Waspie

The very man! Clearly short at the back today with no Devine or Mackay but we know how good Taggs can be in the middle. Mon the Wasps.

Defence can be tightened up without doubt and there are also plenty of players knocking on the door for positions further up the field so we're a work in progress. The difference between the team of the last couple of months and the absolute shambles of those two derbies at the start of the season is stark though, we were way less than the sum our parts and didn't look like a team at all. Need to keep the upward momentum going now and see where it takes us, then the fascinating prospect of seeing what the manager does with the squad in the summer. Stevie will be missed in the middle again today. The argument on the podcast about dropping back Scougall to a deeper role is a good one and I wouldn't be disappointed with that. At the same time, Miko has been getting stuck in and I'd like to see him get a run and give him the chance to really show what he can do. I'd also be temped to put Cammy in at LB if he's fit. Plenty of promise from Sutherland last week but perhaps a bit raw defensively at this stage. But the manager will have seen more of him and better qualified to make the call! Need to make sure we're up for it - and I'm sure that will be the case. After that it's just a case of getting on the ball and having a go. Do that and the talent is there to cause Stirling a lot of problems.

I was impressed with City that day given the mess they are in and that it was an almost new team. The work rate and spirit were impressive, they didn't look like a condemned team at all. The big challenge I felt would be maintaining that every week, particularly if they weren't picking up points. Perhaps the deduction and defeat at Annan has sucked it out of them. Another thing, and City fans will know better, but Fontaine looked to be very important to the team as a leader and organiser at the back.

Interesting. You can admire his desire to play and prove himself but also worrying that a player would conceal an injury that could seriously impact the team, particularly in the case of a goalkeeper with an injury to his hand. To be honest he's looked suspect on corners and balls into the box whenever I've seen him (unless his finger has been broken since the summer). Leaving Ogayi to one side, I don't think you ever gain from swapping keepers frequently anyway unless the established first choice is having a really grim run of form. That isn't the case or anywhere near it.

Thought he looked promising going forward in the first half in particular, albeit perhaps a bit questionable defensively at times. For a youngster who had just joined the club though (and probably a wee bit out of position too) I thought he did fine. Would like to see him on the left of the three behind the striker, showed flashes of direct running that suggested he could do real damage in a more advanced position. Listened to the podcast this morning and have to take up Kieren's invitation to debate Kev's proposed team selection! I couldn't believe the suggestion PJ might be dropped. He's clearly our number 1 and for me only doesn't play if he is injured or has a catastrophic loss of form. That isn't the case, he was excellent at Fir Park and while he certainly should have stopped Falkirk's first, he wasn't the reason we got hammered last week. As for dealing with corners being the reason, that's probably been the biggest weakness in Ogayi's game and a major issue in the last two games he played in particular. All about opinions etc but sorry @Kevchenko, this one reminded of a suggestion on here that Rodden should be playing rather than Wales .

Agree with the posts above, the final score made the game look closer than it really was. We started on the front foot and it was really disappointing to concede on Annan's first attack. We obviously gave the ball away cheaply and left ourselves open but have to credit for Smith for the way he finished it. We reacted well though with some excellent football and looked capable of scoring whenever we went forward. Should really have added to our tally before the third finally arrived. We seemed to be seeing it out effectively at 3-1 before conceding the penalty at the end (need to see the highlights to judge that one) and making the final minutes more nervy than they should have been. But a deserved win overall with some good football. Defence (and PJ) in the main coped well with Annan firing high balls (and long throws) at them and it was good to see Miko getting stuck in in midfield. Hopefully he can build on that. Good response to last week and sets us up nicely for the derby.

Wondered if we might look at cover for LB but another pacy attacking option is welcome. Also means Cammy has a big chance to really nail down LB and hopefully he can take it. I thought Debayo looked a bit shaky when he played, although to be fair he was a new player in a new look and frequently changing defence which was far from ideal. Mackay looked shaky too at that point but has done much better of late with games in a settled shape. Debayo might have come on too in similar circumstances but like Rodden at the start of the month, it makes sense to move on a player who looked to be on the periphery. Good luck to him back in England. Big game tomorrow, hopefully the boys can put last week firmly behind them and get back to winning ways. Real chance to accumulate some points over the next few weeks.

That was the one, Stevenson curled a lovely shot around Grindlay for the opener then got crocked for the penalty later on. Don't think the Sons Archive has the Alloa team right there: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_div_1/4929776.stm Stevenson scored the winner in a midweek 1-0 at the Rock the month before that too as we began to get a bit of momentum. Anyway, sorry for dredging up bad memories. Good luck for the rest of the campaign and make sure Durnan doesn't have any holidays booked for the end of the season.

It was. He became homesick in Spain and apparently had a clause in his contract that if he bailed out he had to come back to Alloa. He did and it was bad news for Dumbarton as he was fundamental to our great escape at your expense in 2005/06. Our recovery from a seemingly hopeless position was basically not concede and hope Jamie would score a cracker, which he did on a few occasions. One against Sons. That and Paul Martin losing the plot saved us. Morton bought Stevenson that summer and he went on to have a solid pt career without reaching levels he had looked capable of. Hopefully Bevan can make a good career for himself through his move south.

This was pretty much my take. The first half was really good and we shouldn't have come in behind. That said, the second half wasn't near good enough and for all Falkirk were really impressive, we made it too easy for them and it did look like the heads went down. I was (again) really impressed by the way Andy spoke afterwards about that and taking positives but also needing to learn about what went wrong, and the importance of responding well next week. Overall we're in a good place and with the squad getting stronger as injured players return. But after the second half on Saturday Annan is a big match - we really need to bounce back. Agree with @Vegetableman too, I did wonder about Calum Crane when Edinburgh City's problems emerged. Perhaps it wasn't possible at that point with the size of the squad but he would have been a good addition.

Not sure what this is supposed to mean. He was excellent for us in the Championship (and League 1) and frequently praised by opposition fans. It didn't work out at Falkirk (he's far from alone in that regard) and the reasons for that have already been debated to death. Perhaps you'd be better served enjoying an excellent win and performance rather than going over this tiresome pish once more?

We have established previously (and regularly) that Falkirk fans don't like Steven Hetherington. That's fine. Alloa fans on the other hand have seen him excell consistently in the Championship and know what he brings. Today he was replaced by a guy who has played very little football and we ended up very lightweight against an excellent Falkirk midfield. He will be a big miss for us as long as he's out.

Agree with all this. The first half was decent from Alloa and the only disappointment was conceding such a soft goal at PJ's near post. Didn't think we deserved to be behind at the break. Second half however we were miles off it whereas Falkirk were very very good. That was a wonderful ball from Morrison for the second but it was too easy, as were the subsequent goals. Hetherington was a big miss in the middle for us - we didn't compete at all in there - but Falkirk were excellent regardless. They'll win the league comfortably and will deserve it, by miles the best side in the division. From our point of view think it's important not to dwell on that too much and instead concentrate on all the positives of the past few weeks. With Wales back and Devine, Donnelly, Buchanan and Robbo now returning to fitness (and Taggs ok and Hetherington apparently weeks rather than months) we're in a good place. Agree that Wales needs to go back to CF. Was fair enough keeping Sammo in after last week but Wales is too good not to be the main striker. Important to win next week and put today behind us.

I bought a couple of tops a while back. They aren't exact replicas but the quality is fine. Did take weeks to arrive though. Order at your own risk! Best solution would be if the club signed up with Matchwinner, who are doing really good replica stuff for clubs they worked with back in the 80s and 90s. The club would make some cash out of it and fans could buy some decent replica gear (with the old badge on it too). I remember Mike saying something along the lines of the club would be happy to do stuff with the old badge if there was a way to make it work. This would seem to make sense.

Those two performances against Falkirk earlier in the season were abysmal, like a number of other Alloa displays at that point under Brian Rice. No shame in losing to a decent Falkirk side but we were a shambles. I recall Falkirk fans on here saying they'd blown us away at the Falkirk Stadium but really the game was gifted to them, two gifts from corners in the opening 20 minutes, shape and organisation all over the place and absolutely no threat from us. Embarrassing stuff given the squad is very capable. We have been so much better under Andy Graham and I was feeling quietly confident about this game. The recall of Bobby Wales and the injuries to Taggart, Hetherington and O'Donnell change things, as do Falkirk's last couple of results. They'll be absolutely determined to get back on track here. But I'd be still be expecting a much better Alloa performance than the last two games against the Bairns, whatever the final score is.

Nightmare start from the Wasps but a decent effort thereafter. We struggled to get on the ball and knit much together but the work rate and organisation was excellent. Sammon was a big call given he hasn't played much of late but what a goal from the big man, great header initially then link up with Steven before a beautiful finish. Would have been interesting had the Coulson header gone in early in the second half too. Dissapointing that the second and free kick for the third came from daft mistakes when the ball should just have been cleared. Wee lack of composure at times there. But it was a spirited effort and a good day out with a friendly welcome. Obviously big concern is loss through the game of two huge players in Hetherington and Taggart. Can only hope those aren't bad injuries as would seriously effect our prospects for the rest of the season. Good luck to Motherwell in the next round.

You are pretty kind to Mr Rice there I think, we were an absolute shambles in his penultimate game! I suppose it's fair to say the results and performances in general had picked up in his final few games, but that was in comparison to the frankly awful underachieving before that, aforementioned game against Stirling being a good example. Still very early days for Andy, but by settling on a formation that suits his players, using them where they are at their best and allowing partnerships to develop throughout the team he's already way ahead. That's why we're doing better rather than any corner being turned before he took over IMO. Agree there is hopefully more to come. Very tough task tomorrow. Would have quite fancied some Alloa teams of the past decade or so against this particular Motherwell side but we aren't at the same level now and despite the recent improvement it's still a big ask. Don't know if Devine has a chance but be good if he did play. Mackay has done well in his absence but think Devine and Neil is the best pair and that Neil is better when Devine is next to him. Also big if Scougall is good to start as we'll really players who can get their foot on the ball. Hopefully the boys make a fight of it anyway. Realised today the only time I've attended a Scottish Cup tie featuring Motherwell was the 91 final. Would be nice to pair up seeing one of their greatest cup days with one of their worst....

I did wonder about that previously given Andy will know him well from that spell. Wasn't there a suggestion he is keen to go home to Canada? I'd happily have him back, however mixed the reviews he gets from fans of other clubs. Shame about Wales but as a few have said, we'll have to wait and see what happens next few weeks. Maybe he'll be back yet. If not you'd guess it frees up space for another addition. In the meantime it's a chance for Ally Roy, who can count himself unlucky not to have been starting of late anyway. Think the Taylor Steven deal was announced as being for the season originally? Hopefully no recall there, another good option and think we can still get more out of him.

Said this last week but the Edinburgh City team who played at Alloa was clearly miles better than the under 20s side they had out in recent weeks and will likely get better still as they settle. They've added another option or two this week too. Can see them being awkward opponents in the months ahead and quite a bold call by McGlynn to make so many changes. Well done City, still in with a chance of staying up.

They were decent goals too, the first was a cracker from distance. Anyway, I see it's forecast to be baltic next week. Would Well be likely to use the undersoil heating for a cup tie like this?

Donnelly, Robbo and Debayo all appeared in the pictures of the midweek friendly against Clyde so hopefully they're all getting closer to being available again and giving the manager more options. The way he spoke about Scougall (and LD before that), it seems unlikely he'll reappear until he is 100%, which is a sensible approach anyway.

I also thought he looked decent. I don't think too many of their players would make our team, but that side was clearly a good bit better than the pretty much under 20 team they've been fielding of late. It should get better as they gel too and perhaps the biggest challenge will be keeping that work rate and application up if they're losing regularly. But while it's a huge ask to stay up, they could still be potentially awkward opponents in the weeks and months ahead. I wouldn't be too hard on Alloa yesterday. On a hiding to nothing really being expected to win against a side who turned out to be better than expected. The boys got the job done in the end and without a few good players too. I wouldn't be as negative about our prospects overall either. Falkirk and Accies are miles clear but other than that nobody else has looked particularly impressive (to be fair even Accies haven't been impressive against Alloa!). Andy is going to be learning on the job so there is no pressure on him to reach the play-offs but neither is that an outlandish prospect. If we get something like the best team out regularly it's very possible.

Sorry to hear about the two lads and hope they are doing okay and won't be discouraged from going to the football. Really pathetic behaviour that needs to be stopped.

Important win in the end for Alloa after a pretty frustrating afternoon. City were better than expected and the new players clearly made a difference. If they can keep getting that team on the pitch regularly they should be capable of picking up some points and won't be the walkover of the last few weeks. From Alloa the tempo was never quite right today and too many players off the boil, trying to force it. Having managed to get ahead we then conceded from what was pretty much City's only chance. Thereafter we huffed and puffed but for long enough it looked like the goal wouldn't come. Indeed, we almost got caught on the break with 10 minutes left. The team kept going though and finally got the goals we needed. After a couple of games of late when we probably didn't get the results our performances merited, it was nice to win late with an untidy goal (the one to go 2-1 ahead at least). Roy's goal for the third was excellent. Will need to be better next week but a welcome win.

Obviously hoping Alloa can take advantage today Tenkay but with the bigger picture I wish you all the best. Always had a soft spot for City as a club who had a fascinating history and who continued to battle on through adversity (even if it once took them 30 years to bounce back). The return to the Scottish League in recent times was a great story and just a shame things have subsequently gone wrong off the park. Hopefully you pull through this crisis