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The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond


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If this West Ham thing is going to happen, is it likely to be at the start of August? See that some of their players are out of loan at other clubs until the end of July. They seem to have a good set up and hopefully we get some talented prospects coming in. Tough season ahead and I think if we can get the full squad in place prior to pre-season training it will help the team gel for sure. Might be good to get HR in the dressing room for a team talk prior to some key home games, get the lads going

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On 16/07/2020 at 15:00, Chris_the_rover said:

He was a massive guy, strong as an ox

Had the heart of a mouse didnt have a brain on the pitch

Struggled to make simple passes at times

I'm sure his loan was cancelled early and he went back to aberdeen with a "knee injury"
 

 I think my main qualities are on the ball.

“As much as I enjoy defending, I like to express myself - whether that be splitting midfields with a pass or stepping out with the ball.” 

 

Mbayo an absolute stick on to sell a goal on his debut by passing the ball straight to an opposition striker IMO 😂

 

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7 hours ago, FLDiamond said:

If this West Ham thing is going to happen, is it likely to be at the start of August? See that some of their players are out of loan at other clubs until the end of July. They seem to have a good set up and hopefully we get some talented prospects coming in. Tough season ahead and I think if we can get the full squad in place prior to pre-season training it will help the team gel for sure. Might be good to get HR in the dressing room for a team talk prior to some key home games, get the lads going

Yes

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On 24/07/2020 at 22:15, Rio 2 said:

Formations are not important. Results are priority.

They're kinda linked though. The difference in formations between East Fife away and then at home last season, for example

 

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22 minutes ago, Passionate said:

Has there been any more news on the appointment of an assistant manager or additional coaches for the coming season.    We seem to be carrying a pretty big squad numbers wise maybe not quality though.   Thoughts

Still early days yet. Hopefully the players coming up from West Ham story is true. That was some buzz when we signed Robert, so hopefully this is a similar acquisition!

 

Off topic but I’m sure the new away strip is being announced at the end of this week too. Just pure speculation but I have a feeling it’ll be black with a red diamond. 

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3 hours ago, Passionate said:

Has there been any more news on the appointment of an assistant manager or additional coaches for the coming season.    We seem to be carrying a pretty big squad numbers wise maybe not quality though.   Thoughts

Someone posted previously in the thread that the assistant manager will be somebody who already has a role within the club. My first guess would be Crighton since he was already doing a bit of coaching with the team before he went to Accies. 

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5 hours ago, airdrieman said:

Someone posted previously in the thread that the assistant manager will be somebody who already has a role within the club. My first guess would be Crighton since he was already doing a bit of coaching with the team before he went to Accies. 

What about Bryan Prunty? Is he still at the club?

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Someone posted previously in the thread that the assistant manager will be somebody who already has a role within the club. My first guess would be Crighton since he was already doing a bit of coaching with the team before he went to Accies. 


Wouldnt be against crighton getting the role although balancing a coaching role at Hamilton along with being the assistant manager at us as well as being captain and playing every week is a lot. Is he part time if he coaches at accies ? I can see him developing into a good coach in the future just wouldn’t want it to effect his important role already in the team.
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On 24/07/2020 at 10:35, AndyDD said:

It's obviously difficult to say when we haven't seen anything of some of the squad, but the defensive record does make you think we are unlikely to see much change there. It would be hard to justify, but if Mbayo has been brought in as a starter we could well end up with 3 at the back; Fordyce left of a 3 with Crighton and Mbayo. 

That would allow us to play 3-5-2, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-2-1 etc. 

As many have mentioned already, you'd still expect a few more additions who could change the options again. Importantly, though, it does look like we will have options and adaptability could be crucial. 

 

I really hope we don't revert to a 3 at the back. Any time we have played that system we have looked awful. You need pace and directness out wide, which we seem to have now, 3 at the back completely removes that. You'd maybe get the odd burst from McCann but you cannot expect wing backs to be solid defensively and provide in the final third. I always think 3 at the back is the system teams go to when they are desperate, shipping goals and need to change things. That's certainly how Murray has used it with us. Hardly any team sets out at the start of the season to play 3 at the back. Particularly ones who are looking to challenge at the top of the table.

We have a proven back 4 that knows each other really well. We have to use our familiarity to our advantage, particularly in defence where that really matters. It should be McDonald, Crighton, Fordyce and McCann for the start of the season and only if we look a bit ropey should it then be changed. That would allow us to be a bit more experimental with the forward players knowing that the defensive side is already reliable.

Edited by Diamonds are Forever
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With reduced fixtures this season  we need a good start - hopefully with a good couple of wins. I remember 2 years ago we dropped 3 points in the 2nd game of the season at home to Montrose and it was all fits and starts after that. Last year, 3 points dropped at home against Forfar and it was all fits and starts until we scudded them 4-1 at Station Park.

We have to get out the traps fast and try and get some consistency - and I don't mean losing..

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1 hour ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

I really hope we don't revert to a 3 at the back. Any time we have played that system we have looked awful. You need pace and directness out wide, which we seem to have now, 3 at the back completely removes that. You'd maybe get the odd burst from McCann but you cannot expect wing backs to be solid defensively and provide in the final third. I always think 3 at the back is the system teams go to when they are desperate, shipping goals and need to change things. That's certainly how Murray has used it with us. Hardly any team sets out at the start of the season to play 3 at the back. Particularly ones who are looking to challenge at the top of the table.

We have a proven back 4 that knows each other really well. We have to use our familiarity to our advantage, particularly in defence where that really matters. It should be McDonald, Crighton, Fordyce and McCann for the start of the season and only if we look a bit ropey should it then be changed. That would allow us to be a bit more experimental with the forward players knowing that the defensive side is already reliable.

Completely agree. Not to mention we have about 8 wingers/players who can or have played out wide to varying degrees of effectiveness which would be totally negated by playing three at the back. 

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6 minutes ago, Roger Thornhill said:

With reduced fixtures this season  we need a good start - hopefully with a good couple of wins. I remember 2 years ago we dropped 3 points in the 2nd game of the season at home to Montrose and it was all fits and starts after that. Last year, 3 points dropped at home against Forfar and it was all fits and starts until we scudded them 4-1 at Station Park.

We have to get out the traps fast and try and get some consistency - and I don't mean losing..

Yeah not winning the opening game (generally losing it) has become a common feature of our seasons, I think beating Queens's Park in 2016 is the only time we've won our opening league game since we were last in the Championship. Strangely enough in that Championship season we actually won our opening two games and then proceeded to win three of the remaining games!

This feels like the first season in a long time where we're carrying over a fairly settled squad from the previous season. Going back to when Bollan was manager, we seemed to lose our better players over the summer and then struggled to replace them until halfway through the next season which led to very slow starts. Since then we've had spells of signing lots of young full-time players in one go, Findlay's glut of mid-table jobbers and then the hybrid last season. The club seems a lot more settled now and I think consistency and having some proven, familiar faces in the squad goes a long way at this level, so hopefully that should help this season. 

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We've only used a back 3 under Murray for two different periods. First when he took over from Findlay and Crighton was our only competent centre half, so it made sense to put two full backs next to him and use a back 3. Secondly when we started last season and O'Reilly got injured so Thomson was our only natural winger. Considering Carrick has been used as a winger in almost every game since the 4-1 against Forfar and we've signed two new wingers (O'Reilly and Robert) as well as retaining Thomson I would be very surprised if we used a back 3 unless it was a 3-4-3. However I would expect us to play 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2. Wouldn't be surprised if Fordyce is used at right back to accommodate Kerr or possibly Mbayo into the back 4 and MacDonald is rotated in and out.

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5 hours ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said:

We've only used a back 3 under Murray for two different periods. First when he took over from Findlay and Crighton was our only competent centre half, so it made sense to put two full backs next to him and use a back 3. Secondly when we started last season and O'Reilly got injured so Thomson was our only natural winger. Considering Carrick has been used as a winger in almost every game since the 4-1 against Forfar and we've signed two new wingers (O'Reilly and Robert) as well as retaining Thomson I would be very surprised if we used a back 3 unless it was a 3-4-3. However I would expect us to play 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2. Wouldn't be surprised if Fordyce is used at right back to accommodate Kerr or possibly Mbayo into the back 4 and MacDonald is rotated in and out.

Personally I think crighton and fordice have to be kept as the main central defence.   Good to have solid players who can come in for injuries and suspension though.   Fordice showed last season he can play right back very well but in the middle covers much more.  With McDonald right and McCann left we had a very solid back 4.     Kerr did play well at the end of the season but had a shaky start and got dropped then we looked more organized and solid with crighton and fordice in the middle.  

We have quite a few players who can play in different positions if needed but the back 4 played well in most games I really dont see any need to change that.   With McKay as a defensive midfielder I think all we are missing is a creative midfielder.  The way Murray used hawkshaw and young glass when we had them was as attacking central midfield with wingers and holding midfielder.  Maybe the plan will be the same to use Robert as an attacking no10 rather than a winger. 

Over all I'm pleased we have kept the core of one of the best sides we have had in years.  Couple more midfielders and we should be competing at the top end again. 

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