Matchday Thread: Rangers -V- ICT

[Scotty]

McKay rounds keeper ...... and hits post !!! so close !

[starchief]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

(again)

[Scotty]

what a game !!!! either team could have won it 4 or 5 times already .....

McKay just got another chance but McGregor saved it ... and now Lafferty scores at the other end. bollox

[DundeeICT]

Bolls just new it. 2-1 rangers.

[starchief]

(and yet again)

Hayes and McKay looking class but A.Shinnie.

Laffery with an ill-deserved winner (probably)

[Tug]

:( grrrrr. not good but at least we are making a game of it.

[Jeepsaw]

BOO! BOO! BOO!

[qwerty11]

What a miss from Hayes unbelievable thought it was 2-1 then bammm 2-1 gers

[mikeyrob73]

Unbelievable ! we deserve at least a point, be interesting to see the foran " goal " again

[starchief]

Esson, Tokely, Golobart, Cox and Foran all played crucial roles. Hayes, McKay and both Shinnies looked real quality. Easily matching anyone in a blue shirt.

[TopSix]

I could cry.

[SMEE]

Sounds like we was robbed....but....at the end of the day, you gotta take your chances....or things like this happen. Still, Im not too bothered about not getting results against Rangers.....its the lesser teams Im bothered about

[Yngwie]

Sounds like a great performance for a makeshift team. After some highly questionable decisions last week Butcher seems to have got the tactics spot on this time. 55% possession at Ibrox is pretty impressive.

[+DoofersDad]

Whilst it is always disappointing to lose any game, I think we should be taking a lot of positives from today's game. After last week with Davis getting the red card and Hogg getting his dreadful season ending injury, I feared for today. I thought we would be very vulnerable at the back and without enough bite in midfield. I feared a gubbing.

However, the BBC team were full of praise for the team and said we were unlucky to lose. Listening to the second half on the radio it certainly sounded as though the game could have gone either way and we had the chances to win it. The message I take from this is that we have the depth in the squad to be competetive against anybody and it should be just a matter of time before we put a bit of a run together and pull clear of Dunfermline who really should be heading back down at the end of the season. We will need to look for a central defender in January but we have enough talent in midfield to keep creating enough chances to keep scoring.

Aberdeen are beginning to find form and therefore next Saturday is a big game for us. It will not be a disaster if we lose but if we can win it might trigger the start of a good run and set us up nicely for the new year. Let's hope for a big crowd getting behind the team.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Well, looks like we've got the players.To have matched the Rangers with all their money backing the team and reports suggesting we were all over them in periods, is phenomenal after the slagging this team has had of late.

Results just not going our way and inconsistencies in the past weeks have dogged us.

Penalties at Ibrox? --No chance.

Rangers or Celtic must always win the league in the eyes of the current crop of football officials--for the good of the league, of course.

How can ICT compete in terms of importance with an average gate of just over 3,000 hardy supporters when the crowd at Ibrox today was 43,000?

It's truly astonishing isn't it that so many Glasgow fans turned up to see the "lowly" and "unfortunate" current ICT team? We must be doing something right to deserve such recognition.Maybe it's a pity that the Scottish fans are not running the show as opposed to the set-up we currently have in Glasgow.

I have always been opposed to penalties on principal anyway. With a foul given inside the box and being so near the goal surely being penalty enough for the defending team, why give a free and unopposed shot? The chances of the attacking team scoring is very high with a penalty but not quite so high,but still very advantageous, with a simple foul.

So near and yet so far.....

[Hiro]

Sounds like a good performance but we just didn't have the luck. How often have we said that this season though?

Unsurprisingly we appear to have been hard done by the officials again. Allegedly replays may suggest that not only was Foran onside but the ball may have been over the line when Wallace cleared. This explains why TB was so raging after the game- has he done his media commitments yet?

Edited December 17, 2011 by Hiro

[Granty24]

Tweet from Tade:

"Just so frustrated today, we had them bt it all went wrong, proud to be playing with those boys, we'll be in the top 6. I guarantee it."

Good to see the spirit and belief is still there!

[Tug]

Sounds like a good performance but we just didn't have the luck. How often have we said that this season though?

Unsurprisingly we appear to have been hard done by the officials again. Allegedly replays may suggest that not only was Foran onside but the ball may have been over the line when Wallace cleared. This explains why TB was so raging after the game- has he done his media commitments yet?

nothing on the net yet media comments wise but would imagine he might have to tread carefully as he must getting close to a fine for the number of times he has had a rant at the refs. (rightly or wrongly im not commenting on that just that he has had a few)

[Caley Mad In Berks]

It sounded as if we had enough chances to be 2 or 3 up before Rangers got their second against the run of play at the time. The luck clearly wasn't with us today but it was a vastly improved performance after last week's huge disappointment. We should go to Pittodrie with some confidence. I think we really must win that game to keep in touch with Aberdeen. Hibs will surely improve and I don't want this season to be a one to one clash with Dunfermline.

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

It sounded as if we had enough chances to be 2 or 3 up before Rangers got their second against the run of play at the time. The luck clearly wasn't with us today but it was a vastly improved performance after last week's huge disappointment. We should go to Pittodrie with some confidence. I think we really must win that game to keep in touch with Aberdeen. Hibs will surely improve and I don't want this season to be a one to one clash with Dunfermline.

we dont go to Pittodrie until the end of March mate , next week's a home game .

[CaleyD]

Possibly no BBC Interview as they are banned from going into Press Conferences and Pitch Side, which means Butcher would have had to have done interview in the Press Area.

Hopefully MFR had someone on the case though, so keep an eye out on the ICT Radio and we'll get the audio up if done andwhen it gets to us.

[Renegade]

It's a sickener. ICT were the better team in significant portions of that game. Particularly just after the goal - every time ICT won the ball, it looked like a goal was coming. Just a shame that Rangers had to score and thus win the game - they didn't deserve it and they and their fans know it. Of ICT, all the players to a man I thought had a good game, though some showed it more than others. Esson really didn't have much to deal with, apart from one excellent save right at the start. I thought Golobart was excellent throughout and is one of the best distributors of the ball in the entire team. Tokely was his normal steady self, while Gillet (the surprise choice at right back) filled the role well. Graeme Shinnie was one of the best player on the park - a real attacking wing back who was getting past the opposing number at times like he wasn't there. Foran is far more suited to a midfield role and Hayes played well on the wing. Tade was not as in the game as he normally is, due to his position of left wing, but he seemed to come more into the game as time went on. McKay I thought had a good shift and was very unlucky with two glorious chances, but I do feel at times that in that system, someone with a bit more force would be better - Shane Sutherland could do the job well. The introduction of Andrew Shinnie changed the game and ICT looked far more dominant in both midfield and attack when he came on.

An unlucky defeat, but a lot can be taken from the performance.

[Renegade]

Also for what it's worth, I thought the starting formation was -

Esson

Gillet Tokely Golobart G.Shinnie

Foran

Cox ---------------Tansey

Hayes-----------------------------------------Tade

McKay

Edited December 17, 2011 by Renegade

[alternative maryhill]

It's a sickener. ICT were the better team in significant portions of that game. Particularly just after the goal - every time ICT won the ball, it looked like a goal was coming. Just a shame that Rangers had to score and thus win the game - they didn't deserve it and they and their fans know it. Of ICT, all the players to a man I thought had a good game, though some showed it more than others. Esson really didn't have much to deal with, apart from one excellent save right at the start. I thought Golobart was excellent throughout and is one of the best distributors of the ball in the entire team. Tokely was his normal steady self, while Gillet (the surprise choice at right back) filled the role well. Graeme Shinnie was one of the best player on the park - a real attacking wing back who was getting past the opposing number at times like he wasn't there. Foran is far more suited to a midfield role and Hayes played well on the wing. Tade was not as in the game as he normally is, due to his position of left wing, but he seemed to come more into the game as time went on. McKay I thought had a good shift and was very unlucky with two glorious chances, but I do feel at times that in that system, someone with a bit more force would be better - Shane Sutherland could do the job well. The introduction of Andrew Shinnie changed the game and ICT looked far more dominant in both midfield and attack when he came on.

An unlucky defeat, but a lot can be taken from the performance.

This is an excellent summary. I thought Tade had a great game playing wide left though - I'd keep him there with Mackay through the middle for the foreseeable. Not sure about Sutherland - he's yet to convince me.

Butcher has a couple of selection dilemmas for next week now. Graeme Shinnie was superb and surely has to keep the left back role, but do we start with Gillet on the right again? if Davis comes back in, who should he replace? And given the impact Andrew Shinnie had, he should surely start, but who does he replace?

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

Butchers comments .

http://sport.stv.tv/football/scottish-premier/rangers/288695-ally-mccoist-relies-on-rangers-resilience/