Matchday Thread Inverness CT -V- Celtic

[Ten4]

I`d be quite happy for Yogi to start changing things around soon. Some players need resting or dropping.

Doran, Ross, Draper come into this category & drop the Shinnie in at right back unless necessary.

[Doyouplayfooty]

Try supporting the inverness players instead of slating them!!!!

[Renegade]

 

Ben Greenhalgh ‏@BenGreenhalgh1h

Can't get my head round this one bit, #headloss

 

Make of that what you will.  Presume he didn't make the squad and wasn't injured as some folk speculated at the game.  Surprising, considering he apparently played well against Partick.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Renegade

[Renegade]

I actually thought that on the whole we played alright, though probably gave Celtic way too much respect.  The days when they were miles better are long gone by the looks of things.

 

Thought Williams was garbage yet again, while Doran doesn't seem up for it anymore at all.  I thought the defence on the whole was pretty good, but I'd like to see Raven coming back in.  Watkins impressed me also, and I wouldn't have hooked him for Christie (who looked the business by the way).

[AlexJones]

Doran hasn't played badly recently. The reason he seems to have dipped in form is because Raven is out of the team. They work well as a unit.

 

Williams impressed me today. He showed good composure under pressure and kept the ball well. Don't see any reason for him not to start against County.

 

We tried to play a passing game today and had some success. There were spells when we looked great. But against a team like Celtic, sometimes you need to be a bit more direct. Their players are too big, strong and fast to play through. We got away with a few situations where we lost possession in dangerous areas in our own half from hospital passes, similar to the Aberdeen game.

 

Overall the performance was encouraging and we didn't deserve to lose. If we play the same way on Wednesday we'll put 5 past County.

[alternative maryhill]

I`d be quite happy for Yogi to start changing things around soon. Some players need resting or dropping.

Doran, Ross, Draper come into this category & drop the Shinnie in at right back unless necessary.

 

I don't see any reason for dropping Draper, but even if there was, who do we have who could come in for him? With Foran out, Draper is the only experienced midfielder we have who provides that sort of strength and presence. Polworth has barely played, and Devine isn't a midfielder.

 

I also thought Doran's performance today was an improvement on the last few games: he maybe didn't present a very serious threat, but his movement and ball retention were better than they have been recently. Having been quite critical of him recently, i'd be inclined to keep him in against County and see if he can raise his level further.

 

Personally I'd keep Ross in ahead of Williams, but if Hughes is determined to keep Williams playing in the deeper role and playing Ross off Mckay, then I could see an argument for replacing Ross with Ryan Christie a little farther down the line - initially using him as a sub and bringing him on earlier than he was introduced today, but if he builds on the promise that he showed today, then eventually starting games with him.     

Edited December 29, 2013 by alternative maryhill

[Guest]

Dropping Draper is a terrible shout. Williams, however, isn't good enough based on his performances in the last few games.

[RiG]

Are people seriously suggesting that we start to drop players from the starting XI that got us up to second in the league? We don't have the squad depth to be rotating players every week and we certainly don't have the players who can come in deputise for folk like Draper and Doran just hanging around in the reserves.

 

Good point made about the Doran / Raven link up. 

 

Would be interested to see just how many goals have come down the right since Shinnie went in there are right back.

 

The Greenhalgh tweet could well be something completely innocent should I wouldn't be trying to read something into it.

 

As for the game I thought it was a very dull showing. Celtic were out the blocks quickest but after they scored they seemed happy to contain and seldom threatened for the rest of the match. We toiled in the middle of the park and could barely string together a pass in the final attacking third. Some good half chances were passed up but I must admit I am struggling to remember what they were like. It was a very forgettable match.

 

Williams is getting some very unfair flack both on here and on Twitter. As I said on the Partick thread we are trying to fit square pegs into round holes whilst Foran is out and / or until we can sign a replacement even on a temporary basis. I thought Williams did a solid enough job and used the ball more effectively than he did against Aberdeen but you could certainly see there wasn't a good understanding between the two guys in the middle.

 

Attacking wise I thought we were very poor. We seemed to take the wrong option at the crucial time be it taking on an extra man or delaying the cross or playing a poor killer ball we just didn't seem to click. We were unlucky not to get a point but we've played far better than we did today and gotten thumped. The acid test now is to get the guys set up for County. Three points against the worst team in the SPL, if it wasn't for Hearts points deduction, is an absolute must as far as I am concerned.

[ICTRoughi]

Well I certainly was not impressed by Celtic today which makes it hard to take that we didn't get anything out of the game. When the goal went in at 4 mins, I thought to myself that this is going to be reminiscent of the first half against Aberdeen. We done well to keep Celtic at bay for most of the game and luckily Celtic didn't have much end product, so we should have brought the game to them. The fear factor of playing Celtic is gone and they were there for the taking. I really don't understand why we are reverting to a long ball play to Mckay - it won't work. Credit to Dean Brill today who made very important saves aswell.

Why David Raven is still absent from the starting eleven beats me. Celtic's goal came from the right hand side, so who knows what would have happened if he was right back. As a post above says the link up between Raven and Doran is something we are missing. Unfortunately Nick Ross didn't have the greatest of games but I just don't think he is suited to the role behind Mckay. I was pleased to see Ryan Christie get included today and get some game time. I would go further and play him ahead of Nick Ross. Danny Williams at centre mid is not for us. Williams is more of a winger than a centre mid, don't get me wrong he tried his best in a bad situation without Foran but Liam Polworth might be a better option or Carl Tremarco. I feel like we need a bigger presence in the centre mid alongside Ross Draper.

The honeymoon period for John Hughes is now over and we need more influence from him in the dugout and a good game to start that vs Ross County.

Edited December 29, 2013 by ICTRoughi

[hislopsoffsideagain]

Just to remind folk, the average Celtic first team player earns £20k/week.  The average ICT first team player earns less than a twentieth of that.  Some people have some rather unreasonable expectations.

 

As Aberdeen showed in the first half last week, we are hugely vulnerable whenever the opposing midfield gets behind ours.  Today, Williams and Draper were concentrating more on defending than attacking, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well they did.  The flip side of course is that we offer less going forward, but we were still in the match right till the end, we tested Forster from distance a few times, and frankly Draper should have done massively better with his late opportunity.

 

I was impressed by our instance on trying to pass out of defence, rather than hoof ball up the pitch; it was good to see Nick Ross coming very deep on occasion to try and get on the ball.  I remain a champion of Doran, who continues to work hard and look for the ball.  When he gives it away, it's usually because there isn't a pass on, not because he is sloppy.  The only player I had a particular beef with today was Watkins, who only got behind the full back once, but on the other hand his defensive work was general excellent. 

 

Aside from Commons, Celtic's forwards were quiet, which is a testament to how well the defence played.  There was one major lapse - and, unfortunately, it cost us a goal.

 

There's a lot more to be encouraged than discouraged about.  I'd be inclined to pick the same team for the derby.

[MuirtownJaggy]

Thought the passing game from the back worked well. Would like to see more of young Christie, excellent few touches in his short debut.

[WYNESS101]

Good to see christie on the bench and getting some game time. Haven't seen alot of him but have heard good things about him. Wasn't scared and just got stuck in to te game taking on the celtic full backs.

[Renegade]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Aaron Doran is not a left winger.  He was really good at the start of the season dribbling down the right and crossing from the byline.  This plan (and it was Butcher who started it) of playing as a cutting-inside and shooting Jonny Hayes type is not and will never work.  His shooting is pretty hopeless for a start.  Watkins seems the more ambidextrous of the two anyway, so moving him into the left shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

We looked a far better team on the attack earlier in the season where we had Doran attacking down the right and Raven overlapping.  We should go back to that IMO.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Renegade

[Iain]

I`d be quite happy for Yogi to start changing things around soon. Some players need resting or dropping.

Doran, Ross, Draper come into this category & drop the Shinnie in at right back unless necessary.

Dropping Ross and Draper? If your being serious you may as well never post anything about football ever again because your opinion is obviously worthless.

[The Mantis]

Shows how limited partick are when the Well can take 5 off them. The signs were there on Boxing Day, as somebody said they're useless in midfield but we just didn't show up. Two points dropped, probably more important than losing 3 points today.

[Caley Mad In Berks]

I've said it before, we play much better with Raven at right back.  Shinnie has been OK ish there, but maybe he was ' missing'  when Commons had a free run down that side today for their early goal.

Celtic were there for the taking today, they never got out of first gear.  Nevertheless, we are still the second best team in the division, which is, realistically, the best we could have hoped for.

Let's consolidate now,  and make sure we claim that second spot.  It is there for us to grab.

 

Come on ICT, do us supporters proud, and secure that which is rightfully ours!

[RiG]

Celtic never got out of first gear and we still couldn't break them down. There's absolutely no reason why, if we had scored, they couldn't have upped it more to score more. They never got out of first gear because they didn't have to.

[Yngwie]

Shows how limited partick are when the Well can take 5 off them. The signs were there on Boxing Day, as somebody said they're useless in midfield but we just didn't show up. Two points dropped, probably more important than losing 3 points today.

 

Aye, and you can add to that the fact that Partick have only won 1 of their last 15 games. No prizes for guessing who it was against.   

[12th Man]

Im looking forward to doran hitting form, he's probably the fastest player on the pitch if he took route 1 at speed he's either going to be 1 on 1 with the keeper or creating space for mackay to score. I bet he could utilise a chip and charge far better than tim henman ever could

[Guest]

In case anyone hasn't noticed caley are now 4th !!!

[old caley girl]

In case anyone hasn't noticed caley are now 4th !!!

And?? We also have a game in hand!

[Guest]

In case anyone hasn't noticed caley are now 4th !!!

And?? We also have a game in hand!

And ??

[Sneckboy]

Nothing wrong with 4th, Theeagle! We've never finished higher!

[LSimpsonICTFC]

It was only a matter of time before we slipped down the table, we did good to maintain second place for that long! we had done not bad in recent games considering forans out and we have had a few tough games.If we can bring one or two players in January and hold on to McKay and co. We could have a good crack at 2nd /3rd place in the new year.

[+bughtmaster]

Methinks the big bird has a ruffled feather or a spoon bill ??