Duncan Freemason

The only caution I would have is that Hamilton are actually bettering the Fifers results after 7 games (as are we). The Fifers had 15 points at this stage last season, whereas Accies have 19 points. There’s nothing to pick between the sides defensively (we have both conceded 4). Our attack is the big difference, and I reckon they will sit in and play for a point. We have to be more ambitious as they are going to be more concerned about us than we are about them. I can’t see this group of players being anything like as timid as last season’s. First though, the improving Mo…..

Not a big deal, but there was a Kelty punt that was about ten hundred feet in the air into our box, and I was mightily impressed at how our young keeper came and took it as clean as a whistle.

Nah. The only person that could make that happen is McGlynn, and he would have to be a muppet to even try. Accies haven’t conceded many, but they haven’t faced a forward line like ours yet. They had a superb win in Dumfries, we responded with an even better win in Kelty. Bring on the Mon………

………and we probably should have had 8! Thought MacIver was terrific today. No failures at all. Lang stepping in as Spencer’s minder was superb. Nice to see us with a team that isn’t going to be intimidated by any side fancying a bit of the rough stuff.

The best defence in the league? At time of writing, that’s an interesting spin on the number “3”.

Although they have turned it round, James Ward Prowse’ as culpable as Ogbonna for the goal he conceded. Casual and maybe even a bit arrogant, but him fannying around with the ball before passing to Ogbonna when Stanic was up to full speed and closed down Ogbonna really quickly……..that was a major contributor to conceding that goal. He could have passed the ball much earlier, but indulged in a bit of nonsense that made it much more likely that a f**k up was on the cards.

Brighton looking incredibly soft at the back. They also look very accepting of conceding goals. Interesting how many English Clubs who compete in Europe’s lesser competitions tend to look incredibly ordinary against clubs operating with a fraction of the English budgets.

Yes and no. MacIver is at his best arriving late into the box. A midfielder or two going past him to occupy the centre backs last Saturday would have made a big difference imho. MacIver played into Ambrose’s hands by ending up standing next to him rather than arriving late to get onto the end of the cross balls. So when we have the ball on the flanks, MacIver doesn’t have to be “leading the line” at that point. Him holding back and arriving a little later might be a major plus for us.

Not if we don’t win the league he doesn’t.

Man U should be delighted with a 4-3 loss.

Ten Hag sees his big skill as instilling discipline (look, see how I deal with Billy Big Boots Ronaldo, and watch me turn Harry Maguire into the world’s best Sunday League defender). He is waaaaaay out of his depth, and sadly, won’t be there for much longer. They certainly aren’t a “work in progress”.

Had it been the likes of Motherwell or Hibs they had been playing, Celtic would have had no-one sent off. The step up in quality that Europe offers up, moving up from games where most things go your way domestically to you not being the big fish in the pond, and this is what happens. That was Celtic’s only realistic chance of picking up points away from home, and they blew it. Would Ange have done any better? Probably not given that they have a squad built to compete domestically. It’s miles off being a side capable of getting anywhere in Europe other than bottom of their group.

Champing.

^^^^^ Admin.

Yep, that move was classic McGlynn tinkering. He has absolutely no need to indulge in change for the sake of change as even our weakened team are doing just fine. Sure, bring back the likes of Miller and Alfie when available, but that should be about it. Ethan Ross is going to get game time (probably ahead of Nesbitt), and I reckon McGlynn will play him at every opportunity. Just no more of last season’s baffling nonsense.

Right, this was the scene for a classic McGlynn tinkering clusterfuck last season in the first encounter, although we did better in the second encounter. While the Board have invested heavily in squad additions, for once, it’s starting to pay off, and in terms of quality, I don’t think there’s a squad as good as ours in this league. Having said that, last Saturday, we were far too predictable in our attacking play (and worryingly unpredictable in some of our defensive play). Brad Spencer was the difference between a cracking 3 points, and a turgid 1 point. Anyway, the return of Miller and Alfie could improve us massively (but the chances of both returning looks slim at best). Provided McGlynn leaves his traditional autumn tinkering book in the boot of his car, we shouldn’t lose this game, but we need something more in our locker than endlessly pinging it out to Morrison and hoping for the best. Win this, and the upgrade in momentum would be massive. Therefore I will go for an upbeat 1-3 Bairns win.

Nope, he could burn the place down, and he’d get told not to do it again. He is a protected species at Cove.

It was all the more frustrating because despite our 20 or so crosses (with 50% being howlers, and the rest ending up as somewhere between decent enough and very good, no-one was really getting on the end of them other than MacIver for two (which came to nothing). Therein lies the problem on Saturday. MacIver really was “one man up front” with the wide guys and midfield miles behind him. If you look back at when MacIver is really dangerous in the air, it’s when he arrives late into the box and comes on to the ball. On Saturday, he always tended to be static……already in the box, already picked up by Ambrose who, from a standing start, had MacIver’s number all day long………apart from the two times when came onto the ball with Ambrose’s comparative lack of mobility not able to do anything about it. Ok, on both cases, we didn’t score, but by coming a bit deeper in order to come onto crosses is where MacIver’s real impact will come from. Being static in the box is always going to limit his effectiveness. Maybe something to be worked on.

Was that a 3-2 game?

Agree, mid table doesn’t mean much at this time of the season, and in a 10 team league, you could argue there’s actually no such thing until the season is done. There’s usually 5 sides vying for the play offs, and three dragged into the 9th and 10th place finishes, so not much room for sides not to be involved in either battle.

Tbf, you could get make a case for Queens deserving to get beat simply for the time wasting and play acting alone. The two players who feigned injury only to suddenly pop back to their feet when Queens had possession were both worthy of yellow cards. The ref wasn’t brilliant, but he did try to keep the game flowing, and didn’t make any outrageous decisions. Anyone have a decent view of the Lawal trip in the box? Couldn’t really tell from the main stand.

Tbh, I would partially agree that we might have issues against a proficient side that is designed to play on the break, but we are far more vulnerable to self inflicted defensive f**k ups than we are to breakaways. L1 is L1 so I doubt that there is anyone sufficiently “better” to take full advantage, but we could easily have shipped three howlers on another day. It doesn’t matter who makes up the back four, we see the same mistakes repeatedly. I think Spencer is clearly the player who makes the difference. Way more than anyone else, his absence would affect results. 100% agree with Bairnardo…….that goal felt absolutely huge, and for more than just the 3 points. It’s the kind of game where we generally let everyone down, but today, we didn’t. We simply have to keep it going though, and McGlynn must find a way (or a coach) who can fix that defence. Thankfully Spencer found a way that didn’t involve the endless “give it to Morrison, cross, repeat” which was getting us absolutely nowhere. Great result, and hopefully, a very key one.

Agreed. Let’s all stick with early onset dementia.

Funnily enough, I reckon we could give them a proper doing. A 4-1 home canter sounds about right (and the octopus that gave me the tip completely agrees).

I was just told that the Rawlins are part of an American consortium who have bought Sheffield Wednesday. I think that will firmly shut the door on them re-appearing at TFS any time soon (as backers). Not sure if it’s an entirely done deal, but some eye watering numbers for the current owner to write off if it all goes through. https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/further-huddersfield-town-takeover-information-emerges/