BB_Bino

Said it more than once in here but if this move goes through then I’ll not go to games full stop. Scottish Football will be dead to me.

The impression we’re getting from Alloa fans and yourself is that it’s a good move by Dave Mackay, so fingers crossed he’ll be a good addition to the squad. Kevin Moon is a name that I remember seeing dotted about, but he’s not a player that I know and I have absolutely no knowledge of how much football he’s played in Australia, so it could be one of these moves to build up his fitness before looking higher up the leagues in the summer or it could of been the best offer on the table with regards to his day job and living location (there are rumours that he knocked back Brechin to sign). With Dave Mackay, Fraser Wright, Peter MacDonald, Liam Caddis & Willie Robertson about, plus the fact that the squad (and I say this quietly) isn’t a million miles away from gaining promotion, maybe it’s a move that just feels right for him. We have certainly lacked something in midfield, probably a bit of consistency, so let’s hope that Moon solves at least one of our problems.

A couple of Alloa posters have spoken quite highly of him in their thread as well, so looking forward to seeing how he does for us as he isn’t a player I remember coming across.

Kevin Moon has just signed for The Albion. The last club I remember him being at in this country was Alloa. Any good lads?

So Dave Mackay has publicly come out and said that there will definitely be players coming and going over the coming weeks. Players have let him down and not up to the standard that he wants as The Albion. So the question is, who’s leaving the squad and is there any obvious (and realistic) replacements?

Great post Invergowrie Arab and lots of interesting areas and ones that I totally agree with you on, especially the Cat Boyd part I remember being at the National Conference when the topic was brought up and it really did split opinion in the room. However the decision was obviously made to run with it whilst keeping the parties own identity, pushing through this notion of a United left coalition. I THiNK, or should I say, assume that the party regretted it early doors and all but a few pulled out and it was something that wasn’t really mentioned at last year’s conference, which was no surprise because RISE pretty much were inactive and had no intention of standing in the General Election or Council Elections.

The whole RISE coalition seems to be unraveling to the extent that activists are now running around empty buildings putting posters on them demanding councils use them for the homeless. As a big supporter of RISE at the start and a member of the SSP, then it’s quite sad that the coalition which promised so much is reduced to this. From the outside looking in, it would appear that RISE will fade away into the darkness, when really, it could have united the Left in Scottish politics.

Does it? I think in the grand scheme of things that the Edinburgh team are roughly where I would expect them to be. Ok, they maybe should have picked up a few more points however that’s a bottom 3 squad in my eyes.

That headline has made my blood boil. More control by The Tories.

With us having no game today, I decided to venture along to Recreation Park and watch BSC Glasgow face Cumbernauld Colts, see how our old friends Martin Grehan, Ross McMillan & Jamie Mills were getting on. It’s actually amazing how many players BSC had that I knew of, Ceiran Donnelly, Lloyd Kinnaird, Stevie Murray, Jack Smith and Ryan McStay, who have all enjoyed lower league success over the past 10 years, so I thought it was going to be a stroll in the park for them.....how wrong I was. The first thing that struck me was how little fans both clubs had in attendance. A rough count before kick off had me at 32, but a couple more could of been hiding somewhere, unnoticed. It’s scary to think with BSC being top of the league that they could soon be replacing a club like Cowdenbeath, Elgin, Clyde or Berwick. Is this the dream that the SPFL board has when they introduced the Lowland League? I would doubt it. Anyway, from today’s game (it finished 4-1 to Cumbernauld by the way) it is pretty clear that Ross McMillan still tries really hard but is a shadow of the player that we even had, never mind the player that everyone admired at Clyde & Stenhousemuir. Throughout the match, BSC were suspect at cross balls (sound familiar) and every cross seemed to cause panic in the box. Martin Grehan still has that touch of class though and bossed the Cumbernauld back four for much of the game. I would say however that the top end of the Lowland League is now his level and I would doubt he’d have the same effect in League 2 these days. It was good seeing him pop up with a goal however and the small band of BSC fans who were there (10-12) seem to have taken to him. Jamie Mills last and probably least. Did that lad really come through the Youth Ranks at Rangers? Was absolutely horrendous throughout the game and it was no surprise when the 1st and 2nd Cumbernauld goals came from his side, and him failing to pick up players. He looked a complete liability when we saw him at Forthbank last season and it looks like Dave Mackay hasn’t made a mistake on this one and called it completely right. Sure, he has pace to burn, but that’s it. Was never in positions to even get the ball into the box. Cumbernauld impressed me, they have improved since we met them in the Scottish Cup over the last couple of years. They seem organised and you can see them improving further. I was surprised at how poor BSC were, maybe this is just one season too far for their “big hitters”. The shape of Donnelly and Murray was a shock, although I was thinking at one point, just how far in the game would Murray have gone if he looked after himself, as he was a wonderful player at Dumbarton and Stenny, and even today showed flashes that he still has it. Wish both teams well for the rest of the season, hopefully get back along to see either of them soon [emoji1303]

Have to agree Jake. I'm absolutely scunnerd at Dave Mackay's thinking on this one. As I have said before, I'm not totally convinced that Cammy Binnie is the future SPL keeper that many believe he'll be, but you could see straight from the Annan game that Foden was dodgy yet Mackay has stuck with him. Why? Who actually knows but it's cost him a couple of points and maybe even a cup place.

So what can we expect from you guys on Saturday? Will there be a big following coming through the game or a couple of wee mini buses? Is there likely to be much of a game?? This is exactly why I love the Scottish Cup, can't wait for Saturday (only wish the game was at your ground)

I think this is a pretty decent shout and it's worth looking into. Beattie was well respected during a brief stint coaching at Forthbank and talking to a number of players who were involved at the time, he was highly regarded. Everyone has to start somewhere, so why not?

From the outside looking in he certainly seems to be taking you backwards at an alarming rate. Handy for us if we can win promotion as I miss the derby games.

Again, as an outsider, but one who has watched a wee bit of Lowland/EoS League football over the years, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. No disrespect to those involved at those levels but there is a huge difference both on and off the pitch, when you hit the senior leagues. You only have to look at the way Annan have changed over the years to see that clubs tend to need big changes. Although we all watch diddy teams in the grand scale of things, the LL/EoS league club set ups are extremely diddy conspired to L2.

In my opinion it's too soon for Dave Mackay to go. He has openly said that last season was a big learning curve for him and I'm sure he is still learning. I've no doubt that he will move on to a Full Time job and good luck to him when the time comes, but I personally feel that this job has come too soon for him and my advice would be to stick around for another year or two and finish the job that has been started. I'm sure if he could get us promoted and into the top half of League 1 that he would leave with everyones best wishes. Falkirk have a recent history of left field appointments, Eddie May, Gary Holt and even Steven Pressley all came out of the blue somewhat, so maybe they will be tempted to do it again. Time will tell, I just keep my fingers crossed for us that it's not Mackay and in some ways, I hope for his sake it's not him as well because the last we want to see is him to do a Moorey and leave the club just to fail.

I share an office with a few Hearts fans and I'll repeat what I say to them, the lad is a class act who has all the attributes to be a top player at Hearts. He's got it all and if his loan can be extended to the end of the season then I fully expect a few League 2 awards to be coming his way. I know there is a big difference between League 2 and the Premiership so I'm not to sure how he will handle the jump up, but there is no reason why Hearts can' get him involved and give it a try. He's a player to get excited about and one that has a bright future in the game, I really hope his attitude is one that takes him to these levels and not one that will always ensure he is "a good lower league player", like many before him.

How have Ross McMillan & Jamie Mills looked since joining?

Oh no......we all know what that means

Don't know if there is any truth in this, but one of my work mates is a youth coach at Bonnyrigg and was raving about this lad (guessing it's the same guy) all last season. Apparently he scored goals for fun for them.

How have David Verlaque and Moses looked so far?

It was the right decision in the end. His time here hasn't worked out and I just can't see how he was going to fit in this season. I would guess that he was one of our biggest earners, so it will free up some funds for Mackay to go out and either strengthen or to have on the back burner in case of injuries later in the season. It's a bit of a shame how things have worked out for the lad, after a tremendous year at Berwick, we were all full of hope for him and were excited by the signing. His hat trick against Elgin brought higher levels of excitement and expectation but soon after that we could all see the way that it was going to end up. I'm not sad to see him go, as I found him frustrating and at times a liability, but I wish him well in wherever he goes. I've been told he's a good guy who lives near the borders so wouldn't be totally surprised to hear he already has something lined up back at Annan or Berwick.

No need to apologies buddy. Wasn't having a go. Keep up the good work.

Mmmmmm.....he's not bad, but he didn't do anything to suggest he was good either. IMHO. Sorry mate, but this is wrong: "Andrew Black is also available in this role while Ross Smith; Ross McGeachie and Lee Hamilton will battle it out for the central berth alongside Scott Davidson." Ross Smith and Ross McGeachie are our first choice Centre Back pairing. Scott Davidson will be pushing them. Lee Hamilton is a Left Back and if further cover is needed in the centre of Defence then going by the Betfred Cup games, Ewan McNeill will be the player used to fill in.

On the back of the Jordan Burt article, Dave Mackays comments in this week's Stirling Observer are interesting: He said "I had a chat with Blair as he's obviously wondering why he is not playing but he needs to show me more than he has shown. He needs to improve his fitness and be a better all-round player to play in the system that we want to play. We want to press from the front and he is maybe more suited to playing with two up front. I have no issues with Blair and he has never caused me a problem but he can definitely improve - he's someone who scored 20-odd goals for Berwick a couple of seasons ago. It's not quite worked out the way he or Stirling would have liked but i wouldn't say the door is closed. If he shows me enough to get back involved in the squad then the door will be open for him".