take their eyes off of him and it would disturb their concentration. If Tade's power lies in his size and strength--then use it Terry.

With Hayes and Doran back and foraging on the wings and running at the defence, as often as possible, the opportunities could improve for the two types of strikers that I have mentioned to be more effective . That makes three powerful players running at the defences causing confusion and, hopefully,mistakes in the opposition ranks. Hayes and Doran can get in behind the defences and Tade can LURK.If the oposition tries to man-match all three of them, then they would have to leave gaps in their central defence in all the right places for ICT to exploit. Simple and sorted.

You would need two powerful and skilfull strikers up front if Tade was in midfield running at the opposition and keeping them off balance. He certainly doesn't seem to have too much trouble turning defenders and getting in behind them.If used to his maximum potential he could be a more and more important player and able to wear down the other sides and make them very nervous. They would even have to put two men on him eventually which could open up their defences even more and keep them nervous.

Just a couple of thoughts..Back to the question then?

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Tade is worth his weight in gold as a competitor and a worker - but he is simply not a striker. This was the season that could have made - or broken - Shane Sutherland - plus wee McKay. Tade will run the line all day so give him one of the two aforementioned to play with. If that means playing Foran deeper or benching him - then so be it.

Proctor is a wee gem - a utility player and a great guy - but he aint a central defender - he is prone to lapses in concentration and mistakes - ya cant have that as a central defender, bad enuff as a rite back. I have always felt that he is best suited to midfield.

Both Tade and Proctor would have been squad players in all the past seasons and if we were full strength this season - Tade especially has proved to be an asset but TB's blind loyalty is concerning.

We appear to have rode our luck today and long may it last BUT we are still bottom of the league and struggling to get continuity in our system of play.

But today was a BIG day for Terry and Mo - lets just hope that they have a plan that haa escaped the armchair managers. If we keep pace until the injured return we will be safe.

[12th Man]

Good to get the 3 points, bad that we didnt score 5 today and thats just counting some of the easy ones.

Its fine and well saying Tade and Foran put in a good shift and tried hard but would you say the same of a defender, our back 4 were excellent today but if the opposition kept running past the same defender and scoring all the time who would defend them and say well they try hard and put in a good shift when they arent doing the job theyre paid to do.The same with forwards they should be the most likely ones of the team to put the ball in the net when given the chance. Play one or the other up front, if you play them both up front it puts more pressure on the rest of the team

[qwerty11]

Thought Proctor was faultless today tbh

[TopSix]

Thought Proctor was faultless today tbh

I think the last time I saw Proc start a game was the 4-0 demolition of united at tannadice. Maybe start him more often?

[CaleyD]

I can only think that those who deemed todays win as "lucky" were not there to witness it for themselves.

For all those knocking our conversion rate....take a look around at Attempts v Goal ratios for other teams. ICT today had 9 attempts and scored 2...Rangers had 16 and scored 1...Man U had 17 and score 2 against Norwich who had 13 and scored none.

Thought todays game was thoroughly entertaining and I can certainly see why St Mirren have been doing so well as they play a nice passing game....but we contained that and limited them to 4 attempts at goal. What's more...for the vast majority of the game only one team ever looked like they were going to score, and it wasn't St Mirren.

Make no mistake, todays victory was not some fluke result against poorly performing opponents...it was a hard earned and thoroughly deserved win for the better team.

Not saying it was a perfect performance, but it was a winning performance and it does a dis-service to the players who secured the points to suggest otherwise.

[lukemackay]

according to bbc sport we had 68% of possession

ive always wondered how they work that out today, was the first time this season when i havnt been able to say that we were bad in certain aspects it was a team effort

tade had a few 1 on 1's missed and was getting knocked for missing them but i dont think rooney would of even got to the balls played through for tade he is a workhorse rooney is a finisher at the end of the day tades following the ball in and never say die attitude won us the game

as for andy shinnie hes starting to look a good signing a few time this season he has got in the box supported the strikers well but hasnt had an end product but today it all came together for him and i can see him pushing on from here a goal and an assist it doesnt come much better

all in all great 3 points today good game to watch and we can push on

Edited October 2, 2011 by lukemackay

[Scarlet Pimple]

Encouraging and positive post from Caley D. Just what the Dr ordered these days.

If we can win the next game we will be about back to strength which should allow us to really start getting points on the board.

[super1ct]

Tade is a great player and with his work rate he reminds of what a great job Grame Bayne did for us. He works his ass off and always gets himself in great positions so imo if butcher finds someone to join him up front who can finish the chances that Tade creates, i.e a rooney or a dargo, then we'll start banging them in. We are playing great footie but just haven't been getting the results so folk can moan but I am really looking forward to seeing what this team can achieve once everyone settles!

[Yngwie]

What we have to bear in mind is that if Tade possessed natural finishing ability, over and above the good attributes he already has, he'd be playing at a much higher level than ICT.

[farki1]

An ejoyable game and 3 points,what more can you ask for. At half time the stadium announcer gave a shout out to 2 fans who had traveled up from Southampton,they were sitting in front of us and we got chatting,they summed us up very well "you do make life hard for yourself" too true!

Good luck to them running the Loch Ness marathon today.

[bishbashbosh]

saturdays at this time of year golf in morning footie in afternoon.

playing yesterday at inverness gc placed my ball on 16th tee when there was a comotion behind me. turned round to see the dips in the wall separating course from culcabock road had a face in each. about 15 or so who turned out to be st mirren players out for a track suited walk as there were staying in kingmills hotel.

wouldnt know any of there players apart from hasslebank, but he is'nt tall enough to see over wall.

2-3 of the players,scottish, very excitible, loud, must be pre match pressure, one says " no presure then mate".

drove off to the loudest " youre the man " from the same guy.

he was getting louder as my playing partners played also.

under pressure hit the usual down the middle.

they noisely went up the road towards the hospital, drawing attention to themselves as they went.

once teed off walked the 10 yards to get golf trolley where one of the players was waiting. soft southern irish accent

asked how i was getting on, was i playing in medal, about weather, remarked how good condition the course looked.

thought he was maybe embarrased by the action of the others.

the chap was a true gent, couldnt have met a nicer person.

wished me the best of luck for the remainder of round.

said i couldnt do same for him this afternoon.

tried to spot him during game, may be wrong but looked like he was their no. 6 and captain.

thats was probably why he waited to chat after the loutish behaviour of a couple of their players.

nice of him to chat. see lots of players when golfing on a saturday when on 10th green as it is across the burn from kingsmills hotel.

none of them take you on. last year hearts jefferies and brown watching, trying to engage them re game in afternoon they either just stare at you or turn round and walk away.

[RiG]

Delighted to get a win yesterday although I did wonder whether it was going to be our day after Forans incredible miss and Tades numerous botch up when through on goal. Has he been speaking with Martin Bavidge? We need to remember that these two are not strikers. They are, at best, support forwards who work their backsides off to hold up play and link with a goal getter. We badly need one, maybe it's McKay who knows, otherwise we could miss out on some vital points over the course of the season.

Midfield was good although I felt for a period in the second half they faded a wee bit. Davies was excellent in the first half but was much quieter in the second. His run to set up the equaliser was reminiscent of Don Cowie when he was with us. I actually forgot Tansey was even on the pitch in the second half until he took a free kick. Andrew Shinnie, who I criticised for his performance against Aberdeen, was good yesterday. He was more direct from midfield when he had to be and when he wasn't I thought he recycled possession well and formed a solid link between the likes of Davies / Tansey and Foran / Tade.

Defence was a bit tougher than recent games but at times looked vulnerable to the pace of Teale and Hasselbaink. Teale especially was sending in some quality balls but the aerial threat of (Stephen) Thompson was well handled by Proctor and Tokely. Certainly they were a lot more solid than I thought they were going to be. But I was especially impressed with G. Shinnie and Piermayr who defended well and got forward much more than I have seen any ICT full back in recent seasons.

A. Shinnie took his goal well and I have no idea what happened with our second one as I thought he had scored again but I guess his shot hit the post and it went in off Tade who was following up? If we had a "proper" goal scorer then we would have won that by at least 3 goals.

Wee bit concerned about the attendance. 3,200 odd is very poor. St. Mirren looked like they had about 400 there so around 2,800 home fans is a bit of a cause for concern. Hopefully a few more good results will see the crowds increase.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I can only think that those who deemed todays win as "lucky" were not there to witness it for themselves.

For all those knocking our conversion rate....take a look around at Attempts v Goal ratios for other teams. ICT today had 9 attempts and scored 2...Rangers had 16 and scored 1...Man U had 17 and score 2 against Norwich who had 13 and scored none.

Thought todays game was thoroughly entertaining and I can certainly see why St Mirren have been doing so well as they play a nice passing game....but we contained that and limited them to 4 attempts at goal. What's more...for the vast majority of the game only one team ever looked like they were going to score, and it wasn't St Mirren.

Make no mistake, todays victory was not some fluke result against poorly performing opponents...it was a hard earned and thoroughly deserved win for the better team.

Not saying it was a perfect performance, but it was a winning performance and it does a dis-service to the players who secured the points to suggest otherwise.

Aye - a very positive perspective but not as "real" as RIG's . I feel that the large majority of punters - irresepective of attendance or not - are proclaiming that we were fortunate at the close to have gained the three points because of a practically inherent failure to score goals and/or to take chances. At the end of the day it is a very valuable three points and I am sure that all of us would have taken that outcome at the start. But to me it is as much about entertainment, performance and ma old adage of the "togetherness" factor. It sounds as if those constituents were more prevalent yesterday and that is the biggest positive from my perspective.

We must have had lady luck on our side and why not - sounds like we deserved it. All I am in forboding manner is in regard to a fear that a certain state of complacency may prevail - e.g lets not change anything - as I and many others feel that we are still not utilising the depleted squad as we should be and that there is a feel of stubborn persisitence with some players and the overall tactical planning.

This forum is to me all about different slants and opinions. There are the blinding loyal, the frustrated loyal, the forever optimists, the concentrate only on the positives or the negatives brigades, the pessimists, the doom merchants and the fishermen. There are some who are so stuck in their category that they fail to appreciate and consider an alternative view. Thank god that I am a reflective and analytical pragmatist.

Edited October 2, 2011 by IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER

[Huisdean]

Like some other posters, I really fail to see why there is so much unrelenting negativity against some of the players. Sure Tade had 3 bad misses yesyerday, and on another day this could have come back to haunt us but id didn't. What some people have to remember is that to score goals, you have to be in the correct positions and make the correct runs. Tade is doin this brilliantly but his finishing is letting him down and needs to get worked on pronto. Disappointing to see some of the commenst from some posters who just listened to the game on the radio yesterday. This was possibly out best home performance to date and some really good football was played in all areas yesterday. St. Mirren were supposedly the form team going into yesterdays game and supposedly playing a really attractive type of football. Well yesterday, there was onlt one team playing exciting football and it wasn't St. Mirren. If the score had been 5-1 yesterday, it would not have been an injustice and the same could have been said for the Hearts match. I don't think I have seen the team create so many chances as they have done this season and someone is going to be on the end of a good thrashing from us very soon.

Finally, a word about Andrew Shinnie yesterday. I admit to not being terribly impressed in previous games I have seen him play but yesterday he was tremendous and showed a great deal of skill in both linking play and getting forward. Yet after the Dundee Utd game, he was getting real abuse from fans over his performance. All this tells me is that some fans need to take a look at themselves before resorting to shouting abuse at our players and appreciate how difficult it can be to plat football at time. It is a team game and the singling out of individuals at times, by sections of our support, is dreadful ans so counter productive.