Ivo den Bieman

Will be back soon for sure. Enjoyed my afternoon with Roselea. Truth be told I’m a little bit bored of the SPFL so likely will take in a fair bit of the Midlands League this season.

Took in Roselea - Brechin Vics at Links Park. Roselea went ahead early through a scrambled goal after Vics failed to clear their lines. The first half wasn’t great, Vics worked pretty hard and both sides struggled a bit to find any fluency. Second half Vics hit the post from close range and then Roselea really took control with three quick fire goals. The third, a cheeky back heeler and the fourth, an exocet into the top right hand corner, from outside the area, were both fun too see. An embarrassing collapse / rout was threatening at that stage with the Vics hardly able to get out of their own half for a spell. However they stuck to their task and defended stoutly for the rest of the game as the home side settled for what they had. Roselea looked decent on the whole snd should be confident of a top half finish. They are a bit behind the top sides but should have too much for anyone outside the top 5/6. Vics worked hard and although well beaten weren’t disgraced. I am sure they will finish higher up than last season. Decent entertainment in front of a crowd of 55-60. Will be back when the Mo are in far flung parts. A joy to see all the clubs in town working together/ a pipe dream 15-20 years ago.

Sounds to have been really good for an hour today. Nice to see Hester off the mark. Good result & response to last week, fair play.

Yep looks like Falkirk mark II. Plus Hartley marked by his utter failure to sign anyone much at Hartlepool. He couldn’t get anyone in the door down there & the few he did from Scotland were miles out their depth in League Two. 29 players in 8 months is complete psychobilly stuff though. Absolutely hatstand. Be worried if Dennon Lewis hoves into view at the Balmoral. Cove have been on the up for so long it’s strange to see them in such a mess. Expect Falkirk’s fans will enjoy their Saturday.

If that performance was a film, it would have been straight-to-video. Huffed & puffed in the first half and I thought Hester showed willing & there was some nice interplay with McAllister. Kelty got very, very lucky with the disallowed goal- there looked to be nothing wrong with it. I’m afraid the two goals we conceded were criminal. Dillon at fault for me with the first and the second was the parting of the blue sea from a long pass. I’m afraid the manager has missed several opportunities to freshen up the squad and we may pay a price for that failure this season. There’s been some strange departures over the summer and there’s few options from the bench. Hopefully this sulphurous fart of an opening will be wafted away in the next few games. Important not to get carried away with one disappointment. Kelty were well organised and worked very hard, and had a team spirit we lacked. However the squad as it stands currently will not be at all competitive this season & (many) new faces are required if we are to pass the bigger tests in this division in the season ahead. The tempo of the game was really odd too- more like a scrappy end of season encounter. Very disappointing start.

Very smart kits

Unless David Goodwillie wants to sign for a club in Belarus or Transnistria he has to accept his football career is over. Does feel like Groundhog Day now.

Great result for the Rovers, hope you guys have a good season. Will try and catch a game of yours at some point- looks like Sandy Clark has put together a reasonable enough squad.

The Midland League kicks off tomorrow! More of the same for Carnoustie or would you expect a chasing pack of Lochee United / Downfield / East Craigie / Broughty to put in a serious challenge this campaign? I'm hoping to go to Roselea at Tayport tomorrow.

Many thanks for the info guys. Think I will be taking in a bit more Midland League football in the season ahead. Good to see Roselea involved (North League football with virtually no supports of any size has never really been too appealing) and one or two other sides I;ve always kept an eye on.

When will the Midland League start up again?

Hard to argue that point!

I think triumphalism is a bit misplaced, yes it's great this shockingly bad proposal was headed off along with hopefully the careers of a few full timers at the SFA. However they just will not stop trying to re-introduce this idea and continued vigilance will be required. The next step should be booting out B teams from the Lowland League and the Challenge Cup and putting serious efforts into bringing a properly functioning reserve league back. Development squads didn't really work, a vast majority in the game are stedfastly opposed to B teams, the reserve team league hasn't been properly explored or discussed. After all if it's the development of the game and players we're interested in then.... ....oh.

Maxwell has to resign surely. he was fronting this farce and the petted-lip spin about "self interest" winning out shows he hasn't learnt anything at all from this debacle. Just not a credible person to be in a leadership role in the game.

Maxwell has to go. An embarrassment and laughing stock. When you make the late Jim Farry look like JFK in comparison to yourself, it's time to find a new career.

It's a good statement, fair play.

Very sad to see. Best of luck in trying to make a quick return. When Montrose were really pish I always felt we were intertwined with Rovers. I beiieve one goal in four games between the clubs in 2009/10 and a massive spat betweeb Steven Tweed and Paul Martin. Even worse that you've been replaced by B-team cheerleaders. Well. all the best guys.

Best of luck to all at Albion Rovers today, rooting for you to stay up

Hm, leaving your park with nowhere to go always works out well Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

What happened to Ashfield's traditional park? Have they been booted out?

From loveable eccentrics and principled amateurs to detestable self-interested scumbags in what, two or three seasons? No criticism of the Spiders fans who I know will be almost entirely against these proposals. But a bit of a sign of desperation from the few weirdos behind the B team proposal that it's not the "done deal" it was claimed to be.

slim to none I'dve thought.

This is another excruciating waste of time, this exercise. It will not garner the required votes at an AGM and will fall. Maxwell and the people behind this should be sacked as they clearly do not have a fucking clue how their own organisation works. If the bigoted arsecheeks and assorted others want to form a B team league why does it need to be in the pyramid at all? Just go ahead and form it. If it will have the obvious benefits then let them demonstrate it in practice.

Really poor game (was never going to be a classic) but Brechin were the deserved winners in the end. Just a little bit more quality in their team. Two fine finishes to snatch the title away from Buckie. Would be great to see Brechin back in the league but a long 2-3 weeks lies ahead.

Comfortable win for a Montrose side who rarely got out of third gear. Peterhead worked hard and were quite well organised but had absolutely nothing going forward. Hard work and organisation are no use if basic errors are committed. Brown and Bilsland left it to one another to deal with a looping cross & Gardyne was happy to nod home as a result of this miscommunication. That was the difference between the sides at half time. Second half was poor fayre all told. Peterhead keeper McKenzie, clad in a bright orange strip with a shattered bathroom tile pattern, made some fine stops, one at his near post from a Webster header being the pick of them. He could do nothing about the second though, a rapid counter attack which saw Paul Watson, of all people, bearing down on goal. His low shot brushed McKenzie’s right palm on the way into the bottom right hand corner, 2-0. Shanks got a late consolation from close range but Peterhead had lost in their minds as soon as the first went in. Neither Fosu or Oyinsan was anywhere to be seen, these big guys usually give Peterhead a physical presence & ability to hold the ball up, but without that they carried little if any threat. Shanks on his own was anonymous despite the late strike. Not a game that will live long in the memory but pleasant enough in the sun and not freezing at a game for the first time since late October so will take that. Montrose need four or five new players to be competitive next term in my opinion. The squad needs refreshed . As for Peterhead, this pretty much confirms automatic relegation. Even a win against Clyde at Balmoor will only prolong the agony as it really is hard to see this team winning twice in the remaining fixtures. Suspect a big clear-out and a new manager will make for a busy summer in the Blue Toon.