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Arbroath -V- Inverness CT - Preview


tm4tj

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Good to start with a win. Probably not really deserved but we will all take it!

Backs to the wall defending after Sutherland’s goal.

Arbroath caused us a few problems but the result is what counts. 

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1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Frustrating how often we were caught offside, but we seem to learned as the game went on.

Well I got that competely wrong at half-time.  Did anyone count the offsides?  Going to have to work to learn to avoid that - can't afford to throw away so many chances in such a competitive league.

A hard-fought win, but partly because we are still not firing on all cylinders.  Difficult to see a structure, or a consistent threat. 

Walsh had good spells, but ultimately faded.  Duku puts himself about but with little luck - perhaps his team-mates should learn that they might get the ball off him in unexpected situations. I only remembered that MacGregor was playing just before he was subbed.

But three points are what it's all about!

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Not our best performance but great to start with a win.

Watching the livestream is not ideal for forming opinions on the players but here goes:

Ridgers had a few squeaky bum moments when he fumbled the ball, but also some good saves. He was arguably lucky not to concede a penalty when he demolished a player to get to the loose ball.

Carson was solid but not as influential going forward as he can be.

Broadfoot was captain and vocal at the back. He and Devine found Nouble a real handful and Broadfoot was walking a tightrope after getting booked. Distribution by both Broadfoot and Devine tended to be long high balls resulting in us not keeping possession.

Deas was solid enough at left back and got forward a few times.

Allardice and McAlear both worked hard, but too often were bypassed in our play. McAlear looks like he could be a real asset for us.

Walsh was the pick of the first half but was hardly seen after the break. If he can sharpen up his crosses he will be very influential this season.

MacGregor was very quiet playing mainly right midfield. He did have one good break and set Duku up but his headed goal was from an offside position.

Sutherland took his goal really well. It was really a solo effort after loose play by Arbroath in midfield. He came close in the first half when Arbroath managed to clear an effort off the line. My MOM today.

Duku was putting himself about but didn’t really have any chances bar the disallowed goal.

The substitutions were strange as we ended up with Harper playing left midfield and Sutherland playing right midfield.

It really was frantic defending for the last 20 minutes but credit them for keeping Arbroath out.

I think Arbroath will feel aggrieved at the referee, as they had a few penalty claims and arguably Broadfoot could have been sent off for a challenge on Nouble after he had been booked.

At times we looked pretty good, particularly when we moved the ball quickly and when Walsh was influential, but we played far too many long balls and kept being caught offside.

This is our first away win against Arbroath since they came up to the Championship, so hopefully a sign of progress.

We will get a better idea of how we are developing against Raith next weekend.

 

 

Edited by Robert
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A great deal of work yet to do and all round improvement to make if we are going to be title contenders.

Seldom pretty to watch but an improvement on what went on in the League Cup group and Shane showed skill and composure in taking his goal which made up for his miss in the first half.

Some desperate defending towards the end but effective in keeping the ball out of the net 

Good to see Billy back although clearly still a good way short of match fit.

A basis to work on and most importantly 3 points in the bag.

Dangerous opponents next up who will be smarting from throwing away such a commanding lead and we will need to more improvement still but heading in the right direction.

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Great feeling to start with a win, but a draw might have been the fairer result. An early conclusion from this and  today’s other  results is that all the teams in this league could be of a fairly similar standard.

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22 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Brilliant result. Our record against the Arbroath has been pretty dreadful recently so to get a win and a clean sheet to start the season is extremely pleasing. 

Can I have a pint of what he's just had please ?

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Why does deas at left back improve our defence so much?

What do we need to coach into cammy harpers positioning or communication to fix any small weaknesses he has. 

Or is it what do we need Deas to focus on at CB to make us more secure? 

I really think a back three  of deas , devine , harper might become our best formation allowing at least three midfielders of Carson, Macgregor , maclear, allardice and welsh to play. Potentially four in a diamond.

Harper and Deas are both great talents but how do we make it work? 

 

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6 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

Can I have a pint of what he's just had please ?

I've got a feeling your the kind of guy that says their glass is half empty halfway through your pint. I apologise for being so positive about winning our first match of the season. 

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14 minutes ago, SteveA said:

I've got a feeling your the kind of guy that says their glass is half empty halfway through your pint. I apologise for being so positive about winning our first match of the season. 

Down with positivity, happy clapping and supporting our team. 🤣🤣🤣

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24 minutes ago, Moogthurso said:

Why does deas at left back improve our defence so much?

What do we need to coach into cammy harpers positioning or communication to fix any small weaknesses he has. 

Or is it what do we need Deas to focus on at CB to make us more secure? 

 

I like Harper and am sure he will be a great player for us. However, Deas seems to have greater presence and confidence, and seems to handle attacking players better.

It was interesting that McCann played Harper in midfield when he got game time at the end of last season, and that was where he played when he came on today.

We like our full backs to push forward, and as we play four at the back it can leave them exposed unless they read the game really well.

I think Harper just needs more experience.

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46 minutes ago, Robert said:

I like Harper and am sure he will be a great player for us. However, Deas seems to have greater presence and confidence, and seems to handle attacking players better.

It was interesting that McCann played Harper in midfield when he got game time at the end of last season, and that was where he played when he came on today.

We like our full backs to push forward, and as we play four at the back it can leave them exposed unless they read the game really well.

I think Harper just needs more experience.

Harper might be better left midfield as he is good going forward and crossing the ball.

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1 hour ago, SteveA said:

I've got a feeling your the kind of guy that says their glass is half empty halfway through your pint. I apologise for being so positive about winning our first match of the season. 

We each have our delight barriers.

As I indicated in my own post, I share your view that it was a positive result and represents decent progress on our League Cup form 

However, I have a slightly higher barrier as to what constitutes a 'brilliant resut' which is just a tad higher than scraping an untidy 1-0 victory against a part time team with half our budget.

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4 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Most of our fans set up camp in the harbour end but then at kick off when they saw that Arbroath were attacking that end, most of their fans migrated to there too. So not much social distancing! They’ve changed ends now, as they always do here.

Stewards let them pile in too. Very poor 

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2 hours ago, SteveA said:

Brilliant result. Our record against the Arbroath has been pretty dreadful recently so to get a win and a clean sheet to start the season is extremely pleasing. 

Totally agree. A rare win there and defence/Mark still managed a clean sheet despite a pounding 2nd half. 

A goal chalked off and a good shout for pen turned down. Im very very happy. 

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39 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

I thought both our central defenders did a great job today. Arbroath played a lot of balls into the box but barely got a sniff.

Especially dealing with the Arbroath forward who looked about seven feet tall.

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