Rovers vs. ICT

[Wardy]

Just now, HoustonRover said:

Something needs to shape be it personnel or shape because recent performances haven't been good enough.

Not sure we've got the players to go 442, but maybe some amendment of current structure and get Vaughan and Kennedy in behind and closer to Duku with a midfield three of Matthews, Hendry and Tait. Bene and Frankie in the middle with full backs licence to bomb on.

Yeah a 442 diamond esque with vaughan behind Kennedy and A.N Other could work, getting width from the full backs still. 

[Paco]

Honestly, what a gift to ICT tonight. Two rush of bloods to the head from Davidson and McDonald to seal the three points.

Yep. I honestly don’t think we deserved to lose that game even when you remove the fact we played 80 mins with ten men. Obviously we weren’t exactly battering the door down but a draw would’ve been a fair outcome for me.

Our most experienced player threw an elbow in a face in ten minutes, and we conceded from a goalie punt from our own corner, with our own goalie deciding to stand still on the edge of his box.

I’d like to see the red again. It looked extremely soft to me albeit the ICT players were screaming for it immediately, and the linesman would’ve had a great view. The ref on the whole was hellish. Especially annoying given the penalty we should’ve had at the death in Inverness.

We’re never going to beat them. Ever. Just one of those things we’ll need to deal with.

[CALDERON]

Starting to feel as if the bubble is beginning to burst.   Was really happy with where we stood in January with attacking options, but you would have to say it is really difficult to know where a goal is coming from.

Duku and Ugwu have looked terrible of late.  Abraham hasnt had a sniff in weeks.  Gullan looks like a shadow of the player who we had last season.  Armstrong is off the boil, and Kennedy is being marked out of the game.

Add to that the fact that this team just cannot win ugly.  

Granted, tonight we were down to 10 men.  However we actually had enough possession in reasonable areas to do something.  Just zero quality up front whatsoever.  That incident where Ugwu went through on goal and ended up shielding the ball was awful stuff.  Really difficult to see where we go from here.

3 games against Ayr and ICT, no goals and 2 points.  The cut throat nature of this league means that we should have enough to be safe, but it will take a huge upturn in form for us to finish in the playoffs.  And when you consider how well backed the manager was in January, that would be very disappointing indeed.  

Davidson didn't need to lead in with his arm - he is experienced enough to know better than that.  His record speaks for himself, he is a liability.  

[HoustonRover]

1 minute ago, Wardy said:

Yeah a 442 diamond esque with vaughan behind Kennedy and A.N Other could work, getting width from the full backs still. 

Yeah both Vaughan and Kennedy are good players and can float, Duku is miles off it recently but at least can run in behind and stretch the game. Biggest concern has been that games have been literally passing us by.

[CALDERON]

5 minutes ago, renton said:

Ugwu wasn't brilliant but at least he was involved. Got a lot more out of Vaughan in his short time than we did the longer spell from Gullan. 

We are absolutely powderpuff up top.

If you class trying to shield the ball out for a goal kick whilst through on goal, losing possession as soon as you receive it or giving away cheap fouls as involved.

 

[Raith Against The Machine]

This might trigger a rush of wee bawling eyed memes, but to come away from those two games with just one point is really, really poor stuff. I'm not sure Caley Thistle offered much more than the Rovers did across both games, despite the early red card tonight.

Ultimately though, it's largely self-inflicted. As covered by various posters above, we don't have a Plan B. I don't think it's a lack of imagination, it's more a lack of versatility. We've got a fairly large squad but a lot of the players we've got are in exactly the same mould. 

When it comes to facing this Rovers team, you close down our wingers, and you track out fullbacks. That's it. 

None of our carbon copy strikers is technical enough to create chances for himself. Hendry, for all his quality, plays too deep to be able to properly influence the attack without wide options. Crucially, we don't have a goalscoring "10". That's where Vaughan might be able to make a difference, but it's asking a lot. 

This league is daft, so who knows what might happen between now and the end of the year. We won't get relegated. There are too many teams between us and ninth. Even if we're utterly bobbins between now and the end, at least two of those sides will be too. If we can keep Musonda and Benedictus fit and available, we'll probably still squeeze into fourth by virtue of our defensive strength. 

What could've been a fantastic season will ultimately go down as quite frustrating, though. Some odd decisions have really hamstrung the progress of this side. 

Perspective is important, because they're still so much better than anyone had any right to expect this season, but the "what might have been" looks pretty stark. 

[renton]

1 minute ago, CALDERON said:

If you class trying to shield the ball out for a goal kick whilst through on goal, losing possession as soon as you receive it or giving away cheap fouls as involved.

 

It's a low bar right now.

[Scary Bear]

How many minutes did Duku get tonight?

[Raith Against The Machine]

Just now, Scary Bear said:

How many minutes did Duku get tonight?

Same as you. 

[Raith_Rasta]

Tumilty and kmac where deece so was hendry. For gooolan we need to play two up front, he isn’t a wide man at all

[CALDERON]

5 minutes ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

This might trigger a rush of wee bawling eyed memes, but to come away from those two games with just one point is really, really poor stuff. I'm not sure Caley Thistle offered much more than the Rovers did across both games, despite the early red card tonight.

Ultimately though, it's largely self-inflicted. As covered by various posters above, we don't have a Plan B. I don't think it's a lack of imagination, it's more a lack of versatility. We've got a fairly large squad but a lot of the players we've got are in exactly the same mould. 

When it comes to facing this Rovers team, you close down our wingers, and you track out fullbacks. That's it. 

None of our carbon copy strikers is technical enough to create chances for himself. Hendry, for all his quality, plays too deep to be able to properly influence the attack without wide options. Crucially, we don't have a goalscoring "10". That's where Vaughan might be able to make a difference, but it's asking a lot. 

This league is daft, so who knows what might happen between now and the end of the year. We won't get relegated. There are too many teams between us and ninth. Even if we're utterly bobbins between now and the end, at least two of those sides will be too. If we can keep Musonda and Benedictus fit and available, we'll probably still squeeze into fourth by virtue of our defensive strength. 

What could've been a fantastic season will ultimately go down as quite frustrating, though. Some odd decisions have really hamstrung the progress of this side. 

Perspective is important, because they're still so much better than anyone had any right to expect this season, but the "what might have been" looks pretty stark. 

That's the bit I cant quite get.  Every time you hear people speak out Mcglynn, the planning, analysis and work on multiple scenarios is mentioned.  It makes it all the stranger how our play is so one dimensional.

[HoustonRover]

Not sure who else said up but I agree and will ultimately just repeat it. Hendry is super tidy, strolls games but needs to do more for me, go take a game by the scruff of the neck. MoM today but wasn't pulling him team along. Centre mid is an easier game playing just in front of your centre halves

If Goodwin was watching him I'm not sure he's seen a player that's going to make any impact a league up.

[Raith_Raver]

I remember Roy Hodgson saying fairness doesnt come into footbal there's no point in bemoaning it. too often its about the run of the ball, getting the breaks and refereeing decisions. But you'd think that with ICT the law of averages would apply...

[renton]

A wee bit off the match itself, but losing games when you are watching on a tablet, laptop or whatever is frustrating as hell. Previously after a standard grim midweek game you could walk it off on the way to the train station, talk shite with your pals to take your mind off of it. Even get a pint in on the way home.

Now you just wait for the full time whistle, close the tab and stare at a fucking wall for ten minutes.

[Raith_Rasta]

The clocks change will arrive and things will be great again for a place in the play offs

[Hank Scorpio]

A wee bit off the match itself, but losing games when you are watching on a tablet, laptop or whatever is frustrating as hell. Previously after a standard grim midweek game you could walk it off on the way to the train station, talk shite with your pals to take your mind off of it. Even get a pint in on the way home.
Now you just wait for the full time whistle, close the tab and stare at a fucking wall for ten minutes.

It is absolutely shite now, isn’t it? Finding the defeats ruining my mood a lot more now I can’t do the things you mention.

[basher brash]

Think we are getting too one dimensional and we have been sussed by the majority of the teams I would get Duku upfront with Vaughan just behind in a free role , Ugwu brings absolutely nothing IMO
watched dick campbell interview on open goal interesting observation at the start of the season arbroath won 5 points out of 24 with one man up top Campbell changed to 2 men upfront and you can see the transformation in results for them his words will never go 1 up top again . Think Mcglynn has done a great job but I think now is the time to try something different has we are to predictable

[Brashy's Boots]

Tumilty and kmac where deece so was hendry. For gooolan we need to play two up front, he isn’t a wide man at all

Agree. Gullan is out of position and dramatically ineffective there. Needs to be central. Ugwu just lumbers about and is so slow to react, he's no threat at all. I thought he could hold the ball up. He can't. I'd go back to Duku with Vaughan or Gullan behind him. Or Duku and Vaughan as a 2, and if the big b*****d doesn't fancy it, give Timmy one more chance. He's scoring as many as the rest of them at the moment.

[Ro Sham Bo]

In many ways we did as much as could be expected with 10 men for 80 minutes and I think we would probably have gotten a 0-0 of it hadn't been for that ludicrous goal we lost. 

Chopping and changing the centre forward each week isn't ideal but Ugwu needs replaced. He tries hard but he rarely seems to bring anyone into play and has no goal threat at all. Vaughan looked sharp in his 15 minutes but he's unlikely to be able to play twice a week for the foreseeable. 

[R.R.FC]

Difficult to add anything on that one. Paco and Raith Against the Machine have already covered all better than I could.

Going forward I think 4-2-3-1 is the way to go. Back 4 picks itself, Matthews and Hendry as the two with Armstrong, Vaughan and Kennedy behind the striker. I would give either Gullan or Abraham as the 1 because Duku/Ugwu just aren’t firing. I know McGlynn likes a physical hold up striker but it isn’t working. Gullan may not be suited to play as a sole central striker but him playing there would allow for a very fluid front 4 with all able to play in any of the positions which should be more difficult to defend against.

The other option is Abraham, I know many have already written him off as a diddy and the fact McGlynn isn’t giving him any minutes certainly doesn’t inspire confidence he is good enough. However, has he really been that bad in his time on the pitch? He was decent against Dundee, not bad 45 minutes against the Pars before a shocker of a second like the rest of the team. He did okay coming on at Morton but was ineffectual at Arbroath. I’m not ready to write him off quite yet and if McGlynn insists on a physical central striker I’d rather he got another chance at Ayr than Ugwu or Duku right now.