BB_Bino

I'm fortunate to have an original Italy 90 home shirt. I'm not sure who it belonged to originally (I was 9 at Italy 90) but I found it at my Grandparents house and kept it because it was always my favourite Scotland shirt (still is). I wore it to Hampden for about 20+ years but have now had to retire it for "special occasions only" as it's getting to the stage where it's going to start falling a part with the print coming off.

Hmmmmm...he can, I wouldn't say it was his natural position and I would be surprised if he was brought in to play there, but he can play there and did on a number of occasions for us last season. I suspect he has been brought in to sit on the right Wing however.

Actually really like this thread and some interesting points raised. What the actual club line is, I don't know. Our current board came in and along with the Supporters Trust, wanted to review all avenues before disclosing any plans. To my knowledge, they've never came out to say what the actual ambition of the club is. However, here are my own personal thoughts on what that should look like. Short Term on the pitch, has to be to stay in the league and work towards establishing ourselves as a League 1 side. I know we have yo-yo'd a bit over the past 20 years but as a Part Time club with the support and facilities we have, I think a top end League 1 side is probably our "natural place" in the Scottish game, and it's something I'm comfortable with. Darren Young has done a fantastic job in getting us "back to where we belong" and is now building on that and we look to be in a good place to achieve the aim this season, and I believe Darren is the man who will continue to move us forward. Medium term, I think there's no reason why we can't yo-yo between the top 4 of League 1 and the bottom 2 or 3 in the Championship depending on what other teams are around at that time. I think we're probably 3-5 years away from achieving this but if you're talking of ambition then why not?? If we can grow the club off the field (next part of my post) then I see no reason why we can't have a playing budget which makes this possible. Long term (10+ years), former Director Colin Rowley spoke about Full Time football returning to Forthbank, it's something we would all love to see I'm sure, however our income would have to change dramatically for this to happen. Should it be an aim of ours, I think it should be, however is it something I see happening, probably not but if someone with a business mind can come in and make a success of it, and good recruitment and management on the pitch continues (with Darren and after he leaves) then who knows, we live in hope. If we remain Part Time though, the aim should be to have the facilities to punch above your weight in the way that Arbroath have done recently with 3 or 4 year stints in the Championship before the inevitable relegation falls. The Championship is the glass ceiling for Part Time clubs, especially in a country that has 22 spaces up for grabs and 25 Full Time teams, but we're a City club, so there's no reason why we can't be the best Part Time outfit in the country. Off the field, I want to see us grow as a community club, but ultimately I want to see more bums on seats. We can do all those wonderful things through the Foundation and help community projects like Start Up Stirling and Ukrainian Refugees, I want to see us at the forefront of all that, but at the same time we should be looking at growing the support and the footprint that we have around the Forth Valley area. This takes time, however a 1 team City club run right, why can we not aim to have the same level of home support as St.johnstone, Hamilton or maybe even a Dunfermline, Falkirk, Morton or Ayr do within the next 10 years?? It will take lots of work to do that, but getting in about the youth now and improving alot of what we already do....tapping into the Junior Academy, the 1945 crew, school projects more, is the key to achieveing this. I didn't like the trouble that the 1945 crew brought with them, however I do like the fact that these were young lads engaging with the club and that's a must for me. I also want to see the business grow, I know we don't own Forthbank or the area that surrounds it but we can still make money off it and still make money as a club through it. A better youth Development programme as well, the club should be an avenue for local players to get into the pro-game if they are good enough, that's not been the case. The lack of youngsters who have established themselves as First Team players shows that. Who have we had over the last 10 years......Ross McGeachie, Kyle Banner, Lee Hamilton and Cammy Binnie are the only ones that really spring to mind. Others have had spells and have faded away, but when you look at the amount of youngsters that are in the Junior Academy, plus those that play for Milton, Riverside, Cowie and even further afield in Alloa, Larbert, Denny etc etc, is it over ambitious to expect at least 1 youth player coming through every couple of seasons....I don't think it is, especially when you consider how many pro players from the area come through elsewhere. I know the Junior Academy have a link with Rangers, but these things should work both ways. Again, in the long term, I see no reason why we can't achieve this, youngsters will find their natural position, but they need to be nourished.

I honestly don't think he has, and I would throw Hardie into that as well. I'm not saying that is right or wrong but I genuinely think there are going to be no surprises in Clarke's squad in recalls etc etc. He'll pick from lads that were involved during the qualifiers, yes he'll give people chances to get into the squad or get back into the squad but I don't think he'll do that at a major final, Fraser and the likes will simply have to continue impressing until the Nation League kicks off. The caveat to that is of course injuries, or if a player that he just can't resist makes himself available. I do suspect if Barnes approaches him and says he's up for it, that Clarke will take him into the fold during the friendlies if he has a space in the squad in his own head., but out with that, I just can't see him doing it personally.

Stirling Albion have announced that Aaron Dunsmore has left the club and has subsequently been loaned to Bonnyrigg Rose until the end of the season. I think you have a good addition to your squad. He can play Right Back or Right Wing....think he has played more centrally at some point but he's been there and done it at this level (more than once) and will add some dig and some creativity to your team I'm sure.

Just read on X that Dunsmore and Wilson have left the club. Dunny has signed for Bonnyrigg Rose on loan and Wilson has returned to Motherwell. Have to say that I'm surprised that Wilson didn't establish himself in the starting line up because I thought he made a positive impact when he played, however when I saw that McPake had signed, I think it was inevitable. Wish both players well for the future

Thanks @Otis Blue

I'm sure as much as 90% of those that you see are fakes, I know the 2 I bought are along with 100% of our Supporters Bus that have the top. The SFA/Adidas/JD Sport really did shoot themselves in the foot with the pricing of the shirt.

I've been sitting in the South Stand since my lad started coming to games, so for about 8 years now (give or take the covid years) and it's always been the case. When I moved from the North Stand, I asked the woman at the Ticket Office why was this the case and the answer was that every section from the middle up to that point, is ear marked for comps, competition winners, sponsors and potentially an over spill for media. Once they know the numbers then they will release the unused seats in a General Sale...so I'm assuming that is still the case. That was obviously at a time where Hampden was nowhere near sold out, so I could get why sections were released in chunks but the SFA know fine will these games will be close to a sell out if not sell out, so I don't get the logic in selling tickets in this manner now (except that central section of the South Stand), is means that alot of actual members will accept poorer seats than sections that get them on General Sale. Surely you keep your members happy before general public....is that not one of the advantages of being a member, guaranteed ticket and a higher chance it's in a better seat?

Taking the car down for the first time, am I right in thinking there's an Ice Rink nearby with free parking or am I getting my wires crossed?

Couldn't make the game last night (pretty standard for a Tuesday night match) however great to read so many positive reports from those who were there. I really hope we can keep it up to cement our place in mid-table. Lets not forget that we visit Hamilton in a couple of weeks, however I'm sure it'll be a different game through there. I took in the Ayr United v Hamilton game last season when our match against Dumbarton was called off at the last minute, I remember Hamilton being absolutely turgid that day and Rankin taking pelters from the section of Hamilton fans that sat to my left. There was no way that he didn't hear what was shouted for the entire 90 minutes. Fast forward a year and it doesn't sound like much has changed.

Looking forward to the game, as has been said above. Play like we have shown we can in our most recent Home games and we do have a chance. I don't think I would go too far from what has been suggest by others as a starting line up. Although I would have Cooper in for Leitch and I have to defend Scouse a little here, although I don't like him as a Right Back and agree he looks like a Centre Back playing there, he was getting incredibly frustrated at the ball not getting put out to him when he was in loads of space on Saturday, so if we can just shift it quicker, I'm sure we'd have greater success through him.

Have been going over the same problems as most people in this thread, for a number of days now. By the looks of my login this morning, it seems to be sorted, but bloody hell, the SFA have had months to implement this and get it up and running so why choose so close to the tickets going on sale?? All it's done is having people scrambling about AGAIN!!!

Can you please wait until after Saturday so make a decision, so we can at least make the first stage of this happen. All joking aside, from an outsiders point of view it's absolutely baffling as to why Bartley is in a job. I can see why your board went for him in the first place and why they appeared to back him in the summer, but I can't for the life of me understand what he is doing for them to stick by him. When a team has the set up and target of promotion.....and I'm guessing a competitive budget to achieve that aim, then it's absolute failure to be sitting 8th (with the potential to drop further) at this point in the season. All be it in League 2, but we have been there with a large number of managers over the recent years, good guys that just weren't hitting the aims of the club, and there's only so long you can back them for. I'm sure QOS fans don't need me pointing that out to them, but what I would like to say is that I am a semi regular listener to the Clyde Super Scoreboard podcast and I always find it cringe when Bartley, Duffy and Wilson comment on other teams affairs when they have made such a booboo out of their management stints at QoS, Clyde and of course Brechin, and in the case of the 3 of them, leave a team in a far worse position than when they took over. Imagine having the brass neck to sit there getting paid for an opinion when you can't get your own house in order. Surely that's something that also irks your support? I know his previous stint as manager didn't go well but I'm a big fan of McCall and i'm sure he would love one last crack of the job to turn things around for you (am I right in thinking you were his boyhood club as well) and given what I would probably guess would be a full squad to rebuild, then I think he would do a cracking job at that. Although I haven't read it anywhere, when McCall was on the Scottish Football podcast after his appointment at Clyde, it came across strongly that he was only there until the summer and when he knew what was happening he would discuss things further with Maitland. I could be wrong, I don't know, but it certainly came across as that.

I did wonder where Miller was, but as always we are told very little. Ewan Wilson was also not in the squad, has he been sent back to Motherwell?? Competition is good, we’ll be all the better for it I’m sure.

Hmmm, kind of agree with Beepee, but where I 100% agree is in the statement regarding Crane, what a fantastic performance by him, totally bossed the centre of the park before being replaced and looked a player that could play at a higher level, although he wasn’t up against much. I totally get why Pabs was voted sponsors Man of the Match but for me it was Crane. The First Half was disjoined and we were very wasteful on the ball for long periods, but as this squad does, we just found the ability to dig in and come up with a goal, and it was great when we did. They don’t have to be pretty all the time, scrambles count as well. I think it was then a case of how many and thankfully, we managed to get 3 more and play some really good football in the mix, with McPake and Offord playing a big part in a lot of what was positive. Thought the substitution of Hilson for Spence was positive as well and was delighted when “the other Dale” managed to get himself on the score sheet at the end. i did feel for Edinburgh a bit, I don’t think they’re necessarily awful, McIndoe has set them up well, but they’re a mix of guys that are simply not good enough for this level and remind me a bit of when we were in League 1 under Greig McDonald and then Stuart McLaren. Disappointed in the support the Edinburgh bench showed Deane after his Red Card, that was an awful challenge, he got it totally wrong and was lucky not to do some real damage to McPake. He’s a young lad, who’ll probably learn from it, but from where I was sitting, that was bad. Anyway, pleasing afternoon and delighted to have suffered no hiccups and extended the lead over Annan.

Former Rangers Youth Winger, Josh McPake, joins the club until the end of the season Stirling Albion Sign Josh McPake - SAFC (stirlingalbionfc.co.uk)

Well after our loss to Annan last Saturday, and with Hamilton (twice), Qos and Falkirk our next 4 games, surely this game falls into the "must win" category for us? I suspect Forthbank will be an eerie place tomorrow, but hopefully the lads can find the form that saw us do so well against Kelty and Cove, only a few weeks ago.

He's obviously had a good career at the top end of the Scottish game as a player, and has a good track recorded in the lower leagues as a manager of 3 clubs......but does Darren still hold out for that move into Full Time Football Management or is he happy with his day job and working in the game Part Time? During his time at the club, his signings have, by and large been good ones....there have been very few flops. How does he go about targeting the players he wants at this level?? He and his brother spent a large part of their playing days together at Aberdeen and Dunfermline, and obviously both have gone into Coaching and Darren into management, but why have they never worked together since hanging up the boots?

After the behaviour at the pre-season game and at the first league meeting, I know of 4 older supporters that aren’t going, who would normally be there, so there’s probably about £100, all in, that the club have lost. Onto the game, I hope we play better than we did in the last meeting, we were awful at Forthbank. Not sure about changes in all honesty, the 1 that I would definitely make is Cooper coming in for Leitch, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Yeah, I don't get the Cammy Clark thing, he looks undroppable in Young's eye, but I have the same view as you on it.

As I said in my post yesterday, I couldn't make the game last night, but going by the couple of posts above, I didn't see that level of performance coming and have to say that I am surprised. I think loyal is something that Darren Young is labelled with, and at times he is overly so, however after the Kelty and Cove games then why not?? The lads did well for him, however if you can see it's not working on the night then you have to change it, especially when you have the options there to do so. Frustrating, but then we all have off days I suppose.

Rab Douglas lives in Broughty Ferry, next to Dundee. He owns a hotel there and has spoke about it previously on various podcasts and on X mate

Always seen Greig as one of football's good guys, and glad to see he has walked away rather than face the bullet, especially from a club that he holds dear. However, and I posted this on here a couple of times last season, he never really seemed to learn from the mistakes that he made from his time at us. Despite a stint on the staff Annan between leaving Stirling and joining East Fife where some people thought he would have "learned the tools of the trade" before stepping back into the hot seat, but he obviously didn't. If you can entice the Campbell's, along with Young and Douglas to Methil, then that really would be something for you to get excited about.

I'll not make it along to Forthbank tonight, but can't imagine the game being off. It's wet and windy however, so I doubt it's gonna be a cracker but who knows, probably not greatly different to last Saturday and we did well then.