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Stenhousemuir FC - The Warriors - The 2023/24 Thread


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Strong performance by Stenny today, against a Fraserburgh team that I thought would've tested us more. Played some tidy football, spread the ball around well and controlled the tempo of the game. Second goal was superb, great team effort and build up play. Exactly what Swift wants from the team. 

Bryson and Forbes had good games in the middle of the park but Will Sewell looks a cracking find. Nice touches, always showing or looking for the ball, good movement and took his goal well. 

Noticed Jamieson walking off down the touch line with an ice pack, hope the big man is alright. Was solid again. 

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That was a decent run out for the Warriors this afternoon. There was a lot to like about the team's performance against a limited Fraserburgh side, but there were also some areas of concern.

It was great to see Will Sewell in action and I think he'll be an important player for us this season. He took his goal well, a smart, well-placed finish from close range, and he showed a good change of pace and a cute first touch when running onto balls over the top. He could have scored one more but I'm putting that down to rustiness more than anything. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he acquits himself when the real stuff starts at the end of the month.

Elsewhere, Sean Crighton had a solid game at the back, Mikey Miller turned in a man-of-the-match performance (he's such a clever player), Craig Bryson was good and seems to be finding his feet after his long spell out, and Matty Yeats had a positive impact when he came on the pitch and took his goal well. The way we knocked the ball around was, at times, very easy on the eye too. Bryson's goal capped an excellent passage of play - the ball was smuggled out from the back before Adam Brown released Callum Yeats down the left to square to Bryson for a straightforward finish. Yes, Fraserburgh were mediocre opposition whose fitness was a couple of levels beneath our own, but you can only beat what's in front of you!

As mentioned above, there were one or two things I wasn't happy with, chief amongst being Tam Orr's performance. If Orr is going to play with his back to goal, he drastically needs to improve his touch and his link-up play because there were too many times when the ball just bounced off him and didn't stick. His ball through for Sewell's goal was nice but I'm disappointed to see he hasn't really advanced the other areas of his game, areas that will be important as we move forward. Jay Cantley's distribution is poor (but I reckon we'll only ever see him if something dreadful befalls Conor Brennan), Scott Walker looks ropey when trying to defend, and Nat Wedderburn looks like he's enjoyed his holidays.

All roads lead to Albion Rovers! Let's get these next to games out of the road and go into the league campaign all guns blazing!

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Watched the stream again this week. We looked good albeit against weak opposition. Was that Fraserburgh strongest XI?

Defence was never troubled and every one of our midfielders looked really composed, Michael Millar in particular. There is a real depth to the squad.

Up front Sewell was smashing. Really excited by his performance. I agree about the Tam Orr comments above. I’ve never been his biggest fan but it’s difficult to argue with his goals, but he does continually make the same mistakes week after week. Sewell and Yates starting on Tuesday?

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28 minutes ago, Nigel Blackwell said:

Watched the stream again this week. We looked good albeit against weak opposition. Was that Fraserburgh strongest XI?

 

As far as I'm aware, that was pretty much their full squad with the exception of a couple of players who I think are injured or returning from injury. 

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Sewell looks the part it has to be said. Could have probably scored a couple more but you can see why has scored goals, albeit at a lower level, his movement and willingness to go in behind must be a nightmare for big plodding centre backs to deal with. 

We were a good watch yesterday in the first half with Mikey Miller orchestrating everything from midfield with quick, sharp passing. It's food for thought moving forward for me if Miller starts in that pivot instead of Nat, and not alongside him. I love the big man but there was evidence yesterday we move the ball about a lot quicker without him, in fact when he came on we seemed to lose our way in midfield and they were getting at us pretty easily in the last 20 minutes. Again we have to be mindful of the opposition, who I thought were very poor, we probably can't move the ball about like that every week against teams who get at us and apply pressure in the midfield.

The second goal was an absolute joy and was indicative of the football we were putting together at times. As I mentioned earlier, we lost our way in the last 20 minutes or so we really need to concentrate better when the real stuff starts as teams like Annan will absolutely crucify us in similar circumstances. 

Loads of positives though and when you consider Corbett, O'Reilly, Wedderburn and Yates were not in the starting team it shows the quality we have in the squad.

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Good result yesterday but they were poor opposition. I like how we retain the ball and if there is nothing on then if gets recycled but there are times when you wish we put a few more crosses in earlier and see if anything comes from that.

Miller was outstanding yesterday but agree that when Wedderburn came on  things slowed down and we started to make life difficult for ourselves. Gives the manager food for thought.

I have never been a great lover of Orr but I am sure last season things started off slowly for him before he found his form.  I would, however, go into the next 2 games with Yates and Sewell as the front men. 

The Albion Rovers game is going to be interesting as it appears that they may not be as bad as we think they will be.

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Interesting first half in Montrose. We’ve more than held our own and had we been a couple of goals ahead it wouldn’t have been undeserved.

The big difference with this squad is that there are no passengers. He has made four or five changes and every one who has come in looks worthy of a starting place. Really encouraging (although our finishing has been abysmal)

I presume if we do win then it means we have something to play for on Saturday.

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Fair play to Stenhousemuir - I thought we were very good against Montrose this evening. We were largely the better side, scored two good goals courtesy of Euan O'Reilly, moved the ball around well, looked purposeful in attack and defended well when we needed to. The Mo seem to be going through a transitional phase at the moment and their recruitment over the summer has been slow, but that's a top-end League 1 side and we really looked the part.

There were a number of contenders for man of the match. You could pick from Callum Yeats, Adam Corbett, Sean Crighton, Mikey Anderson, Euan O'Reilly and Matty Yates. I'd give it to Anderson who continues to impress me every time he's featured in pre-season. He's good with the ball at his feet, he's haring about all over the pitch, and he always seems to get a toe in at the right time to break up play. He really has come onto a game since the turn of the year.

On top of that, it gives the manager plenty to think about. Corbett (who looked sharp this evening after a niggly injury) slotted in well at centre-back alongside Crighton and Miller looked sharp at right-back, so it's good to see we have options and the ability to change things around as form and fitness dictate. I'm still not sure of what our best XI but unlike last year, I'm excited about the combinations we have, rather than scratching my head thinking about how we can fit all these duds into a sensible system.

Will Sewell seemed a bit more subdued and didn't really get into the match, while Niyah Joseph frustrated the life out of me with some of his wayward passing and decision making, but these are minor quibbles. That was good fun tonight and I hope we can maintain this kind of form going into the league campaign.

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Another excellent performance from us last night. We are brewing quite nicely now as the real stuff approaches a week on Saturday. You couldn't fault anyone really but the back four, Mikey Anderson, Matty Yates and Euan O'Reilly were particularly good.

Miller again shows his quality anywhere on the park at right back, Yeats had a tricky customer in Webster tapping out after an hour and the two centre backs in Crighton and Corbett were imperious. It gives the manager another good heacache - Nicky hasn't exactly been firing pre-season and these two complimented each other superbly last night. Names who were guaranteed starters before pre-season I would say now know they have a fight on their hands for a place in the team and that's an excellent position to be in for us as the league season approaches.

Mikey Anderson deserves all the plaudits in the world for the improvement in his game. Yes, he can get about the park and be a dog in midfield but he's also a lot better on the ball than he was a year ago and uses it really, really well. Matty Yates last night was that pain in the arse we seen against us last season - just never stops running for the team and has the technical ability to take the ball in tight areas and make things happen. Tam Orr made an impact from the bench for sure and was heavily involved whilst Sewell was quiet so it's handy having three guys of this quality around who can impact games in different ways if one isn't quite firing.

Euan O'Reilly though. This has to be his target for the new season - numbers in terms of goals and assists. We all know he's the best winger in this league (particularly now Cardle and Higginbotham have left us) but I'd love to see him add goals this season and get a really good move next summer. He is just such an exciting player to watch and for me another season like last year but with more goals and assists and he will be Championship bound at a minimum. Two really cool finishes last night and he tore their right hand side to pieces for the most part.

It gives an outside chance of qualifying on Saturday but more importantly we are in good shape for Albion Rovers and the excitement is slowly building about the potential of this squad.

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thought we deserved that win last night. anderson was outstanding all over the middle of the park. sewell had 3 or 4 chances, didnt take them but was tricky for defenders to handle. yates was a pain in the erse for them like he used to be for us. the mo seemed stuck resorting to a long ball over to webster on the right. felt a goal or two was coming and we  were never under any real threat, even though we gave them a 20 minute spell early in the 2nd half. play that way in the league and we will be fine

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Despite the scoreline, I was quote happy with what I saw today.

The strength, pace and quick movement of the ball by Killie was on another level to anything we're used to seeing. The right back on loan from Arsenal was absolutely incredible!

We always tried to play football, moved the ball about well and rarely went for the easier long ball option. The players seemed comfortable on the ball and there were some decent passages of play. 

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Certainly another game with plenty of positives. Kilmarnock got a soft penalty at  a time in the game we had settled down. If we had got to the break level then who knows?

The better team won of course but as above I was impressed with our temperament we kept trying to play football and not just hoof it anywhere.

Matty Yates is on fire I thought he was a menace throughout and scored a brilliant free kick. Excited to see how many he will get this season.

Sounds like Higgins is back and Milller was only at a wedding so full squad for next week. Absolutely buzzing for the season ahead.

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Disappointed by the scoreline but not the performance. As Swifty said they were up for it and in that situation it is very difficult to counter.  Thought the goals conceded were poor and the first penalty looked very soft but as said we kept trying to play football.

Matty Yates looks a great signing and hopefully he can keep his form going.

Looking forward to next week.

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Certainly another game with plenty of positives. Kilmarnock got a soft penalty at  a time in the game we had settled down. If we had got to the break level then who knows?
The better team won of course but as above I was impressed with our temperament we kept trying to play football and not just hoof it anywhere.
Matty Yates is on fire I thought he was a menace throughout and scored a brilliant free kick. Excited to see how many he will get this season.
Sounds like Higgins is back and Milller was only at a wedding so full squad for next week. Absolutely buzzing for the season ahead.

Agree 100% re the penalty and the impact on the game. A terrible, inexplicable decision other than downright incompetence. We were lucky to still be in it but fact is we had weathered the storm to an extent in that 1st half.

But not too downbeat and the real stuff starts next week. Quite exciting going in to a season not worrying about relegation.
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