Right in the Stanchion

Initial gut reaction to Smith going was disappointment. But then after consideration I thought will I fear him as opposition, and the answer to that is no.

Fair enough. What you say makes sense cos I heard that he was someone Stuart Millar brought in and there was another boy at Airdrie that Murray had that was doing all the graft (and is still ther I think) which makes me wonder

Random one but what does the appointment of Potter mean for that guy you brought in as scout when Murray first came in?

Well you can cherry-pick isolated incidents easily. This is what I'm talking about him being under-rated/appreciated (in my opinion). Could probably go round in circles singling out moments probably every player in the present squad has cost us a goal or a goal scoring opportunity. Still, always going to be a controversial take so I totally understand how some people think I'm talking shite.

For what it's worth I thought Kurtis Roberts was/is a totally underrated player. It was a logical and justified signing at the time, for whatever reason he wasn't fancied and ultimately struggled with fitness issues. I genuinely wouldn't slam the door on him as a squad player even now.

Yeah, you make a totally fair point. I guess ultimately it would do no harm having him in the squad next season if he is not assessed as too much of an injury risk. However if he's taking up a decent wage while there's doubt hanging over him, maybe move him on. Like you say, can trust the manager to make the call.

I think we've got to look at keeping ATS for his versatility alone. Not forgetting he's played at SPL level before. He is fine with the game in front of him and works well when he has Fordyce next to him to go and engage first. Put it this way, if we casually let him go we could be cursing ourselves if we have a defensive injury crisis next season. Telfer would also be a keeper for me. Again he has coped fine at Championship level with Morton and Dundee Utd - plus we need a strong squad going up a league so would seem strange to me to let these guys go if they are happy enough to stay on anyway. Who would anyone take up from League 1, realistically, if we could? I'd probably take Lee Connolly from QoS. Would fit into the system quite well. Genuinely can't think of many others off the top of my head...

That's the real quiz

Nah you're off the mark there. We've been going about our business pretty humbly and cautiously the last few years - we have every right to be enjoying any recent successes. No offence but a Falkirk fan accusing another fan base of thinking we are above our station is the height of hypocrisy

Okay fair enough. I'd maybe argue it will be equally competitive again though. A Stirling who are investing as it stands probably an upgrade on Peterhead. Annan/Clyde also much of a muchness. Cove maybe more difficult to predict their fortunes and us/Hamilton will probably likely be in the mix. Add a resilient Alloa and a QoS going places under Bartley and the fact that Montrose won't go away either, I think it would be naive to get the hopes up...

It's entitled comments like this that really makes everyone revel in the Billy-Big-Boys arse collapsing yet again "Shit like Airdrie", who've just handed you your arse 7-2 on aggregate The delusion is palpable

I've sometimes questioned the game management over the season but now I'm glad McCabe insists on going for it every game, because that's the best chance we'll have of beating Falkirk. With their pace on the counter, rotations etc they are a handful but there's still massive defensive problems there - plus - I still think there's something stinking out the changing room that's a hangover from the Holt/Sheerin/Rennie spell. A kind of losing mentality, that McGlynn is to be fair trying to weed out by the looks of it. They remain there for the taking though. I'm quietly confident, to use the cliché.

This is exactly what I'm thinking!

Again to add my tuppence-worth, you'll hopefully find Murray is not afraid to wield the axe. Proved it already with Fredriksen - which was clearly a gamble - but he's not stupid and knows who will cut it and who won't. Fair enough in his first season he's bedding himself in and was scrambling around a bit to sign you players for numbers if anything - but once he's established proper targets it's for the good of the team and system. We went through a spell of a bit of dross/panic signings/Stuart Millar's random as f**k agent links untill Murray finally got full control and in came your Turners, McIlroys and Eastons and his actual vision started to play itself out on the pitch. I believe he went hell for leather to sign Brown for us too - so he knows a player.

His stats check out remarkably. Easy to get sucked into the Falkirk hype merchants who forgot he was part of a majorly sinking ship last season. Proper cigars out job at times of late

Quality analysis to be fair

Been following Murray's fortunes at Raith and I can speak from experience he is worth riding it out for. There were times at Airdrie when everycunt wanted him for the chop but the board stuck with him and once he was given a crack at formulating a team that he actually wanted his system worked a treat. But was same with us what you're going through now - spent a season and a half or so with - what it seemed like - him signing the only players that were available at the time and chucking them into a formation and it didn't really stick. But I reckon there's a seriously good coach in there where once he's got the tools he needs he can make a really formidable outfit

Not surprised to see IM go for tried and trusted as someone mentioned. Was decent for us, good attitude, and he can fill a few positions - RB, RWB, RW as well as centrally. Still a weird one as it appeared his development had stunted a bit as I don't think he'd been getting much game time at Kelty. Be interesting to see if he can have an impact at Championship level. My guess is he'll just act as a stop-gap/fresh legs in last 15 minutes and you'll not see much of him

Totally with you here. You want to win the game so I say roll the dice - especially with Sal and LJ - the latter who would really freshen things up with his directness/channel runs. I thought that was supposed to be the philosophy anyway - play to win and outscore the opponent. That being said, I don't think a point at Kelty is a disaster. Man-for-man, at full strength (which they pretty much are) they have one of, if not THE best team in the league on paper in my opinion. Their pitch also makes it sticky for ball-playing opposition. Falkirk and Pars both had, with respect, easy home ties - hopefully things balance out and it swings our way soon again.

Standing by this. Happy to eat humble pie etc etc. (Fair play by Moonster pointing out that Dumbarton didn't sack Duffers btw)

For what it's worth I reckon Duffy would be an ideal appointment for the rest of the season. He'd keep you up - has a track record of doing solid jobs on miniscule budgets and squads at Dumbarton and Morton (he was harshly sacked from both in my opinion). Not saying it's a long-term solution but it's about as safe a pair of hands you could realistically (and cheaply) go for.

Also, on Tuesday most of the Ross County fans would have been watching the Rangers game hence why the attendance was so poor

Not seen the podcast yet but interesting when you mention Falkirk's wages/operating costs etc. I think as much as the worries about our squad depth have been lamented, I think operating within tight restraints is going to be one of the things at the front of McCabe's mind as manager. Now he is in change of all affairs, being able to be successful within a budget is going to put him in a very favourable light as a new manager. That probably comes hand in hand with his "quality not quantity" mantra, and has possibly been a factor in our relatively quiet transfer business.