St Mirren vs Dunfermline - League Cup 2nd Round - Tuesday 26th August

[dafcburty]

Copy of what I put on the "League Cup 2nd Round" thread;

Happy enough with the draw. Never been to St Mirren Park before and I think we'll give a good account of ourselves. St Mirren are clear favourites but I wouldn't say we've got no chance. Play to our best and we'll give them a good game, imo.

Not sure what the crowd will be though - what kind of home support would we be looking at?

[Poet of the Macabre]

Off work that week so will definitely be looking to make this one. Only been to the new ground once and hopeful we can put on a good showing and who knows; maybe even cause an upset.

[DAFC]

I think this result will depend on what kind of start st mirren make to the season.

Obviously they have the better side but maybe we can get them at a bad time?

[sergie's no1 fan]

We don't even know what to expect from Saints yet. It might take us a few weeks to get going or we could hit the ground running right away. We have a very young team with a couple of older players thrown in. On paper we look quick, exciting with a bit of power. McLean, McGinn and Goodwin is the making of a top 6 midfield. The rest of the team probably isn't, especially the defence. Hard to tell because we have made quite a few signings.

What can we expect from the Pars? Who should we look out for?

Its scary to think we were both in the same league not so long ago. I think we should get over 2500 home fans for this,depending on the weather obviously. Maybe 500 or so away fans? I think 3000 would be a decent crowd.

[Saints Bevy Squad]

I remember when Pars fans were saying they were stronger than us to so long ago. Oh how times change..

Should be run of the mill for us.

3-0

[Jimmy85]

I remember when Pars fans were saying they were stronger than us to so long ago.

I don't think anyone in the history of the world has used that sentence until right now. It makes absolutely no sense.

[DAFC]

I don't think anyone in the history of the world has used that sentence until right now. It makes absolutely no sense.

It makes sense, kind of, if you say it in the voice of Kim Jong Il puppet.

Stwanga dan us too soo long agwo

Anyway, players to watch out for from us.

Scully, our goalkeeper is arguably one of the best shot stoppers out of the SPL.

Andy Geggan our Jim Goodwin. Captain and engine room of the team.

Josh Falkingham, never stops working and coming back to the form that got him in the team of the year in the first division.

Michael Moffat, very clever attacker who was the top scorer in the league ahead of the expensive Rangers signings.

Young Buchanan signed from Airdrie is also the best player in his position in this league and last night put Nade in his back pocket.

Stirling could be a threat but he's injured atm.

We also have a few decent youngsters who play or have played for Scotland youth teams. They can be inconsistent though.

[dafcburty]

What can we expect from the Pars? Who should we look out for?

Well..."We have a very young team with a couple of older players thrown in. On paper we look quick, exciting with a bit of power."

That is literally how I would describe our team, so we sound very similar in that respect, although your players will more than likely be overall better players despite similar age and experience of first team football for the majority of our squads.

IMO, players to look out for;

Ryan Scully is an excellent goalkeeper and I'm surprised he came back to us in League 1 this season. Easily Championship quality. Partick signed him up on a new 2 year deal this summer, so I'd expect him to be challenging for their #1 jersey next season if he keeps on learning and improving and playing the way he has for us over the past 12 months. He is extremely good at saving 1-on-1's, too.

Gregor Buchanan and Lewis Martin are the two centre backs who have started the season with us and both compliment each other. Buchanan is big and strong, good in the air as you'd expect and a threat from set pieces. Lewis, only 18 I believe, has just been called into the Scotland U19 squad for next weeks friendly vs Belgium, and has only made 21 first team appearances for us. He reads the game exceptionally well and is also good in the air. He is comfortable on the ball, also.

Andy Geggan and Josh Falkingham are a great combination in midfield. Both are box-to-box midfielders and have a great understanding in the middle of the park. This'll be there 3rd season together in CM and both are still of a young age, Geggan being the captain of our club at 27 and Falkingham 24, both are still in their prime and can still, easily imo, go on to higher things than Scottish League 1 if they continue to play consistently well. Geggan got into double figures for us last season in terms of goals, so is a threat as he makes his trademark burst forward from midfield into the box.

In terms of wingers, we've got Faissal El Bakhtaoui - he is very young, and a raw talent. He was picked up 2 seasons ago but had never played 11 a side before in his life, he was a futsal player from St Tropez. It took him 12 months to adapt to full time football and last season he broke in, scoring some vital goals near the end of the season as he got forced up front when we had a striker crisis. He is quick and can have the odd trick up his sleeve, but as I said, he's a raw talent so can be very frustrating and inconsistent at times. Andrew Stirling is another player who can cause a threat but he's injured for us just now so I'm not sure if he'll make this game or how fit he'll be to make any sort of impact, but, since he left you guys, I think he's came on leaps and bounds and was a standout for Stranraer last season and will certainly be a thorn in the side of any team we come up against this season.

Michael Moffat is our main striker: he scored 27 goals in all competitions for Ayr last season and was top scorer in League 1 overall with 26. He is the oldest player in our squad at 29, but is relishing his first year of full time football and has already made a big impression with the fans. It's not just goals he brings to the team, he has an immense work rate, he is comfortable with the ball at his feet, he's got good acceleration and neat footwork to make openings for himself and team mates. Furthermore, we also have Ryan Wallace up front who'd be a perfect foil for Moffat, but, unfortunately, he is returning from a long term injury (was out last 5 months of last season with a double hernia in his groin!!) so isn't fully match sharp yet so I'm not sure if he'll start. Another unknown quantity in our team who may be a threat is our newest signing, Gozie Ugwu. Tall, strong, pacey striker signed from Reading. He was highly rated down there and supporters were surprised he wasn't kept on this summer. He's only 21 but has had first team experience on loan at teams like Yeovil, Shrewsbury and Plymouth. In total he made 38 appearances down England throughout all his loan spells - with the majority of them coming off the bench - scoring 8 goals in the process.

In terms of Saints, we all know about your quality in midfield in McLean and McGinn. I've heard good things about Marwood who you've signed up front and, similarly to us, you've got some promising youth prospects coming through in Jason Naismith and Sean Kelly. I think I'm right in saying, though, that Steven Thompson will miss this game through injury...if so, that is good for us - one less threat to deal with. He is a very good striker at this level, despite being 35.

Saints clear favourites, but play to our potential, have a bit of luck and an upset could be on the cards!

[Larbert_Par]

I just hope that St Mirren's absolute abomination to black and white stripes won't blind me while watching the game here tbh.

Not a bad draw for us at all as it will be interesting to see how we compete against Premiership opposition. Players to look out for in our team are Scully in goals, Williamson (if he plays at right full-back), Gregor Buchanan at the back, Andy Stirling, Josh Falkingham and Andy Geggan in midfield and Michael Moffat up front. They're all very good players at our level but we'll see how they get on.

Would imagine Saints will be too strong for us but you never know, there's always a wee chance of an upset. Looking forward to it anyway, especially as I enjoyed previous visits to the new ground. A good ground to watch football in IMO.

Should we get off to a good start in the league, could see us bringing around 500 or so through.

[parsforlife]

We don't even know what to expect from Saints yet. It might take us a few weeks to get going or we could hit the ground running right away. We have a very young team with a couple of older players thrown in.

What can we expect from the Pars? Who should we look out for?

Its scary to think we were both in the same league not so long ago. I think we should get over 2500 home fans for this,depending on the weather obviously. Maybe 500 or so away fans? I think 3000 would be a decent crowd.

as Burty says thats almost a description of the pars team you have there, expect our older players are Moffat at 29 and Geggan at 27.

Individualy we have a few players but I think we are quite a well rounded team, obviously against higher opposition we would expect to have less of the ball and therefore our high energy players will probably stand out more, Geggan Is quite capable of covering every blade of grass and not looking tired after it and Falkingham who is likely to be in midfield with him is also very energetic, he is a bit more of a ball player than Geggan but despite his rather tiny frame he is definitly up for the battle.

Up front we have Moffat who finished top scorer last year despite Ayr being far from a good side and having to compete with rangers players. He with Geggan was part of the Ayr side that knocked you out a couple of years back, also got the consolation in your 5-1 revenge.

In goals is Scully, who is certainly capable, as said he is excellent in one on ones, it's absolutly ridiculous how often he comes out on top.

Others that may stand out include wallace, ex-saint Stirling and Williamson who enjoys a wee run, he is however unlikely to be selected IMO due to his defensive frailties, Ross Millen(son of long-term saint andy) is more likely to start at right back. Another saints interest is in john potter who will be part of the coaching staff.

Generally take everything you would think about how a jim Jefferies side plays and throw it away, we are a million miles away from the stereotype.

On crowd, if we start our league campaign following on from the promise of out two cup games then 500 sounds about right for us.

I just hope that St Mirren's absolute abomination to black and white stripes won't blind me while watching the game here tbh.

I had forgotten about the strips, why did you have to remind me of the strips? Have they been banned under law yet? Has their been a revolution at st mirren park resulting in the execution of the design team? If not why not?

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I don't think anyone in the history of the world has used that sentence until right now. It makes absolutely no sense.

Indeed, I thought I'd accidentally stumbled onto a Kilmarnock transfer thread.

[RossC93]

I believe this is the the game Thommo is targeting to be back in the starting XI, which will give us a big boost.

2-0 us.

[Lex]

I've only seen Dunfermline twice since their one season foray with the big boys a few years back. Both of them have been when they lost end of season play offs to part time opponents.

The last time was at the end of last season, in the playoff second leg against Cowdenbeath. The Championship part timers cuffed them three zip in their own back yard and it should have been more. Quite a fall from grace indeed, and certainly a deserved one.

Maybe the team's changed since then, remarkably the manager hasn't. Regardless, if we don't progress it will be a big upset.

[dafcburty]

To be fair, 2 years ago vs Alloa, we had a cobbled together side of 17 year olds with s couple of "first team players" which included Andy Geggan and Ryan Wallace who at the time were 22 and 25 respectively. They both also missed the final due to injury alongside our #1 CB Callum Morris. Alloa deserved their victory.

Last season - imo, we bottled it. Yes, we had a striking crisis with all 4 of our strikers out injured which left us with our back up CM, Ryan Thomson, and raw talent and winger Faissal El Bakhtaoui thrown up front. Add into the fact Cowdenbeath had a deadly strike partnership of Hemmings and Stewart, who punished us for making basic errors, then we were always destined to lose, unfortunately. And I'm taking nothing away from Cowdenbeath as they totally deserved their aggregate victory - but a bit more bottle, less injuries to our strikers and not allowing Cowdenbeath to score after 39 seconds all could've swung the tie into our favour.

Both those games you've saw, imo, were unfair reflections of DAFC as a collective group and squad and hopefully when we meet our guys can put on a performance to show they aren't that bad a team at the end of it all. Don't get me wrong, St Mirren are, and rightly so, favourites for this match and it would be an upset if we progress, but I still believe that if we play to our potential and get a bit of luck, we've got an outside chance of winning.

All I can ask for is 100% commitment and desire. If we get that, whoever wins, they can go home with their heads held high.

[Shandon Par]

I've only seen Dunfermline twice since their one season foray with the big boys a few years back. Both of them have been when they lost end of season play offs to part time opponents.

The last time was at the end of last season, in the playoff second leg against Cowdenbeath. The Championship part timers cuffed them three zip in their own back yard and it should have been more. Quite a fall from grace indeed, and certainly a deserved one.

Bottled it, messed it up, froze - the Alloa game was perfectly understandable but the Cowden game was a sore one. The sore thing is that it's so unrepresentative of what this team is all about yet like you, anyone tuning in after not seeing us for a couple of years would just think we're rotten.

Raith were left pretty down the other night after seeing just how much better we used the ball than them - a performance as far removed from that Cowden shambles as you can imagine.

I wouldn't expect an upset but I'd hope we can at least make it a decent game and it's a good yardstick for all our young players to gauge what level they have to get to if we're to progress back up the leagues.

[da_no_1]

A single high pressure game on TV 100% always gives an accurate reflection of how a team plays week in week out.

2-1 to us - the shock of the round.

[Billy Jean King]

We don't even know what to expect from Saints yet. It might take us a few weeks to get going or we could hit the ground running right away. We have a very young team with a couple of older players thrown in. On paper we look quick, exciting with a bit of power. McLean, McGinn and Goodwin is the making of a top 6 midfield. The rest of the team probably isn't, especially the defence. Hard to tell because we have made quite a few signings.

What can we expect from the Pars? Who should we look out for?

Its scary to think we were both in the same league not so long ago. I think we should get over 2500 home fans for this,depending on the weather obviously. Maybe 500 or so away fans? I think 3000 would be a decent crowd.

2500 no chance - total crowds v Ayr and Accies year we won it barely cracked 2000. To get 2500 we would need to have won our opening 2 league games and them to bring 500 min !

[parfecto]

I take it this will probably be on the Tuesday night?

[dafcburty]

Game confirmed as Tuesday 26th August, 7:45pm kick off.

[Paranoid]

Please cut the grass and water the pitch so we can play our silky passing game.