The WSC Championship season preview 20-21

[AyrshireTon]

Here's the annual questions from When Saturday Comes (which only asks questions of the top flight fans in Scotland).

I've done away with the lockdown question as it's been done elsewhere in the forums, and gone with the usual like/dislike. Let's hear your thoughts!

 

1. How will you do this season?

We seem to be sitting back letting other teams sign any targets we may have had our eyes on. The quality of our late surge of loan signings will be the difference between mid-table and something worse.

2. Best moment of last season?

When Nicky Cadden rolled the ball in to put us 2-1 up at Somerset Park and all but climbed into the away end to join in the scenes. It seemed that any lingering relegation doubts were washed away with the torrential rain that night.

3. Worst moment of last season?

The defeat at Firhill in November. An hour gone and a poor Thistle are reduced to 10 men. Within ten minutes we were 2-1 down. Relegation doubts appeared.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

Could say Morton for both for the freely-scoring/freely-conceding tactics, but I'll say I liked Raith Rovers for finishing ahead of world giants Falkirk at lockdown. Disliked Partick Thistle for beating us twice despite being really awful.

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them?

The TV advertising monitors could be named after any current player to make up for the fact that they spent last season showing a picture of Gary Harkins and Michael Tidser, both of whom had left the club ages ago.

 

[Chubbychops]

1. How will you do this season?

Looking for 3rd place this season. We seem to put together decent squads and still end up mid table. This season we look like a team that minimum should be 4th. If we don't Crawford will be out. 

2. Best moment of last season?

 Kevin Nisbet's goal in the Friday night TV game against Dundee. Pars had been on a really bad run at the time(think 5 defeats in a row) and it's goals like that, that remind you of why you stick by your team through the bad times.

 

3. Worst moment of last season?

 Josh Edwards clearance off the Alloa player to let O'Hara in to score at EEP. We lost 3-1 and things were pretty bleak at that point. I was enjoying hospitality that day and as happens quite a lot, the match puts a dampener on your otherwise good day out.

 

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

Dislike these Friday night games hitting us in the pocket. Both our home games against Dundee were on a Friday night and massively affected our crowd. That TV deal is hitting us hard in the pocket. My like was beating Dundee Utd 2-0 at home for the first time in their 4 year stint in the championship. Everybody else seemed to have no problems beating them over that period, but we always seemed to give them too much respect.

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them?

The Tom Lang gymnasium. Quick look on instagram and you can see that he's spent a lot more time in there than on the East End Park turf.

Edited September 5, 2020 by Chubbychops

[johnnydun]

1. How will you do this season?

Personally, I think we can get top spot. A really poor Hearts side coming down, with Neilson as boss in a shortened season, I don't see why not.

2. Best moment of last season?

Not many, but the clean sheets before the lock down was a positive.

3. Worst moment of last season?

The last 10 mins against Partick Thistle at Dens, I don't think I have ever seen us collapse that badly.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

Young Robertson was a breath of fresh air, really positive and confident for his age. I dislike Jack Hamilton.

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them?

The Paul McGowan police box.

[callum-ayr]

1. How will you do this season?

The signings so far have me very optimistic. Some good acquisitions and hopeful of another top 4 finish. Hearts apart, we seem to have as good a starting 11 as others.

2. Best moment of last season?

The 4-1 Kerrball demolition of Judas McCalls relegated Thistle was lovely. Could really have been any scoreline and it was just lovely to see. The highland double in a week was also pleasing. 

3. Worst moment of last season?

The St Johnstone defeat in the cup was a bit of a pisser. We started really well and were going well until Muirhead decided to just lose  the plot. 

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

I liked to see Thistle get the Falkirk comeuppance of being pish, flinging more cash at it and still being relegated. Disliked the Friday night football and the 7.05pm kick offs. 

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them?

With the squad all being relatively new barring one or two, this is quite an easy one. Moffat only a few goals off a century for the club and has scored some important and great goals over the years he’s been here. 

[Dunning1874]

1. How will you do this season?

If we were to start the season with the current squad we'd be guaranteed to finish 10th. We're still a month away so there's no need for panic yet and other clubs have obviously still got work to do as well, but we need a minimum of four signings who'll strengthen the starting XI to have any realistic prospect of staying out of the relegation battle.

2. Best moment of last season?

Scudding Queen of the South 4-0 at Palmerston. We were unbeaten in seven going into it but most of them had been draws and there were question marks of whether we'd actually turned the corner. That day we were imperious and it should have been six or seven.

3. Worst moment of last season?

I missed both defeats to Partick which are the obvious candidates for worst result of the season. After losing to them at Cappielow in December we went 9th, it was our sixth defeat in eight games and we were favourites for relegation. At that point you couldn’t really see a way out.

Of games I actually saw, clinging on for a replay at home to Brora was grim stuff and having to watch Henk Van Schaik try to play football for an hour at Ayr will sadly be seared into my memory forever.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

It's not his fault that he'd been picked up and thrust into a level of football he wasn't good enough for, but along with being the worst goalkeeper I've seen not only at Morton but in professional football full stop Sam Ramsbottom's attitude stank. It was impossible not to dislike him.

Nicky Cadden, though.

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them?

Name the long since rusting stand we bought from St Mirren after Robbie Muirhead, since no one knows why we still have either of them.

[ayrunitedfw]

1. How will you do this season?

Normally I’m pessimistic going into a season however I’m really hopeful about the season ahead. I suspect Hearts will win the league however not as comfortable as many in the media are predicting. I reckon it will be ourselves, Dundee, The Pars and ICT fighting it out for the three playoff places. 

2. Best moment of last season?

Scudding the rat McCall on his return to Somerset Park was truly glorious. We were outstanding that day and it could of been far more than the 4-1 pumping it ended up being. Atmosphere was also very good. 

3. Worst moment of last season?

Nothing really jumps out here but I’d probably say the pumping we received at Palmerston. We always take a big crowd down there and is one of the better away days in the league but we never win there. Did it put a dampener on the day? Absoulotely not.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

Grant Gillespie wasn’t that bad but he was a complete meh player. I said it when it was announced he had left that he’s the kind of player we will forget even played for us in a couple of seasons time.

Daniel Harvie and Stephen Kelly, our POTY and YPOTY will both be massive losses this season. 

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them?

Michael Moffat is probably a club legend. Think he’s 3 or 4 goals off 100 goals and hopefully he hits that this season. No disrespect to the likes of AR and Annan but he’s got a massive chance to do so in the league cup games. 

[Father Barrys Sign (Top Half)]

 

 

1. How will you do this season?

We'll certainly compete strongly again. With the majority of the squad retained, the spirit if the group will provide the continuity to build on last season. Grant had an understandably sticky start as manager, but found some real solutions and we were on a great run of form when the season was stopped. However, the loss of our 2 best performers- Flannigan and O'Hara- leaves Alloa with some major voids to fill.

2. Best moment of last season?

 

The final match before shutdown- the home win over Inverness- was the most complete performance of the season. Alloa were totally dominant, and Scott Banks had a pretty wonderful afternoon- an outing supporters were raving about after the game

 

3. Worst moment of last season?

An early home defeat to Arbroath, who tactically outclassed us. The knives were out a bit for the manager that day, very prematurely.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

The aforementioned O'Hara and Flannigan were our top performers. O'Hara came in at a crossroad and worked tirelessly every game. Add a brilliant goal return, and he earned his move back to full time football. Flannigan made everything tick for us, with awareness and composure levels way above part time level. Still pretty down in the dumps that it was his last season

No player really underperformed, so the main dislike was our horrendous run of injuries. We missed huge players like Parry, Trouten and Graham for huge chunks of the campaign. Parrys replacement, Jamie MacDonald was a revelation and then also pulled up injured. 

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them

Andy Graham. One the best leaders Alloa have had at the club. Not getting any younger, it remains to be seen how he recovers after a bad injury. But his status at the club is already fairly cemented.

[Skyline Drifter]

1. How will you do this season?

It's a cop out, I know, but it's far too early to say. If we ignore the 15 Reserve squad players confirmed yesterday, we have 10 signed players, one of whom is stepping directly up from the South of Scotland League without a senior professional appearance in his career.  We have two signed defenders and presumably something like 6 or 7 more to come in. Along with perhaps Morton, we have been last to start re-assembling a squad, and Morton have more players to stsrt from. 

I suppose given everybody has us slated for 9th or 10th we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

2. Best moment of last season?

Not a great season but taking Dundee United apart 4-0 at Palmerston with Dobbie scoring twice and El Bakhtaoui absolutely running the show was a highlight. 

3. Worst moment of last season?

Pretty much all of 2020 but as a single moment, waking up to the news one day in late January that Rangers were recalling Robby McCrorie to send him to Livingston. We never won another game. It wasnt the only reason but it wasnt a coincidence either.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

El Bakh was a revelation after the laughter of Dunfermline fans when we signed him. Used in a far more creative wide role than the centre forward role they played him in he was terrific and his January departure was also a huge factor in our collapse.

Nothing personal against the club which has a lot of great people involved but dislike the fact we never beat bloody Alloa! 

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them

Most. Obvious. Answer. Ever.

Edited September 5, 2020 by Skyline Drifter

[Monkey Tennis]

On 05/09/2020 at 21:40, Skyline Drifter said:

1. How will you do this season?

It's a cop out, I know, but it's far too early to say. If we ignore the 15 Reserve squad players confirmed yesterday, we have 10 signed players, one of whom is stepping directly up from the South of Scotland League without a senior professional appearance in his career.  We have two signed defenders and presumably something like 6 or 7 more to come in. Along with perhaps Morton, we have been last to start re-assembling a squad, and Morton have more players to stsrt from. 

I suppose given everybody has us slated for 9th or 10th we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

2. Best moment of last season?

Not a great season but taking Dundee United apart 4-0 at Palmerston with Dobbie scoring twice and El Bakhtaoui absolutely running the show was a highlight. 

3. Worst moment of last season?

Pretty much all of 2020 but as a single moment, waking up to the news one day in late January that Rangers were recalling Robby McCrorie to send him to Livingston. We never won another game. It wasnt the only reason but it wasnt a coincidence either.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

El Bakh was a revelation after the laughter of Dunfermline fans when we signed him. Used in a far more creative wide role than the centre forward role they played him in he was terrific and his January departure was also a huge factor in our collapse.

Nothing personal against the club which has a lot of great people involved but dislike the fact we never beat bloody Alloa! 

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them

Most. Obvious. Answer. Ever.

Pretty much all of that.

Worst moment came in 2019 though, in the form of Queens Park in the Cup.

[Skyline Drifter]

22 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Pretty much all of that.

Worst moment came in 2019 though, in the form of Queens Park in the Cup.

Meh, it was a huge disappointment of course but, in common with the rest of our cup performances last season, we got what we deserved. I was more disappointed to lose McCrorie, certainly on reflection and the overall impact on the season. I guess at the very moment we lost him I probably hoped we'd replace him better and it wouldn't have the drastic effect it did end up having.

It's been lost in amongst the general enthusiasm about Dykes (except from you of course, and Dougal) but whilst he didn't play, and there were other reasons such as there not being many Scottish keepers in the Premier to choose from, but McCrorie being called up to a Scotland squad even more quickly after leaving Queens than Dykes was shows how good he was.

[RiG]

1. How will you do this season?

Expecting a slight drop back this season but hopefully we'll still have enough to bag a playoff spot. I think Dundee and Dunfermline have as good / slightly better starting XIs than we do after the guys we've lost but I think our manager is better than McPake and Crawford. I think we'll be around 3rd or 4th.

2. Best moment of last season?

We easily dispatched a strong Livi side in the Scottish Cup (admittedly they have troubles away from home) before we were pumped by Hibs. In the league perhaps the highlight was a strong 2 - 0 win over Ayr in October which saw Shaun Rooney scoring a goal and then celebrating with the fans after the game which also included someone in a giant Pikachu costume. Rooney also took a selfie with supporters after the game as well. I miss him...

3. Worst moment of last season?

We only played them twice due to the truncated season but getting rag dolled by Partick fucking Thistle in both of these games was definitely a low point. Another one was being completely and utterly ruined by Arbroath at Gayfield. IIRC it was mentioned after the game that (some of) the players had very much underestimated the Smokies and as a result we got a proper kicking and rightly so if that was the attitude some of the players took. Embarrassing.

Looking at the wider campaign being schooled by Hibs in the Scottish Cup was a harsh reminder of the gulf between where we find ourselves now and where we used to play.

4. Who did you like and dislike last season?

We were thumped by Dundee United and Partick Thistle every time we played them last season so it's got to be them. Even though we played them about 6 times last season games against Alloa were always pretty good. Grant had his side playing good football and the matches between the sides tended to have plenty of action and good goals. Even when Alloa dismantled us 2 - 0 in March it was hard to bear much of a grudge as they were utterly superb to watch.

5. Which current player at your club should have part of the ground named after them?

Aaron Doran because of his loyalty to the club after so many years though some might argue the club have been pretty loyal to him as well after his injury problems in previous campaigns.

[RandomGuy.]

13 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

McCrorie being called up to a Scotland squad even more quickly after leaving Queens than Dykes was shows how good he was.

Its more down to him being the U21 keeper, and not having the massive hindrance of being a non-OF player, than his actual quality.

He looks ropey as f**k with any ball near him in the box.

[Skyline Drifter]

53 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Its more down to him being the U21 keeper, and not having the massive hindrance of being a non-OF player, than his actual quality.

He looks ropey as f**k with any ball near him in the box.

He didn't while here. Anyway, that's a lazy dismissive analysis. He's not been put in the squad "because he's the u21 keeper". He's been put in it because he's the next best available Scottish keeper. Granted I already acknowledged the paucity of options actually playing at the moment with only McCrorie, Ross Laidlaw and the Hamilton keeper currently playing in the Premiership who are Scottish I think. I expect if Zander Clark had actually been fit he'd have got the call first, but he isn't and didn't.

[RandomGuy.]

24 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

He's not been put in the squad "because he's the u21 keeper". 

He literally was, as part of preparing Marshalls eventual successor by getting them in the squads. McCrorie is first in the queue due to playing for the U21s.

[Skyline Drifter]

11 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

He literally was, as part of preparing Marshalls eventual successor by getting them in the squads. McCrorie is first in the queue due to playing for the U21s.

Well no, he literally wasn't. Doohan has played as much for the u21's as McCrorie has recently. He literally was picked because he was perceived as the 3rd best keeper available.

[RandomGuy.]

Just now, Skyline Drifter said:

Well no, he literally wasn't. Doohan has played as much for the u21's as McCrorie has recently. He literally was picked because he was perceived as the 3rd best keeper available.

Because he was the U21 keeper, otherwise Bain would've been in.

[craigkillie]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

Its more down to him being the U21 keeper, and not having the massive hindrance of being a non-OF player, than his actual quality.

He looks ropey as f**k with any ball near him in the box.

Steve Clarke being a big massive Rangers fan and all that.

[Skyline Drifter]

6 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Because he was the U21 keeper, otherwise Bain would've been in.

Bain hasn't played a game since February. If he' d been playing he WOULD have been in, regardless of whether McCrorie is the u21 keeper or not. You're spectacularly missing the point here. He wasn't taken along just because he's the u21 keeper. He was the 3rd pick because behind Marshall (the established no 1) and McLaughlin (certainly the best of the Scots in the Premiership playing regularly) he was deemed a better choice than Laidlaw and Fulton. And he is.

I'm pretty sure if Bain had been playing for Celtic or Clark playing for St Johnstone they'd have been picked before McCrorie.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Skyline Drifter

[HoBNob]

40 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

Steve Clarke being a big massive Rangers fan and all that.

Steve Clarke hates St Johnstone, probably. 

[vikingTON]

3 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

Its more down to him being the U21 keeper, and not having the massive hindrance of being a non-OF player, than his actual quality.

He looks ropey as f**k with any ball near him in the box.

Have you sent a cringeworthy memo to Steve Clarke telling him who to pick in his squad, following the roaring success of your 'here's who I found from my ten minutes on Wyscout!*' dossier to Saint Johnstone the other week?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*that you paid real, actual money for like the world's biggest loser