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Airdrieonians Off Season Thread 2016


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36 minutes ago, carlukediamond said:

John Higgins and Murray Loudon have rejoined Cumbernauld United on loan until the end of this season.
 

Higgins didnt get a look in.

Loudon was the only winger willing to take a man on and he showed some likeable aggression but a couple of times his decision making on his final was very disappointing.

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3 minutes ago, Diamond Oracle said:

Looking at some of the centre half pairings we've had over the years, it's scary to think how poor our current two are in comparison.

Lindsay / Gasparotto
Buchanan / Lamie
Even Lithgow / Crighton

McIntosh and Gorman would make mistakes but be decent and have potential to improve a lot.

Believe it or not,  Crighton and Lithgow are now the fullbacks in Livvy's back 4

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McIntosh and Gorman would make mistakes but be decent and have potential to improve a lot.
Believe it or not,  Crighton and Lithgow are now the fullbacks in Livvy's back 4


Agree they could have the potential but still nowhere near even Buchanan and Lamie who were fairly young/ inexperienced players.

Can see Crighton being useful at RB as he was always capable of whipping in cracking balls, however Lithgow at LB would scare me to death.
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25 minutes ago, Diamond Oracle said:

Agree they could have the potential but still nowhere near even Buchanan and Lamie who were fairly young/ inexperienced players.

No sure they even got many games together and if they were much cop either though both were likeable in ways.

Quote

Can see Crighton being useful at RB as he was always capable of whipping in cracking balls, however Lithgow at LB would scare me to death.

No comment.  

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9 hours ago, Diamond Oracle said:

 


Agree they could have the potential but still nowhere near even Buchanan and Lamie who were fairly young/ inexperienced players.

Can see Crighton being useful at RB as he was always capable of whipping in cracking balls, however Lithgow at LB would scare me to death.

 

Lamie who was last seen at Airdrie (give or take) getting absolutely rag dolled and shown up in the play off final against Dumbarton? 

Good luck to the guy (did amazingly well to move to Morton) and I thought he was alright, but he was never miles ahead of where macintosh with a run of games would be. 

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The season where Bollan came in, Buchanan struggled until we added Milojevic in beside him and then deployed Barr and McCormack just ahead of them. You could tell Buchanan was a player even before the change, but I never really rated Lamie.

Similarly the following season, as good as Gasparotto looked, it was only when we replaced Richards-Everton with Lindsay that the defence really clicked.

Which brings me to my concern, I still think we really need 2 new CBs in during this window. Boateng is hopeless and as much as Gorman is slightly better, I don't think he's good enough for the level we're aiming at. I much prefer McIntosh to either of the former, but I don't know that the club fancy him as a central defender. I wonder if a single centre half would really be able to drag Boateng and Gorman up to a good enough level.

As time ticks on, I'm starting to wonder if we'll sign anyone anyway! [emoji53]

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10 hours ago, Diamond Oracle said:

 


Agree they could have the potential but still nowhere near even Buchanan and Lamie who were fairly young/ inexperienced players.

Can see Crighton being useful at RB as he was always capable of whipping in cracking balls, however Lithgow at LB would scare me to death.

 

Yeah tell me about it, Hopkin has lost the plot playing him there and leaving our actual LB sitting on the bench.

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I can't believe that we won't make at least one signing. TW has made mistakes but he has been ruthless in taking action when he thinks it necessary. Whether the action is always the correct one is a question for another day. He must see where our weakness lies and I'll be astonished if he doesn't take action. The only problem is if he doesn't have the money. However, it does look that ending a loan period, releasing a player and shipping the 2 youngsters out to Cumbernauld again is preparation for this. Surely it can't all be necessary to keep Hutton?

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57 minutes ago, carlukediamond said:

It's simple if we don't make at least 1 defensive signing we struggle to finish top 4 !

Think we would just scrape in without signings, however even with a new C H I doubt we could beat the second bottom of the championship over two legs.

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12 hours ago, Diamond Oracle said:

Looking at some of the centre half pairings we've had over the years, it's scary to think how poor our current two are in comparison.

Lindsay / Gasparotto
Buchanan / Lamie
Even Lithgow / Crighton

 

Big Milojevic too. I was never a fan of Lamie of TBF to the lad he seems to be cutting it at Morton. 

But you're right. It's a huge drop in standard.

I think MacIntosh has the potential to be a great player, though. He's already our best centre - half out of the three who can play there. Yes he'll make mistakes but that's why he needs someone in there to guide him, particularly before his confidence is completely shot. 

Can only hope that we'll sign someone this week.

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Big Milojevic too. I was never a fan of Lamie of TBF to the lad he seems to be cutting it at Morton. 
But you're right. It's a huge drop in standard.

I think MacIntosh has the potential to be a great player, though. He's already our best centre - half out of the three who can play there. Yes he'll make mistakes but that's why he needs someone in there to guide him, particularly before his confidence is completely shot. 

Can only hope that we'll sign someone this week.


Agree with regards to McIntosh but he's nowhere near ready to be our first choice centre half.

I can't help but remember our first game against Livi where he got ragdolled by the powerhouse that is Liam Buchanan for 90 minutes.
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I've been frustrated by Gorman and McIntosh making so many fatal errors but recognise that both lads are capable of so much more.   But I'd be more than happy to trust both as our centre halves.    

We struggle more in other areas and need to sort out our basic organisation first.  Too many times this season we're losing crucial goals where certain players aren't doing the basics right and not covering positions like they should.   We've all moaned for example about Brown not tracking back or McDonald not covering.   Simple things like not pressing right,  not clearing lines, etc.

We'd be better signing a full back to allow Stewart forward.  We'd be infinitely better this season with Bain and or O'Neill there (and Stewart further fwd).    Our central midfield is talented but we have the wrong blend up top.   Ryan is awesome but our wingers aren't wingers.   We don't take men on down the wings and create enough, so we throw too many forward and leave our defence exposed.

Just simple stuff.  Unfortunately it all just shows that King was a clueless tadger.   Someone like Nicky Cadden should have been locked down to an appropriate 2 year contract, not that geriatric Portuguese fraudster.

I was at the Rovers/Celtic game on Sunday (working).  For all that I despise both clubs I had to admire the simplicity of Celtic's style with 2 old school wingers and overlapping fullbacks.     What true Airdrie fan wouldn't give his right testicle to watch Stevie Gray and Innes McDonald on the wings with Owen Coyle through the middle?    Their centre mids expanded and contracted their shape to suit their transitions, the CDM patrolled the width of the centre circle in the same way a Carrick or Busquets does allowing the other 2 to pass, probe and run at the Rovers back line but to always keep a compact shape so they could quickly regain possession. Essentially they simply constantly fed the wingers in the same way Evan Balfour used to.   The fullbacks always balanced.  One goes, the other sits.  Just like when Armstrong slid in beside Forrest and Alonso when McCann overlapped Calderon in Archibalds team.  And long balls from back to front were as rare as hens teeth.   Centre halves were good on the ball and looking to pass into midfield.

We can play that way too as we've done in the past.  But at the moment we're just too chaotic and indisciplined and not really set up to win.   What are Brown and Russell?    Brown should be a no. 10 but we have Leitch too.   Russell is neither a true winger or striker.  We already have Ryan, McKay and Russell (and Scmhidt if we want to be ridiculous) for 1 position.    And no wingers!    Actually, Stewart would be good for that but he's stuck at right back!

What can we do?    Really, till we get a proper chance to restock in the summer we're knackered.    But we're stuck with Russell next year on a contract no one would buy out.   That's for me the worst bit already.

All we can do for now is try to be better organised on the park.   Players need to know their jobs and there needs to be a team strategy.   No more of this ridiculous shape,  getting ripped open all the time.   

 

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