Francesc Fabregas Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 Thursday night's match at Stair Park is shaping up to be the biggest of our season so far. Only a win will do here - anything else and Stenhousemuir will be consigned to a bottom-half finish. I'm hoping that Stranraer will have one-and-a-half eyes on their upcoming Scottish Cup tie with Hibernian (I'm sure that's a match everyone will want to be involved in) and maybe go a bit easier in this meat-and-potatoes league encounter but they're a decent side who should not be underestimated, regardless of their fixture list. The last meeting between the teams in December was a good match and Stranraer played well in the first half before completely dropping out of the game, while Stenhousemuir started poorly before rallying to claim a well-deserved point. I'm expecting something similar this time around but we cannot afford to be as complacent and give the Blues a two-goal head start. Perform to the same standard we did in the second half against Elgin City and we have a tremendous chance of winning - keep the ball on the ground, trust our ability, play it into feet. Unless there are injuries or suspensions, I think we'll go with more or less the same XI that started against Elgin last night, with Chris Kane coming in for the stricken Paul Brown: - Alan Docherty - Tam Muir - - Callum Yeats - Ryan Blair - Callum Tapping - Jack Hodge - - Chris Kane - - Creag Little - Jack Brydon - Adam Corbett - - Paddy Martin - I think we can win it and push for the play-offs, but equally I think we'll be duking it out with Albion Rovers for sixth place come the end of the season. Come on Stenny! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattmc Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 Looking forward to this one we’ve not been great of late but, we do have capable players. Tuesdays win was much needed and keeps the playoffs in touching distance however, if we’ve ambitions of playoffs we can not afford to lose this one. Not to sure of the team given the short rest period. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Midnight Express Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 5 hours ago, Francesc Fabregas said: Thursday night's match at Stair Park is shaping up to be the biggest of our season so far. Only a win will do here - anything else and Stenhousemuir will be consigned to a bottom-half finish. I'm hoping that Stranraer will have one-and-a-half eyes on their upcoming Scottish Cup tie with Hibernian (I'm sure that's a match everyone will want to be involved in) and maybe go a bit easier in this meat-and-potatoes league encounter but they're a decent side who should not be underestimated, regardless of their fixture list. The last meeting between the teams in December was a good match and Stranraer played well in the first half before completely dropping out of the game, while Stenhousemuir started poorly before rallying to claim a well-deserved point. I'm expecting something similar this time around but we cannot afford to be as complacent and give the Blues a two-goal head start. Perform to the same standard we did in the second half against Elgin City and we have a tremendous chance of winning - keep the ball on the ground, trust our ability, play it into feet. Unless there are injuries or suspensions, I think we'll go with more or less the same XI that started against Elgin last night, with Chris Kane coming in for the stricken Paul Brown: - Alan Docherty - Tam Muir - - Callum Yeats - Ryan Blair - Callum Tapping - Jack Hodge - - Chris Kane - - Creag Little - Jack Brydon - Adam Corbett - - Paddy Martin - I think we can win it and push for the play-offs, but equally I think we'll be duking it out with Albion Rovers for sixth place come the end of the season. Come on Stenny! Agree that only a win will do for Stenhousemuir so I slightly tweak your suggested line and go for it. Move Hodge in one and play Hopkirk wide right, Biabi up top with Muir for me based on his goal return which has been decent recently. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted April 14, 2021 Author Share Posted April 14, 2021 11 minutes ago, Midnight Express said: Agree that only a win will do for Stenhousemuir so I slightly tweak your suggested line and go for it. Move Hodge in one and play Hopkirk wide right, Biabi up top with Muir for me based on his goal return which has been decent recently. I respectfully disagree with your tinkering - I thought Jack Hodge turned in his best performance for the club last night from the right flank, while Botti Biabi, even although he scored the clincher, played appallingly! I can't see the manager breaking up the Docherty-Muir partnership in attack. They pair have gelled well together very quickly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Midnight Express Posted April 14, 2021 Share Posted April 14, 2021 53 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said: I respectfully disagree with your tinkering - I thought Jack Hodge turned in his best performance for the club last night from the right flank, while Botti Biabi, even although he scored the clincher, played appallingly! I can't see the manager breaking up the Docherty-Muir partnership in attack. They pair have gelled well together very quickly. I respectfully agree with your right to disagree with my tinkering of your line up Hodge did play well 1st half in an unnatural position for him, tended to come inside mostly which narrowed the attacks and congested the channels slightly which suited Elgins back line. Hopkirk offers natural width imo and will beat the full back, hit the bye line and deliver into the middle. Also chip in with goals. Muir and Doherty have gelled very well and your correct in that they will probably start, I just have a soft spot for strikers that can have a stinker and nick still nick a goal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaver1 Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Hopkirk has been terrible this season. I know he was unwell and I presume that has contributed but Muir and Docherty are our best pairing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted April 15, 2021 Author Share Posted April 15, 2021 2 hours ago, beaver1 said: Hopkirk has been terrible this season. I know he was unwell and I presume that has contributed but Muir and Docherty are our best pairing. He played well when we returned from the shutdown and turned in good performances against Albion Rovers and Peterhead, but he's been off it the last few matches. I like him but, as mentioned earlier in the thread, I'd like to see Jack Hodge keep his place in the starting XI. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STENNY ROB Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Agree that Muir and Docherty have looked good and will probably start tonight, but I still think our strongest XI has to include McGuigan. He really showed his worth with three goals in three games after the restart. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted April 15, 2021 Author Share Posted April 15, 2021 Twenty minutes in and I think I've had just about enough lower-league Scottish football for the time being, thank you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayhole Blue Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Great start!! Just need to stay focused second half now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossBFaeDundee Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Damn, a statement being made by Stranraer in those first 20 minutes it looks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dusty bin Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 KEEP THE FAITH MON THE BLUES. Get in there.!!!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaver1 Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Objective was top 4. Miles off it. Who would trust Irons to rebuild this squad? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesc Fabregas Posted April 15, 2021 Author Share Posted April 15, 2021 You simply have to say "fair play" to Stenhousemuir FC. The biggest game of the season, the match which would define whether or not we compete for promotion, and we turn in one of the most wretched performances in recent memory. I don't think I've seethed as much watching a Warriors match as much as I've done this evening. I could attempt to write a long-winded analysis of how and why we lost at Stranraer but what's the point? This was a must-win game and we well and truly fucked it up. Huge credit to Stranraer - they were light years ahead of us in every department - but our system, our levels of application, the effort from our "big name" players was completely unacceptable. Other than Paddy Martin, who kept the score respectable with some good saves, everyone in maroon should be ashamed with that. I'm embarrassed I allowed myself to get my hopes up and believe we could compete for a top-half finish. Dreadful. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Midnight Express Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Well done Stranraer, played great football all night as a cohesive unit and should have won by more than 4. Thank you Paddy Martin Really disappointing from Stenhousemuir, abjectively poor from every aspect. I genuinely thought that this was a potential top 4 squad, the season overall has shown that this was wishful thinking on my part. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
true fan Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 So why aren’t we 3rd, 4th or 5th? Defence, midfield, forwards? None of these areas seems to be rank rotten. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaver1 Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 PS Stranraer were excellent. Best of the rest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stranraerfc1870 Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 22 minutes ago, beaver1 said: PS Stranraer were excellent. Best of the rest. From the gloom of Elgin and Edinburgh Cities to the highs of Stirling Albion and Stenhousemuir, this is why we support our teams, you never know what you are going to get! Stenhousemuir just didn't turn up for the first 20 minutes and unfortunately for them Stranraer played their best 45 minutes of the season in that first half. They must have been playing for a places for this Sunday's game v Hibs! As Faz said, 'A week is a long time in football'. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonball Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilly Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Never watched the game but Stranraer have been the best team I've seen this season from the snippets I have watched. I think they will sneak up through the play offs personally. Best of luck. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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