PELE

That's a bad road for flooding. The water runs onto it and it takes ages to clear. I would bet on the match being on tomorrow. It has been breezy and clear for quite a bit of the day and only light rain, if any, is forecast from now until tomorrow afternoon. The wind is supposed to fade by tomorrow as well. Will we have a minute's silence or applause tomorrow as a mark of respect for the great Pele?

Anyone know the ref's name from Tuesdays match?

I was at most of the games mentioned earlier and also the 0-0 at the old Annfield Stadium. Stirling won the league that season (90/91) and we finished a point behind promoted Montrose. It was a decent support that day and I remember fans singing the bouncy bouncy song. That's when Stirling had the first plastic pitch in the Scottish League. We almost snatched the victory, think it was Colin Scott who ran right through the Stirling defence, but couldn't finish the chance. Stirling used the ground for another few seasons.

I would also add the 7-5 win at Brechin in 2003 (Riordan hat-trick) the 6-1 win at Berwick in 1987 and 6-1 win at Stranraer in 2007 (5 goals for Pat Clarke).

I liked Stenny's ground before it was redeveloped. It had a small old stand (on the opposite side from the current stand) which was like a subbuteo stand. The rest of the ground was flat behind the goals at the entrance and down the covered area opposite the stand (where the current stand is) and I am sure the area behind the other goals was a rough sloping overgrown grassy area, a bit like Albion Rovers ground, but in better condition. I think that was the game where we shouted to Sumo to get his t@ts out for the boys and he duly ran over after scoring and lifted his top and shook his moobs.

Sadly it was always going to come to this. Same as it has for Berwick and East Stirlingshire. Same as it probably will for Albion Rovers. Unless we magic some money up from somewhere or the league set up changes, we are never coming back. No point pretending otherwise.

I think we are where we deserve to be and where I expected us to be. We are the best of the dross. We are better than we were at the start of the season, if we have a fully fit, suspension free squad. However, I still think we are really poor upfront. We are slow, sloppy and far too reactive. We always seem to be second to every ball and some of the players are at their level (Bisland for one). I still don't get why we don't push forward more, take risks. We have nothing to lose. Big game against East Stirlingshire in a few weeks.

I don't mind him. He maybe gets a bit paranoid and puts on a show for the fans. However he does come across sometimes as though he is not the actual manager, like he is an expert consultant who has just come along as a favour to help out and that it is not actually his team. Although I am sure the team we have is almost entirely down to money, or lack of it. Not sure anyone else would do much better.

Danny saved us on a few occasions in the second half. Otherwise it would have been worse. He is a good keeper. Carlos really had to score the chance he had in the first half. He hasn't really had many great opportunities in front of goal, but he was clean through with the keeper off his line and he could have placed into either corner or curled it in etc., but he basically passed it weakly straight to a relieved keeper. Thought our luck might have been in when Gretna missed the penalty, but not to be. What was the attendance? Looked about 70 or 80.

Sad news. He lived just down the road from me some years back. I didn't even realise he was a Cowden fan. I only ever saw him at a few games and assumed he was a visiting neutral.

We won 4-0. The match was actually played on the following Tuesday night (27th). Hampden was hosting the League Cup final on the 25th (an old extinct team by the name of Rangers beat Celtic 3-2). Fat Sally scored a hat-trick.

As we don't own the ground, I guess it would be a non starter. I would have thought someone at the SPFL or SFA should consider a scheme to do this for clubs. They could cover the cost. Or, cover the cost and recoup the money through slightly reduced payments to clubs over a number of years.

Being realistic, the only way teams at this level can progress currently is if they overspend. If the set-up remains the same, the Lowland League will eventually fill up with teams like Darvel (and probably League 2 eventually). Teams that can't or won't overspend will either vanish or drop to a much lower level never to return. This is not a criticism of the wealthier teams, because I wouldn't be complaining if Cowden had a wealthy benefactor. Although I am sure without DF we would be even worse off. The only hope for teams with smaller budgets is if they change the promotion/relegation to 2 up and 2 down (or maybe 1 up and a play-off) and then the teams with money won't need to spend silly amounts, giving the others a (small) chance to compete. However, the age old problem still exists in that it is not just one league below the SPFL. If it was, it would make it far easier to change. Moving away from Cowdenbeath or ground sharing is not something I would want. It's just a slippery slope then. Like East Stirlingshire. I hope they survive, but I would not be surprised if they call it a day soon. I personally would stop going if Cowden followed that route. I thought quite a number of years back that there would come a day in the near future when Cowden were no more. At the time I honestly didn't think we would still be in existence by now. Every season is a bonus now, but it is getting harder just to survive, never mind compete. Re the energy costs, why don't the SPFL or SFA or the National Lottery help clubs with the cost of installing the likes of Solar panels etc., to reduce costs and also reduce their consumption of fossil fuels? Might have to change our club badge though if they did . The old miners wouldn't be happy. I can picture the stand roof covered in solar panels.

Yeah. Really surprising for a dreary Tuesday night.

Yeah. Reduced admission is a big gamble, as more than likely we would only get a handful more attending and end up with less gate money. It would really need to be on a Saturday when there are fewer games on elsewhere and be well promoted. Saturday the 10th December when we play Celtic B could be an opportunity to reduce admission and see if it boosts the crowd. Maybe entice neutrals and Celtic fans as they will be without first team action for a month during the World Cup. The players not at the World Cup are playing friendlies overseas during that time. The only downside is that both Raith and Kelty are at home in Challenge Cup 1/4 finals that day and Kelty are playing Linfield, so will attract some neutrals. Friday 18th November is another possible date, but very short notice and, as said, that's if we can even realistically play on a Friday night. 3 of the 4 SFL teams away from home the following day (unfortunately not Raith, as I think we usually get more of their fans coming over when they are not playing) and no Scottish Premier matches because of the WC. The South Challenge Cup is on that weekend, but some of our league are out of this one as well.

Think tonight's attendance might be the worst this season.

That's a common problem with the Lowland League. As soon as you win a few games and lose a few games, the season is basically over.

Probably going to be a 0-0 borefest today. Both teams due a draw.

Well it's 11 weeks since Cumbernauld knocked us out of the South Challenge Cup. This will be a chance to see if we have made any real progress since then. Cumbernauld have won 3 and lost 9 since then. We have won 4 and lost 6. Cumbernauld have scored 19 and conceded 23 in those 12 matches. Whereas, we have scored 15 and conceded 9 in those 10 matches. In the first 5 of those matches we scored 8 goals, all 8 by forwards (2 of them penalties). In the latter 5 matches we have scored 7 goals, only 1 by a forward.

I don't mind ex players celebrating like that. If they get stick, they are entitled to give it back. JP was enjoying himself after getting plenty of stick. I find it quite funny. I like Berwick and would love to see us both back in League 2. At least we will have another trip back next season. I was surprised at how bad Berwick were though. I was expecting them to be nearer the top before the season started, but they were awful for most of the game yesterday. Jamie Stevenson is not ageing too well. I thought it was Eric Tait making a cameo. Our main problem is still the attack. We don't offer any real threat and it costs us in the end. Sinclair should have scored one, maybe two yesterday.

Yeah. Garrad was a loss when he went off. He is the only player we have who runs at the opposition and beats them.

Absolute shambles! Should have been cruising the way Berwick were playing, but no, we are camped in our own half as usual.

Very good result. We are slowly getting better and better. I thought we were the better team for a lot of the game, although it could have gone either way. Both teams had chances to score a few. Don't know what the EK player was doing before half time. He had a number of opportunities to slam it home from the front of our box, but he kept moving further to the left and when he eventually hit it, Ruddy came out and made a good block. EK looked more dangerous upfront, but we defended well. Our final ball into the box is still pretty poor and we don't benefit from our possession because of it and it costs us, but it was inch perfect for the goal. The sending off looked harsh, but not complaining as it helped us push for a winner. Nice trip to Berwick next. Could be an interesting game. Be like the old days again.

Sadly, I think East Stirlingshire are a future version of us. When the parachute money stops, surely we will struggle. Without someone pumping money in it is hard to compete, even at this level.

We are slowly starting to get better, but I also don't get the tactics sometimes. Our season was effectively over when we moved a few wins clear of Dalbeatie. Highly unlikely to get relegated and no chance of winning the league, so why not be more attacking and take risks, especially as you say when we are already losing. Ross should maybe start with Garrad. He has looked more dangerous in recent games.