thediamonddude

Yep, for me Prunts, Russell, Coyle, Vareille, Brian McPhee, and Alan Gow all need to be up there for strikers in the ‘modern era’.

An utterly dreadful game of football where neither team deserved to win, so the 0-0 was about right! Given the performance and our away record, as well as other results today, that could be a cracking point for us. As much as it was a poor performance from us - one of the poorest in a long time - it’s hard to be too critical of the players given everything they’ve put in with the fixture pileup in recent weeks! Hoping we can put Arbroath to the sword next week and keep everyone below us at arm’s length!

Yep, agree with this 100% and I think last night was another example of that - he was excellent when he came on. I would say that while Frizz and Gal have slightly underwhelmed in terms of what I hoped for from them, Janny and Charlie Telfer have far exceeded my expectations. In terms of reliability and consistency of performance, Charlie will be up there for PotY for me!

Yeah, I think that’s a pretty fair assessment of Frizz’s season - I was more referring to the fact he had a spell of games there where he looked like the Frizz of last season but I’d agree that he’s been poor, on the whole. I think of our core starters last season, for me, the ones that have struggled to make the step up and perform on a consistent basis would be ATS (although was never totally sold on him last season and you could say he’s a bit-part player anyway), Frizz, and Gal. I accept that some might say the jury would be out on Gabby but what he offers in terms of his work rate and running the channels more than makes up for the fact he’s arguably not as prolific in front of goal as Gal is. Plus he has had injury problems again this season, which has undoubtedly had an impact. A lot of the other guys are still just kids, so that inconsistency is to be expected but I will be honest and say I had hoped for a bit more from Frizz/Gal on the whole.

My mate and I were talking about that game in 1995 last night at the game funnily enough! Remember it well - Utd had just been relegated and we scored two late goals to win the game 2-1, with Peter Duffield coming off the bench to get the winner. Might be wrong but pretty certain they didn’t beat us that season at all, despite going on to win promotion straight back up. Anyway, that really was the definition of a team performance last night - with everyone pulling together, defending brilliantly and causing Utd a fair few problems at the back as well. As has been noted elsewhere, we were a bit more direct than usual at times but I like that we can do that and it’s an important trait to be able to switch things up. Particular plaudits for me would go to Josh Rae (as comfortable and composed as I’ve seen him this season), Janny, Kanayo, Dycey, Rhys, and Charlie Telfer. Above all though, absolutely delighted for Gabby - who worked his socks off and took his goal so well. Without being too negative, I did think that Frizz looked a bit off the pace again last night and Cammy still seems a yard or two short to me, which is understandable with just being back but would lead you to question whether he’s been brought back too quickly. Also got to say, I know there’s been a lot of clamour for him in here and I was one of his staunchest defenders when he was criticised in years gone by, but I do think that Gal has hit his ceiling. He’ll still grab you the odd goal at this level and has been a tremendous servant of that there is no doubt, but he should be no more than a bit-part player for me for the rest of the season, as he just doesn’t quite offer enough. Anyhoo, delighted for all of the players and staff who have shown again that they are resilient and can stand up to adversity - those celebrations at the end were beautiful! Roll on Saturday!

My assertion that it would be mad to think switching him back to RB was a good thing was perhaps a tad excessive and, while I do agree with a lot of what you say DaF, I still stand by my general point. There is no question that Ballantyne improved when moved to LB last season but, as you’ve noted yourself, this coincided with a period where everything clicked - formation, lineup, togetherness - it was all there. The issue for me is the sample size - we’re talking a dozen games last season plus almost another dozen this season, which isn’t enough to convince me personally that he’s better on the left than a natural LB. I also get what you’re saying about a lot of modern full backs being inverted and while I’m very much against inverted full backs, midfielders that need to be defined as holding/attacking, and strikers playing on flanks, if I’m to accept the modern traps of the game, I think the inverted full back thing falls down if you don’t have it on both sides? Like you say, there could be advantages to it but I’ve also got to think teams can exploit it. I was totally in the same place as you with Ballantyne around Christmas last year - think I actually described him as one of my most disappointing signings of the modern era, when you factor in the promise he showed. However, he has upped his game majorly since then, I just don’t think that’s all because of the switch to LB. Anyway, think it’s all a moot point, as today’s signing would suggest to me that Rhys sees him at LB for the foreseeable and as the furthest thing you’ll get from a football manager, my opinion is likely to be trumped by his!

I personally had hoped that the next signing would be a natural LB; however, any kind of defensive cover/competition is most welcome at this stage and based on the noises from the Hibs fans, the lad could be a solid addition. I get that Cammy B has done well at LB but I personally think the assertion that he’s better there than his natural RB position is mad. We now have 3 RBs, 3 CBs and no LB - Hancock has said himself that he’s a CB, but can only assume the plan is to use him at LB in the long term. All of that being said, as we’ve discussed at length here, the market is tough and we’re after a very specific type of player that suits our style, so got to trust in Rhys and Dycey on this one!

I genuinely didn’t have the strength to wade into a debate with the moaning negativity brigade when I saw all this last night but your post sums it up perfectly for me @Mybitchunderprotest - thank you.

I’m not disputing for a second that Connor Smith would be an excellent signing for any number of teams in our league, but I would wonder if he’s a realistic possibility for us. Not just because of the cost for one player as others have noted, but because of his ‘fit’ with the team. I’ll preface this by saying I don’t know the lad, so I may be wayy off base, but he strikes me as a huffy wee bugger and someone who has a bit of an attitude - very much the opposite of his brother, who I’d have kept a thousand times over, rather than signing Connor. Rhys, rightly, has been very careful to only bring in players that match the way he plays but I think he applies that to personality too. Look at LJ last season -it was clear he added something to the team and many would even have taken him back this year, but I get the impression that his strops put him at odds with Rhys and that maybe explains why there hasn’t been a push to bring him back. People also sometimes forget, and Saturday was a big reminder of this, that this group has a great mentality - they believe in one another, the manager’s philosophy and fight for one another. You’ve got to be incredibly careful in terms of recruitment in situations like that, as one wrong personality could topple the whole thing like a house of cards. Like I say, I could be wrong and this is just an observation but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a real consideration. In addition, for me, we still need 4 players - a LB, CB, CM, and FW (made my peace with the fact we’ll use Hutts/the emergency route for GK) - so I don’t think we can afford to splurge too much on one player. No reason to doubt Rhys and Dycey in doing the business on that front though, as their signing record is pretty damn good.

Magic, thanks for the replies guys. Looks like our plan will be to use him as CB but with the expectation he’ll cover LB as well.

Sorry to intrude but out of interest guys, I’ve noticed a few of you saying that you played Hancock out of position last season - would that have been at LB?

Like others, I’m disappointed that signings haven’t materialised in the past couple of weeks but I still don’t get the panic. Why? There’s no way, no chance in hell, that Rhys and Dycey will be comfortable with us having 4 recognised defenders for the season. Will this be sorted for Saturday? Probably not, but that’s hardly a disaster. Someone else said it but we are literally 2 or 3 players away from a squad that will be competitive this season - that isn’t an insurmountable challenge by any stretch, even at this stage in a season. I get that it’s a forum for discussion and everyone has a right to air their views - I think it’s important and good in some ways that we all look at things differently but I just can’t buy the negativity of some, it’s mad to me. And those trying to point score with ‘see, told you we don’t have a big enough squad’ before a ball has even been kicked in the league? Come off of it.

Apologies, I hadn’t appreciated anyone else had noticed that gaff - as I tend to pride myself on my conscientious checking of things, so must have missed that in my embarrassment! You misunderstand the point I was making, I wasn’t saying anyone had said that, I was saying that in an ideal world that’s what we’d have - a decent portion (if not all) of our first 11 being able to comfortably get us to mid-table. However, whilst no one has been suggesting we have much chance of finishing higher than 8th, they have been intimating that we need the kind of player that would stroll into our starting lineup. It all feels a wee bit contradictory to me, as well as unrealistic. I think we’ll add a couple of defenders, maybe a midfielder and forward later when loans become a factor but let’s not kid ourselves - these are unlikely to be players that, when they sign, are household names that everyone paws over instantly. That’s not to say they won’t be good enough or won’t better our 11, but we’ll need to be patient - something that seems in short supply right now for some reason.

Must say, not getting the McGregor hate from yesterday - yes, he had 2 or 3 very good chances before his goal at the end but I was impressed by how he never shied away, was always looking to get on the ball and tried to make things happen. To expect a 19 year old lad to have the level of composure required to bag a hat trick yesterday is the kind of nativity (that one’s for you @Chapelhall chap ) that I was alluding to before. If he had it, he wouldn’t be at this level with us. We would all love 11 ‘oven ready’ players that could lay siege to the league and ensure we finish mid-table at worst but that’s just not going to happen, so I’d suggest re-setting expectations for some. We have a good young squad that know each other well, play with a style and believe in each other/what the management are trying to do - I would go as far as to say that’s the best position we’ve been in at the start of a season since about 2005. We need (and all want) a couple of players to supplement that good base, so let’s have some patience and see what the club can do in that regard. I thought yesterday was absolutely fine - played very much like a pre-season friendly with two teams that looked pretty rusty. We knocked the ball about well at times but it was just a wee bit too pedestrian in comparison to what we’re capable of doing when we move the ball about. Massive credit goes to Dumbarton too though, as they pressed us well for the first hour, stopping us playing, and then sat back more in the second half, meaning they were hard to break down. Yet break them down we did and a result we got, so that’s fine with me. Thought Rae, ATS, McMaster, Frizz, and McGregor all had good games - the rest were okay but particularly disappointed with Dycey, Telfer, and Gal, all of whom I thought were way off the pace. Hoping yesterday shook some of that ring rust off.

Pretty much in agreement with @Diamonds are Forever on most of this. Certainly on here, I don’t see anyone saying they’re jumping for joy that we have four registered defenders for the season ahead - with two of those being ATS and Janny, who wouldn’t be starters for me (even in L1) - but we do need a bit of realism as well. Not one of us will know what conversations are going on behind closed doors, what players we’ve spoken to and what the offers are looking like but I would say it’s nativity in the extreme to think those at the club aren’t going to be prepared for next season and instead allow us to slink back to L1 with a whimper - anyone who has even the slightest idea about those in charge will know that. Getting Airdrie to the Championship and ensuring we establish ourselves there has been the goal since day one as far as I can see, so there is little doubt in my mind they’ll be doing all they can to achieve that. However, as many others have said - what can you do if the players aren’t there, aren’t good enough, or aren’t worth what they’re asking for? In any walk of life, it’s got to be the best person for the job and I’ll always applaud the club for taking that approach. Don’t get me wrong, if we start against Dunfermline with the back four we have right now, I’ll be worried, but I just don’t see that happening at all and I think that is the point others are making. I do wonder if we’re still talking to Euan East? I note that he hasn’t been offered anything with Thistle yet, and wasn’t involved in their last friendly. A left-sided CB that can cover LB sounds right up our street and perhaps he wasn’t able to be in Ireland with the squad last week, hence why he was on trial with Thistle. This would all also jive with Dycey’s comments that we were talking to players - in a case like East, it wouldn’t necessarily be simple, with Thistle in the equation as well. All conjecture on my part, but seems plausible.