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Stenhousemuir FC - The Warriors - The 2023/24 Thread


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Oh boy. If ever there was a signing that defined Booth's legacy, he's the one. Embarrassingly bad.

Nah man, Sutherland was okay. Nothing special at all but he's certainly not the worst player I've seen at Stenny. Scored an important goal in the play-off semi-final against East Fife to secure our passage to Queen's Park.

I think what counted against him was the fact he was a panic signing at the end of the January transfer window - Scott Booth probably didn't know a thing about him when he joined.

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Looking at that squad, apart from 2 or 3, the squad as a whole doesn't impress me (probably down to not knowing some right enough) however hope I'm wrong, I do like my trips to Ochilview.

I'm the same, I do hesitate making predictions before the season because you've very little to go on and can end up looking rather stupid. But that squad looks extremely light and has huge question marks over the defence. Cook and Marenghi are passengers most of the time. McMenamin will guarantee you 10-15 goals however and Gilhaney has the ability to be that one special player that every team needs - in the Gibson, McManus, Fraser mould from last season.

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I thought your points were fair. Our goalie is decent enough for League 2 level and our defence consists of an old, immobile Stuart Malcolm and a series of young jobbers (although players like Ciaran Summers and Ross Meechan should be better equipped for the year ahead after last season's chastening experience).

I do like the look of our midfield though, it's a hundred times better than it was last season, and we've got solid options up top. I still think we're short of one or two bodies but I reckon we're on course for a lower-mid-table finish. Probably about seventh or eighth.

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I thought your points were fair. Our goalie is decent enough for League 2 level and our defence consists of an old, immobile Stuart Malcolm and a series of young jobbers (although players like Ciaran Summers and Ross Meechan should be better equipped for the year ahead after last season's chastening experience).

I do like the look of our midfield though, it's a hundred times better than it was last season, and we've got solid options up top. I still think we're short of one or two bodies but I reckon we're on course for a lower-mid-table finish. Probably about seventh or eighth.

I agree about the midfield in general (never rated Marenghi or Cook but guessing only one of those would play) and because of that I think if the defence can be made into a solid unit I think you'll do well. But that does seem to be a dodgy area at the moment (admittedly my knowledge of some of those defenders isn't the same as the midfield or attack), and it's undoubtedly a small squad, although most clubs will still bring in players throughout the season so might be a non-issue.

I'd say Stenny are the biggest unknown quantity this season, wouldn't be surprised if they finished anywhere from 3rd to 9th, depends how the defence works out.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 months later...

Jim Paterson and Jason Scotland have agreed terms until the end of the season.

Very pleased with the news - Paterson's quietly developed into one of the team's most consistent players and has been a fine replacement for the stricken Ciaran Summers, while Jason Scotland's been a brilliant signing, the kind of guy who can make the difference between finishing in the lower reaches of mid-table and a play-off place.

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How are Stenny fans feeling about their season so far? For the first time in ages, the EK debacle apart, you seem to be having a bit of a "meh" season...neither going up or going down...

It's been alright so far, certainly a lot better than expected. After last season's near-disaster and the talk about financial mismanagement and reduced budgets for the year ahead, the outlook was pretty grim. The perception changed when Brown Ferguson signed a series of quality players (Stephen Stirling, Jon Robertson and Mark Gilhaney) and there was a feeling that the team were an outside shout for a play-off place. This, however, was offset by the recruitment of boys like Jamie Barclay and Jon McShane, nondescript lower-league jobbers who are only likely to bolster the numbers rather than offer genuine improvement; going into the season, I reckon most people would have been satisfied with eighth.

The league campaign started well enough with a 2-2 draw at Peterhead (although there's no doubt the team would have won the match had it not been for Stuart Malcolm's recklessness midway through the match) and a home win against Airdrieonians with Fraser Eddington scoring in injury time to secure the win. That was followed by the unalloyed highpoint of the season - a superb victory over Raith Rovers in the Challenge Cup. Stenhousemuir played the Championship side off the park, while Stephen Stirling scored one of the best goals I've ever seen in the flesh with a stunning volley from 30 yards.

The next week, the team travelled to Forfar Athletic and were roundly bodied. This match was the beginning of their defensive problems - Forfar scored four times and every goal was preventable. Nervous defending, riven with carelessness, and dreadful goalkeeping undid the team on a weekly basis. The chief culprits were Jamie Barclay (who seemed to make decisive errors in every match), Liam Henderson (a young loanee from Heart of Midlothian who never seemed to learn from his mistakes) and Stuart Malcolm (a shadow of the player who performed for Forfar with assurance the previous year) but in a small squad, Ferguson was unable to drop them.

Some of the defending bordered on embarrassing: the aforementioned Forfar match; a 4-2 win over Cowdenbeath that was far more tense than it ever should have been; the 2-5 loss at Ayr United that saw Barclay score one of the best own goals you'll ever see; a solid 0-5 bodying from Dunfermline Athletic was horrible; the 2-2 home draw with Brechin City should never have happened; and the 0-3 defeat at Peterhead in the Challenge Cup came after three goalkeeping mistakes.

The match with Peterhead at the end October was the turning point of sorts. The first-half performance was a disgrace - Malcolm and Barclay were both poor as usual and allowed Rory McAllister to score a hat-trick before the interval - but Jason Scotland, making his first start for the club, turned the game on its head and instigated a stunning comeback. Stenhousemuir went on to win 4-3 in the kind of match you only see on the telly or read about in the paper. That was followed by a decent win at Stranraer, a home draw with Forfar (all the more impressive given the team were trailing by two goals and reduced to ten men) and a victory at Brechin. The team were propelled into the play-off places and everyone around the club felt that, with someone like Scotland in the side, there was a genuine chance they could stay there. Sure, the goalkeeping and defending was shit but when you're scoring freely then you've always got a chance.

Then came the East Kilbride debacle. Stenhousemuir have had some bother with non-league sides in the Scottish Cup over the last decade - they were beaten by Preston Athletic in 2006, the lost at Threave Rovers the following year and one of John Coughlin's final matches was a horrid 2-2 draw with the Meadow Park club - but even so, they were in great form and fully expected to prevail. Five minutes into the match and something looked weird, it looked as though Stenhousemuir weren't up for it. And so it proved when Bernard Coll and Sean Winter put EK into the lead. Sure, Stenny battled back into the match and secured a replay, but it wasn't good enough. I fully believed they'd win the replay - there'd be no chance they'd play so badly again - but sure enough, EK won. It was surprising and unsurprising. After the fourth-round draw had been made (a home tie with Huntly or East Lothian Hutchison Vale, the most straightforward-looking tie in the whole competition) I joked that Stenny would go on to job. It was the most Stenhousemuir thing to do. Losing at K Park was a disgrace and arguably the nadir of the last decade.

Subsequent performances have been good but results have not. The team absolutely deserved at least a point from the match with Albion Rovers and, by all accounts, should have taken something from the weekend's match at Dunfermline; I'd expect Stenny to win against Stranraer at home on Boxing Day.

So here we are, sitting in mid-table. There's been a lot of good so far - Jason Scotland, Kieran Millar, Ross Meechan - but a lot of bad too. I reckon a lot of teams will turn over their squads in the new year but I reckon we're going to be stuck with what we've got. We need a new goalkeeper - Barclay has proven himself to be a liability and Matt Gould, the young Livingston loanee, isn't much better, despite his immaculate distribution - and something needs to be done about Stuart Malcolm. Other than the fact he captains the side, I can't really see any obvious reason for keeping him in the starting XI. Other than that, I'm not sure what else we need in January. Malcolm aside, the defence is pretty solid (Meechan is turning into a quality player, Jamie McCormack has been decent of late and I like Jim Paterson), there's depth in midfield and once Allan Smith returns from injury, we'll have a handy frontline.

Given the meagre quality of the teams outside of Dunfermline and Ayr, there's no reason why Stenny can't go on and finish in the play-offs. For all the talk of taking eighth place before a ball had been kicked, having seen most of the sides in action, I'd be a little disappointed if they didn't finish in the play-offs.

Ciaran Summers is back fit. Competition at left back for Patty

It's brilliant to see Summers fit again but he's got a long way to go before he gets ahead of Paterson at the moment. As I've said in previous posts, Paterson's doing really well at the moment.

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Given the meagre quality of the teams outside of Dunfermline and Ayr, there's no reason why Stenny can't go on and finish in the play-offs. For all the talk of taking eighth place before a ball had been kicked, having seen most of the sides in action, I'd be a little disappointed if they didn't finish in the play-offs.

Albion Rovers have done brilliantly and Stenny reminded me them on Saturday. I was 'pleased' Scotland was injured from a football viewpoint and if Stenny had more depth, who knows what could have been. As long as you ruin A*r's title chances, I will be a happy chappy.

Edited by Joe schmo
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