7 Eleven

I thought his reactions towards Steele after Falkirk’s first goal was worse to be honest. He needs to have a wee word with himself in the mirror I think.

Or more logically, you could change your style of play to reduce the number of areal duals you create in the first place. After all that's what most of the other teams in this league have done.

While some fans were expelling all their energy to get DY out of the door the players making all the mistakes and costing the team games were going under the radar. The manager doesn't stand at the side of the pitch with a joypad controlling the players every movement. Once they are over the white line they need to take responsibility for their own actions. I can't think of many examples of a goal conceded and I've thought "yip, that was the managers fault". However, I could show you plenty of examples of players doing things where you'd ask "what the f**k are you doing?" Obviously that's a massive tease, so I'll give one one recent example. Go and have a look at Liam Watt before Cove Rangers free-kick goal (watch Coves highlights, not EFTV) and ask yourself "what the f**k was he doing?" (Apologies to Liam, as I could pretty much pick out any player and players with multiple examples, but his is the one that sticks in my mind just now). Also, Stevie Frail couldn't get a tune out of this lot in what has to be one of the worst results in the clubs history, and Stevie Crawford hasn't managed to get a tune out of them either. See my previous list of player already signed for next season. This was always going to happen with a new manager. They come in and have to try work things out for themselves. I'd imagine that the players have all started with a clean slate we will just have to wait and see how long it will take to work out what many already know. Either that or Smith actually has had COVID symptoms and isn't 100% yet. Regardless, I've said it before, this is the first position I would have strengthened when SC came in.

Watch Dunsmore on Airdrie’s second goal yesterday. This pretty much sums him up for me. He doesn’t cover himself in much glory on the third goal either. A change of club would probably do him some good tbh, but agree that Airdrie probably don’t need him now.

Goalkeeper would be the most obvious place to start squad improvement, but the fact that both Gallacher & Smith are under contract until May 2023 will be a problem. Maybe SC can look for a loan till the end of the season.

There are three main ways that a manager can improve a team: Improve the squad through transfers - always the easiest option if recruitment is planned properly. It seems that this isn’t an option during this window as the manager needs to get players out before more can come in (I make it ~25 players currently in the 1st team). I am 99.9% certain that the playing budget was cut for this season & that is the main reason the team is where it is. Improve individual players through coaching - I’m not convinced that a lot of these players can be coached. For example, can Slattery learn how to defend 1v1 at 28 years old? Can Mercer be coached how to defend in his own penalty area at 26 years old? Etc. Also, with limited coaching time, staff, resources & priorities during the season makes this a bit unrealistic. The players individually show a complete lack of game intelligence on a weekly basis. Basic things that you learn playing boys club football. Mistakes that cost goals & ultimately cost games. Get better performances from the same set of players through tactics - I can’t see this happening as SC is going through all the same cycles as DY has already tried: trying to contain teams for 60 minutes then going for it in the last 30; sitting deep then trying to play on the counter; getting the ball up to the forwards as quickly as possible; plus trying various different formations & player combinations. To be fair he hasn’t tried a high press yet, but I’m sure he already knows how that would turn out. The players are not fit enough for it, opponents are already exposing the full back areas, & Chris Higgins doesn’t like playing too high up because he knows he’ll be exposed in behind, plus if Gallacher is the goalkeeper he isn’t going to leave his 6-yard box. SC is still going through the process of working out that he can’t play a back 4 unless Murdoch is at RB; he can’t play with only two CMs & he can’t play with one up front. Every week it takes him to work this out is another game chalked off in terms of survival. I really feel sorry for SC, GM & the other coach who have came in as they have walked into a horrible situation out with their doing. The only people who can turn this situation around are the players. Starting by taking responsibility for where the team are. They spent months happy hiding behind DY taking all the flack. Well he has gone & the situation hasn’t changed at all. I doubt many will care if East Fife go down. They will just move on to another club while it’s the fans, staff & volunteers behind the scenes who will have to carry on regardless. The Board need to take their share of the blame too. There needs to be an immediate review of current practice at the club and some coherent direction as to where it wants to go.

Can anyone confirm if this list of players already contracted for next season is correct? GK - Scott Gallacher (32 y.o) GK - Jude Smith (18) D - Aaron Steele (19) D - Pat Slattery (28) D - Stewart Murdoch (31) - Injured D - Scott Mercer (26) M - Connor McManus (25) M - Liam Newton (19) M - Liam Watt (27) F - Ryan Wallace (31) Two things, firstly I think it will be difficult to offload any of these players during the January transfer window. Secondly, that's a horrible looking squad to be taking into the SPFL2.

It wasn’t from a long throw. It was from a cross

He deserved a red card just for his first touch!

It absolutely should be bothering them. If they go down then the playing budget will be even lower than it is now. The quality of the squad will be even worse than it currently is, then it only takes one bad season until the club drops out of the SPFL. Once out it is very difficult for established clubs to get back in. 10 points was an absolute minimum target for the first quarter based on aiming for an 8th place finish. A total of 4 points and 6 points (really its 9 points based on goal difference) behind Peterhead is a disaster. Believing the team would be doing better if all of the injured players were back and available is extremely naive and to be honestI don't think changing the manager will have much of an impact, but it is at the point you have to at least try something. Some fans think that this squad is much better than results have shown, but trust me its not. DY has been far too loyal to some players who simply have not returned that faith.

Is this definitely what happened or did Long reject the offer of new contract? Two contrasting scenarios, one within his control and one out with.

It was 5 set piece goals conceded

I am not entirely sure that one thing reflects the other. The manager will have been given a player budget at the start of the season then after that it is up to him how he spends it in relation to player wages, transfer fees and signing on fees. This was said a lot last season in relation to the "big money" signing Danny Swanson, but it looked to me that the manger paid a big wage to one player rather than smaller wages to two or three players. This was reflected in the strength and depth of the squad during the first half of last season where the manager only used 51% of his available subs compared to 82% in the second half after all the loan signings came in. The lateness of these signings this season is probably more of a reflection on how difficult it is to attract players to East Fife as well as the McGuigan and Wallace situations. I would be amazed if the playing budget this season was bigger or even the same as last seasons after a season without fans (the clubs main source income). If the board do want to back the manager then it would probably be helpful to highlight any constraints the manager might be under compared to last season to temper any unrealistic expectations. Stability was the key word used on Darren Young's contact extension announcement, but while East Fife are looking for stability and other clubs are improving their quality then stability turns to regression in the short-term.

Neither Davidson or McManus are defensive midfielders. They just occasionally play behind other midfielders. In Davidson's case he is just a bit better at winning the ball than he is when is is in possession of it. McManus on the other hand reminds me of a special teams player in American Football. You would be as well as rolling him off the bench for corners, free-kicks and penalties. Other than that I don't really see the point of him during open play. He has certainly not showed much interest in defending so far this season. East Fife are in desperate need of a genuine defensive midfielder who is willing to stay deep and sit in front of the central defenders, is capable of dropping into the defensive line or going into defend the full-back areas. Basically more prepared to work side-to-side rather than forwards and back. Unfortunately these types of players are few and far between at this level. The five on the short-list of players who I think are capable are already signed with clubs and playing most weeks. I personally don't think that Kieran Millar is the answer, but I don't think he is any worse than the others in the squad, so if there is no alternative options then I don't see the harm. Possibly a short-term deal till January would be beneficial for both parties. Shop window for him and another body around the place for the club. Lastly, I believe that the team need to start playing with a defensive/holding midfielder (if they can get one) and two box-to-box midfielders in front. Playing with a number 10 or attacking midfielder is an absolute luxury that this team cannot afford at the moment.

This is pretty much what I've been thinking since the start of the season. It would be helpful if Airdrie could be pulled into that group too. I make it that you would be looking at a target of 40 points for 8th place, which looks like 10-11 wins over the season and 7-10 draws. Breaking that down into quarters that's 10 points per quarter. With 1 point from 12 so far and 15 points left of the first quarter I just can't see the team picking up 9 points from 15 based on current form, playing style and the quality of the squad currently available. That means the team will enter the second quarter with a deficit to make up. This will just add more pressure on the manager and likely the board too.

Darren Young interview post Cove Rangers from East Fife TV Update on squad injuries and possible change in style of play

When the club went with one experienced GK this season I genuinely thought that they would have had a list of 4-5 emergency loan options in case this situation arose. For example, Maciej Dabrowski from Hibs who was on loan at Dumbarton last season. To be going with an 18 year old GK with 45 minutes senior career experience is a very bold move indeed. I hope the outfield players might protect him a bit better than last week at least.

The first goal was from Denholm vs Milne. The cross that eventually led to the second goal was Newton vs Yule. The cross leading to the penalty was Leitch vs. Newton and the cross that lead to the fifth was Milne unopposed because Dunsmore had switched off (again). Going back to last week 1st goal came from an unopposed cross and the second goal came from Semple turning his back on Church I think. So maybe the question needs to be what are the full backs doing when these crosses are coming in? Please note that this is a rhetorical question.

So you took gossip from a private group chat and put it on a public forum? Right, got you now.

Look at where the rumour is coming from, the same guy that stated Darren Young was going to Celtic. Fair play to him as it like catching fish in a barrel.

If you could combine the strengths of Long and Hart together I think you would have a decent enough keeper. However, their individual weaknesses made it a potential area for improvement, but I’m not too sure Gallacher is that player. From what I can find Gallacher has only played 14 games in the last 3 seasons and that would be a red flag for me. When I went and looked at some of the numbers they confirmed my thoughts on both keepers. Hart and Long both conceded roughly the same amount of goals per 90 minutes (1.45 vs 1.40), although Hart has a small sample size (649 minutes). However, East Fife had the second highest shots against and the highest xG shots against in the league last season. Basically they give up a lot of high quantity, high quality chances per game. I thought Long was very good at making reaction saves from close range. Long conceded 0.25 headed goals per 90, while Hart was ranked second in the league for conceding goals from outside the box per 90. This would support what most fans eyes would show them. Long wasn’t particularly good at dealing with cross balls. This is further supported by Long being ranked 9th for leaving his line (Hart was ranked 2nd). While, I always believed that Hart was too easily beaten by shots from distance. I didn’t bother looking at their distribution, but my opinion both were pretty poor and Long didn’t particularly want to be involved with the ball at his feet. Potentially another reason that he is no longer at the club. Anyway, the goalkeeper I would like to see come in is Jamie Sneddon on a season long loan from Partick Thistle. He would be a significant upgrade on both Long and Hart. With Partick bringing in highly rated Harry Stone on loan from Hearts I think Sneddon will be second choice once the league starts so it might be worth a call.

If this is genuinely about improving the national team then there needs to be a clear pathway into the first team once they are too old for the B team. For that to happen Rangers and Celtic need to make some concessions at first team level (or these concessions should be Premiership wide). This could include all or a combination of the following: Nationality rules (e.g., can’t have more than x foreign players in squad or on the pitch at any time). locally/club-trained player rule (similar to above) Squad size limits (e.g., 18 or 20 first team players over the age of 21) Loan limits & removal intra-league loans (which is basically a form of league doping when the player can play against every other team except their parent club) I am 100% certain that each and every one of the proposals would be rejected by Rangers and Celtic based on the belief that it would limit their ability to compete at European level. However, I’d cite Athletic Bilbao’ s (Europa League finalists 2012) self-imposed Basque policy or Celtic’s very own Lisbon Lions as counter arguments to that. Finally, I believe that SPFL should be investing all of their time and effort into trying to make the Premier League more competitive rather than turning three engaging already competitive leagues into glorified development leagues. To further help two teams who have dominated the top tier for the last 36 years is nonsensical. Maybe focus on Premiership reconstruction and a redistribution of playing talent. This would require an increase in the number of clubs in the top division and a more balanced sharing of prize money, which are another two suggestions that I believe would be immediately shot down. This all starts to ask the question as to who are the ones actually holding the Scottish game back?

The Croatia comparison gets peddled quite a bit and is actually used in the document sent to clubs. But by working seems to be highly inaccurate. There are a couple of really big clues why Croatia have done better than Scotland in the table though.

Craig Mulholland from Rangers. It almost seems like it’s his legacy project for Scottish football.

Out of interest what two or three clubs do you think have a lower budget? What are you basing these thoughts on? If you are correct, would you agree that the manager is disadvantaged from the start assuming that bigger budget = better squad? More importantly, what can be done to increase playing budget in future seasons or will it always be mainly determined mainly by prize money gained from final league position and monies gained from cup competitions? I wonder if football clubs develop four/five year strategic plans that they work towards or if the environment is so unstable it is not worth it. When you look beyond first team results and league positions I wonder what the club’s main vision is and where it wants to go.