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The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond


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16 minutes ago, Tory Boy said:

If we're not going to be signing anyone before tonights game the Club should really be considering getting a couple of the young lads on amateur contracts so we at least have a few bodies on the bench incase of emerency.

Still more academy boys signed up be honest would rather see the first team with a few more players, future is one thing but personally I'm more interested in present. 

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2 hours ago, Jack Reed said:

Need to win this one, do well to take anything from next two. St mirren game on premier sport,having said that a couple of players in right place before St mirren and Arbroath game might change that. 

Premier have cancelled the live coverage "due to staffing issues". This seems like bullshit when they can cover OF pre-season kick-abouts.

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27 minutes ago, David Fernández said:

Cole Gibson in the starting line up. Really impressed me and stood out in the Colts game.

No Gallagher in the team.

Must be elegible after all, no pressure on the young lads then, something is just not ringing true, 

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I really hope they do well tonight but to go into the second game of the season with only 10 senior outfield players is a woeful state of affairs.   It's been over a week since Telfer played as trialist so looking increasingly unlikely be will be joining and I haven't seen us linked with any other established players.    The League is priority so still a couple of weeks to put things right but squad as it stands is a real worry - I would have liked to see us make a real go at getting out this group.   I really hope the budget is there to bring in at least 3-4 quality signings.

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33 minutes ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said:

Definitely still a bit rusty and I’d prefer to see us play 433 with Smith out on the left but there are positives there. Think Frizzell could have a huge season for us and I really really like the look of Justin Devenny.

28shots to 7 not hard to see where the problem is, we just don't have a decent striker, 

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28shots to 7 not hard to see where the problem is, we just don't have a decent striker, 

It’s not like Smith or McGill were missing sitters. Most of those missed shots were long range efforts or blocked quickly by defenders and a lot were from Frizzell and Devenny as well. If anything our conversion rate would improve with better decision making by all players in the last third (midfielders and wing backs included) or by having an extra man up top as we did last season to actually overload the opposition defence.
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I did think we were unfortunate a few times tonight, Smith's shot coming off the post, McGill's penalty (I never felt confident about him scoring that) and I think two cleared off the line. We dominated the game and Rae didn't have too much to do but definitely still a few issues to iron out before the league starts. We probably need two wins, or maybe a win and a penalty win, to go through now which I don't see us doing against St. Mirren and Arbroath but we'll see what happens next week.

I'm still a bit unsure on the back three. Ballantyne and Deveney are pretty attacking which helps, it's certainly an improvement on Wardrop and Quitongo, but we often had Fordyce pushing forward as an extra men which didn't really work. Cole Gibson looked pretty nervous early on but grew into the game a bit. He's not ready for this level yet though and while Devenny and Frizzell did well driving forward, we lacked  dominant holding midfielder in there. Smith and McGill worked hard and constantly got in between or behind their defence but a mixture of poor finishing and poor decision making cost us. Smith in particular seemed desperate to get the ball out wide and cut inside but every time he did he was blocked by a sea of defenders. Someone like Gallagher, who often scores with various body parts through his excellent positioning, might have been lucky and scored one tonight.

I'd be concerned if we're still using that team against Peterhead in a couple of weeks but given we were missing a couple of players, I'm happy enough with the performance. Definitely some positives but plenty to work on too. I do worry since we're waiting on a few players coming in that they might be a bit rusty when the league games start. Slow starts have been a real issue at the club for a number of years now and given how tough our opening games are, we need to be on it from the start.

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Should have won that about 6-1. But poor finishing and decision making let us down. Fine if it’s a one off, or in the League Cup, but we won’t get away with even a point if we continue to not put teams away like that. We held on to the ball too long at times, over hit passes and crosses or took the wrong option. But there were lots to be positive about IMO. Considering we only had 10 ostensible first team players available, 9 of them outfielders, I thought we knocked the ball about really well and were able to cut them open. Good to see our positive style of play remain in place and we are clearly capable of creating chances. Thought Frizzell had a good game and Devenny looks a player. 
 

No doubt about it though, we need more players. We missed Gal, who might just have been able to get on the end of something tonight, and a couple of options off the bench could have made a  real positive difference.  A couple of decent midfielders and another centre-half are a must IMO. Gibson grew into the game but you put a Telfer or a Ruiz-Diaz into that team instead and Airdrie win that game. FWIW I saw Leon Jones, Alex Henderson and a few other players who clearly weren’t subs sitting down the front. 
 

Our penalties, including Gabby’s during the game, were dreadful. For being the manager I thought McCabe’s effort in particular was embarrassing. Edinburgh’s were much more confident and polished in comparison. Penalties are clearly something that needs to be worked on as, off the top of my head, Gabby tonight, Easton at Montrose, Salim v QP in the League Cup and Rhys at least twice last season have all missed in the last couple of seasons. 
 

So like I said, plenty of positives but plenty to improve on too. Namely our finishing. But compared to the Annan game at this stage last season and we were miles better tonight. 

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One of the few times I've came away from a game not that bothered about the result. Some of our link up play was excellent. Just a freak result.

For Edinburgh City big Fontaine was immense. Made some great last ditch blocks. Their keeper had some good saves as well. 

We're obviously still a couple of bodies short but if we keep up that level of performance we'll be up there challenging. 

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