AndyDD

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

https://www.airdriefc.com/2122-news/220223/captain's-comments Big fan of this. Really hope we get a decent turn out on Saturday. The squad and staff are well worthy of it and we definitely owe clyde one after that draw last month. Players will be keen to put that right and keep the pressure on Cove, who might find themselves facing a new manager bounce at Alloa.

"“My expectations are simple: Win the next game we play. There’s nothing more important than that." Quite right, Brian. Quite right.

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

Yeah, a minor wobble, but a wee wobble nonetheless. Still on an unbeaten run so no illusions on this end that the bottles have completely crashed, but it did very much feel that Airdrie finished the stronger side in that game and looked the only team that was going to get a winner in the last quarter of the game. That we have gone and pumped Montrose whilst Cove failed to beat ten men, cutting the gap further, cranks up the pressure a wee bit, so it will be telling how Cove respond. A return to winning ways against Falkirk would hand the momentum back to the league leaders, for sure. As it stands, they have stalled a bit with the three draws. Big, big game for Cove, one that I'll definitely have an eye on for obvious reasons.

Aye, fair to say that'd be ideal, but a draw would be fine anawl, as long as we do our job in Peterheid. Just looking for Cove to drop points anywhere, really. They do seem to be wobbling and we finished the stronger the other week. Cut out your pishy midfield and get it up to that Kabia as often as possible, please. If Griffiths want to pick this game as the time he gets a nostalgia-inducing freekick, then that would be welcome, too. I think you're right, there's nae danger of Falkirk catching Cove or us, or even Montrose unless the arse really does fall out of them. All about trying to pip QP to that last playoff spot. They've a healthy GD advantage over you (wonder how that happened...) so that's as good as a point, too. With QP going to East Fife, you have to assume that the former Hampden dwellers will take all three points (regardless of the Ferguson killing result at Alloa) so Falkirk won't want to let that gap become 6 and GD. Anything other than a Cove win would be absolutely delightful, so best of luck. They're a good side, so you'll need it. Definitely winnable for yous, though.

Every time you see those goals, man. What a statement win that is. Delighted for Gal to get two good goals, one a sublime strike, the other a great bit of improv (after a gorgeous cross from Easton) from a man who often hits form at the right time for us. Brody Patterson looks like yet another excellent loan find under Murray, Dycey and Kerr were excellent (bar the one silly challenge for the penalty) and Watson stepped in very well, taking his first goal with great gusto. What a hit. Smith worked hard and was unlucky not to make the early Patterson cross in the first half and to be denied by an excellent tackle in the second after Gal played him in brilliantly. Maybe should have hit it first time. His work rate and pace gave them something to worry about all day, though. Wasn't even Frizzell's best game but he still put in a power of work, played well and scored a header, of all things. Huge marker laid down and Cove having another wobble was a welcome wee boost, even if many of us seen it coming given the QP propensity for a draw. Another favour from Falkirk next week and we really are cooking. Win these next two games and what a start to 2022 it would be. The players, the manager and the staff all deserve huge credit for the form we're showing. Hopefully we get a decent crowd in for the next home game. A win in Peterheid will hopefully set that up further. They deserve a good backing. Looking ahead, March is set to be some month. You can tell the squad believe. I know I do. Bring it on.

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

I don't think Cove will win 9 points out of 9 in their remaining February games (Home to QP and Falkirk, Away to Alloa) so it's imperative we do and close that gap to some degree (We are Home to Montrose, Away to Peterhead and Home to Clyde). If we can win all three, and if I'm right that Cove don't, then March looks set to be a crucial and possibly decisive month in the title race. First things first, get a win over Montrose. It won't be easy by any means, but we are definitely capable of winning the game. The players should take confidence from that second half performance and if we can get a goal during our customary fast start at home, I fancy us to get ourselves some revenge. We're definitely a better side than we were on the opening day of the league campaign, that's for sure.