matchday thread Inverness CT -V- Partick Thistle

[AlexJones]

Positives - Top class performance from the full backs. Williams looks every bit as good as Shinnie.

- Owain Fon Williams was terrific again.

- Polworth and Horner put in a great shift.

- Vigurs looks promising.

Hard to be too negative with a clean sheet and a point against a bogey team. We certainly rode our luck at the back at times but got away with it.

The big downer has to be the lack of action in the final third for the first 85 minutes. Christie had an off night. Mutombo showed some decent touches, but no end product. Lopez looked isolated, and bereft of confidence.   

The bottom line is, we've scored 1 goal in 7 and a half hours of football. Not good enough.
 

[+DoofersDad]

We've stretched our unbeaten run to 2 games!

Agree with Alex. 

[dave26]

Given the amount of injuries we have I am far more confident than I was after the Motherwell game. No further injuries and a clean sheet with a makeshift defence. One point picked up against a team who took all nine last season.

We started with energy and kept the ball well. Partick had chances which were mainly down to us giving the ball away cheaply, luckily we were not punished.

Williams pulled off a couple of great saves, his only weakness appears to be his kicking from pass backs.

We need a striker!!!! Lopez does not 'yet' look the part, poor touch, no pace, no height - not sure why we kept him on for 90 minutes tonight. In the last 20 minutes Sutherland could have given an injection of pace up front and put pressure on the defence which may have created more chances for the team.

Once we have a fully fit Doran and Roberts we will be more of a threat and hopefully see Mutombo (or a new signing) playing centre forward.

I suspect we will see the same team on Saturday and keep the players coming back from injury until the following week when we play Hamilton.

[PerfICT]

We're essentially playing with 10 men in every game: a 4-5-0 formation. Lopez is truly clueless, with no pace, no positional sense, no touch and no effort. he's also poor in the air. Sutherland needs to be given the nod - I don't care if he's not ready:my granny would be better than our current number 9. Some good performances tonight: Williams, Raven, Devine, Fon Williams, Horner, Polworth, Mutumbo and Christie all had good spells. Vigurs definitely added something. However, all that effort for nought.....or nil.

[Row S]

Agreed. Jennifer Lopez would be better than Dani.

Vigurs did more in his first 5 minutes than the whole midfield before that point in the game. His first five touches/passes were impressive.

[closed]

2 very good saves from fon Williams tonight. C'mon Dani Lopez we need to see something from you. We actually played not bad tonight. Best game I've seen Lewis Horner have, he was unlucky to be subbed. Iain Vigurs definately added something - nearly great free kick and clever ball over top to mutombo at the death. Another point collected still early days! 

[caley100]

Alarm bells for Yogi!!!    5 games 1 goal.....  feckin poor, in fact totally out of order.   Positives  -   we did not get beat!  

Negatives:    Draper is a bomb scare at central defence, how many times did he have a slack pass/header? whoooaaa get him the **** out of there.

Lopez needs close support, we only looked like creating anything when Vigurs came on and we went 4.4.2 with Mulombo going through the middle.

Our injuries are starting to clear a bit, but no goalscorer to get fit, so what we have will be what yogi gets to work with - this is a worry.

Vincent starts training tomorrow, but Josh is not ready and could still be a while.

Christie started well and looks like a player, but final ball tonight was often poor, is it him or were our players not thinking on the same level?

Once again the final third was a mental blockade for our players, we did not know how to get past it.

Parkhead saturday, and on this form, i worry.

Which means a win vs Hamilton next week is going to be a must or we will be getting set adrift. 

[Snafu]

To be fair Christie was very closely marked throughout the game, understandable as the opposition see him as the main only threat, hopefully he will get more space against Celtic. Very impressive again from out makeshift back four or was it three with Williams playing more as a midfielder than a full back, Devine was outstanding at the back and could be hard to shift when Warren recovers.

Good shift from Vigurs, he looks like a player that can create and cause defenders concern. Nice free kick as well, unlucky not to score.

Both teams equally matched and both played the ball on the deck for most of the game, funny thing was that last 5-10 minutes both teams threw away this tactic and went with a more direct approach with a lot of high balls lobbed back and fore. All that space on the left and it took almost 80 minutes before Partick appeared to notice this and start putting Williams under pressure??

Both Mutombo and Lopez were ineffective, Mutombo was predictable and easily contained despite all his energy. Lopez doesn't look confident and just stopped far often instead of getting his head down and trying harder. Easy to blame, but again we are too slow to get into a position to provide them with opportunities.

Not totally unhappy with the performance much improved from the Motherwell game, disappointed we are still struggling to create chances that could lead to goals and I still think that final ball into the penalty box is poor, at least until Vigurs came on.

 

[+DoofersDad]

Given our difficult current situation, one player I might have expected more of is Greg Tansey.  Last season he was one of the lynch pins of the side and was a major, if often under appreciated, contributor to our success.  This season he seems to be less effective at a time when we really need him to step up and impose himself on games.  He is offering little going forward and seems a shadow of the player he was last year.  Despite the fact that we are currently weaker than last year with departures and injuries, his place in the side must be at risk with the way he has been playing.  Polworth was significantly more effective against Partick.  Lets hope he can rekindle last season's form - and soon.

[hislopsoffsideagain]

I'm a bit relieved that we came away with a point. The game got crazily open in the last 20 minutes and they were at least as likely to score as we were.

Not often that one can criticize the centre-backs after a clean sheet, but both Devine and Draper struggled in possession and made several errors.  Fon Williams made a couple of absolutely stunning saves to keep Partick to nil.

In attack, I think Lopez has had enough opportunity.  He was dreadful again.  He makes too little effort to offer himself for passes into feet - compare that with Mutombo who is always looking for it.  More damningly, his lack of pace completely wrecks out attacking plans - defences can play high up the pitch because there's no threat of Lopez getting in behind.  That means we're far more cramped when in possession and find it harder to work our way into the final third.

A quick forward (eg Mckay, Watkins, even Ofere who was far more mobile than Lopez) stretches play, forcing defences to start in a deeper position and therefore leaving more space in the midfield area for us to work in.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Mutombo as a lone striker in the near future, perhaps once Doran is fit and available again.

[Council Juice]

Is Pogba a new nationality at the TCS?  Not quite sure where he's from in Africa though.

I'm pretty sure he's French. Brother of Paul n all

They are all from Africa, Paul just chose to play for France because he's good! I think The Partick Pogba has played for his country and has a twin brother who has also played for his country and plays in France just now.

Paul Pogba was born in France and plays for the French national team, whereas the other two older brothers were born in Guinea and both play for the Guinea national team. 

Is the other brother a striker too? 

[Yngwie]

Partick have signed Paul Pogba's brother.

Dundee Utd have signed Wesley Sneijder's brother.

Which international footballer's brother would you most like to see playing for ICT? For me it's pretty obvious - Andrew Shinnie's brother!

Edited August 13, 2015 by Yngwie

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

I suppose a point against a team that we struggled to do anything against in the league last year is not too bad.

However, a quick look at the league table and results so far would suggest that the teams we have played are pretty rotten.

And one goal in 5 games is completely honking!

[Sneckboy]

Is Pogba a new nationality at the TCS?  Not quite sure where he's from in Africa though.

I'm pretty sure he's French. Brother of Paul n all

They are all from Africa, Paul just chose to play for France because he's good! I think The Partick Pogba has played for his country and has a twin brother who has also played for his country and plays in France just now.

Paul Pogba was born in France and plays for the French national team, whereas the other two older brothers were born in Guinea and both play for the Guinea national team. 

Is the other brother a striker too? 

The St Etienne Pogba is apparently a central defender.

[Snafu]

I'm a bit relieved that we came away with a point. The game got crazily open in the last 20 minutes and they were at least as likely to score as we were.

Not often that one can criticize the centre-backs after a clean sheet, but both Devine and Draper struggled in possession and made several errors.  Fon Williams made a couple of absolutely stunning saves to keep Partick to nil.

In attack, I think Lopez has had enough opportunity.  He was dreadful again.  He makes too little effort to offer himself for passes into feet - compare that with Mutombo who is always looking for it.  More damningly, his lack of pace completely wrecks out attacking plans - defences can play high up the pitch because there's no threat of Lopez getting in behind.  That means we're far more cramped when in possession and find it harder to work our way into the final third.

A quick forward (eg Mckay, Watkins, even Ofere who was far more mobile than Lopez) stretches play, forcing defences to start in a deeper position and therefore leaving more space in the midfield area for us to work in.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Mutombo as a lone striker in the near future, perhaps once Doran is fit and available again.

I think for us this had a lot to do with Vigurs and Partick had someone to deal with that was not as predictable and outside their game plan. Horner played well but Vigurs showed a lot more variation in his play and what can be done, that's probably also why Partick stopped playing the ball on the deck in the last 10 minutes in their last third. I thought our central midfield was too packed at times and we really could do with someone more effective linking up between the likes of Tansey and Polworth with who ever is up front, I think we need someone also to pull defenders away from Christie and I agree stretch the play out with more adventurous passing. Its possible Vigurs might have this role against Celtic.

With two attacking midfielders on either side it could a good ploy with what we have just now, I don't see Mutombo as effective on the left in that position and I would drop Lopez to the bench for the Celtic game and have Andrea up front just to see if he can be more effective at pulling defenders about and opening up space for others than Lopez managed.

[DEANO96]

Given our difficult current situation, one player I might have expected more of is Greg Tansey.  Last season he was one of the lynch pins of the side and was a major, if often under appreciated, contributor to our success.  This season he seems to be less effective at a time when we really need him to step up and impose himself on games.  He is offering little going forward and seems a shadow of the player he was last year.  Despite the fact that we are currently weaker than last year with departures and injuries, his place in the side must be at risk with the way he has been playing.  Polworth was significantly more effective against Partick.  Lets hope he can rekindle last season's form - and soon.

his place won't be at risk because there's no one to take it and he's struggling going forward cause he has no one to aim for!! Last season we'd have say shinnie and Williams on on wing and with raven and doran/Watkins on the other. As soon as one player made the move inside and pulled the left back with him, the other would have space to run into...but this year, at the moment, there's no width in the team, we lost our 2 most dangerous players and our current forward thinkers are out injured. 

Give it a month and as soon as doran, Vincent and tremarco are back on the field, Tanseys passing will improve incredibly. 

[Snafu]

I suppose a point against a team that we struggled to do anything against in the league last year is not too bad.

However, a quick look at the league table and results so far would suggest that the teams we have played are pretty rotten.

And one goal in 5 games is completely honking!

Its comparative and there is little between most of the teams. If the teams we have played are rotten then this goes for the rest as well, including us.

When did we play the other 2 league games, the league table shows 3 games played?

 

[+DoofersDad]

The game got crazily open in the last 20 minutes and they were at least as likely to score as we were.

Yes.  A game of football actually broke out.  And the crowd responded.  I even got a little bit excited for a while!

[LundavraJag]

Keeper played a blinder and got us that point, he has settled in well since being thrown in at the deep end against Astra. Other good performances were Williams, Devine & Raven with a mention going to Iain Vigurs when he came on, looked solid and came close with his free kick. Christie was hit or miss showing flashes of what he is capable of, personally didn't think Polworth was up to much at all, as was Tansey and I echo the concern of DoofersDad, he has been very uninspiring. Lopez looks shot of confidence but he contributes absolutely nothing to our play, how long does JH persist with him? I want him to succeed but there's really nothing to suggest he will. Mutombo was poor in the first half but improved a little after the break, he seems easily beaten to the ball but does keep at it and it paid off later on which is more than I can say for Lopez.

I didn't think Partick Thistle looked interested for some of that first half but they slowly came into it after 15 or so minutes, eventually having the 3 best chances of the game in my opinion and should have won. We were poor again, just not as poor as we were against Motherwell but if they had got a goal and parked the bus it would have been even more dire to watch, much like our last home game. Our passing was shambolic, in particular Ross Draper. I think the team we are fielding can play a lot better but not in the current system, next weekend is probably not the time to change but if we keep trying something that is not working we won't be getting many more points any time soon until the likes of Doran, Vincent, Meekings and 'a striker ' are back. 

It is criminal we have no proper striker yet.

[Biggin]

We have known since January that we would need a striker why we did not go out and get a pre contract is beyond me looking at the first 3 games we should have been on 9pts instead we are sitting all down to lack of a striker. As it stands a team only needs to score 1 goal and we will be beaten draw if we are lucky and that is not good enough to survive this league.

I don't get to games due to my location and can only go on what I read here and in the press but if Lopez is that bad why not Give Sutherland a run he surely cant be any worse and you never know he might just turn up trumps

[Yngwie]

"Believe me, in Dani Lopez we have a player who will score double figures." - John Hughes, 30/7/2015

I wonder if he is sticking by that claim? Or by double figures, was he meaning "2" rather than "10+"?

Edited August 13, 2015 by Yngwie

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

I suppose a point against a team that we struggled to do anything against in the league last year is not too bad.

However, a quick look at the league table and results so far would suggest that the teams we have played are pretty rotten.

And one goal in 5 games is completely honking!

Its comparative and there is little between most of the teams. If the teams we have played are rotten then this goes for the rest as well, including us.

When did we play the other 2 league games, the league table shows 3 games played?

 

Last two Saturdays.

Motherwell would appear to be poor, and I was at the St Johnstone game and they were pretty rank.

There may be little between the teams, but the fact remains that we have been unable to beat anyone so far this season, which does not bode well.

[Kingsmills]

"Believe me, in Dani Lopez we have a player who will score double figures." - John Hughes, 30/7/2015

I wonder if he is sticking by that claim? Or by double figures, was he meaning "2" rather than "10+"?

Binary ?

[Snafu]

I suppose a point against a team that we struggled to do anything against in the league last year is not too bad.

However, a quick look at the league table and results so far would suggest that the teams we have played are pretty rotten.

And one goal in 5 games is completely honking!

Its comparative and there is little between most of the teams. If the teams we have played are rotten then this goes for the rest as well, including us.

When did we play the other 2 league games, the league table shows 3 games played?

 

Last two Saturdays.

Motherwell would appear to be poor, and I was at the St Johnstone game and they were pretty rank.

There may be little between the teams, but the fact remains that we have been unable to beat anyone so far this season, which does not bode well.

I doubt either Motherwell or St. Johnstone would play like they did against us throughout the whole campaign, if you look at it this way then similarly minded Partick fans must be wondering how on earth we managed to finish 3rd last year based on we were the worst team they played during last seasons campaign. You could say both teams St. Johnstone and Motherwell were poor when they played us, but you can't say how good or bad a team really is based on just one game you saw, especially this early in the season when teams are still finding their feet.

And we are only 3 games into the domestic season, not 5.

1 goal in 5 not 3 to exaggerate your point I suspect.

Some folks have no patience.

 

[+DoofersDad]

"Believe me, in Dani Lopez we have a player who will score double figures." - John Hughes, 30/7/2015

I wonder if he is sticking by that claim? Or by double figures, was he meaning "2" rather than "10+"?

Does this include training sessions?