Best XI of the decade

[Infirmary Street]

So some of the higher leagues are doing ‘best’ of the last decade, which for a Brechin fan is a welcome excuse for a bit of escapism. Gone for an unusual, narrow 3-4-3 really just to fit in some of the attacking riches we had back in the day, and Barry Smith is only really there so that he could be in both the best and worst XIs

GK: Graeme Smith

DF: Barry Smith (original version)

DF: Gerry McLauchlan

DF: Paul McLean

MF: Alan Trouten

MF: Craig Molloy 

MF: Gary Fusco

MF: Neil Janczyk

ST: Charlie King

ST: Rory McAllister 

ST: Andy Jackson

Alright so you would never line up with all those guys in the same team but allow us to dream eh? 

 

Edit: few names that get an honourable mention: Craig Nelson, whose best years were in the previous decade; Robert Thomson; James Dale; Bobby Barr; didn’t see much of Garry Brady but had a touch of class.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Infirmary Street
Add some who just missed out

[qpfc]

GK- Willie Muir 

Def- Paul Mcginn 

Def-Ryan Mcgeever 

Def-Ricky Little 

Def- Darryl Meggat 

Mid-David Anderson 

Mid- Vinnie Berry 

Mid- Paul Woods  

ATT- Lawrence Shankland 

ATT- Jamie Longworth 

ATT- David Galt  

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by qpfc

[tamthebam]

it could be argued that last season's/this season's Edinburgh City squads are the teams of the decade given the positions they've reached and this is maybe more head than heart but:
GK:
would have to be a toss up between Stobie and Antell. I'll go for Stobie when he had his head screwed on right although Antell's form this season before he got injured was good. 
Defence:
Joe Mbu: Of course.
Ryan Porteous: Yes, a future Scotland internationalist played for City. Deal with it. 
Jordan Caddow: Torn faced git but consistent. 
"Sexy" Rab McIntyre: What a discovery- was wasting time playing for Tynecastle in the East of Scotland League before coming aboard. 
Midfield:
John Dunn: Consistent, a steal from Craigroyston 
Andy Black: Every midfield needs a ball winner. 
Dougie Gair: Hark the Herald Angels sing, Dougie Gair is the king. Penalty expert, great crosser of the ball and a true City legend having come up through the youth ranks. 
Marc Laird: The quiet man but such an important player. 
Strikers:
Ross Allum: Scored some cracking goals, terrorised the Lowland League defences. 
Blair Henderson: Can't really argue with last season's goal scoring feats I suppose. 

Subs (unlucky guys):
Calum Antell, Ian McFarland, Aaron Dunsmore, Conrad Balatoni, Robbie Ross, Grant Vanson. 
 

[tamthebam]

3 hours ago, qpfc said:

GK- Willie Muir 

Def- Paul Mcginn 

Def-Ryan Mcgeever 

Def-Ricky Little 

Def- Darryl Meggat 

Mid-David Anderson 

Mid- Vinnie Berry 

Mid- Paul Woods  

ATT- Lawrence Shankland 

ATT- Jamie Longworth 

ATT- David Galt  

 

It's nice to see that yon Anfield dud Andy Robertson can't make your team: "Aye, he played for Queen's but he was utter shite!" 

[The_Pit_Owns]

GK - Thomas Flynn (this is the hardest position as we've had so many good goalkeepers this decade - Davie Hay, Grant Adam, Robbie Thomson, Jamie Sneddon)

RB - David Cowan (could have had Dean Brett or Mark Baxter but I think Cowan was the most solid out of the three)
CB - John Armstrong
CB - Thomas O'Brien
LB - Kenny Adamson (I don't think anyone else comes close to Kenny for the left back slot)

RM - Marc McKenzie (incredible in our League winning season)
CM - Darren McGregor
CM - Jon Robertson
LM - Jordan Morton (he was unplayable in some games during his 6 month loan spell. Maybe the last proper left winger we had)

ST - Greg Stewart (one of the best players I've seen in a Cowden shirt)
ST - Kane Hemmings

SUBS - David McGurn, Joe Mbu, Scott Linton, Mark Ramsay, Lewis Milne, Gareth Wardlaw, Greig Spence

 

[spiders4ever]

17 hours ago, qpfc said:

GK- Willie Muir 

Def- Paul Mcginn 

Def-Ryan Mcgeever 

Def-Ricky Little 

Def- Darryl Meggat 

Mid-David Anderson 

Mid- Vinnie Berry 

Mid- Paul Woods  

ATT- Lawrence Shankland 

ATT- Jamie Longworth 

ATT- David Galt  

 

What no Andy Robertson!

[Bold Rover]

Y

On 23/11/2019 at 15:41, spiders4ever said:

What no Andy Robertson!

He called off injured.

[Vimto90]

Graeme Smith
Willie Lyle
Ross McMillan
Ross Dunlop
Ruaridh Donaldson
Paul McMullan
Eric Paton
Brian Hodge
Stevie Murray
Mark Mcguigan
John Gemmell

Was a toss up between Iain Thomson & Hodge for CM. Kevin Mckinlay the only other LB that was considered. We have had plenty of good goalies over the last 10 years but buzz just pips it for me.

[beaver1]

53 minutes ago, Vimto90 said:

Graeme Smith
Willie Lyle
Ross McMillan
Ross Dunlop
Ruaridh Donaldson
Paul McMullan
Eric Paton
Brian Hodge
Stevie Murray
Mark Mcguigan
John Gemmell

Was a toss up between Iain Thomson & Hodge for CM. Kevin Mckinlay the only other LB that was considered. We have had plenty of good goalies over the last 10 years but buzz just pips it for me.

Harry Paton?!

[Vimto90]

He was excellent but I never seen that much of him. Wasn't at many games during his spell but am sure he would make a lot of folks team.

[Francesc Fabregas]

My Best Stenhousemuir XI of the Decade is broadly the same as Vimto90's (solely because there have only been a handful of superstars in our ranks over the last 10 years) but there are one or two differences.

GK: Graeme Smith
We've been fortunate to have had a number of great goalkeepers on our books over the past few seasons - Chris Smith was a positive signing, while Greg Fleming was the Player of the Year in Scott Booth's miserable campaign of 2014/15 - but it's our current custodian that gets the nod. I don't think I've ever felt so assured by a Stenhousemuir goalie. It's easy to say "he's a great shot stopper!" but some of the saves Buzz pulls of are incredible. His performance against Heart of Midlothian in the League Cup group stages earlier in the year was extraordinary, and I believe we would have been relegated last season long before we ever reached the play-offs without him. He's strong, commanding, and I always believe we have a chance whenever we concede a penalty kick with him in goal.

LB: Ruaridh Donaldson
I don't think we've ever really been blessed with quality left-backs - off the top of my head, I'm really struggling to think of any - so Ruardidh Donaldson gets the nod by default. That's not to denigrate him, of course! Far from it! Signed from Bonnyrigg Rose in the summer of 2017, it took Donaldson a couple of games to get up to speed with SPFL football but when he did, he was flying. Fit and committed, he could motor up and down the left flank all afternoon, chucking in crosses at one end and taking out wingers at the other. I thought he could have kicked on and moved further up the food chain but he moved to London for work in June and is now turning out for Hampton and Richmond Borough. Fair play to him!

CB: Ross McMillan
There were times during Ross McMillan's first two seasons at Stenhousemuir when I couldn't quite believe he had been jobbing about in the lower leagues for so long. A strapping boy with a big barrel chest, he was an excellent defender under Davie Irons and then Martyn Corrigan. He was at his best when paired alongside Corrigan in first year with the club, with their contrasting styles complementing each other well. McMillan's influence waned in his third and fourth season and he eventually moved on to Stirling Albion, but that doesn't diminish how good a player he was in 2011/12 and 2012/13.

CB: Mick Dunlop
I always admired Mick Dunlop as player since I first saw him starring for Queen's Park and I was delighted when we signed him and his brother Ross from Albion Rovers in the summer of 2017. His two goals against Peterhead in first leg of the play-off final were tremendous, particularly the first one, and that game is one one of my favourites. Mick was a great captain and a player I think we might have been a little too hasty to have moved on after our promotion.

RB: Ross Meechan
This was the most difficult to select - Ross Meechan or Willie Lyle? Two of the most committed, dedicated players I've seen at the club and two players I really took to my heart. Meechan just edges it because he scored one of my favourite Stenhousemuir goals - a stunning left-footed curler from 20 yards against Stirling Albion - and for the moment I realised we might have a smashing player, and not a dud, on our hands after his midfield masterclass in the play-off final second leg against Queen's Park in 2015. I honestly thought he would be at the club for the whole of his career but he deserved to move onto bigger things. Jim Weir, who brought him to Forfar Athletic, described him as "pound for pound, the best signing I'll ever make", and you can't really argue with that.

CM: Eric Paton
Eric Paton. The Big Easy. The best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. My all-time favourite Stenny player whose performances over the latter stages of the 2010/11 season dragged his team from the relegation play-off places and into safety. What a baller. What a hero!

CM: Harry Paton
A wonderful footballer and the best loan player I've seen at the club. There was no finer sight than watching the on-loan Heart of Midlothian "tyro" taking the ball on the half turn in the middle of the park and motoring into the final third, his little snake hips shimmying beyond bamboozled opposition players before laying the ball on for a team-mate. Paton was brave in possession and so confident in his own ability and he made such a positive impact on the promotion-winning side of 2017/18; he was the best player in League 2 that year by a mile. I don't think he quite made the same impression when he returned on loan from Ross County for a couple of months the following season but that doesn't diminish what he achieved in his first spell with the Warriors.

CM: Brown Ferguson
There were a couple of worthy candidates to take the final position in central midfield - I loved Iain Thomson, and Mark Ferry did us a great turn between 2017 and 2019 - but Bomber gets the nod. The best adjective to describe him is "classy" - very experienced, clever on the ball, professional, a true role model and someone supporters could trust. He was briefly nicknamed "El Gol" after scoring in three consecutive matches in 2011/12. Bomber went on to manage the club before being unexpectedly sacked in 12 months ago. A daft decision!

ST: Mark "Mr Goals" McGuigan
A superstar! Mark McGuigan's goals, all 23 of them, were vital to Stenhousemuir's promotion success in 2017/18. Some of them were incredible, especially the strikes against Berwick Rangers and Clyde, both long-range stunners. McGuigan is also a true big-game player, netting in some of the club's most important matches in recent years (the play-off final first-leg against Queen's Park, the Scottish Cup fourth-round tie with Aberdeen in January. We are lucky to have him; I'm surprised he stuck around following our relegation in May.

ST: Colin McMenamin
Colin McMenamin's performance over the course of the 2014/15 season is enough to get him into the Stenhousemuir FC Hall of Fame alone. He gave Scott Booth's down-on-their-luck side a great to chance to avoid relegation, including a scoring a smashing goal in the play-off final first leg against Queen's Park. McMenamin worked hard for the team over the subsequent three years, not always with brilliant effect it must be said, but he was a handy player to have in our ranks. His move into management with the club didn't work out but he did beat Falkirk in the Scottish Cup last year, so fair play to him!

ST: John Gemmell
One of the most naturally talented forwards I've ever seen at Stenhousemuir - some of the goals he scored were incredible and some of the performances he put in were heroic (the Scottish Cup replay at Annan Athletic in 2013 immediately springs to mind) - John Gemmell was a player who had all the tools to star at a higher level, but he just couldn't be bothered half the time. For every 30-yard goal or every bull-in-a-china-shop display, there were games where he skulked around the pitch with a torn face. Still, the good outweighs the bad and more than 30 goals in two season is a very decent return.