Waspie

News everyone was expecting but a tough day for the club, fans and wider community. Wish ICT all the best and hopefully it will end up with the club ready and able to rebuild.

It's certainly looking like it's going to be an exciting league without doubt - but I'd still maintain the level so far isn't great. There aren't stand out FT sides but the level of the rest has gone backwards too I think. I'd suggest Alloa playing the way we have so far would have been mid-table at best in previous League One seasons. Now perhaps we've been spoiled a little, have unrealistic expectations and just need to accept it's not a vintage crop or season, and just enjoy it being very tight. Similarly though, perhaps Stenny fans are (understandably) enjoying a team which has made history for them and not seeing that the overall level isn't very good? Maybe the truth is somewhere in between, but for two sides fighting to go top after ten games I'd still expect more in terms of constructive football. And it wasn't an isolated example either, pretty much par for the course so far. As for us, it's a good shout from printer about maybe trying two up to help Rankin. He's doing well without enough support. Roberts is clearly a massive loss in terms of driving the team on from deep. I don't think Buchanan and Cawley is consistently effective as the wide combination in the three further up. Buchanan is a player who continues to make progress and can be a really good weapon but his big asset is his pace. Needs to add a bit of more. We might get away with it more if we had someone consistently causing bother on the other side, but over there Kev's big thing is coming in off the left rather than playing as a wide man. And that would probably be work better if we had someone consistently tearing it up on the right. As a pair it's not ideal and too easy to combat, in my opinion anyway. Our best hope is continuing to grind out enough points to stay in contention while we try to integrate the new additions up there and hopefully get Roberts back fit and firing, and perhaps strengthen again in January. I don't understand some of our fans having a go at Stenny. They have an excellent goalkeeper, defence is solid and the midfield are combative and capable of being creative too. You could see Aitken can be effective also. There are a good few players there I'd be happy to see at Alloa. I heard Naismith saying last night he had warned his team about Stirling last season and how well they had started then fallen away. Now I thought Stirling last year should still have had enough to shitfest their way to survival anyway, but Stenny are clearly much better than that. Will easily stay up and given how tight the league is are well capable of having a crack at another promotion.

A poor advert for the league but probably a pretty accurate one. A bit like us somehow being top after 10 games despite not putting in a properly decent performance so far. Anyway, we defended well and kept battling away as a team when things weren't working going forward and eventually had a wee bit of quality to win it. Great credit to Luke Rankin for coming up with that after an evening when we struggled to get him into the game. I'd have liked to see changes earlier when it clearly wasn't working but Andy can rightfully say he called it right in the end. The spirit is again impressive - the fact we're top at all is down to the team keeping going and grinding these kind of wins out when they aren't playing all that well. But it clearly needs to be much better if we're going to stay in contention. Think Stenny can count themselves very unfortunate not to get a point at least. Had less of the ball but did more with it and had a few close things. Well organised too throughout the side and given how shite the league is have every chance of being involved in the promotion race.

Good insight into fellow sufferers here 1. Scarf and probably an Alloa shirt too. I know it's a widely held opinion that people my age shouldn't wear football tops but I love them and came to peace with it long ago. I have loads of random shirts from teams all over the place and wear them on a regular basis, although I'd only put on an Alloa top for games. 2. Probably used to shout a bit when I was younger and more excitable. Nowadays only shout some encouragement if the play was right in front of me and I thought it might perhaps give our players a wee lift. 3. Not much singing at Alloa games! I would join in on occasion when it does happen. And definitely at Scotland games. 4. Less than I used to, wee post mortem (on P&B invariably) and I move on. Last time I was really pissed off was when we were 3-0 up on Edinburgh City and lost 4-3. Was raging that night and it struck me at the time that I hadn't been that bothered about a match for a long time. But if the team has put in a decent effort (and been set up in a sensible fashion) then that's all I ask for. 5. Train or bus but with expense and (more importantly) being away from family all day I don't attend games as often and often watch a stream. Will get back to attending regularly down the line, I hope. 6. I'd always have a couple of pints with my Dad before a game. He's not so mobile now but many a great day in towns across the country with trains and pints. For Scotland games with friends it's always a bit of a session.

Scougall in the middle of the three then, that's sorted.

I'd be happy with this too. Perhaps harsh on LD after he scored the winner against Arbroath but he continues to be something of an enigma in regards to where he is best employed in the team. Scougall is a more effective option in knitting everything together in the number 10 role and I'd be hopeful that would indeed see us get more out of the wide players and Rankin. Regarding those wide players, I suspect he won't start here but I'd be hoping in the weeks ahead to see much more of McDonnell who made such a promising impact against Montrose. Be good to get a first glimpse of Honeyman too. Really need these lads to have an impact. Miko is worth a few games deeper with Stevie and the last game they played together there suggested it was starting to work better than it had initially. And there is case for sticking with Taggs at CB where he is always steady and with young Thomson doing well at RB. Again, that's also potentially harsh on Neill who alongwith Mackay was doing well until the Montrose game. We've been pretty underwhelming so far really but have done enough to stay in contention, helped also by the overall standard of the league being so poor. Suspect this could well be another slog of a game - but live in hope of a live TV thriller that sparks us into life.

That's good to hear. You could tell he had talent when he was with Alloa but his decision making and final ball tended to be very poor, he would run around to very little effect. He's done that in the two games we've played against you so far. Still looks like he needs to lift his head and see what's going on around him. Young Steven Buchanan for us is very much a work in progress but already we've had more out of him in terms of end product than we were getting from Quinn.

Not sure what you were expecting but we haven't been that good all season. We didn't replace the loan players who were so important to us last season until the very end of September and it's too early to know what kind of impact the new loans will make. Kurtis Roberts, who was a surprise revelation as last season progressed, is injured and badly missed, and other injuries have disrupted us too. Our two best performances by far were the cup wins against St Johnstone and Partick, but the league has been a bit of a struggle. The fact we've still only lost 1 from 9 is probably another good reflection on how poor the standard is this season (and that's our second clean sheet against Arbroath too). I'm reasonably hopeful that we'll get better but not a given. I'd expect Arbroath to be up challenging without doubt, the squad is decent for what isn't a good league. As for LD, he's always been a very talented footballer, it's just so hard to find a role where you can make the most of that talent and also work around the other more frustrating parts of his game. Easier said than done but Andy Graham clearly believes it can work. Great header on Friday night too. That seemed like another classic Quinn Coulson on Friday, a lot of running around with no impact on the game. Has he been doing better in other matches?

Well done City (and Robbo ) - the good guys prevail.

Yeah that's a fair shout, "shitty grounds like Galabank" is a poor comment. And I also take your point about beggars not being choosers! But Clyde have to get the stadium right this time. Allowing for growth - at least being able to do something on both sides of the pitch as time goes on - should really be a minimum requirement.

Galabank is a great day out and Annan have done really well to develop what is a rather restricted site into a very functional stadium for their level. But when Clyde are trying to find a venue for a new long term stadium, I don't think it's a crazy shout at all to suggest they should aim for something that allows for development down both sides of the park as a minimum. It would be a bit daft really to take on a restricted site (like Galabank is) for a new build stadium. Despite everything, Clyde still have decent potential to grow again if they ever do get a site in the right area and a half decent team on the park. Ian Murray and Jack Ross? Fair enough, that's a bit daft.

He certainly can do wrong. He makes mistakes at times - like every player - and it will be interesting to see the highlights from today as it looked like he lost Fyvie for the second goal, albeit that was part of wider poor defending. But he is such a key player to the team and has been vital in us staying unbeaten until now, despite not playing all that well as a team. Anchors the midfield, protects the defence, can put in the tackles and put his foot on the ball and slow it down. We don't have anyone else who can do that role. Keeping him fit and getting Roberts back and driving on again will be fundamental to our season. Agree about the doubts over LD. Very talented footballer but not a striker. Capable at number 10 but drifts in and out of games too much for me in that position. I can see why the manager kept him as he can be very good - but I'm not sure we'll ever be able to find a role where you consistently make use of that talent, if such a role even exists. I'd have let him move on in the summer, but perhaps the manager can indeed still make it work.

Scougall wasn't playing as a holding midfielder and he was pretty much the only player today who was driving us forward. And Hetherington has been excellent all season. That's why the manager plays them

Certainly not a good day and a rather subdued performance! Started well and should have gone ahead in the first couple of minutes after a fine move, but Scougall put it wide when he needed to score. Thereafter there was a noticeable trend of us giving the ball away carelessly at the back - like the Montrose opener last week, and from maybe the 3rd or 4th instance of that Connor Scully scored a fine goal from distance. We responded well with another good move which should have resulted in a goal but didn't, then conceded such a poor second. LD soon after got a needless tackle very badly wrong and it was pretty much over. Did ok with the 10 in the second half and after the changes without ever really looking like getting back into it. Ultimately we haven't been playing particularly well in the first quarter but by keeping it tight and taking chances we had remained unbeaten. Today our defending was poor and we didn't take our chances - then got a crazy red. You aren't going to win games with that combination. A bad day at the office and a wee kick up the backside but we were never going to keep picking up points playing the way we have been anyway. Very much a work in progress and hopefully the next few weeks will see more in attack as the new players settle - and the defence can put the last couple of games behind them. The drive of Roberts from last season is badly missed in midfield too. The league is generally so weak though that we have time to address these things. On a day when a lot went wrong it was particularly sad to see Devine limping off on his comeback. Must be a sickener for the boy and can only hope it's not the same thing again. I thought Cove were solid without being spectacular. Took the goals well and saw it out comfortably after the red. Well capable of being a force in this league. Btw, Alloa never lose when I start the match thread. As such, blame for all this goes on @tryall and every Alloa fan who posted in that 2nd match thread.

It's the game nobody is talking about as the Wasps and Cove prepare to clash at the Recs. I thought last week was a more fluid performance from us, the only downside being the concession of a real shocker of a goal, something we haven't been doing this season. Going forward we looked better as a team and there are a few reasons to be positive there. Luke Rankin looked a bit rusty on his return but was in the right place to turn in the equaliser. Tyrece McDonnell had a promising debut cameo off the bench, and we've also added another attacking loan this week in Scott Honeyman. How well these boys do in the weeks and months ahead will be key to our season. And defensively it would be great to have Calum Waters back, even though Kane Thomson has done well in his absence. I haven't seen Cove this season. Everything not quite right it would appear but there are still plenty of very capable players there and they should be a decent team in what isn't a vintage league. But if they are going to find form hopefully it won't be this week.