waysider

Good call Allan for Gallacher. Every team needs a whipping boy and Gallagher is ours. Don’t see him being dropped too often unless for tactical reasons. He’s vice captain and given the service he’ll get his share of goals.

This team are going somewhere. Into Division 2 ! What a shambles. I know that money is tight but something drastic must be done. How long have our supporters put up with false dawns in the last few years? Murray has to go for a start. I know money will be an issue but how much money will we recoup in Division 2?

Haven’t seen it confirmed yet. If true, I ‘m sorry in one respect. He seemed a decent guy and tried hard to keep in touch with the fans in contrast with the invisible Board who tell us nothing. However, if he was signing players, I doubt if he will be missed. The recent signing of Mackay, if it was his doing, was little short of a disgrace.

Clearly been asleep for a few days and only found out about Hutton leaving in Murray’s post match talk. Is anyone ITK? Did he ask to go because he wasn’t getting a game or was he kicked out for some reason ? I always thought it was a bit strange having two good goalies on the books.

Well, that was exciting. We won because Clyde were worse than us. Their defending in the first half was the worst I’ve seen for a while. Clearly the wind and rain spoiled the match. I thought the conditions got worse as the game went on. At the end it was like two teams of schoolboys miskicking and misheading the ball. The Clyde player on the left even made a mess of throw Ins several times! One criticism of our performance was when playing against a strong wind why do our players keep kicking the ball straight up in the air? Despite all the above moaning I am happy for the win which brings us back into the mix. Great goal from Kerr.

I see that Bobby Wishart has died. He mainly played in the great Dundee team but later in his career he had a spell with Airdrie.

In so far as yesterday’s match is concerned taken on it's own I disagree with most posters. We dominated possession and had more shots on target than in any other game so far. The ball did not bounce favourably for us in their penalty area and we were hit by 2 breakaway goals (albeit defensive mistakes). On another day we would have won. However, on a broader front we have major issues. Firstly, who picks the players we sign.? If it is Murray he obviously doesn’t have an eye for a player. If it someone else, Murray will obviously not fancy some of them. Murray has 2 major problems. His grasp of tactics is fairly grim. An example from yesterday was substituting a forward who was playing well when we were 2 down.His second major problem is team selection. He seems to put the names in a hat and pull 11 out every week. I’ve lost count of the number of times I think we’ve a better team on the bench than on the park! It’s disgrace and he’s been like that since he came. However, there’s a problem in getting rid of him. It would cost the club money which they probably don’t have. I’ve been an Airdrie fan all my life and am getting fed up with all these false dawns. I suspect others may be too.

That may well be it. Thanks. I’m glad I didn’t imagine it!

Another tedious rules question. On Saturday I am certain I saw a Thistle player under no pressure pass the ball back to the keeper who immediately picked it up. Did anyone else see it or am I hallucinating? I was definitely sober!

Change of topic. I seem to be totally ignorant as to apparent changes to the rules. This season I have noticed (1) Twice in Airdrie games I have noticed the keeper taking a goal kick and passing it to a defender who was clearly in the box when he first touched it. (2) Peterhead were allowed to bring on 4 subs ,all for injuries, against us. I thought the maximum for the league games was 3. (3) In a European match several times the goalie stood with the ball in his hands about to kick it out. An attacker stood very close to him and lifted his leg to attempt to block the kick. I didn’t think this was allowed. Can anyone help me out. I remember getting caught out a few years ago when kicking a ball backwards at a kick off was allowed.

I must be watching different matches than everyone else. I cannot understand all this optimism. We are a very ordinary team. We have a decent defence and little else. We hardly ever manage a shot at goal. We have no cutting edge. If we do well in this league, it must be a poor league.

We were rank rotten. Rovers looked the more likely team at the end. A lot of people say it’s only a friendly but the obvious problems show themselves anyway. Our strongest defence will do ok. However, further up the field we continue to have problems. We have no decent midfield (apart from the classy Sabatini) and we will struggle to score goals. Robert continues to disappoint me. I thought the trialist centre was the same guy as last game but even if it was two different people (they or he) are, or is, pretty useless. I know Roy has started the season scoring well but based on last season I’ll be surprised if that continues. No way will we be challenging for promotion. The Rev I M Jolly.

Fair enough but it was early season too for Rovers and they also can be expected to improve on last night as well.

Having now had a chance to work out who was who, I had concerns over last night’s performance. If we play like that in the league there is no chance of being anywhere near promotion. Failure to dominate a team are as low as Albion Rovers in midfield does not bode well. I thought Robert was poor and certainly not the wonder kid we were told we had signed. On the positive side having now seen the three goals up close they were cracking goals. On the positive side having now seen the three goals up close they were cracking goals. I know it is early season but I am not confident.

First half was dreadful. Defence made two horrendous mistakes prior to first goal, in so far as I saw it. In first half you would think our players were playing rugby. I lost count as to the number of shots which went sailing by miles over the bar. Second half was better. Did our class begin to tell (joke) or did Rovers fade.? Scored a couple of nice goals. Like some others I couldn't tell who was who but the centre back in the first half was too slow. Both the Right wingers we used played a similar game. Fast and energetic but poor end product. Have to add To what others have said about the cameraman.3 times he was concentrating on the goalie standing alone in his own half while the action was taking place in the other penalty box.

I regarded it is a fiver down the drain. Everything froze every 10 seconds and you had to switch it off and on again. I got fed up and left it eventually. Tried is again a few times during the match but still the same.

I’ve just finished watching highlights of Kelty v Tynecastle on YouTube. Wish I hadn’t. Kelty won 6-1 (including 3 stonewall penalties). Hope we can defend better than Tynecastle.

That is a good question. I emailed the club about it sometime ago and did not get a reply. I sent a reminder and still no reply. I appreciate that there may be some complications to work through but I would have appreciated an acknowledgement but I am not surprised given the club’s track record on communication.

This appeared a reasonable question but nobody answered it. Is nobody out there ITK?

I am hoping so. We need at least a couple more or we won’t be challenging. Some of the squad are youngsters who probably Will not get on the park unless we have an injury crisis.

Things have gone deadly quiet apart from fans sponsoring jerseys. Is there any news of any further signings, particularly players or player coming from West Ham? It is clear that lower level teams like us are finding finance and the legal requirements of Covid 19 challenging. Club are, as usual, tight lipped.

I accept we have experienced players in goal and central defence. Neither full back is experienced although McCann in particular was good last year. We have 2 experienced forwards and that is it in terms of experience. Remember too that players get injured. The midfield was terrible last year but on signings so far I bet that nobody has heard of many of them before. The fact that you are foreign doesn’t necessarily make you a good player. So on the basis of this I would say that we are likely to have a team the majority of whom have everything to prove. I accept that the signings aren’t finished but from comment from people ITK future signings look like being youngsters as well. I’ve probably become a cynic but I’ve been disappointed so often I’m not getting over excited. As I said before, I hope I’m wrong.

I’m well aware that other signings may improve things but I’m worried about the direction we are going in. Apart from Currie, none of the signings have yet broken through. I doubt if many fans have heard of any of them. Hopefully, some of them will fulfil their stated potential but some of them won’t. It is very dangerous putting out a team full of youngsters with minimum experience in this brutal league. We don’t have enough experience particularly in midfield. I fear this season may lead to further disappointment for the long suffering Airdrie fans. As I said above, I know more players can still come in but unless we achieve a better balance it looks like a long hard season. I hope I’m wrong.