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Stenhousemuir FC - The Warriors - The 2023/24 Thread


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41 minutes ago, true fan said:

I’m wondering where Graeme smith is at. Ready to play, still not ready but will play again or future looking uncertain?

The club physio estimates Graeme Smith will be back around October. He's able to run and has spent most of the last few training sessions jogging round the pitch, and he was able to take part in a handling drill recently, so it's looking reasonably positive.

Regardless, I think Buzz will have a job on his hands getting into Stephen Swift's plans. Ryan Marshall will be the undisputed #1 for the time being.

Edited by Francesc Fabregas
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I'm assuming there is no chance there will be any fans allowed in to see the Kilwinning game on Saturday? I don't think the game has even been acknowledged on the website or social media by the club so guessing not? 

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1 hour ago, CEMSFC said:

We aren't playing Kilwinning on Saturday, first friendly is next Tuesday against Bo'ness United at Ochilview. 

Kilwinning got form for this we were meant to be playing them next Saturday but it's off because apparently they had booked 3 friendlies

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So it turns out that Ryan Blair and Botti Biabi have joined Morton for pre-season training. This is obviously not the most inspiring of news for us given their release from yourselves at the end of the season.

What can we expect? Biabi trained with us not long after David Hopkin took over but it clearly didn't go anywhere.

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1 hour ago, Stevie Aitken's Love Child said:

So it turns out that Ryan Blair and Botti Biabi have joined Morton for pre-season training. This is obviously not the most inspiring of news for us given their release from yourselves at the end of the season.

What can we expect? Biabi trained with us not long after David Hopkin took over but it clearly didn't go anywhere.

Hard to say - neither of them were fantastic during their 18 months at Stenhousemuir but I put that down to poor management as much as anything else and I think they could be good players in the right environment (and I appreciate I am giving them both a massive benefit of doubt with that statement).

Ryan Blair is the best long-range passer of a ball I've ever seen at Stenhousemuir. He's at his best when space opens up for him and he's able to pitch 60-yard diagonals into the channels for an onrushing full-back, or switching play from one flank to the other. He's also good at keeping possession and recycling the ball in the middle of the park. Blair is not, however, the kind of player who is comfortable with the rough and tumble of Scottish lower-league football and there were too many times last season when bigger, stronger, more committed opponents steamrollered over the top of him. He won't get stuck in and his body language can look off at times. He's not much of a goal threat and his set-pieces were generally poor.

If I was to sum up Ryan Blair it would be: frustrating.

The same word applies to Botti Biabi. He's quick over short distances, strong, capable of playing out wide and through the middle (and, weirdly, he's actually a decent target man up top, when the ball's worked into his feet). Conversely, his decision-making is poor, he's a one-trick pony who'll always want to take the ball onto his right foot and won't provide much by way of goals or assists. His performance in our 2-0 win over Elgin City at the tail end of last season was one of the worst I'd seen - although he scored at the death, he gave the ball away so many times, made daft mistakes, or simply fell over. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Both players have something about them (and, as a lot of people have probably said, you don't move to Swansea City's academy unless you have some degree of talent) but not a lot of supporters were sorry to see them leave Ochilview at the end of the season. If they do end up signing for Greenock Morton, I hope they both do you a turn.

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Guest Peter LaFleur
13 hours ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

Hard to say - neither of them were fantastic during their 18 months at Stenhousemuir but I put that down to poor management as much as anything else and I think they could be good players in the right environment (and I appreciate I am giving them both a massive benefit of doubt with that statement).

Ryan Blair is the best long-range passer of a ball I've ever seen at Stenhousemuir. He's at his best when space opens up for him and he's able to pitch 60-yard diagonals into the channels for an onrushing full-back, or switching play from one flank to the other. He's also good at keeping possession and recycling the ball in the middle of the park. Blair is not, however, the kind of player who is comfortable with the rough and tumble of Scottish lower-league football and there were too many times last season when bigger, stronger, more committed opponents steamrollered over the top of him. He won't get stuck in and his body language can look off at times. He's not much of a goal threat and his set-pieces were generally poor.

If I was to sum up Ryan Blair it would be: frustrating.

The same word applies to Botti Biabi. He's quick over short distances, strong, capable of playing out wide and through the middle (and, weirdly, he's actually a decent target man up top, when the ball's worked into his feet). Conversely, his decision-making is poor, he's a one-trick pony who'll always want to take the ball onto his right foot and won't provide much by way of goals or assists. His performance in our 2-0 win over Elgin City at the tail end of last season was one of the worst I'd seen - although he scored at the death, he gave the ball away so many times, made daft mistakes, or simply fell over. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Both players have something about them (and, as a lot of people have probably said, you don't move to Swansea City's academy unless you have some degree of talent) but not a lot of supporters were sorry to see them leave Ochilview at the end of the season. If they do end up signing for Greenock Morton, I hope they both do you a turn.

You've summed them both up perfectly well which reflects their short stints at Falkirk. Blair is a typical academy player who technically is excellent but in game situations really struggles. I passed this off at the time down to lack of experience but it sounds like he hasn't improved the dirty side of the game through time. There definitely is a player in there though and he's a far more gifted footballer than Cameron Blues currently at Morton. 

Botti for me is a seriously limited footballer with good physical attributes - a speedboat without a driver during his time at us. I'd be stunned if he was a hit in the Championship. 

Edited by Peter LaFleur
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2 hours ago, Deanburn Dave said:

Stenhousemuir v Bo'ness United on Tuesday .........is this a closed doors game or are fans allowed in ?

No idea, the communication from the club on these friendlies has been non existent. Didn't even bothering acknowledging the game in Saturday. 

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Guest The Phoenix
29 minutes ago, Christophe said:

No idea, the communication from the club on these friendlies has been non existent. Didn't even bothering acknowledging the game in Saturday. 

Probably because it was played on one of the Gannochy Grass pitches at Stirling Uni and encouraging fans to turn up wouldn’t have sat well with Covid Protocols. 

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Fair enough pre-game then, but I doubt anyone would have been down paying pligrimage at the Gannochy if we'd had a wee score tweet at any point since!

 

BU friendly cancelled, was a bit silly scheduling so not completely surprised at that one. Could have seen a few "sickies" pulled on both sides if that was going ahead!

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