Matchday Thread ICT -V- Celtic (Cup)

[davieB]

We gifted them both goals, and to be honest, we could still be playing now and wouldn't have scored. Our sole tactic in the first half seemed to be to just lump it upto Tade...who had no chance against their defenders. And surely Terry must realise by now that Tade is never going to be an out and out striker. He's alright out on the wing, but that's about it.

First goal was a total **** up by Tokely. Mind, Tuffey should've still saved it. It might've had some power in it, and swerved, but it was straight at him, and seemed to just go through his hands. Second half...same as the first. We were totally outplayed. Proctor thought the ball was going out, it wasn't. Clear penalty. Game over.

Oh well, not that I really expected anything from the game anyway, but I can't remember the last time we made it so easy for one of the OF.

[Ronaldo]

IMHO we need to be playing 4 -4 -2

[SMEE]

IMHO we need to be playing 4 -4 -2

I totally agree. The whole game is based around scoring goals. By playing one up front, your automatically halving the amount of chances your likely to create. I DESPISE seeing teams playing one up front, especially at home. Playing one up front seemed to be the fashion a few seasons back, but i thought the game had moved on. ICT have NEVER suited this lumping the ball forward which has crept into our game under our managers since brewster. You watch the footie on offer of the top teams in the EPL......the majority of the game is played on the deck.

[lukemackay]

Lukemackay are you ******* blind? Blatant penalty, proc and tokely should be nowhere near the starting line up.

It wasnt enough for someone to fall over minimal contact yes in this day it only takes minimal contact but the bashing procters getting today is horrendous he was cleaning tokelys mess most the game and apart from letting hooper in for the penalty he did very little wrong

[hislopsoffsideagain]

Rubbish game, rubbish result, rubbish performance, rubbish weather, rubbish attendance.

Did I mention it was rubbish?

To be fair we were making Celtic work very hard until their first goal - I haven't seen the TV pictures but I had several texts from friends watching the game on Sky who also highlighted Proctor's failure to track Samaras for the first goal - so people should lay of RiG! However the fact is that Tokely made a complete dog's dinner of it and, for all the power and swerve in Samaras' shot, Tuffey seemed to get two hands on it. I'm staggered that, in a game of such importance, Butcher decided to use our second choice keeper. I don't care about keeping Tuffers happy - the cup is the only chance we'll ever have of winning anything (and even a replay would have been worth £££), so Esson should blatantly have been in goal.

After we fell behind, we seemed to switch to some sort of 5-4-1 system with Gillet slotted in as a third centre-back and Shinnie and Meekings as wingbacks...which was a foolish move as it just condemned us to being cramped in our own half. We never looked remotely like scoring in the second half. I didn't agree with the substitutions either - Nick Ross was having a much better game than most of his teammates, and I'd much rather have had Tade on the pitch than Sutherland.

The second goal was even more farcical than the first - initially Tuffey's throw out to Sutherland was risky at best, then Sutherland gave the ball away and put us in trouble, and finally Proc made a hash of shielding the ball out and bundled the forward over for a penalty. And that, as they say, was that.

Pass marks to Gillet and Ross, but that's about it. I felt quite let down by the lack of fight we showed in the second half. Opportunities for glory don't come around all that often for ICT players - and they well and truly blew their chance today to make a name for themselves.

Was thinking after the game about our centre half situation - for me, Hogg, Golobart and Williams are our best centre-backs (all of whom were injured), and Gillet is probably the next best. So today we had, for me, our 5th and 6th best central defenders on the pitch. I'd like to see any other SPL team keep out Celtic with their 5th and 6th centre backs on the field!

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

What can you say after that ??? Tokely was not at his best and was lucky to only cost us the 1 goal even though Tuffey should have saved it . Proctor tbh was lucky to stay on the park , crazy decision on his behalf for the penalty . Why oh why does Butcher insist on playing Tuffey in the cup games ? Surely we should be playing our strongest starting 11 in every game .

[WYNESS101]

Tokely and Proctor were SH*TE the day. As for the rest off the team they never showed up. Why was Sutherland dropped? He should have being on from the start. Glad to see Tuffey start the game i thought TB would have dropped him for Esson since it was Celtic.

Hayes needs to be played on the left. Why terry keeps playing him up front only he knows. Hayes never stood a chance up against there big centre defenders the day. Should have put Tade up front he's got weight behind him and wont get pushed off the ball

[krakatoa]

Had a sinking feeling when I heard both Proctor and Tokely playing today. Can't make basic mistakes like they did and hope to have a prayer against an OF team. Got to say they played us off the park second half without creating a huge number of chances. When the opposition press the ball as Celtic did we don't seem able to cope and our play becomes rushed and riddled with misplaced passes. One to forget ASAP.

[+DoofersDad]

What makes this so disappointing was that this was the poorest Celtic side I have seen at TCS, they were there for the taking and too few of the team seemed to be up for it. The match stats indicate that it was generally pretty even and in general I think that is a fair reflection with neither side really posing any serious threat. The difference was really two moments of defensive madness which led to the two goals. I simply don't understand why Esson was not playing if he was fully fit.

Credit where credit is due though. Samaras took his goal very sweetly and Celtic defended well. Our front players are being criticised here but to some extent they played as well as they were allowed to play. Celtic were very effective at closing down quickly and cutting out the through balls as soon as things got potentially threatening. Foran put in a tireless shift and tried to lift his team but with little effect. We only ever got half chances and nobody had the quality to exploit them or to create anything better.

I have been a bit criticical of Nick Ross in the past but for me he was our best player today and I was disappointed he was subbed so early. Apart from giving away the penalty I thought Proctor did well. It is easy to pillory players for obvious errors but the stats show Celtic had very few attempts at goal and that is a reflection of what was generally a pretty solid defensive performance from our team although Meekings was very poor when going forward.

One should always try to take something positive out of a disappointing situation. The positive today is that Jonny Hayes will definately not be joining Celtic.

[Ten4]

Thank god thats out of the way - can we now get a move on up the table !

[tartanspartan77]

Get rid of that buffoon Tokley and his sidekick Proctor,these guys are clowns and always let us down,they dont have the skills to play in the SPL.

The team as whole played sh**t,only person that stood out to me was Kenny Gillet.

Hopefully we can redeem ourselves next time we play Celtic

[lukemackay]

PEOPLE THIS WAS ONE GAME!!

the last seven games everyones been saying how well we are playing how good we are and how we are going to push up the table.

one poor performance and you want an entire new squad. you want tokely rid off after one poor performance in 300+ good performances.

GET SOME FECKING PERSPECTIVE!!

[old caley girl]

Well said Luke think some folk need to get a grip.

[+bughtmaster]

My thoughts too Luke,

As for Tuffey, He was brilliant last time out! Had he managed to get a touch on it , a very difficult fast swerving ball which he only just missed 'THEY' would all be hailing him as the greatest. Take another look at it, how many keepers would have saved it ? none in the SPL in MHO. Dont blame Tuffey for the loss, he deserves his place.

[dougal]

Very very disappointing for a Scottish cup tie as the players didn't seem to be up for it for some reason

Today's performance confirms to me anyway that Ryan Esson is our number 1 now there is no doubt, I'm afraid It's time Tuffey should maybe look elsewhere for first team football unless he wants to sacrifice his international career

Tokely's time at ICT is coming to an end a stalwart to the club but all good things eventually finish and he was cruelly exposed at the opening goal and at other times

Proctor is not an SPL footballer and never will be, my advice to him would be to give Ross Jack a phone call on Monday morning to see if he can be considered for a switch to borough briggs in the summer

I didn't even think Celtic were that impressive today and to be honest they eased themselves through to the quarters, other than the save from Forster which he tipped round the post we never really worried them, we had nothing up front and looked worryingly poor in defence

The one positive I take from today is knowing Jonny Hayes won't be going to Parkhead as my source says the move will never happen despite the fact that Neil Lennon rates him quite highly

Dougal

[ICTRoughi]

Really bad performance today, nobody really shown their real potential but as the majority already said, it was only one game. We were never going to win the Scottish cup but we had a chance of progressing and we blew it.

Next weekend is a new game, it's a league game. We have the chance to redeem ourselves and hopefully come back from Parkhead gaining at least a point. Celtic have a midweek game at Tynecastle before they play us, We could have a decent game there.

I hated the way Celtic fans were today, acting like they won the champions league. I don't mind them going on about their rivals' misfortune but it was the whole bloody game like the game didn't matter.

[Ronaldo]

Just seen TB's interview, blimey not good viewing, the definition of an unhappy chappie!

[lukemackay]

My thoughts too Luke,

As for Tuffey, He was brilliant last time out! Had he managed to get a touch on it , a very difficult fast swerving ball which he only just missed 'THEY' would all be hailing him as the greatest. Take another look at it, how many keepers would have saved it ? none in the SPL in MHO. Dont blame Tuffey for the loss, he deserves his place.

i actualy thought tuffey done enough today to earn a place next week. he isnt as good a shot stopper as esson but his dominance from set plays was just terific i could get used to catching instead of punching. not to mention his distribution. he looked an international goalkeeper today imo.

[Renegade]

I have no qualms about that result whatsoever. ICT were poor and never got going at all. They weren't even beaten by the better team, just one that wasn't as bad. The game could be still going on right now and the score still begin with "Inverness nil". There was no bite on that team at all, with nobody who really looks like they are capable of scoring goals - but then what do expect of a front four that contains three wingers and a left full back? The selection itself was odd - where was Shinnie meant to be playing? He seemed to switch from sitting behind the striker, to left wing to full back. Why wasn't Gillet at centre back to cover Tokely with Shinnie at full back, with either Sutherland or Gnakpa playing out wide? Surely that would've made a lot more sense. I'm also of the opinion that Tokely plays best at centre back when he has someone alongside him who can act almost as a sweeper. Gillet would've been perfect for that role today.

And what's the deal with Meekings? Couldn't cross, pass or distribute the ball to save himself. Why was Piermayr ever dropped? And why wasn't Sutherland on from the start? And where's Billy McKay? He was playing well up until a few weeks ago. Never see him now.

And I have to agree with those who mention the keeper issue. Esson is a better keeper than Tuffey - FACT, the latter of which at times seems to have an air of Michael Fraser about him - and I don't mean that in a complimentary way. I can understand giving Tuffey a chance in the cup when the game is against someone like Auchenleck Talbot or the Tain Thistle reserve squad, but not against Celtic. With the makeshift defence that ICT had to persevere with (any defence that includes Proctor is a makeshift defence by the way), surely the one thing you get right is the keeper.

Which leads us onto another issue - David Proctor. He's an absolute donkey and has been for years. How he continually gets a game is beyond me and it doesn't seem to matter who the manager is, he's seems to get a game no-matter what.

Plus marks today for Gillet and Ross. I thought they played well. But things must improve - and heart is the most important one of all.

[Caley Mad In Berks]

I really like Gillet. But I can't agree that this was one of his best games. As I said on another thread he was skinned by Samaras more than once, and came out second best to him most of the game. I agree about Ross though. Shouldn't have been subbed imho, he was our best player by some distance.

[Oldken27]

Once again Tokely shows that his best is long past!

Any decent player can rings round him. Time for him to go back to Div1 or 11.

Poor performance for most others with possibly only Ross and Gillet showing effort.

Foran was appalling. Does not deserve to be kept captain but who would you put in his place?

Edited February 5, 2012 by neksor

[davie]

That game was almost as disappointing as reading this forum. As a team, we didn't turn up. Never mind the individual errors, which have been done to death here, we didn't compete in midfield and the supply to the front was pretty well limited to long balls. What got me was that the best way for us to deal with Celtic was to play a high tempo game and disrupt them. Yet almost everything; crowd, pitch, weather, even the anouncer was so low key. Onwards and (hopefully) upwards.

[starchief]

Tokely's had some terrific games this season. He's less of a bomb scare than Golobart, Williams has barely played to have an opinion and Gillet is a great marker but needs some presence alongside him. Tokely has to be the first choice centre-back until Golobart grows up (which he's beginning to do) or Williams plays more than two games in a row. And, of course, we'll soon be at the 'no-one's got a contract' stage. There's no certainty Hogg will be back, or back as the player he was. It's probable that neither Golobart or Williams will sign a contract. It's getting a bit hysterical.

When ICT were pushing forward, I noticed Proctor stepping up, tidying up and beginning moves with some intelligent passing. He's such a defensive midfielder, it's ridiculous he's never been played there.

Oh, and I thought Foran did quite well yesterday - not world-shattering, but a decent shift. It's not a glamorous role he's in, so isn't going to be eye-catching either. I can see why Ross was taken off. It wasn't about how well or bad he was playing but Tansey and Foran are always more likely to score (I felt sorry for Tansey - it just didn't click, even though he probably put in more work than anyone else in an blue shirt). So, in desperate times, it's a case of trying to nick a goal, rather than Nick's more subtle game.

[12th Man]

Its good to see that Nick Ross has got his Mojo back

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

From my perspective Terry and Mo are to blame and really have to sort out the tactics. Playing Tuffey in all the cup games is tosh from the past. You always play your first choive unless you are playing lesser opposition. The Scottish Cup is a real bread winner. How can Butcher persist with playing Proctor in central defence - he is going to destroy the lad. Gillet looks a fromidable "libero" so stick him in there. Then he sticks Shinnie in the middle and the team changes shape again. And he also persisted with the nonsense that didnt work against Stain Midden when he got individuals chopping and changing and the team didnt look like they knew what they were doing at times. Foran aint a central midfielder and you simply cant play one man up against Cellic. As I alluded to last week Terry and Mo clearly have thier favourites and stubbornly stick by them but then they react to other indivduals when they have a bad day at the office. Foran should have feckin slapped Hayes yesterday as I felt that he wasnt giving anything near 100% and perhaps his mind is now set on n ext season.

And then Terry blames the players (again) at the end of it. Terry and Mo kmay have had their troubles this season and have dragged us off the bottom but the reason is because of some great individual performances and not the team ethos. Can now see them playing Winnall and Gnapke next week from the start which is fair enuff BUT at the cost of who.

Again to be blunt I aing going to Parkdread next week as I can see Proctor and Tokely being kept.in the team.