ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds

Telfer looked good. Frizzell played with the freedom Easton played with last season. Rae didn’t have too much to do but his kicking seems a massive improvement on what we’ve had recently.

McMaster’s taken number 14, so presumably 8 is still being held for someone expected to be more involved in the first team than him

I think he actually finished the season as assist leader for the league as well, which isn’t bad considering he was played out of position for a team that only just made the playoffs

I know most of the Turner stuff has been a bit of tongue and cheek but given he was modelling Thistle’s Kingsley kit the other day I can’t imagine they’ll be trying to move him on. Although I think if we mention his name in every transfer window it might happen eventually, like it did with Andy Ryan.

Thomas Robert’s coming back, speaking of “unfinished business at Airdrie”. Everyone’s livid and I’m seeking out my Tam Rab shirt to wear while I await the announcement.

I see the bookies have odds priced up for our league now. We’re 11/2 with McBookie and William Hill, 6/1 on Bet365 and 7/1 with SkyBet. Fourth favourites behind Dunfermline, Falkirk and QOTS, although the odds would suggest they don’t expect there to be much between us four and Kelty Hearts (well except SkyBet who don’t seem to rate Kelty at all and have them 12/1 behind Alloa)

Aye the trials he was on while contracted to us were bizarre, but the Belgian B league might be a higher standard than the Scottish third tier. All I’m saying is he had some ability, and there was a spell in his season with us where he looked very good, and he’d maybe even have suited our more technically gifted side from last season a bit better than the side he was in. Scored a screamer against Cove and finished off a great team move against Forfar.

Controversial opinion but I thought Robert was actually quite good. If it was announced tomorrow that he was returning as a squad option I’d be fairly happy with that. He might need to bulk up a bit though.

Paddy Pyott

“In your new football team” implies he’s going nowhere

That’s the one that had lots of Gibsons liking his picture on facebook! When I seen he’d been playing for Benburb U18’s I wasn’t sure if he was just there to make up the numbers or not but will be interesting to see how he develops

In theory should we not have more available funds for wages than last season? Presumably as a rookie manager McCabe is on less than Murray was, and since he doubles as a player his entire playing wage is freed up, plus whatever the difference between his and Murray’s wages are? Cantley’s wage also freed up with Hutton replacing both him and Jim Low which might not be much but it’s still something.

Couldn’t find a highlights video but this is from the match report on the club website. Back three with Watson at wing back if I recall correctly.

For comparison, this is where we were this time last season (that’s the team that played Cumbernauld Colts in the NL Cup). Frizzell had been signed at this point it should be said, but was out injured. We’ve got four of those named players still in the squad now, plus Frizzell who was injured and McGill who was one of the trialists. After this we signed Salim and Smith who we still have now. Currie’s been replaced with Rae, Wardrop’s been belatedly replaced by Ballantyne, Cantley’s been replaced by Hutton. We’ve brought in Devenny as well, but I wouldn’t call him a direct replacement for any of those named players. We’re definitely a bit lighter than we were this time last season, but I think we’ve got a bit more quality now, with the exception of Easton of course.

I reckon a lot of those trialists will be involved in the NL Cup games at the weekend, same as last season when our squad for those fixtures was made up of trialists. Of last season’s NL Cup trialists I think we only signed Gabby, Lyons and McDonald, so I’d expect something similar where very few of those boys are actually signed (without knowing much about any of these players my money’s on McMaster, Vata and Euan Deveney). I think we’ll start making other “first team” signings and some loans during the League Cup group stage.

Assuming that’s a list of who’s been training with us, obviously still got Gallagher, Smith, Salim, Watson and Hutton to add. I’d also mention that there’s no way we’ve released Pyott just to sign him back, so he’s obviously been allowed to train with us to help him get back to full fitness and find a team. When the training pictures were put up on Facebook I had a look at the likes and deduced that the young lad was Cole Gibson, there were three people liked his picture called Gibson and one of them (presumably his dad) had the boy as his profile picture holding a trophy he’d won for Benburb U18s. Wouldn’t think he’d be a first team signing by any stretch but it does give this list some validity. Not familiar with many of those names, I know McMaster was a young player at St Mirren and Vata at Celtic, but not much more. I looked up Ruiz-Diaz since the name was more interesting and see he’s Australian. Wonder if he’s a youngster Celtic are looking to sign and loan out given their Australian connection and our proclivity to bring Celtic players in on loan.

Every season under Murray we had a couple of loan players that were first team regulars. Smith and McCann. Turner, Paton, Connell. McInroy, Paterson, McGill. Not just to make up the numbers.

Don’t really see the need for pointless arguments with fans of rival teams. We went unbeaten in our last 20 league games of last season. We finished with a higher points total (or points per game when compared to recent shortened seasons) than the majority of league one champions. In another year we might have won the league, but Cove were even more impressive than us. We lost a playoff final to a team that deserved it over the two legs but certainly didn’t deserve it over the course of the season after finishing 21 points behind us. It was gutting but it’s done now. Of the players that have left us the only one that most of us are bothered about is Easton. From what QOTS fans are saying we’ve got ourselves a superb goalie, who I think we all expect to be an upgrade on Currie. Ballantyne we know to have been the best RB in this league over the last few seasons and seems another great addition. We’ve kept Fordyce, McCabe, Frizzell, Gallagher, Smith et al. Squad’s still very light and more signings are needed but I think we can be quietly confident without lowering ourselves to petty arguments.

Hearts extended McGill’s contract but there’s no way he’s ready to play for the third best team in the country, so he should be going out on loan, although I think Hearts are going to have a B team in the Lowland League next season which might complicate things. I’d have him back definitely.

I think Turner is extremely unlikely, he might not have been one of McCall’s favoured centre mids but he played right mid a lot and I think finished the season as the league leader for assists.

He also announced Ballantyne to us the day before the club announced it, but it had been talked about a lot on this forum for about a week before his twitter post. Could be wrong but I think that twitter user simply rifles through Pie and Bovril threads and posts what he sees on here. Moffat got a mention on this thread so he claims Airdrie are interested. I hope there’s something in it, but it seems like a cycle of sources where someone mentions it on here, so he posts it, and then we on here start saying there’s something in it because he’s posted it. He’s our source and we’re his. I really hope that’s not the case though.

Seen those rumours as well and believe it or not I had forgotten about them when I wrote that post, so I didn’t actually have anyone in particular in mind as the “exciting” forward that might play in a wider area I’d like to see come in, but he’d certainly fit the bill! The majority of our midfield backup options last season were young players we had on loan, and it’ll probably be the same again. I reckon we’ll sign up Agnew and Easton’s replacements on permanent deals and I don’t expect those signings to be inexperienced teenagers, but the midfield backup options probably will be. Good to keep in mind that we can sign loan players in September (McInroy was signed on the 30th of September with the season already well underway) and I’d expect us to add another loan player at that stage again, once the squad is settled and any weaknesses have been identified.

Looking at what we have so far… Rae’s in as first choice keeper and we have Hutton as a back up. We don’t really need a third keeper but we have had a third in the past so I wouldn’t rule it out, especially since Hutton is doubling as a goalie coach. Another keeper is definitely far from a priority however. We’ve got Fordyce as a starting centre back. Ballantyne should be our first choice right back and can also provide cover for left back. Watson played most of last season at right back and can give Ballantyne a bit of competition while also providing cover for centre back. McCabe is also cover for centre back but I’d imagine he’ll be building the team with a plan to play himself in midfield, but it’s something we can fall back on if necessary like last season. Definitely need at least a left back and a centre back. Midfield’s still very light. McCabe presumably will play the sitting role but I think we’ll still need another quality midfielder capable of that part of the game. Devenny I wouldn’t expect to be a starter but he could potentially end up having a season similar to Scott McGill’s last season, where he maybe isn’t part of our strongest 11 but still gets a lot of game time by covering different areas. Frizzell’s obviously going to be a starter and I think he could in some ways be Easton’s “replacement” if we start playing through him more in Easton’s absence, but I still think we should look to bring in a quality attacking/playmaking midfielder to replace Easton if possible. I’d say that’s two midfielders as a priority, who would effectively be Agnew and Easton’s replacements and we’ll need another one or two for cover as well We’ve got four forwards signed up which seems like a lot considering we only have 12 players at the moment, but when you break it down it’s still an area I think we need a player or two. If we carry on from last season as has been suggested by McCabe, we’ll probably be trying to play 433, so three forwards will be on the pitch at all times. Gal and Salim are central strikers, Gabby could be as well but will likely play out wide too. Smith clearly is at his best playing on the left and cutting inside and he should continue in that role. I’d say we’d still want to bring in a couple here, one wide player and one more central forward. I’d really like to see us bring in at least one forward that’s exciting and should be a nailed on starter. Rae Ballantyne (New CB) Fordyce (New LB) Frizzell McCabe (New CM) (New FWD) Gallagher Smith That’s my optimistic lineup that has 4 new players in the starting 11. That still leaves Hutton, Watson, Devenny, Salim, and McGill on the bench of the players we have signed up at the moment.

You’ve failed to acknowledge that the Airdrie are massive

Where has he played mostly? He started out at right back for us then shifted to centre mid. By the end of his time with us he was playing in a back three but he was never really a standout in any role. I liked him more than most did, but from what we seen of him in his two seasons with us there’s no way he’d have made our strongest 11 last season.