Kilwinning Rangers 23/24

[Park the Buffs]

I agree with you FM that Gormley must take the lions share of responsibility for our relegation. Chris Aiken must be given a chance to build his own team.

One factor in our relegation that has not been mentioned and ironically is a positive (sort of) is our performance in the cup competitions. Buffs had a decent season in terms of the 3 cup competitions they entered. In the West they thumped Arthurlie and put out St Cadocs and Drumchapel  before losing on penalties to Talbot at Talbot in the semi final. In the big Scottish Tranent were beaten and Buffs hosted Forfar in R2 - quite a milestone. They went deep in the South Challenge cup also reaching the QF. The upshot of all this cup success however was that they were massively behind most of the other teams in the league in terms of games played. This lead to huge fixture congestion at the business end of the season and an horrendous injury last. One example - we were sent to Talbot on a Monday night before the pivotal 3-5 Cambuslang game on the Wednesday. Would Cambuslang have won that match if Buffs hadn’t expended a huge amount of energy at Beechwood?

I guess my point is - if the Buffs want to get back to the top flight immediately they are going to have to prioritise league games at the expense of cup runs. The South Challenge cup has completely failed to capture the imagination of anyone. The QF at Buffs Park against Gartcairn was one of the lowest key occasions imaginable. A drab game in front of a poor crowd. If that had been the QF of the old Junior Scottish the place would have been raucous (and full)! I’d play the Under 20s in it next season.

 

 

[jimbaxters]

3 minutes ago, Park the Buffs said:

I agree with you FM that Gormley must take the lions share of responsibility for our relegation. Chris Aiken must be given a chance to build his own team.

One factor in our relegation that has not been mentioned and ironically is a positive (sort of) is our performance in the cup competitions. Buffs had a decent season in terms of the 3 cup competitions they entered. In the West they thumped Arthurlie and put out St Cadocs and Drumchapel  before losing on penalties to Talbot at Talbot in the semi final. In the big Scottish Tranent were beaten and Buffs hosted Forfar in R2 - quite a milestone. They went deep in the South Challenge cup also reaching the QF. The upshot of all this cup success however was that they were massively behind most of the other teams in the league in terms of games played. This lead to huge fixture congestion at the business end of the season and an horrendous injury last. One example - we were sent to Talbot on a Monday night before the pivotal 3-5 Cambuslang game on the Wednesday. Would Cambuslang have won that match if Buffs hadn’t expended a huge amount of energy at Beechwood?

I guess my point is - if the Buffs want to get back to the top flight immediately they are going to have to prioritise league games at the expense of cup runs. The South Challenge cup has completely failed to capture the imagination of anyone. The QF at Buffs Park against Gartcairn was one of the lowest key occasions imaginable. A drab game in front of a poor crowd. If that had been the QF of the old Junior Scottish the place would have been raucous (and full)! I’d play the Under 20s in it next season.

 

 

Great post pal. Positivity in the aftermath of being relegated. Chapeau!

[Park the Buffs]

Apologies. The pivotal 3-5 game I’m referring to was in fact against Petershill

[energyzone]

5 minutes ago, Park the Buffs said:

Apologies. The pivotal 3-5 game I’m referring to was in fact against Petershill

That defeat did knock the stuffing out of us, along with the 5-4 defeat at Hurlford, the last minute goal conceded at Arthurlie and last night - a game in which we had enough chances to win by a wide margin and were by far the better team.

 

Last night summed up our season pretty well - we can score but we concede early and often.  I can't fault the effort of the players and some of the passing and movement was very good. But we can't afford to miss a penalty at 1-0 down and waste umpteen chances and then expect to win.  Although I am still scratching my head in amazement at how the referee and assistant missed the clear handball by the Troon player immediately before giving Troon a penalty for handball.  No wonder Mark Millar went off his head.

 

It was clear that a reset over the summer was required a while ago and hopefully the manager is given the chance to stay (and actually wants to stay). He looked drained when he left the sidelines last night.

 

In a way it was a bizarre season, good performances in the cups while we dipped dramatically in the league. First appearance in the Scottish Cup. Chris Strain winning the league with his new club in a game against us. The chairman resigning.

 

Looking forward to a few new places to visit next season however I'm not sure how easy it will be to attract decent players at that level without being significantly financially backed.

 

As an aside, £8 for that entertainment last night - despite the result and the significance of it - is by some way the best value in football.  My £25 for Rugby Park on Saturday won't come near it.

[funky monkey]

2 hours ago, Park the Buffs said:

I agree with you FM that Gormley must take the lions share of responsibility for our relegation. Chris Aiken must be given a chance to build his own team.

One factor in our relegation that has not been mentioned and ironically is a positive (sort of) is our performance in the cup competitions. Buffs had a decent season in terms of the 3 cup competitions they entered. In the West they thumped Arthurlie and put out St Cadocs and Drumchapel  before losing on penalties to Talbot at Talbot in the semi final. In the big Scottish Tranent were beaten and Buffs hosted Forfar in R2 - quite a milestone. They went deep in the South Challenge cup also reaching the QF. The upshot of all this cup success however was that they were massively behind most of the other teams in the league in terms of games played. This lead to huge fixture congestion at the business end of the season and an horrendous injury last. One example - we were sent to Talbot on a Monday night before the pivotal 3-5 Cambuslang game on the Wednesday. Would Cambuslang have won that match if Buffs hadn’t expended a huge amount of energy at Beechwood?

I guess my point is - if the Buffs want to get back to the top flight immediately they are going to have to prioritise league games at the expense of cup runs. The South Challenge cup has completely failed to capture the imagination of anyone. The QF at Buffs Park against Gartcairn was one of the lowest key occasions imaginable. A drab game in front of a poor crowd. If that had been the QF of the old Junior Scottish the place would have been raucous (and full)! I’d play the Under 20s in it next season.

 

 

A very good post indeed.

The cup runs provided a false sense of security as in the games in hand. But, as we know points on the board are better than games in hand.

The Talbot game on the Monday leading into the Petershill game on the Wednesday was pretty pivotal. Up 3 - 1 against Petershill looking comfortable, we lost a goal just before HT, second half we offered little, some of that attributed to fatigue no doubt, losing out 5 - 3 in the end.

Going to Arthurlie, we put in a pretty weak performance in a game we really needed not to lose. Despite the injury time winner, Arthurlie deserved the win as they had two good goals chopped off (in my opinion).

After Arthurlie, it was a battle for survival and we just didn't do enough.

Cup runs are great, but not to the detriment of league survival. It became evident that the cups were getting in the way of our league position. We just didn't have to squad to cope with both and the eventual fixture congestion.

[funky monkey]

1 hour ago, energyzone said:

That defeat did knock the stuffing out of us, along with the 5-4 defeat at Hurlford, the last minute goal conceded at Arthurlie and last night - a game in which we had enough chances to win by a wide margin and were by far the better team.

 

Last night summed up our season pretty well - we can score but we concede early and often.  I can't fault the effort of the players and some of the passing and movement was very good. But we can't afford to miss a penalty at 1-0 down and waste umpteen chances and then expect to win.  Although I am still scratching my head in amazement at how the referee and assistant missed the clear handball by the Troon player immediately before giving Troon a penalty for handball.  No wonder Mark Millar went off his head.

 

It was clear that a reset over the summer was required a while ago and hopefully the manager is given the chance to stay (and actually wants to stay). He looked drained when he left the sidelines last night.

 

In a way it was a bizarre season, good performances in the cups while we dipped dramatically in the league. First appearance in the Scottish Cup. Chris Strain winning the league with his new club in a game against us. The chairman resigning.

 

Looking forward to a few new places to visit next season however I'm not sure how easy it will be to attract decent players at that level without being significantly financially backed.

 

As an aside, £8 for that entertainment last night - despite the result and the significance of it - is by some way the best value in football.  My £25 for Rugby Park on Saturday won't come near it.

An excellent post. The team showed what it was capable of last night, plenty good football and goals in us, but simply unable to defend properly.

I agree re your Kilmarnock comment. I love Killie, but the overall match day experience at WoSFL level, value for money and general banter amongst supporters really can't be beaten.

[Johnny Sox]

As a neutral that was good entertainment last night and Buffs deserved more from it.

[funky monkey]

6 minutes ago, Johnny Sox said:

As a neutral that was good entertainment last night and Buffs deserved more from it.

Aye we didn't deserve to lose the game, but thems the breaks as they say.

[AM-1]

Watched the Buffs v Cambuslang recently and as bad as Camby were Kilwinning were horrific for a club having back the previous manager as much as they did.

[funky monkey]

1 hour ago, AM-1 said:

Watched the Buffs v Cambuslang recently and as bad as Camby were Kilwinning were horrific for a club having back the previous manager as much as they did.

We were down to the bare bones that night and very low on confidence. The pitch was as poor as I've seen at our level of football. Got the job done that night though.

[Peter Culter]

I think it’ll be important for the club to take stock not only on what has happened on the park this season but also off it.

All work around the ground has shuddered to a halt (basically as soon as Colin Boyd left) with the stand incomplete despite a roof being promised months ago and seating being left to rust.

As a supporter I must admit to having concerns as to what is going on behind-the-scenes.

[Shannon]

55 minutes ago, Peter Culter said:

I think it’ll be important for the club to take stock not only on what has happened on the park this season but also off it.

All work around the ground has shuddered to a halt (basically as soon as Colin Boyd left) with the stand incomplete despite a roof being promised months ago and seating being left to rust.

As a supporter I must admit to having concerns as to what is going on behind-the-scenes.

It seems to me as an outsider that Colin Boyd and Chris Strain were the big driving forces behind the Buffs success & revival in recent years and without them both will be a rebuild job for you guys for next season.

With Johnstone Burgh apparently spending big plus I expect Drumchapel, Kilbirnie, Petershill and perhaps Renfrew all to be reasonably strong next season there is no guarantee to bounce back straight away.

Edited May 11, 2023 by Shannon

[Lokloyal]

When we had a hard fought draw against Kilwinning I didn’t see Kilwinning struggling in the league the way they did .

[Benny Factor]

1 hour ago, Lokloyal said:

When we had a hard fought draw against Kilwinning I didn’t see Kilwinning struggling in the league the way they did .

I was at that game and thought the buffs were the better side by a good bit.

knee jerk reaction imo but we’ll never know. Certainly a poorer side 2nd half of the season going by performances and results

[Thejackdaw]

1 minute ago, Benny Factor said:

I was at that game and thought the buffs were the better side by a good bit.

knee jerk reaction imo but we’ll never know. Certainly a poorer side 2nd half of the season going by performances and results

I think you were probably  quite prominent in the dugout at that game ........

[Benny Factor]

1 minute ago, Thejackdaw said:

I think you were probably  quite prominent in the dugout at that game ........

Aye ok sherlock

[Johnny Sox]

5 hours ago, Shannon said:

It seems to me as an outsider that Colin Boyd and Chris Strain were the big driving forces behind the Buffs success & revival in recent years and without them both will be a rebuild job for you guys for next season.

With Johnstone Burgh apparently spending big plus I expect Drumchapel, Kilbirnie, Petershill and perhaps Renfrew all to be reasonably strong next season there is no guarantee to bounce back straight away.

Don't think Kilbirnie  will be close to the top next season.

[Arthurlie1981]

Firstly, I know it was between Buffs and us for the final relegation spot and as much as I am delighted to be staying up I have been where Buffs fans have been today and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. 

Hope you guys bounce back at the 1st attempt as the club deserves to be in the top league with the improved facilities and work that has been done to achieve a licence. 

[Plantar fasciitis]

On 11/05/2023 at 07:27, funky monkey said:

Yes the jury is out. We've just been relegated under the manager. We need some stability though, he's gotta be given the opportunity to turn things around, put his own stamp on things.

Two things really hampered us this season, the lack of an an experienced, dominant, vocal centre half and injuries to goalkeepers. If we had sorted both of these issues out, been a bit luckier with injuries, we wouldn't be in this position. However, we are and we've just got to move on and look ahead to next season.

Unfortunately bud those types of centre half's are very few and far between these days. I've only recently got back into junior football and there does seem to be a distinct lack of vocal out and out defenders who put the fear of god in strikers! Players seem so much quieter on the park and in general lack real aggression and a will to win! 

[funky monkey]

22 hours ago, Plantar fasciitis said:

Unfortunately bud those types of centre half's are very few and far between these days. I've only recently got back into junior football and there does seem to be a distinct lack of vocal out and out defenders who put the fear of god in strikers! Players seem so much quieter on the park and in general lack real aggression and a will to win! 

They seem to be. No more Sloan's, Cameron's, Currie's, Fabiani's or Shearer's, guys who would put their bodies on the line for the jersey and their team mates.