Francesc Fabregas

What a treat awaits us on Saturday - the two worst sides in the SPFL duking it out at Ochilview on Saturday. I, for one, cannot wait. I don't care how we achieve it, but we have to win this match. Nothing else will really do. Three points would put a bit of daylight between us and Brechin City at the foot of the table and, hopefully, act as a catalyst to put together a series of results and see us move towards safety. We've beaten Brechin twice already this season and I'm hopeful we can do it again. I think this is the worst run of form we've been on since I started supporting the club in 2004. There have been a couple of hard-luck stories (I think we should have taken a point against Annan Athletic and, by all accounts, we gave Cove Rangers a decent game) but we've looked poor for the best part. We all knew the squad at the start of the season wasn't really good enough but I'm not sure if it's any better after recent changes. Ryan Blair, Jordan Armstrong and Connor McBride might have their qualities but I don't think they're the kind of players you want when you're struggling, particularly where there's such an acute anxiety about relegation to the Lowland League. We're told there is still money available for additional signings but I'm yet to be convinced of Davie Irons' recruitment so far. I've no idea how we'll line up. It really seems to be a pick 'n' mix at the moment in terms of team selection. I think we can win. I'd be disappointed if it was anything else.

Absolutely, we've badly lacked legs in the middle of the park so hopefully Conor McBrearty can provide it. What he lacks in finesse, he makes up for in boundless energy. Still short in a couple of places but this is a good signing and I hope he can reprise the shift he put in last term.

A very welcome initiative from Queen's Park and one I hope many people take up (not me though, I've got a day out at Montrose on Saturday). We've been comfortably outplayed by the Spiders on our previous two meetings and I haven't seen anything from us since to suggest things will change. Queen's Park are an inconsistent side and, with all due respect, they're the kind of team you should be looking to get the better of to get out of a rut but I don't think we're good enough for that. Home win.

Chris O'Neil was signed from Airdrieonians, he's definitely not a loanee. Someone might need to correct me but I don't think Jordan Armstrong is on loan either, I'm sure we brought him in after he was released by Motherwell. As for the rest of them, Liam Scullion is too lightweight and drops out of games too easily, Dylan Dykes is decent enough on the ball but no good without it, and I've yet to see anything at all from Connor McBride to suggests he's got it. Davie Irons was able to bring in some very good players to the club during his first spell - think of Eric Paton and Michael Devlin in particular - and I hope he can reprise that. With Ryan Blair and Botti Biabi likely to leave in January, we'll need a new central midfielder and a striker, and a left-back, something we've needed all season. While I'm hopeful we can bring in some new players, it can't all be down to turning over the squad - the only senior players to have performed consistently over the last five months have been Graeme Smith and Scott McLaughlin. We should be expecting more from Andy Munro and Mark McGuigan.

That was another dismal encounter in a season of dismal encounters. I think most people have summed it up best elsewhere - Stenhousemuir might have enjoyed the majority of the possession but they didn't really do anything with it and I don't recall Cammy Binnie being forced into anything serious at all. Stirling Albion, meanwhile, took their chances well and forced Graeme Smith into a handful of excellent saves. Stenny's defending at times was appalling and I had my head in my hands at the first goal. I can't believe the ball was allowed to find its way to Dylan Mackin to hook it home from close range but every time a team runs at us, or we concede a set-piece, I think we're going to lose a goal. Something systematically isn't right with this side. After an impressive start, Davie Irons hasn't had the impact anyone would have hoped from him and I wonder how the players are responding to him. That said, too many of them just don't appear to be good enough and the squad looks lesser than the sum of its parts. We're in a lot of bother and I'm really worried how we kick on and get a bit of form after that.

He recently left Stenhousemuir citing "work commitments". We played in central midfield and while he was quite good in there, I always felt we were right to expect more from him.

I thought last night's game was entertaining, particularly towards the end when it was really end to end. I thought a draw was probably the fair result at the end given we'd seen most of the ball in the second half. Thomas McHale made some decent saves and his side were under pressure for long spells. Vimto90 is correct, we were very porous at the back and could have lost by fair few. The second goal in particular was a shambles - Alan Cook will need to take a look at himself after being beaten to a looping high ball that was dropping right onto his head. Pathetic defending. I really liked the look of Botti Biabi and thought he was the best player on the pitch (Daniel McKay ran him close before he dropped out of the game in the second half). He was good at coming deep, good at running in behind, good at going up for headers, good at bringing others into play. It's a shame he's only here for a couple of weeks as he'd make a huge difference to us. Ryan Blair was alright - he had one run in the second half where he beat three men before being closed down - but he seemed to want longer on the ball than he was ever going to be afforded in League 2. We're still a work in progress and I reckon we'll have enough about us to move away from the wrong end of the division. Another big game at the weekend against Annan Athletic awaits.

I'm looking forward to this evening's match - we played reasonably well against Elgin City earlier in the season and we should be looking to build on Saturday's result at Brechin City. Games against Elgin are never straightforward (I'm sure they leathered us in a midweek tie in Feruary 2018) but I'd like to think we've got enough about us to get the better of them. I can't think of what the starting XI might be but it'll probably be the same as last time around.

Two ex-English Premier League players joining our ranks, is it!

Assume Loy if this is true It's not Rory Loy - lower your sights by some distance and try again!

Really? I thought he was our best player in the last game against Albion Rovers. Brought some composure to the middle of the park and always looked to put his foot on the ball. I think he'll be a miss.

My word, that's a big blow. I really liked the look of him in the middle of the park and thought he offered us control and experience. Still! Let's hope his departure is offset by the arrival of a former Falkirk FC striker!

My Best Stenhousemuir XI of the Decade is broadly the same as Vimto90's (solely because there have only been a handful of superstars in our ranks over the last 10 years) but there are one or two differences. GK: Graeme Smith We've been fortunate to have had a number of great goalkeepers on our books over the past few seasons - Chris Smith was a positive signing, while Greg Fleming was the Player of the Year in Scott Booth's miserable campaign of 2014/15 - but it's our current custodian that gets the nod. I don't think I've ever felt so assured by a Stenhousemuir goalie. It's easy to say "he's a great shot stopper!" but some of the saves Buzz pulls of are incredible. His performance against Heart of Midlothian in the League Cup group stages earlier in the year was extraordinary, and I believe we would have been relegated last season long before we ever reached the play-offs without him. He's strong, commanding, and I always believe we have a chance whenever we concede a penalty kick with him in goal. LB: Ruaridh Donaldson I don't think we've ever really been blessed with quality left-backs - off the top of my head, I'm really struggling to think of any - so Ruardidh Donaldson gets the nod by default. That's not to denigrate him, of course! Far from it! Signed from Bonnyrigg Rose in the summer of 2017, it took Donaldson a couple of games to get up to speed with SPFL football but when he did, he was flying. Fit and committed, he could motor up and down the left flank all afternoon, chucking in crosses at one end and taking out wingers at the other. I thought he could have kicked on and moved further up the food chain but he moved to London for work in June and is now turning out for Hampton and Richmond Borough. Fair play to him! CB: Ross McMillan There were times during Ross McMillan's first two seasons at Stenhousemuir when I couldn't quite believe he had been jobbing about in the lower leagues for so long. A strapping boy with a big barrel chest, he was an excellent defender under Davie Irons and then Martyn Corrigan. He was at his best when paired alongside Corrigan in first year with the club, with their contrasting styles complementing each other well. McMillan's influence waned in his third and fourth season and he eventually moved on to Stirling Albion, but that doesn't diminish how good a player he was in 2011/12 and 2012/13. CB: Mick Dunlop I always admired Mick Dunlop as player since I first saw him starring for Queen's Park and I was delighted when we signed him and his brother Ross from Albion Rovers in the summer of 2017. His two goals against Peterhead in first leg of the play-off final were tremendous, particularly the first one, and that game is one one of my favourites. Mick was a great captain and a player I think we might have been a little too hasty to have moved on after our promotion. RB: Ross Meechan This was the most difficult to select - Ross Meechan or Willie Lyle? Two of the most committed, dedicated players I've seen at the club and two players I really took to my heart. Meechan just edges it because he scored one of my favourite Stenhousemuir goals - a stunning left-footed curler from 20 yards against Stirling Albion - and for the moment I realised we might have a smashing player, and not a dud, on our hands after his midfield masterclass in the play-off final second leg against Queen's Park in 2015. I honestly thought he would be at the club for the whole of his career but he deserved to move onto bigger things. Jim Weir, who brought him to Forfar Athletic, described him as "pound for pound, the best signing I'll ever make", and you can't really argue with that. CM: Eric Paton Eric Paton. The Big Easy. The best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. My all-time favourite Stenny player whose performances over the latter stages of the 2010/11 season dragged his team from the relegation play-off places and into safety. What a baller. What a hero! CM: Harry Paton A wonderful footballer and the best loan player I've seen at the club. There was no finer sight than watching the on-loan Heart of Midlothian "tyro" taking the ball on the half turn in the middle of the park and motoring into the final third, his little snake hips shimmying beyond bamboozled opposition players before laying the ball on for a team-mate. Paton was brave in possession and so confident in his own ability and he made such a positive impact on the promotion-winning side of 2017/18; he was the best player in League 2 that year by a mile. I don't think he quite made the same impression when he returned on loan from Ross County for a couple of months the following season but that doesn't diminish what he achieved in his first spell with the Warriors. CM: Brown Ferguson There were a couple of worthy candidates to take the final position in central midfield - I loved Iain Thomson, and Mark Ferry did us a great turn between 2017 and 2019 - but Bomber gets the nod. The best adjective to describe him is "classy" - very experienced, clever on the ball, professional, a true role model and someone supporters could trust. He was briefly nicknamed "El Gol" after scoring in three consecutive matches in 2011/12. Bomber went on to manage the club before being unexpectedly sacked in 12 months ago. A daft decision! ST: Mark "Mr Goals" McGuigan A superstar! Mark McGuigan's goals, all 23 of them, were vital to Stenhousemuir's promotion success in 2017/18. Some of them were incredible, especially the strikes against Berwick Rangers and Clyde, both long-range stunners. McGuigan is also a true big-game player, netting in some of the club's most important matches in recent years (the play-off final first-leg against Queen's Park, the Scottish Cup fourth-round tie with Aberdeen in January. We are lucky to have him; I'm surprised he stuck around following our relegation in May. ST: Colin McMenamin Colin McMenamin's performance over the course of the 2014/15 season is enough to get him into the Stenhousemuir FC Hall of Fame alone. He gave Scott Booth's down-on-their-luck side a great to chance to avoid relegation, including a scoring a smashing goal in the play-off final first leg against Queen's Park. McMenamin worked hard for the team over the subsequent three years, not always with brilliant effect it must be said, but he was a handy player to have in our ranks. His move into management with the club didn't work out but he did beat Falkirk in the Scottish Cup last year, so fair play to him! ST: John Gemmell One of the most naturally talented forwards I've ever seen at Stenhousemuir - some of the goals he scored were incredible and some of the performances he put in were heroic (the Scottish Cup replay at Annan Athletic in 2013 immediately springs to mind) - John Gemmell was a player who had all the tools to star at a higher level, but he just couldn't be bothered half the time. For every 30-yard goal or every bull-in-a-china-shop display, there were games where he skulked around the pitch with a torn face. Still, the good outweighs the bad and more than 30 goals in two season is a very decent return.

This is actually a fair point, I would swap out Kris Faulds for Tony Marenghi. There were occasions where Marenghi could pop around a supreme pass but I don't think I've seen anyone give less of a fuck on the football pitch before. Lightweight, unfit and generally uninterested.

I remember watching Ricki "The Rifle" Lamie playing for Queen's Park during this time and I can't believe he's gone on to play regularly in the Premiership. Fair play to him! David Gold, too, has developed into a smashing midfielder with Arbroath and Joao Victoria is a capable, if awkward, striker for League 1 level. I always though Mick Keenan was alright but you'll know better than me.

This thread is doing the rounds in the Championship and League 1 forums so it's only far we start one in the basement league. It's very straightforward: all you have to do is pick the worst XI to have featured for your team over the last 10 years. I'll have a bash with Stenhousemuir FC. GK: Jamie Barclay It was a toss-up between Jamie Barclay and Colin McCabe for my goalkeeper but Barclay just edges it given his relative lower-league experience compared to the young Irishman. Few felt confident when we brought in Clyde's tubby reserve goalie in 2015 but even his most ardent supporters couldn't have believed how sorry a player he was. Who could forget his inexplicable own goal in the defeat at Ayr United? Sensational stuff! It got to the stage where he was costing us a goal every game; quite why he played so often for us, I do not know. LB: Stephen Thomson Some players have been shoehorned into the team out of necessity to fill a position but not Stephen Thomson. Montrose supporters laughed at us when he took him off their hands in 2009, warning us we'd brought a donkey to the club - and they were right! Reckless and ill-disciplined, there was a game against Clyde that sticks out where he was sent off after just 16 minutes for a tackle of jaw-dropping idiocy. When Davie Irons came into the club, he was given a final chance before being binned off to Berwick Rangers. The worst left-back I've ever seen at Stenhousemuir. CB: Stuart Malcolm What a disappointment! Stuart Malcolm had enjoyed a good season with Forfar Athletic before pitching up at Stenny but he left any sense of being a centre-back at Station Park. On the first league game of the 2015/16 season, we had taken a two-goal lead against Peterhead at Balmoor and looked to be cruising, until the captain collected two ludicrous yellow cards. His dismissal saw three points become one. This would be a recurring feature of his year at the club. My lasting memory of him was falling over when trying to headia simple high ball in a Boxing Day clash with Stranraer and allowing Craig Malcolm to score. By all accounts he's a good person to have around your club but he was a rotten player at the Warriors. CB: Ross Smith Signed on loan from Dundee United, Ross Smith came with a decent reputation a positive temporary spell at Peterhead. However, he was rotten at the Warriors - lightweight, uncertain, panicky and poor on the ball; all the hallmarks of a bad defender. It is worth noting he played at centre-back in our 5-4 home defeat to Dunfermline Athletic and the 8-0 drubbing at Rangers. Mince. RB: Jamie McCormack I feel a bit bad putting Jamie "Jobber" McCormack in this list because he did score some important goals for the club, particularly a lovely header in the play-off final first-leg win against Queen's Park in 2015, but he was a rotten defender. He was slow and often found himself out of position, and he also had a rash streak, leading to him conceding numerous fouls. McCormack played more than 60 games for Stenhousemuir which, frankly, I can't quite believe. CM: Kris Faulds Once again, I'm not 100 per cent sure Kris Faulds should be on this list as he had a bit of talent and he scored a nice goal in an unexpected win over Dunfermline Athletic in 2014 but he was largely hopeless. He didn't use his ability often enough, preferring to spend long periods of the game running here and there to hide away from any immediate panic. He was poor during his loan spell with the club over the latter part of the 2013/14 season and I can't fathom why Scott Booth decided to sign him permanently after his release from Falkirk. Not good enough for the SPFL, and this is reflected by the fact he's spent the last few years playing for East Stirlingshire. CM: Kieron Gibbons The Lowland League Player of the Year the previous season, Kieron Gibbons was anonymous at Stenhousemuir after joining in 2018. What did he do? He was quite fit, sure, but how did he use his energy? He wasn't positionally sound enough to protect the back four; his passing was often poor, especially over short distances; he wasn't technical enough to support the forwards; and he offered no goal threat. Gibbons picked up two bookings in the first league game of the season against Brechin City and no-one could properly trust him after that. God only knows why Brown Ferguson offered him a two-year contract but he was released a few months into the current season and returned to East Kilbride in the Lowland League. A real nothing player. CM: Russell Dingwall A terrible signing and arguably one of the worst of Colin McMenamin's time as manager of Stenhousemuir. The on-loan Ross County midfielder ran about a bit but provided no defensive cover, nor did he offer us any thrust in attack. He was red carded in a crucial match against Brechin City for elbowing the goalkeeper early on and indifference turned to dislike soon after. In fact, you could more or less copy and paste Kieron Gibbons entry in here. ST: Shaun Fraser Simply the most limited footballer I've ever seen at Stenhousemuir, and that's really saying something. Shaun Fraser was brought to Ochilview on loan from Partick Thistle to augment our forward line midway through the 2011/12 campaign. He had apparently played rugby into his early teens before switching to football but Ian McCall seemed to rate him quite highly. Instead of a rugged, hot-shot baller, we had a technically deficient striker who looked as though he had been plucked from the stands as part of a cruel joke. I remember him being put through on goal on his debut at Forfar Athletic and looking absolutely astonished to have found himself in such a position. Two more appearances and about 70-odd minutes of game time later and he was never seen again. A terrible player. ST: Kenny Deuchar Pound for pound, the worst player I've seen at Stenhousemuir when reputation, outlay and performance are taken into consideration. Signed on loan from Livingston at the tail end of the 2011/12 season, Kenny Deuchar was supposed to give our forward line a different dimension, reignite our faltering campaign and lift us back into the Championship play-offs. Instead we had brought in a cumbersome, unfit and immobile old warhorse who stationed himself next to opposition centre-backs in the hope any long balls bounced off him and into the path of a graetful team-mate. Deuchar offered us very little and was dropped before the end of the season; needless to say, we finished in fifth. Thanks, Kenny! ST: Ryan Miller What Scott Booth was thinking when he brought this jobber to the club, I do not know. The former Falkirk youngster, who featured for the club during their brief run in Europe a few years prior, was recruited from Lowland League crack troops Stirling University alongside PJ Sludden. Sludden had actually trialed unsuccessfully with us in the past, so fans were immediately suspicious of the pair. Neither were particularly good and both looked out of their depth at the bottom end of League 1. Sludden, at least, scored a smashing goal in a Stirlingshire Cup tie; Miller was very poor and never once made an impression on the first team.

I see a lot of Partick Thistle supporters have nominated Shaun Fraser here - in three appearances and 70-odd minutes of football on loan at Stenhousemuir, I can safely say he's the most limited player I've ever seen in my life. I genuinely have no idea how or why he found himself on a pitch because he had no ability whatsoever. I don't know whatever happened to him after he returned to Firhill but a quick search on Google suggests he tried his hand at modelling.

He seems like an unpleasant individual but apparently he's shown up reasonably well in the bounce matches he's played in. Welcome aboard!

Historic vote for change at Queen’s Park Football Club We can announce that the resolution to enable the club to offer professional terms has passed. The club would like to thank the members and supporters for their interest and input over the past few months. We recognise the difficulty in introducing this resolution, however, we believe this will enable us to plan for a bright future, as we face up to the challenges of moving from the National Stadium and maintaining our senior league place.

This is incorrect - there are two VTs and a "Last-Minute Winner" on the show every week. Duncan and Duncan will be returning on tomorrow night's episode.

I started a second career game after downloading a patch but the same thing happened - from one game to the next, with no explanation, the skill button stopped working again. What's the point.

This is good:

A fucking pumping today. Queen's Park strolled through the match and thoroughly deserved their victory but we offered nothing. Other than an Andy Munro header that flashed over the crossbar, I don't think we had an attempt on goal. The defending was horrendous, the midfield non-existent and the strikeforce waif-like. Awful stuff. Something's not right at Ochilview at the moment. For all the excitement after the wins over Cove Rangers and Waterford, they seemed to have papered over some cracks and there are deep-seated issues that need sorted out.That's three consecutive defeats, 10 goals conceded and some truly alarming moments. Apparently David Marsh left the club during the match after falling out with Davie Irons. I hope we can remain competitive for the time being before turning over the squad in January - because boy, do we need it!

Indeed, both teams should be looking to win this game. Queen's Park have been in a slump for a number of weeks; Stenhousemuir's confidence has been obliterated in the space of four days.

The performance and result against Penicuik Athletic was the worst in the 15 years I've been following Stenhousemuir, and it was followed up by a stinking display against Edinburgh City (albeit they're a very handy side). The good feeling since Davie Irons joined the club in September has pretty much disappeared but if ever there's a time to get back on track then it's against a poor Queen's Park team. They haven't won a league game since the middle of August and they've collected just two points from their previous seven league outings; we should have the wherewithal to get the better of them on Saturday. I don't want to predict a side but I reckon Connor McBride will come in for the suspended Alan Cook and we might see Mark McGuigan dropped to the bench in place of Kieran Anderson. McGuigan's looked out of sorts in the last two games and a short spell on the sidelines might do him good.