Musselburgh Athletic 2022/2023

[Passthebaw]

FT : Musselburgh Athletic 0-1 Tynecastle 

A hugely disappointing result at Olivebank on Saturday. After picking up 4 points against Broxburn & Linlithgow Rose away, a win for the Burgh was essential for momentum, however they fell well short, particularly 2nd half.

I felt 1st half we were in control, hitting the woodwork twice from distance from O'Kane, but beyond that, never overly threatened Tynecastle's goal. Plenty possession but lacking that killer pass or offensive cohesion. Tynecastly looked dangerous too a couple of times with the long ball turning the Musselburgh defence, with DL in goals having to look sharp on one particular occasion.

The 2nd half saw an early goal for Tynecastle, capitalising on a defensive mistake from Burgh. That undoubtedly gave Tynie a lift as Musselburgh huffed and puffed trying get back into the game, using all 5 subs, but the boys in maroon saw it out comfortably and deserved their win.

As for Mussy, wow! Two awful home performances versus two very good away performances, yet with very similar personnel. 2 weeks of cup ties now, so maybe the manager will mix it up a bit and give what looked a strong bench yesterday in King, Knox, Smith, Jackson and in particular Fiddler, a chance!

 

[T H E Reeler]

22 hours ago, Passthebaw said:

FT : Musselburgh Athletic 0-1 Tynecastle 

A hugely disappointing result at Olivebank on Saturday. After picking up 4 points against Broxburn & Linlithgow Rose away, a win for the Burgh was essential for momentum, however they fell well short, particularly 2nd half.

I felt 1st half we were in control, hitting the woodwork twice from distance from O'Kane, but beyond that, never overly threatened Tynecastle's goal. Plenty possession but lacking that killer pass or offensive cohesion. Tynecastly looked dangerous too a couple of times with the long ball turning the Musselburgh defence, with DL in goals having to look sharp on one particular occasion.

The 2nd half saw an early goal for Tynecastle, capitalising on a defensive mistake from Burgh. That undoubtedly gave Tynie a lift as Musselburgh huffed and puffed trying get back into the game, using all 5 subs, but the boys in maroon saw it out comfortably and deserved their win.

As for Mussy, wow! Two awful home performances versus two very good away performances, yet with very similar personnel. 2 weeks of cup ties now, so maybe the manager will mix it up a bit and give what looked a strong bench yesterday in King, Knox, Smith, Jackson and in particular Fiddler, a chance!

 

Agreed, that’s not a bad bench to have available. I’d think many clubs would have most of these guys as first picks.

[Casey Jones]

3rd season involved in the Scottish Cup and Burgh still await their 1st home tie in the competition. 

 

Started off 2 seasons ago with a win away to Penicuik, where fate takes them again tomorrow. Always tough match up at Penicuik Park and with them winning all 4 league matches this season Musselburgh will have to be at their best to progress to the next preliminary round. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Casey Jones

[Casey Jones]

Great result today against high-fliers Penicuik. Shows that the same cup result as happened two seasons ago was no fluke. Also heard that the performance was a marked increase to when winning at Linlithgow a couple of weeks ago. Now, Burgh must keep up such performances for the league campaign and move up into to half. 

Hopefully a home ride awaits in the next preliminary round of Scottish Cup. 

[groundhopper 184]

leading on from the win at preston last weekend , yet again the burgh lads have pulled out a big result today against penicuik in the "scottish"! Yes it would be great to see a long awaited home draw, and it is more than deserved and as for the league campaign, never right these lads off! 

[Blue White Dynamite]

 

[Footballfirst]

On 27/08/2022 at 18:28, Casey Jones said:

Hopefully a home ride awaits in the next preliminary round of Scottish Cup. 

You got it, although another local derby with Newtongrange Star as the visitors.

[Casey Jones]

4 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

You got it, although another local derby with Newtongrange Star as the visitors.

Two ties definitely grab the headlines;

Jeanfield Swifts v Brechin City

Clydebank v Spartans

both home teams will definitely  fancy their chances against ‘senior’ teams. 

But this tie also will capture many interests across East/Midlothian. Newtongrange have got a pretty good record in recent seasons at Olivebank and will see this as a winnable tie. Hopefully/surely Burgh will make it 2 scalps in a row against Midlothian rivals. 

[RedLichty]

On 29/08/2022 at 19:37, Casey Jones said:

Two ties definitely grab the headlines;

Jeanfield Swifts v Brechin City

Clydebank v Spartans

both home teams will definitely  fancy their chances against ‘senior’ teams. 

But this tie also will capture many interests across East/Midlothian. Newtongrange have got a pretty good record in recent seasons at Olivebank and will see this as a winnable tie. Hopefully/surely Burgh will make it 2 scalps in a row against Midlothian rivals. 

I agree what a tie that will be at home as we welcome Nitten who’ve made a decent start to the season and who have an ex Burgh man up front.  Exciting game ahead in two weeks time.

[Guest]

I'll be there tomorrow as I won't miss this massive day for the club and the community. It works out nicely with Edinburgh being down at Queen of the South. Really looking forward to it but hoping for a considerably better performance than the one I saw at Olivebank earlier in the season (the 1-0 loss to Tynecastle).

[Passthebaw]

[groundhopper 184]

43 minutes ago, Passthebaw said:

casey jones will be a happy man tonight - all the very best joe!

[The Faceman]

13 hours ago, groundhopper 184 said:

casey jones will be a happy man tonight - all the very best joe!

Judging by the Facebook posts which were fairly brutal, the majority of whats left of the support will be pleased.

In truth seemed a nice guy and spoke everytime I seen him, but should have went after the Haddington humping last season. 

How they survived A run of 3 wins in 19 (v Pumpherston, Lochgelly and LTHV) is anyones guess.

The committee should take credit for sticking to their guns with him but must shoulder full responsibility for his appointment which was at best surprising at the time.

The few games I've seen this season the football has been awful, you could say there has been more flare in the stands than on the park. The Preston game stood out this season where Musselburgh were outplayed for vast amounts of the game against a young inexperienced side. Had the lad Devlin not launched a penalty into the forth Preston would have walked that game.

Player recruitment is a strange one for me. A club which has sold its best players consistently over the last 4 or 5 years at the strangest times of the  aseason. Bradley Whyte and Nathan Evans being the big 2, and yet the u20s side which played some superb stuff seems to have detached from the club altogether. (Folk will point to a fair number making debuts but in truth choosing to loan players in last season and not bed in some of these guys has been the tactic) totally against what the 20s team is there for.

A squad that really should be waking this league or at the very least playing the Musselburgh way has yet again failed to deliver in a fairly poor league. Guys like Knox, Smith, Stevenson, Barker, Jones with King and Myles in there shouldn't be where they are and losing at home to 9 men a division below in the biggest match in the clubs history is unforgivable.

It would be wise for those in charge to have a review of their own positions and if they believe they are taking the club forward then take time to get the right management team in place. 

I suspect they will do the opposite and plough on regardless. I don't however agree with their harshest critics on social media that the season is over but they must look in the mirror, set out a plan, get the supporters and players back onside and make a real push for promotion this season. 

[groundhopper 184]

9 hours ago, The Faceman said:

Judging by the Facebook posts which were fairly brutal, the majority of whats left of the support will be pleased.

In truth seemed a nice guy and spoke everytime I seen him, but should have went after the Haddington humping last season. 

How they survived A run of 3 wins in 19 (v Pumpherston, Lochgelly and LTHV) is anyones guess.

The committee should take credit for sticking to their guns with him but must shoulder full responsibility for his appointment which was at best surprising at the time.

The few games I've seen this season the football has been awful, you could say there has been more flare in the stands than on the park. The Preston game stood out this season where Musselburgh were outplayed for vast amounts of the game against a young inexperienced side. Had the lad Devlin not launched a penalty into the forth Preston would have walked that game.

Player recruitment is a strange one for me. A club which has sold its best players consistently over the last 4 or 5 years at the strangest times of the  aseason. Bradley Whyte and Nathan Evans being the big 2, and yet the u20s side which played some superb stuff seems to have detached from the club altogether. (Folk will point to a fair number making debuts but in truth choosing to loan players in last season and not bed in some of these guys has been the tactic) totally against what the 20s team is there for.

A squad that really should be waking this league or at the very least playing the Musselburgh way has yet again failed to deliver in a fairly poor league. Guys like Knox, Smith, Stevenson, Barker, Jones with King and Myles in there shouldn't be where they are and losing at home to 9 men a division below in the biggest match in the clubs history is unforgivable.

It would be wise for those in charge to have a review of their own positions and if they believe they are taking the club forward then take time to get the right management team in place. 

I suspect they will do the opposite and plough on regardless. I don't however agree with their harshest critics on social media that the season is over but they must look in the mirror, set out a plan, get the supporters and players back onside and make a real push for promotion this season. 

took in the game on saturday - and it was a fairly even game overall imo - a tale of a missed penalty for the home side and then the winner from nitten late on in extra time - it was that close - very entertaining game and a good crowd in and it certainly made a refreshing change from my usual schedule! defo interesting comments you make above and straight to the point faceman but i will leave this to the fans of the burra to comment and casey jones!

[The Faceman]

2 hours ago, groundhopper 184 said:

took in the game on saturday - and it was a fairly even game overall imo - a tale of a missed penalty for the home side and then the winner from nitten late on in extra time - it was that close - very entertaining game and a good crowd in and it certainly made a refreshing change from my usual schedule! defo interesting comments you make above and straight to the point faceman but i will leave this to the fans of the burra to comment and casey jones!

Have sent you a DM as far too disappointed to post further on here about Saturday. 

Would add that if your expecting many fans to post on here including Casey, you may have a long wait. I would imagine many of them like myself see Saturday as another huge disappointment, a chance for the club to make a real step forward on the park in the last 3 years, gone

 

[groundhopper 184]

1 hour ago, The Faceman said:

Have sent you a DM as far too disappointed to post further on here about Saturday. 

Would add that if your expecting many fans to post on here including Casey, you may have a long wait. I would imagine many of them like myself see Saturday as another huge disappointment, a chance for the club to make a real step forward on the park in the last 3 years, gone

 

message received and fully understand your thoughts on the matter faceman - attended the game with friends and did not want to upset any one on here with my comments - will be in touch when time allows - enjoy your football!

[MrIrvinePollock]

And yet the wins at Linlithgow and Penicuik showed another side to the squad.  Perhaps the players have let the manager down a little?

[groundhopper 184]

23 minutes ago, MrIrvinePollock said:

And yet the wins at Linlithgow and Penicuik showed another side to the squad.  Perhaps the players have let the manager down a little?

interesting point indeed!

[The Faceman]

3 hours ago, MrIrvinePollock said:

And yet the wins at Linlithgow and Penicuik showed another side to the squad.  Perhaps the players have let the manager down a little?

Having attended both games the win at Penicuik was down to a very debatable penalty and playing a hugely defensive formation with both teams kind of trying not to lose rather than win. Having said that Musselburgh did edge it.

The Linlithgow result was down to two things. The opposite in my view to yours regarding the players who I thought took the chance they created and defended from the front. Matti King in particular making the difference. Linlithgow wouldn't have scored had the game still been on, and off day for them.

Certainly wouldn't be questioning the players, that squad should have been up there challenging last season and despite the departures over the summer this squad looks like it also should be up there in a really poor league.

For me when you let guys like Bradley Whyte go who in my view was the best prospect in the league, Evans, McManus, Downie, Jeffries, Ballantyne, Orru, Page go and pretty much bench Myles and King for most of last season im struggling to see any other outcome than what has happened over the last few years.

Whilst I don't agree with the personal attacks on the management and players on Facebook (I hope the club speak to those responsible) it is clearly time for a strategic change of approach otherwise it will be the same story of high player turnover and falling further behind that we have seen over the last few years.

[Passthebaw]

A new era @ Musselburgh. Welcome back Nathan Evans