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Mr November

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  1. Mr November
    I’m not there today but I see the new scandal is the price of steak pies.
  2. Mr November
    A great write up overall and hard to disagree with most of it. On Airdrie, I think most of our fans are expecting a centre back and left back to come in but I doubt we'll see much else in addition to that. As you say, if those are good signings then it could change things but we are rightly favourites to go back down. I'd take 8th right now and optimistically I think we'll be enough of a threat to cause teams problems but a lot depends on the quality of our defensive signings.
  3. Mr November
    Yeah I don't think captaincy counts for quite as much as it used to and I suspect Fordyce will still be exactly the same on the park. The best teams have leaders across the pitch anyway, not just reliant on one captain. Saying that, if giving the armband to someone else helps him focus a bit more on playing and coaching then I'm all for it.
  4. Mr November
    Even then, I think Gallagher and Todorov aren't mobile enough as a pair to play up top together like that in most games. I think we'll see one start with the other as a sub most weeks, both playing if we need a goal and are going for it. I think some games will suit one more than the other, so it's good to have two decent options up there. Both Murray and McCabe have tried displace Gallagher a few times now. When he first joined Murray started the season by playing him on the wing with Callum Smith through the middle, then we had Ally Roy being his usual pre-season world class striker, then McGill being favoured at the start of last season. Every time we've ended up with Gallagher proving he's our best forward and even if Todorov is favoured initially, I expect Gallagher will work his way back into the team.
  5. Mr November
    You’ll change your tune when the pen comes out for Ben Doak and Kyle Turner signing on loan.
  6. Mr November
    The first home game has cost us in the League Cup in the last couple of seasons. Two years ago we needed a last minute equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Annan (before losing on penalties) and then battering Edinburgh last season but somehow drawing 1-1 (before once again losing on penalties). I won't be devastated if we don't qualify but it would be nice to start off with a win this time.
  7. Mr November
    I think it is a tough market for defenders. Raith have signed Keith Watson and a teenager from Celtic, Ayr have signed Stanger from Alloa, Partick Thistle and QP have signed boys from down south etc., it’s not like we’re missing out on loads of quality players and even then, those teams all have bigger budgets than we do. Euan East was mentioned a while ago but seems to be training with Partick Thistle just now, I suppose he might be an option if that doesn’t work out. I mentioned it a few pages ago but we did manage to keep Frizzell and McGill despite apparent interest from elsewhere and I imagine both received generous increases given how important they are to our style of play. I imagine most players received some sort of increase too given we’re now playing at a higher level. It’s annoying waiting on defenders signing (and a more physical midfielder but McCabe seems to disagree) but I don’t think it’s a lack of effort or ambition, just the reality of having the lowest budget and not many obvious quality options around. We could really do with the quick, marauding wing back that he was back then.
  8. Mr November
    I think we also need to consider that the budget probably hasn’t drastically increased despite promotion given the cost of everything else just now. We’ve probably also had to offer Frizzell, McGill etc. decent wage increases to get them signed up for another year. It’s been mentioned before but the last few years we’ve had 14-16 first team players and then some jobbers on low wages supplementing the squad. I’m expecting the same thing this year. It’s not ideal, we’d all like a squad full of quality players, but I think it is the situation we’re in.
  9. Mr November
    I think it’s probably worth comparing last seasons squad with what we have so far We’ve lost Byrd, Deveney, Stanway, Smith, Salim and Dixon, plus arguably Riley and Prince who were out on loan anyway. We’ve brought in Aiken, O’Connor, Todorov and Dunlop who presumably replace Stanway, Smith, Salim and Dixon respectively, with Fellows and Kavanagh taking up Riley and Prince’s roles. That leaves Byrd and Deveney as the two we’ve still to replace, which I think we all know anyway and those are the positions where we could do with quality additions. While we won’t be quite as free scoring as we were last season, I do fancy McGill, Todorov and Gallagher to all chip in with a decent number of goals over the season. We did improve defensively as the season went on but we do need to bring in a centre back and left back capable of starting every week. I think centre back would be my priority, as much as I admire ATS I do worry about his lack of pace at a higher level. A younger, quicker centre back to play beside Fordyce would be ideal.
  10. Mr November
    I think this is one of the main reasons we managed to sign Ballantyne too given his coaching job is based at the stadium. It might just be because a few of our players do that sort of thing as well as playing (I think Watson, Devenny and maybe another do it together as well elsewhere?) but it seems like it’s becoming more common these days, so having lots of pitches in a central location might be useful for attracting players going forward. We’re up against it in terms of budget so any small things that we can use to our advantage can only help.
  11. Mr November
    Is that the picture of the boy with the hair band? Byrd did leave Airdrie in the summer but I don’t think that’s him, Byrd is a lot more blonde. He was apparently playing for Aldershot on Saturday as a trialist.
  12. Mr November
    Yeah I think that’s it. If he could stay fit for a full season then I reckon he could kick on and become a decent defender at this level, just difficult to tell if that will ever happen when he picks up so many injuries.
  13. Mr November
    I think Airdrie fans are a bit mixed on him but I’d be more inclined to agree with @airdrieman’s summary of him a few pages ago. When he joined Airdrie I thought he’d leave us to go to a much bigger club or be a disaster and drop down a few levels but he actually just left pretty much the same player. He had some decent spells in his first two seasons but was generally in and out the team due to form and mostly injuries. He never really got going in his final season and it’s telling that 5ft 9 Rhys McCabe was a better option at centre back. Tall, not too slow and good on the ball, though is prone to being overconfident with it. His main issue is being incredibly injury prone. If Williams and Muirhead are the starting centre backs then I think Kerr is a fine backup. I’d be hesitant to have him starting every week at this level but there is potential there.
  14. Mr November
    Doesn’t sound like any signings are imminent.
  15. Mr November
    Yeah I think Dunfermline will be top four as well. Obviously it could change going up a level but they're just ridiculously hard to beat and as we saw, even when you do put a few past them they have the character to come back (helped by our own nonsense of course!). I think they improved as the season went on and while they do need a couple of additions, I think their solidity and togetherness will be enough to have them challenging for top four.
  16. Mr November
    I have no interest in a pre-season game against a Motherwell youth team at Broadwood but if the team is announced to be a load of trialists I might have to make a last minute trip. A load of trialists, most of them never to be seen again, is the best thing about friendlies.
  17. Mr November
    Was having a look at the Consilium list again and Ben Wilson, a young Northern Irish forward, appears to be out of contract at Brighton tomorrow. He’s already 21 too which makes him a veteran.
  18. Mr November
    We’ve not had a 0-0 since McCabe took over (probably not a surprise if you’ve seen us play), so I’ll go for another 1-1 draw with the nonsense saved for the games in Airdrie once again. The bigger question is will McPake still go on about how good a team Airdrie are now that he doesn’t have McGlynn to annoy.
  19. Mr November
    One of our big successes in the last few years has been signing guys who’ve done ok elsewhere at similar level clubs but have went on to become key players. I’d say Frizzell, Easton, McCabe, ATS and even Watson all broadly fit that. Guys who’ve played a decent number of games, career isn’t really going anywhere but we’ve been able to get the best out of them. I think we might need another couple of players like that because competing for quality Championship players is always going to be a struggle.
  20. Mr November
    Yeah, I hope if any of them do ever read here they know no one is actually annoyed by it. It’s great to have young fans so enthusiastic about the club, even if they are very hyperbolic and excitable compared to us. I don’t agree with a lot of what they say but I can’t fault their enthusiasm.
  21. Mr November
    I thought he might end up at Alloa when Church left, quite similar players. Deveney had a decent season overall, just not ready to step up a level yet. He was very hit and miss, rarely average. He hadn’t played much senior football before joining Airdrie but it felt like he let mistakes go to his head but when he’s confident and on form he’s a good attacking left back. He chipped in with a few assists, his crossing can be wayward at times but he puts in some great balls, and scored one of the goals of the season in a great team move up at Montrose. I doubt you’ll find many Airdrie fans who don’t wish him well, he certainly put in a lot of effort, just lacked quality in key moments at times but if he gets a decent run in the team he’ll do well.
  22. Mr November
    Well, I suppose his Airdrie career can’t really be any worse than our last unknown helps out in the warm up for months player, Jay Riley.
  23. Mr November
    Nope Holt left the season before McCabe joined. I suspect he’ll be moving up the way, I’m sure he was rumoured to be going back to Cyprus but if not I expect Dundee United to go for him.
  24. Mr November
    That’s fair, there’s certainly a bunch of wee guys on twitter who are very excitable and one or two on here as well. I can’t say I always share their relentless optimism but fair play to them for getting behind the club I suppose. As you say, our situation is nothing like Queen’s Park, so I’m not expecting anything like that at all.
  25. Mr November
    I don’t think many people are hugely disagreeing with that though. We do need to improve on players like Watson and ATS, who probably aren’t capable of being regular starters at this level, while most of our better players are all generally unproven at this level anyway. We need a few players to improve the starting 11 if we want to compete, the squad as it stands is possibly the weakest in the league. I think the regular posters on the Airdrie thread are a pretty realistic bunch and we’re mostly all of the opinion that we need a couple of defenders and a stronger midfielder at least, as well as some other options to strengthen the squad. Equally though, it’s just nice to feel good about a team after being rubbish for so long. I’d probably take finishing 8th if you offered me it just now, and I think most fans are aware that it’ll be a tough season, but if you can’t be confident in June after winning promotion then when can you? Yes a few people are possibly a bit overconfident but that’s the case for every club in the country.
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