alsy Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Is it some deep P&B lore? The Scotland-obsessed poster Dryhorce, who spammed the Tartan Army forum with infinite ludicrous threads like 'Craig Gunn for Scotland' until he was banned, managed to misspell some player's name as 'Mubtumbo'. Can't remember which it was, but it looked nothing like that. Having seen both Astra games, I'm pretty pessimistic about our chances of scoring in this game. Obviously Lopez needs time to settle, but on the basis of what I've seen so far, he doesn't seem to have much pace or ability to lose his marker. Foran probably isn't the answer, as Hughes is clearly (understandably) determined to maintain his patient, possession-based philosophy, and Foran tends to thrive on high balls into the box. He'll probably be used as an impact sub this season. Unless we can sign at least one quick striker, my hopes for this season are that Doran will start to make more of a consistent contribution to games, that Danny Williams will get more game time, and that Ryan Christie will be able to help us unlock defences. Christie had an excellent first leg against Astra, but one of his poorest games for us in the second leg, imo, although this was probably partly to do with the attention he was getting from the Astra players. We're still very strong in central defence and central midfield; I have a feeling that Hughes might prefer Wedderburn to Draper again, as he did in the second leg against Astra. Wedderburn was actually one of our better players in that game, but it would be pretty rough on Draper, who has been an absolute stalwart for us in the last two seasons. I'm almost certain this won't be Hughes' starting 11, but I'd probably go with: Fon Williams Raven Meekings Warren Tremarco/Devine Draper Tansey Doran Christie Williams Lopez Prediction: 0-0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crilly Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I expect we'll play Skippy and Moult up front with Clarkson perhaps getting a run from the bench to replace the former. Chalmers will start left midfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casagolda Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I'd be surprised if Baraclough strayed too far from the team that started against Preston, unless we get a new keeper in before Saturday which is looking unlikely, with Chalmers on the left and Fletcher up front. If I was Baraclough my main tactic would be to get the ball to Marv on the right wing and get him running at Tremarco as often as possible as he's utter gash and undoubtedly the weak link in that Inverness back line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I'd be surprised if Baraclough strayed too far from the team that started against Preston, unless we get a new keeper in before Saturday which is looking unlikely, with Chalmers on the left and Fletcher up front. If I was Baraclough my main tactic would be to get the ball to Marv on the right wing and get him running at Tremarco as often as possible as he's utter gash and undoubtedly the weak link in that Inverness back line. Tremarco is injured. I'd imagine it'll be either Raven or Williams at left back. Both of who are quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casagolda Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Tremarco is injured. I'd imagine it'll be either Raven or Williams at left back. Both of who are quick. That's a real shame, with Shinnie gone he seemed like the genuine weak link in an otherwise strong Inverness back line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiG Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I think both our full backs (Tremarco and Raven) are competent without being overly good. I'd be trying to replace both if possible but on our budget that would be quite difficult. Our three centre backs are all pretty good (Meekings is superb) but with Shinnie gone there is a real drop in quality on the left and right side of the defence now. Playing players like Williams out of position is not the answer although some folk did say he used to play LB previously. Hopefully we get a LB in soon as Hughes has sometimes played Meekings at RB and Raven on the left. Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I would say Raven is fine. I really like him and strolls most games in the Premiership. Tremarco is fucking rubbish and needs punted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crilly Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Don't know anything about Tremarco but Raven has been on the wrong end of a few roastings at Fir Park. Our problem is going to be winning enough ball and and feeding quality ammunition to the likes of MacDonald and Johnson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunglebonce Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 We're still very strong in central defence and central midfield; I have a feeling that Hughes might prefer Wedderburn to Draper again, as he did in the second leg against Astra. Wedderburn was actually one of our better players in that game, but it would be pretty rough on Draper, who has been an absolute stalwart for us in the last two seasons. I watched the second leg on a stream and was reasonably impressed with Wedderburn. The game was played at a faster pace than I thought it would be, and given how both teams were looking to keep possession I thought he did well enough in keeping the play ticking over quickly. That's faint praise but my expectations were low. Dare I say he looked better than Draper did when the latter came on, albeit the tactics had changed at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiG Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I would say Raven is fine. I really like him and strolls most games in the Premiership. Tremarco is fucking rubbish and needs punted. He's sound enough defensively but given that under Hughes we seem to ask our full backs to provide extra width when attacking (Ross, Doran and Christie etc. often tuck in and don't really playing very wide) his crossing is pretty poor when he does get forward. I'd like to see us improve on that position if possible but agree that he's fine for most games. Tremarco is definitely weaker and the LB slot should be an area for immediate improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagster Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I agree re Ravens final ball it can sometimes end up on the car park or the Moray Firth however I do think he is a good defender and is pretty decent going forward. His goal against Celtic to win the sc cup semi was class. Going forward I am with Rig regarding Lopez he must be doing something spectacular in training. I saw him against St Mirren Nairn County and Astra and he didn't impress me. Everyone talks about him not being match fit. Why I'm not sure maybe he will come good I would start with Foran up front and Doran and Christie in behind him. Hopefully Doran can add a few goals this season. We looked decent defensively and passing the ball about with the odd chance in the euro games If we can get someone to score goals could be another decent season hopefully though this could be a 0-0 on the other hand wtf do I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsy Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I watched the second leg on a stream and was reasonably impressed with Wedderburn. The game was played at a faster pace than I thought it would be, and given how both teams were looking to keep possession I thought he did well enough in keeping the play ticking over quickly. That's faint praise but my expectations were low. Dare I say he looked better than Draper did when the latter came on, albeit the tactics had changed at that point. Wedderburn definitely did look better than Draper over both legs - Draper was probably our worst player in the first leg, and it's understandable why Hughes dropped him, although I felt sorry for him. I don't know if he was feeling the pressure, or getting frustrated by the Astra change of pace, but he was lunging in all over the place. In the past, he's done a really good job of staying just on the right side of the law while breaking up opposition attacks and retaking possession, so hopefully that first Astra game was just an off night. Wedderburn looked a bit more static than Draper usually does, but he certainly stuck to his task with real discipline in both legs and made most of his Yogi-endorsed short and sideways passes successfully. If Tremarco is definitely out and Roberts is fit, then I guess the logical thing for Saturday would be to play Williams at left back again and play Roberts alongside Christie and Doran behind either Lopez or Foran. If Hughes doesn't fancy this, then I did wonder whether Devine could do a stop-gap job at left back rather than switching Raven and putting Meekings to right back. Devine may be right footed, but so is Raven, and Devine has been pretty reliable in most jobs he's been asked to do. This would mean that we were only playing one defender out of position rather than two, and Raven is definitely far more potent playing on the right. Any news on Vincent, btw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 1-0 Motherwell. Wesley Fletcher with an 84th minute winner. Nothing other than new-season excitement for this prediction. I haven't watched one minute our pre-season games so I really have no idea how we'll line-up or play. Thank f**k the proper football is back, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellred93 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Can see it be a draw with motherwell failing to put away their chances. Caley get a last minute equaliser and steelmen online goes into meltdown that it was Dans fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjw Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Can see it be a draw with motherwell failing to put away their chances. Caley get a last minute equaliser and steelmen online goes into meltdown that it was Dans fault.Barra must go thread started at 17.51 on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyWellFan Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 My favourite away of the season so I'm thoroughly looking forward to a booze fuelled day out. Hopefully a decent support and performance. 0-3 to Lanarkshire's finest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I have a feeling we'll win 2-1. Motherwell, Killie, Partick treble at the bookies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Malkmus Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I think it will rain and the score will be 1-1. Time to put your house on 1-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crilly Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Hopefully our defence will be less generous than it was last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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