Stenhousemuir FC - The Warriors - The 2023/24 Thread

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

On 03/04/2022 at 07:34, Neilly said:

 

I disagree. I look at their team and would probably take Carswell and McLean and no one else. Similar to when we sneaked up last time on fourth I would be more than confident we actually go up as we look a better team than Forfar and Annan when playing them and the 9th place team from above look very weak.

Ah well, maybe if a good team like Edinburgh, Annan or Forfar pap us into this hell hole of a league you’ll get a shot at us next season. 

[Neilly]

I look forward to reacquanting with my friends from The Rock next season.

You're only going to get even more hidings dished out next season in league one, you would be as well returning to your natural level and at least being competitive.

[Vimto90]

Am really torn on Thommo. There was a time you would have wanted him to sign the dotted line there & then but given he will be one of higher earners I might be tempted to move him on. He just hasn't given enough and bar an early flurry in the 2 games post injury he has been a shadow of the player that ran the show away to cowden & the games that preceded. Even then though goals/assists were at a premium.

[Am Featha Taigh Nan Clach]

Tam Orr signs for next season.

[Francesc Fabregas]

Excellent, that's another really good piece of business. After a slow start, Tam Orr really lived up to his billing and, at one point, was the hottest centre-forward in the country. The scoring run he went on between December and March was stupendous and his movement and guile inside the box cannot be overestimated.

If we can sign up Robert Thomson and another striker (someone better than Ryan Tierney), we'll be well stocked in the forward areas for the new campaign.

Things are coming together quite well!

[Neilly]

Something special brewing to give us the league title favourites tag.

Before finishing 5th again.

[SLClyde]

Thomas Orr is someone I thought we should’ve been looking at, suspect Stenny knew there would be some interest so seems a good bit of business to get him signed early. 

[Francesc Fabregas]

We finished this damp squib of a season with a damp squib of an encounter against Forfar Athletic at Station Park. The centre-backs were strong, Mikey Miller looked decent at right-back and Euan O'Reilly had a couple of decent runs down the left but the Loons were the better side over the piece and forced David Wilson into a couple of smart saves. The game lacked any tension and it felt as though both sides were going through the motions.

There were a number of rumours kicking around over the course of the afternoon, in terms of players moving on elsewhere and players staying on for the season ahead. Some interesting stuff, that's for sure!

The highlight of the day was Stephen Swift making the point of high-fiving the travelling support. It was a nice touch - I've been quite critical of his lack of communication and interaction with fans so it was good to see.

Bring on 2022/23!

[WHM]

Took in game,thought Forfar had most of the chances,with Stenny having slightly more of the ball,but not troubling the Forfar keeper much apart from Euan O Reilly s shot,he should have scored.How did the Forfar player miss that header maybe 4 yards out in first half.Never seen Craig Slater before live, impressed by him.

[Vodka Vic]

Are Stenny taking over next season’s L2 “ambitious” mantel ?

[Francesc Fabregas]

It's interesting listening to the post-match comments from Stephen Swift and Sean Crighton with them both citing the fact that we had to spend the summer building virtually a brand new side as the reason we failed to make the play-offs. That recruitment drive has been brought up by the manager a lot over the past week - it doesn't really wash, because we had plenty of opportunities to get into the top four this season. The manager said he's looking to keep about 10 or 11 from the current squad so there's no excuses if the team fails to challenge for promotion next term.

[Hard Graft]

10 hours ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

It's interesting listening to the post-match comments from Stephen Swift and Sean Crighton with them both citing the fact that we had to spend the summer building virtually a brand new side as the reason we failed to make the play-offs. That recruitment drive has been brought up by the manager a lot over the past week - it doesn't really wash, because we had plenty of opportunities to get into the top four this season. The manager said he's looking to keep about 10 or 11 from the current squad so there's no excuses if the team fails to challenge for promotion next term.

For once last season we had the majority of our squad in place well before the start of the season so he had time to gel them together and get his best team and game plan selected.  Instead we had constant team changes, faith placed in a keeper who was so obviously useless at this level and it seemed no set game plan.  We were unable to see games out without conceding late goals, failing to beat Edinburgh City who played with 10 men for 75 minutes, and had a horrendous first quarter to the season where he was perhaps lucky to survive.  What was the point in bringing Moreland to the club other than to warm the bench?

He need to be smarter this year with his signings and get a decent keeper and striker as priorities. We must be in a challenging position after the first quarter, anything like last year will be unacceptable.

Our hopes are again high this year.

[Vimto90]

It's interesting listening to the post-match comments from Stephen Swift and Sean Crighton with them both citing the fact that we had to spend the summer building virtually a brand new side as the reason we failed to make the play-offs. That recruitment drive has been brought up by the manager a lot over the past week - it doesn't really wash, because we had plenty of opportunities to get into the top four this season. The manager said he's looking to keep about 10 or 11 from the current squad so there's no excuses if the team fails to challenge for promotion next term.

Absolutely

[Francesc Fabregas]

A lot of people seem to be hung up on the fact that Spencer Moreland was brought in and wasn't given any game time. He joined the club back in January when we were short in numbers in midfield and was never going to be anything other than a squad filler. I imagine he was costing the club buttons too. He played about 25 minutes against Forfar Athletic on Saturday, got pushed around a bit and gave the ball away a couple of times.

[Old Fashioned Stramash]

1 hour ago, Hard Graft said:

For once last season we had the majority of our squad in place well before the start of the season so he had time to gel them together and get his best team and game plan selected.  Instead we had constant team changes, faith placed in a keeper who was so obviously useless at this level and it seemed no set game plan.  We were unable to see games out without conceding late goals, failing to beat Edinburgh City who played with 10 men for 75 minutes, and had a horrendous first quarter to the season where he was perhaps lucky to survive.  What was the point in bringing Moreland to the club other than to warm the bench?

He need to be smarter this year with his signings and get a decent keeper and striker as priorities. We must be in a challenging position after the first quarter, anything like last year will be unacceptable.

Our hopes are again high this year.

I blame our play-off failure on Ryan Marshall, who was utter dugshit. Each time the ball went near the goal, it went in. 

Looking back with hindsight, I think the league caught Swift off guard with his initial preparations. His lack of experience at this level showed and was punished. We made changes and Swift was willing to try different formations and tactics. We turned it around and that, I believe, showed the gaffers qualities. I like the way Swift plays football and how he demands more. Got confidence that he will at least get us into the play-off's next season.  

There are quite a few games where we should've won, 1-0 loss to Annan still sucks, but then there's the games that we won and came away wondering how. That's football. 

[Am Featha Taigh Nan Clach]

Some of the signings were poor and I agree about him being caught off guard about the league quality and the true ability of those players relative to it. To be fair, he did realise this sharpish and did well to ship out/not play the duds and signed some good replacements.

Minimum expectation is that we should be in a Forfar/Annan type position next season. Comfortably in the playoffs.

[Old Fashioned Stramash]

33 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

A lot of people seem to be hung up on the fact that Spencer Moreland was brought in and wasn't given any game time. He joined the club back in January when we were short in numbers in midfield and was never going to be anything other than a squad filler. I imagine he was costing the club buttons too. He played about 25 minutes against Forfar Athletic on Saturday, got pushed around a bit and gave the ball away a couple of times.

Agreed.

Even for our league where we see young lads getting a lot of minutes, he was built like Jamie Lyons and offered little. If he was good enough, he would've played.

[Francesc Fabregas]

29 minutes ago, Old Fashioned Stramash said:

I blame our play-off failure on Ryan Marshall, who was utter dugshit. Each time the ball went near the goal, it went in. 

Looking back with hindsight, I think the league caught Swift off guard with his initial preparations. His lack of experience at this level showed and was punished. We made changes and Swift was willing to try different formations and tactics. We turned it around and that, I believe, showed the gaffers qualities. I like the way Swift plays football and how he demands more. Got confidence that he will at least get us into the play-off's next season.  

There are quite a few games where we should've won, 1-0 loss to Annan still sucks, but then there's the games that we won and came away wondering how. That's football. 

I was looking up his appearances over the course of the campaign and Ryan Marshall only played seven times in the league - it somehow felt like a lot more. He was responsible for the goal we lost in the 1-0 defeat to Edinburgh City (although Nicky Jamieson didn't look too clever here either and if Tam Orr had scored his penalty, we probably would have left Ainslie Park with a point); there was the infamous Kelty Hearts match, the worst performance I think I've seen from a Stenhousemuir goalkeeper; and his last appearance, the 2-0 home defeat to Cowdenbeath where both goals seemed to pass through him. It's easy to pick on Marshall, and I've done it myself plenty of times over the course of the year, but I think he's a bit further down on the "blame list", for want of a better expression, as to why the season ended in failure.

I've said it elsewhere on this thread but signing so many players from the Lowland League, players who made the overall quality of the squad poorer, cost us. Bringing in someone like Ross Forbes and not really having a clue how best to use him cost us. Churning through so many full-backs and defensive combinations in the hope that something worked out cost us. Our inability to get the better of some of the division's poorer sides cost us. This season has been a big learning curve for Stephen Swift but I like him too and I'm hopeful for next term. I would never be as arrogant enough to suggest we can win the division but I'd like to imagine we'll be in with a shout for promotion.

[Francesc Fabregas]

Robert Thomson has left the club, according to the Stenhousemuir FC Twitter page.

I'm sorry to see him go - on his day, he could be an excellent forward and seemed a couple of steps ahead of those around him. The injury he suffered at Cowdenbeath really derailed his season and he wasn't really the same player when he returned to action. He could sometimes look sluggish and off the pace.

I felt that with a good pre-season behind him, he would make a big impact in 2022/23, but that will be somewhere else now (most likely Stirling Albion).

[Old Fashioned Stramash]

Yes but those games Marshall cost us points that could've helped us into 4th position or closer to it.  My main annoyance with Marshall, is the impact that his performances had on the team, it drained the confidence in the early stages of the season. As our number 1, it seems Marshall didn't push hard enough to get back into the first 11 and he left Div in a huge hole. A young keeper with no experience, thrown in and having to learn the hard way, costing us points. Marshall offered us nothing and let us down. He disappeared completely, a part from 1 or 2 reappearances in the latter stages of the season. In my eyes, he's hugely responsible. 

I agree with your other points though.