Matchday Thread Inverness CT -V- Hibernian

[Alex MacLeod]

Maybe back to fourth with game in hand will have psychological effect to drive on. Besides by next league game we should have full squad available unless something serious happens in final.

[RiG]

 

That was a shockingly bad game. Neither side seemed capable of being able to passing the ball preferring to batter it long all night long. Eye gauging stuff.

What was the pitch like?

 

 

Still quite bad in places but looked better than in recent weeks. I think it was watered before the match. Polworth stumbled at one point in a part which was almost all sand which led to him losing the ball.

[Biggin]

At least its a clean sheet again although according to BBC Stats only 4 efforts on goal and only 1 on targert that is not good enough and we did have 53% possession - hopefully we will be better on Sunday

[Macduffer]

Not a bad night. Clean sheet and much better defensive performance, back into 4th place with a game in hand. No red cards.  Suspensions discharged.  Onwards and upwards....

[gingerjaggy]

Think everything has already been said, uninspiring stuff but we got some positives. Even though everybody wanted a win especially as it was the first time we faced Terry Butcher but i think most people would have taken this if we hadn't been battered in our last two matches. The most important aspects are we didn't get any injuries to any of our key players and we kept a clean sheet which i think was a must. Another positive seems to be that Foran was dropped back into midfield again which  think is his best position where he can influence the game more. We didn't score but we were missing nearly all of our central midfield options so i don't think we can complain that much. I know this is a professional footballers full time job so every game is important but it must be hard for them not to think about Sunday and have there mind fully on tonight especially being fully committed to take on tackles. Even though i did hear Foran had a moment which doesn't surprise me as he tries every game. But we are pretty much now guaranteed top six and even though we could have been closer we are still within touching distance of Motherwell and jump United so roll on sundayyyyyy

[12th Man]

Some fans have lost their season ticket books in Main stand section A/B area, just to let you know they have been handed in to a steward. 

[bishbashbosh]

I thought doran over stretched when going for the ball in the beach part of the pitch. looked like he had pulled something ( groin) to me. hibs kicked the ball out of play for him to get treated but doran got up and then got substituted soon after.

or did I fall asleep and dream it

[closed]

I'd have taken nil nil before kick off. Danny Devine and Carl Tremarco stepped in and did not look like fringe players.

[+jagster]

I thought doran over stretched when going for the ball in the beach part of the pitch. looked like he had pulled something ( groin) to me. hibs kicked the ball out of play for him to get treated but doran got up and then got substituted soon after.

or did I fall asleep and dream it

definetely didnt dream it. he looked sore and hobbled a bit when getting replaced. hopefully nothing serious 

[rocky1]

Heard on leaving ground Doran could be out of the final

[+DoofersDad]

I thought doran over stretched when going for the ball in the beach part of the pitch. looked like he had pulled something ( groin) to me. hibs kicked the ball out of play for him to get treated but doran got up and then got substituted soon after.

or did I fall asleep and dream it

No, you didn't dream it.  Billy also has a sore neck from looking up at all the high balls played to him.  Seriously though, if Billy isn't injured we can count ourselves lucky - in the 90th minute Forster went right through him from behind and was lucky to escape with just a yellow.

[Renegade]

Christie was good when he came on and Williams looked good at times, as was the defence, while Mckay got no service.  Polworth though, just awful.

[RiG]

Lazy cut and paste from Pie and Bovril:

 

Hughes rested a lot of normal first teamers and changed formation.

 

We went with a 4-1-4-1

 

Brill

Meekings Warren Devine Tremarco

Foran

Doran Polworth Williams Ross

Mckay

 

Polworth played slightly deeper compared to Williams who tried to get forward to support Mckay. Both Tremarco and Meekings offered very little support from the full back position which resulted in Ross and Doran being forced back inside into a very crowded midfield which is where most of the "action" seemed to take place. When the ball wasn't bobbling about in the middle of the pitch it was generally being thumped high into the air by both sides who, for a period in the second half, didn't complete a pass to a team mate for a good few minutes.

 

Whilst not unusual for 1) ICT or 2) a team managed by Terry Butcher from an ICT point of view it was bizarre to see all of these aimless long balls thumped up the pitch in the vague direction of Mckay, Doran and Ross when our best ball winner in the air, Foran, was held back patrolling just in front of the back four and was unable to offer any aerial support going forward except at set pieces. Hibs fans will be in a better place to confirm this but one of my Hibee supporting chums told me that under Hughes Hibs would have been as well playing without a midfield given the number of times the ball would be punted over their heads in the general direction of Riordan, Stokes etc.

 

Watmore for Hibs showed some flashes of skill as he dribbled past several ICT players on a number of occasions and was then being bundled over before he could create anything to threatening. Stanton was pretty quiet. 

 

The best chances for ICT came when Doran popped up on the left and cut inside flashing a shot / cross into the box which just eluded Mckay before sailing wide. In the second half some neat passing play on the edge of the box played in Doran but Williams was out quickly to smother his shot.

 

The game was summed up on a number of occasions when Doran, McGivern and Forster all, on separate occasions, passed the ball straight out of play under little or no pressure. It really was an exceptionally bad game of football. 

[LundavraJag]

Was a horrible match to watch, first half especially. Foran was lucky to stay on. Ross had some nice touches, the defence looked a little nervous at times but were good, as was Brill. Thought Devine and Tremarco were solid and also liked the look of Williams tonight. The game was just a poor standard from both sides but Evans and Christie both gave a good account of themselves when they came on.

[crownjaggie]

First game I have managed to get to this season due working abroad.  Got to agree it was pretty dire.  Good job it was Hibs who have never traveled up the A9 with much success. Positives for me were a clean sheet, and  Evans and Christie who look like really good prospects for the future.  Doran obviously had no idea which wing he was supposed to be on and spent most of the game trying to swap wings with Ross who couldn't have been briefed about that plan.  Why were there so many high balls pumped up the park to Billy Mackay who is 5ft 6 not 6ft 5.  Although the defender on him manhandled him all night the Ref never looked like pulling him up for it. (obviously not wearing the right coloured jersey to get booked or penalised for infringements at the back under current SPFL rules)

 

No points from me for the player of the year, cos nobody stood out.

[ICTRoughi]

Well that had much more positives and it was a nice warm up for Sunday. Last Sunday I was seething at the performance and tonight was a massive improvement (Least we didn't ship 5 goals )

I thought that both teams didn't really create much but for ICT I thought it wasn't for the lack of trying. I thought that despite what people say about Hibs, I thought they had a good defensive performance and luckily for us they lacked fire power up front.

On the match thread last Sunday I made the point about the direction on touchline, well the lack of direction on the touchline and let me just say what a difference tonight. John Hughes got ripped into them and got the boys motivated and got them working harder. At no point tonight I thought individually a player was slacking and they gave it their best shot. I have to point out even wee Russell Latapy was getting involved with the instructions - it was pleasing. Another point I made on the United thread was about the 4-4-2 formation and I was really pleased that we went back to "business as usual" and reverted to 4-2-3-1 and again what a difference already. Last Sunday I thought that Richie Foran up front with Billy Mckay wasn't the answer and to see him back holding the midfield again was really good. I find Liam Polworth just a bit too lightweight for the top league and if we played Richie Foran upfront I think we would have exposed the midfield and they would have walked all over us. I take my hat off to you John for making a change and getting the confidence back.

My man of the match tonight was Danny Williams. He gave it 110% tonight and I really hope is at least on the bench on Sunday - Superb performance. Carl Tremarco had a good game running down the left wing, getting in tackles and finding himself in space. Defensively I thought we were much better tonight and Gary Warren was superb just gutted he isn't playing on Sunday however I am not writing off Danny Devine who had a solid game. Ryan Christie and Adam Evans. They were really good when they came on and they brought a spark and freshness to the game really pleased for them. Gutted for Ben Greenhalgh and Conor Pepper not getting a game - doesn't look good for the lads with contracts up in June. The only negative I can take from tonight is Billy Mckay's lack of goals. I really hope he finds his shooting boots on Sunday.

Now with Hibs out of the way, thus begins the run in to the cup final! C'Mon the Caley Jags!

[+DoofersDad]

Not too many positives I'm afraid.  Clean sheet against probably the poorest opposition I've seen this season is no great acheivement.  What is worrying is the lack of penetration up front. To be honest we looked much more likely to score on Sunday against Dundee Utd than we did tonight.  Having only 4 attempts at goal is a fair reflection of just how poor an attacking performance that was.  Doran gave the poorest performance I've seen from him for a while but to fair to him there was rarely much movement in front of him and his options were limited.  Foran had an OK game in defensive midfield and Williams did enough to earn a place on the bench.  As often is the case, Ross flattered to deceive - some nice touches but no real end result.

 

I'm not sure why Polworth keeps getting chances.  He has potential and plays the occasional incisive pass but far too often he gives the ball away under no pressure at all.  If Hibs hadn't been hell bent on giving it straight back half the time, these errors could have been severely punished.  I would much rather see the likes of Pepper and Greenhalgh be given more of a chance.

 

However, I suppose we have to be happy enough with a point.  With Shinnie, Raven and Vincent rested and Draper, Tansey and Watkins suspended, we were a very much weakened side.  I am sure we will have a much improved performance on Sunday but players need to take responsibility in the final third.  We are not going to beat Aberdeen by constantly puimping high balls for wee Billy.  We need to get the ball on the deck and we need our midfielders looking to shoot.

[IBM]

Happy enough with the result after a poor game which only livened up when Christie and Evans came on, I think they should have been brought on earlier.  We will need a good bit of luck for Sunday!

[RednBlackComeback]

Summary:

• Match started
• Good save by Brill from McGivern's shot
• Tame attempt from Mckay hitting side net
• Decent shot from Doran saved by Williams
• Match finished!

 

Positives:

They didn't score.

 

Negatives:

We didn't score.

 

Highlight:

Think I saw Toby Michaels in the North Stand ?

[old caley girl]

Summary:

• Match started
• Good save by Brill from McGivern's shot
• Tame attempt from Mckay hitting side net
• Decent shot from Doran saved by Williams
• Match finished!

 

Positives:

They didn't score.

 

Negatives:

We didn't score.

 

Highlight:

Think I saw Toby Michaels in the North Stand ?

That about sums it up. I spoke with Toby Michaels after the game. Lovely guy!

[+TheCaleyOne]

I saw Toby Michaels at the game

[+The_Sponge]

The pitch is in the poorest condition I can remember, the closer you get the worse it looks, very difficult to play a passing game, both teams were struggling to control the ball. Might explain why we played so much better in Dingwall.

[Kingsmills]

At least that steadied the ship a little after two hammerings. Concerned about where the goals are going to come from with Billy McKay out of goal scoring touch. Seeing now the folly of only having one experienced striker in the squad.

 

Would happily settle now for a 0-0 and a penalty shoot out on Sunday.

[CALEYJACK]

Thought Danny Devine, Danny Williams and tremarco all played pretty well

[tm4tj]

http://caleythistleonline.com/page/index.html/_/reports-2013-14/inverness-ct-v-hibernian-report-r1140

 

We all seem to agree on this one then

 

Difficult to be over critical. Let's not forget we made 5 changes and rested two very important players ahead of Dons game, Shinnie and Raven. Agree about Polworth and the pitch. Too many players from both teams could not find a team mate, Hibs were probably worse than us at this and miscontrolled the ball with alarming regularity. They did however use the width better than us in the first half allowing them access to our box a few times, but final balls were shockingly poor.

 

Hope Doran is OK