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Mr November

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  1. Mr November
    Yeah I agree, that’s why I’d keep McMaster in there as someone who can recycle possession and use the ball well, with McCabe behind him for long range passing if needed. Certainly wouldn’t want to change the shape away from having four in the middle. Donnell or Lyall seem the more obvious choices.
  2. Mr November
    Definitely options yeah. Gavin Gallagher is another, different kind of player to McStravick but he’d work hard and get around the park. I’d be reluctant to change a settled defence too and while I’d like McCabe in midfield, having someone like McMaster to keep things calm and recycle the ball might be ideal in a game where we might not control possession as much as we’re used to.
  3. Mr November
    Looks like McStravick is out for Sunday. Presumably Donnell in from the start in his place? A bit of extra physicality might not be a bad thing. I suppose the alternative would be Ballantyne starting with Watson moving inside and McCabe moving into midfield.
  4. Mr November
    Really excited for Sunday. The less said about the game a few years ago the better but that penalty win at Tynecastle in 2008 was an all timer. I can’t say I’m confident we’ll win, it’s a real step up from St. Johnstone, but it should be a good occasion and there’s certainly a slight chance of an upset. It’s great having so many big games just now. I’ve said it before but at the end of 2019 I tried to think of the best Airdrie games/moments of that decade and it was grim. Depressing stuff when David Hutton saving a penalty at Parkhead was more fun than most games. The last few years have been so much more enjoyable. There’s still been a few disappointments in there but going back to around January 2021, it would be hard to argue many other SPFL teams have been more fun to support than Airdrie over that time.
  5. Mr November
    Quite happy with that. Not too far away and a stadium we have a very good record at (not that that counts for much here).
  6. Mr November
    I think I’d go with Telfer. It’s a strange one as you say, as some of our better performers (Megwa, Aiken, Hancock) have had spells out the team and even Telfer was in and out for the first couple of months. Fordyce has been immense over the last month or so and while not a POTY candidate, Watson deserves a mention for being a somewhat surprisingly consistently good performer at this level. Rae is a fair shout too. As you say, there are times when he doesn’t have much to do but even then, the defence seem so confident with him behind them. I think he’s improved his decision making in one on ones too. Earlier this season we conceded quite a few goals where a player was through on goal and the way Rae used to rush out without actually blocking the goal didn’t exactly prevent them scoring, he’s had a fair number of decent saves from similar positions over the last few months though. It’s easy to forget how young he is too, I think he’ll go on to have a very good career. Hopefully any scouts just watch him against Dunfermline. I suppose it’s a good sign that there isn’t really a consensus choice in what has so far been a very successful season.
  7. Mr November
    Hoping for a TNS win tomorrow purely on the basis that I do not want to read an Airdrie v Falkirk cup final thread.
  8. Mr November
    What a difference after years of being rubbish in the cups. The only team in the country to win all four League Cup games and then a good comeback against Ross County, only to fall short in extra time. Making it to the Challenge Cup final for the first time in 15 seasons, without playing a home game on the way and whatever happens next week, a great cup victory over St. Johnstone and a big game against Hearts on BBC One.
  9. Mr November
    I’m not fully an xG/xPoints nerd but did find the difference between Raith’s actual points and expected points startling. I know a lot of that probably comes from all the late goals edging tight games but I, and I think most others, assumed that happened far too many times for it to just be luck.
  10. Mr November
    Fair play to Ian Murray. His team have struggled recently, partially down to having a very exposed and wide open midfield. What does he do against a team who have done very well playing a diamond for the last six weeks? Continues to play with at times one midfielder. Another brilliant win for Airdrie. We just look so calm, composed and organised recently. Considering where we were even at this time last season it’s a remarkable turnaround defensively, while still having plenty of quality on the ball.
  11. Mr November
    Interesting game that I’ll miss unfortunately. We’re on a good run just now but have plenty of important players injured just now. Our bench was very weak yesterday and will possibly be even weaker for this with Lyall cup-tied, so hopefully some good news on the injury front this week or maybe even a signing. Intrigued to see what Raith do. They’ve yet to get the better of us and are on a poor run. Seems like they’ve been trying to play Murrayball from the start recently, with barely any defenders playing, but he should know by now it doesn’t work like that, you need the chaos factor changing to that mid-game brings. Interesting to see if Raith go back to basics as a result or if Murray completely overthinks his lineup.
  12. Mr November
    Agreed on this. I thought Watson was outstanding yesterday. Fitzpatrick tore us apart down that side at Firhill but Watson kept him very quiet and was a threat in both boxes. It was the perfect game for him really, a real mix of two teams showing bits of quality in between lots of physicality and aggression.
  13. Mr November
    This is definitely true but I’m intrigued to see how we get on away from home now that our style is a bit more direct and we’re more keen on crossing. Obviously a lot of our goals have been set-pieces recently, which is great but we do still need to start scoring from open play more often, and there is still that doubt of what do we do when we concede first. Looking at the away games so far, Arbroath was the only major disaster, though the two goals at the end and the manner of them perhaps make that one seem worse. The first half at Raith was one of our best performances this season, while the second half at Queen’s Park was great and we did fine at Morton. Dunfermline away was ok in spells but everything else has been lots of sideways possession after conceding an early goal without actually doing much (Dundee United, Inverness, Ayr, Partick Thistle). I suppose it all comes back to getting the first goal, which seems to be very important for this team.
  14. Mr November
    Really enjoyed that. I think Doolan is the closest comparison to McCabe in this league in terms of style of play, so always interesting to watch these games. The game itself lost its way a bit in the second half thanks to the referee but I thought was two fairly well matched teams trying to play decent stuff with a good atmosphere too. Makes such a difference having home games with a bit of needle rather than playing (no offence to them) Kelty or Peterhead every week. Thistle started really well but Airdrie came back into it and had the better of the last 15-20 minutes of the first half. We’re still struggling to score from open play but our record at set-pieces has been excellent recently, helped of course by Jamie Sneddon who must be the worst keeper at dealing with crossballs in the league. I didn’t think there was too much in the second half, not a lot happened other than that chaotic 10 minute spell where the ref completely lost control. Mentioned it on our thread but Fordyce’s tackle near the end deserves another mention. Timed to perfection.
  15. Mr November
    A really impressive performance today given we were without Ballantyne, Aiken, Gallagher, McGill and even Megwa. Generally very solid defensively, Hancock had a poor game compared to his usual standards but it’s a tough role with no winger to protect him, played some decent stuff in midfield and McGregor and Todorov worked hard up front. Special mention to Fordyce for saving us in the first half when Adeloye was through on goal and then that tackle at the end. World class. Hopefully we get one of the forwards back for next week and maybe even a new signing, as Lyall will be cup-tied which will leave us even shorter.
  16. Mr November
    Airdrie 1-1 Partick Thistle Dundee United 2-0 Dunfermline Morton 3-1 Arbroath Queen’s Park 1-1 Ayr Raith Rovers 2-1 Inverness
  17. Mr November
    I think Dean Lyness summed himself up when he was asked in an interview at Airdrie which football from history he’d like to play with and he chose Peter Schemichel. A goalie would keep you out the team! If he’s just there as backup then fair enough but yeah, he was particularly poor for us and we looked much more solid at the back, and had a much more confident defence, once Josh Rae was back. For every decent game he had he’d go and do something chaotic the next week. Seemed like a lovely man and he was oddly popular in Ireland but yeah, wouldn’t want him playing regularly.
  18. Mr November
    If they’re both out I’d probably stick McGregor up beside Todorov and keep the shape as it is. Having a more compact midfield and two guys up front to press teams has worked really well and while McGregor isn’t a natural striker, I think he’s got the pace and energy to play beside Todorov and do the running that McGill offers.
  19. Mr November
    Yep, up against a much better team than he faced with us but I’m sure he’ll improve and be fine. It does seem very unlikely he ends up back here so hope he kicks on and does well.
  20. Mr November
    Admittedly they’re playing Rangers but sounds like Megwa’s having a tough night for Hibs. Bring him home!
  21. Mr November
    Hearts game confirmed for 5pm on the Sunday. A strange kick off time but probably a better crowd than we’d get on a Monday night.
  22. Mr November
    I think pretty much all of those were caretakers and got the job out of good runs (Robson), being the easy option or both, weren’t they? As you say that shouldn’t make them better qualified than someone with a short but successful CV but that’s the way it seems to work. I think there’s a couple of things with McCabe that clubs might question, rightly or wrongly. Will a bigger club want to take a risk on appointing a 31 year old manager who beyond the first few years of his career hasn’t actually played much above Scottish Championship level. This is more on McCabe’s (and Fordyce’s I suppose) end but when will they be ready to give up playing? McCabe knows when to take himself out the team but he’s currently playing a vital role in the team and Fordyce just loves defending and I can’t imagine he’s keen to stop playing anytime soon. Clubs will certainly have their eye on him but I do find it hard to tell when they’ll move on. It’s quite a unique situation these days, not much we can use as a comparison.
  23. Mr November
    It’s a tough draw but an exciting one. Hopefully goes a bit better than the trip through there a few years ago!
  24. Mr November
    They both scream Dunfermline given how much McPake loves signing Dundee players. I’m not expecting too much more business but another defender (either a right back or centre back) and a forward (ideally someone who can play out wide) would do me.
  25. Mr November
    2008/09 apparently. We beat Cove and Spartans at home before losing to Dunfermline in the last 16, a game I can’t remember at all. This is only the third time we’ve done it since 2002.
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