Passionate

A surreal Lanarkshire derby played on glorious sunshine on front of both sets of disgruntled fans for various reasons... Watching the game it looked like a nil nil all over it, Airdrie are really playing identical to this time last season main difference we have less proven weapons this season, Keeper and CB were decent and there link up with midfield will improve, My main gripe os midfield which we should control, we don't due to basic setup, Frizzell is a good player, bit lacks pace and is not a leader, Gallagher has a bit of the Devenneys about him, massive improvement on physique and maturity from last season, compare him today to the cup final last season , night and day... Armstrong is arguably our best midfielder handicapped on recent games like today with a silly first half booking, he is never the same player when on a yellow.. McGrattan and Mochrie are the boo boys favourites, personally think Mochrie is a technically good player and is effective on the final third, he gets heavily criticised for his lack of effective tracking back, IMo there is plenty midfielders and defenders who can work harder and defend as a unit than rely on their only out ball tracking back.. Wilson was marshalled well throughout by Accies,, he is a very good striker at this level but has to start taking his chances, Aaron Reid who I was critical about gave us a glimpse of what he can do, a Jimmy Lister esque finish getting us back in the game, he is not the answer though, We have 2 loanees left, we have a wicked run of fixtures in September if we can get reinforcements in, don't wait till the last minute please..

Oh OK, so the imminent is not imminent then.. Onwards and upwards

Rocky, Your the man with the yellow tie on, what's the latest, The PEN run out of ink, you have gave us a bit of hope for a few days there, We know what we need, time to deliver....

That's us close to the witching hour, Hopefully hear about a forward player today, is that more hope than expectation though... If not are we going to put a bit of "spin" on it, with the loan window up at end of sept for loans from the league above..

Is Telfer struggling for you guys, very good player at championship level, can you. see him getting loaned out already or give him to January

I think it is fair to say the Team aren't fulfilling the supporters expectations, is that the issue , is it fair.... Looking up the OS we have 26 signed players including loans in and out ex 2 young keepers.. Think about that 26, doesn't matter what age or ability they are still getting paid,, most seasons in League 1 we were running with 18 or 19, So I think it is unfair to criticise the club /board they have gave Rhys what he wants and if you listen 2 rumours more players to come...... Admittedly there is a definite scattergun approach to signings recently probably due to the Scottish market being completely dead... It is up to Rhys our highly rated manager to get a tune out of this lot, Football changes quick at the EK game I said another CH and we will be fine, now we have holes all over the pitch especially upfront where the classy Ben Wilson is trying to do it all himself, Rhys blundered letting Todorov go with no back up plan, that is a big issue.... But to reiterate the Club have backed the manager very well IMO, that leads on nicely to the other side our model / philosophy.... Develop young players and sell them on, Hancock and McMaster were the 2 who have been linked with moves away, both going into the last year of their deals, We really need to sell NOW for this model to work, unfortunately McMaster has blown his knee and seems to have missed the boat, he will be a free agent at end of this season and any dev fee will be negligible, Mason Hancock is the prize pony going into the last year of his deal, rumours abound we knocked back 200k a couple of months back, knocking that back is very naive for a club at our level, as I said we have to cash in or out model doesn't work. 60k, 70k we will take no doubt about it, and if we don't he will again walk for next to nothing in the summer.... Interesting couple of days ahead, we need more than anything 3 points at Accies on Saturday.... We think this is bad, remember we were stranded on a desert island called League 1 for 10 years .

It was always going to be difficult thuis season on the park with the competitive nature of the League with no noticeable 'ringer ' (PT clubs). I just get the feeling if results don't turn soon the crowds will drop , I did feel a slight change on Saturday with hospitality not full and struggling to get a match sponsor.... Hopefully this is isolated and doesn't become the norm, the club worked so hard to build this back up...

How's things looking now Rocky, we really need a boost and plugging more of these squad holes that seem to appear now... Admittedly we have another month of the loan window to go, can we afford to wait...

What kind of salary is the Raith managers gig... 150k p a probably less

Would imagine he will be sitting comfortably getting paid his wage doing nothing until his contract runs out...

Agree all clubs should be the same prices with standing areas cheaper like it used to be.. 26 quid is ridiculous, the price though for being sad at 5pm on a Saturday. For the record Dundee United did the same last year and we were quite vocal about it..

To be honest, I don't... Rocky is the man for this methinks..

Frustration and a lack of confidence is the main issue, success and failure in football is tiny margins, unfortunately at the moment we are just dipping below the water line.. I am a stats man, and the glaring one from SPFL site is in 3 games we have had 28 shots on goal with only 5 on target making the keeper work, frankly not good enough and you won't win many games with that stat... What positions can you see the proposed 2 new additions to be for, hopefully whoever it is will have a bit of experience.. Hopefully Mason stays although he has been well off it in recent games, has his head been turned a little, no doubt he will have been told of interest..

How is Charlie Reilly getting on is he on way back yet or still out long term

Murray had the same situation initially at Airdrie, when Stuart Millar came in as DOF, Millar was in charge of signings when we got Thomas Robert, Harlain Mbayo and Eoighan Stokes(sic). It wasn't really working and you could tell either Murray wasn't trusted or frustrated wannabe DOF, when Millar went, Murray went from strength to strength and got us to the playoffs final, maybe it is just coincidence though..

Good post, a lot of square pegs and round holes, I did take a bit of heart when Mochrie and Reid came on, didn't turn the game but showed we can play on the front foot and give a couple of defenders something to do, Gallagher who we tipped to go on loan is now the beating heart of the team and dictating play, big issue I have a with the midfield is him quite rightly and Agyemang want to play deep, Agyemang is decent enough ( I think) But not as good as he thinks he is, we are playing one midfielder too many and it shows with lack of options and space, cannot see Rhys changing system for anybody though. Which could and is becoming an issue... Last week of the window and what do we still need, a wide player, a striker, ?? Next home game is Falkirk who will be wanting revenge big time, hopefully we have our act together then, 1500 there yesterday. Already the loyal Airdrie support are slightly on the wane.

Any chance of posting this on the Airdrie thread as well......

Pretty workmanlike performance today, deserved the 3 points against a toothless and every other phrase you can think of Airdrie.... Personally think you had a couple of extra gears if you needed them..

And don't let any c**t put blockers in your way, everybody should be encouraging this.....

Where do you start, you try and fix one glaring flaw on the squad and then more appear seemingly every week... The 2 goals were horrendous. McGrattan caught out, Graham slipping one nil, 2nd is even worse a poor cross to nobody somehow being parries into the path of Rudden, what was Johnston playing at, Wright to me is a better option.... The 2 newbies did ok, Graham looks very leggy and will get cruelly exposed in this league if he gets no full back cover, which he won't with the system Rhys is playing... Hancock is another player who to me has been playing through a knock.. Tough times just mix not right in midfield and the quality Wilson trying his best up top and could easily have had 2 goals today.. Any word on AWilson and McMaster who was really struggling with a leg brace on...

He needs to play a system that fits his players at his disposal, If Rhys plays he dictates the tempo, nobody else can do it, Wilson is wasted in this team at present, Personally I would get Reid on, if you don't put on a 2 Nd striker at this stage, give the lad a chance ffs

Same, Good informative read, looking forward to future issues.. PS. I hope ALL supporters get behind this, as all these publications take a helluva lot of time and effort to produce with no financial gain... Well done...

Remember McMaster missed a chunk of preseason with a knee injury, since he came back to me he has struggled in most games, that's him out don't know if it's the same injury or not..

Delighted to get the lad in, hopefully he can get registered on time, it looks him and Sam Graham will be our CB partnership for the foreseeable future who could have guessed that 2 weeks ago... The loan market must be so frustrating for managers it looks to have a bit of spinning plates about it, The lad Graham from Dundee was nearly a done deal going by many on here, that never happened and we picked up Luke, who we have been trying to get for a fortnight he says... Was Luke the loanee from down south that was touted about 3 weeks ago...... Also according to a Morton fan on the Raith thread, they thought they had Lewis Jamieson on a done deal on Tuesday, apparently ourselves and Raith were also interested,, he picked Raith....

A lot of clubs still have plenty of loan slots available, we have 2, Loan window closes at end of Sept, We have a few squad issues that need addressed, and cannot see how we can fill them with the loan market, with us spunking 2 loans on Goalkeepers , Aiken and Terrell , you could argue and say the loan market which we normally excel in has been inconsistent at best so far... The lad Graham from Dundee is linked hopefully signs, if he does so, We have one left and surely that has to kept up our sleeve for any emergencies that may arise at end of sept...