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The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond


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7 minutes ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said:

Crighton hasn't had a good start to this season at all in my opinion

Agreed, the defence as a whole have been poor. To be honest we’ve been nothing like I expected this season. I thought we would be consistent, solid defensively but struggling to score goals. It turns out we’re the opposite of that, giving away silly goals every week but actually looking pretty exciting on our day. Sadly the inconsistency shows in the results so far.

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Agreed, the defence as a whole have been poor. To be honest we’ve been nothing like I expected this season. I thought we would be consistent, solid defensively but struggling to score goals. It turns out we’re the opposite of that, giving away silly goals every week but actually looking pretty exciting on our day. Sadly the inconsistency shows in the results so far.

Think it's fair to say the defence as a whole haven't been as good. McCann and Fordyce have certainly not reached the heights of last season but I wouldn't criticise them too harshly. Crighton and MacDonald on the other hand have been poor and really disappointing.
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12 minutes ago, G_H said:

Have to say, I'm rapidly losing interest in this season due to inconsistency and games like this one.

Same, I'm losing interest and know many others who feel the same. At the point where I now think Murray's time is up. 3 losses in 7 league games is not good enough. Especially with two of them being Dumbarton and East Fife. You win nothing if you cannot beat the weaker teams in the league. Even more fans falling by the wayside now. Its up to the club to see what plenty fans see and that's Murray not being the right man to take us forward. Time for change. 

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That was really poor today.  Really struggled to keep possession or do anything with it, no real creativity and hardly any serious chances created.  It's so frustrating because we have players that can do all of those things.

This team should finish in the top four comfortably enough, but it's hard to see them being good enough consistently enough to mount any kind of serious title challenge.  Bah humbug.

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2 minutes ago, Tulloch Gorum said:

That was really poor today.  Really struggled to keep possession or do anything with it, no real creativity and hardly any serious chances created.  It's so frustrating because we have players that can do all of those things.

This team should finish in the top four comfortably enough, but it's hard to see them being good enough consistently enough to mount any kind of serious title challenge.  Bah humbug.

Top 4 not playing like that 😭😭

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7 minutes ago, Glenmavis Diamond said:

Same, I'm losing interest and know many others who feel the same. At the point where I now think Murray's time is up. 3 losses in 7 league games is not good enough. Especially with two of them being Dumbarton and East Fife. You win nothing if you cannot beat the weaker teams in the league. Even more fans falling by the wayside now. Its up to the club to see what plenty fans see and that's Murray not being the right man to take us forward. Time for change. 

There is no consistency other than the focus on hard to beat when positive play some decent stuff but all to often return to type. 

Do you think the management think the opposition are better than they actually are if you want promotion need to be a bit more positive also we haven't had many clean sheets ether.

Still we are Airdrie the only way is up ♦️

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2 minutes ago, Jack Reed said:

Top 4 not playing like that 😭😭

No, not playing like that, obviously.  Playing like they did against Clyde and Forfar and the second half against Cove.  I think we'll see more like that, but we'll also see more of what we had today and against Dumbarton. 

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7 minutes ago, Tulloch Gorum said:

No, not playing like that, obviously.  Playing like they did against Clyde and Forfar and the second half against Cove.  I think we'll see more like that, but we'll also see more of what we had today and against Dumbarton. 

Don't know if it's our coaching or if the players  are not good  enough but we just can't beat a team that works hard, personally I think it's both, 

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12 minutes ago, Mr November said:

Even if we lose our next two games (which is entirely possible) I don’t think Murray will go. Unless we get to a point where we’re 6/7 points adrift of the play offs I think he’ll be here for the season. 

Maybe we could bring in a experienced assistant, it did help last season, I did think our defence would have to save us but they are not good enough for some reason, they are all over the place even with high balls, it's the panic subs that tell a story, manager needs help 

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That is now 11 competitive games this season, I think I'm right that we have won 4, drawn 1 and lost 6 of those. The 4 wins came against a side 5th in League 2, and the current 8th, 9th and 10th placed teams in League 1. Against any of our play-off or title (don't laugh) contenders we have been found wanting. I know a few fans were quite dismissive of our League Cup defeats but I was really concerned by the level of performances and that has followed through into the league. We played great against Clyde but that is clearly an outlier so far (and they aren't very good). The fact we can't beat any side who are higher than 8th shows we are miles off contention for the league, like usual we'll probably be around 4th-6th.

I have no idea what we are meant to be. We aren't hard to beat and we aren't an attacking side, we aren't an effective direct team and we aren't an effective side at building up play from the back. We occasionally do some pressing but then other weeks don't at all (like 1st half against Cove). I don't actually care which of the above we are, as long as we are an effective version of one of them.

I've said it before this season but to me the biggest issue is a lack of players in forward positions. We have a back 4, plus 2 centre midfielders who have played half their pro career in defence, effectively 6 defenders. The only attackers today were Robert, Carrick and Connell. If we were water tight at the back and certain to keep clean sheets every week you could maybe excuse this by saying we could steal a goal and win 1-0, but we clearly aren't keeping clean sheets so need more guys in forward areas. It is no coincidence that when we played our best football and scored the most goals ( 5 against Clyde and 3 against Forfar) we had 4 genuine attacking players in forward areas (Gallagher, Robert, Carrick, Connell). Football at this level is often a numbers game, if you get enough guys forward enough times the defences are so bad that you will score goals. A deep 2 in midfield of McKay and Sabatini is plenty, we do not need Kerr in there. Quite happy for him to play at the back (he was good at right back in 2nd half last week) but he's never a midfielder, just because you are a centre back who can spray 40 yard passes does not mean that you can just slot into midfield. We were much better last week when he was taken out midfield and moved into the back 4.

We had to go out and try and attack the league this year, if it hadn't worked I honestly wouldn't have minded as Cove, Falkirk and Partick are tough opposition, but I was really looking forward to having a go at it over the shorter season and seeing guys like Robert, Sabatini and Connell in an attacking side. Unfortunately it looks like another slog of a season with negative football.

Edited by Diamonds are Forever
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3 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

That is now 11 competitive games this season, I think I'm right that we have won 4, drawn 1 and lost 6 of those. The 4 wins came against a side 5th in League 2, and the current 8th, 9th and 10th placed teams in League 1. Against any of our play-off or title (don't laugh) contenders we have been found wanting. I know a few fans were quite dismissive of our League Cup defeats but I was really concerned by the level of performances and that has followed through into the league. We played great against Clyde but that is clearly an outlier so far (and they aren't very good). The fact we can't beat any side who are higher than 8th shows we are miles off contention for the league, like usual we'll probably be around 4th-6th.

I have no idea what we are meant to be. We aren't hard to beat and we aren't an attacking side, we aren't an effective direct team and we aren't an effective side at building up play from the back. We occasionally do some pressing but then other weeks don't at all (like 1st half against Cove). I don't actually care which of the above we are, as long as we are an effective version of one of them.

I've said it before this season but to me the biggest issue is a lack of players in forward positions. We have a back 4 and 2 centre midfielders who have played half their pro career in defence. The only attackers today were Robert, Carrick and Connell. If we were water tight at the back and certain to keep clean sheets every week you could maybe excuse this by saying we could steal a goal and win 1-0, but we clearly aren't keeping clean sheets so need more guys in forward areas. It is no coincidence that when we played our best football and scored the most goals ( 5 against Clyde and 3 against Forfar) we had 4 genuine attacking players in forward areas (Gallagher, Robert, Carrick, Connell). Football at this level is often a numbers game, if you get enough guys forward enough times the defences are so bad that you will score goals. A deep 2 in midfield of McKay and Sabatini is plenty, we do not need Kerr in there. Quite happy for him to play at the back (he was good at right back in 2nd half last week) but he's never a midfielder, just because you are a centre back who can spray 40 yard passes does not mean that you can just slot into midfield. We were much better last week when he was taken out midfield and moved into the back 4.

We had to go out and try and attack the league this year, if it hadn't worked I honestly wouldn't have minded as Cove, Falkirk and Partick are tough opposition, but I was really looking forward to having a go at it over the shorter season and seeing guys like Robert, Sabatini and Connell in an attacking side. Unfortunately it looks like another slog of a season with negative football.

Cast ur mind back to last season first game away to EF same old story manager defo not learning. I would drop Sean play Kerr at the back. We had debate after debate about the midfield Roberts in particular last season different players same problems we dont start with enough forward thinking midfielders this allows the opposition to push us back we resort to high balls long crosses then when we are chasing the game changes are made. We haven't beat any decent sides this season thus far and as I said earlier we need to be more positive and have the belief with the players we have we can beat most of the teams in this league ♦️

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Well here we are again.

Poor stream and an even poorer performance.

Yet Another chance to lay down a marker and another chance slips us by. Goalkeeper dodgy, defence a mess, midfield anonymous and toothless in attack . Don’t think I have any positives for anyone today. I think as I mentioned at the start of the season I would take fourth spot and run but I fear with that team we will be lucky to scrape 4th. 10 points from 7 games is extremely disappointing and with Montrose and Falkirk next up I can see us having 10 points from 9 games shortly. It’s hard to believe it’s the same team that play today and v Dumbarton that played against Clyde and Forfar. I think if we are bitterly honest we have an average team for this level but should have the advantage of the extra training sessions but that’s difficult to see as for the management team In Murray and Miller I’m sure they haven’t got it easy but have they improved us much over the piece the answer would be no. I think it was always clear that this season would be tougher than last but we haven’t shown any signs we can take ourselves up a level for me.

 

I also have to add this may be an unpopular opinion but for all Robert looks like our only hope at times and I’m sure will go on to bigger and better things. he’s not interested in defending, desperate to win the ball back or put himself in a 50/50 and that’s not what we need either. Maybe more time in the Scottish game will get it out him but the graft has to come with the natural talent

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11 minutes ago, Eric the half a b said:

Cast ur mind back to last season first game away to EF same old story manager defo not learning. I would drop Sean play Kerr at the back. We had debate after debate about the midfield Roberts in particular last season different players same problems we dont start with enough forward thinking midfielders this allows the opposition to push us back we resort to high balls long crosses then when we are chasing the game changes are made. We haven't beat any decent sides this season thus far and as I said earlier we need to be more positive and have the belief with the players we have we can beat most of the teams in this league ♦️

 

Yes, there are similarities with last year when we had the endless debates over how the combinations of Miller/Wedderburn/McKay only worked if we had a genuine attacking midfielder in front of them like Roberts. When we were at our best last year it was with Miller and McKay (McKay breaking forward occasionally) and Roberts in front. I wasn't a huge fan of Roberts but wanted him to play because it was clear we needed that threat from midfield to make up the numbers in the final third. We seem to be back to square one now with Kerr, McKay and Sabatini in midfield who can't/aren't able to get up and support the front 3, leaving them completely outnumbered and isolated against 2 banks of 4. That's not a criticism of them, it's just the wrong mix.

Edited by Diamonds are Forever
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9 minutes ago, Diamond10 said:

Well here we are again.

Poor stream and an even poorer performance.

Yet Another chance to lay down a marker and another chance slips us by. Goalkeeper dodgy, defence a mess, midfield anonymous and toothless in attack . Don’t think I have any positives for anyone today. I think as I mentioned at the start of the season I would take fourth spot and run but I fear with that team we will be lucky to scrape 4th. 10 points from 7 games is extremely disappointing and with Montrose and Falkirk next up I can see us having 10 points from 9 games shortly. It’s hard to believe it’s the same team that play today and v Dumbarton that played against Clyde and Forfar. I think if we are bitterly honest we have an average team for this level but should have the advantage of the extra training sessions but that’s difficult to see as for the management team In Murray and Miller I’m sure they haven’t got it easy but have they improved us much over the piece the answer would be no. I think it was always clear that this season would be tougher than last but we haven’t shown any signs we can take ourselves up a level for me.

 

I also have to add this may be an unpopular opinion but for all Robert looks like our only hope at times and I’m sure will go on to bigger and better things. he’s not interested in defending, desperate to win the ball back or put himself in a 50/50 and that’s not what we need either. Maybe more time in the Scottish game will get it out him but the graft has to come with the natural talent

 

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1 minute ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

Yes, there are similarities with last year when we had the endless debates over how the combinations of Miller/Wedderburn/McKay only worked if we had a genuine attacking midfielder in front of them like Roberts. When we were at our best last year it was with Miller and McKay (McKay breaking forward occasionally) and Roberts in front. I wasn't a huge fan of Roberts but wanted him to play because it was clear we needed that threat from midfield to make up the numbers in the final third. We seem to be back to square one now with Kerr, McKay and Sabatini in midfield who can't/aren't able to get up and support the front 3, leaving them completely outnumbered and isolated against2 banks of 4. That's not a criticism of them, it's just the wrong mix.

Yes agree with your points♦️

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