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Matchday Thread - ICT v Arbroath (H)


MrCaleyjag

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I can’t beleive I’m relieved that we are beating Arbroath. Nothing against them as the have probably played better, but if we are unconvincing against them, then I fear for us against more clinical teams. That said, Keatings & Donaldson have been great and Storey for his goal !! ?

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Ironically we're in Sneck this weekend but not at the game, currently having an cheeky drink to celebrate Caleyjags birthday.

She was at the 5v2 game in '94 so fitting we won today.

Was really important we got a win today just to put points on the board and in still a bit of confidence amongst the squad. 

Be good to read the comments from those that were at the game.

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Three points but not much else to enthuse about. Dreadful defending for the Arbroath goal but at least we fought back to win. When Storey came on it made a difference and he took his goal well albeit with a bit of assistance from the Arbroath goalie! Robertson must surely have a good look at his starting line up especially up front - we were toothless until changes were made.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, MrCaleyjag said:

Ironically we're in Sneck this weekend but not at the game, currently having an cheeky drink to celebrate Caleyjags birthday.

She was at the 5v2 game in '94 so fitting we won today.

Was really important we got a win today just to put points on the board and in still a bit of confidence amongst the squad. 

Be good to read the comments from those that were at the game.

She was 52 in 1994 - Happy 77th Birthday MrsCaleyjag ?

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That was pretty woeful. Took a mate down to watch and he left at half time! 

First half looked nervous and devoid of any creativity. Ball spent most of the time being lumped into the air and then a series of head tennis. No one made any movement or created any space. They all looked to be waiting for someone else to do it. Dave Carson’s touch in first half was poor but he definitely improved. Not quite sure man of the match though! 

A shame Jack Brown who is now with the Fort, hasn’t been given a chance  he has drive energy and great technique. Hopefully he’ll be back stronger after a season in adult football  

Rooney made some great bursts but seems to get past players with a mix of determination and complete luck. 

Second half was a bit better. White looked totally despondent when he came off - very interesting body language.  Storey added a bit of pace but his touch in general play was rough. 

Todorov came on and whacked a few boys and looked like he wanted to fight. 

Overall,  it’s worrying to see the ball lumped aimlessly from back to front so often. The times we did look like breaking them down it was through some decent passing and movement - there’s just not enough movement to create space - there were a lot of pedestrians out there - does that come down to attitude? 

Now off to find my pal who went to the pub

 

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Hope the commentary sounded okay for those who were listening in.

 

Thought the first half was great entertainment. Arbroath had no interest in sitting deep and pushed players forward when they could with Linn the obvious threat on the left. He had a shot over the bar with his left foot and a right footed one saved comfortably by Ridgers early. Meanwhile Keatings kept popping up in the space in front of their centre backs and was the creator of almost everything good for us. Doran got in behind twice, but the first time he struggled to get the ball out of his feet and shot tamely and the second time he took too long and allowed Jamieson to block. Keatings then had an audacious overhead kick which looked terrific from my vantage point but was probably an easier save than it looked.

 

So since we were on top, of course Arbroath went and scored. Ridgers flapped at a cross, the ball fell to Linn and instead of racing out to block his shot our players all tried to form a wall on the goalline. So Linn did the sensible thing and just leathered it. Having seen the footage at half-time I think Ridgers should still have saved it. He got a hand on it but was beaten by the power. Crucially we got level just before half-time. Unsurprisingly it was Keatings who played the killer pass (Polworth-esque!) and this time Doran finished the one-on-one. Half-time probably came at the wrong time for us as we looked like kicking on.

 

After the break we started slowly; whilst Doran had another half chance so did Arbroath with one that somehow got flicked away from goal at the front post. The decision to bring Storey on for White kinda made sense as Arbroath were playing a super-high line but White's linkup play had been decent. And with Arbroath now tiring they dropped so deep that their central midfielders were on top of their centre-backs...and therefore denying Keatings any space to orchestrate in.

 

That said when Storey went wide we didn't look any more threatening. Whilst the visitors were now leggy and sitting deep they defended pretty comfortably...until Storey cut in from the left and had a speculative shot that looked like a comfortable save at the near post, only for it to end up in the far corner via Jamieson's hands. It was an absolute gift. I'd love to hear what Dick Campbell said when that happened!

 

Over the 90, we deserved the three points but anyone expecting a comfortable win will have been disappointed. As mentioned above I thought Keatings was terrific. Walsh had the beating of the full-back all day long and our central defenders were excellent in and out of possession. That was as good as I've seen Rooney defensively too, he was well disciplined and dealt with Linn very well.

 

The obvious problem is in central midfield. Vincent's energy proved crucial in the later stages but Carson looks like he's still getting used to playing at this level. His decision-making wasn't great and he was too hesitant. We miss Welsh's confidence on the ball so much. A midfield duo of Welsh and Tansey (hey, I can dream!) would make us an altogether different proposition.

 

Three points are three points. We only won five home league games last year so it's not to be sneezed at.

Edited by hislopsoffsideagain
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24 minutes ago, CameronMurray said:

Vincent and Carson in midfield together just doens't work. Would definetly say Vincent's the poorer of the two. Nobody wanting to get on the ball and find a pass into feet to the forwards or wingers.

Vincent is awful Midfield a big concern we are needing Welsh back ASAP

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About as bad as it can get that first half but Robbo must change our starting 11 sorry but White has chance after chance and it is miss after miss the game only got better after White was subbed fans are frustrated as the same starting 11 week after week. Vincent is very poor there must be better that can start 

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Don’t understand why Vincent is being slagged off.

Issues are around long ball to a player who never holds it up and being supported by Keatings who either stands looking at the opposition getting to the ball first or has no end product.

Will save the standard of crossing for another day 

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A better team would have scored early against us as we started poorly. Linn was given way too much time to get his shot off for his goal. It was pleasing that we came from behind and won the game. There was two decent penalty shouts not given for caley- a handball and a foul on Keating. Hopefully back the win up with another at Dundee next time out. ?

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50 minutes ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

She was 52 in 1994 - Happy 77th Birthday MrsCaleyjag ?

Indeed, I married a cougar who showed me the error of my ways not least my choice of teams and here we are ......... ?

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26 minutes ago, MuirtownJaggy said:

Punted long balls, no midfield distribution and very little upfront. I think we have better players than our performances have shown. I think the management team are our issue right now. 

Our style of play needs to change for sure and has been evident all season.

We have players who can take the ball down and run at defence but the mental block we have with tactics and persistent long ball won't a loud it.

Have to agree with you regards the management team and their thinking.

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