airdrieman

Saw a few of our fans complaining about the WDE on Twitter. Aye it should have a roof or some sort of cover over it. But give me the WDE and Cappielow over sitting in that main stand at New Broomfield any day. At least the place has a bit of character, history and uniqueness to it and feels like a proper football ground. Much better sight lines in there than the main stand at Cappielow which is also a plus. Great result yesterday and really important to get that first away win. Thought Morton probably had the better of the first half hour or so. They were physical and winning a lot of the first and second balls in midfield, and I thought you were able to get in behind us fairly effectively. However, other than hitting the post, I don’t remember Morton having any clear cut chances in either half. Once we scored, despite Morton again having a reasonable amount of pressure, it never really felt like they were going to get back into it. Agree with the other posts on here that we dug out the win well but I thought we actually were good going forward too and looked dangerous whenever we managed to get into Morton’s half. We need to start killing teams off though. Thought Todorov should or could have maybe had a go himself at the one he set up for Gal. Although it was a lovely pass and run from the two of them and the offside call looked pretty marginal. Likewise Frizzell should had a shot on goal rather than take a touch/beat a man one too many. You’re practically clean through on goal, what more could you want?! I thought he was the best player on the park yesterday but that’s probably his most frustrating habit. Especially as he’s actually got a good shot on him. Delighted for McGregor to get the winner. Think him and his family enjoyed that one Don’t think Morton were terrible necessarily, but they really lack a bit of creativity and ingenuity going forward. Clearly ran out of ideas very quickly and shelled long balls and floaty crosses in the general direction of our goal which Rae dealt with easily. An 8-point gap is a nice spot to be in at this stage. Ayr, Queen’s Park and Inverness coming up so a real chance to be in a solid position come the end of the first quarter.

Played it safe since I hadn’t been before, and was eating with colleagues so didn’t want to order anything too obscene/gluttonous, even if that goes against my natural instincts. Had the classic Cajun chicken tempura with the chips and sweet chilli sauce from the lunch menu. Was a good feed. Any recommendations for next time?

I know you boys and girls like your food chat. Had a Tempura for lunch at work today. Good scran, would go again.

Said on our thread this a good opportunity to finally get some away points on the board. An 8 point gap, even at this stage of the season, would be sweet. That being said, I’m not particularly confident. This is exactly the sort of game I can see us struggling in. Assuming ATS and McStravick are back this will be the first game we’ll have a full squad to choose from which should hopefully be a boost. I can only assume that the midfield and upfront will go unchanged. What McCabe does with the defence will be interesting though. Not convinced by Watson as a long-term option at centre-half. But he had a good game (and a cleansheet) last week and he’s possibly our best option RE standing up to Muirhead and Oakley physically. Think this will be decided by a goal. Could have done without seeing Robbie Muirhead’s screamer again on Twitter.

Good to see some strong Airdrieonians representation here. Goodwin over McCabe though? Scandalous.

Me winning the Club1924 draw. In all seriousness, it’d be nice to beat Dunfermline. Still raging about those two home results against them last season.

Was McStravick not described as a winger when he signed? Looks like the plan is to play him in the middle, which I’m happy with based on his performance at Tannadice, but he might be worth a go out there at some point. That being said, for his faults and inconsistencies, McGregor is getting better. Both in terms of work-rate and end product/goal involvement.

Right enjoyed that on Saturday. Two decent teams going toe-to-toe, played at a good pace, in what felt like a proper contest. As a spectacle itself I found it to be more enjoyable than most of our games in League 1 the last couple of seasons. They were fun in their own way but largely felt like a procession most of the time. You could see the difference Aiken makes to the midfield immediately. His influence faded as the game went on but at one point I thought he was the best player on the park. The midfield of him, McMaster and Frizzell is by far our best and most balanced in terms of running, ball winning/retention and creativity. Thought the defence did well to keep a team with the attacking talent Raith have quiet. Must have been a close run thing between Ballantyne and Hancock for MotM. Mullin got nothing out of Hancock all game and Ballantyne marshalled Easton. Easton is wasted in a wide role like that, although he still showed his quality at times. That through-ball to Hamilton was different gravy. I wasn’t totally convinced when I saw Watson was at centre-half but he had a good game and handled getting booked well. Don’t remember them having any clear cut chances beyond Stanton’s long-range efforts. Couple of fantastic saves from Rae also. A few hairy moments of miscommunication (though it’s hard to know whose fault that was without being on the pitch) but I thought he was excellent. His distribution is getting better by the week which is obviously key to how we play. Our goal was superb, this Airdrie team at its best. Terrific work from Gabby in both starting the move and his ball for the assist. That’ll hopefully do his confidence good. Could see it meant a lot to him at full-time, which was lovely. Nice to have Telfer back on the bench. Assuming ATS and McStravick are back this weekend I think that’s the first time we’ll have a full squad to choose from? Which will be a boost subs wise. I still think we need to create more chances or be a bit bolder in terms of having shots on goal. Not sure if that requires a tweak of the system, or just needs the players to be a bit braver. But in fairness to McCabe, he has a good track record of fixing problems with our shape or style of play so I have faith that we’ll get there. 3/3 wins at home, two of them being against Thistle and Raith, I think, is a great start. We won’t win every home game but if we keep picking up points we’ll be fine. A good opportunity to get some away points on this board this weekend. I think it will be tough, this is the sort of game I could see us struggling in. But it is one we should be looking to win all the same. Win on Saturday and we’ll be 8 points ahead of Morton and possibly 11 ahead of Inverness. With Ayr (h), Queen’s Park (h) and Inverness all to play next month. Can’t get ahead of ourselves but that’s a great opportunity to put ourselves in a good place points and table wise come the end of the first quarter/November.

Wouldn’t surprise me if they both started.

Pleased with that, reads like a good bit of business anyway. More depth at right-back and centre-half was what we needed most IMO. A bit of pace in the defence would be grand and if he could potentially solve some of our problems out wide too then even better. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything given the step up but encouraging to hear that he performed well for Kelty last season, and first team football isn’t completely alien to him. Presumably he’ll be straight into the team on Saturday.

That was as bad as we’ve been for a long time yesterday. Probably the worst we’ve played under McCabe. Think a few things about the team were exposed yesterday. Namely that McCabe and McMaster can’t play in the same midfield. For me, our best midfield atm is McMaster, Frizzell and Aiken. Agreed with some that McCabe is a better passer and ‘clutch’ player than McMaster, and there will be games and ‘moments’ where he’s required to play. But the aforementioned midfield three gives us a better balance, and IMO moves the ball up the park far quicker which we badly missed yesterday. Whether it’s simply because he’s younger/fitter I also think McMaster’s positioning as a holding midfielder is better than McCabe’s. It wouldn’t have ultimately made a difference but if McMaster had been in that position yesterday rather than McCabe that 3rd goal probably doesn’t happen. It was exposed a few times last season but yesterday McCabe was playing far too deep, which was a huge contributing factor in us not doing anything going forward. That’d be fine if he was at least winning balls/breaking up play and tracking runners but he wasn’t doing that either and it meant Arbroath had loads of space to play in when they were on the ball. Missed Aiken too yesterday in that regard. He’s a good runner, good ball winner and moves the ball forward quickly, none of which our midfield was doing. Our lack of pace at centre-half was exposed too, especially with those two late goals. Haven’t seen enough of Hancock yet to know whether he’s the answer or not in that regard but having a midfield in front of them who wouldn’t leave them so exposed would at least mitigate some of that. I like McGregor and O’Connor and think they both have a place in the squad but neither of them are ready or consistent enough to be starters every week for us. I think it was @Passionate who mentioned it previously, but when you consider that they’re essentially the replacements for Smith it’s a massive downgrade. Which is the opposite of what you want as a newly promoted team. So frustrating as I actually thought both of them got into good positions in behind their defence yesterday. But I don’t think McGregor got past a defender once (when he wasn’t running the ball out himself) and O’Connor didn’t even get the chance to get on the ball his touch is that bad. Feels like this should be the priority in the loan market. Can’t add anything more on the goals. The defending is pathetic for them all, but especially risible at the third. I think Gal is a better holdup player, hence why he’s the starting #9, but think we need to find a way to get Todorov more involved somehow. Last two league games we’ve been chasing goals and he’s come on in the last 10-15 minutes when it’s felt like the momentum and game has already gone. He’s a better player than that role. Not panicked or overly worried or angry. But think it’s important we pick up some points in the next couple of games so a rot doesn’t set in and we can (hopefully) build a bit of a gap between us and the bottom 2 or 3. Couple of difficult games coming up. But McCabe has previous for getting a big performance from us after a gutless display, so fingers crossed for the same again next week. Watching a proper #headsgone #Murrayball defeat from the other side could be an all-timer.

He’s never a referee I’ve been fond of. Always seems over officious and he played an obscene amount of added time in win v Thistle last month. That being said our last two games that he’s refereed have been the aforementioned one v Thistle and our play-off final victory v Accies. So in other words, can I just shock you? I like Craig Napier, despite what I just said earlier.

I’d start Frizzell, Aiken and one of McCabe/McMaster. We’ve got good depth in midfield and different games will require different combinations but I think we’ll need Aiken’s ball winning ability and one of the holding midfielders in there today. Having at least one of ATS or Watson back would be a real boost.

McLaren and Gow for definite. Maybe McKeown McLaren is hugging? Must be 04 when we won the old second division.

Scored against St Mirren in the League Cup but not sure he even got on the pitch beyond that. Was largely a cursory youth player on the bench. Folk who saw Gunn play for the U18s always spoke highly of him but obviously it’s hard to really take anything from that level of football. Mick Kennedy also rates him too for whatever that’s worth. Think he was a centre mid who latterly ended up playing right-back so he might be able to solve your problems there if nothing else.

That's about the worst cup draw I could imagine. Winnable at least but even the prospect of a pie on a roll isn't making that one any more enticing. No chance I'll be at a game against a B side that's for sure.

I think his official job title is 'Academy Director' but what that means in practice or financial terms in terms of the running and funding of the academy and reserve sides I'm not really sure.

There is some crossover between the teams. Looking at the team v Dundee I’m sure Edwards, Watt, Hobbs, Thomson x2, Rowley and O’Brien are all also part of the U18s side. As is Liam Prunty who played for the reserves v Livi. Obviously Watson, Telfer, Hutton and Dunlop are first team squad members. Not sure if Fellows, Spalding, Brown and Kavanagh are all still eligible for the U18s as well.

Don’t think it will be anything like that but you know what folk are like. I thought the reaction after we lost to Dunfermline first game of the season was way OTT. Not necessarily on here but there was one post on our Facebook group that was particularly ‘headsgone’ and it wouldn’t entirely surprise me if there was a similar pessimistic over-reaction to getting beat here.

Just mean if we lose folk might starting getting a bit antsy. Haven’t won an away game yet and the rest of the month is difficult.

Looking forward to this. Arbroath is maybe the best away day in the country so there’s always that regardless of how the game goes. Feel like this is a game both teams will have pegged as one to win and rightly so. If we can get on top in the midfield and assert ourselves and our style of play onto the game I’ll be pretty confident of winning. Equally, if Arbroath dominate the midfield and don’t allow us to play they could stick a few past us. Should be looking for the 3 points and if we do win, I think that’d put us in a great position after our first 5 games. A draw wouldn’t be a disaster. Lose and the natives might start to get restless.

TNS away in the next round please.

I’m sure at half-time of that Peterhead game I posted on here something along the lines of ‘Dean Ritchie is playing and Afolabi is still the worst player on the park.’ How times change! Delighted for him. Regardless of the standard or what level it’s comparable to, he’s clearly making the most of his time at Bohemians. Think he’s still in the midst of breaking their record for scoring in consecutive games which is no mean feat. He’d have probably managed to get a half decent move off the back of his current form, and the fact he’s been on the books at a couple of big clubs, but this call-up should see him land a good move for himself. That Montrose game is up there amongst my all-time favourite Airdrie games and must be for any fan who was there. And his sub appearance was a major part of that. One of the most chaotic good, dominant, funny, skilful and outrageous I’ve ever seen. Still not sure how he managed to get that ball out from the corner and down the goal line for the winner! Incredible scenes and not to mention he won the penalty and free-kick for our two goals in the final also. Can’t wait to see him body van Dijk like he did Sean Dillon that day.

Doo doo doo

Spying on Arbroath’s training session obviously.