I have sat around for a couple of months now watching our season unfold with interest and the most dispointing thing to me is how quickly the fans want rid of Alan Maitland when things are not going well.

In my opinion Alan Maitland has been the most influential Manager ever to have worked for the club, is it a coincidence that the Club and in particular the ground looks as good as it does now? is it a coincidence that that we have a thriving youth set up? and on paper we do have a good side even though results are not going our way at the moment.

If the supporters reflect on our start last season we are almost in the same predicament and we turned it around and most fans would have to agree we had a succsesful season.

I am as disapointed as everyone else but we must not just do the easy thing and start all this nonsense about sacking the Manager, in fact there is also a daft quote about sacking the youth coaches as well, what have they done other than produce decent players for the club along with some good teams this season i have sen both the 19s and 16s who look very decent at their prospective age groups.

I think some supporters need to think aout the really dark days especially when that guy McCauley was in charge and back the Club at this time.

These are only my opinions and i know some smart arse shall respond in a totally negative way to them but i am only adding in my tuppenceworth after all Alan Maitland and all connected with the club give up a lot to try and ensure we the real fans get what we are looking for a "good team playing good football and winning games along the way".

Great manager arguably the best in the lower divisions.

Correct.

The vast majority of alloa fans do not want to get rid of Alan Maitland, its the more vocal minority that do, as is always the case. That said, we dont have to back the manager, his team is currently not performing well and it becomes a question of how long do you give 'arguably the best manager in the lower divisions' to turn things around. Personally i do not think its the right time for him to go, if only because there is no one else who could take over, the players are not performing at the moment and Maitland deserves time to sort it out. If in another 4 months or so we are not performing any better then we shouldnt back him.

I think youre lucky to have a manager like Maitland. He could manage at a higher level IMO.

I've not shouted at Allan Maitland to go but I think we're getting very close to the stage where his position has to be considered. We did well last season but this season we have been spectacularly bad and Allan Maitland really does have some questions to answer.

Why has Scott Agnew not been replaced, does Allan Maitland honestly think we can go through the season with Francis Kelly as our only left sided midfielder?

Why have we got so many central midfielders while other parts of the team have been left threadbare?

Why has he started playing Dougie Hill at left back instead of in the centre of defence where he was one of our better performers?

Why has he been unable to sort out the defence which has been leaking goals for the whole time he has been in charge?

Why has he not signed a striker with a bit of pace, or does he not think that playing with two slow strikers make us very easy to defend against?

I really hope that Allan Maitland manages to turn things around but he has to show us that he is a good manager by the team performing on the park. If that doesn't happen then we will need to find somebody who can get the team playing.

Stick with him for a while longer. I think he deserves a chance, if he's done well for you before. If not stick with him for that reason, at least stick with him for another month so we can take another mighty point off yous.

Taking you back where you belong.

cant believe your are going to play dougie hill at left back.He is a great centre half and is far better there rather than left back. How is he doing along with Scullion?
We will take Dougie back and you can have Sandy Hodge back if you want?

Hill was doing pretty well at centre half in the games I saw. Think he possibly found himself out of the team recently for non football reasons and then at left back at the weekend because of the managers failure to sign a left sided midfielder in the summer and thus trying Iain Campbell there? As for Scullion he looked the part pre-season but fair to say he has struggled since. And no we dont want Sandy Hodge back (although I always thought he was a steady enough player).

Wonder if the fans of other clubs who are saying we should be sticking with the manager and that he is the best around would be of the same opinion if they were in our position and had lost 7 out of of 9 in this p*sh poor league? Its hardly a surprise there is some unrest in the Alloa support. He has an excellent track record in the game and has made steady progress with Alloa but there have been some mystifying decisions at times and as Dink said he made a mess of his summer signings. I still hope he can turn it around but it needs to start improving pretty soon.

what was the non-footballing issues?

Really like Alan Maitland but I am beginning to think it is time for a change as although there has been some improvement in the last two games after the East Fife Game it is not enough. Really hoped he would manage to turn it around but just hasn’t happened. The next game is at home to Arbroath and if Alan is still in charge we must win it. I am sure Alloa Managers in the past have been sacked with better records than 4 points in 9 games. Remember being on the track at Gayfield when Billy Lamont was in charge giving him absolute pelters but on Saturday due to the way he conducts himself the most vehement shout I could muster was “that’s not good enough Alan”.

The left hand side of midfield and lack of a mobile/speedy striker is evident and has been previously mentioned by a number of posters. It should also have been evident to Alan Maitland who signed Pat Scullion yet another Central Midfielder who from what I have seen is certainly no better than John Grant, Brown Ferguson, Jamie Stevenson or Stevie McKeown in that roll.

Whether Alan stays in charge or not I will continue to go to the games and support the team but it is becoming much harder to spend money to watch defeat after defeat.

I like Maitland and really want him to be a success but his record with regads to signing players is abysmal right through his tenure as boss.