Francesc Fabregas

I'll address your points one by one: I think the reception to Stephen Swift's appointment on this thread was broadly positive. A few people, myself included, were a little sceptical given his lack of experience in the SPFL but thought it was a good move for both parties all the same. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case just yet. Three players from last season's team were kept on (Graeme Smith, Adam Corbett and Cammy Graham). Other than the players under contract, how many would you have wanted to stay? Mark McGuigan was the only player I was sorry to see move on, and I thought it might have been worth continuing with Jack Hodge, but other than that? Not really. I suppose when you're a manager putting together a team of players, you want to bring together people you trust, people who can take direction, people you believe in and people who believe in you. While that might be the case, it hasn't translated on the pitch so far. Well, yes, but beating a good, promotion-chasing side from League 1 could do wonders for our confidence going into the game against Annan Athletic next weekend. I think I might have been a little hyperbolic earlier in the season by describing some of the games as "must win" but the Cowdenbeath one certainly was and, until we're in a position to move away from the bottom of the table, every fixture going forward will be must win too. Come to think of it, the game against Stranraer is every bit as important as the matches against Annan and Elgin City. Judging by the manager's interview after the Kelty Hearts game, I don't think we'll see Ryan Marshall in goals for a while. This will give Davie Wilson the chance to stake his claim for the #1 spot. I saw him during pre-season but he wasn't really tested against the likes of Syngenta or Benburb, so I don't have much of an opinion on him. Where do you draw the line? If you get to the end of October and you're not seeing any signs of positivity on the pitch, I would expect the board to act. I was told by someone associated with Swift's former club that he wanted either the Dumbarton or the Stranraer post as his first managerial gig in the SPFL, but felt the opportunity at Stenhousemuir was too good to miss. I imagine he was disappointed when both roles became available four weeks later. As for Ross Forbes and Nat Wedderburn being able to play together? Maybe, if you've got a willing, ball-winning midfielder in there alongside them, but we don't, and the pair are exposed most weeks. I can't remember who we signed first, but I was surprised we went for the other one afterwards. The failure to find a system to get the best from both of them has been a weak spot.

Robert Thomson has been Stephen Swift's best signing and someone who looks too good for League 2. He's a positive player, a strong influence and he leads the line well. It hasn't quite translated into a multitude of goals just yet but I'm happy with what I've seen from him so far.

I agree with some of the points in your post and I disagree with others. I'm not sure why you're having a pop at the board here - from the candidates interviewed, Stephen Swift was the most intriguing and someone who probably deserved a shot in the SPFL after his time at BSC Glasgow. I'm sure the manager would have loved to have brought in 18 experienced, well-known campaigners but we don't have the finances to do this, so we have to be creative and that involved bringing in some inexpensive, low-maintenance squad players from non-league football. Of the seven players who joined from non-league football, only three are featuring regularly. Ross Lyon has been alright, Darren Christie has been inconsistent and Ryan Marshall has been poor and it's in everyone's best interests that he's taken out of the starting XI. Hang-Time Tierney, Declan Hughes and Michael Anderson will only ever feature if other, better players are unavailable, and one, Jamie Mills, has been punted out on loan to the West of Scotland Conference League already. A real mixed bag, and something I think highlights the step up in quality between the SPFL and the Lowland League. The problem is, as I've written elsewhere, is the squad is unbalanced and lacking in key areas, something I can't quite get my head around given its size, and we're all still unsure about what our best XI is. That's on the manager and his backroom team. They are under pressure but I think a lot of that will come from themselves and their own sense of professionalism, at least at this stage. The upcoming run of fixtures is unappealing and that game against Stranraer later on in the month will be huge. Let's hope for a positive performance against Cove Rangers at the weekend!

Someone might need to correct me here, but since I've started following the club in 2004, I don't think we've ever been bottom of the SFL/SPFL. This is new and unappealing territory! Also, are we burdened by the closing of the summer transfer window? Or are we still able to bring in loans and free agents?

I know we're all having a good time poking fun at Ryan Marshall here but you can't blame him for Kris Renton's goal in the 1-1 draw with Cowdenbeath - that header was thumped right into the top corner and there was no chance Marshall, or most 'keepers in the lower leagues, would have got to it. That said, he does look like an enthusiastic outfielder trying his hand in goals for a laugh.

I'm going to have to disagree with you here! Joe Cardle's shot is travelling at about 5mph but because Ryan Marshall's footwork and positioning is all wrong, the the ball rolls into an unguarded corner of the net. Stenny were rubbish last season but at least we had a goalkeeper we could trust in Paddy Martin. We're still rubbish this time around and our goalkeeper is actively making us worse!

Kelty's second and third goals are, somehow, much worse on the highlights. The third in particular is a shambles.

Here's a post from a few months ago in this thread: Essentially what you've written.

It gives me no pleasure in writing this but Ryan Marshall is a dreadful goalkeeper and I do not want to see him play for Stenhousemuir again. His failure to stop Joe Cardle's slow-motion daisycutter was bad enough, but I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through his head at the third goal - why on earth did he try to leather the ball off a prostrate Jamie Barjonas, sending it flying into his own net, instead of diving low and gathering it? Hopeless, cowardly. I have no faith in Marshall at all and I think the upcoming SPFL Trust Trophy match with Cove Rangers will be a convenient excuse for Stephen Swift to play Davie Wilson instead (something he intimated in his post-match interview); let's home he can make the jersey his own. I thought Stenhousemuir were relatively competitive until the third goal went in. Until that point, the game looked like a lot of fun - we passed the ball around well and had Kelty Hearts on the back foot in spells, but Marshall's howler and Alfredo Agyeman's well-taken second killed off the contest. From that point, the visitors controlled the game and we just punted high balls forward with no real thought. Adam Corbett played well and largely kept Agyeman quiet (a strange thing to write given the forward netted twice), while Robert Thomson grafted hard up top. We still need more from players like Tam Orr, Euan O'Reilly, Nat Wedderburn and Ross Forbes (even although he forced Darren Jamieson into a superb save from a free-kick and went on to hit the crossbar from 20 yards) and I still believe this squad is unbalanced and lacking in some key areas. The fact that we lost three goals on the counter tells its own story. Kelty were very good and deserved the win, make no mistake. When I saw their team sheet with so many missing players, I thought we had a chance but they were the better team after scoring their second. Kallum Higginbotham was the best player on the park, Joe Cardle gave Bernard Coll a hard time and Andy Black had a good game doing all the messy stuff at the base of midfield. They play with flair, pace and ingenuity, they can suck the life out a game and they can speed things up when they need to. They'll get the better of most teams in the division. The upcoming game against Cove is perhaps unwelcome but it does give us the chance to change things up and try something different. I still don't think the manager has found a way to get the best out of this group of players but he'll need to soon - Annan Athletic are on a tear at the moment, winning games and scoring for fun, and we'll be lucky to get something from that on current form. Where is this first league win going to come from!

Well, it's all academic now as Neil Parry has signed for Clyde.

Sorry to Stirling Albion closing their streaming service for the time being. It was a good service, and Ben McAdam was a talented host, but I understand their reasons behind its cessation. I wonder what the drop-off in numbers are like for other League 2 clubs since restrictions have been lifted? For example, I imagine almost everyone who wanted to watch Stenhousemuir -vs- Cowdenbeath would have been at the game?

Agree with all of this. Ryan Marshall just isn't good enough for League 2, David Wilson is an unknown quantity, and Graeme Smith is a long way away from match fitness. Neil Parry is better than all three of them and would immediately improve our team. I just can't see it happening, however. Parry will be in high demand and command a good wage and unless we move one (or two?) of our goalkeepers on, we don't have the capacity for him. Also, more importantly, does Stephen Swift want to bring in another goalkeeper? It would mean admitting that he's made a mistake with another one of his summer signings. That kind of capriciousness isn't really a good look.

They did lose 6-1 to Annan Athletic, but that was about seven weeks after Stenny beat them.

We did, yes, we were the first side to beat them in the SPFL. A combination of up-and-at-them tactics and a little slackness on Cove Rangers' part and we recorded a good 3-2 win over them. The season went to utter shit almost immediately afterwards, but still.

I agree 100 per cent with this. Two years ago, when Stenhousemuir embarrassed themselves in the Scottish Cup at Penicuik Athletic, punters were keen to remark that there was no real difference between the SPFL and non-league football, but I'm sure if that Penicuik team suddenly found itself in League 2, they would have been massacred on a weekly basis. One swallow does not a summer make!

What are you trying to insinuate here?

If you're looking to kickstart your season and get that first win under your belt, you probably don't want to be coming up against an in-form Kelty Hearts side... but here we are! I think most people had Kevin Thomson's team pegged as champions before a ball was even kicked and I've yet to see anything to discredit that notion. They're a good group of players, with quality and depth in midfield and attack, and they'll cause bother for every team in League 2, especially a down-on-their-luck Stenhousemuir side. Expectations going into this one are low, but the good news is a pessimist can never be disappointed. The Warriors played their best football of the league campaign so far against Cowdenbeath on Saturday, but given the Blue Brazil hadn't trained or played in a fortnight and could only select 14 players because of coronavirus protocols, that's really not saying much. Cowden were never put under a great deal of pressure and we barely tested their goalkeeper, despite having the better of the possession throughout. As I mentioned in the matchday thread, the team lacks drive in the middle of the park and has no threat down the left-hand side. If Robert Thomson and Darren Christie can be shackled, I don't think we're capable of causing problems. I think the starting XI will be the same as last weekend's, for once. It'll be a big call from Stephen Swift if he reinstates Sean Crighton in the team when he wasn't really missed against Cowdenbeath - Adam Corbett did a largely good job of filling in for him - and that's probably the only real doubt. There will be a lot of pressure on the midfield to keep an eye on Kelty's attacking quartet and protect the defence, and I wish Ross Lyon all the very best in marking Joe Cardle. Let's go with: - Adam Brown - Robert Thomson - Darren Christie - - Nat Wedderburn - Declan Hughes - Ross Forbes - - Bernard Coll - Adam Corbett - Nicky Jamieson - Ross Lyon - - Ryan Marshall - I would be delighted if we can get anything from this match. Come on Stenny!

My understanding is the players available to us this season courtesy of the strategic partnership aren't good enough or ready to be playing SPFL football. The two clubs are in the process of identifying the players to join us next season. (For context, Callum Yeats and Jayden Fairley had been earmarked to join us the season prior to the strategic partnership being agreed.) While this is handy over the medium and longer term, it's not great for the here and now. I tentatively agree with you that we should be looking to improve our pool of goalkeepers (and maybe sign another central midfielder and someone to play on the left wing) but it surely isn't viable to recruit a brand new squad of players, realise some of them are crap a couple of weeks into the season, and then chuck money at bringing in replacements. The squad is already huge and we'd have to punt players if we want anyone coming in.

It turns out there actually is a big step up in quality between the SPFL and the Lowland League - who knew!

I don't think Jamie Mills is a very good player, and I think the West of Scotland Conference is probably a level well above his capabilities, but I'm struggling to understand the thinking behind this. Why was he signed, fielded in our first five competitive matches, dropped, and then punted out on loan? Something must have happened behind the scenes for this to happen so suddenly.

Before the match, I said to myself: "If Stenhousemuir FC cannot beat a mid-card side like Cowdenbeath, a mid-card side who have just 14 players to pick from and haven't trained in two weeks, then they might as well pack up". And with that, I'm sorry to see the shutters pulled down on Ochilview forevermore. First, you have to say a hearty "fair play" to Cowden. It would have been easy for the players, some of whom were fielded in unfamiliar positions, to feel sorry for themselves and believe they were going into a game where the deck was stacked against them from the off but they did what they had to do - they grafted hard and they scored a smashing equaliser through big Kris Renton, their most bothersome player. I imagine everyone associated with the club will be delighted with the point in the circumstances, so credit to them. The Warriors' performance was probably the best we've seen from Stephen Swift's team this season; in context, I'm not sure if this is a good thing. We kept the ball well at times, shuttling it neatly between the defence and the midfield, and there were occasions when our attack looked bright, most notably whenever Robert Thomson or Darren Christie were involved. But, as Brazilianlex above me says, we didn't really have much of a cutting edge and I don't think we really put Cowden under any sustained pressure. There were moments we had them toppling towards the the ropes but other than Christie's well-taken goal, it didn't happen and they largely dealt with what was thrown at them. I think a lot of this comes down to the midfield. My friends and I were having a discussion after the match about the lack of balance in the middle of the park. We have a number of players who are happy to sit and knock the ball around (Ross Forbes, Declan Hughes, Nat Wedderburn, all of whom started today), and we have a number of players who like to operate behind the forward line (Adam Brown, Euan O'Reilly and Cammy Graham) but we don't really have anyone who we can deploy as a box-to-box midfielder and knit the constituent parts together. There was hope James Lyon would be that player but a dip in form coupled with an eight-week absence through injury has put paid to that for the time being. Swift fielded another brand-new starting XI this afternoon and it feels as though he's still trying to find the right combination, even at this stage of the campaign. We looked good going down the right, with Ross Lyon's drive, coupled with Christie's industry and willingness to try things, such a big part of our play, but we have little threat on the opposite flank, save for the few times Bernard Coll motored forward. Why is this? What is our best XI? It reminds me a little of Scott Booth's doomed spell in charge of the club. It also feels as though Swift's overthinking things and trying to negate the opposition's strengths, rather than playing to ours. He must have known going into this Cowden were struggling to put a team together for this match, so why not go with two forwards and really put someone like Craig Thomson, a wee smout playing in central defence, under pressure? Other than a wee boob prior to Christie's goal, Thomson did alright, but I think he could have been got at. I did not understand the substitution of Robert Thomson for Tam Orr at the death. Why remove your best player when you're trying to win the game? Special mention must go to Adam Corbett - that was his first game of the season and he looked very assured at centre-back. His run down the left flank and cross for the opening goal was glorious and his general calmness on the ball and his passing out from the back was great to watch. Yeah, Renton got the better of him a couple of times and there are still some worries about his ability to deal with the rougher side of League 2 football, but I really hope he can kick on because there is definitely a player in there. I thought the manager would have punted him out on loan and I'm glad to see he's been given another chance. I'd like to think Swift will deploy Corbett and Nicky Jamieson against Kelty Hearts next weekend, even if Sean Crighton returns, because neither should make way after today's showing. We have two points from a possible 12. Today's result, like the previous three, was bitterly disappointing, and the margins are fine. It's all a bit "if me auntie had baws..." but we could have taken a point from the game against Stirling Albion and Edinburgh City, and we should have beaten Albion Rovers and Cowden. Alas! I can't imagine we'll take anything from Kelty; you begin to wonder where that first win is going to come from.

Towards the tail end of the 2005/06 season, when Stenhousemuir's title bid was beginning to falter, Colin Cramb kept going down with a phantom hamstring injury. In the aforementioned game at Berwick Rangers, a must-win tie for the Warriors, he was substituted towards the end of the first half with his usual niggle but instead of watching the rest of the game from the stand, he nipped across to the social club to watch the Grand National. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for the manager, Des McKeown, and Cramb was told to stay away from the club. Stenny lost the match 3-0. He was a tremendous forward and a great player for Stenny (who could forget his volley in the Scottish Cup tie against the Shire!) but he was hard to handle. He joined Stirling Albion in the Second Division and became the first (and only?) player to have starred in every senior league in Scotland and England.

I remember that match - the first and only time I've cried after a football game! Big Slim put us ahead not long before the interval but Dougie Hill equalised with a shot from the edge of the area after we failed to clear a corner. Liam Buchanan netted almost immediately after the restart and Cowden on to pummel us. It was 2-1 going on 12-1. Big Slim missed fluffed a chance at the death and that was that. We went on to lose at Berwick Rangers and at home to Queen's Park, Colin Cramb was expelled from the club, Greig Denham complained about his manager and team-mates to the tabloids, and everything fell apart. Our highest-ever points total but nothing to show for it. What a season indeed!

It's time to preview the biggest game of the weekend: it's Stenhousemuir versus Cowdenbeath! I suppose the most pressing concern is whether or not the match will go ahead - will Cowdenbeath have enough players available following their isolation last week? I hope all the everyone affected is fit and well and ready to go. Providing this fixture does go ahead, I think this will be billed as (another) a must-win game for the Warriors. The team were poor against Edinburgh City on Friday night, barely creating a chance of note, and looked slow and sluggish in their approach play against one of the division's lesser lights. We need to see something far better against Cowdenbeath otherwise I foresee another struggle this season. I'm not sure how we'll line up - as mentioned in a previous thread, we seem to change out starting XI on a game-by-game basis - but a lot of our more experienced players have to step up and pull their weight. We cannot expect Robert Thomson to do it all on his own. - Robert Thomson - Tam Orr - Cammy Graham - - Adam Brown - Nat Wedderburn - Ross Forbes - - Jon Craig - Sean Crighton - Nicky Jamieson - Ross Lyon - - Ryan Marshall - I think we can win this but I'm fearing the worst!

Nicky Jamieson has been largely disappointing during his short time at Stenhousemuir. He seems to be making at least one big mistake in each match - last night, he mishit a clearance, fell over, and allowed Edinburgh City's striker in to score the only goal of the game. I expected a lot better, in all honesty. Would still pick him over Mendy, right enough!