Inverness CT -V- Raith Rovers - Preview

[Alan]

A good performance from most of the players but Carson and Sutherland were the pick of the bunch. Daniel Mackay I'm afraid was poor and Macgregor wasn't much better. I feel that any of the youngsters on the bench could have been an improvement on these two.

[jed5697]

14 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

Do you know they stayed? Jack mentioned it but they could have travelled up today and used the hotel to relax. 

Don't but the bus was there at 11.30am so they would have to have left early ??

[Jack Waddington]

44 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

Do you know they stayed? Jack mentioned it but they could have travelled up today and used the hotel to relax. 

Was two coaches outside the Mercure around lunchtime, really can't see it being a tourist coach, otherwise Wee Nic would have a fit

[IBM]

54 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

Do you know they stayed? Jack mentioned it but they could have travelled up today and used the hotel to relax. 

I don't think they would have stayed for an evening kick off.  They would have been more likely to have been in for a a pre-match meal and use of the facilities before the game.

[The Mantis]

9 minutes ago, IBM said:

I don't think they would have stayed for an evening kick off.  They would have been more likely to have been in for a a pre-match meal and use of the facilities before the game.

Yeah that's my experience of being involved for a few years with a tier 5 team.

[CaleyTennis]

Definitely a much better performance from the lads tonight, it's good to see them proving their commitment to the cause, on the park instead of just talking a good game to the newspaper journalists :ictscarf:

If it weren't for Jamie Mcdonald we would probably have won. 

I echo what most said here, Carson was our best player and was definitely the correct choice of man of the match from a certain Mr Dodds. 

I know draws are welcome sometimes as the points may be crucial in the long run, but we do need to start scoring and winning sooner rather than later, even if its to only get out of the danger zone rather than push for 4th.

 

Got to be same again on Tuesday unless Harper and Duffy are fit. 

[FrontRow]

1 hour ago, Alan said:

A good performance from most of the players but Carson and Sutherland were the pick of the bunch. Daniel Mackay I'm afraid was poor and Macgregor wasn't much better. I feel that any of the youngsters on the bench could have been an improvement on these two.

What are you basing that ‘feel’ on? We haven’t seen any of them this season and you think taking them on in a knife edge game with a team with little confidence is a good idea? Tonight we at least developed a shape. Ofcourse passes aren’t as slick as they were when we looked decent earlier in the season but that’s what happens when confidence drains and pressure comes on. People snatch at things, flicks don’t work and people making runs aren’t seen - that’s the problem when you’re losing. The trick is to keep believing as a player that it will come back. If you don’t have that that’s when the real trouble starts. I don’t think I’d have thrown any of the kids onto that one 

[Yngwie]

24 minutes ago, CaleyTennis said:

If it weren't for Jamie Mcdonald we would probably have won.

No probably about it - based on BBC shots on target we would have scored 9  if he hadn’t been there.

[Robert]

8 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

No probably about it - based on BBC shots on target we would have scored 9  if he hadn’t been there.

But 6 of those were off target!

We had 9 attempts, 3 on target according to the BBC.

Raith had 1 on target out of 7 attempts.

20 minutes in I’d have taken a point but I feel we should have won that.

However, if we maintain that level of performance and commitment, we should climb the table.

I think the criticism by some of MacGregor and Mackay is harsh. MacGregor had a good first half, despite his missed chance which stemmed from Mackay, whilst I felt Mackay grew into the game despite not being a natural winger

These guys, and the likes of Harper and the youngsters on the bench, are our future so we should be supporting and encouraging them. Don’t give them the same grief Polworth got on here. 

[The Mantis]

1 hour ago, Alan said:

A good performance from most of the players but Carson and Sutherland were the pick of the bunch. Daniel Mackay I'm afraid was poor and Macgregor wasn't much better. I feel that any of the youngsters on the bench could have been an improvement on these two.

Sadly the pair of them have been forced to play every week because of our threadbare squad. Of the two I feel that Roddy is the more natural footballer but neither looks like the next Ryan Christie, possibly not even the next Polworth. I don’t see that throwing on any of the youngsters would have helped. I would have gambled with Keatings though.

[caleyblue29]

Feel 1st half we were 2nd best  but came at in the 2nd half Carson was my player of the night put in a great shift . The youngsters are getting better playing out of position 3 points on Tuesday would be great 

[+Gringo]

I must admit I was dreading watching our team get embarrassed on national TV but, I'm happy to say, that didn't happen. I though they played well once they got going. Having said that, they could have been 2 down by that time. Draw was an honest result I think. Carson defo MotM for me too. Chances were created and should have been put away. My only main gripe was the Keatings situation. As far as I am concerned he is still contracted to ICT and should have played. Watching that performance gives me a bit more belief that we can drag ourselves out of this mess.

[iwannabeadored]

3 home games left against bottom half teams. Away to all of the present top 4, 3 on Astro. This could be close.

[tm4tj]

That was a big upgrade from the Morton game, so well done to the guys and manager for that. It appears that Doofers Dad is right, Pixie Lott does make us look sh!te. 

[Eagle4Caley]

I don't think anyone could say we didn't show character in that match, we had a tough starting 20mins or so, but really grew into the game, and could have won with a tiny bit of lucky/extra composure...that said I guess Raith had 2-3 good chance that they didn't put away either.

Putting Carson at RB was a stroke of genius, he kept Kennedy quiet for most of the match and got upfield dangerously as well. I was very impressed with Todorov, he won so many headers, and more to the point our players often got on to his touch on. Both he and Sutherland seemed able to control the ball and lay it off. The defence was pretty good overall against a decent looking side, a couple of dangerously sliced clearances apart. Ridger commanded his box very well. And defensively the midfield did it's job, and since we also created probably the closest efforts on goal must have done OK going forward as well. I wouldn't be too harsh on MacGregor not slotting home his chance...it's easy to judge from an armchair, but he had to run back to get the ball and his first thought would be to hit the ball early, it would have been amazing composure to stop, look up and lift the ball higher when you're expecting a block/tackle. And Sutherland did everything right with his chance but their goalie pulled off a great save. It maybe wasn't Daniel Mackay's greatest night, and he looked pretty knacked, but he did well enough for me as a young lad, and it was his effort that resulted in MacGregors chance.

On the subject of substitutes, I wasn't really sure who we could put on, who would make a difference, that wouldn't affect the balance and rythmn we had...Keatings the only really option I think, and yes he should still put in 100% even against the side he's joining [he should be super-fit for the Dunfermline game]. Toshney/Vincent were on the bench a week ago, but have disappeared off it without playing? we could do one of Storey or Doran back soon.

I rather feel we have been a tad unfortunate in the scoring stakes, hitting too much wood! Hopefully the Gods will be on our side in the run in, we've done well enough against Hearts and Raith, look like we dominated QoS recently without converting chances, and of course a missed penalty recently.

I think the run-in could be, erm, exciting, in that nail-biting, edge of the seat, slightly despairing way...but the formula has to be, whatever Ayr do, make sure we do better even by just one point.

 

[Robert]

I’ve said it before, but we seem to raise our game on tv. 5 points from 3 league games is better than our average return and it includes games against the top two in the league as it stands. The challenge for the management team and players is very simple: find a way of playing at that level when not on tv. If we do that, we will have a decent run in.

I thought we were going 3 5 2 before kick off, which worried me as there were no obvious wing backs in the line up. But we reverted to the trusted 4 2 3 1 and it worked well once the team settled.

The other noticeable change from the last few games was that we did not try to pass it out from the back all the time.

We had 6 players missing (Toshney, Harper, Vincent, Doran, Storey and McDonald), and I assume Duffy had a knock.

We also had Carson, Deas, MacGregor, Sutherland and, arguably, Mackay all playing out of position.

Yes we could and should have won, but well done to the 11 on the park and, if he changed the tactics back to what suits us best or spotted that Carson was the man to neutralise Kennedy, well done to McCann too. 

[+snorbens_caleyman]

It was a good game between two well-matched sides, and the draw was a fair result.  After the previous performances, I actually enjoyed some of it, although for the last 10 minutes or so, I was praying that we didn't concede a goal, because there would have been no way back.

Carson deserved to be MOTM, although I do wish he would learn to manage his temper better.  On another night he could have been booked for having a go at Kennedy for throwing himself to the ground.  Which would have made his mood worse, and then you have to decide whether to risk leaving him on.

I agreed with the no subs.  The team was doing fine, and the game was on a knife edge, so it would have have been risky to disrupt the team.  Maybe Storey, if he had been available, for Mackay, but certainly no disruption to the defence.

I think I am actually looking forward to Tuesday night.  It's been a long time since I could say that.

[tm4tj]

The most glaring stat I got from the game was this. Where else could you replace one striker with another and half of the total sum of their surnames are u. 

I give you Duku replacing Ugwu.   

[Naelifts]

Bored Don? Stat of the week

[Guest]

1 hour ago, tm4tj said:

The most glaring stat I got from the game was this. Where else could you replace one striker with another and half of the total sum of their surnames are u. 

I give you Duku replacing Ugwu.   

Closest we could get to that would be sticking Billy Urquhart for last 5 minutes

[+snorbens_caleyman]

3 minutes ago, aaroncoganshogun said:

Closest we could get to that would be sticking Billy Urquhart for last 5 minutes

I once saw Black Uhuru playing at Wembley Stadium.   Wasn't footbal though

[tm4tj]

And now a man with three d's in his surname has joined the cause.

I give you Billy Dodds

Announcement - Coaching Staff Boosted

The club is pleased to announce that Billy Dodds is joining our coaching staff with immediate effect.

Full Story https://t.co/810G6Uv3Zc pic.twitter.com/DWcbK45odu

— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) March 13, 2021

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, aaroncoganshogun said:

Closest we could get to that would be sticking Billy Urquhart on for last 5 minutes

 

[Robert]

Today’s results have largely gone our way with Morton, Ayr and Arbroath all losing. Alloa won against 9 men Queen of the South.

We have gone up two places this weekend so things could have gone a lot worse for us. 

[The Mantis]

On 3/11/2021 at 8:58 PM, TheMantis said:

Big performance required tomorrow. Arbroath, Morton, Ayr all facing difficult away matches.

Well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

On to Tuesday night. Looking for Dundee to beat Ayr while we're hoping to take something at Stark's.