Stenhousemuir FC - The Warriors - The 2023/24 Thread

[Vimto90]

I thought Mikey Miller was alright in his few games in central midfield but he looked a lot better when he was moved to right-back. We've used so many players in the middle of the park this season and the only one who's starred consistently has been Nat Wedderburn (and even then, it took him a few weeks to get up to speed). It's another area we've signed poorly in and I don't think we've found a suitable partner for the big man. Ross Forbes (given a two-year contract, no less!) is too slow, James Lyon is far too inconsistent, and Mikey Anderson and Declan Hughes are simply not good enough.
We need a Kieran Millar-type to complement Wedderburn, someone who's athletic, can get around the park, win his tackles and give the ball to the better players. I'd argue it's as much as a priority as bringing in a new forward next month.

I forgot to mention James Lyon. Anonymous any time he has featured, yesterday in partucular. Looked like good business too initially.

[Francesc Fabregas]

7 minutes ago, Vimto90 said:

I forgot to mention James Lyon. Anonymous any time he has featured, yesterday in partucular. Looked like good business too initially.

Aye, he's been very disappointing. After we beat Dumbarton in the League Cup group stages, I thought we had a real prospect on our hands (and, to my shame, I even compared him to the great Harry Paton!) but since then he's made little impression on the team overall and games just seem to pass him by inconsequentially. 

[Nigel Blackwell]

He was hiding from the ball all afternoon. Can we send him back?

[amidst-tundra]

How has Cammy Graham done this season? I've been abroad with work with ropey internet, so haven't been able to catch the highlights.

He doesn't seem to be getting many minutes and I guess he's still recovering -  but he looked like he had some potential.

[Francesc Fabregas]

On 12/12/2021 at 20:08, amidst-tundra said:

How has Cammy Graham done this season? I've been abroad with work with ropey internet, so haven't been able to catch the highlights.

He doesn't seem to be getting many minutes and I guess he's still recovering -  but he looked like he had some potential.

Cammy Graham's got the potential to be a useful player and he has chipped in with some good goals this season - he scored a cracker against Dundee United's children's team in the SPFL Trust Trophy and he popped up at the back post to give us the lead against Albion Rovers - but his time on the park has been limited and I don't think he's made the most of it whenever he's played.

There seems to be a cycle with Graham (and I'd argue this applies to Darren Christie as well):

• Make an impressive appearance coming off the bench
• Fans clamour for him to start
• Starts the next game
• Gets hooked after 65 minutes
• Is dropped to the bench the next week
• Makes an impressive appearance coming off the bench

I hope he can kick on over the second half of the season because he definitely has something about him.

[Francesc Fabregas]

Did anyone make the trip up to Elgin City? From following the match on Twitter and Stephen Swift's post-match comments, it sounded as though we were the better side but couldn't put away our chances and fell to a sucker punch at the death. It felt like a carbon copy of the game against Edinburgh City and another two points dropped.

It really feels like al the good work over October and November has been undone. That's now five games without a win and two points from a possible nine against some of the more mediocre sides in the league, including a humiliation at home by Stranraer. I appreciate we've been hampered with injuries (something's that been exacerbated after the weekend's match) but it feels as though we're in a rut. I'm not expecting much from the game against Forfar Athletic on Boxing Day, I think they're a much better side than us, but the first three fixtures in January - Stirling Albion, Albion Rovers, Cowdenbeath - are a perfect opportunity to start building towards the top four.

Do we have the minerals to take it? I don't know.

[gibb82]

That’s a fair summary, we were 2 nil up, going on 4 or 5 and they never should have scored there equaliser. On top of that the penalty was ridiculously soft. But…… we clearly need Thomson back, or a better alternative striker. The one on one was a terrible miss, the only excuse I can offer is he had far too much time. We weren’t bad, we passed the ball around well, definitely the better team but yet again haven’t got one over the line. That said the soup was good.

[Vimto90]

Hope all Warriors fans have a good christmas & hopefully we get the gift of a good result at Forfar.

Have a good one.

[Francesc Fabregas]

We're at the mid point of the season - how has everyone felt it's gone so far?

[Vimto90]

We're at the mid point of the season - how has everyone felt it's gone so far?

Pretty average but we are in the promotion hunt and that is a big positive after the awful first quarter. I was certainly guilty of getting carried away with the appointment and when it didn't start great the fickle nature of the football fan crept in, even wanting potential change. That however on reflection would have been ridiculously knee jerk.

Finishing out the top 4 would be a big failure though & we really need to be in there. If not we would need to start like a steam train next season or the pressure will really mount.

We need the GK situation sorted & Thommo back asap.

[Hard Graft]

First quarter of the season was an absolute disaster and I may have been tempted to have got rid of him.  The fact that he stuck by Ryan Marshall for so long was shocking.  He has also been let down by some of his signings, I think everyone expected so much more from Tam Orr than we have been getting and Crichton to a certain extent blows hot and cold.

Wedderburn and Jamieson look the part and have been impressed by Ross Lyon and Robert Thomson,  when he is fit, we are badly missing him.  Brown and Corbett are decent enough and Euan O'Reilly is a treat to watch.

Our game management needs to improve, we have lost or drawn games that we should have comfortably won but overall things look to be on the up. 

One thing he needs to do is get another forward and goalkeeper into the club next month.

[AlanCamelonfan]

3 hours ago, Hard Graft said:

First quarter of the season was an absolute disaster and I may have been tempted to have got rid of him.  The fact that he stuck by Ryan Marshall for so long was shocking.  He has also been let down by some of his signings, I think everyone expected so much more from Tam Orr than we have been getting and Crichton to a certain extent blows hot and cold.

Wedderburn and Jamieson look the part and have been impressed by Ross Lyon and Robert Thomson,  when he is fit, we are badly missing him.  Brown and Corbett are decent enough and Euan O'Reilly is a treat to watch.

Our game management needs to improve, we have lost or drawn games that we should have comfortably won but overall things look to be on the up. 

One thing he needs to do is get another forward and goalkeeper into the club next month.

Always like to see the local teams do well. It did look like it would be a struggle judging by first quarter and the skaving reviews on here.

 

If they are as honking as they were in football manager then no wonder I was down in 9th binned 7 players and lost jamieson. I'm up to 6th with 9 games to go. The board expect 5th to 8th in the game

[Francesc Fabregas]

It was after the game against Elgin City in September, where we completely reconfigured our backline by moving Ross Lyon to left-back and putting Michael Miller on the right, that I began to have serious doubts about Stephen Swift and I wanted him moved on. We lost the match 2-1 - Elgin had two shots on target, remember - and the encounter had a real end-of-days feeling to it, with the manager appearing to have run out of ideas and was just throwing any old shit against the wall in the hope something stuck. This was after a humiliating loss at Stranraer, a game in which his team selection and substitutions badly let us down and contributed to the embarrassment. Swift appeared out of his depth and I was concerned we were headed towards relegation.

Since then however, we've mostly been okay. The five-game winning run between October and November was impressive, especially given how poorly we'd toiled in the first quarter, but it was followed by an five matches without a victory, including another abject display against Stranraer and draws against Edinburgh City and Elgin where we chucked away four points courtesy of the concession of late goals. The weekend's win over Forfar Athletic was a good achievement, and the first-half performance was sublime, but we came close to dropping points again; hopefully the way we clung onto the victory is the sign of a newfound resolve.

There are a number of players who have done well over the first quarter. After a slow start, blighted by COVID and injury, Euan O'Reilly has been excellent - he's such an exciting player to watch and you get the feeling that something is going to happen whenever he gets the ball; I'm pleased he's signed up for next season already. I didn't expect much from Nat Wedderburn but he's surprised me and he's really developed into a dominant presence in the middle of the park. Nicky Jamieson has been a good signing and someone I'd like us to tie up on a permanent basis. Ross Lyon is a useful player and is operating well in an unfamiliar position. I really want to see Adam Corbett succeed and I was delighted he chipped in with a couple of goals at the weekend - I think he's been hard done by at times this season and I'd prefer to see him partner Jamieson at centre-back, but he could develop into a handy full-back.

There are a couple of areas that have concerned me, however. As others have mentioned, we really do need to bring in a good goalkeeper next month. Ryan Marshall is probably the worst 'keeper in the SPFL and David Wilson, who benefitted from the fact he was "not Ryan Marshall" when he was first brought into the team, cannot be trusted and seems to be making a gaffe every game. We also need another striker to lead the line in Robert Thomson's absence. I didn't appreciate how good a player he was until his injury at Cowdenbeath - he really knits everything together and offers so much as the focal point of our attack; Tam Orr, despite being our top scorer this season, just isn't as good as him. Recruitment overall has been an issue and I don't think we've signed particularly well - the team is unbalanced and lacks depth in a number of areas, which seems ridiculous given the size of the squad. A lot of the players, especially those brought in from non-league football (and especially those brought in from BSC Glasgow not called "Ross Lyon"), haven't been good enough for the SPFL. Beyond the regular starting XI and a couple of reserve players and the quality drops off dramatically.

On the whole, I don't think the season has been good enough but I am hopeful going into its second half. I think we're better than the teams beneath us (Stranraer excepted!) and I think we have the capability to move away from them and cement a play-off place. Outside of Kelty Hearts and probably Forfar, it's a competitive division and we are able to hang with almost everyone. A couple of good signings and Thomson's return from injury and I think we're in a good position to challenge for promotion. I think Swift will have learned a lot from the last six months and now we have a settled, recognised XI that, on the whole, works well. I'd be really disappointed if we didn't finish in the top four come May.

[Old Fashioned Stramash]

Season has been disappointing so far and thrown away too many points. As has been said, we need to sort out the game management and address the fact, that when we concede one goal, we're likely to concede multiple after. Need more desire to see a game out.

Positives:

Nat Wedderburn - Enjoyed watching big Nat this season. Showing good footwork, neat passing and dominant in the centre of the park. 

Ross Lyon, Corbett, Jamieson and Miller have been relatively solid this season. Corbett deserves to start more games. 

Euan O'Reilly - Best player in our team and possibly; from what I've seen this season, the best player in league 2 not wearing a Kelty strip. 

Darren Christie - Bit of an impact player still but as his fitness levels improved, his work rate edged up too. He's tracking back more, winning back the ball and is not afraid to turn and carry it up the park, trying to maintain possession, which is admirable. He was fantastic away at Stirling Albion and entertaining to watch.

Getting rid of Craig Reid. 

Negatives - Thomson's injury - Could've won some more games with him in front of goal.

Sean Crighton - For our captain, I expect better. Although he has popped up with some important goals, he ruins so much of our build-up play and team shape with his mental panic attacks and just invites pressure to be put back onto us. I think he's a big reason as to why we crumble. Constant! long frantic hacks of the ball or mistimed headers, played aimlessly into areas of the pitch that provide no purpose. He seems to have no confidence with the ball at his feet and shows little composure.  Kelty exposed him and his positioning at New central park and he left Jamieson with a lot of work to do that day. Very frustrating player to watch, no idea why he is captain. 

Goalkeepers - Feel sorry for Wilson, his distribution and passing technique is relatively good. He has made some excellent saves since coming in for Marshall but he's not a number 1, yet. He's only 20 with a lot to learn but unfortunately his size, decision making and handling are letting him down and costing us games. We're just not in a situation where we can allow for him to continue to be our number 1. Marshall is just stinking, no idea how he is a coach for Celtic. Says a lot that he can't get back into our squad and should be released. Desperately need a new goalie. Wonder if there's a slim chance Hibs would give us Mitchell or Dabrowski? 

James Lyon - Just hasn't done anything since that worldie of a goal at the start of the season. Not got the strength required and doesn't look committed. 

Dec Hughes - Pointless, absolutely pointless. Just rubbish. The sound of sighs of despair and grunts of utter dejection made in unison by the fans when he comes on, says it all. Another who should be released.

Steak pies at Ochilview - Been rank this season. 

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by Old Fashioned Stramash

[ewan_fife]

Ryan Blair, talk to me people..

[Vimto90]

Ryan Blair, talk to me people..

Can pick a pass. Technically very good but went missing far too much, the type of player suited to Swansea U23s.

Not sure he's what's needed in a relegation dog fight but you never know.

[Neilly]

Has he had a club since rhe summer?

The best diagonal passer in world football according to that weapon on A View From The Terrace.

[Nigel Blackwell]

We’ve signed a midfielder, not a goalie or a striker, from st Johnstone on loan.

[Vimto90]

Yeah was before the game. Sorry to be down on the lad as know nothing about him but the last thing we need is a young centre mid on loan.

Hopefully turns out brilliant and I need to slink back with egg on face.

[Francesc Fabregas]

2 hours ago, Vimto90 said:

Yeah was before the game. Sorry to be down on the lad as know nothing about him but the last thing we need is a young centre mid on loan.

Hopefully turns out brilliant and I need to slink back with egg on face.

I'd actually disagree, we don't have a lot of options in the middle of the park and I'd rather some yung jobber in there ahead of Declan Hughes or Michael Anderson.

We must address our goalkeeping problem - and fast!