The Famous Aberdeen v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 26/12/2015

[Highland No 1]

Question for Dons fans, I see Rooney has scored a barrow load of penalties, does he score many from open play as well?

[akredz]

Question for Dons fans, I see Rooney has scored a barrow load of penalties, does he score many from open play as well?

Yes.

[Suspect Device]

Question for Dons fans, I see Rooney has scored a barrow load of penalties, does he score many from open play as well?

Yes.

[DrewDon]

On first viewing, I thought Goodwillie's shot struck Devine around the hip area rather than his outstretched arm. Goodwillie didn't appear to claim for a handball, which is perhaps telling. Quinn is possibly guilty of clumsiness at the Inverness penalty, but it is undoubtedly of the soft variety. Draper, who was the most impressive player on the pitch for me, is clever in positioning his body for the contact and resultant fall. Some of Collum's decisions were just utterly bemusing, and most of them shouldn't have been particularly difficult to call.

I thought McInnes was right to replace Quinn when he did, but wrong to introduce Goodwillie ahead of Smith. I've defended Goodwillie in the past, but today he was very poor.

Without wishing to sound overly negative, I was unimpressed by Quinn and Considine. Likewise, Jack must embrace the captaincy and take these games by the scruff of the neck. Hayes didn't have his greatest afternoon, but nobody will be more eager to put that right than himself. McGinn and McLean are both worthy of praise, with the former taking his goal well and the latter unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. I also thought Logan applied himself well throughout.

Onwards and upwards for Wednesday.

[Dunty]

16,000 tickets sold.

So official attendance around 14,000?

Apparently over 15,000 were actually sold for the Hearts game (attendance 13,800 or something).

Called it (kinda). Over 16,000 tickets sold by Xmas eve, then day of game they announce merkie, main and RDL all sold out and limited availability RDU. Would suggest around 17,000 tickets sold.

Attendance 15,142.

Club maybe need to rethink the policy of cheap season tickets for kids, and try instead to turn it into cheap match tickets. A lot of ticket holders simply not turning up.

[AR851903]

Thought it was a pretty bizarre afternoon. Not sure if it was the weather or Christmas hangovers but there was no noise in the stadium at all.

Caley shaded the first half without particularly dominating. We were guilty of playing too many long balls over the top which their back 4 mopped up no bother.

After they went 2-0 up they sat in really deep and that allowed us to get the goal back, and I thought after that an equaliser was always likely. Rooney is coolness personified from the penalty spot.

Collum had a total nightmare. At the end of both halves he called for time when we had just won a corner.

Not as bad as it was looking at five past 4 but think we might be better off if Flood was back for Wednesday (any news on that?) as the game bypassed the centre of the park too much today.

[RossP]

Collum had a total nightmare. At the end of both halves he called for time when we had just won a corner.

This is one of the many things that grind my gears when refereeing... as players/fans seem to think that despite the allotted time being played, because the ball has gone for a corner then the team should get to take that corner. Also, I'd much rather take flak off the team attacking team pushing for a winner who've been denied the corner, than the defending team who's just conceded from the awarded corner!

Here's the goals btw: http://fr.proxfree.com/permalink.php?url=s54aaHA%2FaGsaD5vHs0QZLcUclS%2FcUxrnNZwEMCiA0I%2FIfDm8EySiiHhUCVsQ7H0WMS6txUG4b1uHzhaeO5XY5g%3D%3D&bit=1

[jim999]

Poor game really. Decent fight back after a bad first half performance. Dons could've chucked it after going 2 down but started playing well from about the 55th minute onwards. Pleased with the comeback. Draper was very good for Caley in the first half and we missed Flood.

I can't really get my head round Collum or the folk who keep giving him games. He is generally awful and kept to his usual standards yesterday. He often reacts to players shouts and to the crowd reaction then does this even it up thing with the next decision when he is aware he's cocked up.

The six minutes added on time barely covered the time wasting at Caley's goal kicks. Referee wasn't interested in getting the game moving.

Dons played a high line at times and it can be risky without the pace of Reynolds. Storie's movement off the ball is pretty good and caused problems.

Thought Inverness might have had a few more fans there, pretty poor turn out by them.

[williemillersmoustache]

Just had a look at the pens (cheers RossP) and reckon they're both correct decisions. Quinn a bit clumsy and the ICT fellas arms are up.

We had plenty of warnings about them getting in behind in the first half and didn't deal with it, a poor first half from us. Hayes had an unusual off day and I think we missed flood. Good to see us battle back though and if we had got 40mins of football in the second half, we'd have won. As it was the injury to the keeper and his incessant time wasting meant the ball can't have been in play for anything more than about 35 mins. The 6mins barely covered the injury let alone subs and the fucking about at goal kicks. If you book a player in injury time for time wasting then surely to f**k you have to add more time. Ending both halves at Aberdeen corners just adds insult to injury.

Plenty of bizarre decisions from the officials annoying both sets of fans, a bounce up for a clear foul on the edge of the caley box after that lad held his head a bit (another 1-2 mins not added) was particularly farcical.

Before anyone starts my stop watch is made by Seville calculators Inc.

[BucksburnDandy]

A strange game in which I don't think either team deserved to win it, nor lose it. A draw was fair enough. Inverness dominated the ball and for an hour were the better team. When we awoke from our slumber at 60 minutes, we dominated the last 30 minutes. Ultimately, glad we rescued a point out of that, as similar to the Dundee home game last January, we looked done.

Unfortunately McInnes made almost exactly the same team choice errors that he did in Inverness, which had the same results. Jack & Shinnie couldn't compete physically with Draper and Tansey and Paul Quinn couldn't handle Storey's pace. Quinn again dived in for the opening goal and was extremely clumsy in giving away the penalty kick. He simply is not good enough. It is a shame Del forgot the problems we suffered in Inverness in September, because it was the same problems we suffered yesterday.

Once ICT sat off and we changed the team, we looked far more comfortable. Smith may well have been a better option than Goodwillie, Pawlett too would have been a better option. Nonetheless we got back into it. Credit to Kenny McLean and Niall McGinn who both really did perform well yesterday and helped change the game.

Mr Collum had a strange game yesterday, somehow pissing off both teams and both sets of fans. The corner kick episode was bizarre to say the least. Looked like he got the ICT penalty spot on from my angle, not sure about our one, and perhaps there was a Tremarco handball right at the end too.

All in all, disappointing the way we played for so long, but glad to dig a point out of a lost situation.

[muttonhumper]

McInnes' perseverance with Jack will cost us a double figure points advantage over Hearts in the race for a euro place.

Jack was absolutely bollocks. Fucking gutless fairy.

Disappointing.

Only worsed by Goodwillie.

Hard to tell if he'd ever seen a football before yesterday.

Fucking abysmal.

[RossP]

...and to think every time Jack is left out Scotland squad there's a meltdown in the north. Similar tears a few years ago when Pawlett was rightfully ignored.

[PauloPerth]

if we had got 40mins of football in the second half, we'd have won. As it was the injury to the keeper and his incessant time wasting meant the ball can't have been in play for anything more than about 35 mins. The 6mins barely covered the injury let alone subs and the fucking about at goal kicks. If you book a player in injury time for time wasting then surely to f**k you have to add more time.

I've always felt it bizarre that football is about the only professional sport where the time left to play is kept as a big fucking secret from everyone. It's so open to accusations of unfairness. Every other sport you have a clock on screen/ in the stadium where you know the exact number of seconds left to play and can watch it counting down.

The match timer could easily be linked to a clock on the scoreboard and on your tv screen for live matches so managers and supporters know exactly how long is left to play. It could even be done by the 4th official or a separate official sitting in the stand so the ref doesn't have to worry about it.

[RiG]

Just had a look at the pens (cheers RossP) and reckon they're both correct decisions. Quinn a bit clumsy and the ICT fellas arms are up.

But the ball never hit Devine on the arm. It's clearly come off his midriff. Even if it had come of his arm there was no way it was a deliberate block of any shot given the distance he was from the Aberdeen player shooting and the normal position of a players arms when making that kind of a challenge. It was absolutely the wrong decision. I'm not convinced about our penalty either to be honest and some of the other decisions Collum made were incomprehensible. Yet again he was inconsistent (see booking for Polworth, rightly, for yelling at the linesman, yet he never booked Hayes when he was screaming in his face about another incorrect award) shambles.

That said I was disappointed with how negative we became once we had gone two up. Whilst Aberdeen had most of the first half possession I felt we had probably the more clear cut chances to score and were knocking the ball around quite well. Good work by Draper to bench press Quinn (I think) to cross for Polworth for the opener. As already mentioned I am not absolutely convinced by our penalty. Well taken by Tansey but then after that we defended ridiculously deep and invited Aberdeen onto us for the remaining 40 odd minutes. Any time we got the ball instead of trying to find a team mate with a pass, as we had done in the first half, we resorted to aimless punts up the park for Storey to chase. We completely lost our composure the longer the game went on and were defending desperately as a result. We did have one final chance when Storey broke clear from Shinnie and tried to find Mutumbo but his (Storey's) touch as he went into the box was poor and he lost the ball before he could pick out his team mate.

In the end Warren made a fluff of a clearance and McGinn grabbed a goal back thanks to some bizarre defending from Devine who, like Patterson at Tynecastle, showed McGinn the route to goal instead of blocking it. Thereafter it was continuous Aberdeen pressure with the ball barely crossing into the Dons half and it was no real surprise when they drew level although I think we've got plenty of reason to feel aggrieved about the manner in which it came about. Rooney was never going to miss from the spot.

On the plus side for ICT I thought Storey did well again despite not scoring, Polworth again continued his good form and it was great to have Warren back as well as Raven. Odd that Williams, who set up both goals for us against United and provides the only real width in this team, was dropped to the bench.

Would have been very happy with a point before the game but I was left deflated by our performance after going 2-0 up, which was stunningly negative even by recent standards, and the woeful refereeing performance from Collum which again has been the main talking point after a match. Embarrassing that he is considered our top official.

[Jacksgranda]

Jack was absolutely bollocks. Fucking gutless fairy.

Disappointing.

Only worsed by Goodwillie.

Hard to tell if he'd ever seen a football before yesterday.

Fucking abysmal.

And a Merry Christmas to you, too!

[AR851903]

This is one of the many things that grind my gears when refereeing... as players/fans seem to think that despite the allotted time being played, because the ball has gone for a corner then the team should get to take that corner.

[\quote]

So what if a penalty-worthy foul is committed in the last second of the game - no penalty should be given because time is up when it would be taken?

[CityDave]

This is one of the many things that grind my gears when refereeing... as players/fans seem to think that despite the allotted time being played, because the ball has gone for a corner then the team should get to take that corner.

[\quote]

So what if a penalty-worthy foul is committed in the last second of the game - no penalty should be given because time is up when it would be taken?

I've seen the final whistle blown as the ball was lobbed over the keeper in the air and on its way to a goal. Also Brazil v Sweden 1978 World Cup the ref allowed a corner to be taken and blew the whistle as the ball was in flight before a player headed it into the net, but no goal.

[RiG]

This is one of the many things that grind my gears when refereeing... as players/fans seem to think that despite the allotted time being played, because the ball has gone for a corner then the team should get to take that corner.

[\quote]

So what if a penalty-worthy foul is committed in the last second of the game - no penalty should be given because time is up when it would be taken?

That's not what he has said. If such a situation occurred then the match would be extended for the penalty kick to be taken. The same courtesy is not extended to corner kicks, free kicks etc.

[RossP]

It is up to the referee to decide when the game finishes. I've seen some classic invention of rules from Dons fans, saying the ball has to be in play for the FT whistle to be blown... but I'm afraid the ref can blow FT no matter what is happening on the pitch. He could even blow FT after awarding a penalty, but you won't see that happen for obvious reasons.

[jmothecat]

The problem was that there was still a good 30 seconds left of injury time not played, plus what should have been added for the ICT keepers time wasting. In the first half he blew the whistle bang on 45, despite there being a goal in that half, which is supposed to add an extra thirty seconds. I've no problem with him blowing the whistle if the time had ran out, the issue is that it hadn't.