The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond

[Kenny_m]

17 minutes ago, Mr November said:

Simon Murray was excellent in the play-offs but he only scored five league goals this season and while he's a much better striker, Megginson only scored one more non-penalty goal than Calum Gallagher. Interestingly Megginson and McAllister scored 24 non-penalty league goals between them while Gallagher and Smith managed 27 for us. Obviously penalties count but our strikers don't get the chance to boost their numbers that way. Gallagher has his faults but he's a reliable League One goalscorer and unfortunately players like Murray and Megginson are just out of our budget. 

Who knows if we'll keep them but Fordyce, a physical centre back and McCabe in midfield would be an excellent base to build from. We saw in the play-offs what a difference someone like Charlie Fox made at the back for Queen's Park. 

Megginson and Murray are completely different strikers, these guy's are much more mobile, creative and simply more ability. Gal would be on my free transfer list as his overall play is not good enough, no pace, can't beat a man and has a terrible first touch. His goals say more about the service he received this season.

Like most, i agree we need more physicality but i've been bemoaning this for years.

 

[Kenny_m]

10 minutes ago, Mr November said:

I'm sure there was talk that we were interested in McLean last summer. I like him, I'm not sure how good he actually is but he's always a handful for our defence and certainly brings something different to our current strikers. I feel like he's been around for a while now but he only turns 24 next month. I don't think we'd be able to bring in a player as good as Megginson but Gallagher, Smith, Salim, McLean and a quick backup like Jordan Allan would be strong for this level.

Couldn't disagree more, Gal, Salim, Allan & McLean are all out and out penalty box strikers, only Smith would provide that something different. If fit, Salim can provide an aerial threat and i believe he is under contract for next season.

It's fair to say Montrose and Peterhead fans wouldn't be too impressed with Mclean's heading prowess despite his height and apparently has a billy big time attitude.

[CHEMOMAN]

WTF is going on with Salim?

[Kenny_m]

17 minutes ago, CHEMOMAN said:

WTF is going on with Salim?

Still recovering from a knee operation i believe.

[Jack Reed]

17 minutes ago, Kenny_m said:

Still recovering from a knee operation i believe.

Has had a hard time, fit soon I hope 

[fifer67]

Hearing your manager will be interviewed by the Kirkcaldy scum next week. It would appear Kevin Thomson wanting too many £s. Paying Goodie a grand a week must be stretching their budget. 

[FLDiamond]

1 hour ago, fifer67 said:

Hearing your manager will be interviewed by the Kirkcaldy scum next week. It would appear Kevin Thomson wanting too many £s. Paying Goodie a grand a week must be stretching their budget. 

Heard there’s a few people in for it, Thomson wanting what he’s being offered from down south.  Murray in with a shout, he’s got a chance of getting it.  Hope he stays though 

[IR1970]

On 20/05/2022 at 11:58, AJ77 said:

I'm led to believe he's from the Glasgow area as well 

From Larbet/stenhousemuir area.

[Jack Reed]

13 hours ago, FLDiamond said:

Heard there’s a few people in for it, Thomson wanting what he’s being offered from down south.  Murray in with a shout, he’s got a chance of getting it.  Hope he stays though 

Thomson maybe  interested  in Pars  job 

[Kenny_m]

37 minutes ago, Jack Reed said:

Thomson maybe  interested  in Pars  job 

Really does look like he's off though and we need a quick decision.

[Guest JBJ]

17 hours ago, fifer67 said:

Hearing your manager will be interviewed by the Kirkcaldy scum next week. It would appear Kevin Thomson wanting too many £s. Paying Goodie a grand a week must be stretching their budget. 

A grand? Bet they wish it is only a grand!!

[Afc88]

On 20/05/2022 at 08:28, David Fernández said:

I'm fairly confident that Murray will stay but also confident that Petrie will stay on at Montrose.

I think McPake might be worth a shout at Dunfermline. 

With Easton, he's been brilliant for us, but he's the one player I can see moving on elsewhere.

Murray, Fordyce and McCabe sound like they want to stay based on their interviews, although McCabe I'm about 70/30 on if he will stay or not.

Adding physicality is a priority for the reason we can't keep having 10 men in the box defending corners as we didn't trust our defenders.

99% of teams have 10 men in the box defending corners! Nothing to do with not trusting the defenders it's the way the modern game is played! Do you not watch many other games? 

[David Fernández]

4 hours ago, Afc88 said:

99% of teams have 10 men in the box defending corners! Nothing to do with not trusting the defenders it's the way the modern game is played! Do you not watch many other games? 

I do watch plenty of games and have been to the majority of Airdrie games this season.

Looking at some of the other teams we have faced, they do have a man or a couple of men up the park so if the balls gets headed out, there is a chance for a counter attack.

I'm not the only poster on here that has mentioned the 10 men in the box at corners.

[Afc88]

1 hour ago, David Fernández said:

I do watch plenty of games and have been to the majority of Airdrie games this season.

Looking at some of the other teams we have faced, they do have a man or a couple of men up the park so if the balls gets headed out, there is a chance for a counter attack.

I'm not the only poster on here that has mentioned the 10 men in the box at corners.

 I never said you were the only one but as I said 99% of teams do it and that's including top teams all over Europe! It's the way the game is played. I watched a few interviews from top managers on why they do it and it makes perfect sense if done properly 

[Afc88]

1 hour ago, David Fernández said:

I do watch plenty of games and have been to the majority of Airdrie games this season.

Looking at some of the other teams we have faced, they do have a man or a couple of men up the park so if the balls gets headed out, there is a chance for a counter attack.

I'm not the only poster on here that has mentioned the 10 men in the box at corners.

Also more counter attacking goals come from teams who don't leave people up the park but break properly from edge of the box. 

[Chapelhall chap]

After a wee rest the only thing I've heard is a new pitch will be there soon as the current one gets lifted. Wonder what they do with the old bits? All the chat about manager changing leaves me ready to start commenting but I need a close season to get over another failure.

[airdrieman]

Hopefully some good news soon RE Murray and returning and new players. I would expect Easton will be away but retaining him, McCabe, Fordyce and Frizzell has to be the priority IMO. 

In terms of the rest of the squad - 

Currie - I'm not overly convinced by him. He lets in soft goals, his command of his box and coming out for crosses is a real weak spot (some of the goals we conceded from crosses were pitiful) and the top end of League 1 is very much his ceiling. He is a very good reaction-save goalkeeper, however, and on his day he's one of the better goalkeepers in the league. Keep I would like a better goalkeeper to challenge him than Cantley although it wouldn't surprise me if this wasn't seen as a priority. 

Watson - Good right-back at this level. Adds a bit of height and physical presence and is usually reliable whatever team or individual player he's up against. Decent but inconsistent going forward and can play at centre-half also. Keep. 

Kerr - There's no doubt he's a talent and has one of the highest potential ceilings of the entire squad. Has shown he can be a real classy player and solid and physical centre-half. BUT there's a huge caveat that comes with Kerr. He's always fucking injured. We've not once managed to get a full season out of him, which is a problem, and that is a trade-off that is going to go against him eventually. Him hardly kicking a ball all season was one of the main reasons why we were stuck playing McCabe at centre-half. Would a fit Kerr and McCabe moving into the centre of the park have a made a difference in terms of either winning the league or the play-offs? Impossible to say but I do think so. If he could stay fit he's a definite keep but that's too much of a doubt for me. Undecided. 

Agnew - Showed his ability on the ball throughout this season and was a key part in helping retain the ball and see out games almost every week. But he was a definite weak link in the play-offs and against Cove. The final was passing him by and the Queen's midfield were ghosting past him. He's clearly an important member of the squad and coaching staff but he should very much be a backup and his midfield anchor role passed over to McCabe (who should have had it in the first place). Keep as backup/coach. 

Gallagher - He has his faults but he is one of the better strikers in League 1. 16 goals last season plus 9 and 14 in the previous two shortened seasons is one of the better returns outside of your Megginson/McAlistair/Goodwillie's of this world. He misses sitters and when he's off it he's horrendous. But there's not many strikers I'd rather the ball fell to in the box in this league than Gal and his overall hold-up and link play is better than is generally stated. Keep. 

Gabby McGill - Awful first-touch and not much in the way of footballing ability but he gives you endeavour and non-stop running and harrying which I always appreciate and, at this level, is enough to be effective. Decent enough goal return too considering he actually didn't play all that much and would have had 9/10 if his two against Clyde had counted. A proper wide forward and/or better striker would undoubtedly be upgrades on him but I think he's shown enough to demonstrate that he's an effective option for a top 4 team at this level. Keep. 

Ritchie, Walker and Lyons are not up to it so I would get rid. Likewise Cantley unless they're planning on going with Currie and A.N. Other in which case we might as well keep. Allan and McDonald are fine squad players but if you could replace them better you would. I suppose Walker is probably in that category too. Keep Pyott for patter reasons obviously and to get him his testimonial (in all seriousness what on earth is he still doing here? He's older than Callum Smith ). In terms of the loanees I'd be more than happy to see Scott McGill back. Was a good and effective player in a number of positions for us which is a really useful thing to have in a squad. I'd have previously said we should burst a gut to sign Paterson but I did go off him in the play-offs. Thought he really didn't show up well at all albeit he's young enough and talented enough to develop into a good player. Devenny was fine as a squad player but again if you could replace him with better you would and there will be dozens of similar type players available to loan. And Big Jon should be left as a fond(ish) memory of the play-offs. Let's not tarnish that or the song! 

A base of: 

                     Currie
Watson New Fordyce New 
                     McCabe 
               Easton Frizzell 
New          Gal      Smith 

Plus Agnew, G. McGill and Salim

Would be a good starting point though as said above I definitely expect Easton to be away. Ideally I would like the above players to sign on, a goalie, two new centre-halfs, a left-back, a winger and possibly another centre forward would be great. Also think we need a bit of a 'shit' or streetwise type in the centre of the park. McCabe would probably have helped with this but a Marvyn Wilson type who can manage or slow a game down, foul and pick up a booking when necessary and just generally be a bit nasty would really have been an asset to this team. Cove, Montrose and Queen's Park were all much better at this than us and when it mattered it showed. Salim barely kicking a ball for two seasons now is a worry IMO. He's done well in the juniors and League 2 and deserves a crack at League 1. But he hasn't had a sustained run of football for a long time now so God knows how long it will take for him to get up to speed. I hope he does though because he's a cracking guy (loved how mental he went in the Dumbarton games x2 and the Montrose home tie) and he's a player I wanted us to sign as soon as he got released from Livi.

Anyone but Barry Ferguson if Murray leaves please. Looking forward to Gary Holt's Airdrie romping to the title and Senor Bairn's massive heads gone when Falkirk finish a regrettable 7th. 

Edited May 22, 2022 by airdrieman

[moses1924]

Agree with Airdrieman's assessment of who to keep / release and about the need for a Marvyn Wilson / Kenny Black type of player, would also add to that a big defender who can do a similar job breaking up play, was impressed with the big lad queens park had and somebody similar would ass to our team next season. The manager is a strange one, i'd be gutted if he left but at the same time if we dont go up this season would we be wanting him to leave at the end of the season, maybe depends how close we get? There will always be one or two teams in this leage who can spend big whether its Falkir / Dunfermline / QOTS coming down from the league above or a team with money coming up like Cove / Kelty QP so if we are going to get up we will need to find a way to finish above teams with bigger budgets eventually.

[GoalForAirdrie]

No matter who the manager is next season, beating the league leaders (or closest challenger, if we’re top) is an absolute must. 

[Mr November]

1 minute ago, GoalForAirdrie said:

No matter who the manager is next season, beating the league leaders (or closest challenger, if we’re top) is an absolute must. 

Yeah this is the big thing for me. That’s now three seasons in a row where we’ve finished just short of Raith, Partick Thistle and Cove without beating any of them. Ultimately we just weren’t as good as those teams, particularly in the first two seasons, and lacked a bit of quality in tough games against them.

Up until the last game when we rested players we actually had a better record against the rest of the league than Cove. Repeating that will be hard and it’s always tricky to overcome teams with much bigger budgets like Falkirk and Dunfermline but that has to be the aim because as we’ve seen, the play-offs just aren’t for us!