Mr November

Yeah, credit to Fordyce for that, he’s produced some really interesting and effective set plays this season. Makes a huge difference, in a league when every game is so tight being a real threat from set pieces can be crucial.

Airdrie 1-1 Morton Dunfermline 1-1 Partick Thistle Inverness 1-0 Arbroath Queen’s Park 1-2 Dundee United Raith 2-1 Ayr

I’ll be sorry to see Arbroath go down. I think having a part-time team in the league is an interesting dynamic and Gayfield (and the steak and black pudding pies) will be a real miss to the league. All of this is probably quite obvious to the fans who watch Arbroath every week but I was amazed at how gutless and ineffective they were last night. Other than a penalty and a deflected free-kick I don’t think I ever felt like Arbroath were going to score. Even in the 5-2 game recently I thought Arbroath looked quite handy in the opening 20 minutes until Charlie Reilly went off and while Airdrie ran over the top of them after that, Arbroath did keep fighting. Last nights performance was so weak though, even when they finally conceded I don’t think Arbroath ever had a minute or two spell in possession hemming Airdrie into their own half. That’s before you even start on the antics around the penalty taker. With the right manager there’s probably still enough left in a core of Little, Gold, McKenna etc to form the basis of a competitive League One side. The concern is obviously who is going to be in charge and whether any of the old guard defect to East Fife.

Enjoyed that tonight. I’ve missed Tannadice and East End Park as I was away so nice to finally see one of our Tuesday night away wins. The good news for everyone else is I’ll miss the next three games, hopefully we have a similarly good unbeaten run then. I thought that was one of our most comfortable performances all season, should have scored more than two and 2-1 really wasn’t a fair reflection on the game. McCabe got his tactics spot on. We must have had 10-15 balls across the box that just needed to fall in the right way but until Fordyce scrambled one in they never did. There seemed to be a clear gameplan to get the ball out wide, run at the Arbroath full-backs and get balls across the box and it worked really well, other than the obvious not actually scoring from them! I was a bit unsure of the set-up before the match but the back three strolled it (Ballantyne particularly impressive), Megwa and Hancock consistently pushed forward and had more cover to do so with the back three and McMaster in there. I thought McMaster was our best player, more positive than usual and he progressed our really play well. Pleased to see him bounce back from Friday night. The subs were well timed too. McGregor’s pace caused problems and Todorov was perhaps unfortunate with the offside goal but with so many balls into the box Gallagher and McGill made a lot of sense, and then Telfer and Frizzell when Arbroath changed shape and left more space in midfield. It felt like one of those games where if we scored early on we’d go onto score three or four. Saying that, we were fortunate that Hemfrey made a good save from the penalty at 0-0. For all we played very well and battered Arbroath for a 10-15 minute spell leading up to that, if you don’t take your chances you’re only one mistake away from being in a bit of bother.

I thought it took a couple of deflections, didn’t think there was much the keeper could have done.

As @1320Lichtie says hopefully it's not too bad in the evening, probably won't be a particularly huge away crowd. Sounds like it won't be much fun for you guys for the foreseeable though!

Ah ok, cheers!

Does anyone know where these roadworks are and how bad they are?

Yeah I think the forward areas will see the most change this summer, which while there’s other factors to it is hard to argue with given the number of goals scored this season. Todorov will likely stay unless someone comes in with a much better offer but I could see McGill moving back down to England and I’ve already said that I feel Gallagher will be away in the summer. Would be sad to see the latter two go, as you say McGill popped up with a moment that we’ll all remember for a long time (as well as quite a few other important goals) and is incredibly likeable.

Yeah I reckon Aiken will be back next season. He seemed very well suited to the team earlier in the season and as you say, certainly won’t be going back to Hibs to be part of the first team squad, so another loan spell makes a lot of sense. Of the Hibs loanees I think Megwa will be back in their first team squad, Aiken will stay for another season here and O’Connor will end up at a team like Stirling Albion.

The financial aspect of finishing 4th would help with that too, obviously extra gate money but it would also provide enough extra prize money to potentially cover a decent player for next season. I won’t be devastated if we miss out though, a rare summer of relaxing and having a laugh at other teams play-off antics sounds quite nice after the stress of the last few years.

Yeah a big couple of weeks ahead. As you say, we’re almost there anyway but one more win and that’s probably enough for guaranteed safety given how many teams are involved. Big few weeks ahead, some tough games as you say, especially with quite a few players injured or just returning from injury. We definitely need a backup keeper next season but I’m honestly not that fussed if they can play out from the back or not. You’re signing someone who ideally won’t play much and in all honesty isn’t going to be a particularly amazing keeper, so if they’re good building out from the back yet are the second choice keeper at Airdrie then I’d be a bit concerned about their other flaws. If we can find someone who fits that role though then that would be ideal!

I do generally agree. I never fancied Watson at centre back last season either and I do think he’s made fewer mistakes there this season, though a lot of that is probably down to the team being a lot more structured defensively. Agree on Megwa too, I’d have Ballantyne back in on Tuesday night. I thought I’d be kind to O’Connor as I usually moan about him when he plays but yeah, other than the goal he wasn’t in the game at all. He very much needs a loan spell in League Two next season. McGill or McGregor being fit enough to start on Tuesday night would be a huge boost.

Agree with the comments above. I expected a bit of a bump back down to earth tonight and we certainly got that. I thought Ayr edged the first half, though we had the slightly better chances and O’Connor took his really well. That start to the second half was abysmal though. Watson has had a great season and has barely put a foot wrong since the last game against Ayr but really poor defending for the first. I thought we looked quite panicky after that and never recovered once the second went in. The subs were odd too, I thought he might have been going full Murrayball but until we changed to a back three near the end it just seemed to be bringing attackers on yet keeping the same tactics which weren’t working. I assume McCabe had an eye on the busy schedule coming up but not sure the subs actually helped much at all. Still, good opportunity to bounce back on Tuesday night, though we’ll need to play better than we did tonight.

Watching Anton Dowds against us must be what East Fife fans felt like every time Calum Gallagher played against them.

Big opportunity for O’Connor. He did very little last week other than winning the penalty but hopefully that’s given him a confidence boost.

I think Murray and possibly Easton would have stuck around for another year in that scenario. Winning promotion potentially leads to a job with a bigger jump shortly down the line rather than what was a middling Championship team. I think the bulk of that team would have stayed together and finished lower mid table the following season. Enough about them to be competitive but I think they’d lack the organisation that the current team has, as well as Easton being less effective at a higher level in that team. Think it’s probably fair to say it’s all worked out for the best for everyone involved.

Two years ago today we were all absolutely gutted when Fraser Fyvie scored that last minute equaliser for Cove in the 1-1 draw. That’s probably the worst I’ve felt after a game and I really thought we’d missed a big opportunity that season. Funny how things work out.

Agreed on both. We definitely need a backup keeper next season and while it’s still early days, someone like Hemfrey fits the role fine based on what we’ve seen so far. It took me a while to warm to Todorov but that’s entirely because he was really unsuited to playing up front on his own with our style of play from the first half of the season. As you say though, he’s been a real threat since he’s had someone up beside him. Him and McStravick have looked really good together in the last couple of games, would be keen to see more of that on Friday night if McStravick is fit.

Don’t think I’ve seen anyone mention it yet but Cammy Ballantyne’s slide tackle during injury time yesterday was sensational. Full force and timed to perfection. Celebrated that like it was a goal.

I’m the same. I’ve went for a draw but have the fear it’ll be a humbling defeat with Anton Dowds gifted another goal. We actually played pretty well going forward in the last game against Ayr, just incredibly naive at the back. We’ve been a bit more direct since then though, as well as starting to figure out how to play away from home and also bounce back from conceding the opening goal, so hopefully this is the game we finally beat Ayr this season.

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

Spot on. I wasn’t nervous when we went 2-1 up as I just knew we’d see it out. TNS had loads of the ball of course but even then, we held our shape incredibly well and limited them to a few crosses which Fordyce will take all day. Being able to do that in any game, but particularly big games, is a great habit.

Currently sitting 4th in the league, last 16 of the Scottish Cup, only team to win all their group stage games in the League Cup and now Challenge Cup winners. Still a long way to go in the league but what a season it’s been so far! I’ll no doubt post more about the game itself tomorrow but today feels different to the play-off final win. That was a release of 10 years of frustration at being stuck in League One purgatory, a rare moment of pure joy after years of the club going nowhere. Today, and this season as a whole really, feels like a club really heading in the right direction under McCabe and Fordyce. I’ve said it before but I don’t think there’s been a more fun club to support in the country over the last few years.

That defence have conceded fewer than a goal a game since then and overall have conceded half the number of goals Arbroath have