AndyDD

Whilst I can understand why this sort of thing has been mentioned a few times by Falkirk supporters, it's worth keeping in mind that whilst Murray has been in post a few years, it isn't only this year he's had us in the top end of the league. We were tucked in just behind Raith and Falkirk when the season was ended due to Covid and were well on track for the playoffs at least. We finished second last season by 2 points and made the playoff final. This season seems to have been the first he's had no interference from a director when it comes to signings and he created an almost entirely new team in the summer which has us absolutely motoring, but it hasn't taken Ian Murray 4 years to make us a competitive presence at the top end of the division. There is no reason a competent management team and coaching staff could not do the same with Falkirk and have them competing in the top 4 and for the title; even if it takes them multiple years to make them as good as the current Airdrie or cove sides, it doesn't need to take that time to make them a genuine title contender, or at least a top 4 team. It didn't with us. After the last few seasons, I assume 3rd and 2nd place finishes would be viewed as an improvement, even if it didn't ultimately lead to promotion. I see 'it took Murray years to build this Airdrie' but it's not like Airdrie fans had to put up with 5th and 6th place finishes for a number of successive years under Murray before it all clicked this season. Ditto the other two clubs you mention. Cove finished 3rd last season. Montrose finished 4th. Both teams are again in the top 4. Falkirk are looking at another season behind these teams, and well behind them. These teams have not suddenly been successful this season after toiling under the same manager for multiple seasons before. Ian Murray's Airdrie have done better than the season before in every season he has been with us. Keep that in mind when considering how much time to give a manager. There should be clear signs of progress along the way.

Alloa Athletic 2-0 Dumbarton Clyde 0-1 Peterhead East Fife 0-5 Airdrieonians Falkirk 1-2 Montrose Queen's Park 2-1 Cove Rangers

Ah drat, you did indeed! Fixed now. Thanks!

https://www.idlehandsduffy.com/post/diamond-watches-and-that-s-why-we-watch-the-fitba Blog post in anticipation of Saturday. We're getting very carried away and I absolutely love it.

Aye, there's a wee barcode on the back of the card. They will scan that in the turnstile and that's it.

Right over my heid!

Defo has to be a one off, as it is quite obviously unsustainable to do that even semi-regularly.

Tickets for a tenner (fiver for concessions) is pretty bloody excellent as gestures go, in my opinion. Hope it is met with a good response.

Really good gesture from the club and hope it is met with a good response. The epitome of a huge game, this. YUGE. Avoid giving Cove an early goal, which they seem to score a lot of, and I think we'll do it. We are definitely capable of it. We don't need to win it in the opening 20 minutes, we just need to damn well win it, so patience may be required. Avoid conceding in the first half and I reckon we'll go on to win the game even if it's 0-0 at the break. I fancy us to finish the game the stronger, as we did in the last match up there. I'm genuinely in love with this Airdrie team and I'm desperate for them to get the result we all want. Cove will be rightly buoyant themselves and have such excellent weapons up top and down the sides, so it should be a cracking game. A potentially tense, nerve-jangling game, but a cracker nonetheless.

Significant difference in quality in the final third between the two sides on Saturday. QP so blunt up top, a really toothless display from them. Bereft of effective creativity. A lot of hopeful crosses. Two outstanding strikes for the goals and then a very professional second half from Airdrie. A great result. Back five well worthy of the clean sheet. Fordyce and McCabe both immense again. Expect QP will still comfortably make up the final playoff spot; they have a significantly stronger midfield than Falkirk and that's usually the decisive area of the park in this league. The 16 year old left back had a really decent game and the quadruple sub was a novel wee moment.

Airdrieonians 2-0 Cove Rangers Dumbarton 0-3 Montrose East Fife 1-3 Alloa Athletic Peterhead 2-2 Falkirk Queen's Park 2-1 Clyde

@laughing gravie you having a funny turn this morning or something?

Having done QP a favour in our last game and more or less secured the playoffs for them, it'd be only fair of them to make way for our ongoing title chase.

G'aun the Mo'. Handsome team, handsome town. Do the business please and thank-you.

^Thank god for that. Old "George Kaplan" had me rather spooked for a wee while there!

Brody Patterson already looks better than McCann and falkirk have fair ruined the poor Leon, who is a shadow of his former self. He also wasn't player of the year, as it happens. Callum Fordyce was. Leon got the young player award. I'd not have Nesbitt ahead of any of the Airdrie attacking midfield and you're right, Griffiths does speak for himself; he's not interested, not fit and not effective. Barely got a sniff on Saturday albeit he did take his goal okay... once the game was totally done. You're not getting the best out of them, granted, but they also aren't actually that good. It can be both. Indeed, it is.

He'd make the bench okay, in these days of expanded benches to accommodate the 5 subs. Not to say he'd get on the park. Maybe if we were coasting a game with a nice three goal margin or something like that...

Could they, aye? Dowds, maybe. Kabia, Morrison and Nesbitt would make our bench, I suppose, but I'd not have swapped you a single member of your XI for ours on Saturday. Not a one. Granted, a bit of coaching and man-management from someone who knows the first thing about how to do that would likely get an improved performance from your players, but they simply aren't that good. Certainly not as good as Airdrie's. I doubt any of your players trouble the Cove XI, either. Maybe Montrose and QP.

Yeah that's fair, I don't think another right back option would hurt. There's not really any other player battering down the door for the position, though, so I suppose it becomes easier to overlook or do without in such circumstances.

Shrug. It's not like Patterson was getting loads of gametime for his club previously and he still came in and did well, over the piece. Clarke even said himself that the friendly nature of the games makes a difference here- "Nathan Patterson got a fantastic move to Everton that hasn't quite worked out for him. It would have been difficult to pick Nathan for a competitive game being honest but going into a friendly situation it might be a chance for us to get minutes into Nathan's legs." With O'Donnell, Clarke does like to stand by his players from previous camps. We've seen it enough, so it isn't really a surprise. We've also seen O'Donnell produce the goods for Scotland despite poor to middling domestic form before. Be great if one of the available back-ups were playing week in week out, that might strengthen the case for one of SOD or Patterson to be left out, but I don't think any are. RB remains, if not a problem position, then a position of concern.

Having only scored the one in the first half despite absolutely coasting it, there was the lingering wee fear that we'd get hit with a sucker punch; you're always fearing that kind of thing when playing the mid-table dross, when the only true danger is your own complacency. This was particularly acute when we bawsed up the indirect free-kick. However, we soon put that to bed and, Currie's good save from the Kabia header aside, we could scarcely have asked for an easier afternoon. A few better decisions and some more acute finishing and we could have added to the scoreline, but if we are going to close the gap we need to avoid dropping points to the Falkirks, Alloas and Peterheads of the world, so job done and with some gloss. The squad have been excellent most of the season and that's another very good day from them. Smithy, Frizz, Watson, Gal, Gabby, Agnew and McCabe were all excellent. Not a one had a bad game and it was a great laugh watching them take the pish. Said it before and I'll keep on saying it, we're a delight to watch. I'm genuinely in love with this Airdrie team. It was also endlessly funny hearing the boos from the opening minutes anytime the opposition passed the ball in a way the home support didnae like. The only downside really is that there's clearly nae point hoping falkirk take anything off cove in the remaining game between them. They were worse than the 0-3 game earlier in the campaign. A much harder test on Saturday but objective had to be making sure the gap at least didn't increase before Cove visited us, so we've one more game to make sure of that. Win and it at least stays at 5. If Montrose wan't to grab a point or three too, that'd be a bonus. And not exactly outwith the realms of possibility.

Airdrieonians 2-0 Queen's Park Alloa Athletic 2-0 Peterhead Clyde 1-1 East Fife Dumbarton 1-3 Falkirk Montrose 1-1 Cove Rangers

Having only scored the one in the first half despite absolutely coasting it, there was the lingering wee fear that we'd get hit with a sucker punch; you're always fearing that kind of thing when playing the mid-table dross, when the only true danger is your own complacency. This was particularly acute when we bawsed up the indirect free-kick. However, we soon put that to bed and, Currie's good save from the Kabia header aside, we could scarcely have asked for an easier afternoon. A few better decisions and some more acute finishing and we could have added to the scoreline, but if we are going to close the gap we need to avoid dropping points to the Falkirks, Alloas and Peterheads of the world, so job done and with some gloss. The squad have been excellent most of the season and that's another very good day from them. Smithy, Frizz, Watson, Gal, Gabby, Agnew and McCabe were all excellent. Not a one had a bad game and it was a great laugh watching them take the pish. Said it before and I'll keep on saying it, we're a delight to watch. I'm genuinely in love with this Airdrie team. It was also endlessly funny hearing the boos from the opening minutes anytime the opposition passed the ball in a way the home support didnae like. The only downside really is that there's clearly nae point hoping falkirk take anything off cove in the remaining game between them. They were worse than the 0-3 game earlier in the campaign. Electing just not to coach them at all, instead sending them out and simply hoping something happens is definitely, ahem, bold.

Cove Rangers 1-2 Clyde East Fife 0-0 Dumbarton Falkirk 1-2 Airdrieonians Peterhead 0-1 Montrose Queen's Park 2-2 Alloa Athletic

Alloa Athletic 1-2 Airdrieonians Clyde 1-3 Falkirk Cove Rangers 2-0 Peterhead Dumbarton 0-1 Queen's Park Montrose 2-0 East Fife