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.

Was talking to someone about this the other day and, while I’d love us to add 4/5 ‘Championship quality’ players to what is a settled and competent squad, I don’t see us doing as much. Assuming we stick with the 4-3-3 we used last season, the general positional cover looks like this… GK - Rae, Hutton RB - Ballantyne, Janny LB - CB - Dycey, ATS DM - McCabe, McMaster CM - Frizz, Deveney, Telfer, Aitken RW - McGregor, O’Connor LW - Gabby, Dunlop ST - Gal, Todorov, Kavanagh It’s worth pointing out that I’m only issuing each player one position (I know some can cover others), and I haven’t included anyone beyond the ‘senior’ guys listed on the site (it may be that Fellows is a regular feature in the squad this year as an example) but what I think it illustrates is that we need defenders above and beyond anything else. I’d love another CM and winger but unless it’s a promising loan (still praying we go to Killie about McInroy after the League Cup), I really don’t see us signing anyone in any of those positions. Our squad won’t be a considerable size and when you’ve got at least two players for each position, why would you? A must, however, is that we need a natural LB and one ‘quality’ CB. At this stage, as long as we get those in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be comfortable and happy if we can then add a loan or two to complete the squad. I would also like a GK, as noted on here a couple of weeks back, but that does seem to be increasingly unlikely at this stage.

I’ve found the best solution to Passionate’s mind-numbing negativity over the past few years is to just press the mute button… Haven't made the NL Cup games - a 3rd kit, ST and the Lge Cup games this month have all but rooked me - but it seems like it’s been a pretty productive weekend. Everyone has had minutes in the tank, we’ve scored a hatful, conceded nothing and won the games - the opposition doesn’t matter too much at this stage and I’m a firm believer in winning becoming a habit, so that can only benefit us. I also think it’s a brilliant idea the squad going to Coleraine this week - I think a big part of our success last season was the bond fostered between the players and management, so don’t think we can overstate the importance of that in order to continue to compete/do well and this trip will help with that I think. I also don’t get the clamour for trialists - to me, it usually indicates you have nothing on the horizon, are panicking and are taking a look at guys that you know probably aren’t good enough in the hope they’ll surprise you as a result. Whilst I’m sure the odd one will surprise, the former is much more often the case in my view. I’m more heartened by the fact we have retained the core of a squad that clearly know each other and play well together - we’re not starting from scratch and as others have said, we’re much further on than this stage last season. It’s also reassuring to hear Rhys say he has targets we’re ‘going after first’, meaning there is a plan. It’s the same on virtually every thread on this forum but some people do need to chill a wee bit.

Yeah, I’m not really getting the concern or frustration around the signing of the lad Dunlop. As I’ve said before, as long as signings like this don’t have a detrimental impact on who else we add to the squad, I have zero issue with it. Rhys has said in numerous interviews that he wants players he can develop and help move on, which if he can do successfully, has benefits for us, of course. The timing, given the article in Lanarkshire Sport today, is unfortunate but the club are unlikely to have much control of that. Besides, just because that comes out and then we sign a 17-year-old kid, doesn’t mean the quality isn’t still to come. We need to remember we’ve re-signed everyone we wanted from last season (bar Smithy who is, in my view, replaceable), added quality in Todorov, and have a squad of 16 before pre-season games have started. All we need are another 4 or 5 players and we’ll be in the best shape ahead of a season that I can remember. If, in 3 or 4 weeks, we look back on this and this signing has seriously affected adding other quality Championship players, I’ll happily eat my words but will be stunned if that’s the case. And all of this, shrouding the fact Gabby is back!

Been thinking about the GK thing too and as others have said, the loan idea is a non-starter and would be fairly pointless. I reckon we will (and should) go down the younger route again, much like we tried last season. Assuming we can find one, you’re looking for a young promising keeper that comes in with the promise of learning from a highly-rated young keeper (Rae) and an experienced pro (Hutts) all the while knowing it’s highly likely there’ll be chances to show what you can do over the course of the season. I feel for Henderson, as I liked the look of the lad. As others have said, don’t think you could really blame him specifically in any of the games he played. In fact, if memory serves, the Edinburgh game could’ve been way more than 6 if not for him. However, there’s nowt that can be done if he was home sick and struggled with the impact of that run of games - some of our fans don’t help in those situations either, but that’s one for another day. Anyway, I’d be looking for someone in the Henderson category again, seems the most logical move.

Although not officially confirmed yet, I’d be surprised if Rhys would have said anything about Gabby and Telfer if it wasn’t all but done and that’s enough for me. As I’ve intimated before, was really keen we sign Gabby and delighted we’ve managed to do so. There were signs we were onto something with him the season before last and if not for the freak injury at Clyde the day he grabbed a double, I think he would have gone on to have a cracking run in the team toward the end of the campaign. When you consider he also had a decent spell on the sidelines with one of those innocuous injuries that tend to linger last season as well, his return of goals and assists was very impressive. All this and he’s just turning 23, so more to come, I’m sure. As for Telfer, ATS, and Hutts, they’re all broadly in a similar category for me - I think they each bring something unique to them and I’m happy to see them stay for that reason, and for what they’ve done in their time with us. My concern would come if re-signing them has a detrimental impact on the budget to add more quality in certain positions, which to be fair, doesn’t look like it’ll be the case as things stand. I was one of ATS’s biggest doubters and, if I’m honest, I’m still not entirely sold on him. He can be slow, ponderous and telegraphs a lot of what he does - he also isn’t the strongest. However, I can’t deny that he seems to have had a calming influence to all those around him and is clearly well-liked. For those reasons, I reckon he’ll be good to have around the place and to be able to call upon if needed. Telfer is nothing like the player we were told we were getting from Falkirk fans - quite the opposite, in fact. I think the one thing you can’t level at Telfer, is that he doesn’t work hard enough or put in a tackle. I can think of plenty of games where he harried opposition players and won the ball back well. In addition, he had a couple of really significant performances throughout the season, including the 1-0 win at home to Alloa when he scored the only goal. His main issue seems to be that he does struggle to impose himself on a game at times - he’s not the kind of midfielder to grab a game by the scruff of the neck. Again, I dunno that he’d start for me in a midfield with Frizz and McCabe but a good, experienced option to have. Hutts needs to be there primarily as a coach for me - there were a couple of ‘you couldn’t write it’ moments for him last season but things could so easily have gone the other way. He’s clearly a great guy, been a great servant to the club and will be great to have around the players, but he needs to be no more than 3rd choice. Things have panned out over the weekend as I hoped they would and so, in terms of numbers, we’re where I expected - 16 signed up (14 of our own and 2 loans), so I think we need 6 yet. A GK, LB, CB x2, CM, and FW - I don’t think that’s unrealistic and if we were to get that (with an emphasis on quality in the CB/CM roles), we’ll be no one’s mugs next season.

First of all, delighted that Frizz has re-signed. He was a key part of our success last season and if we hadn’t lost him for around 8 weeks, I genuinely think we’d have had a much more comfortable run to the playoffs - may even have pushed Dunfermline further. Excellent bit of business by the club that all should be applauded for. I’m also in the camp for Deano being a good, positive re-signing. He won’t start every week, nor should he at this level, but he’s a young player still developing, had a real positive impact in the last quarter of the season, and we need squad depth if we’re going to have a good campaign. For those reasons, and the fact that Rhys is (rightly) keen to develop players, he deserves this shot. On the kit, I’ll admit to being slightly unsure/underwhelmed to begin with but it is really growing on me. I always struggle at first with ‘left-field’ colour choices (the pink Puma and yellow Umbro kits spring to mind) but if you’re going to have 3, it makes sense to try something different with the 3rd. As I’ve said before, FN and the club have been fantastic in terms of kit/training wear since the partnership began and I have no doubt that’ll continue. They’ve always taken a bit of a different route with the 3rd kits, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise and, although it isn’t as stunning as the ‘Barcelona Diamonds’ revival of a couple of years ago, it’s certainly one of the cleaner/nicer efforts. I’m happy we’re back with Joma too, as they were arguably the best choice for us after Umbro. As for what we need next player-wise, hoping Gabby is confirmed this weekend and would agree with others about ATS/Telfer re-signing, primarily for the aforementioned squad depth point. Assuming that all happens, we have a squad of 16 - I’d say we still then need a GK, LB, CB x2, CM, ST and we’re looking healthy! As others have noted, a huge well done to all at the club for all the great work so far - very exciting times to be a Diamond!

Superb bit of business from the club, that. Had an excellent season last term, especially considering he wasn’t always first choice at Dunfermline, and he caused us no end of problems. Think what we need to remember is that, as excellent as Gal has and will hopefully continue to be for us, he’s now the only PT player in a FT squad and the only recognised central striker we had before Todorov - it would be hugely unrealistic to expect him to lead the line by himself for the whole campaign, especially when you consider that this will be the first time he’s been at this level for a number of years. In addition, this gives us a different option from Gal, which I definitely think we lacked last season, so it’s a shrewd move by Rhys. Decent first signing day since the squad update I’d say, although wouldn’t say no to a Gabby/Frizz re-signing tonight!

Yep, agree with all of this - Janny seems like a really good guy and will help the younger guys in the squad. We’re going to need decent quality cover for most (if not all) positions, so this helps cover Cammy at RB who you’d hope will be first choice there, as well as extra cover for CB. Hoping the Lee Hodson stuff isn’t true though - as someone else has said, whilst he’d likely be a good addition, we need some naturally left-sided players in defence now. Gabby and Frizz next please!

Red shorts and socks for me - although, I’ve always liked us being able to switch things up by having alternatives we can move to, for example the away kit having black shorts and socks, so we can alternate. I think, for a lot of folk, the shorts and socks colour preference comes down to positive memories or eras that stuck with you - think that’s why I like the red shorts and socks combo as my formative years following the team were the 92 Hummel kits and the then 94 Matchwinner ones.

Guess we’ll just need to wait and see how right I am…if at all!!