the_bully_wee

He's already a bald fraud

I never thought I'd be saying this, but thank god we've got Jim Duffy in the dugout. Deary me.

If we were a team that controlled games and created plenty of high-quality chances then Rennie would absolutely be my first pick of the two. Unfortunately, we are not, and thus a hardworking, aggressive, physical player who will disrupt opposition backlines offensively and defensively is significantly preferable to someone who's happened to score from a yard out twice (once, completely fortunately). I suspect this debate is a frivolous one anyway, as I doubt Doherty's hamstring will be in a fit enough state to facilitate his workrate, and we all saw how much of a man down he was without it. Let's just hope we see the Rennie who was bright and hard-working in his first few Clyde appearances and not the meek, languid figure of the past few months. I'm not going to absolutely pan the guy because he could be playing through knocks or whatever himself, but if I was Steven Swinglehurst right about now I know who I'd rather be clogging it up against tomorrow night.

I've got conflicting feelings about it, to be honest. Remaining in League One is presently, for us, basically an insurance policy against the dreaded drop down to the fifth tier, so from that perspective it buys us another season until we can (hopefully) secure a permanent home and start to build other income streams and grow the club a wee bit. On the other hand, it will be a markedly decreased budget we have next season and it's very likely we would have a season akin to this one, cut adrift from the pack, so it would be nice to be better-matched with our rivals in League Two. Overall, I'd say my personal preference would be to stay in League One, but there are opposing pros and cons on both sides of the coin.

I'm sure the general approach to shithousery is vastly different now, with [checks notes] the same manager and half the same players in place.

Rennie has been extremely disappointing since his first few games at the club and shouldn't be starting games unless Doherty remains completely unfit. He was well-positioned to score his two tap-ins, but outside of that he did precious little in either leg and we need a lot more from our striker. It's not even remotely unhinged to suggest that we are better off starting someone else, and I'd much sooner have an extra midfielder in there with Roberts given licence to play a touch more advanced.

Have a re-swatch at the first hour or so of the 2019 final's second leg. The dark arts were out from the first whistle that afternoon.

If we pick Olly McDonald over Doherty or Rennie then the tie will definitely be over by the time we get up the road. Dug meat. If we can match up to Annan's physicality then I think we've enough about us to win this if we avoid the garbage fare of Friday's first half, but a lot will depend on who's available and how fit they are. Think we will need a draw down there though, wouldn't fancy this lot much against their extreme gamesmanship.

I think Shepherd's relative lack of reaction to the second yellow was telling, to be honest. Agree with the above that the game was destined for penalties without the red card, though, as we had grown into the game without creating much and we were much more compact and organised in defence after the break.

A fair few gutsy individual displays - Roberts and Sula especially, absolute titans - but that was awful in the main. We managed the game pretty well after the sending off (what a moment of madness that was) but reverted to type a bit after scoring until Roberts took it by the scruff of the neck in the dying embers. I think we will match up better against Annan than the threat that East Fife posed us in the first half tonight, especially, but we will have to be miles better than we were tonight to stand a chance. Hopefully the walking wounded all recover in time for Tuesday. Commiserations to East Fife, a decent side and a much better footballing one than ourselves who will be kicking themselves about not scoring more than one before half time. Healy ran that game before we finally got some support on for Craig, and even after that still roasted him a few times. A great wee player and you'll do well to hold on to him.

It'll be a travesty if we progress through this. Mental the difference it can make when you've clearly had a bit of coaching and play like you aren't utterly terrified of the ball. ETA: at least we've got Hynes signed up for next season. Maybe by then he'll have learned how to either control the ball or at least show for it. Jobber.

Nothing but respect for that post-match presser. Exactly the kind of charlatan who laps up the praise when it's going well and shirks any responsibility when it goes poorly. That extension is looking like an awful bit of business.

My worry where Annan are concerned is Tommy Goss. He is absolutely massive and I was at their play-off final against Edinburgh last year, in which he utterly ragdolled Edinburgh's back line at times and was a threat from every set piece. That plus the delivery of Willie Gibson does scare me to some degree, even if they're much weaker in the midfield without Moxon. Still, I won't be looking too far ahead. East Fife showed tonight that they have a bit of football in them and some trickery in the wide areas, even if they did struggle to create much against us. Friday's game won't be a cakewalk, particularly if the injury list doesn't shorten by then.

That is a fine result, but we played nowhere near as well as we have done lately and it's no coincidence that was with Doherty missing. Really hope he finds fitness as Rennie, despite the few good things he will do each game, doesn't offer enough in a team playing as direct as we did tonight. Salkeld's missed one on one could come back to haunt us, but he did really well to set up the goal and remains our biggest creative outlet. I've got no idea why Duffy brought on Duthie only to shunt him up front when he's all about facing men up and their right back was on a booking. Praying that Sula's injury isn't a bad one, because we can't be depending on Thicot starting. I don't think we will be able to live with Annan physically even if we do navigate this one on Friday.

Good laugh today with Montrose completely downing tools in the second half in particular. No idea why Doherty was risked and can only pray that somehow he came off as a precaution more than anything. We did play some nice stuff and threatened as the game wore on but it has to be emphasised just how unarsed Montrose were throughout. A much sterner test will await on Tuesday.

Will Jim outdo his 2014 pre-playoff dead rubber XI?

Pleasantly surprised by that, not dissimilar to the Airdrie performance but with a bit more sharpness at the back and less blunders. Disappointing not to have won given some of the chances we created, but there are at least small signs of a bit of hope for the play-offs. I've been critical of Doherty, but he had a right good game today and picked his battles much better than he has done at times. Plenty of graft from everyone else (subs definitely should've come sooner) and I was only really disappointed by Rennie and Cunningham; even Lyon put in a good showing. One of Scullion's better games too, I'd be looking to tie him down for next season to be honest given his age and likely wages.

Can only really say "fair play" to Matchwinner for butchering the design of the jade kit as they have. Sad!

It said it all of our current "set-up" (I'm not sure exactly what to call the hopeless, disjointed rabble we are seeing at present) that Salkeld and another midfielder were often found pressing Alloa's backline rather than our front two. There were a lot of shouts claiming that Doherty is lazy or not bothered today, but the simple fact is that he's a trier who is nowhere near good enough technically. If you combined him and Rennie you'd have a half decent player but the reality is that we're so deficient that nobody can really shine in this team. The ball is consistently treated like it's an unpinned grenade, and the continued prominence of Ross Lyon just gets more and more harrowing by the week. Next season could be a similarly long one in League 2 if Hynes, Rennie and Doherty will be regulars. On Alloa: pie on a roll a great concept, but a better quality of pie is required to fulfil the undoubted potential of the dish. On the pitch, they played us off the park and were well worth their win.

QP fans would know all about having no facilities at the moment, right enough.

He's more of a meat and potatoes clogger than Grant is at least, which - if he can get back to the level he was operating at under Duffy before - is probably of more use to us in our current predicament, wherein games tend to consist entirely of Alamo-esque defensive showings. Suspect it'll end up just being a case of two sides somewhat pointlessly swapping back-up centre halves, though.

Peter Grant can no longer run, which is his big issue. He's fine with legs around him but I'd not want to come up against a quick right-sided player with him and McNiff out there.

Hope this piece of utterly immaterial ancient history makes you feel better about your Gretna tribute act, complete with heftily salaried CEO, being run like a pub team!