Matchday Thread Inverness CT -V- Ross County

[hislopsoffsideagain]

County were set up to stop us playing, and that, combined with the awful weather and a rotten pitch, made life difficult for us.  Given that we had little choice but to play long ball, I'm not sure we had a better option up front than Watkins, though playing Williams up with him was a strange move.  Tansey and Ross were passengers and both should have been hooked much earlier.

 

Watkins' goal was tremendous, about the only piece of quality from us in the first half.  We did have our chances to put it to bed after the break though.  From what I could see, the equalizer was a result of a ****-up from Esson, who should have had an easy take of a cross; he seemed to drop it and the ball hit Warren and went in.  Esson's kicking was atrocious today, and he wasn't even trying to pass it out of defence like Brill usually does.

 

I thought the back four generally did fine today, as did Draper and Shinnie in front of them, but in hindsight we really needed either Tansey or Ross in a more central role with Williams wide; our full-backs were very exposed, especially in the second half.

 

I'd have taken a point before kickoff  Frankly, it's a miracle that a football match came close to breaking out, given the conditions.

[ANDYCAM]

Perhaps someone else had a hand in County's goal and I don't think it was Ryan or Gary

[davieB]

What an awful game.

 

Dire stuff in the 1st half, only lit up by Watkins goal. Second half we started the better but then sat back and invited County onto us. If anything, after their equaliser, they looked the more likely to win. And I couldn't feel my feet at the end.

 

If nothing else, today proved we need a striker by Monday. Watkins looked like a fish out of water up front, and I can't see we've anyone else who would've done better. It's going to cost us at the end of the season if we don't get someone in.

 

It's not like we didn't know this was likely to happen. Billy was our only forward from the start of the season and we've just been very fortunate he didn't pick up any injuries.

[davieB]

Looked to me as though Warren and Esson collided for their goal.

[forresjags]

Pretty underwhelming stuff, why did we let Ross County dictate 2nd half never really put them under any pressure , sat too deep.

Needed a 2nd goal but lacked any conviction going forward and seemed happy to sit at 1 nil.

Tremarco did miss his tackle but seemed a straight forward catch for Esson ,he fecked it up.

Unsure why Tansey pushed wide right and Nick Ross pushed wide left with Shinnie playing in central midfield .....Strange

[AlexJones]

Terrible pitch, terrible referee, terrible performance.

It was never going to be easy against County in these kind of conditions. The long ball approach made sense. We didn't execute it well at all though. Too many completely aimless punts which didn't fall within 30 yards of a blue shirt. When we played long balls in the past we were much better at 'ring fencing' the target (MNF reference) and winning second balls. Today we basically just kept giving possession back to County. For the majority of the second half there was no impetus to get forward, and we seemed happy to sit on our lead, a dangerous game. In previous outings we managed to see out narrow leads by hogging possession. That was never going to work today.

On a side not, every time a County player was fouled they feigned serious injury, and every time without fail that gullible clown Beaton flashed a card. Not impressed. Nor by the antics of McIntyre and Dods on the touchline, pair of absolute numpties.

[ICTGAZ]

I'll try and believe it was down to the pitch today, which was poor, however the performance against what I feel is as poor a County team  as I've seen wasn't acceptable.

 

Wee blip yep its a point but c'mon we should have had all 3, however always dodgy sitting at one nil.

 

Onwards and upwards

[Yngwie]

Marley dive when he should've got the ball to tap into open goal -oh dear.

 

  BBC match report says it should have been a penalty. "Pictures revealed that Reguero had indeed clipped Watkins and he struggled to retain his balance before tumbling."

[CaleyD]

 

Marley dive when he should've got the ball to tap into open goal -oh dear.

 

  BBC match report says it should have been a penalty. "Pictures revealed that Reguero had indeed clipped Watkins and he struggled to retain his balance before tumbling."

 

 

Footage will confirm it and also confirm that County goal was a clear hand ball...assuming we get more than 30 seconds on Sportscene.

[TopSix]

Marley dive when he should've got the ball to tap into open goal -oh dear.

 

  BBC match report says it should have been a penalty. "Pictures revealed that Reguero had indeed clipped Watkins and he struggled to retain his balance before tumbling."

 

Footage will confirm it and also confirm that County goal was a clear hand ball...assuming we get more than 30 seconds on Sportscene.

Sportscene show ICT highlights?

[ANDYCAM]

[IBM]

It was a dire game in poor conditions and disappointed we didn't beat a terrible County side!  It will be interesting to see the incidents talked about but like the game against St Johnstone in Perth it won't change the results.  Let's hope for a bit more luck next week away to Partick, we will need it. 

[Guest Shaun]

Didn't mention any possible new signings but did hint at Watkins possibly playing upfront.

Tbh, I didn't expect him to be asked or mention possible signings anyway.

[PerfICT]

Marley dive when he should've got the ball to tap into open goal -oh dear.

 

  BBC match report says it should have been a penalty. "Pictures revealed that Reguero had indeed clipped Watkins and he struggled to retain his balance before tumbling."

No question he was clipped, but no ref is going to give a pen for the way he went down. Not a criticism of Watkins, but he took two paces before going down. Feel the contact, go to ground - no argument. Fair play to Watkins if he tried to keep playing, but plenty would have played for the contact and won the pen. No criticism - just was never going to be given as it happened.

[ANDYCAM]

[CaleyD]

 

 

Marley dive when he should've got the ball to tap into open goal -oh dear.

 

  BBC match report says it should have been a penalty. "Pictures revealed that Reguero had indeed clipped Watkins and he struggled to retain his balance before tumbling."

No question he was clipped, but no ref is going to give a pen for the way he went down. Not a criticism of Watkins, but he took two paces before going down. Feel the contact, go to ground - no argument. Fair play to Watkins if he tried to keep playing, but plenty would have played for the contact and won the pen. No criticism - just was never going to be given as it happened.

 

 

Pretty sure the penalty should be award for the offence, not based on style marks for how the victim goes down...or have I got that wrong?

[CaleyD]

 

Reminder to turn that bloody fridge off

[givmeaccccc]

I thought Williams had a very good game, everyone else was average. County subs made a real difference.

Massive error by Yogi to play Tansey out wide for most of the game, missed him in mid field and he ain't no winger.

[Scarlet Pimple]

I hear the words Summer Football bandied about on this thread and current reports. I also saw these words mentioned in England on a report I was reading from the Wigan F.C. site.

 

Hope it bears fruit for everybody connected with the game. Ryan Esson summed it all up in his interview about the conditions today. He was quite diplomatic but reading between the lines the word appalling springs to mind?

 

Comments please?

[ANDYCAM]

the A B C D E F  of unbelievable tekkers ....

[Macduffer]

Definite penalty.  You only have to play rugby to know the effect of an ankle tap - it upsets the balance for the second and third stride. Credit to Watkins for trying to stay on his feet and finish it off.  He's not going to dive when he's seen what happened to Graham.

[PerfICT]

Marley dive when he should've got the ball to tap into open goal -oh dear.

 

  BBC match report says it should have been a penalty. "Pictures revealed that Reguero had indeed clipped Watkins and he struggled to retain his balance before tumbling."

No question he was clipped, but no ref is going to give a pen for the way he went down. Not a criticism of Watkins, but he took two paces before going down. Feel the contact, go to ground - no argument. Fair play to Watkins if he tried to keep playing, but plenty would have played for the contact and won the pen. No criticism - just was never going to be given as it happened.

 

Pretty sure the penalty should be award for the offence, not based on style marks for how the victim goes down...or have I got that wrong?

Of course, but the delayed reaction was unconvincing. I think Marley genuinely tried to keep playing and was unbalanced by the clip, but it looked like he realised he wasn't going to make and went down. The issue really is: If he was clipped, ref has to give a pen; if ref didn't see it as a clip, he has to give Watkins a yellow card. I'm not sure what no pen and no yellow means?

[PerfICT]

Handball looks a cert!

[TopSix]

I hear the words Summer Football bandied about on this thread and current reports. I also saw these words mentioned in England on a report I was reading from the Wigan F.C. site.

 

Hope it bears fruit for everybody connected with the game. Ryan Esson summed it all up in his interview about the conditions today. He was quite diplomatic but reading between the lines the word appalling springs to mind?

 

Comments please?

Summer football would be perfect for the all-seated stadia in Scotland.

Or, alternatively, we could get rid of this stupid all-seated rule, get rid of the North and South stands and replace them with compact, covered terraces. I far preferred the terraces to what we have now.

[CaleyD]

Think we should just convert the stands into giant ball pits....so much more fun.