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Inverness Vs Motherwell 1St August 2015


postiejim
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Wonder how different it'd all be this pre-season had Rangers scudded us. It's certainly a big relief to be looking forward to SPL football instead of a few years in the Championship.

 

Think it'll be 1-1, late 'Well equaliser.

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Hard to predict at this point. If we go into the game with the current squad ie no new central midfielder & goalie then I can foresee a narrow loss say 1-0 or 2-0. This early we still seem to have the same defensive weaknesses as we did last season. Ainsworth is also banned and it looks like Joe Chalmers will be allocated the left wing berth - not sure he's suited to that on the albeit limited evidence so far. Our new strikers will not have had time to gel properly at the other end.

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A very tricky first game and one we should be happy to take anything from. Inverness have had a couple of genuinely competitive games in Europe so may be a little more battle ready than us. I seriously hope that we can show some improvement both in terms of fitness and organisation. If we can defend properly for the full ninety minutes then there is no reason why we cannot get something from the game, but that may be a big ask. Hopefully we hit the ground running with a positive attitude and that can continue through the season and give us a much more enjoyable time than the last effort.

As an aside, we managed to win the first game of last season and look how that turned out. So no point in placing too much emphasis on one match. A point and some positives from the performance will do for me right now. COYW!

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Hard to predict at this point. If we go into the game with the current squad ie no new central midfielder & goalie then I can foresee a narrow loss say 1-0 or 2-0. This early we still seem to have the same defensive weaknesses as we did last season. Ainsworth is also banned and it looks like Joe Chalmers will be allocated the left wing berth - not sure he's suited to that on the albeit limited evidence so far. Our new strikers will not have had time to gel properly at the other end.

Who you going to drop for the new central midfielder???

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I'm not Lasleys greatest fan of late but he looked for sharp last night playing in the deep sitting role. He looks fit and strong. Might have life in the old dog yet if he plays the holding role.

That's where he should be playing - it was comical watching him trying to play box to box under McCall last season. But if I'm being greedy I would be looking for someone more mobile and someone better in possession of the ball to play the holding role. Pearson could easily play there too.
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Going into this game, what concerns me, from a defensive perspective, is that so far, we haven't really improved our midfield or defence personnel wise (one or two players may have improved on an individual basis). For the past few years we've lost far too many avoidable goals and last night was typical of the kind of goals we've been shipping. Its the management team's responsibility to analyse these losses and I just wonder what conclusions they've drawn and what they will do/have done to rectify them.

 

Offensively I'm quite happy with the personnel we have although it may take time for our new strikers to gel - this game may come too early for them.

 

I'm with the African on this - if we can defend well for 90+ minutes we'll take something from the game. That may be a big ask though.

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That's where he should be playing - it was comical watching him trying to play box to box under McCall last season. But if I'm being greedy I would be looking for someone more mobile and someone better in possession of the ball to play the holding role. Pearson could easily play there too.

It was less than funny watching him play up front in Iceland.

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Heading up to this. First time going to watch us in Inverness. Is the stadium easy to find? Where do folks recommend parking?

 

On to the game. Would love to even take a point. From what I seen last night I'd really rather not go with Chalmers at left mid. Marv or Dom Thomas on the left would be better.

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Lasley looked like he was suffering in games where he was trying to do too much last season. He doesn't have the legs to play box to box, but once Pearo came in beside him last season, he began to play well.

 

I'd definitely still sign a centre mid though, Lasley will be 36 for the vast majority of the season and I'll like to reduce the reliance on him.

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As far as Keith Lasley is concerned, its unreasonable to expect him to play box to box - thats Pearo's job. This season I'd judge him on his ability to protect the centre backs and goalie. Put in blocks and close attacking players down. In short a critical off the ball role. The question of a new central midfielder is an interesting one - time will tell.

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For the past few years we've lost far too many avoidable goals and last night was typical of the kind of goals we've been shipping. Its the management team's responsibility to analyse these losses and I just wonder what conclusions they've drawn and what they will do/have done to rectify them.

^^^^^ This.

 

It's ultimately a reflection on the management/coaching staff (whomever they may be) if we're consistently losing the same type of goals, from the same areas. If it's happening repeatedly, indeed for more than a season, then you can draw a couple of conclusions 1. they don't see the problem or 2. they don't know how to fix it.

 

For all the new arrivals etc the central 'core' of the team would appear to remain McManus/Laing;Pearson/Lasley, 3 of those 4 are 30+ so in anyone's language it's a big ask to rely on them for the whole season, hence Kennedy being brought in & why the manager's clearly still looking at recruiting in midfield. However beyond that you're looking (hoping) that their failings & flaws as a unit have been identified & worked on.

 

Having said that Baraclough has publicly identified the areas we're still looking to bring players in GK & CM so in that respect I'm happy enough that at the very least he's aware of those areas & for once it's encouraging to hear the manager identifying the same areas as most fans. He/the club have delivered in bringing in players in every other position so I've no reason to doubt that these positions won't be addressed by the end of the window at the very least.

 

As an aside, I'm curious to see what sort of qualities the CM he's after has. The Dutch trialist we had early on in pre-season was 6' 1" & I know we've been linked with Jackson Irvine who's 6' 2". So if it's the case that he's looking to add height/physicality then that would be a box ticked that would be very welcome.

 

re: Inverness game, agree with yourself it's a question of where we are defensively. If we're able to avoid shipping avoidable goals then we can definitely get something out the game.

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As an aside, I'm curious to see what sort of qualities the CM he's after has. The Dutch trialist we had early on in pre-season was 6' 1" & I know we've been linked with Jackson Irvine who's 6' 2". So if it's the case that he's looking to add height/physicality then that would be a box ticked that would be very welcome.

 

 

Hopefully we'll be able to bring in a new signing in the next few days.

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---------------------GK (Praying we get one this week)---------------------

 

 

Law------McManus-----Laing-----Hammell

 

 

Johnson-----Lasley-----Pearson----Thomas

 

---------------------McDonald------------

 

------------------Moult----------------

 

Subs:

Twardzik

Kennedy

Watt

Leitch

Fletcher

Clarkson

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I reckon we will start the same as last night more or less.

 

Even if a goalie comes in I can't see Bara sticking him straight in unless he is very very good.

 

Thomas I don't see starting given him and Cadden went to the u20s tourney and didn't play last night.

 

I think the only likely change will be who partners Skippy up front. Either Moult or Fletcher.

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