Francesc Fabregas

One thing I cannot abide is the hypocrisy of social-media users. One minute they're all: "Be kind! You don't know what the person behind the Twitter account has been through!"; the next they make fun of your clothes and say you dress like a man who tarmacs driveways.

A View from the Terrace will return to your screens at the end of the month, all things being well. And thank goodness! It's the only thing I've got to look forward to in "these unprecedented times".

Marky Munro made 12 appearances for Stenhousemuir last season, more than double the number of times I thought he played. He featured regularly enough in the early stages of the campaign but was injured in late autumn and we only saw him the once in 2020. He can play in the middle of the park, wide right and at right-back. Munro didn't make much of an impression on me - while he's tidy enough on the ball and can put himself about, he's quite a slight boy and has no real stand-out attributes. I'm surprised to see him joining a team in League 1, to be honest. I don't think he's quite got what it takes to make it in the SPFL although I'm happy to be proven wrong! I hope he does you a good turn.

That's fair enough. I was more thinking about players like Mikey Doyle and Grant Gillespie in that regard. Now are you finally going to explain to us what George Galloway was doing at Palmerston or what?

I think it might have been the manner in which the BBC Scotland commentary team and pundits talked up this Queen's Park side like they're the new third force in Scottish football that rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way last night. It might have been James McFadden who described the team as "Championship-ready", while the most animated Michael Stewart got all evening was when Jai Quitongo hit the crossbar. Queen of the South, who were very good in the second half, seemed to be an afterthought. I said it before but I think this group of players (and possibly the manager too) are a means to an end. They're good enough to win the League 2 title, but what else beyond that? How many of them would supporters want to see kept on beyond the summer? How many of them would get full-time contracts elsewhere in Scotland? Not many, I'd wager. Given the transformation Queen's Park have gone through over the last 12 months and where they are compared to everyone else in this division, this kind of scrutiny is something everyone associated with the club will have to get used to.

You have to say fair play to Queen of the South, they were probably the worst team in the country this season, pound for pound, but they've been very impressive in recent weeks, from the win over Raith Rovers onward. I bought a stream for that match expecting to have a big laugh at their performance but they were organised and committed and deserved their victory. They looked good against Ayr United and they've been streets ahead of Queen's Park tonight, the second half especially.

Connor Shields has been tremendous this evening. That was a lovely finish.

I suppose the fascination with this Queen's Park side is the fact they've recently changed from a part-time amateur club to a side with aspirations of playing in the Championship but the commentators and pundits tonight are talking them up like they're the third force in Scottish football and a fairytale, for some reason. This team of players are too good for League 2 and they'll win the division comfortably but they're also a bottom-of-the-barrel gang of jobbers who probably wouldn't play full-time football elsewhere. Other than Jai Quitongo and Simon Murray, I can't imagine even the likes of Falkirk and Partick Thistle would be interested in any of their players. They'll be good for Queen's Park in the short term and help take them where they want to go but let's not kid ourselves here! This is a promotion-chasing League 1 side we're watching losing to a poor Championship team who appear to be getting their act together over the past few weeks.

It's a good question, because all of our forwards can do something different but given Davie Irons' predilection for a 4-3-3 formation, I think his preferred players are Botti Biabi on the left, David Hopkirk on the right and Tam Muir through the middle. That, of course, leaves Mark McGuigan (beloved), Greig Spence (underwhelming), Tam Collins (who's just been interviewed saying the only reason he's here is because he'll play) and Cammy Graham (a back-up who's probably featured more than anyone expected so far). Seven into three just doesn't go!

This is quite a decent interview with Tam Collins, he talks well and I like the cut of his jib.

Even so, how on earth are we going to accommodate so many forwards into the team? Sadly, I think this could spell the end of Mark McGuigan's time at the club. I certainly hope not, I absolutely love him.

Thomas Collins has indeed signed on loan from East Fife. I hope he can offer us something different but it is a signing that doesn't make any sense to me - unless we're intent on shipping out a forward!

Very pleased to hear Adam McCracken has regained consciousness - I don't think I've seen a player sparked out for as long as that before. It looked as though he clattered into big Creag Little when the pair both went for a bouncing ball. I hope he makes a full recovery and is back to his best soon. Even despite the fact the pitch was freezing up, it probably should have been abandoned anyway. I don't know how a player could continue after seeing his team-mate like that. There's no real point in analysing the match but I thought it was a really entertaining encounter with both sides playing well. Some of Ryan Blair's passing was just lovely.

Jonathan Tiffoney scored a 35-yard screamer at the weekend and the camera somehow missed it! It was facing the opposite direction. It's also quite difficult to get invested in the game, the Pixellot camera is quite disembodied from the action on the pitch and it can be hard to identify who's doing what. I've been lucky enough to attend the games in person but I reckon some of our fans won't have a clue who the likes of Josh Grigor or Paul Brown are, for instance.

Our chairman has written up his end-of-year review and there are some interesting comments about the current streaming services. It looks as though we're inviting someone to control the camera manually, which should stop it from missing goals and hopefully lead to a more engaging experience going forward.

Tam Collins would be a fine signing and add some much-needed depth to our striking options.

Peterhead away in the Scottish Cup. A pretty dull draw, given some of the teams in the hat, but doable all the same.

What's everyone's thoughts on yesterday's win over Preston Athletic? I thought Stenhousemuir were largely comfortable and deserved the win but there were a couple of nervy moments, especially after the visitors pulled a goal back immediately after the restart. Nevertheless, we held firm and Mark McGuigan's second goal killed the game off. Everyone had a solid performance, especially the big man and Jonathon Tiffoney, who scored a screamer from about 35 yards, but we were only stretched on occasion and dealt with Preston well enough. I'd like Falkirk at home or the lowest-ranking side in the competition in the second-round draw. Given supporters aren't able to get to the matches, it's probably about about progression and nothing else.

Having little better to do with my afternoon, I bought a stream for this match. I'd heard some horror stories from Greenock Morton's stream from earlier in the season and I feared the worst, but the quality was largely excellent throughout. The picture was good, the replays a welcome addition and the use of interviews before the match gave the whole production a very professional sheen. Gerry McDade grated at points, especially when calling for opposition players to be sent off for innocuous fouls, but that's just personal taste more than anything. It's just a shame the game itself couldn't match the quality of the stream! I took in Stenhousemuir -vs- Stranraer last weekend and thought it was of a higher calibre. Nevertheless, I was impressed with Morton's endeavour and liked the graft from players like Cameron Salkeld and Josh McPake, while Aidan McAdams looks like a very handy goalkeeper and Kalvin Orsi, a player who lacks refinement, took his goals well. Conversely, although he set up Orsi's second, I thought Robbie Muirhead was a pudding and the whole match seemed to slow down whenever he found himself on the ball. Fair play to the team and the interim management after such a difficult couple of days but you cannot knock two straight wins! As for Queen of the South, I think they're the worst side I've seen this season. I watched them against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on BBC Scotland a couple of weeks ago and I've seen highlights from their games and there is not a single thing to enjoy about them. A real gang who will finish bottom of the table unless there are some major chances at the club.

Hello! This is a polite reminder that the final episode of A View from the Terrace airs tonight! It's on at 10:30pm on the BBC Scotland channel - we hope to see you there! Here's a preview of this evening's show:

Preston Athletic or Hawick Royal Albert in the Scottish Cup! Certainly doable, although we said the same thing last year when we were drawn with Penicuik Athletic. Who could forget our defeat at Prestonpans in 2006? A grim day, for sure, and one I'd be keen to avenge, should we draw them.

Those Stranraer highlights are excellent and he replays and close-ups really give you a feel for the match. Shout out to the commentary team of Heel Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Mark Madden too - while I may not have agreed with everything they were saying, they're an engaging listen. I'd like to think we might revert back to this kind of thing for our own match highlights rather than editing the Pixellot stream. The highlights showcased how much of a disaster big Andy Munro had in the first half (I see he botched the clearance that set up Adam Cummings opener) and just how poor Stranraer did in defending Cammy Graham's equaliser - that was a real boob between Cummings and Greg Fleming!

A real game of two halves, if ever I saw one! In the first, Stranraer dominated the play, had the better of the chances and gratefully accepted their two gifted goals. I could not see Stenhousemuir coming into the game at all but they were far better after the interval took our strikes well, and probably deserved a share of the points at the death. When Callum Tapping was dismissed minutes after Botti Biabi's goal, I feared the worst but credit to the players for digging in and rescuing the draw from the unlikeliest of circumstances. Stenny started the match quite well and had two decent chances when Biabi squared for Mark McGuigan (who may or may not have been pushed and fired wide) and when big Ayrton Sonkur cleared a shot off the line but after that, the game was almost exclusively played out on Stranraer's terms. We really struggled with Ruari Paton's runs down the right, while Tam Orr and Joao Victoria looked quite handy, drifting in and out from the flanks. There were long spells where we couldn't really get the ball out of our half and it didn't help that we lacked a) width and b) any movement in the final third whatsoever. Ryan Watters was especially poor in the first half, even allowing for the fact he's playing in an unfamiliar position. He offered us nothing on the left flank and there was a moment just before the break when Tapping was yelling at him for his unwillingness to press forward, force Grant Gallagher back and create space or offer an option. Time and again the ball was worked over to Watters on the left, only for him to slow everything down and then pass it back inside unnecessarily. It was the same on the right with Jack Hodge, albeit not quite as egregious. We were also very static - there were several times when Tapping would look to move the ball forward but had no-one in space available for a pass; it was so easy for the visitors. And this is before you even get onto the two Stranraer goals! The first one was a poor piece of defending from a routine set-piece that allowed Adam Cummings to fire home from close range; the second was a Paton penalty that came from a crap tackle by Andy Munro on Orr. It resembled a hip toss from the WWE, just really garbage stuff from the captain. We kicked off the second half and looked a lot brighter. I'm not sure what Davie Irons said to his players at the break but it had an effect! We created a couple of chances, most notably a Josh Grigor drive from 20 yards that Greg Fleming did well to parry, and Watters and Hodge actually passed and moved, something neither really did previously. The things that Stranraer were doing well in the first half - overwhelming our full-backs through Paton and Victoria, preventing Tapping from getting on the ball - stopped working and old Scott Robertson looked particularly wonky at the back, with McGuigan giving him a lot of bother. Biabi pulled one back on the hour mark, reacting quickly after Greig Spence's curling effort from distance bounced off the post and across the face of goal. I thought we were going to mount an unlikely comeback until, one minute later, Tapping was red carded for a two-footed tackle and Kieran Millar in the middle of the park. He might have won the ball but there was no need to jump in like that, on that part of the pitch, at that time of the match. Stupid! Credit to the players, however, who continued to graft and push for an equaliser. Stranraer had a couple of efforts but nothing that really put Paddy Martin in serious jeopardy and Munro redeemed his earlier mistakes with a couple of brilliant blocks and one supremely-timed tackle on Orr (I think). With five minutes remaining, Cammy Graham replaced Biabi and made an immediate impact, winning a free-kick, only for Ryan Blair to thump it off the wall. Graham would make a more telling contribution moments later when Fleming, who had looked uncomfortable with high balls all afternoon, missed a catch and allowed the youngster to hook it over him and into an empty net. Cue bedlam! The goal came out of nowhere and was a poor one for Stranraer to concede but it was probably merited based on how well Stenny had acquitted themselves in the second half. While I was ultimately pleased with the point, I'm still not sure what to make of this team and I don't think the squad is quite as good as I first thought. We've spoken before about the lack of depth beyond the starting XI but today it's apparent we don't have a lot of width in attack. David Hopkirk is the only naturally wide player we have and asking Spence and Biabi to play as wide forwards doesn't work - Biabi can blow hot and cold and Spence, his part in the goal aside, contributed little - and, like Watters, I have a degree of sympathy because they're being asked to do things they're not comfortable with (Spence in particular, who's been a penalty-box striker all of his career). We have six senior forwards at the club - McGuigan, Biabi, Spence, Hopkirk, Watters and Tam Muir - and five of them all want to play through the middle. The lack of natural defensive cover is a worry too but I'm told the substitute trialist was a left-back from Ireland. We really miss Callum Yeats. Stranraer were good going forward and I really liked the look of Paton but that back four can be got at, and the goalkeeper isn't as good as he used to be. I suspect we'll be battling with them for a top-four position. Good club, nice people involved.

This will be a hard game for us. If we're serious about getting into the top four this year, we really need to take something from it. We're struggling to create chances and we're looking nervous later on in games, two things that were very noticeable in last week's win over Brechin City. Stranraer have been in superb form lately and I reckon they'll fancy their chances. There are a lot of players I like in that side, especially Kieran Millar, who I'm disappointed we didn't bring to the club after he left Airdrieonians. Callum Yeats is still missing so I assume we'll see Ryan Watters at left-back/left wing-back again. I also think Thomas Halleran could be due a start, possibly at the expense of Ryan Blair who isn't really doing it for me at the moment, and I'd be tempted to replace Botti Biabi with Greig Spence. God knows how we'll shape up but it might be a repeat of last time out. I've never before seen any team play with this system: - Greig Spence - Mark McGuigan - - Thomas Halleran - - Ryan Watters - Callum Tapping - Jack Hodge - Jonathan Tiffoney - - Josh Grigor - - Creag Little - Andy Munro - - Paddy Martin - Hopeful of a home win but we'll see. Please buy a stream for the match, while the match not be great, we can assure you the commentary will be!

A concerning performance from Stenhousemuir who really made hard work of putting away a limited side in Brechin City. Nothing stuck up front for Brechin, they lacked the qualities to battle in the middle of the park and their backline was often ramshackle but they certainly gave us a run for our money in the second half and will probably be disappointed not to take away a point - I was very relieved to see Scott Reekie's shot going over the bar at the death. We were fine in the first half, with Andy Munro and Creag Little doing well to repel City's mediocre raids forward, and largely kept the play in their half. The opening goal, Munro heading in Callum Tapping's cross after six minutes, was the easiest we'll score all year, and Mark McGuigan's strike was well taken after good work down the left from Botti Biabi. But we stopped working as hard after the restart and allowed Brechin to win the second balls and push us back. I don't think it's unreasonable for us to expect a better display against a team who have shipped more than three goals a game this season. I'm not quite sure what to make of this Stenny side. On paper, our starting XI is arguably the best in the division outside of Queen's Park but I've not been convinced in recent weeks. We need to see more from the likes of Biabi and Ryan Blair - these guys will be commanding a good wage and it's not right they're being shown up by the likes of Jack Hodge and Josh Grigor. I thought both youngsters did well, Grigor especially, operating in the quasi-centre-back-cum-sitting-midfielder role. We're also not creating enough. I think we had one decent effort in the second half, a Mark McGuigan shot that forced Paddy O'Neill into a good save. We don't have anyone in the middle of the park that will unlock a defence (although I liked what I saw from Thomas Halleran when he came on, and I'd like to think he might start next week). I'm also not sure about this formation - a 2-1-4-1-2, I think, that was probably designed so Ryan Watters wasn't exposed on the left flank. God love him but he is not a wing-back and he was badly out of position for the visitors' consolation goal. Callum Yeats won't be back till the new year, apparently, so it looks like we'll just have to get on with it till then. We'll need to see an improvement against an impressive Stranraer side (who cruised past Brechin last week, as it happens). Lose and I foresee another season of inconsequentially skirting around in the middle of the table.