First Quarter Report

[Scorge]

Scratchy, in a word.

Hope/expect things to pick up when Petrie has his best team sussed out, as there has been a fair bit more turnover than I'd anticipated. Still believe 7/8th would constitute a successful season, and still reckon it is possible. 

[CM.]

I'll do mine using the template too as my original post was quite brief.

Best Player at your club
Goodwillie undoubtedly although Ray Grant is just as important in the middle of the park. We tend to do well when they both play well.

Worst Player at your club
I wouldn't say worst as such but Darren Smith has been the most frustrating. When playing out wide he has a burst of pace which gets us up the pitch but his end product has been often lacking so far. When up front he's constantly offside too which is annoying as he has the pace to break the offside trap.

Manager(s) at your club Rating
Done really well to turn round our fortunes after a difficult start to the campaign. A turn around I don't think any of his recent predecessors would've managed (although I suppose Duffy is doing kind of similar at Dumbarton). Enjoys being here and we enjoy having him here. 10/10 is always a generous score for anyone but I think he deserves this overall for his part in completely turning the clubs fortunes around. I feared we would've been in League 2 forever before he came in. As this is just a first quarter report though I'll say 8/10.

Best Signing of the summer at your club?
David Mitchell. There were a few raised eyebrows (myself included) when Blair Currie was released but Mitchell has been a superb signing and undoubtedly an upgrade. Vocal and commanding and has earned us a few points already with some superb saves.

Worst Signing at your club
Liam Allison is only on amateur terms and appreciate he's just a squad filler but he didn't look anywhere near up to the required standard in pre-season. Of players who've actually featured, Tony Wallace hasn't done much.

Most Improved Player at your club
There were some question marks over Ross Lyon getting a new deal but he's had a new lease of life this season. Was impressed with him in his appearances at RB when Cuddihy got injured. Would probably still be in the team if he never got injured himself.

Who's winning the League?
Falkirk were crap when we played them and I've not seen Raith yet but as others have alluded to it'll be between them 2. Can't really seperate them this early. Ask me again after the next quarter.

Who's making the playoffs?
Again, hard to say at this stage with the table being so close. Obviously whatever one of the above doesn't win the league. East Fife being unbeaten so far is hard to ignore so I'll go for them 3rd and really can't predict 4th the now. About 6 clubs could get that spot. Looking at Airdries squad they have plenty of players for when injuries and suspensions kick in so perhaps them.

Who's finishing 9th?
Again, any of the possibilities for 4th could just as easily finish 9th. I'll put my eggs in the same basket as most others and say Peterhead.

Who's going down?
Stranraer.

Best player in the league?
I don't see the rest of the players in the league every week so this is a hard one to determine. Going by performances against us, Airdrie had a tricky wide man (Thomson I think his name was) that ran us ragged in the 2nd half. Both Montrose full backs impressed me on Saturday there too.

Highlight so far of the season…
Beating Falkirk at home in front of the big crowd was great but I'll go for Dumbarton away recently. Winning goal celebrated by most of the team running from the other end of the pitch towards our fans made for some #scenes. I was gutted I missed the QOS cup game when McStay scored his worldie overhead kick otherwise that might've edged it.

Lowlight...
We've had a couple of poor halfs/games but as I mentioned in my brief post earlier in the thread, I would actually go for the fact we've not had a fully fit squad to choose from at any point and our bench is already threadbare. Yes I do know other teams in the league will be in the same boat. Just think players like Rankin (experience) and Syvertsen (flair) would've won us a lot more points had they been available. Goodie obviously took a few games to get fully fit too after his injury in the promotion game.

 

[Life on Marrs?]

OK, my turn! The only unbeaten side in Scotland, however we are also the only side to draw 5 games so far. We've played some great stuff, with Saturday's second half, the only real exception. Being hyper-critical though, we've only kept one clean sheet in 9 games. DY's record of going on runs seems to be continuing, so far it's been DDWWWWDDD, (I do worry what will happen when we do eventually lose). The second quarter will prove more difficult for us, I suspect. Saturday's result, the first time we've dropped points from a winning position, should serve as a warning, there's no easy games in this league and if your not at it, you'll come a cropper. Thankfully its the international break, the first weekend we've had off, which should help us recharge the batteries and let any niggling injuries clear up. We've pretty much used the same starting 11, so you do worry about match fitness, of those not involved, if called upon.

The league table is not far off most people's predictions, ourselves and Dumbarton doing better than expected, Falkirk & Forfar slightly worse.

I expect Raith and Falkirk to fight it out for the title, Rover's signing of Steven Anderson, could be a master stroke. Falkirk, seem to be missing everything, we posses. They look like a team of individuals, that don't seem to accept the effort required in league one.

Ourselves and Airdrie at this stage look like filling the playoff places, but if either of us go on a bad run, Dumbarton or Forfar could well sneak in.

Clyde should be comfortably mid-table, with Peterhead, Stranraer & Montrose the bottom three. Stranraer looked well-organised on Saturday, but didn't offer too much in the final third, otherwise they may well have got all 3 points.

So far its been a great start to the season, stand outs, putting 4 past Airdrie & Raith in consecutive weeks, we need to stop gifting a goal start in games though.

I'll give us an A, more of the same please boys.

[CALDERON]

Pleasantly surprised to be top. League Cup was it's usual keech, and after the EF game it looked like another season of same old. 

That defeat was the best thing that could have happened. Massive kick up the arse leading to change in personnel and shape that we haven't looked back from. 

Losing Vaughan is awful, but Armstrong is a better replacement than I thought we would get in, and Hendry is absolute class. 

Still think Falkirk will win the league though. 

 

[NavyBlueArmy1876]

Best Player at your club
Wee Jimmy Gomis. Uses the ball well, finds the spaces to play in and loves a tackle. A Scottish Tom Taiwo if you will. Even scored a peach at Stranraer. 

Worst Player at your club
This is a tricky one. I'm tempted to say Mark Durnan or Paul Dixon. It seems harsh to pick out two defenders when we've only conceded four goals in nine matches, but hey-ho. Other players haven't really featured such as Miller, Moore, Leitch & MacLean

Manager(s) at your club Rating
We've put in passable performances for what I would consider 4.5 (Stranraer x 2, Montrose, Dumbarton + 45 minutes at Starks Park) out of our 9 matches. The other 4.5 have been dismal, and that is down largely to McKinnon's tactics. 4/10. The next quarter will be make or break for him. I do think we have been improving slowly over the last few weeks with our two latest draws coming against undoubtedly the two best teams we have faced. I  don't think we'll drop as many silly points over the rest of the season as we did over the first few games but McKinnon has been learning extremely slowly so far

Best Signing of the summer at your club?
Given just about every player in our squad was signed this summer I'd have to go for Gomis for the reasons listed above and in terms of his consistency. Other candidates would be Telfer, Connolly, McManus and Longridge who have shown flashes.

Worst Signing at your club

Michael Tidser has probably been the most disappointing in terms of expectations. Saying that, he's generally been played too deep my McKinnon imo. The only game he played high up the park was against Dumbarton and impressed. Denny Johnstone will also rightly be disappointed with his lack of contribution so far.

Most Improved Player at your club?
Probably David McMillan as he has gained match sharpness. 

Who's winning the League?
I still think we'll win the league but currently making hard work of it under McKinnon. 

Who's making the playoffs?
Raith Rovers, East Fife and Airdrie. In that order. 

Who's finishing 9th?
Stranraer, really can't see where the goals are going to come from for them

Who's going down?
Montrose, who barely resemble a football team tbh

Best player in the league?
Ryan Thomson has impressed me as well as Scott Agnew. I wasn't at Starks on Saturday but this Regan Hendry chap seems to be well regarded.

Highlight so far of the season?
Probably Dumbarton at home.  6-0 up after 52 minutes with some decent goals thrown in. Sums up our season so far that they're now sitting 5th in the league and only 3 points behind us.

Lowlight?
Losing 1-0 to a poor Clyde side, letting down over 1,500 away fans in the process. A truly vintage FFC thing to do.

[GableEnder21]

Best Player at your club
Wee Jimmy Gomis. Uses the ball well, finds the spaces to play in and loves a tackle. A Scottish Tom Taiwo if you will. Even scored a peach at Stranraer. 

Worst Player at your club
This is a tricky one. I'm tempted to say Mark Durnan or Paul Dixon. It seems harsh to pick out two defenders when we've only conceded four goals in nine matches, but hey-ho. Other players haven't really featured such as Miller, Moore, Leitch & MacLean

Manager(s) at your club Rating
We've put in passable performances for what I would consider 4.5 (Stranraer x 2, Montrose, Dumbarton + 45 minutes at Starks Park) out of our 9 matches. The other 4.5 have been dismal, and that is down largely to McKinnon's tactics. 4/10. The next quarter will be make or break for him. I do think we have been improving slowly over the last few weeks with our two latest draws coming against undoubtedly the two best teams we have faced. I  don't think we'll drop as many silly points over the rest of the season as we did over the first few games but McKinnon has been learning extremely slowly so far

Best Signing of the summer at your club?
Given just about every player in our squad was signed this summer I'd have to go for Gomis for the reasons listed above and in terms of his consistency. Other candidates would be Telfer, Connolly, McManus and Longridge who have shown flashes.

Worst Signing at your club
Michael Tidser has probably been the most disappointing in terms of expectations. Saying that, he's generally been played too deep my McKinnon imo. The only game he played high up the park was against Dumbarton and impressed. Denny Johnstone will also rightly be disappointed with his lack of contribution so far.

Most Improved Player at your club?
Probably David McMillan as he has gained match sharpness. 

Who's winning the League?
I still think we'll win the league but currently making hard work of it under McKinnon. 

Who's making the playoffs?
Raith Rovers, East Fife and Airdrie. In that order. 

Who's finishing 9th?
Stranraer, really can't see where the goals are going to come from for them

Who's going down?
Montrose, who barely resemble a football team tbh

Best player in the league?
Ryan Thomson has impressed me as well as Scott Agnew. I wasn't at Starks on Saturday but this Regan Hendry chap seems to be well regarded.

Highlight so far of the season?
Probably Dumbarton at home.  6-0 up after 52 minutes with some decent goals thrown in. Sums up our season so far that they're now sitting 5th in the league and only 3 points behind us.

Lowlight?
Losing 1-0 to a poor Clyde side, letting down over 1,500 away fans in the process. A truly vintage FFC thing to do.

Barely resemble a football team. Bit disrespectful no? Do you remember we gave you lot a right good game and if it wasnt for our keeper making a ridiculous mistake we would have come away with a draw.

[macclyde+]

1 hour ago, GableEnder21 said:

Barely resemble a football team. Bit disrespectful no? Do you remember we gave you lot a right good game and if it wasnt for our keeper making a ridiculous mistake we would have come away with a draw.

I agree, can't see Montrose in the bottom 2 this season, Petrie has set the team up extremely well. and one of the fittest teams I've seen this season.

[Shadwell Dog]

If we punt Mckinnon by January and bring in someone with a basic knowledge of tactics we'll win the league no bother otherwise it will be a shitfest of crap games . Fortunately there's naeone else very good either so even with Mckinnon we may just scrape it.

[Reggie Perrin]

Barely resemble a football team. Bit disrespectful no? Do you remember we gave you lot a right good game and if it wasnt for our keeper making a ridiculous mistake we would have come away with a draw.

Probably was a wee bit harsh but not much. We were absolutely atrocious so bleating about just about getting a draw is not much of an argument.

[Shadwell Dog]

52 minutes ago, Reggie Perrin said:

Probably was a wee bit harsh but not much. We were absolutely atrocious so bleating about just about getting a draw is not much of an argument.

You could say that about most teams in this league including us at times. The second 45 at Kirkcaldy for one thing.

[The Moonster]

10 hours ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

Best player in the league?
Ryan Thomson

[EFFC1938]

You would win hee haw nae bother, I tried to tell you fools that before a ball had been kicked! You lot are simply not good enough to trounce this league, it's as simple as that! The Billy big baws attitude is comical

If we punt Mckinnon by January and bring in someone with a basic knowledge of tactics we'll win the league no bother otherwise it will be a shitfest of crap games . Fortunately there's naeone else very good either so even with Mckinnon we may just scrape it.

 

[BairnBrainBrian]

1 hour ago, EFFC1938 said:

You will win hee haw nae bother, I tried to tell you fools that before a ball had been kicked! You lot are simply not good enough to trounce this league, it's as simple as that! The Billy big baws attitude is comical

What I find comical is the average Fifer's reading comprehension. Try reading what SD actually said. 

[EFFC1938]

Fixed it for you. My mistake. Falkirk are a decent side but as I said from day one they wouldn't walk this league regardless of manager. Hope that clears it up for you [emoji1787]

What I find comical is the average Fifer's reading comprehension. Try reading what SD actually said. 

[BairnBrainBrian]

24 minutes ago, EFFC1938 said:

Fixed it for you. My mistake. Falkirk are a decent side but as I said from day one they wouldn't walk this league regardless of manager. Hope that clears it up for you

It isn't really any better.     

 

[Guest]

From my Falkirk perspective, it feels like McKinnon is sucking the life out of the players. The players have looked fine in brief spells, but McKinnon’s “unbeaten runs are all that counts” mentality has his players look as though they are wading through treacle in some games.

 

Little doubt that our manager is acting like a drag anchor this season. He is clearly terrified of failing again, and it’s that fear which is most likely to finish him.

 

If he doesn’t go before the end of the season, it might be down to the players themselves to come up with their own way to win games, because McKinnon has already adopted a bit of a haunted look in interviews.

 

Q1: Very good for a third, very bad for a third, and beige for a third. Utterly uninspiring.

[Brummo]

On 10/10/2019 at 15:00, Reggie Perrin said:

Probably was a wee bit harsh but not much. We were absolutely atrocious so bleating about just about getting a draw is not much of an argument.

So how do Montrose FC "barely resemble a football team"? Admittedly our goalie did seem to more closely resemble a dodgeball player for your goal. So here's the argument explained in simple steps for you...

The o.p. expected Falkirk to win the league, while predicting Montrose to finish tenth, describing them as "barely resembling a football team".

GableEnder21 responded by suggesting this assessment was  "disrespectful" considering that barring a ridiculous goalkeeping error, the teams would have likely shared the points in the only fixture, they have thus far played together this season.

This was the only ground for comparison and so to claim that on that evidence alone, when you claimed your team were "absolutely atrocious" and somehow justify that they will win the league, while Montrose will finish tenth seems an altogether weaker argument. 

I do hope this helps.

Edited October 11, 2019 by Brummo
w.w.

[Shadwell Dog]

18 hours ago, EFFC1938 said:

You would win hee haw nae bother, I tried to tell you fools that before a ball had been kicked! You lot are simply not good enough to trounce this league, it's as simple as that! The Billy big baws attitude is comical

 

 

Come on any half decent manager with our budget should scoosh this league. Just like Dunfermline, Queens and Livi. Christ a pretty average Sevco team won it by 40 popints with Ally McCoist in charge.  Our problem is our manager hasnt got a scooby . I've seen all the other teams in this league and they are exactly the standard I thought they'd be.  Unfortunately so are we with that twat in charge.

[TxRover]

On 10/10/2019 at 03:53, Shadwell Dog said:

You could say that about most teams in this league including us at times. The second 45 at Kirkcaldy for one thing.

Or, the first 45 from our side...

[Sanity check needed.]

Or, the first 45 from our side...

Big difference is your manager got the 1st half wrong then responded our manager never responded to your change in shape and left our pish full back against two players for 45 minutes.