Mr November

Yeah I find the full situation very funny but can’t really fault Aitchison for coming in at a very low point and helping out the club. I think for the cup games we had Donald Jennow, who was waiting to leave for full-time work outside of football, and Gordon Dalzell, who the less said about his time at the club the better, as our coaching team. Willie Aitchison and his son loitering behind the Cliftonhill dugout were an upgrade on that. That day at Cliftonhill was hilarious. Turn up with a team literally consisting of four loanees, two trialists, Scott Stewart and some jobbers (Conroy, McGregor, Brown, MacDonald), won 2-1 with Ryan Tierney’s finest moment, then Ballantyne’s statement all before we’d even had time for dinner. It was just a few days after we lost heavily to Queen of the South in the cup in that game where people thought we were going to appoint Nacho Novo as manager, and then between that game and the Rovers game we sold Andy Ryan and signed Jordan McGregor. A vintage week. We might still have some issues but as you say, we’ve came a long way since those days.

I think he just uses that one for his coaching thing. Anyway, Stirling Uni away in the diddy cup. Always a shame to miss out on one of the foreign teams but at least it’s something different for those who bother with it.

That article is a great laugh. “Strain didn't miss Smith's agent either, as he said the club was being 'disrespected' due to their third-tier status. He said: "I think there is a bit of disrespect from certain agents towards our club, a bit of snobbery, the fact we are League One. When you look at the squad we've built this season, there are Premiership-class players throughout it. Dylan Tait came from the Premiership, Euan Henderson and Jackson Longridge came from the Premiership, Kevin O'Hara and Kyle MacDonald can play in the Premiership.“ If you didn’t want to be “disrespected” for being in League One then maybe you shouldn’t have been rubbish all of last season? Also, Kyle MacDonald in the Premiership

Yeah Turner was the first one that came to mind. Basically played in midfield on his own at times and despite missing three games after melting Ryan Conroy four minutes into his debut (understandable), he still near enough single handedly dragged us to promotion, as that team was going nowhere before he came in. Much further back but was Owen Coyle signed on loan in 03/04? He was getting on a bit but he was class that season.

I thought Aiken struggled initially when he came on, as it was quite a high tempo game and we were struggling as a team at that point, but he came into it much more in the second half. O’Connor still has a bit to do before he’s ready to regularly compete at this level but I like what I’ve seen from Aiken and think he’ll suit our style very well.

From reading that match thread it seems like there was some Jai Quitongo/Raith beef today. I know there was the thing where Ian Murray called him a diver last season too but I thought you’d enjoy this excerpt from the Rico Quitongo tribunal last season: “On 29 December 2021, during an Airdrie and Queen’s Park game, there was a verbal altercation between Mr Murray and the claimant’s brother. Airdrie won the game but the game had been ill tempered. Mr Murray shouted into the Queen’s Park dressing room, as he walked past it, “Go tweet that you little fanny”. This was aimed at the claimant’s bother.”

We do need more than five defenders but absolutely, if we do sign one then they certainly won’t start ahead of Watson or Ballantyne with the form they’re in at the moment.

Watson, McMaster and McGregor have been three of our most impressive players so far this season.

Really enjoyed that. Even outwith the result, it felt like a great first home game being back in the Championship, two decent sizes supports with a bit of a (admittedly dying) rivalry. Airdrie undoubtedly deserved the win. I thought we edged the first half hour, Thistle still had plenty of the ball but Airdrie looked dangerous and created the better chances. We seemed a bit panicky after conceding and then McCabe going off, which is understandable, but I thought the second half was pretty much all Airdrie. McGill made a huge difference when he came on and I felt the full team, and fans, had real belief when that sub was made. Watson’s cross for the second was outstanding and a great header from Gallagher, who despite his bad miss early on was excellent again. Shout out to Dean McMaster, who controlled the second half and was the best player on the park, and Lewis McGregor, who was a threat all afternoon and seems to be improving. I expected a bit more from Thistle. They played some decent stuff in the first half but never contributed much beyond that and I felt they had no real idea of how to change the game once Airdrie equalised. Doolan has had a great start to his managerial career but is that a common issue? Great to get our first points, it’s a tough league but we’ve shown over two games that we’ll be competitive.

Dean McMaster in the Championship.

Very Falkirk behaviour imo.

Thistle have been better since the goal and McCabe went off but yeah, two weeks in a row we’re learning the tough lesson of take your chances when you’re on top. I wasn’t as certain it was a goal as others but keen to see the one that hit the underside of the bar again, as it looked very close.

I think it’s pretty clear what we need as well. I’d say we all agree that we need a left back, another wide player, ideally a more physical midfielder and a backup keeper too to avoid my heart rate doubling every time David Hutton starts getting ready to come on. Obviously actually signing these players is a lot easier said than done, and I’m sure the club are working hard to do so, but as you say, it really feels the time to push the boat out slightly for a couple of players who could make the difference (if they exist!).

I didn't realise our record against Thistle was quite as bad but right enough, I can barely recall ever seeing us beat them. I had a look back at the last Airdrie team to take points off them and it's a good laugh: Grant Adam Chris O'Neil - Gregor Buchanan - Rickie Lamie - Marc Warren Liam Watt - Jamie Barclay - Nathan Blockley - Willie McLaren John Boyle - Ryan Donnelly Subs were Josh Watt, David Lilley and Liam Buchanan. That's about as classic a Jimmy Boyle era Airdrie team as you'll get, I think we got pumped at Hamilton on boxing day a few days before and he got fed up with the senior players and just started playing the youth team.

I don’t think it made the highlights but about a minute before Dunfermline’s equaliser we had Telfer and McCabe pretty much in our own box passing it about, Watson sitting in front of them, Fordyce out on the right and ATS approaching the halfway line. There’s a time and a place for it, as when it comes off it’s great to watch and very effective, but that moment (among others) was terrifying.

Exactly who I had in mind!

Wotherspoon is by all accounts a great professional and seems like exactly the kind of role mode you would want for a young squad. I could imagine McCabe being a bit reluctant to go for an older player who has a reputation for downing tools or causing issues but I don’t think that applies to Wotherspoon at all.

Airdrieonians 2-3 Partick Thistle Ayr 1-1 Inverness Dundee United 2-0 Dunfermline Queen’s Park 2-0 Arbroath Raith Rovers 2-1 Greenock Morton

Looking forward to this, it’s been too long since we played Thistle in a league game. From what I’ve seen of Thistle under Doolan they’ve played a similar style (with better players obviously) to Airdrie at their best under McCabe, so it’s an interesting match-up. For all they lost some key players this summer I’ve been impressed with Thistle’s recruitment and I think they’ve got the best starting eleven in the league outside of Dundee United. Airdrie will need to be a bit more composed on the ball than we have been so far this season and a bit more clinical going forward. If he’s fit enough then I think Hancock will start in place of ATS, as we need more pace at the back. It seems like McGill and Todorov won’t be back for this game, so I’d be tempted to change up the midfield a bit to make us a bit more compact or play one of them out wide, with O’Connor dropping to the bench.

Week 2 - Forfar

Yeah I said it after the 9 men last game last season but Dunfermline must be one of the worst teams in the country to play against with a man advantage. Everyone knew their job today when that happened, just sit in a block of 8 with McCann chasing balls over the top. Very frustrating to play against. McCabe was unhappy with a few decisions in his post match interview. They thought there was a Dunfermline handball on the line during that stramash in the box and then a penalty claim at the end but I can’t say I thought much of either incident.

I’ve been a vocal ATS truther but yeah, he got caught out a few times today, notably when Wighton got in behind and somehow wasn’t given a foul. As a pairing him and Fordyce are just too slow, as we all know, so hopefully Hancock is ready to come in and start. I did enjoy ATS using his head to try and win the ball while on the deck twice though

I think it was suggested when Smith was out for a game (maybe even that Dunfermline game?) but now that I think about it, there can’t have been many, if any, games where both McGill and Smith were out. We’d have struggled without both of them in League One, so it’s a tough ask to do so in the Championship.

Airdrie don’t have an Alex King either, he was on the bench for Morton today. He is one of the few Consilium players who isn’t at Airdrie though, so it’s a good guess at least! Just noticed Jack Baird and George Oakley too

Can’t argue with Dunfermline taking the three points. I thought Airdrie were coming into the game more and looked dangerous until the first goal but Dunfermline were on top once they equalised without being spectacular and we never really had an answer for it. It was a great strike from Allan to win it. Today seemed like an ideal time to play Dunfermline with their injuries and then the red card but like the 9 men game last season, we didn’t have a way of breaking them down. It’s hard to read too much into one game but I still think Dunfermline will be absolutely fine this season. I predicted them to finish 4th and don’t think they’ll be in any bother. Today’s game probably confirmed that Airdrie need to improve defensively and could do with another forward option, even accounting for McGill and Todorov’s injuries.