The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond

[Diamond1924]

5 minutes ago, Glenmavis Diamond said:

Allan you're having a laugh. Whether Gall is the right man or not, Allan ain't a better option. Jeezo. You say Gall barely wins headers and opt for a short arse to replace him... 

Allan is a far better option. Gallagher’s role is to hold play up and he fails miserably at it. Allan is a striker, who scores goals. Goals win matches. Not sclaffy headers and offside runs. 

[Jack Reed]

5 minutes ago, Diamond1924 said:

Allan is a far better option. Gallagher’s role is to hold play up and he fails miserably at it. Allan is a striker, who scores goals. Goals win matches. Not sclaffy headers and offside runs. 

Think Gabby should get a run, 

[Chapelhall chap]

If we are going to rest Gallagher ( and there is a strong case for that)then McGill is the better alternative. The defeat today however did come from not scoring first, after being slow to get going in the first half. Yes there was an excellent chance for Easton and another for Gallagher in that 20 minute spell after half time,  and  I thought we were gong to get the opener. The poor defending at Megginson's goal was the decisive point, and we were not helped by falling asleep a few minutes later.  Frustrating day but it's a tight L1 especially when you look at the other results. 

[Eric the half a b]

Just now, Chapelhall chap said:

If we are going to rest Gallagher ( and there is a strong case for that)then McGill is the better alternative. The defeat today however did come from not scoring first, after being slow to get going in the first half. Yes there was an excellent chance for Easton and another for Gallagher in that 20 minute spell after half time,  and  I thought we were gong to get the opener. The poor defending at Megginson's goal was the decisive point, and we were not helped by falling asleep a few minutes later.  Frustrating day but it's a tight L1 especially when you look at the other results. 

Disappointing had the chances didn't take them then started to fall deeper lost bad goal sadly you could see it coming. Imo showed them bit to much respect. 

Like Gal but not been at his best for me need to get McCabe back into midfield. 

The only way is up

[Chapelhall chap]

1 minute ago, Eric the half a b said:

Disappointing had the chances didn't take them then started to fall deeper lost bad goal sadly you could see it coming. Imo showed them bit to much respect. 

Like Gal but not been at his best for me need to get McCabe back into midfield. 

The only way is up

Agree about the chances today and although Agnew has been very good/tidy etc in the last few games I think we do need to get McCabe into the midfield. The problem is that we lack another centre back to challenge as long as Kerr remains injury prone/Lyons untested. We did not get enough out of Easton today as he was too far back . McCabe would certainly shift him onwards during most games. It's still early days in such a tight League. I know we don't do whataboutery but just have a look at the Falkirk thread . Yep we can get back on top but it needs commitment.

[Diamond8]

30 minutes ago, Chapelhall chap said:

Agree about the chances today and although Agnew has been very good/tidy etc in the last few games I think we do need to get McCabe into the midfield. The problem is that we lack another centre back to challenge as long as Kerr remains injury prone/Lyons untested. We did not get enough out of Easton today as he was too far back . McCabe would certainly shift him onwards during most games. It's still early days in such a tight League. I know we don't do whataboutery but just have a look at the Falkirk thread . Yep we can get back on top but it needs commitment.

Was saying this as we showed some vulnerability throughout the second half, we need to sign a centre half in January because as good as Kerr is playing 1 game in 3 isn't going to win us the league

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds]

Gal's had a good season for us, he's just not a target man. He's shown to be a fairly reliable goalscorer over the past 3 seasons and is involved in build up play and gets assists too. He struggled today and mistimed his jump for almost every long ball but his hold up play is actually good when the ball is played into his feet or body.

[G_H]

Except for against Falkirk for some reason, Murray's teams (at this club anyway) seem to struggle in important/big games. They always go very flat and deliver an underwhelming performance. Not sure if its an inability to motivate, or players believing too much in their own press, but there is usually a struggle to step up a gear.

[Jack Reed]

43 minutes ago, G_H said:

Except for against Falkirk for some reason, Murray's teams (at this club anyway) seem to struggle in important/big games. They always go very flat and deliver an underwhelming performance. Not sure if its an inability to motivate, or players believing too much in their own press, but there is usually a struggle to step up a gear.

What is that telling you, 

[Passionate]

Any idea of the attendance, looked a bit busier around 750 i would think..

[She who dares gins]

We were far too passive in the first half - similarly to alloa game as may have been pointed out elsewhere. Teams know to smother and close us down the midfield. We absolutely need to sort the centre-half position out l. It’s dragged on long enough. Would be happy to see Walker in at RB next week and Watson in there to get McCabe into midfield.

I’m getting increasingly pissed off seeing him back there despite the fantastic job he’s done. Typical IM to play one our best players in a position he’s not played in before. We need Easton up the park where he’s most dangerous. Smith gets himself in brilliant positions then has no idea what to do when he gets the ball. I’d like to see gabby get a game.

We’re also incredibly tight - we get very little width into our play. Other teams expose it and are able to leave men out of the touch line that we don’t cover.

Having got my moans out the way. In terms of the league, huge way to go, just disappointing that when we get the chance to kick on, we do what we always do

[Glenmavis Diamond]

15 hours ago, Diamond1924 said:

Allan is a far better option. Gallagher’s role is to hold play up and he fails miserably at it. Allan is a striker, who scores goals. Goals win matches. Not sclaffy headers and offside runs. 

Show me his goal scoring record then. I'll wait... 

Whether you think Gall is the answer or not, you're argument for Allan is totally unfounded. We have Gabby McGill and Salim who are both better. 

Wonder why you're so keen on Allan?

 

[Diamond1924]

1 hour ago, Glenmavis Diamond said:

Show me his goal scoring record then. I'll wait... 

Whether you think Gall is the answer or not, you're argument for Allan is totally unfounded. We have Gabby McGill and Salim who are both better. 

Wonder why you're so keen on Allan?

 

Oh I must be Allans agent then eh

[Jack Reed]

6 hours ago, She who dares gins said:

We were far too passive in the first half - similarly to alloa game as may have been pointed out elsewhere. Teams know to smother and close us down the midfield. We absolutely need to sort the centre-half position out l. It’s dragged on long enough. Would be happy to see Walker in at RB next week and Watson in there to get McCabe into midfield.

I’m getting increasingly pissed off seeing him back there despite the fantastic job he’s done. Typical IM to play one our best players in a position he’s not played in before. We need Easton up the park where he’s most dangerous. Smith gets himself in brilliant positions then has no idea what to do when he gets the ball. I’d like to see gabby get a game.

We’re also incredibly tight - we get very little width into our play. Other teams expose it and are able to leave men out of the touch line that we don’t cover.

Having got my moans out the way. In terms of the league, huge way to go, just disappointing that when we get the chance to kick on, we do what we always do

Smith was the same first time  with us plenty pace, just no end product, 

[R9ft]

5 hours ago, Diamond1924 said:

Oh I must be Allans agent then eh

You are though, you were also mines but let’s not go there. Embarrassing. 

[Diamond1924]

37 minutes ago, R9ft said:

You are though, you were also mines but let’s not go there. Embarrassing. 

? 

[She who dares gins]

Smith was the same first time  with us plenty pace, just no end product, 

Yep, you’re right. I was hoping when he came back in that side of things would be better than before.

[G_H]

21 hours ago, Jack Reed said:

What is that telling you, 

Too many players who think that its ok to coast while form is good.

[Jack Reed]

2 hours ago, G_H said:

Too many players who think that its ok to coast while form is good.

Second in the league you would think our form has been good, and on sat  we did play some good  passing football, but so easy to score against, that second goal was shocking defending, firstly keeper once again where was he, aye he did have a couple of good saves  but this past 2-3weeks he has been at fault for a few  goals, having settled proper   defenders would help, we definitely need a centre back and a striker if we are going to  challange Cove, who are a capable good strong team and are organised . 

[airdrieman]

I thought Saturday's game was one of those ones where you couldn't have complained whatever way the result went. Both teams had their spells of dominance and there were spells in the game that were tight and played entirely in the midfield. But as it happened, Cove got the win and you can't argue that it wasn't merited. Frustrating afternoon, especially as Falkirk and Queen's Park both got beat so it would have been a real opportunity to build a gap at the top. Cove have a bit of an us v Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle feel to them unfortunately. We can beat every other team in the league but just fall short to the team who ends up winning it. Nothing is decided in November but dropping 6 points to them already feels like quite a lot. Means we really have to beat them the next two times we play them now. 

Can't really disagree with the prior analysis. Cove are strong in the middle of the park and, while we had our moments, we struggled to play through them. I sound like a broken record on this but having more width in the team would really help with this. Quitongo is a decent left-back but doesn't offer much going forward either in terms of carrying the ball or putting it into the box. That's fine as long as you've got other players who can do that but we've only got Watson who offers any sort of attacking outlet out wide and you need more than your right-back to rely on in that regard. 

Totally agree too about getting McCabe back into the midfield. That's twice we've played Cove without McCabe in the midfield ad it's hard not to believe we'd have fared better had he been playing there. You can't blame Murray for playing him at centre-half as we really didn't have any other options there but we do need him back in the middle ASAP. I don't care if his shoulder is hanging off him, get Luke Lyons in that team on Saturday. 

Gal didn't have his best game on Saturday but anyone wanting to play Jordan Allan ahead of him is at it. I'd love for Allan to be good given his backstory and history at the club but... he just isn't good enough unfortunately. It's particularly laughable to make this point given that he came on on Saturday (admittedly when the game was already done) and was useless. He's 5th choice striker on merit and isn't good enough to play a role beyond that which he plays at the moment (coming on when you're chasing a goal and hoping that absolutely anything sticks). Gal is still our best striker in terms of hold-up play and scoring goals. He's got 5 this season and a few assists, scored 14 in 2019/20 when the season finished in March and scored 9 in a shortened and broken up season last season which I think is a pretty good record. He's not in the same class as guys like Megginson but he's still one of the better strikers at this level. Allan is getting nowhere near those numbers.