Matchday Thread I.C.T. -V- St Johnstone

[12th Man]

Before the game I would have taken a point so not too disappointed with the result dispite the ending.

Why do people think that if we win on Wednesday we will go to Hampden. I'm pretty sure only semi-finals with OF involvement are played at Hampden in the league cup. Fir Park and Tynecastle have been used for semi's in recent years.

An extract from wickky

The semi-final matches are played on a neutral ground, traditionally Hampden Park, but the home ground of a third club located close to the two competing clubs is sometimes used.

The final game is also traditionally played at Hampden Park in Glasgow, though due to renovations some finals in the past have been played at other venues such as Celtic Park or Ibrox

[caley100]

Tudor Jones man of the match for me, he was so cool, never missed a pass and cleaned up well, he really showed his class.

How Saints got a point is beyond me, feckin sods law with shinnie missing four chances, hope he's not going home with a bird tonight...

Doran was good second half, Roberts flitted in and out of the game but how we paid for those missed chances!

Still unbeaten in eight and playing well but did we miis foran today!

[12th Man]

Tade puts the kiss of death on his game against ICT

Tade said: “I don’t think many people can argue with the fact that St Johnstone is a bigger club than Inverness. No disrespect to them, that’s just the way it is and I am just glad I joined. They are a well-established SPL club, so it was only normal for me to try to better myself as a player. Inverness gave me a great opportunity, but you have to move on if you want a good career. You always have something to prove in this league, especially against your ex-employer

[Yngwie]

Can someone just inform Tade that since he left, we've started scoring a lot of goals.

[lukemackay]

Ditto to caley100s owain Tudor jones comment.

Thought we were at our best when play was going through him with the ball on the deck. St Johnstone were at their most dangerous when we played kick and run up to billy.

I have to comment on billy too though. He was different class. Held the ball up, ran the channels, scored, and the forced a fantastic save from Mannus. He turned the st Johnstone defenders like milk.

Another great performer was Graeme shinnie, outstanding. Won a penalty, cut through the st Johnstone midfeild like a hot knife through butter, and kept the saints winger at bay. Can't ask more from a full back.

And a special mention for dave 'the rave' raven solid performance again. The confidence from the results has clearly translated into his performance and he can fair whip in a cross when the opportunity presents itself. Well played.

On a sour note a mr Andrew macdonald changed his allegence on the 90th minute and thought it a good idea to give Alan Mannus the ball back ASAP instead of keeping it as a momento. This cost is the game. IMO. And it's all hi fault.

[+DoofersDad]

he played more like Julia Roberts today.

So do you have privileged knowledge of how Julia Roberts "plays" DD?

Yup. Looks good, but after stripping off it's 60 minutes of rather tame action. Just a few brief touches and then heads for a shower before the climax is reached.

[CaleyD]

Would have taken a point before the game kicked off, but frustrating to have come away with that after losing that goal in the final seconds of the game.

I'm pretty happy with the overall team performance and leaving the result aside I think we witnessed...yet again...what sets this team aside from last years. Last season, had someone sclaffed a penalty like that then you would have seen disappointment on the face of the players for the next 10 minutes...occasionally resulting in us losing a second in quick succession This season, stuff like that only seems to fire the players up and push them on....it's as if they see it as not being one guys error, but a team error and everyone becomes extra determined to make right the mistake....musketeer style.

This great attitude is what is paying dividends, IMO.

[Guest Mahonio]

I would say a point against this St Johnstone team is good, but, when we are 1 up with seconds to play, it is disappointing to only draw.

Seems we have found a solid Centre Half pairing in Warren and Meekings and a very reliable Goalkeeper who makes great saves, anyone tell me how solid this CB pairing is because i haven't seen them play together :)?

I like this quote from Butcher and probably agree: "It shows how far we've come when we're disappointed to have drawn against a side that have won 5 on the bounce in the SPL".

BRING ON RANGERS :ictscarf:.

[PaderbornCaley]

Another good performance in general - apart from all the missed chances. Dissapointing end but St J are a very good team. It‘s still a good point but should have been 3.

This time last year we were rock bottom. We are eleven off bottom and challenging at the other end of the league. Only two defeats going into November and playing good football...Big game on Wednesday. Bring on Sevco.

[tm4tj]

It just goes to show that playing for a big team is not always best and Gregory can rest assured that the village side from Perth are nowhere near as good as Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Josh Meekings won everything against Tade after the first five minutes and Tade never even completed the ninety minutes going off to rapturous guffaws from the Inverness support.

Agree about Jones, my MotM as well, spraying balls all over the park, and Shinnie was good up to a point. The point of putting the ball in the net, probably the miss of the season, and I'm not talking about the penalty. That miss from 2 or 3 yards was something else, a shocker for Halloween.

[davieB]

Agree with those commenting about Roberts. Missed the DU game, but in the games I've seen him play, he really hasn't impressed me at all.

We should've had yesterdays game wrapped up well before they equalised. Still, we really did rip them apart after the penalty and it was nice to see us playing some great stuff. OTJ was everywhere, and totally controlled the midfield...my MOTM by a distance.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

As per many before me I would have taken a point and St Jones Town are/were the "form" team in the league. Personally I feel that Roberts is a "victim" of the "system" that TB has devloped - and that is not a criticism as we have alwys been asking for consistency. As I alluded to after the Dungdee game I felt that Roberts - who looked really sharp to me prior to that - was played in the old Foran/attempted Shane role on the wide right/left as a foil and an interchange with Doran - as Doran was utilised when playing with Hayes. Roberts is described as an Arsenal yoof as a bustling, front player and to me that is his foil. He is going to struggle out wide as it is not his natural position. Personally again I have always advocated playing Shane and Roberts as front runners in the absence of Foran and playing McKay - who has pace and know how to do it - out wide. But the wee man may struggle up front but he is netting.

That is about the one thing that I really disagree now about the system with TB and I can appreciate his rationale for adhering with what he has developed. Again I have never been overly impressed with OTJ but if he gets and stays fitter and fitter then he could be another foil fer Draper. My only other observation is that I wish that we had a clearer Plan B or Plan C.

Meekings and Warren are also really gelling and that has been a wee bit fortunate in occurrence due to TB's admirable adherence to Raven and the unfortunate injuries to King and Hogg (what is happening with Hogg by the way ?).

So TB is improving and IMHO deserves the accolade of Manager of the month, especially if we beat the Sevco in their back yard.

[caleycalum]

No real complaints from me. Would have taken a draw before the match but was disappointing when they scored. With both teams cancelling each other out it wasn't very exciting but after the penalty miss we seemed to go up a gear. Poor Andy Shinnie was playing ok till the penalty and then seemed to lose his confidence in front of goal. Trying too hard to make amends maybe?

We are so much better than last year and playing with confidence. OTJ had a great game yesterday and MacKay is looking much more deadly in front of goal. Think Mr Raven is coming good at last as well.

Well done to the guys at Caley Jags Together for their Halloween promotion in the sports bar before the game. Nice to see the injured players make an appearance as well. Don't think anyone else has mentioned this but there are lots of moans sometimes from fans but there ARE lots of good things going on this season round the stadium!

[Snafu]

Disappointed losing that late goal, but very pleased with the overall performance. We certainly have made a lot of progress within the last month and can hold our own against a top 6 side. I think we are heading for our best season ever in the SPL, scoring goals, midfield looks imposing, our defence looks solid and Terry and Mo have two very good keepers to chose from.

Two halves to the match yesterday, match came alive after the penalty, dreadful miss by Andy Shinnie. Billy McKay is starting to bang the goals in now he has been given a chance. Warren, Draper and Graeme Shinnie were brilliant yesterday. Unfortunate our one defensive error in the whole match cost us the win.

Killie away next Saturday, this time last year we won 6-3 doubt we will see anything like that but hopefully they will tripping on that win yesterday and forget to turn up. But first we have a little matter of a wee 3rd Division team on Wednesday.

Edited October 28, 2012 by Snafu

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

This is how to score a penalty against St Johnstone and the spirit we need at Ibrox on Wednesday.

Penalty is about 6 minutes in

[AJS]

Tight game, it was always going to be and as has been said a draw at the start of the game was enough for me but the nature of it was very frustrating.

The 2nd half was much more competitive than the first. We should have been out of sight by full time, Billy took his goal brilliantly and almost bettered it with a great shot on the turn, cracking save from Mannus. Andy Shinnie had a an off game, hoofed penalty and an open goal miss, never a good combination but he will bounce back.

Must say Billy looks twice the player he was last season, much more clinical with his finishing and seems to look stronger when on the ball. Agreed that OTJ showed his class yesterday, looked very accomplished on the ball and his distribution was top notch.

Up until the last minute the defense looked solid, Meekings and Warren seemed a lot sharper than the Dundee game and both Raven and Shinnie were more keen to push forward, very encouraging.

Concentration levels need to improve late on, its the third time that we have lost winning positions in stoppage time and they have all been from headers. Need to cut this out and be tighter as a unit, we get it right and these draws will turn into wins.

Lets hope the boys dont feel too sorry for themselves, at the end of the day they are still on a decent run and face a massive game on Wednesday so lets be havin it.

...and yes Tade was p*sh.

Edited October 28, 2012 by ajsict92

[Scarlet Pimple]

Andrew was well off target with three chances that i saw--all over the bar by a mile.

Hopefully, if he works on this in training and keeps the ball down, he will also figure in the goals much more.

Antonio is showing his stuff.

He seems to have very quick reactions. I was impressed with that instant jump out of goal and that very well timed smothering of the ball just under the body of the forward which was really quite a courageous dive as well.

He deserves his place if he stays in the team.

[MarkD]

WTF - How did we not win that one, if the highlights are representative...

[Rainbow]

BTW, has anyone mentioned that we managed 5 league games in a row without a red card ?

Edited October 29, 2012 by Rainbow

[+bughtmaster]

SSSHeeeesHHH! remember refs and rangers red cards a standby !!!, probably send off both our keepers when we start our goal rush.