Rovers v Airdrie

[Tulloch Gorum]

That was nervy at the end, but we were well worth the three points.  Ryan's goal looked a real cracker, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.  Ferguson had some very good saves and did well in claiming crosses, McIntosh looked comfortable at right back, even the centre backs looked pretty solid most of the time.  Although it can be a bit difficult to tell when you're behind the goal and can't really judge distances so well, it looked like we struggled to dominate the midfield for significant parts of the game, though, and I think that was one of the key reasons why the Rovers were able to apply so much pressure towards the end.  When he regains fitness, putting Stewart in for Brown might fix that.

The Rovers were pretty poor for most of the game, and gave the ball away very easily for most of the afternoon.  They had us on the ropes at the end, but you can't expect to get a result if you don't start playing until 80 minutes in and two goals down.  They were lucky to finish with eleven men on the park, as well - would need to see it again, but the foul that kicked off the handbags looked a real shocker from where I was.

Not pretty, flowing football, but a highly entertaining game, three valuable points and a good start to the new manager's tenure.  Certainly a night-and-day difference from the last game against the Rovers. 

[DestroyedByMadness]

47 minutes ago, Kennboy1978 said:

 

I used to go and watch Glencairn quite alot, buttons to get in and a 10 min walk. Standing and listening to the, for want of a better word, the banter took me back to the old Broomfield. Nothing that can be done now but personally I would rather stand in a terrace than sit in a lego stadium.

 

If Rutherglen Glencairn does it for you then fair play.

Agree about legoland, best thing about today was seeing people and getting a chance to blether.  Terracing is a hell of a lot more sociable than lego

[Kennboy1978]

If Rutherglen Glencairn does it for you then fair play.

Agree about legoland, best thing about today was seeing people and getting a chance to blether.  Terracing is a hell of a lot more sociable than lego

The Glens filled a hole, until I was in a position to get back into watching Airdrie. Plus the manager stays across the road, so it's good to have something in common with the neighbours !

[The Chlamydia Kid]

A far more enjoyable experience than I've had for years at our place.Terracing, bit of banter, some singing, what's not to like? People who didn't know each other were actively chatting about the game rather than sitting in shitty plastic seats, facing forward in a soulless modern stadium.

Absolutely true. Most enjoyable game I've been at in ages. A true footballing experience of old with everyone together, mingling together and leaving together at the end.

Would love to be there every week. That's what football used to be like with folk moving freely, socialising, getting a laugh together, bit of singing.

Instead we sit and all face the front unable to talk to each other, freezing and no atmosphere.

If we had a ground like cliftonhill our crowds would be higher because it would be a far more sociable and enjoyable experience on a Saturday. We would probably get on better as fans because we would be more of a collective group every Saturday than just a load of individuals.

[Aloysius Snuffleupagus]

Bizarrely, we could have ended up snatching that at the end, but let's be clear, it would have been robbery. Airdrie were far better, with only young Ross up front getting pass marks for me. Not sure what happened with the disallowed goal, but my main issue with it was the length of time it took to sort out. I thought the officials were connected by buzzers at the very least nowadays.

Anyway, really good turnout, with lots of new faces in the Rovers end, and quite a few that haven't been along for a while. I'm not sure we did anything to tempt any of them back though

[DestroyedByMadness]

Airdrie looked a fair bit better today for much of the game.   Yes, Boateng is brutal and Brown is mostly irrelevant but a bit of work in the window and we could really challenge.

Rohan is starting to blossom.    McIntosh still needs to be more aggressive but he's coming along well and needs to play more.  "Hiding" him at RB for half a dozen games would see him develop as Stewart, Rohan and Gorman have done.

Leitch and Conroy did superbly in midfield for most of the game and my old pal fitz was busy.

Ryan is a class act but I feared the red mist after taking a fair clumping from the Dunlops. But what a goal!  Russell worked his socks off too but a lot of the 33y/os energy was wasted on "work rate". 

There's still room for improvement.   Big Joe conceded a penalty by being rash and going to ground in the box.

I'll be watching Rovers goal again on highlights, again, first thoughts that we had way too much ballwatching again.

Towards the end we didnt help ourselves by poor defending.  The soft midfield was a bit over ran.   We rarely won a header.   Boateng is so rash challenging in general and really poor in the air.   At one point late on we missed 3 headers in a row at edge of our area.   A few fluffed clearances too that really pile it on.

And no outball!    We needed Russell and Broon to take the pressure off.

Generally some great strides been made lately.   But we have some bigger tougher games approaching now.

[Glenmavis Diamond]

11 hours ago, kerrdavidson95 said:

Anyone who says they'd rather watch a game of football at Cliftonhill instead of out ground needs their head checked. What an absolute dump.

Better atmosphere though. Apart from that, aye it's a sh!tehole. 

[The Chlamydia Kid]

Better atmosphere though. Apart from that, aye it's a sh!tehole. 

Why does that bother anyone though? What would you rather have? A better atmosphere and more sociable experience or nicer toilets?

[Glenmavis Diamond]

1 hour ago, DestroyedByMadness said:

Airdrie looked a fair bit better today for much of the game.   Yes, Boateng is brutal and Brown is mostly irrelevant but a bit of work in the window and we could really challenge.

Rohan is starting to blossom.    McIntosh still needs to be more aggressive but he's coming along well and needs to play more.  "Hiding" him at RB for half a dozen games would see him develop as Stewart, Rohan and Gorman have done.

Leitch and Conroy did superbly in midfield for most of the game and my old pal fitz was busy.

Ryan is a class act but I feared the red mist after taking a fair clumping from the Dunlops. But what a goal!  Russell worked his socks off too but a lot of the 33y/os energy was wasted on "work rate". 

There's still room for improvement.   Big Joe conceded a penalty by being rash and going to ground in the box.

I'll be watching Rovers goal again on highlights, again, first thoughts that we had way too much ballwatching again.

Towards the end we didnt help ourselves by poor defending.  The soft midfield was a bit over ran.   We rarely won a header.   Boateng is so rash challenging in general and really poor in the air.   At one point late on we missed 3 headers in a row at edge of our area.   A few fluffed clearances too that really pile it on.

And no outball!    We needed Russell and Broon to take the pressure off.

Generally some great strides been made lately.   But we have some bigger tougher games approaching now.

Agree regarding soft midfield. I'd like McIntosh to stay at right back as did nothing wrong. Then bring Stewart into defensive midfield as he's decent at passing, tackling, heading. More physical than Leitch and Conroy. Move Conroy into Brown's wide position and bench Brown. 

Doubt it'll happen but I'd like to see if that would toughen up the midfield a bit. 

[Moon]

There's a middle ground between that shitehole and our soulless box.

[el Gringo]

Cliftonhill is great when we're playing Rovers, the ground is packed and the atmosphere is crackling. Would it be quite so appealing if we were playing Peterhead and their seven fans?

[cb_diamond]

24 minutes ago, The Chlamydia Kid said:

Why does that bother anyone though? What would you rather have? A better atmosphere and more sociable experience or nicer toilets?

The real question here is does Kerr like the mayonnaise already mixed with his prawns for the half time sandwich or put on after they are already on the bread? 

[The Chlamydia Kid]

The real question here is does Kerr like the mayonnaise already mixed with his prawns for the half time sandwich or put on after they are already on the bread? 

He'd have sat in the pavilion and liked his programmes glossy...

[Kennboy1978]

Why does that bother anyone though? What would you rather have? A better atmosphere and more sociable experience or nicer toilets?

One of he best toilet breaks I've had at a game was up at Arbroath. Nothing better than pishing against a sheet of corrugated iron with views over the north sea.

[David_86]

With regards to the stadium. I watched Edinburgh vs ulster in the rugby on tv Friday night at murrayfield. What they do is open one stand and put metal barriers round the rest of the pitch and allow the fans to stand around the whole pitch. Great idea and would be a better way of watching the game in my opinion, but don't see it being allowed at a football ground, even behind a goal or half the main stand.

[waysider]

A significant part of Airdrie's support is of the older generation (including myself). To be honest I wouldn't go to a match now unless I got a seat and was not likely to be rained upon. Although a number of you will think me a wimp I'm sure that some others feel the same (but probably won't say so because they can't work computers!). 

[Kennboy1978]

A significant part of Airdrie's support is of the older generation (including myself). To be honest I wouldn't go to a match now unless I got a seat and was not likely to be rained upon. Although a number of you will think me a wimp I'm sure that some others feel the same (but probably won't say so because they can't work computers!). 

That is the beauty of the older stadiums. A stand for folk like yourself and the terracing for the others.

[Diamonds are Forever]

Given the last 10 minutes we were fortunate to get the win, a disallowed goal, a missed penalty, and a couple of other great chances. If Rovers had scored 10 minutes earlier - their disallowed goal for example - I think they'd probably have gone on to equalise. However, as has been said, for about 80 minutes we were much better and I would say deserved to win based on that.

Ferguson is really coming on in nets, and extra quality up front with Ryan and Russell was the difference between the teams. McIntosh was decent, he's not really going to give you anything going forward though so depends on the type of game whether we'd be better with him or Stewart in there, a game like yesterday I think McIntosh might be the better option, at home to a Stenny or Queens Park I think Stewart would be. I do think there is a player in there with Brown, he's the kind of player that if full time is going to work we are going to have to try and make better. But he really needs to wisen up to the physicality of the game, I don't mean going round needlessly flying into tackles or acting the hard man, but not letting himself be shrugged off the ball, and not deliberately stalling his run to avoid having to challenge for a 50/50 would be a start. Wilson didn't look best pleased when he was jumping out of tackles. Hopefully he tells him like it is because with a bit more dig and aggression about him I think he'll be a much better player.

The biggest weakness was exposed yesterday which is that we have literally no-one to come off the bench, nevermind to change the game, but even just to maintain what we have. I suppose when Stewart is back in we'd have McIntosh who could come on and he's versatile which is good, but it's not enough to last us a season. With the current squad we'll get a play-off spot as even with a couple of injuries/suspensions we'd probably just have enough, to seriously challenge for the title we'd need another 2 or 3 players.

[waysider]

I agree that the lack of depth in the squad is a real problem for us. We have been extremely lucky with injuries so far. We have a maximum of 14 players who are capable of playing. 'This will come home to roost at some point.

On the question of Brown, I am one of the minority who think he is worth his place. He is one of the few attacking players we have. He gets up everyone's nose by crapping out of tackles and 50/50 balls and needs a swift kick in the pants for this. Glad to hear that the manager was annoyed at this yesterday. I am all for considering Stewart in midfield but to do so at the expense of Brown would alter the attacking balance of the team.

i don't expect anyone to agree with me on this.

[Diamonds are Forever]

6 minutes ago, waysider said:

I agree that the lack of depth in the squad is a real problem for us. We have been extremely lucky with injuries so far. We have a maximum of 14 players who are capable of playing. 'This will come home to roost at some point.

On the question of Brown, I am one of the minority who think he is worth his place. He is one of the few attacking players we have. He gets up everyone's nose by crapping out of tackles and 50/50 balls and needs a swift kick in the pants for this. Glad to hear that the manager was annoyed at this yesterday. I am all for considering Stewart in midfield but to do so at the expense of Brown would alter the attacking balance of the team.

i don't expect anyone to agree with me on this.

 

I agree with you and would still start him for now. He'll generally create a couple of chances a game and is a goal threat, should have had an assist to his name yesterday if Russell hadn't missed a simple header, and his ball in for the second goal was good (although he did put in a couple of shockers too). I think there is frustration from fans because unlike other youngsters like Ferguson, Stewart, even McIntosh, he doesn't seem to have improved, particularly with dealing with the physical side, which regular first team football should have helped him with.