ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds

This might be the most believable ITK post in Pie and Bovril history

On this subject, despite absolutely being two of our best players this (is it already last?) season, both Frizzell and Easton are a bit slow. Both have very quick feet but Easton in particular I noticed struggling to chase opponents or catch loose balls in the playoff games. Loved watching both and hope we can keep them but I think it’s the main weakness in both of them.

Depends entirely on what shape the team plays. I’d personally say he’s wasted as a winger but I’m not sure how well he’d do as part of a centre mid pairing or as an out and out number 10. He’s best as part of a three man midfield as one of the slightly wider players. Are there actual substantial rumours suggesting he’s going to Falkirk?

Falkirk recently appointed John McGlynn. Raith Rovers and Dunfermline would be the main worries but most of the talk about the next Raith manager has been about Kevin Thomson as far as I’m aware.

Does anyone know when we should expect some kind of announcement? I get that it takes a while to get through offering most of the squad new contracts but I’d imagine we should expect an update on Murray fairly soon. Last season we announced Murray’s contract extension along with Agnew four days after the playoff final loss (Tuesday after the Friday game) so if negotiations are that simple again we should know something by tomorrow?

To be fair I think Easton likes every tweet he’s mentioned in and sees as a compliment. Also liked tweets from Dunfermline fans that want him and Airdrie fans that want him to stay.

McCabe’s a class act. Always comes across really well in interviews and from the moment he arrived he’s been very audibly heard communicating really well with his teammates on the pitch. Of our current squad he’s the one I’m most desperate for us to keep.

Not that it’s worth dwelling on but I think Kerr McInroy might have dragged us that step further if he’d stayed. Maybe he’d have helped get us over the line against Cove and actually win the league, but even more so in these playoff games where it felt like the midfield lacked a little bit of physicality and drive at times.

I was at the game on Thursday night and I didn’t hear any racist shouts or chanting but important for Airdrie fans to remember that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. There were chants of “wife beating b*stard” aimed at Quitongo and I heard someone shout “your brother’s a liar” which isn’t racist obviously but it’s not exactly enlightened either. With incidents like these within any football club’s fanbase it’s the well-meaning fans that end up feeling guilty by association, while actual guilty parties don’t care and are fine with the club having such a reputation. I really don’t know how a club or its fans go about actually ridding themselves of such a reputation.

If we can keep the best players and Murray from this season’s squad you’d have to make us favourites to win the league next season. Hopefully that’s enough incentive for those players and Murray. Priorities should be Murray, McCabe, Easton, Frizzell.

Despite Murray deserving full credit for what we done through the entire season, I think he got the subs massively wrong today. After Smith went off, after Afolabi and Gallagher had already went off, there wasn’t really anyone on the pitch I was confident could grab the goal for us. no disrespect to the guys he brought on but it was like we ended the game with a weakened team. I think there were certain players who played well through the season that weren’t at it at all today and there were too many wrong decisions which made things very difficult. McCabe hardly put a foot wrong but I don’t think others rose to the occasion as he did. If we keep this squad of players I’ll go confidently into next season and hopefully we can actually win the league rather than deal with these stressful playoffs but keeping this squad may be a big if. A real sickener.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the second leg is another draw if I’m honest. Not sure my nerves will handle it but I can see this going to a penalty shootout.

If we were at our best we wouldn’t have let you not let us play well

Very lucky to escape with a draw imo but it’s the result I expected (and one I’d take) before the game.

Looking forward to our 7th and 8th encounters with Queen’s Park this season. Even the Old Firm is never that frequent.

Worth mentioning that Smith’s goalscoring form is absolutely as a result of him playing on the left. In his first spell I always thought that he was better when moved to the wing (although it was the right wing then) as it let him utilise his pace and work rate. His goals this season started to come with the formation change to 433 and the goals on Saturday likewise came after he moved to the left. It’s crazy how such a seemingly small change that actually moves him further away from the opposition goal has turned him into a clinical goalscorer.

Not sure why. We get free points against them every season

Smith and Afolabi. Wow.

From Glasgow Central you can get a train to Whifflet and from there a taxi to the stadium which is probably your best bet. Only issue is that I think the Whifflet train is only running once an hour at the moment. Just noticed your latest update. Bus definitely sounds better than Scotrail’s nonsense.

I think in games we dominate like the recent Clyde game MacDonald can stand out as a good performer but as soon as we play a team roughly at our level he really struggles. Defensively his positioning at times last night was really poor and three times in the first half they hit a long ball over his head to their left wing that looked like it would work every time.

Currie Watson Kerr Fordyce Paterson McCabe S. McGill Easton Frizzell Gallagher Smith That’d be the second leg team for me. Definitely want the extra midfielder in as we were totally overrun until we changed the shape last night. Don’t think Agnew and McCabe can play together in the same midfield unfortunately and I’d rather have Kerr on and McCabe in midfield.

Too many shots not hitting the target. Too many final passes not finding their man. Too many crosses too close to the keeper. I think 1-0 Montrose is a fair result, but I also think we’re capable of salvaging something at home. When we switched from 433 to 4231 we looked a lot better and I’d like to see us get an extra man in the middle of the park and focus a bit more on keeping the ball on the deck in the second leg.

I was very young when I watched that team so my memories are mostly of the exciting and attacking players, and I’m certainly not going to argue with the inclusion of McLaren, Gow, or Coyle, but I would mention that Vareille was my favourite player back then so I’d probably have tried to squeeze him in somehow. I think you’ve probably got the combined XI just about spot on, although I can’t claim to remember much about Mark McGeown to know Currie is better. The only thing I’m less sure about is centre back. I always remember Neil McGowan as a solid and consistent centre half, but I suppose he could be just behind McManus and Dycey.

I’m sure McGill and Devenny will feature but wouldn’t expect them to start unless there are injuries. Agnew could go another year imo but I just wouldn’t be surprised if he preferred to focus on coaching next year.

Not sure what was going through Kerr’s mind (it was Kerr wasn’t it?) when he slapped the ball away to give away that penalty and I can’t believe he got away without a booking for it. Other than that I thought he had a decent game and it was nice to see him wearing the armband as the senior player in that lineup (at only 24). I’d like to see Kerr stick around despite his lack of appearances this season as I think he’s a good player when fully fit. I thought Walker done well at centre half and I actually think he looked lot more comfortable there than he ever has at right back. Good to keep the unbeaten run going but a poor game overall. I think our boys were much better in the second half so credit to the coaching team for that. I’d imagine Dean Ritchie and Matty McDonald have played their last games for the club, while guys like Afolabi, Scott McGill, Devenny, Walker might make brief cameos in the playoff games but are unlikely to be at the club next season. Wouldn’t be surprised if Agnew hangs up his boots as well but he’ll probably feature at some point in the playoff games. Overall I’m happy to see us maintain the unbeaten run without risking any key players and none of the immediate backups picking up any injuries.