CJB

Yeah thanks checked that....I'll give them a call. They managed to send me their fan survey email.

Anyone had any problems getting their tickets for the Cup Final next week? I've not had any email with the actual ticket yet and presume the email should arrive pretty much automatically - don't recall anything on the website about them being issued closer to the match day.

Statto moment here, but reading the Coyle comments got me looking back at the results at the start of that season and what a start it was - he did actually score a hat-trick on three consecutive weekends, the two goals he got were in a midweek game against Meadowbank. The 17 he got in 7 games came on top of the 10 he had got in 10 games the season before. As a team we actually had a player score a hat trick on five consecutive weekends !!! We all thought the league had been won by October...if only.....For the record.... Sat 1st Sept - 4-3 vs Kilmarnock (Coyle 3) Sat 8th Sept - 3-0 vs Brechin City (Harvey 3) Sat 15th Sept - 4-1 vs Forfar (Coyle 3) (Tues 18th Sept 2-0 vs Meadowbank - Coyle 2) Sat 22nd Sept - 4-0 vs Ayr Utd (Coyle 3) Sat 29th Sept - 4-1 vs Clyde (Coyle 4) So that was 27 goals in his first 17 games - more than he would score in the rest of his first spell at the club.

When you are stuck in a rut like this it is hard to be positive, but perhaps the current negativity is really down to how spoilt we have been over the last few seasons. There is no doubt that the quality of our attacking play, the quantity and quality of the goals we have scored in the last 2 years has probably been better than it ever has been in the past and that includes going way back to the 90s and earlier. However this season was always going to be a big jump in standard and most of us worried that we would score goals but find ourselves overwhelmed at the other end. It's not really panned out that way. So the positives; - There can be no argument we have improved defensively. With the exception of the game at Arbroath the team has been competitive in every single match and margins have been very right. There have been a few goals shipped through poor defending but overall the defence has improved and probably the only two real quality additions we have made this year have both been at the back in Megwa & Hancock. We do compete at a Championship level - we didn't last time we were at this level - We are not in the relegation zone. Almost everyone knew the target this season in a tough league was survival. 8th is success. We sort of fell for hype that we could challenge for promotion and to be fair there is very little between virtually every time in this league so the difference between challenging for promotion and avoiding relegation is marginal. - Support. We never have the biggest of supports - never have done, however averaging about 1,800 is probably as healthy as you could expect for Airdrie - you have to go back a long way to the days of challenging for or being in the Premier League to do better. We do need to improve if going to keep our heads above water. I'd encourage us not to lose sight of how we want to play however. There are positives. I think we have lacked that quality player who can unlock tight Championship defenses. I look on jealously when I look at Raith. We do miss Easton & Smith - in particular if we had kept Smith he was the type of player who could on occasion add that bit of magic. The major failing this season is we didn't get the quality we hoped to in order to replace Smith. I'm not a fan of McGregor - pace causes problems, but almost always his end product is poor and McStravick has potential but not yet convinced. The front pairings are being continually changed. Gallagher is by far our best striker - even on a off day I would leave him on for when that chance comes along. Todorov adds presence but he lacks a quality finish - missed big big chances late against Queens Park & Partick that would have had us feeling much better right now. Give McGill & Gallagher an extended run but play McGill more central. If we keep positive, keep to our principles and IF we can hopefuly add that bit of extra quality in the final third in January then we can be ok. It will tough though and goals scarce, but even looking at yesterday there wasn't a lot to be scared off...not seen any team we couldn't beat.

Gordon McQueen: Scotland, Manchester United, and Leeds United great dies aged 70 - BBC Sport Although I'd being going to games for a few years it was really the McQueen era and the 88/89 season was really when I became a lifelong diamond. So many memories of those days when suddenly supporting Airdrie became exciting.

I think Smith will be a hard one to replace - he didn't have as a good a season as previous but the goal against Accies is typical of what he can offer and not many players are capable of it (perhaps his brother would be a great replacement). But perhaps the O'Connor signing was made in the knowledge he was leaving so maybe it will work out and there are always going to be one or two players who will move on. I suppose what disappoints me most is that I'd hoped that we were getting back to a level as a club where we no longer lose players to clubs like Raith. That's not dis-respecting them as they have been a bigger more successful club for the majority of the last 20 years but I do hope we can get back to being an established Championship club and that means being better able to compete and hold onto players. I felt we finished last season with a stronger team than the previous year and really want to hold on to the majority of the squad. If we keep McGill and Frizzell we are doing ok. Need to ensure we have a full squad by time the season starts - last year we were too slow off the mark.

I really hope they do well tonight but to go into the second game of the season with only 10 senior outfield players is a woeful state of affairs. It's been over a week since Telfer played as trialist so looking increasingly unlikely be will be joining and I haven't seen us linked with any other established players. The League is priority so still a couple of weeks to put things right but squad as it stands is a real worry - I would have liked to see us make a real go at getting out this group. I really hope the budget is there to bring in at least 3-4 quality signings.

I don't know how I'd feel being given the No 23 shirt in a 14 man squad...but maybe it's an omen and we have a busy week ahead !

I'd only count him as a squad filler - really wanting to see better. Teenage cast offs from what was a Championship club last season doesn't inspire much confidence. Only two signings of a decent standard so far - lots more to do. Whilst we can say Supply Chain issues are out of our control the bespoke nature of the kit is hardly a surprise and seems to be late out every-year. Perhaps get ahead of the queue and order early. Also why can't we just wear last season's for a few games?

I know we should try and remain positive and certainly we can be pleased with the players we have signed so far but it's getting a bit squeaky bum time when you only have 11 outfield players signed up (10 of whom are fit) and two days until your first competitive game of the season. I was optimistic when we appointed McCabe as wanted to see a continuation from last year - the downside of a young appointment is that it may put off more established players from joining us given he is such an unknown quantity. We are far from being alone in this but I do worry we have missed out on some key targets (or players who maybe should have been targets - Keiran MacDonald perhaps not everyone's fav but would have been a well established Championship player filling a clear void in our squad and willing to play part-time and another who I would have liked, Michael Doyle has gone to Hamilton). I don't want us to just fill the squad with fillers - which is what last weekends trialists in the main appear to be, but we are way short of being ready for this season. Yes last year we had only about 16 at this stage - still better than this season and should remember last season we were largely lucky with injuries to only one or two players at any one time - if we had 3/4 out we would have seriously struggled last year. Last year we nailed our key targets early. It feels like it has been a frustrating summer for us with perhaps only Rae & Ballantyne being the key targets we succeeded in signing. I wonder who else we wanted but never got near to attracting. Really hoping for 2-3 signings today or tomorrow and not just young lads - we need a quality central defender, quality left back and quality creative midfielder - beyond that ok with loans and squad fillers.

There is no doubt League 1 will be much stronger next season but also potentially far more interesting that it has been for years. It's no longer the seaside league of visits to Forfar, Brechin, Arbroath & East Fife. IF we get recruitment right (and yes I would like to have seen at least 2-3 more by this stage) and can continue to play with the style that has been developing over the last 2 years and continue to push at the top end of the table then perhaps this year could even be a better division to play in than the Championship. Our budget is probably only middle of the pack, but the increased competition as well as drawing larger crowds might also benefit us. I doubt we will be going on any 20 game unbeaten runs and we set a record points total last season and yet still didn't go up...why? Well partly whilst we ourselves failed to take points from Cove, so did everyone else. There is a line of thinking that says if Falkirk and Montrose or QP had been a little more consistent then perhaps when we hit that fantastic run of form we might actually have caught and over-taken Cove. Our most realistic route to promotion next season is a much closer title race where Dunfermline, Falkirk & QOS are all strong but all take points from each other and somehow we squeeze through. It would be great to have some big title deciders next season particularly with Dunfermline & Falkirk...when the fixtures come out this week I'm hoping we end up with those two at home over the last few weeks of the season. All depends on how good our recruitment is but I believe we can compete but need others to also ensure it doesn't become another one horse race. Now we just need some signing news to cheers us all up