AllyMonc Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 I think we'll beat you but lose to (probably) Forfar in the final. Not based on much other than a general hunch. We're a far poorer team than last year where you gave us a bit of a lesson but seem to have found a bit of attacking threat under the new manager. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Vojáček Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 3 minutes ago, AllyMonc said: I think we'll beat you but lose to (probably) Forfar in the final. Not based on much other than a general hunch. We're a far poorer team than last year where you gave us a bit of a lesson but seem to have found a bit of attacking threat under the new manager. That remains one of the most unexpected performances and results we've had in recent times for me. I couldn't believe my eyes from the wee stand at Ainslie Park at how comfortable we were in that first leg. Last season we were superb defensively but offered absolutely nothing going forward. This year we've been a car crash defensively (although I think there have been a few more positive signs in recent weeks) and pretty decent going forward. Total reversal. Truth be told I've no idea what to expect. If we get our strongest team out then we're capable. But we haven't strung four positive results and performances together in what feels like a very long time. So it's looking like a huge ask to find the sort of consistency to get, say, three wins and a draw in the four playoff games. I'd very much like to be proven wrong though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microdave Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Only £10 for adults for the home leg. Great price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boghead ranter Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 1 hour ago, microdave said: Only £10 for adults for the home leg. Great price. League2 pricing being implemented already? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microdave Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 League2 pricing being implemented already?It's probably closer to Lowland league pricing tbf. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 3 hours ago, Jan Vojáček said: That remains one of the most unexpected performances and results we've had in recent times for me. I couldn't believe my eyes from the wee stand at Ainslie Park at how comfortable we were in that first leg. Last season we were superb defensively but offered absolutely nothing going forward. This year we've been a car crash defensively (although I think there have been a few more positive signs in recent weeks) and pretty decent going forward. Total reversal. Truth be told I've no idea what to expect. If we get our strongest team out then we're capable. But we haven't strung four positive results and performances together in what feels like a very long time. So it's looking like a huge ask to find the sort of consistency to get, say, three wins and a draw in the four playoff games. I'd very much like to be proven wrong though. Indeed, and it wouldn't be the daftest thing to bench George Stanger on Saturday as a precaution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 I'm pretty sure we're going doon. We have a squad of losers and the club has been riding its luck too long. The slither of hope lies in the poor quality of the other teams involved in the playoffs. When the star players are Handling, Nae Goals and Tony Wallace, you can reasonably assume we're not going to be facing world-beaters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Fair play for the pricing but even a tenner isn’t enough for me to try and get a day off work and drag myself down to this. I dunno if it’s just me but I find these relegation playoffs extremely hard to get excited about. They are a really stressful inconvenience (like most Sons games these days tbf). I remember last season we had a few fans moaning that we didn’t have all the players jumping around behind a playoff winners board like other teams. Again it might just be me, but celebrating staying up by a baw hair, after a stressful as f**k playoff we could’ve avoided really isn’t my cup of tea. Much like our Edinburgh City supporting chum above I fancy them to pap us out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Whatever the outcome of this relegation play-off we should never underestimate the detrimental effect of the decision to dispense with a competent local groundsman in favour of one who resides on the Ayrshire coast. Anyone doubting this need look only at the hellish home form stats, never mind the state of the pitch since the New Year onwards. Not to mention hosting Rangers B team this season. Whoever made this call could end up costing the club dear. One sliver of hope might be that the other teams in the play-off all play on artificial pitches, with our best performances having been on these surfaces. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarti pooh Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 47 minutes ago, O'Kelly Isley III said: Whatever the outcome of this relegation play-off we should never underestimate the detrimental effect of the decision to dispense with a competent local groundsman in favour of one who resides on the Ayrshire coast. Anyone doubting this need look only at the hellish home form stats, never mind the state of the pitch since the New Year onwards. Not to mention hosting Rangers B team this season. Whoever made this call could end up costing the club dear. One sliver of hope might be that the other teams in the play-off all play on artificial pitches, with our best performances having been on these surfaces. The Groundsman is to blame for the team's home form? The pitch was/is a riot but so is Firhill this season and both teams using that are in the running for the playoffs. Only one man to blame for our form and hopefully he's gone after the playoffs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 9 minutes ago, sarti pooh said: The Groundsman is to blame for the team's home form? The pitch was/is a riot but so is Firhill this season and both teams using that are in the running for the playoffs. Only one man to blame for our form and hopefully he's gone after the playoffs. When you have capable players a shite pitch can be overcome, when you have players of a lower ability it becomes more difficult to overcome. Mix that with a team who have very little mental strength/confidence and a gaffer that struggles to organise them and its the perfect dish for complete pish home form. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 The pitch is a mess but its one that both teams need to play on. We're often told that conditions are a great leveller in football and can drag a more skilful team down the the level of a less skilful one. If the poor state of the pitch was a factor in our performance (and it certainly would have been) then it should be a factor in the opposition's performances too. Opponents all too often found a way to beat us on our terrible pitch because ultimately it never acted as a leveller and it never dragged the opposition down to our level. I don't want to see us repeat it next season. I'm against B teams in principle and I'm not convinced that Rangers are paying enough money to make it worth while for us. I also think that they'll potentially want to take up a vacant Broadwood. Our pitch is a terrible state. Money is tight and the club cut maintenance budgets, but its clear that the current budget is too low and that the current groundsman isn't up to the job. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 34 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said: The pitch is a mess but its one that both teams need to play on. We're often told that conditions are a great leveller in football and can drag a more skilful team down the the level of a less skilful one. If the poor state of the pitch was a factor in our performance (and it certainly would have been) then it should be a factor in the opposition's performances too. Opponents all too often found a way to beat us on our terrible pitch because ultimately it never acted as a leveller and it never dragged the opposition down to our level. I don't want to see us repeat it next season. I'm against B teams in principle and I'm not convinced that Rangers are paying enough money to make it worth while for us. I also think that they'll potentially want to take up a vacant Broadwood. Our pitch is a terrible state. Money is tight and the club cut maintenance budgets, but its clear that the current budget is too low and that the current groundsman isn't up to the job. It's not just about results though, it's about providing the paying customer with a reasonable contest rather than the utter farce of a goal which decided the home defeat to Alloa for example. And it stands to reason that a team which has to play on a midden every second week will be more inconvenienced than visitors who turn up twice a season. As for the groundsman, it's probably not that he's not up to the job but that he's not up AT the job often enough due to the geography. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 I'd love to watch better football OK3. But give me a choice between good football and successful football and the pragmatist in me will pick successful football over pretty football. It shouldn't be an either/or choice. We should have been better on that shambles of a pitch. Enough of our opponents were. We also need to take steps to ensure that the pitch never gets that bad in future seasons. Nobody wants to play on that surface and we run an increased risk of players picking up injuries. I want a better pitch and better results. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarti pooh Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 19 minutes ago, O'Kelly Isley III said: It's not just about results though, it's about providing the paying customer with a reasonable contest rather than the utter farce of a goal which decided the home defeat to Alloa for example. And it stands to reason that a team which has to play on a midden every second week will be more inconvenienced than visitors who turn up twice a season. As for the groundsman, it's probably not that he's not up to the job but that he's not up AT the job often enough due to the geography. I WOULD go as far as he's not up to it tbh but Wylde vs EF, Oyinsan vs Peterhead, McLean vs Stenny, Carswell vs Cove and countless crackers scored against us this season have also happened on that pitch. Wright against Alloa is the only example I can think of the pitch costing us points. Poor signings and even poorer management has cost us more points. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowhereman Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 We could have the best groundsman in the world but without regular proper draining our pitch will always be woeful. A workman is only as good as his tools and if the club won’t provide the proper tools . . . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 8 minutes ago, Nowhereman said: We could have the best groundsman in the world but without regular proper draining our pitch will always be woeful. A workman is only as good as his tools and if the club won’t provide the proper tools . . . Whilst you have a point, the state of the pitch this season was completely unacceptable and far worse than it’s ever been before. I’d be more inclined to blame the board for allowing the wee Rangers turds to play on it before I blamed the groundsman. If we had a semi competent team and manager who could adapt to the conditions then it wouldn’t have been such a big issue. It’s not only at our place they have struggled to adapt, we had a 5-0 shagging away at Peterhead when we didn’t have a scooby when it came to dealing with the wind. We are mentally weak and one dimensional, that’s the main issue here IMO. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 15 hours ago, George Parr said: We have a squad of losers Hi Paul Martin! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the snudge Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 A squad full of unmotivated jobbers. That's what we have and the people to blame for that are management and board 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdinburghBlue Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 On 24/04/2022 at 09:42, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: I’m not going to lie, I have the absolute fear for these playoffs. I feared the worst last year but I have even less confidence in this group. It just seems an impossible task for a team who are so prone to putting goals on a plate for the opposition. I think you will win comfortably. The standard in League Two has been very poor this year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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