ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds

The fact the club emphasised his versatility suggests to me that he's probably more of a backup but I could be wrong

What did you lot make of Craig Watson? Our announcement mentioned he could play defence or midfield without being much more specific so would be good to know the type of player he is as well.

I was hoping they'd have narrowed it down for me to make it easier to think but nope, I could even vote Eoghan Stokes if I felt so inclined. I'm leaning towards Kerr as well but I'm not against voting Turner just for what he managed towards the end of the season. Wouldn't be against McKay or Gal winning either.

Stuart Millar said in January that he was on a "long-term" contract so if that's true then a pre-contract isn't happening. He doesn't really stick to a position tbh he roams across the attacking midfield area of the pitch which is maybe not ideal given he's not good enough yet for Airdrie to build a team around, never mind Livi. I'd personally say he looks best on the left wing cutting inside and I think that's where he prefers to be. Can't see him being ready for Premiership football next season at all given that he's hardly started for us since new year. When he loses the ball himself he works hard to win it back but other than that I'd say you wouldn't get much defensive contribution from him. Technically he is good, and we've seen that with some of his goals and assists this season but he is quite lightweight and struggles when properly marked or up against a more physical side.

Agree but we still need a squad. If the players I've said can be kept on for the squad were to be kept on at the expense of new first team players I wouldn't be happy. If we bring in like you say five first team players then I'd be happy for someone like O'Reilly to be part of the bigger squad.

Keep Currie, Walker, P. McKay, Kerr, Fordyce, McCann, Turner, Paton, Ritchie, Connell, Gallagher, O'Reilly, Carrick, Thomson, Robert Understand there's no way we'll be keeping Turner and both Paton and Connell are unlikely as well. Good chance McCann will be off too. If we can get compensation for Robert it might be worth it but I wouldn't mind having him back. I'm happy to see Walker, Ritchie, Thomson, O'Reilly return as squad players as long as new players brought in are actual improvements to the squad. Get Rid Crighton, J. McKay, Sabatini, Stokes, Mbayo, Roy, Pyott, Hughes, Moore, Burke Crighton is the only one here that I'm maybe being harsh with but I think Fordyce and Kerr are our best centre back pairing and if it's a back three I'd rather have McKay in it than Crighton. I don't think Crighton would be good enough to play for any of our rivals at the top end of League One and therefore shouldn't be good enough to play for us. The rest are fairly self explanatory and I don't think Roy has done enough over his two seasons to warrant being kept. I've missed McNeil and Murdoch out of both lists because we'll obviously need backups to Currie but there's almost zero chance of them ever playing. I don't really care if it's them or a couple of new guys. What we need Obviously a lot of this is dependent on who stays and who goes. If (and that's a big if) we keep and get rid of the exact players I've suggested then we'd need a right back, centre mid, attacking midfielder and a striker, as well as maybe another centre back and left back for cover. More realistically, we won't have Turner, Paton, Connell, McCann, Robert. In this scenario we'd need to bring in a whole new midfield on top of what I've already suggested, as well as replace the others. Clearly the midfield's been our biggest issue going back much earlier than this season, so this should undoubtedly be the priority in terms of recruitment. I'd like to see us sign players similar to Paton and Turner, as I think one highly experienced defensive midfielder and one more technical midfielder makes an ideal partnership.

I'd agree that those are the only players I'd definitely keep (though I think McCann will be off) but I wouldn't mind Carrick, Thomson, O'Reilly staying as part of the squad as long as when they're used it's in their best positions. Might be controversial but I'd agree that we'd be better off letting Crighton go. Kerr and Fordyce are better and I can't see Crighton starting for any other team at the top end of League One these days. We should offer Paton a contract and hopefully he'll join but seeing as there's very little chance of us signing Connell and even less chance of Turner the rest of the team will need to be made up of new faces. Look at the last three seasons and who's won the league. Dick Campbell with a team full of experienced lower league players, then John McGlynn and Ian McCall with a good mix of experience and youth through their squad. I think on the whole there is a real lack of experience in our squad and I think at times (particularly last night) we've been far too soft as a result. If we're serious about giving it a go next season there should be 9 or 10 new faces in and at least half of them should have a few seasons playing in the lower leagues under their belt.

Hopefully we'll get that striker in on loan from West Ham just in time for the first leg.

This was only for the league matches where a maximum five substitutes were allowed over three stoppages not including half time. The Connell substitution was allowed because he took a head knock and there is currently a concussion substitution rule being trialled across Scottish football. The rule allows a substitute to be made outwith the original three if a player takes a head knock, and when one team utilises the rule the opposition are allowed an additional sub as well, so Cove could also have made an extra sub. I've watched it back and you can see an elbow strike Connell (no reason to think it was anything other than accidental) on the back of the head and he looked in a bad way after the incident. Wish him, Paton and Kerr speedy recoveries and I hope Connell and Paton are available for the final. Looks like there's no chance of Kerr featuring who we really will miss.

Airdrie 2-0 Falkirk Dumbarton 0-0 Peterhead Forfar 1-3 East Fife Montrose 2-1 Partick Thistle

I don't believe for a second that Stuart Millar was dictating team selection. As for the "undroppable McKays", Paul more often than not deserves to start and Jack McKay didn't play this season until Millar was already away. Sabatini was out of favour before Millar left also. What I would imagine Millar was heavily involved in is recruitment, and since we've signed Turner and Paton since he left I don't really see how paying Millar a wage had any benefits at all. I think the dodgy team selections and players out of position has always been Murray's decision and he's to blame for that but I also think he's due the the credit for finding a system that works and finally working out roughly our best team. I think the team that started yesterday is very close to our best starting 11 and should be the team that plays the playoff games, even if that means keeping the club captain benched.

Say what you want about Airdrie fans but you're the one using the murder of a black man by police for a snidey wee comment on a football forum

If we win this on Saturday we've got a serious chance of winning the league. Lose and it's playoffs at best. It really is that big a game. I thought the 2-1 at Firhill was a pretty even match if I'm honest and although we totally collapsed in the last game we started well and were unlucky not to be 2-0 up right before Thistle equalised. We're on a good run now so the players should be full of confidence and we have Turner available who clearly makes us a far better side. The bookies will tell you Thistle are favourites and that's fair enough, but if we turn up and play like we have been the last few games then I fancy our chances. Should be a cracker.

You'd think after the performance and result against Falkirk I'd be feeling more confident going into this Montrose game but I'm really not. Our record against Falkirk is great, and because of that I wasn't really expecting us to lose the other night. Can't say the same for our record against Montrose, if I remember correctly we've lost our last three games against them. Considering our poor record against them and where we're both sitting in the league, a win would be a huge result if we pull it off. We definitely can beat them, but I'm expecting an ugly and cagey match.

With Roy and O'Reilly now exceeding expectations we've seemingly now got a bit of depth up in the attacking areas that we've not had in a long time. Gallagher, Roy, Carrick, Robert, Connell and O'Reilly all competing for a place in the team and Thomson capable of contributing too, though I don't expect Stokes to set the world alight any time soon. Turner looks a real class act and may just be the midfielder we've been crying out for for years. All in all it was a very good performance and deserved win. Now we just need a bit of consistency and we should make the playoffs.

A win's a win but I wonder how much easier that might have been if we actually tried to attack before the 78th minute. Hopefully that result gives the boys a bit of confidence because the promotion playoffs are still well within reach if we get our act together.

It's the least embarrassing thing we've done since the return

Think that went in about 5 seconds after I posted this. I'll say since Roy scored that it's proved me right rather than wrong.

I really don't understand the logic of Ritchie starting over Sabatini or Jack McKay starting on the right wing over any of Roy, Connell, or Carrick. Hardly surprising we've struggled to create anything. The annoying thing is that there's players in our squad that I think are decent enough, but they struggle to do anything when they're thrown on with half an hour to go or hooked after 50 minutes in Robert's case.

This is maybe the best commentary team I've heard in any of our games. Very fair and balanced and have also clearly done their research on our players.

I'd be doing pretty much the exact same thing at the moment since the defence clearly needs shaking up. I'd maybe go with McKay at right back and Ritchie in midfield though since McKay has more experience at right back (even though I prefer him in midfield) and that would allow Ritchie to get a decent go in his favoured position. That front 4 is a must as it's already proven to work.

Does anyone else think it's possible that Crighton having the additional responsibility of coaching at the club is having a detrimental effect on his training and by extension his performances?

Gallagher, Carrick, Robert and Connell have started together twice and in those two games we've scored 8 goals with the four of them working together to score and create them. Baffling that Murray insists on dropping one of them to the bench and having three centre mids.

51st minute Montrose scored. It's now the 67th minute and still no change. Baffling that Connell still isn't on.

I'd like to see a bolder team selection from Murray today. The front 4 that done so well against Clyde and Forfar is a must but big questions of the defence and I'm not convinced either Crighton or MacDonald deserve to start. Probably difficult to drop both so I'd put Kerr in defence over one of them and go with McKay and Sabatini in midfield. If both were dropped it would mean bringing Walker back in or putting McKay in at right back and bringing Ritchie into midfield (would be good to see more of Ritchie actually) but I would prefer to keep McKay in the midfield if possible. If we don't play 4231 when it's the only formation that's worked for us with relative consistency the you've got to ask big questions about Murray's competency.