I am really looking forward to Saturday’s game. Partick will be no pushovers, have had a good start to the season, and have been a team we have often struggled against.

Hopefully we get a good crowd to will the players on to another three points (another 1-0 perhaps?) but for those not able to be there, livestream and PPV details are here:

https://ictfc.com/ictv-info-partick-thistle-h

Edited September 9, 20213 yr by Robert

OH. MY. GOD. Other week's game against Killie has been overwritten and this was the best game I've been to...despite being 20 odd minutes late due to Stagecoach not showing up at the bus station in time after the supporters bus had already gone...

The bus from the Bus Station ran at 1415 as normal. 

Night and day between the first half and the second half.

Great credit to the manager for whatever he did or said at half time and even greater credit to each and every player for responding so well and demonstrating such resilience just when we needed it most.

Despite their current lowly league position, our trip to Dunfermline next week will be far from easy. The Pars have a very decent squad and will be smarting from another embarrassing result so could be a dangerous wounded animal.

However, if we avoid any sense of complacency, there is no reason why we can't make it six in a row.

Right now, being an ICT fan is more fun than it has been for many a long day.

Great to see two of our younsters sign contract extensions earlier this week.

Maybe the next priority might be to think about adding a sesson or two to BD's contract.

That was a real game of two halves. Partick outclassed us in the first, with Tiffoney a real handful and Graham causing bother (did anyone see what he did to Carson in the second half? Carson was hurt and insensed whilst Graham was promptly hooked). We were lucky only to be one down at the break.

What a transformation in the second half. We came out clearly meaning business and Broadfoot got us level with a clever shot from outside the box. Sutherland then got the reward for all his hard work by pressuring the ‘keeper into a mistake and calmly scoring from a tight angle. Doran took the third well after good play by Carson.

I didn’t see that coming at half time, but the second half was probably our best 45 for some time. We had few issues from Partick and were winning all the second balls.

Ridgers kept us in it with a save before half time.

Carson did not have his best game (he was caught out of position for their goal and had some slack passes in the first half) but kept going. Broadfoot and Devine are turning into a good partnership. Deas did well, particularly at handling Graham at all their throw ins in the first half.

MacGregor and Allardice had good games.

Walsh was quite quiet, whilst Doran had a good game.

Duku worked very hard and didn’t give the Partick defence any time.

The pick for me was Sutherland. His work rate is immense and he seldom loses possession softly, and he deserved his goal for his hard work. At times he was the player assisting Carson against Tiffoney.

A really great result, a very enjoyable second half, and great to keep our 100% record.

Well done to Dodds, the back room team and all the players. 

Edited September 11, 20213 yr by Robert

Amazing turnaround in the second half.  Billy Dodds must have been very eloquent at half-time.

Did anyone see what happened in about the 80th minute when Graham and Carson clashed off the ball in front of the main stand?  The TV missed it.

13 minutes ago, Robert said:

The bus from the Bus Station ran at 1415 as normal. 

No, the 26 to North Kessock. Missed the supporters bus cos I was at the Bught watching Loch Ness beat Orkney. 26 was supposed to arrive at 20 to, and stops outside the Malt Distillery. However, as per Stagecoach, the bus didn't show, and probably would've been quicker walking...

Wonder what Dodds put in the half time refreshments 😂 😂 great and unexpected 2nd half performance following 1st half. Allardice best for me today. Top of the league. Hope they can stay there. 

3 minutes ago, jed5697 said:

Wonder what Dodds put in the half time refreshments 😂 😂

It did indeed make me curious about how much anti-doping testing takes place in the Championship!

Buzzing after that.  We were pretty flat in the first half.  Little ambition when we got into their final third yet struggling to cope with Partick's far more direct attacking.  We were lucky to go into the break just the one down.  2nd half was one the the best and most exciting performances for a long time.  There was a really positive approach and a real desire in everything we did.  Great effort all round but a special mention for Shane who  put in an absolutely immense shift.  It looks like having a "Head of Physical Performance" is having an impact. 

The exciting thing about today is that it shows we can win by playing adventurous attacking football.  A bit more of that and we will have fans returning in numbers.  

Fantastic to be at the stadium today - great game, great atmosphere, great result. Well done boys. I kept thinking that Duku was going to get the goal he deserves because of his great service to others, but it will have to wait for another day.  Oh Inverness is wonderful!

 

The only slight negative is that football like that deserves more than a couple of thousand home fans.

Keep up that standard and hopefully we can prise a few more away from Tesco and the Eastgate Centre on a Saturday afternoon as the season progresses.

The only slight negative is that football like that deserves more than a couple of thousand home fans.

You're right Kingsmills, but today I spotted about half a dozen kids from the primary school I work at, which is more than I've seen since the heady days of the Scottish Cup season. 'From little acorns' and all that. 

Also a lot of people are still lying low because of Covid worries - or they've actually got it.

Also great to hear the support of our fans in the second half: most vocal for sometime.

And we silenced the Partick fans!!

O2B back home. So nice to quaff in the Innes and take my place in the North Stand. What a wonderful day or what a wonderful 45 minutes. As usual I may be brutally direct with my comments BUT we are definitely going in the right direction!! First half was a mare but the eejit McCall decided to defend what they had and did not go for our throat. We were looking all at sea for a while but we were given the chance to get back the control and although the rest of the first half was poor we had gone onto the front foot and never really looked troubled after going a goal down and we morphed into the Kilmarnock system. This was the absolute epitome of a tale of two halves.

And it started with a Kirk Broadfoot attack and a drive that went in like a slow motion camera take. But that started a complete control over the proceedings. And so enjoyable to watch and to relax. We went into complete control and it could have been 6 or 7. When was the last time that you heard Ole shouts for 18 consecutive ICT passes. My return home will live forever in the memory.

RIDGERS ¥¥¥ Possibly at fault for the goal but assured and rarely troubled. 
 

CARSON ¥¥¥ Solid - but sorry - a reliable shoe in but not a wing back.

BROADFOOT ¥¥¥¥ Caught out by pace for the goal but untroubled and leading thereafter. Goal brought on the total change in proceedings 

DEVINE ¥¥¥¥ As good a player as the first time round but minus the lapses in concentration. Building a fine central defensive partnership 

DEAS ¥¥¥ Another solid performance and keeping Harper at bay. Gives us future options though

WALSH ¥¥¥ Has not produced his best and is in danger of benching but again is some player to call on.

ALLARDICE ¥¥¥ Jeez does he blow hot and cold but the central midfield warrior that we have lacked.

McGREGOR ¥¥¥ Disappointed after his Killie display but he is a Christie in the making.

DORAN ¥¥¥¥ Played out wide in the first half and simply does not have the pace anymore BUT bringing him more central and drifting may have been the tactic to win us the game- and what a sweet strike 😎

SUTHERLAND ¥¥¥¥¥ May not be everybody’s cup of vodka but he was the man who shone in BOTH halves. May not be polished but his drive and commitment - and his goal- elevated him above everybody else on the day.

DUKU ¥¥¥ Improved in the second half but I am still not convinced.

Anyone care to join me in a few “Doddsie” 👍🥃 

22 minutes ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Anyone care to join me in a few “Doddsie” 👍🥃 

Already enjoying some tipple!

Glad you had a great return!

I agree with your almost all of your summary. I thought the Partick goal stemmed from Carson being caught upfield which meant Broadfoot had to go out to cover, leaving us exposed.

But who cares, we bossed the second half and got the points. Encouragingly, we have beaten the three teams currently in the play off places.

I’m going to the Dunfermline game with Dunfermline fans and having a few drinks before and after. I really hope we can make it six out of six!

 

Edited September 11, 20213 yr by Robert

2 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

The only slight negative is that football like that deserves more than a couple of thousand home fans.

Keep up that standard and hopefully we can prise a few more away from Tesco and the Eastgate Centre on a Saturday afternoon as the season progresses.

I keep thinking that, literally over and over in my head. Take the Semi Final in 2019, or hell, even the Irn Bru Final in 2018, obviously you've got the regulars who are at every single home game or whatever, then you've got dozens (or in 2019, probably hundreds or even thousands) of faces that never get seen again at any of our games. It's almost as if they don't actually care about the club unless it's a big event, and I can't think of a whole lot of solutions to get them into the games.

Aside from giving out tickets at schools, I think another way could be a "sampler ticket", where at the start of the season a voucher gets sent out to every household in the Inverness-shire area as a "good for one free game" type of thing. Don't know how much it would cost, but it could give a decent shot at people deciding to stay on and get season tickets or whatever.

After a flat first half where we couldn't break them down the second half performance was excellent and a great credit to the Manager and all the team   I hope we see a lot more like that during the rest of the season.

The proverbial game of two half’s !   The noise, atmosphere, singing, chanting, foot stamping in the North Stand today was absolutely great - everyone came away smiling.   Today the North Stand sounded like our usual away crowd!   Let’s have more of the same as the ICT players react to positive encouragement.  

 

Credit to a very fit and professional team, who battled throughout for each other. We were fitter and stronger than Patrick. I don't know what Shane or Duku are on, but I need some! THEY WERE BOTH SUPERB

Just home and had a quick flick ooking at the comments. I agree with many but first half we played our championship sidewhich showed promise but lacked conviction.

Rightly Partick took the first half honours by scoring, slight hesitation on decision making by Ridgers, should he come out or should he stay up big, resulted in the partick goal, Ridgers, just a fraction too late getting down and the ball was in the net. later Ridgers made an outstanding save to keep us in the game, a real wondersave that turned the game in our favou, for after half time we became a Premier league side out playing oponents  in every aspect of the game.

Duku again a magnificent worker put the fear of death into the other Thistles rear guard and midfield. ( Oh how I long to see Duku and Billy working together), Perhaps Doddsy is saving that as his secret weapon ro use when he feels the time is right ) Roddy, Walshy, Shane, Allerdice Doran playing a solid part in the win and for all the rest  would get a mention for action on any battlefiel, especially in the second half. there wasn't a dud in our sde.

The Carson incident to me it wasnt clear but it seemed to me that he got a deliberate elbow banged into him. cant be certain it happened so fast and play had moved away from the incident so just got a glimpse.

Anyway thrilled with our second half performance, our coming back from a goal down to win comfortably, and keeping the top spot.

My man off the match came from one supreme incident,  Ridgers outstanding save that kept us in the game.

1 hour ago, lizi said:

The proverbial game of two half’s !   The noise, atmosphere, singing, chanting, foot stamping in the North Stand today was absolutely great - everyone came away smiling.   Today the North Stand sounded like our usual away crowd!   Let’s have more of the same as the ICT players react to positive encouragement.  

 

There was that much noise in the north stand today it even drowned out the woman with the rattle 

5 hours ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Amazing turnaround in the second half.  Billy Dodds must have been very eloquent at half-time.

Did anyone see what happened in about the 80th minute when Graham and Carson clashed off the ball in front of the main stand?  The TV missed it.

Graham has a history of incidents whenever he plays against us, basically he's just an nasty @rsehole.

Great turnaround in the second half, fighting spirit was there to start the comeback...and after the 1st goal you could say it was a formality

I admit I couldn't see it coming on the back of the first half, but that's why there are two I suppose. 

Another 3 points next week, and back to the clean sheets!

To me Roddy's tackle just after half time demonstrated how much he wanted to win this game - thereafter the whole team became driven. A great result.

On Graham - in the first half he appeared to jump for high balls by ignoring the ball and generally causing trouble for the defender. His one good moment was creating space in the box at 1-0 but Mark made a great save.

The subject of divers in football is well documented but he seems to have a history playing against us whereby there have been quite worrying off the ball incidents. The incident with Carson was very underhand but Carson's response appeared to say it all. McCall is not a likeable Manager but for once he did the ethical thing and hooked Graham immediately afterwards. Unless referees are more observant - difficult when a player does things behind their backs - I believe we could see severe injury.  Graham and Deas were warned by the referee in the first half but immediately afterwards Graham placed his arms on Deas and whilst Deas responded the referee took no further action. Graham should have been booked for that alone. It was in front of 'Lionel', the referee and our dugout.

 

Divers have been an irritating part of the game for as long as I have been watching it which is half a century now and probably for long before that.

To be fair, in all that time, one of the very best practitioners of that dark art was our very own Barry Wilson, what made him so successful at diving is that he seldom if ever did so blatantly but whenever there was a more subtle opportunity boy did he go for it.

That said, I still didn't like it no matter how many penalties and free kicks it won us.

I'm with Johndo on Duku. He is awkward and gangly, often doesn't play the simple ball.....in short he is unpredictable. But he is the type who will unsettle defences and force mistakes. His audacious backward header in the first half would have been spectacular but for a good save. But Ridgers point blank save was out of this world. It was a sure fire goal all the way. That kept us in it......no way back if that had gone in. Or was there?  Inexplicable complete dominance in the second half came from nowhere.  Quite a day and the table makes good reading. We also have some depth to the squad and expectations are realistically rising. It's always a difficult league and a good start ;points on the board is part of the key to succeeding. We are well placed. All that is missing it seems is bums on seats. Surely folks will trickle back with this sort of performance: let's hope so. The players must be enjoying this as much as us and momentum is what we currently have. Long may it continue. I'm debuting at dunfermline hopefully and it's an exciting prospect. See ya there