ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds

I’ve been waiting until this day to make this point but absolutely yes. Our only losses in 2022 have came against Partick Thistle (Scottish Cup), Montrose (Playoff semi first leg), Queen’s Park (playoff final extra time, didn’t actually lose in 90 minutes) and Arbroath (League Cup). FC Edinburgh we lost to on penalties but the group table shows it as a draw so definitely not counting that as a loss. Last league loss came against Montrose on the 7th of December. We’re going for 21 today and no once can tell me any different.

Some cracking finishes in there

Another left footed midfielder! Makes a change from a few seasons ago when our only left footed player was Leon McCann. Sounds like he’s an attacking midfielder so I’d guess if we stick to 433 it’ll be one of McCabe or McMaster sitting and two of Frizzell, Wylie and Devenny in front of them. Looks like Wylie’s getting the number 8 shirt so hopefully that’s a sign that he’s expected to be an improvement on what we already have.

Would have McGill back and Connor Smith in a heartbeat. Unfortunately I suspect Smith will have Championship suitors but maybe his big brother could have a wee word in his ear to talk him into joining us. McGill we’ve all seen and we know he gives us good cover across several midfield roles and even (though perhaps not in an ideal situation) at full back. McGill I’d expect probably would still be looking at a League One loan as I’m not sure he’d be quite ready for the Championship but you never know.

Great to get another player in. Can’t pretend to know much about Jamieson but if he done well at Clyde last season then it’s probably a good signing, and I do remember him scoring that cracker against us. The squad balance is a bit strange just now, with 5 forwards in such a light squad but hopefully more to be added before the Peterhead game. Don’t expect Jamieson to start on Saturday since we’ll probably go with a front 3 of Smith, Gallagher and McGill but I’m sure he’ll come on as a sub given there aren’t many to choose from. Here’s hoping he can cover the wider forward areas that Smith and McGill play because I’m not convinced Gal or Salim should ever be out there.

Well we were linked to a Celtic goalie (Oluwayemi) before Rae joined so I wonder if that’s back on. I just assumed it wouldn’t happen when Rae signed.

Are you implying it’s the same parent club for all three players? Given another poster hinted at one of the signings, should we expect three youngsters swapping hoops for diamonds?

Obviously we still need five or six players in. I wouldn't panic if we haven't brought five or six players in by Saturday's game (in fact I'd maybe even be worried we've rushed signings at the last minute if we do that) but surely we need at least one in, and preferably two or three, before the Peterhead game. Overall I'd say we need another centre back, left back, a couple of midfielders and a couple of forwards (although these could be wide players rather than centre forwards). Would be nice to get one announced today or tonight.

Was this the entire rumour you heard or were specific names mentioned?

Tend to agree, although I wouldn’t mind just one player if he was capable of playing left back and centre back (like a left sided Watson) as that would probably give us enough cover across the back 4. Ideally though both positions need additional cover.

On a serious note I’m surprised it’s only maybe a defender. Not counting McCabe we only have 4.

Completely forgot about McMaster after he was ineligible on Tuesday night. I think that is probably the most likely change then and I agree we should try to stick to 4-3-3 as much as possible.

If Ballantyne’s suspended and no signings are made I suppose Gibson playing is quite likely, with Watson playing right back and McCabe joining Fordyce at centre back in a back 4, but it could possibly be Salim coming in if he’s fit to start and a shift to 442 with Smith and McGill out wide. Ideally a centre back or midfielder can be signed to avoid changing too much, but probably not too likely to happen before Saturday. Nine days until the league games start so the pen will surely be out before then.

Watching the highlights back and hadn't realised just how involved McGill was in basically all our attacks. Everyone played great but I'd say him, Watson and Frizzell in particular were outstanding.

Assuming McMasters is ineligible to play against his parent club I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one of the academy boys starting again. With McMasters and Salim unavailable, we only have 12 and obviously two of those are goalies, so really it’s 11 senior players eligible to start the game. Rae Ballantyne Watson Fordyce Deveney Frizzell McCabe Devenny McGill Gallagher Smith That’s the 11 but keeping in mind that Gal wasn’t in the squad for the last game he might not be fit. McCabe’s also been playing himself at centre back so if he continues that then one of the academy boys would have to play in midfield.

I heard from someone that Peterhead had two separate training groups, with a group training in the central belt and a group training in the north east, and then meeting up on matchdays. Not sure how accurate that info is but I can imagine it’s even more difficult for the part time clubs in more remote areas.

It worked a lot more in Murray’s last season than in previous seasons, and I think that was purely down to the desire of last season’s squad to actually get the results.

I know he splits opinions but I’d take him. I know he was poor before the playoffs but that performance off the bench against Montrose was outstanding. I’d imagine his trial at Portsmouth suggests he’s looking to leave Scotland though.

Cammy Ballantyne told the Daily Record he had a two year deal but the club never announced that, just that he signed.

Obviously the club can’t talk about ongoing contract discussions and even though rumours are exciting for us there really shouldn’t be leaks that result in those rumours. I generally find the lack of news frustrating although I am fairly confident we’ll have a decent squad this year based on what we have already and the obvious careful consideration that’s going into signings. We know there’s been plenty trialists so the lack of signings must mean the club are being very careful to ensure the signings are the right ones, you would think. I do think the club has been needlessly secretive over certain things. I never really understood why Craig Watson’s contract extension was announced in June when he himself said it had been “sorted months ago”. Likewise the academy. We heard rumours about Gow’s academy ages ago and while I agree the club should only announce things when they’re official, we know that Cole Gibson signed a contract a few weeks ago so clearly he and the academy were there and operating for a while before it was announced just the other day. Another is the physio that left Albion Rovers. The Rovers said in their statement that he was leaving for Airdrie and we’ve still not had any kind announcement about that. There’s also the paragraph from McCabe’s announcement as manager: “We will ensure that a fully comprehensive support structure is put in place to support Rhys and Callum in their managerial journey at Airdrieonians.” It’s so vague. A lot of fans took it to mean there would be an experienced coach coming in to assist them but it doesn’t necessarily mean that and we’ve also not heard anything about coaches or a support structure since so we don’t really know what’s happening there.

No pens please. We’re shite at them.

Realistically there are players that good that play in League One quite often. Easton is one, but Shankland and Nisbet have to remembered as well. And I’d also put McInroy in that category, there’s a reason he’s signed for a Premiership team and Easton hasn’t. I’m hopeful Frizzell can hit a similar level of performance this season which I think he’s capable of. However, it is very unlikely we’ll get a like for like replacement for Easton, purely because players like him are so rare these days at any level. People describe tough players not afraid of a hard challenge as throwbacks, but for me Easton is a throwback to a different generation of footballer. Very rare nowadays to see a player that plays the way he does, trying tricks, stepovers, nutmegs. I think there’s a reason it’s not seen as often now as it’s generally less effective than the style of the modern game, but when it works it works well and looks great. As I’ve said before I don’t think it’s fair on whatever midfielder we bring in to be considered “Easton’s replacement” because most likely it will be a very different player and if anything Frizzell will be more like Easton’s replacement and the new player would most likely take over Frizz’s role from last season.

Might not be permanent squad numbers but who knows, at least there’s still some more classic numbers to fill as you said so you’d think there will still be first team players coming in. Will be interesting to see more academy announcements as those five were all described as midfielders so there should still be a lot more in order to have a team. I think the announcement of those five might have been rushed due to McMasters and Gallagher being unavailable. Recruitment so far (as slow as it’s been) has generally been good so hopefully more of the same. Rae and Ballantyne look like big improvements on what we had last season, McMasters like a good player and Devenny so far has been a class act. Deveney I’m still undecided on and like you say another left back would be good to have. Think he was a bit lucky to stay on the park last night after that crunching challenge.

It’s not like Smith or McGill were missing sitters. Most of those missed shots were long range efforts or blocked quickly by defenders and a lot were from Frizzell and Devenny as well. If anything our conversion rate would improve with better decision making by all players in the last third (midfielders and wing backs included) or by having an extra man up top as we did last season to actually overload the opposition defence.

Definitely still a bit rusty and I’d prefer to see us play 433 with Smith out on the left but there are positives there. Think Frizzell could have a huge season for us and I really really like the look of Justin Devenny.