Christophe Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) Something not adding up here. He's on a light training schedule yet unlikely to be able to play before May?? Could fracture something tomorrow and be back by then! Edited November 4, 2022 by Christophe 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 The impression I've always had about Liam Brown's loan move to Stenhousemuir, and this is nothing but pure speculation, is that he's been used as a makeweight between the clubs to reduce Queen's Park's rent for Ochilview. There's zero chance that Lesser Hampden will be finished this season so the Spiders will be groundsharing with us for the foreseeable future, and moving on an out-of-favour player on agreeable terms would have seemed appealing to most parties. I say "most" because there cannot be any appeal for Brown to move to a middling League 2 team. He rejected a loan move to Alloa Athletic to win back his place in Owen Coyle's side, so it was an enormous surprise to see him drop down to a level well beneath his ability. The sentence in the statement about entering into the agreement with the player and his agent suggests Brown didn't fancy it. Stenhousemuir's statement is pretty definitive but it still raises a lot of questions about this transfer. We move on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 Something really doesn’t add up there, unless of course it’s some form of illness that allows him to take part in light training but he can’t handle the intensity of a match. I just can’t fathom a situation where a player is forced into a move he isn’t remotely interested in thus rendering his season over in October. Absolutely no one benefits from that, especially the player himself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Blackwell Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 The fact his registration remains with Stenhousemuir suggests that whatever the issue is, he isn’t fit enough to play. So just like any other player with an “injury” we have to just lump it.Of course the “injury” may not be physical.The signings of Bryson, and now Brown, have been unmitigated disasters. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vimto90 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 The fact his registration remains with Stenhousemuir suggests that whatever the issue is, he isn’t fit enough to play. So just like any other player with an “injury” we have to just lump it.Of course the “injury” may not be physical.The signings of Bryson, and now Brown, have been unmitigated disasters. I think you have hit the nail on the head with the not "physical" comment. It's a bizarre situation that sums Stenhousemuir up to an absolute tee. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leomessi1984 Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 How's Ross Philp getting on. Seems to have been starting regularly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Vojáček Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 What's this I've just read from FF about you guys bringing in Jim Duffy as a coach? It's a sure fire way to get something out of Ross Forbes if nothing else. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Fashioned Stramash Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 12 hours ago, leomessi1984 said: How's Ross Philp getting on. Seems to have been starting regularly. He's been relatively solid, hasn't done much wrong and scored a nice goal yesterday. Been a decent addition. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted November 12, 2022 Author Share Posted November 12, 2022 Once again, it feels like we're entering end-of-days territory with Stephen Swift. We've been here before - the first quarter of last season when we were bottom of the table, and maybe towards the end of the campaign when we failed to overtake Edinburgh City for the final play-off spot - but something about this period all feels a bit grimmer and a bit more inevitable. Last season, Swift explained away our fifth-place finish by pointing out that virtually the entire squad had been brought together that summer and was still in the process of gelling; what's the excuse now? How come we're still no further forward under his management? We've taken three points from the last five matches. We've conceded 12 goals along the way. We're now 13 points from the top of the table and have the worst defensive record in the division. We've spent good money on pulling together this group of players and, on paper least, we have one of the best squads in League 2 (albeit an unbalanced one). But Swift is failing to get anything cohesive out of his team and I can't think of any good reason to keep him on. Time for a change. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warriors21 Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 23 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said: Once again, it feels like we're entering end-of-days territory with Stephen Swift. We've been here before - the first quarter of last season when we were bottom of the table, and maybe towards the end of the campaign when we failed to overtake Edinburgh City for the final play-off spot - but something about this period all feels a bit grimmer and a bit more inevitable. Last season, Swift explained away our fifth-place finish by pointing out that virtually the entire squad had been brought together that summer and was still in the process of gelling; what's the excuse now? How come we're still no further forward under his management? We've taken three points from the last five matches. We've conceded 12 goals along the way. We're now 13 points from the top of the table and have the worst defensive record in the division. We've spent good money on pulling together this group of players and, on paper least, we have one of the best squads in League 2 (albeit an unbalanced one). But Swift is failing to get anything cohesive out of his team and I can't think of any good reason to keep him on. Time for a change. A very fair assessment. The squad is full with exciting individuals but that’s all they’ve been, as there’s been no team cohesion or apparent plan. It’s now abundantly clear Swift is out his depth at this level and must go. This season is verging on being yet another “meh” season, however with the talent we have in the squad it’s definitely salvageable if we act quickly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglum25 Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 Surely his time must be up. Every week we concede and hear the same story that he is disappointed as the boys were working hard during training. Sorry this pish no longer washes.At the start of the season it was heavily discussed that there was no way that Forbes and Wedderburn could play in the same team but week in week out there they are. There is enough talent and capability in the squad if the right manager was in charge of them.Looks like that’s the season over for another year, Swift will get replaced at end of season, new manager eventually brought in, struggling to put squad together for start of season and that will be another year wasted unless the board act now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
true fan Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 One particular point is his inability to put store in having a good goalkeeper. It’s like he deliberately signs poor ones. Failure to learn from mistakes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mart Apart Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 Will they actually act his time? As above this season is salvageable - just do it!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted November 12, 2022 Author Share Posted November 12, 2022 3 hours ago, warriors21 said: It’s now abundantly clear Swift is out his depth at this level and must go. This season is verging on being yet another “meh” season, however with the talent we have in the squad it’s definitely salvageable if we act quickly. I think that's the most frustrating aspect of the situation - after three consecutive seasons where League 2 had an immediate title favourite, there was a far more level playing field this time around and I reckon five or six sides might have seen themselves as legitimate contenders, us included. So to be so far behind Dumbarton at this stage is hugely disappointing and my expectations have been downgraded to a play-off push. The board have given Stephen Swift every possible advantage to try and win that elusive championship - we've paid transfer fees for players, most of the squad are likely to be on relatively good wages, we've put together a team of analysts, we've built a scouting department - but this side feels no further forward than it was 12 months ago. Who's to blame for this? A large proportion of the blame has to be laid at the manager's door. What are Swift's qualities? He's certainly brought some very decent players to the club; his teams are always capable of scoring goals (Stenhousemuir have the joint-second-highest record in the division so far this season); and he's been working hard to address our weaknesses, calling in favours from the likes of Jim Duffy to help work on our defending. But his deficiencies - the inability to build a balanced squad, the inability to create a functioning defensive unit, the inability to sign a good goalkeeper, the inability to recruit a high-calibre midfield anchor, the inability to put together a cohesive performance across 90 minutes - outweigh the positives. Coming into the new campaign, I think most supporters were prepared to give Swift some degree of patience (even if the "we signed a brand new group of players!" excuse didn't wash, especially when we had numerous opportunities to usurp a mediocre Edinburgh City side for the final play-off place). He'd had over a year to get to grips with the rigours of League 2, a far more competitive division than he'd ever experienced with BSC Glasgow, and I thought we'd be in a decent place for the season ahead. That hasn't been the case and the same errors that dogged us last time around are glaringly apparent once again. Some of the players have to take responsibility, of course, but the buck stops with the person who brought them to the club, coaches them every week and sets them up on matchday. It's not working - I don't think it ever really has worked - and a change might be in order to make sure we're in the top four come the end of the season. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WC Boggs Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 (edited) Did he go 3-5-2 at Stranraer? I've got a reason for asking and it's not to put the boot in. Edited November 12, 2022 by WC Boggs 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonystenny Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 I am maybe thinking to much into this but by this time of night the managers reaction to the game has been posted on You Tube. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted November 12, 2022 Author Share Posted November 12, 2022 5 minutes ago, Tonystenny said: I am maybe thinking to much into this but by this time of night the managers reaction to the game has been posted on You Tube. You are indeed! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Blackwell Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 This season and last the performances have been completely uninspiring. Occasional victories by the odd goal, but never emphatic. Going ahead and sitting on one goal leads until the inevitable loss of point(s). Or this season in particular, the complete inability to defend.No doubt this is a strong squad and it is just unacceptable that we are so far off the pace with no indication whatsoever that it will be turned around. Enough is enough. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonystenny Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 12 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said: You are indeed! should have checked first 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vimto90 Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 Today was pathetic. Again, goals conceded at will & biggest surprise is we scored 2 goals as we were miles off it. I hope Iain Mcmenemy is strong as it is absolutely time to weild the axe, we under swift or Mr hanky the Xmas poo could potentially win the next cpl but it changes nothing, the money spent on the squad and current performance is completely unacceptable. He flung sh*te at the wall at Forfar with this 3 at the back nonsense when the pressure was on big time. We got a cpl of results, and it's the formation we are seeing week in, week out with basically no impact. We are soft as f*ck. I was really vocal today toward Swift as were most, and hopefully, the hierarchy feels the same and gets him out pronto. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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