THE MATCHDAY THREAD Discuss ICT & other games in this thread as they happen Inverness CT -V- Ross County PREVIEW 13th Aug @ 3PM, Caledonian Stadium Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Go to the Chatroom Media Coverage AUDIO BBC Sportsound Open All Mics [UK Only] TEXT ESPN BBC Sporting Life   VIDEO SPL YouTube Channel ICT Official YouTube Channel   TEAM LINEUPS TO FOLLOW Tweets by @ICTFC Tweets by @ICTFC

Looking forward to Dumfries and Greenock

25 minutes ago, cif73 said:

The ref is from Dingwall

Shotts is in Dingwall is it?

Next game friendly at Nairn on Tuesday?

I fear for us this season cant see us winning next week away to Hearts and Then St Johnstone at home  I know we are only 2 games in but looks like we will be in a relegation battle this season need a few more players in

8 minutes ago, Alex MacLeod said:

Shotts is in Dingwall is it?

You not heard the chant before then? You should get out more ;)

10 minutes ago, Biggin said:

I fear for us this season cant see us winning next week away to Hearts and Then St Johnstone at home  I know we are only 2 games in but looks like we will be in a relegation battle this season need a few more players in

 

I know its crap I really thought we`d be well clear at the top by now!

Pretty dire 1st half (trying to pass your way out of defence isnt a wise move when opposition are closing down every ball)

Improvement in the second half, with a bit more space to operate, but alas...it wasnt to be.

I can see us struggling this season
 

oooft! That was painful. Can't think of a decent performance from anybody. Boden and Draper took their goals well, but were otherwise poor. We need another centre half now too. A long season ahead.

Shambles at the back, playing too slowly going forward , lacking shape. OFW is not the best keeper we have and Boden is not the best forward we have. Shame to see Mcnaughton go off injured, j suspect t he may be out for a bit. Good to see Doran back on the park. The only way is up.........HOPEFULLY!!!!!!!!!!

If you weren't at the match, don't let the scoreline fool you into thinking this was a close game.  3-2 flattered us; if County had won by three or four there would have been little to complain about.  Other than the abysmal performance, of course...

We looked completely unprepared for this game.  County always press us high up the pitch right at the start..yet we didn't seem to have anticipated this at all.  We barely got out of our own half in the first quarter of the game, because we kept giving the ball away or having to punt aimless long balls.

All of the goals we conceded were dreadful in their own way.  We may as well have not had any defenders on the park at the first goal.  Gardyne was allowed lots of space and time to cross and Boyce was inexplicably unmarked about eight yards out.  McNaughton had been marking him, yet ended up about three yards away from him and miles underneath the ball.

The second goal might have been prevented had we not taken so long over substituting McNaughton (who took ages to limp off) that we had to play with 10 men.  It was a great first touch and finish by Boyce, mind, but if we'd not been playing a defender short it probably would have been preventable.  Despite the fact that McNaughton clearly couldn't continue, Foran didn't bother summoning Horner for a good minute or two afterward.  Amateurish.  For what it's worth, Raven (who Gardyne had on toast in the opening 15 mins) was a far better centre-back than McNaughton.

The third goal, the obligatory soft-goal-conceded-from-a-set-piece (three games in a row now!) was completely deflating, coming right at the start of the second half.  The long punt forward hung in the air for aeons.  Any half-decent keeper, and most lousy ones, would have come for it and claimed it.  Fon Williams stayed rooted to his line.  Worryingly, Warren was beaten remarkably easily in the air by Boyce.  Earlier, Fon Williams handled outside his box, but the ref played advantage and County inexplicably missed with the goal gaping.  Had it not been for the advantage, the keeper might have seen red instead of the subsequent yellow.

As for us, it sounds like our first goal was extremely fortunate, as County fans (and a few ICT ones) are saying the ref blew his whistle for an apparent finfringement before Boden scored, only to change his mind after the ball went in and he'd spoken to his linesman.  The County players were absolutely incensed.  The second was a great hit by Draper, but apart from a goalline clearance from Cikos shortly after, we didn't really look like scoring.

Lots and lots and lots to worry about.  The body language from the players was terrible.  It was striking that, during stoppages from injuries, the County players were receiving instruction and encouragement from their bench, whilst our management team stood with arms folded and our players wandered away from each other with hands on hips and heads down.  No-one looked like they wanted the ball except Boden, who rarely got it within about ten yards of where he was, and Tremarco, who was the only other player worth a pass mark.  We had four very decent midfielders on the pitch - Draper, Tansey, Polworth and Vigurs - all of whom were really poor in possession.

Anyone watching that fiasco could make the mistake of thinking that we had a rookie manager who was way out of his depth...

Need Meekings back asap to partner Warren at centre half. Boyce had way too much space for his headed goals. Not good to see an ICT player going off injured but it may have saved McNaughton further embarassment. From what I've seen so far, he seems to be living off former glories. Quite encouraged with Horner when he came on ... in an attacking sense as well. Had Richie got him on sooner we might not have lost the 2nd goal while down to 10 men. Cannot fathom the delay in substituting there when McNaughton was down for a while and took an eternity to limp off. That said, it was a silky finish from Boyce. 

Not even second to every ball today. Incredible how many managers don't seem concerned about playing with a man down for a few minutes - even when you're clearly under the cosh. Hopefully Foran's at least learned that lesson today. I know he's more laid back than Hughes but spending the entire game with his arms folded on the sideline seems a bit too laid back.

 

You can't concede 3 soft goals at home and hope to take anything from the game. Defence simply not good enough. Hopefully Meekings returns soon!

29 minutes ago, hislopsoffsideagain said:

If you weren't at the match, don't let the scoreline fool you into thinking this was a close game.  3-2 flattered us; if County had won by three or four there would have been little to complain about.  Other than the abysmal performance, of course...

We looked completely unprepared for this game.  County always press us high up the pitch right at the start..yet we didn't seem to have anticipated this at all.  We barely got out of our own half in the first quarter of the game, because we kept giving the ball away or having to punt aimless long balls.

All of the goals we conceded were dreadful in their own way.  We may as well have not had any defenders on the park at the first goal.  Gardyne was allowed lots of space and time to cross and Boyce was inexplicably unmarked about eight yards out.  McNaughton had been marking him, yet ended up about three yards away from him and miles underneath the ball.

The second goal might have been prevented had we not taken so long over substituting McNaughton (who took ages to limp off) that we had to play with 10 men.  It was a great first touch and finish by Boyce, mind, but if we'd not been playing a defender short it probably would have been preventable.  Despite the fact that McNaughton clearly couldn't continue, Foran didn't bother summoning Horner for a good minute or two afterward.  Amateurish.  For what it's worth, Raven (who Gardyne had on toast in the opening 15 mins) was a far better centre-back than McNaughton.

The third goal, the obligatory soft-goal-conceded-from-a-set-piece (three games in a row now!) was completely deflating, coming right at the start of the second half.  The long punt forward hung in the air for aeons.  Any half-decent keeper, and most lousy ones, would have come for it and claimed it.  Fon Williams stayed rooted to his line.  Worryingly, Warren was beaten remarkably easily in the air by Boyce.  Earlier, Fon Williams handled outside his box, but the ref played advantage and County inexplicably missed with the goal gaping.  Had it not been for the advantage, the keeper might have seen red instead of the subsequent yellow.

As for us, it sounds like our first goal was extremely fortunate, as County fans (and a few ICT ones) are saying the ref blew his whistle for an apparent finfringement before Boden scored, only to change his mind after the ball went in and he'd spoken to his linesman.  The County players were absolutely incensed.  The second was a great hit by Draper, but apart from a goalline clearance from Cikos shortly after, we didn't really look like scoring.

Lots and lots and lots to worry about.  The body language from the players was terrible.  It was striking that, during stoppages from injuries, the County players were receiving instruction and encouragement from their bench, whilst our management team stood with arms folded and our players wandered away from each other with hands on hips and heads down.  No-one looked like they wanted the ball except Boden, who rarely got it within about ten yards of where he was, and Tremarco, who was the only other player worth a pass mark.  We had four very decent midfielders on the pitch - Draper, Tansey, Polworth and Vigurs - all of whom were really poor in possession.

Anyone watching that fiasco could make the mistake of thinking that we had a rookie manager who was way out of his depth...

Excellent analysis

we got battered (not footballing wise) but quite a few of those county players wouldn't have looked out of place in Rio at the rugby 7's.  Tactically we were maybe too kick and rush sometimes. Couple of players maybe didn't have their best game but I'm not pushing the panic button yet. I'll wait til September.

1 hour ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Looking forward to Dumfries and Greenock

I'm looking forward to the likes of Norway and Denmark.

 

Hislopsoffsideagain

Anyone watching that fiasco could make the mistake of thinking that we had a rookie manager who was way out of his depth...

   0

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• Quote 
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• I think you nailed it and this was always the worry appointing a manager with no experience especially on a four year contract. As each loss mounts up the players lose confidence if they don't believe the Manager can sort it, eventually you lose the dressing room entirely. Many were calling for JH to be replaced with Foran forgetting that JH had 20 years experience in the game and could set up a team to earn points even when the squad was ravaged by injuries,it may not have been pretty but sometimes pragmatism is called for. As I said on a previous thread, the players we have should be good enough for a mid table position but the longer they go without a win the greater the pressure on the manager which is then relayed to the players. It becomes a destructive cycle.
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I was intrigued by Foran's demeamour throughout the match. As a player he was passionate and very verbal, however he appears to be the exact opposite as a manager.

Where to begin.

The first goal was a disaster. I could see from the north stand that the marking was all wrong. And sure enough, Boyce was given the freedom of the box to score. Number two was as a result of poor organisation after McNaughton went off.

We got ourselves back into the game just before half-time - great time to score, but then shot ourselves in the foot by conceding a poor third. Draper got it back to 3-2, but despite having nearly half an hour, we couldn't get an equaliser, although we created some chances.

I really hope that one of Foran's talents is an ability to learn quickly. We need to work on our defending as a priority. We are very susceptible to a cross ball, and we keep letting balls bounce rather than dealing with them. There was no communication between Fon Williams and the defence, and this hesitancy led to a number of problems, We also have a tendency to try and play out of trouble rather than clearing our lines - I'd hoped to see the last of that.

There was also a lack of pace and urgency to begin with. And Tansey, Draper, Vigurs and Polworth are too similar in midfield.

Having said that, there were some positives. Boden does seem to have an ability to make the ball stick, and makes some good runs. I thought the three subs had good games, Horner going to right-back and Raven to centre-half actually made the defence look a bit more solid (not that that would have been difficult). Mulraney looked lively - maybe his role will be as an impact player - and Doran gave us a spark that had been missing.

We actually created some decent chances today, but it won't matter if we can't keep them out at the other end.

Not time to press the panic button yet. Just need to dust down that copy of "Defending for Dummies"...

 

Match is on Alba.

Malraney looks promising but the continual high direct ball to him from goal seemed pretty ineffective, unless it's played into space for him to collect from defence or midfield or perhaps a quick goal kick to him on the halfway line and he was looking for it a few times and didn't get. 

A lot of good things to take from the game and if our new signing is out injured for a while then hopefully we aren't far away from having the leagues best centre back pairing back in action together again.

Anyone that thought this season was going to be easy is living in a dream world! New manager, new system, new players....Not going to be an instant success!

4 hours ago, hislopsoffsideagain said:

If you weren't at the match, don't let the scoreline fool you into thinking this was a close game.  3-2 flattered us; if County had won by three or four there would have been little to complain about.  Other than the abysmal performance, of course...

We looked completely unprepared for this game.  County always press us high up the pitch right at the start..yet we didn't seem to have anticipated this at all.  We barely got out of our own half in the first quarter of the game, because we kept giving the ball away or having to punt aimless long balls.

All of the goals we conceded were dreadful in their own way.  We may as well have not had any defenders on the park at the first goal.  Gardyne was allowed lots of space and time to cross and Boyce was inexplicably unmarked about eight yards out.  McNaughton had been marking him, yet ended up about three yards away from him and miles underneath the ball.

The second goal might have been prevented had we not taken so long over substituting McNaughton (who took ages to limp off) that we had to play with 10 men.  It was a great first touch and finish by Boyce, mind, but if we'd not been playing a defender short it probably would have been preventable.  Despite the fact that McNaughton clearly couldn't continue, Foran didn't bother summoning Horner for a good minute or two afterward.  Amateurish.  For what it's worth, Raven (who Gardyne had on toast in the opening 15 mins) was a far better centre-back than McNaughton.

The third goal, the obligatory soft-goal-conceded-from-a-set-piece (three games in a row now!) was completely deflating, coming right at the start of the second half.  The long punt forward hung in the air for aeons.  Any half-decent keeper, and most lousy ones, would have come for it and claimed it.  Fon Williams stayed rooted to his line.  Worryingly, Warren was beaten remarkably easily in the air by Boyce.  Earlier, Fon Williams handled outside his box, but the ref played advantage and County inexplicably missed with the goal gaping.  Had it not been for the advantage, the keeper might have seen red instead of the subsequent yellow.

As for us, it sounds like our first goal was extremely fortunate, as County fans (and a few ICT ones) are saying the ref blew his whistle for an apparent finfringement before Boden scored, only to change his mind after the ball went in and he'd spoken to his linesman.  The County players were absolutely incensed.  The second was a great hit by Draper, but apart from a goalline clearance from Cikos shortly after, we didn't really look like scoring.

Lots and lots and lots to worry about.  The body language from the players was terrible.  It was striking that, during stoppages from injuries, the County players were receiving instruction and encouragement from their bench, whilst our management team stood with arms folded and our players wandered away from each other with hands on hips and heads down.  No-one looked like they wanted the ball except Boden, who rarely got it within about ten yards of where he was, and Tremarco, who was the only other player worth a pass mark.  We had four very decent midfielders on the pitch - Draper, Tansey, Polworth and Vigurs - all of whom were really poor in possession.

Anyone watching that fiasco could make the mistake of thinking that we had a rookie manager who was way out of his depth...

What a spot-on analysis! Organisation was horrendous today. I'm still not sure what our formation in central midfield was. Draper seemed to be a striker for much of the second half!

So - starting at the back:

Fon Williams - worst game yet for us: Hesitant and not great distribution. Certainly at fault for the crucial 3rd.

Defence: All over the place. Raven made a decent fist of makeshift centre half but was poor early on. Warren had a poor game. The marking for the first goal was non-existent - Boyce didn't even have to move to shake off a defender.

Midfield: Disorganised and 2nd to everything. No desire. Vigurs had flashes but largely ineffectual, Tansey non-existent, Draper poor in possession and Polworth quiet. King had flashes, but not enough. Subs were better, but we haven't found our best formation yet.

Up front: Boden did well to score, but had terrible service and lacks movement.

If we'd lost 3-0, it would have reflected the game. The positive was that we managed 2 goals from a shambolic performance. Mulraney and Doran added something too.

McNaughton will be out for some time, so we need to think again. Boy, do we miss Meekings-Warren!

Hope all you people that clamored for Ravens return will hang your heads in shame - he is a feckin donkey.  we need to sign a defender or two as Mcnaughton has shown he is no central defender and is injury prone(god knows how long he will be out).

Feck knows why Raven was shouting at Williams after County scored the second, he was at fault for letting Boyce have a clear shot at goal.

First half was a shambles caused by our lack of desire and organisation, and going in at half time 2-1 down was very fortunate.

Losing a goal just after the restart was a disgrace, Warren had a howler with county happy to sit deep and foul away with the fanny of a ref giving them any 50-50 decisions.

We scored with a sublime strike from Drapes and i thought we might raise the game and get an undeserved equaliser, but nah, huffed and puffed, Polworth lost the ball in midfield(again) and scum very nearly made us pay

I cant see us getting anything at tynecastle, so its going to be a crucial game vs Perth in 2 weeks time.

Hope to feck Foran has got an ace or two up his sleeve.

Hmm. The tactic of not marking Boyce didn't really work, did it?

Disappointing result and very definitely 2nd best.  It was crap but at least it wasn't boring.

Foran is clearly on a steep learning curve, but in his defence I would say that between the Arbroath and the County games we have already had about as much incident as we had in the entire season last year under Hughes.

An absolutely sublime strike by Drapes for the 2nd.

The player we are missing most from last season?  Danny Devine.

My first sight of ict under new management today and have to say I was a bit shocked at how poor we were. 

Thought the game was crying out for Richie foran.... the player!  Was it a mistake for him to retire? His influence  on the pitch was missing. 

And what exactly is Rice's roll now? Last season he was the one shouting instructions from the technical area but today seemed to take very much a back seat. Is it the case that he's only present because the club cannot afford his severance package? 

As for the game itself;

- it was very noticeable to me how often we were easily out -muscled on the ball by the Dingwall players 

- Fon Williams had his poorest game for us. He's got to command his area more 

- Draper was easily our best (only) player 

- Liked the trickery and pace of mulraney when he came on

- Good to see doran back

- Very poor crowd, both home and away

- the referee.....Totally inept 

If we're going to continue playing the direct style of football seen today then I think we should be playing 2 up front. 

On today's evidence I am very worried for this season. Please ict make me eat my words!!!