The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond

[airdrieman]

On 25/12/2019 at 01:13, The Moonster said:

I can understand much of that about Roy but I'm surprised to read the bit about his pace - that was one attribute he had in spades when he played for us. I thought he'd have been fine at this level even though he was pretty poor at tracking back, when we played him wide he did offer a bit of threat with his pace. Checking his wiki it seems he only scored twice for us but I could've sworn he scored more.

Aye he's not really shown his pace much at all, or indeed anything really. Shows little inclination to take on a man and get past them or even to look to get involved in the game. That could be a confidence thing though. 

On 26/12/2019 at 20:43, Smokiejohn said:

Took advantage of Boxing Day 20% off and treated myself to this kit less the sponsor , (kit they wore when I first saw them)

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/TheDunnottarRFS

It is a cracking top but don't expect it to arrive any time soon. I ordered mine in September and it's only just been posted... 

[airdrieman]

That was an entertaining game albeit short on quality. As much as I hate to indulge them it makes a huge difference having a crowd for a change so fair play to Falkirk for that. 

The first half in particular was one of the more entertaining halves of football I've seen at New Broomfield for a while. Again short on quality but fairly end-to-end and pretty tousy. 

Not sure what Hutton was playing at at their goal. He's made (another) cracking save at the previous corner, and I'm loath to criticise him because he's won us far more points than he's cost us, but far too often he's punching corners and crosses away when he really should be catching them. It's a habit of his he needs to curtail. Nice finish from McMillan though. 

Thought Toshney was lucky not to be sent off. I sit pretty much right in line with where the penalty was given and didn't think it was a handball or in the box but I'll certainly take it. Especially considering Smith was unlucky not to get a penalty in the aforementioned incident with Toshney and I thought he had a decent penalty shout before that too when he was pulled back in the box. 

Would like to see Crighton's header again. Was hard to tell during the game but it looked as if it may have bounced over the line. The ref and the linesman (who was of no help throughout the game) maybe didn't cover themselves in glory there but they were crap for both teams throughout the game. 

We fell out the game a little in the second half but still had our chances to win.

Roberts is a terrific player isn't he? He's so fundamental to how we play. Made a big difference having him in the team from the start. Was a shame he tired near the end but the game was crying out for a couple of subs. Unfortunately, that's one of our main weaknesses as there's no match-winners on that bench at all. Thomson was unlucky with his shot that hit the bar, and he does provide energy and pace, but he's not a central player and can't really do the same job as Roberts. As for Roy what else is there to say that hasn't already been said? While the service to him was poor, he wasn't even putting himself about or getting involved in the game. Big Swede or not we badly need an improvement in that position. 

It was a shame we fell out the game in the second half and reverted to hoof ball rather than showing a bit of composure and keeping the ball on the deck as that game was there for the taking. I assume it's some sort of practical joke amongst Scottish football managers that Mark Durnan continues to be a professional footballer. The whole Falkirk defence were stinkin' in all honesty and I'm disappointed we didn't test them more with more balls in behind and balls to the feet of our strikers. 

That being said, I'm still pleased with the point and the overall recovery from our defeat last week. Previous Airdrie teams would have lost that game, especially from a goal behind but, despite the lack of quality, this team does have a battling quality and fight about it which is great to see. 

[DiamondDownSouth]

15 hours ago, Chapelhall chap said:

I know he scored 2 today and he has mainly played as a wing back in an attacking 3-5-2 for you, so well done to him. I would have kept him but Ian Murray wanted him out. Keiran also was very good for us as a left sided CB but as others have said there were some question marks over him in a back four.  As to left sided players in similar positions our young loan player, McCann is a very good prospect, but there is not much competition from the other sides' left sided players.

CC - Ian Murray actually wanted to keep McDonald but was prepared to listen to offers (same for Sandy Stewart).  Raith then made one that both Airdrie & McDonald himself were willing to accept.

[Smokiejohn]

It is a cracking top but don't expect it to arrive any time soon. I ordered mine in September and it's only just been posted... 

Thanks for heads up , was told up front delivery would be around a month when ordering . Interested to hear your feedback when yours arrives .

[TheBuckfastTriangle]

18 hours ago, Ballboy said:

I was one who thought he was decent.  Not a patch on leon McCann though.   His only problem is defending.  If someone runs at him he backs off and runs with him till hes on top of his keeper.  Decent going forward too though.   Eckersly is better than McDonald too and he cant get in our 1st 11 as leon is outstanding.   

Yup. MacDonald wasn’t doing anything for us any more. He always looked to blame his teammates for goals we conceded and offered nothing going forward. Maybe it just went stale, maybe he needed a change of scene, but we now have 2 left backs I’d have before MacDonald. 

@airdrieman on this and your point about a relative lack of game changers on the bench, I’d maybe be tempted to bring on Eckersley and move McCann up to the left wing as games wear on - 2 birds with one stone possibly? 
100% agree on Roberts - next contract extension for him please!

[Chapelhall chap]

5 hours ago, Jack Reed said:

Most of us thought Adam Brown was poor , he is playing in a higher league  and scoring ,

Most of us were correct then but good luck to him

[Chapelhall chap]

2 hours ago, DiamondDownSouth said:

CC - Ian Murray actually wanted to keep McDonald but was prepared to listen to offers (same for Sandy Stewart).  Raith then made one that both Airdrie & McDonald himself were willing to accept.

Fair enough point but I remain a wee bit sceptical. It's all water under the bridge now but I did see Stewart playing for the Smokies today and as others have said even Adam Brown got a goal for Alloa!  Happy Hogmanay

[airdrieman]

3 hours ago, TheBuckfastTriangle said:

Yup. MacDonald wasn’t doing anything for us any more. He always looked to blame his teammates for goals we conceded and offered nothing going forward. Maybe it just went stale, maybe he needed a change of scene, but we now have 2 left backs I’d have before MacDonald. 

@airdrieman on this and your point about a relative lack of game changers on the bench, I’d maybe be tempted to bring on Eckersley and move McCann up to the left wing as games wear on - 2 birds with one stone possibly? 
100% agree on Roberts - next contract extension for him please!

Could possibly be a good idea and worth trying at some point. It's unfortunate for Eckersley as he's a classy player, and definitely the best of our subs, but quite rightly he's lost his place at the moment to young McCann. Unfortunate too in the sense that his position isn't one you're really going to be able to change the game from in an attacking sense. But McCann certainly couldn't be much worse than Ally Roy up there... 

And for what it's worth McCann and Eckersley are the two best left-backs in the league. 

Agreed RE Roberts getting a contract extension. Saw on Facebook there's meant to be news regarding more contract extensions coming soon so here's hoping Roberts is top of the list. 

[The clean living guy]

6 hours ago, Smokiejohn said:

 

Thanks for heads up , was told up front delivery would be around a month when ordering . Interested to hear your feedback when yours arrives .

 

I've got one, it took about 6 weeks to come but is decent. I thought it was slightly big made. 

[Smokiejohn]

I've got one, it took about 6 weeks to come but is decent. I thought it was slightly big made. 

Good to hear shirts are decent . Large is usually my size , but after checking measurements he’s assured me Medium is better.

[++Ammo - Airdrie++]

Could possibly be a good idea and worth trying at some point. It's unfortunate for Eckersley as he's a classy player, and definitely the best of our subs, but quite rightly he's lost his place at the moment to young McCann. Unfortunate too in the sense that his position isn't one you're really going to be able to change the game from in an attacking sense. But McCann certainly couldn't be much worse than Ally Roy up there... 
And for what it's worth McCann and Eckersley are the two best left-backs in the league. 
Agreed RE Roberts getting a contract extension. Saw on Facebook there's meant to be news regarding more contract extensions coming soon so here's hoping Roberts is top of the list. 

Regarding the contract extensions....
Don't know how much weight it has behind it just might be something.
Heard a whisper at the game the young Leon McCann has been told by Hamilton his time there is up and he's being released, but we've already agreed a contract with him so when January comes around its just a matter of paperwork [emoji123][emoji122][emoji106]

[G_H]

That Falkirk game was annoying. Good first half performance, which if continued into the 2nd half could have meant 3 points. Really poor 2nd half performance, seemed to have left the fight in the dressing room at half time.

- Don't think Hutton could see the ball when Falkirk scored as there were 4 or 5 guys blocking his view.
- Gallagher was not at the races at all in the 2nd half.
- General lack of composure when it comes to moving the ball around, particularly away from defense.

I really hope they work on how to move as a team in order to pick up the ball from the route one big punt that keeps getting used, because losing the ball 95% of the time isn't particularly useful and it is a very weak area at the moment.

[AndyDD]

First and foremost we need to approach the Forfar game in the right manner, we seen what complacency cost us at Broadwood and there's no real margin for error in the top four (hell, the  top six all covered by a measly 7 points) but come the window, what do we need in terms of recruitment? Another forward? A target man, possibly? So we can switch approach if it isn't working or we need to try something different? 

Saturday was a decent point I reckon, shame East Fife bottled it against half a Raith Rovers side but credit where it's due, Raith have managed to get the results without any of us, Falkirk or EF capitalising on their long injury issues. We need to stick to them until the showdown on 1st Feb; what a big game that could be if the situation then is more or less the same as now. 

 

 

[airdrieman]

3 hours ago, ++Ammo - Airdrie++ said:

Regarding the contract extensions....
Don't know how much weight it has behind it just might be something.
Heard a whisper at the game the young Leon McCann has been told by Hamilton his time there is up and he's being released, but we've already agreed a contract with him so when January comes around its just a matter of paperwork

That would be an absolute steal. Even dafter than letting someone take £1 million from their bank account. 

1 hour ago, AndyDD said:

First and foremost we need to approach the Forfar game in the right manner, we seen what complacency cost us at Broadwood and there's no real margin for error in the top four (hell, the  top six all covered by a measly 7 points) but come the window, what do we need in terms of recruitment? Another forward? A target man, possibly? So we can switch approach if it isn't working or we need to try something different? 

Saturday was a decent point I reckon, shame East Fife bottled it against half a Raith Rovers side but credit where it's due, Raith have managed to get the results without any of us, Falkirk or EF capitalising on their long injury issues. We need to stick to them until the showdown on 1st Feb; what a big game that could be if the situation then is more or less the same as now. 

 

 

I would say we need another forward and a midfielder too. Neither Wedderburn or Cowan seem good enough which leaves you only with Hawkshaw so I think we could do with another option preferably in the same mould as Roberts. Hopefully McCann (permanently or not) and Smith will extend their stays too. 

[AndyDD]

4 minutes ago, airdrieman said:

That would be an absolute steal. Even dafter than letting someone take £1 million from their bank account. 

I would say we need another forward and a midfielder too. Neither Wedderburn or Cowan seem good enough which leaves you only with Hawkshaw so I think we could do with another option preferably in the same mould as Roberts. Hopefully McCann (permanently or not) and Smith will extend their stays too. 

Hahahaha. 

Aye, when we had to do without Roberts it really drove home how badly he is missed and how little faith Murray has in Nat and Cowan because instead of putting one in he changed the system and played Roy, at least at Clyde. 

How we would go about getting a similar player to Kurtis is another matter, though. Very lucky to have him and can't be many of his mould that could be brought to this division. 

Thin k Murray has done good business on the whole thus far, so be interesting to see how it goes. 

 

[Spanish Armada]

Kurtis Roberts and Leon McCann should just get ten year contracts their that good

[goodwin]

Thought McKay had his best game on Saturday. Seems to like having Roberts in there with Miller. Please just once this season give Miller MoM for the work he does.

Based on what I've seen this season, I think us, Raith and Falkirk will be top 3 and Montrose rather than E Fife making up top 4. We must win the games against bottom half teams

[AndyDD]

Really hoping Gal can get on the scoresheet soon as well, last couple of games he has looked shorn of that self belief he had imbued in himself. 

Looked well off it on Saturday in the second half and no really anyone complaining when he came off, which tells its own story. 

[airdrieman]

1 hour ago, AndyDD said:

Hahahaha. 

Aye, when we had to do without Roberts it really drove home how badly he is missed and how little faith Murray has in Nat and Cowan because instead of putting one in he changed the system and played Roy, at least at Clyde. 

How we would go about getting a similar player to Kurtis is another matter, though. Very lucky to have him and can't be many of his mould that could be brought to this division. 

Thin k Murray has done good business on the whole thus far, so be interesting to see how it goes. 

 

Can't remember the last time Big Nat played (could it even have been when he came off against Forfar which just so happened to 'coincide' with our up turn in form)? As for Cowan - Patrick Pyott (who's not even a midfielder) getting a spot on the bench and even some game time ahead of him suggests his days are numbered. 

Wanting a player in the same mould as Kurtis is more hope than expectation but you never know, there might be a gem out there. Pretty sure Craig Barr was a January signing and Ross Docherty too signed pretty late on in the calendar year. Going back even further than that, it was our January signings in 03/04 that really helped us kick on to the title... 

6 minutes ago, AndyDD said:

Really hoping Gal can get on the scoresheet soon as well, last couple of games he has looked shorn of that self belief he had imbued in himself. 

Looked well off it on Saturday in the second half and no really anyone complaining when he came off, which tells its own story. 

I don't think he had a great game on Saturday but don't think he was dreadful either. Worked hard and put himself about. Falkirk's back line might be big galoots but he was always going to struggle against them in the air. Like I said in the match thread I was disappointed we didn't stretch them more with balls in behind or balls to the feet of Gallagher/Carrick/Smith. He's pretty unorthodox but he is a good player with the ball at his feet. 

Hopefully he can bag a goal on Saturday. He's still the player I'd be most confident of scoring if the ball fell to him in the box. Would be nice to see Smith break his duck soon too. 

[Spanish Armada]

Last time Nat started a game was Peterhead away and he was woeful as per usual