Kevchenko

PJ is a bit of an enigma and last night summed him up quite well - he produced a number of good saves and the one just before the goals where he saved 1 handed down low to his right was a pretty incredible stop, and then a couple of minutes later he looks less than convincing at the Megginson goal. I agree he has definitely improved in the 2nd half of the season compared to the first and we’ve seen a number of decent saves from him in the 2nd half and he’s looked more like the decent shot stopper we seen when he was on loan with us but I think he’s still been less than convincing on a number of occasions and is particularly vulnerable when dealing with crosses. I’d still say it’s been one of the weaker positions for us this season and I’d be a little disappointed if Andy wasn’t looking for competition for PJ next season even if it’s League 1 we are in. Wouldn’t say goalkeeper has been a particularly impressive area in general for the part time teams in the league this season (none of them have been particularly bad tbh but no one really standing out) but even looking below I would view a Darren Jamieson or maybe a Brett Long (appreciate he broke his leg this season) as potentially being upgrades on PJ.

Under the weather so didn’t head up today but what a brilliant win to take us into the playoffs and guarantee 3rd. We started well and were moving the ball with confidence. Felt 1-0 was about right at halftime and the early 2nd half goal put us in total control. I thought the double change bringing on Scougs and Buchanan was the exact right ones to make but we unfortunately completely lost our way for the next 15 minutes or so conceding the 2 goals. Have to say our reaction to Megginson’s goal is probably the worst we’ve reacted to conceding all season and we were a shambles in that period. Massive credit to the team to get back in to it though and did think we looked the most likely in the last 5-10 minutes with a great chance for Buchanan before Bobby Goals worked his magic and won it for us. Good delivery from Sutherland but the header from Wales is class - this kid is a special talent. Playoffs (and grabbing 3rd) is a massive achievement for a squad that was so much less than the sum of its parts in the first quarter of the season. Regardless of what happens over the next 3 or 4 weeks it’s been a brilliant start to Andy’s managerial career and he deserves so much credit for bringing together the team and the support.

Ha! I don’t want to tempt fate!!

New episode of the podcast is up, chatting about Luke 'The Boot', the draw against Montrose, Quinn Coulson and finishing up with a preview of the Cove game. https://waspsnest.buzzsprout.com

No chance, sure Mike has a vault hidden under there. ETA - although the KFC spinning round to be in the middle of Clackmannan Road would be a laugh

From FIFA stadium guidelines, apparently North/South (ish) is best practice: https://publications.fifa.com/en/football-stadiums-guidelines/general-process-guidelines/design/orientation/ My guess would be taking the sun as a more consistent factor (e.g. East to West) versus wind direction being variable. Can already see my Sunday is going to be spent on google maps looking at the pitch orientations in the SPFL

I suppose not all games can be like the last meeting of these two at Links Park, but the conditions without doubt contributed to a poor spectacle today. Alloa will be the happier of the two with the draw and I thought Montrose just shaded it over the 90 minutes. Probably tough to say either side really did enough to grab 3 points but Montrose should have won it with the chance near the end. Thought we were ok today but frustrating the support with a reluctance to have a shot, with Coulson probably the biggest guilty party a couple of times in the 2nd half. The front 4 we finished with is what I’ve been wanting for a few weeks and I thought we seen a couple of glimpses of them linking up in last 15 minutes. That’s the front 4 I’d start with next week. I thought the penalty/dive call was correct, felt the Montrose defender had stood their ground and not moved towards Coulson and, as much as I’d have loved to see us get a penalty, I don’t feel the defender should be punished in that instance. Will need to have a look at Webster’s (I think it was) early tackle in the highlights tonight - im seeing it from behind Neill so obviously an obstructed view but looked for all the world a straightforward red card at the time.

Podcast episode is up, you'll be surprised to hear there's a fair bit of chat about a certain massacre down Forthbank way https://waspsnest.buzzsprout.com

Luke Rankin in great form at East Stirlingshire, the run (and finish) for the second goal is class

Huge congratulations, especially delighted for the ex-Wasps in the squad! Obviously hope we aren't here waiting for you in League 1 next season but will certainly enjoy the trips to Ochilview if we are. Enjoy your night! (and somebody take some shears to @Francesc Fabregas man-bun in the wee bar to celebrate!!)

Thought id hold off until after today seeing as we played all four of the runners and riders over consecutive games! After today, we are left with: 6. Kelty - 40 pts (-11 goal diff) – Stirling (H), Falkirk (A), Montrose (H) & Hamilton (A) 7. QoS – 34 (-10) – Edinburgh (H), Stirling (A), Cove (H), Montrose (A) 8. Stirling – 34 (-20) – Kelty (A), QoS (H), Edinburgh (A), Annan (H) 9. Annan – 31 (-16) – Cove (H), Edinburgh (A), Falkirk (H), Stirling (A) Got to feel that today's result has pretty much taken Kelty out of the race. Ironically, after the 3-0 game at the Recs I feared Kelty could be in a lot of trouble but they were like a completely different team when they deservedly beat us at New Central Park just 10 days later. For the remaining 3, its still going to be a tough ask for Annan doing the chasing (and with Falkirk still to play) but Stirling just seem to have drifted slowly in to trouble since Darren Young extended his contract. The Binos have the 'better' fixtures on paper with having to play the lowest ranked teams but that could be an issue as it makes them all '6 pointers' - conversely, any wins will mark a significant step towards avoiding the playoffs. That final day fixture at Forthbank is looking a potential blockbuster. Fancy QoS to be fine despite today's result, but not really sure why to be honest, seeing they have been dreadful this season. I think a win next week would be a big step towards safety. For what it's worth, i'll go for it finishing: 6. Kelty – 44 7. QoS – 40 8. Annan – 38 9. Stirling – 37 (Think we will only see one up from league 2 this year though)

The ideal way to shake off the malaise of the last few weeks with 3 points and a boost to the goal difference as well. Big call from Andy in terms of starting Sammon and dropping Bobby Wales a little deeper but paid off immediately and I thought it was one of Sammon’s better games this season. Said on the podcast this week that I felt Stirling’s main weakness is either full back and felt we exploited the wide areas really well. Didn’t expect the addition of a couple of gifts from Blair Currie though. First 20 minutes of the second half were very pedestrian and in truth we sort of needed Spency’s goal to shake us back in to life. Pick of the goals was Sutherland’s but I really liked Taylor Steven’s - the save from PJ that resulted in the corner was a cracker, a great block on the line by Dave MacKay, an excellent cross field ball from Sutherland, and a good run and finish from Steven. There was a few good saves from PJ and I thought Roberts looked more like what we’ve seen all season but Miko was the pick of the bunch for me - strolled the midfield and controlled the whole game pretty unassumingly, and then threw himself in to tackles when it was needed. On the Bino’s, I actually didn’t think they played too badly (thought they were actually worse in the 2-0 game at Forthbank)- passed the ball around pretty well, maybe just could have been quicker and more direct at times. Think I heard McPake getting MotM but I thought he was a big cause of slowing things down too much. They should have had at least 1 in the first half from a corner but other than that I thought they really struggled with such a strong wind behind them, looked unsure of how to play with it, and were just a bit toothless overall up top.

New episode of the podcast is up talking through the Annan game, analysing our goals for and against this season and looking ahead to the fifth derby of the season. https://waspsnest.buzzsprout.com

Woeful stuff for the 3rd game in a row means we are making a bit of a mess of the good work done in February, rather than sitting in what could have been a comfortable 3rd position. We probably had the better chances to win the game but that’s more down to Annan creating very little as opposed to us having a barrage of opportunities, as Annan were good for at least a point today on the balance of play. Similar to the last couple of games, far too many below par, particularly in the middle of the park. Another goal conceded from a set piece/cross - think that will be the topic of my Sunday stats if I can be bothered to suffer through watching them all again. Andy will need to get them fired up for next week in the battle of the two (excluding Edinburgh) formless teams in the division as a solitary point from Kelty, QoS and Annan means we will have to take points from the final four fixtures now.