Ivo den Bieman

Yeah, Clyde to send a private helicopter to Tyneside to end Jack Ross' Newcastle hell

Hard fought win with a slice of good fortune by the looks of it. It's great to see the team having turned a corner in recent weeks since McAllister left. This is the sort of game Montrose would have folded in earlier in the season, so fair play to the manager and the players for getting it together. McAllister's departure looks to have worked out well for all parties- I see he scored again for Peterhead yesterday and reduced the barber-jacketed Werther's Original rustlers in the Forfar support to a bubbling mess.

Edinburgh City do look to be circling the drain unfortunately. Would be no surprise to seem them back in regional non league in a few years. Seems a pity after so many worked so hard to get the club in the league. However royally shafted by the city council who don't seem terribly interested in having a league club as a tenant. Hope some solutions can be found, it has been really great having the name back in the leagues. I remember as a small kid in the early 80s seeing "Edinburgh City" in league historical records- usually bottom of the table every season in the thirties- and back then the name seemed as dead as St. Bernard's, Solway Star, and so on.

The length of the table between these sides & boy did it show today. Elgin this season are one of the poorest teams I’ve ever seen at this level. McAliister’s & Shanks goal from open play were very nice and the sixth was a quick footed masterclass to seal the humiliation. Peterhead are far from the finished article but the fact that they rested some of their key players after an hour shows how one sided the game was.

He was well liked and respected at Everton. Why on earth he went to FGR only he’ll be able to answer. They were as good as gone before he took the job. Certainly won’t be dull! Worth a punt anyway. Think it’s a wee bit harsh to suggest this is a John Brown / Brogan / McVeigh type appointment.

Was at Formartine-Threave today. A seesaw game which Formartine were a bit lucky to edge 3-2. They were 2-0 up and cruising at half time but complacenecy set in and Threave pulled back the game to 2-2 with about 5 minutes left. Then a Euro 96 moment; Brotherston missed a great chance for Threave to win the tie, the home team broke away at pace and scored the winner. Formartine looked lacklustre for much of this game and will need to do significantly better if they are to make any headway against higher quality opposition. Felt Threave put in a hard working and determined performance in the game and they were a little bit unlucky not to take the match to extra time. Ceetainly a lot for them to build on for their Wesy of Scotland league campaign. Attendance, about 150.

Must-win for Montrose to keep the recent positive results and squad changes moving. Fell a bit sorry for Edinburgh who seem in a desperate tail-spin, but we need just to win this professionally and move on.

Yep thought Bonnyrigg looked decent when I saw them at Forfar recently and this will be a tough ask for Peterhead. The Blue Toon have started slowly and many of their league games have had few goals so this would be an important opportunity for them to make a mark and start turning results in a more positive direction. Bonnyrigg totally outpsyched Forfar and are very very streetwise and masters of shithousery and wind-ups- Peterhead will need to keep the heid if they are to have any chance.

Poor start to the season for Peterhead, not something I expected. Relegation leaves a bit of a hangover but they’ll need to get over it quickly. The young co-managers talk a good game but results will need to shift for then soon.

Nairn St Ninian 0-4 Ardrossan Winton Rovers A very comfortable win for a well drilled visiting team who turned in a controlled and commanding performance against poor opposition. A few great goals scored for Winton- lovely move for the second and excellent free kick for the coup de gras a few minutes from time. Nairn are a nice welcoming set up & hope things on the park improve for them. Attendance 55-60.

Well congratulations to the players & the manager today on a great result. We need another three points against Edinburgh after the international break, then hopefully keep pushing after an iffy start. Will be more than happy with mid table this season.

Rory will have a nice swansong up the road at Peterhead & we’ll get some cash so the move works out for all. Could never fault his effort even if at times he seemed a bit socially isolated within the team / squad. He often seemed frustrated and annoyed. Well best of luck to him anyway I hope he does a turn for the Fishy Jailers. Should still have a fair bit to offer in League Two.

Sadly looks like they'll be rubbing shoulders with Lochgelly Albert and Harthill Royal at the bottom of the third division by 2025. VoL were always early round cup stalwarts back in the day but now seem to be sinking faster that Chinese stocks.

Coleraine to be taken over by Americans in a £2m deal, aiming to go full time and "win the league by 2027"

Yeah someone made that point in one of the Belfast papers a while ago. Wouldn't surprise me to see them both in the second tier next season.

What on earth is happening with Linfield's defence. Some absolute comedy goals given away to Carrick who look an unpredictable maverick side, capable of being excellent and terrible within the same game. Early days but Crusaders look like they will push Linfield hard this season and Glentoran continue to get stronger. No idea what's happened at Ballymena but they've been an absolute shambles in the games I've seen so far and clearly not a happy camp. I'm sure Glenavon will pick up after an unusually slow start for them. Newry looked quite appalling against Crusaders, too- miles off it. Would expect Newry, Dungannon, Ballymenato be the three strugglers this season. Annagh United the early pace setters in the Championship ahead of Newington YC. The third tier intermediate kicked off with Limavady jitting 9 past hapless Banbridge Town. Sad to see Warrenpoint down there, always liked them as a club and the manager Barry Gray. Would expect them to be favourites to return to the second tier ASAP. Always enjoy the NI league and this season looks like it will be a decent one across the divisions.

Hateful club that were enthusiastic backers of arsecheek B teams and made at least one undocumented attempt to franchise financially distressed SPFL teams to their own advantage. The sooner they're flushed away into the nether regions of non league where they belong, the better. Horrible, horrible club.

This will undo him even if interested- a very important appointment coming up for Hibs- Broonie will be seen as a risk I suspect.

Scott Brown would be interesting given his history at Hibs. He has done OK-ish at Fleetwood Town but now may be the time to move given that the chairman / owner just got a long stretch of bird for fraud. Fleetwood had a decent cup run last year and a steady enough mid table finish. Not sure they will do anything other than decline the next few years. He may not have enough experience for the Hbs board though and may want to try his luck somewhere else in England before coming home.

Quite right, tovarich

Your keeper is decent, Morrison I thought was alright, Mutale has potential. Kieran Inglis is fine for this level and Nditi although not at his best today potentially is one of the best players in the division. As we know from long years of watching terrible football indivduals don't make a team and it's down to the manager's failure to get them well set up and drilled and get across a clear vision of how he wants to play. Might be something to do with him spending most of the summer thinking he was away to England.

Took this in as a neutral, I've been driving a lot this week and the thought of driving down to Hamilton this morning was about as appealing as re-sitting my Higher Maths. Must admit I expected Forfar to be quite tight and well organised if not full of goals, and this is the first time I've seen Bonnyrigg live. They brought a very good and noisy support with them. Bonnyrigg almost scored with the first move of the game, big Faye flashing a header into the side netting from a left wing cross. Bonnyrigg are land of the giants, but they do mix things up and had a lot of pace down the flanks which Forfar struggled with throughout. The visitors seemed a yard quicker and had more enthusiasm for the game than their hosts who were flat, listless and lacking any kind of shape for all but about the last twenty five minutes. Rose took the lead through one of the most laugable penalties you'll see all season. Faye had the ball in the box and a Forfar defender looked like he may challenge, in close proximity. Faye tumbled to the ground like a Jenga tower constructed at last orders by a gang of jakeys. Reliably malfunctioning refereeing algorithm Gavin Duncan bought these theatrical junk bonds and pointed to the spot. No one in the ground could quite believe it; Faye's sprawl was about as convincing as a £27 note with Chic Young's head on it. Martyniuk's penalty was deadly, hit very powerfully low into the right hand corner, 1-0. Matty Allan, a Mercedes in Forfar's garage full of Ladas, hirpled off injured half way through the first half and was replaced by Thomson, who himself was replaced just before the break having twanged a hammy. It just wasn't to be snaky Ray's afternoon. This was depite visiitng keeper Paddy Martin looking less than convincing. I never like a keeper that parries by default, he did that with two perfectly innocuous shots with the ball thankfully falling clear of lurking attackers. On another occasion a shot from the edge of the box squirmed under his body and he only just got back to stop it at the very last moment. You won't challenge much with a guy like that in goal. Catch two, throw in three. Just to try and even things up Duncan whistled for an equally absurd "foul" on the lively Euan Mutale. Mutale's spring-heeled salmon leap at the edge of the Rose box was transparently not a foul; it resembled an ill-advised student prank involving a novelty furry light shade and some experimental rocket fuel. The resulting free kick was pisspoor however and summed up Forfar's half, sailing straight out of the ground. Forfar were a little bit better in the second half but still huffed and puffed and failed to give Martin much to do. A dodgy keeper like that is crying out for someone to pump high swirling balls on top of his head and pressure him. Forfar don't have those players though; on the one or two occasions Martin had high balls to deal with he was put under no pressure at all and was able to gather without fuss. Still there was a leveller and it came as Bonnyrigg tried to wind the game down discordantly, a saggy old accordion's death rattle. Someone got fouled in front of the stand, Inglis' free kick was whipped in at a great height and pace, and the visiting defence for once was caught out of position and napping. The impressive Morrison bulleted a header past the luckless Martin to even things up, perhaps surprisingly. This lasted all of two minutes. I seem to remember the ball being lofted forward either from a free kick or an odd bounce from two colliding players, Whatever, big Faye was away. The gigantic Frenchman gangled forward like a bearded grasshopper with a rolling marble under his feet. He rounded the Forfar keeper and stabbed home elegantly in front of the visiting tribunes. 2-1. The terracing lineperson got a lot of abuse from the bitter elderly Free Kirk Ministers in the home enclosure, who protested long and loud that Faye was offside. He was on the defender's shoulder and it must have been a maerginal call, but I was standing at the wrong angle to give a definitive judgement, and would like to see a replay. I would say that lino got eveything else spot on pretty much but no one will be buying her a drink in the Ploo, that's for sure. After that the game wound down, Forfar did try hard to make something happen but just lack any kind of quality in the final third. An entertaining game- one that kept the attention- between two moderate sides. Bonnyrigg do what they do very well; streets ahead of Forfar in the wind-up stakes and work very, very hard, marshalled brilliantly by Midlothian's best Colin Cameron troubte act, Lee Currie. The experienced no. 10 controlled the midfield and kept the visitors ticking over- to be honest I thought he had long dropped down the divisions into the East of Scotland league and was surprised to see him. It's always nice to see an old stager having an effective curtain call. Up front big Faye and Scotland's least fulfilled journeyman, Smart Osadolor, look like they might have an effective partnership. Osadolor is a natural talent but has had more clubs than an Inuit seal hunter, so no doubt will take the huff and be off to BSC Glasgow or Deveronvale in six months. Bonnyrigg must be a nightmare to play against, and their athleticism and enthusiasm for the fray shoild see them finish higher up the table this season. As for Forfar-ooft. Laughable to remember that some considered them promotion candidates before the season began. They seem three or four players light and have no idea how they want to play. Mutale is a useful player up front but is still a bit of an unguided missile- you never quite know what will happen with him next. They have some experienced players in the ranks but at present aren't gelling as a team at all. At least there's potential there, however, which was hard to see under Gary Irvine. Well, not a bad old afternoon all told. Finally- Scottish football is fucked if Gavin Duncan is esteemed as a great up and coming referee. He looked like he'd never been to a football match before and had ended up officiating by accident, having got lost looking for a job interview at Strathmore's macaroni factory. He's comically gullible and hair trigger in his decision making, and even in my happy status of not really giving a f**k who won, felt aggrieved by his constant whistling; the game should flow like a river, not be broken up like droplets from a rusty tap. I'll be happy never to see him in the middle of a game ever again. Dreadful.

When was the last time Killie skelpt both the bigoted cheeks within a few weeks of one another? Great start to the season!

No one’s suggesting axing him- he still has more than enough credit in the bank and rightly so. However people will start to suggest that if we keep turning in these sorts of displays. Transfer dealings and the first two home performances have been concerning to say the least. Cove themselves are in a tricky transition period with many new faces yet they strolled through today’s match. Petrie is perhaps under pressure for the first time during his spell in charge. It all feels a bit stale & predictable. He needs to show he’s got some plan to freshen things up and get a tune out of a disparate group.

The spine of the squad is ageing, we have no shape & we are gutless. The manager is running out of road I’m afraid. That performance level is just not acceptable & things need to change fast for us. Minor positives are that the goalkeeper blocked and saved well & without his interventions & Cove missing a few that could easily have been 5 or 6. Think it’s harsh to criticise him. Machedo did OK when he was moved to left back after Steeves went off injured. Defensively we are weak, we have no central midfield to speak of. Up front it’s just not falling for McAllister & Hester. We’ve had a good few seasons but we are seeing the result of living on past glories too long. That squad needs quite a bit of change if we’re to be competitive this term.