The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond

[Chapelhall chap]

2 hours ago, AFC1878 said:

YES. He’s hopeless! Doesn’t have a clue.

I have some sympathy with your view as I think he just sometimes over complicates his strategy which has confused fans and sometimes the team-his tinkering period had these features  but it is too reactive to look for a sacking IMO. All a matter of healthy debate for us.

[Diamonds are Forever]

3 hours ago, Eric the half a b said:

Wouldn't change the manager just want someone to remind him stick to a winning formula play your best players in their right position and dont go with 6 defensive minded players at home to the bottom club and end up thumping long balls as you dont have a midfielder who can link with the forwards. That's how we went on a run to get to the position we are in. 

 

In fairness, our 'winning formula' also has 6 defensive minded players... so you have contradicted yourself.

I don't think it's that important, what's important is having an effective link from back to front, which we didn't have yesterday. Also because we were so direct yesterday it was much harder for the full-backs to support the attack as they were always miles behind the play.

[Moon]

The first thing I thought when I saw the formation at the start of the game was that Murray had made a bit of a rod for his own back - all those changes, some of them stranger then others, then the formation and positioning....if it didn't work he was opening himself up for some flak.

[Eric the half a b]

40 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

In fairness, our 'winning formula' also has 6 defensive minded players... so you have contradicted yourself.

I don't think it's that important, what's important is having an effective link from back to front, which we didn't have yesterday. Also because we were so direct yesterday it was much harder for the full-backs to support the attack as they were always miles behind the play.

Your missing my point twice at home against Stranrear we have had more defensive minded players no link between defence and attack long balls from back to front no win in ether game. Check the results when Robert's links with miller and mckay and we played 4 3 3 with a passing game.  Yes we lost at Raith but he made changes at Broadwood we got skelped we have been poor since.  The team was so unbalanced yesterday I'm just surprised they didn't fall over in the warm up...

[airdrieman]

Well... That was a bizarre team and set up. MacDonald dropped to the bench despite being one of our better players every week and one of the only players who came out with any credit from the Hearts game. I like McKay more than others but he's not a right-back. He's not got the delivery or the ability to beat his man like Kyle does. McKay is a centre-half all day long. If MacDonald needs a 'rest', fair enough but I'm not buying that and I'm not sure why he had to be one of the sacrificial lambs. Kerr could develop into a decent ball playing defensive midfielder but he's not there yet and he's not the answer in a midfield so devoid of creativity. Happy to see Ryan start but we shouldn't be shoehorning strikers and players in just for the sake of it. We need to play a system which suits the players we have which patently wasn't what Murray and Co came up with yesterday. I don't mind Gallacher replacing Hutton so much. His inability or unwillingness to come out for corners IS a problem as is the fact we concede from set pieces almost every game. Will Gallacher be any better in that regard? I don't know, but it's probably worth a shot. I love Hutts and he's saved us and won us points more times than he's cost us but he shouldn't get a free pass just because he's popular and because he saved a penalty at Parkhead. He's a brilliant shot stopper but maybe a goalie who's better at dealing with crosses will help cancel out the goals we concede from set pieces? 

Roberts not being in the match-day squad at all initially is a real strange one. There's obviously something else going on there whether it's injuries, general fitness or otherwise. If it is his general fitness then that's really shoddy and unprofessional on Roberts' part. But surely he's fit enough to play at least an hour/70 minutes? I know he should be capable of playing a whole game but he's our best midfielder by far and sets a tempo and pace for the midfield and whole team. He can also actually play a bit of football and drive forward with the ball. If Murray doesn't trust him enough to play him then he needs to find another player he can (and quickly) as, despite claiming to be happy with the squad, there's no way that midfield or any midfield combination without Roberts is good enough to be competing for the play-off places let alone the title. Regardless, even on the bench there's no way he should be behind Thomson, Wedderburn, Roy and Barrowman in the pecking order. Wedderburn isn't the answer either despite a lot of people seemingly wanting him back in the team. The guy has been a liability the whole season bar a 20 minute spell against a rubbish Forfar team. He has the occasional  (emphasis on occasional) moment of quality but it's few and far between and there's no way he's good enough (or fit enough) to be playing in the midfield for a team challenging for promotion. 

Big improvement needed for a must win game next week. 

[airdrieman]

Also if Roberts isn't meeting fitness targets f**k knows how Wedderburn is getting on. 

[AndyDD]

Well. 

Pretty rubbish game and a dreadful result and performance, but we can surely put to bed any notion of Gal and Ryan both starting games now. A concept most of us wanted to see tried but it looked fairly clear to me that it won't work. It also, crucially, leaves us no match winning option on the bench when we start Gal, Ryan and Carrick.  Go with one of Gal and Ryan and bring the other into it later on against Raith, would be my thinking. 

We sacrificed a midfielder for an attacker and it was of course the midfield that vanished without a trace for much if not all of the 90. Of all the players to take off, as many have said already, Carrick wasn't the one. A bad call. 

So, what did we learn? Roberts is a crucial, crucial player for us. Mcdonald is also a lot more important to the side than we might have thought. We don't have the squad quality  to run experiments in league games. And Airdrie fans lose the heid like few other supports out there. Booing, calling for the managers head, the state of some of the facebook posts... we are third and have it in our own hands, given we play the two above us twice more this season. What has actually changed? Yes, we can't overtake Raith on Saturday with a win. But even if we had, it would have put us one ahead of them. Now we would be one point behind them. That wouldn't put Raith out the picture, so getting one behind them won't put us out the picture, either. The reality is that to win the league we need to get points off Raith and Falkirk the remaining two times we play them. That was the case before Saturday's disappointment, too. 

Roberts, having had a weekend off, will hopefully be ready to go full pelt on Saturday. Get him and McDonald back in. Loathe as I am to be harsh on Gal, our top scorer, I'd start him on the bench and go wi Ryan, with Gal a great option to bring on later in a game I expect will be tight and winnable going into the last 20 mins. 

Still all to play for. Keep the faith and mon the Airdrie. 

[++Ammo - Airdrie++]

Well. 
Pretty rubbish game and a dreadful result and performance, but we can surely put to bed any notion of Gal and Ryan both starting games now. A concept most of us wanted to see tried but it looked fairly clear to me that it won't work. It also, crucially, leaves us no match winning option on the bench when we start Gal, Ryan and Carrick.  Go with one of Gal and Ryan and bring the other into it later on against Raith, would be my thinking. 
We sacrificed a midfielder for an attacker and it was of course the midfield that vanished without a trace for much if not all of the 90. Of all the players to take off, as many have said already, Carrick wasn't the one. A bad call. 
So, what did we learn? Roberts is a crucial, crucial player for us. Mcdonald is also a lot more important to the side than we might have thought. We don't have the squad quality  to run experiments in league games. And Airdrie fans lose the heid like few other supports out there. Booing, calling for the managers head, the state of some of the facebook posts... we are third and have it in our own hands, given we play the two above us twice more this season. What has actually changed? Yes, we can't overtake Raith on Saturday with a win. But even if we had, it would have put us one ahead of them. Now we would be one point behind them. That wouldn't put Raith out the picture, so getting one behind them won't put us out the picture, either. The reality is that to win the league we need to get points off Raith and Falkirk the remaining two times we play them. That was the case before Saturday's disappointment, too. 
Roberts, having had a weekend off, will hopefully be ready to go full pelt on Saturday. Get him and McDonald back in. Loathe as I am to be harsh on Gal, our top scorer, I'd start him on the bench and go wi Ryan, with Gal a great option to bring on later in a game I expect will be tight and winnable going into the last 20 mins. 
Still all to play for. Keep the faith and mon the Airdrie. 

Do we not only play Falkirk another once, and it's away?
0-0
1-2
1-1 in the games v Falkirk?

[Moon]

With regards to calling for the managers head, there are some fans who haven't rated him since day 1 - this is fine, as everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I knew it would end badly (if we didn't win) when he put out such an unexpected line up.

 

Although I rate the guy, I'm unsurprised that Saturday was further proof to those who don't.

[TheBuckfastTriangle]

I assume the plan on Saturday was to "blow away" Stranraer with all the forwards starting, but when it didn't happen the lack of plan B that stood out for me. Not introducing Hawkshaw (in a game which I think would have suited him) was a bit odd. As @AndyDD says we didn't have (or didn't use) the options on the bench to change it. 

It's hard to criticise the defensive changes too much - we kept a clean sheet - but personally our settled defence has been fine this season and if you're going to rest/drop anyone just changing one part (i.e. either Hutton OR MacDonald dropping out) would seem more sensible. For what it's worth MacDonald has been better than McCann in the last few weeks in my opinion, but a clean sheet and a rest for someone we want fresh for next week seems fair enough. Which keeper starts next weekend will be interesting as I don't think Hutton has let us down but Gallacher has a strong claim now. 

The attack is a different matter. Roberts is vital. If he's being dropped then at least keep the shape that's worked so well and give Hawkshaw a start in the 10 position. They'd have been up against Jamie Hamill ffs.

In terms of the forwards, I think either Ryan or Gallagher was the way to go for this one. I disagree that the two together is dead in the water, there will be times we want both of them up there - but Murray had a free pass for an easy decision for this one - either continue with Andy having to play his way in as the front 3 have been good, or rest Gallagher on the basis that he's played a lot and had a hard shift last weekend while Ryan is well rested.

I get the feeling next week is now win or bust. A draw would be seen as a good point for Raith and leaves us a lot to do and if defeated 7 points is a big gap to make up. Win, however, and we're right back in it. A run of games against the teams in 6th, 7th and 8th would give us a real opportunity to put pressure on the top 2 over February.

[AndyDD]

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

Do we not only play Falkirk another once, and it's away?
0-0
1-2
1-1 in the games v Falkirk?

Aye you're right actually, forgot the 0-0 early doors. 2 games against Raith, 1 against Falkirk, 1 against East Fife. Essentially, it's tight enough still that these are the results that will decide who finishes where, regardless of what we did on Saturday. Yes, it would obviously have been much better to have the two further points, but it counts for nought if we don't get the better of Raith and Falkirk. 

It is in our own hands still, going into big big games. Starting on Saturday. 

A good record thus far against Falkirk, but they do owe us one and are starting to motor. Still not lost since they chucked Ray McKinnon, I think? 

[G_H]

Personally, what I would go for is the following:

- Give goalkeeper Gallacher another couple of games and see how things go there.
- McDonald back in at RB. McKay is tall and can sort of do throw ins, but needs to go back on the weight lifting in the gym as they aren't exactly game changers, he also shits it when it comes to challenging for the ball, so whats the point in using him as a defender?
- Thomson on one of the wings, hes one of the few players who tries to beat their man. Maybe go 4-4-2 and drop Smith for this (or at least give Smith a pair of gloves and some leggings, as he doesn't seem to play as well in bad weather).
- If sticking with Smith, and continuing to use him as an inside forward, get him to work on going past guys. Have Carrick work on this as well as they seem to have him in the same role.
- Either commit to playing Roberts, or sign another midfielder that's better than what we have right now. Needs to be someone who can pass the ball.
- Perhaps controversial, I'd play both Ryan and Gallagher in a 4-4-2, but at the moment i would also think about dropping Gallagher on the basis that he doesn't fancy putting effort into getting back onside, and that limits our ability to get forward.  There are actually plenty of options up front if more attacking football was played, possesion kept, and chances created.
- Between Millar and Wedderburn, Start Millar as normal, but the moment he starts fading into anonymity, sub him out for Nat.
- Send Kerr for therapy to get him to stop passing to his imaginary friend or, as per one point with a free kick at the weekend, meaninglessly into outer space. He has potential if he can sort his ball delivery out.
- Work on moving into space and actually looking for the ball, particularly during the random and pointless big punt that we can't seem to get away from..
 

Edited January 27, 2020 by G_H
Terrible Spelling.

[Chapelhall chap]

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

Do we not only play Falkirk another once, and it's away?
0-0
1-2
1-1 in the games v Falkirk?

I can't speak for Andy DD but I think he meant that after this weekend , we have 2 more games in total v Falkirk(1) and Raith(1) ( both away)? 

[Chapelhall chap]

4 minutes ago, Chapelhall chap said:

I can't speak for Andy DD but I think he meant that after this weekend , we have 2 more games in total v Falkirk(1) and Raith(1) ( both away)? 

I see his reply so I will just stay quiet.

[AndyDD]

10 minutes ago, Chapelhall chap said:

I see his reply so I will just stay quiet.

Hahaha I appreciate the bail out attempt but, alas, I had made an arse of it. Hands up, fair's fair. 

You all got my point, anyway. 

[Chapelhall chap]

3 hours ago, AndyDD said:

Hahaha I appreciate the bail out attempt but, alas, I had made an arse of it. Hands up, fair's fair. 

You all got my point, anyway. 

Lets hope it's three points on Saturday.

[Diamond legend]

Great summing up every point. Said the other day can fans not remember how awful we were first quarter when the afore mentioned started and we were pumping long balls. Miller Robert's together even McKay we were playing football scoring goals top two and manger goes to clyde changes team drops Robert's been pish since.

I believe he has being playing with a niggling recurring injury.

[Mybitchunderprotest]

I believe he has being playing with a niggling recurring injury.

Playing for reserves tonight so can't be that niggling.

[weigh cider]

Anyone see the report that midfielder Rhys McCabe ex Rangers is on trial with us having returned from playing with St Patrick’s in Ireland.

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds]

Anyone see the report that midfielder Rhys McCabe ex Rangers is on trial with us having returned from playing with St Patrick’s in Ireland.

McCabe is Callum Fordyce's cousin I'm sure. Not sure what to make of that right enough.