AndyDD

Increased pressure on Thistle should play to our advantage, but there's always the possibility that they've now had their shock to the system and come out with a point to prove. Cannae wait for it and hope we maintain our defensive solidity; if we can avoid any sloppy mistakes, we ought to take this, maybe by a goal to nil. So no doubt we gift a goal opening 10 mins to give Thistle their confidence back... nah, I'll stay confident. 0-1 Airdrie. Cue meltdown.

Carrick was excellent, clever and so effective, but big Fordyce strolled it at the back, dominated everything and scored a lovely header. Big man is a colossus. Thistle next week. If they play as shitely as they apparently did today, we could give them a good smack about.

Solid performance, a good win, clean sheet; apart from the polish of some extra goals, not more you could really ask for. The guy Bailey was fortunate not to be booked earlier than he was, and probably saved a red by being moved centrally to cover after one of the defensive injuries for Peterhead. Ref was surprisingly lenient on the park but must have very sensitive feelings, given he let the players away with some meaty challenges but booked both managers for moaning. The frozen camera was incredibly frustrating, but by my watch only lasted 4-5 mins (felt a lot longer) and nothing of note happened. Players must have got the shout, very sporting of them. Delighted to start well and now Partick are under huge pressure going into next week. Hopefully we can add to that and hopefully the Peterhead injuries aren't too serious. Horrible to pick up so many knocks so early on. Mon The Diamonds. Idle Hands Match report to follow... eh, tomorrow or Monday.

Amazing, was hoping someone would start one of these. Obviously not enough tae dae it masel, but hey ho. Airdrieonians 2-0 Peterhead Clyde 2-2 Partick Thistle Cove Rangers 2-0 East Fife Forfar Athletic 0-0 Dumbarton Montrose 0-1 Falkirk

Hopefully; reports on him seem to suggest he gives us something different, so would be good to have on the bench. If not tomorrow, then would expect him involved away to Thistle next week. Here's hoping the lad is a find.

Has been decent; we've done enough tests events now that, as of the last couple, the pixxellot issues are more or less ironed out. You might find one or two minor annoyances but that really has been all we've had to contend with the last couple times. Hopefully it holds up okay if there's an increased volume of traffic, but the camera seems far less jittery and far less prone to whirring off on its own accord than it was to start with. Hopefully that continues and we don't revert back to the initial problems. Get in nice and early for it and you should be hunky dory. A bit concerned by the results Peterhead have managed in the cup, but we've all been over the course enough to know it doesn't necessarily translate to a strong league campaign. Narrow home win, I'll wager. 1 or 2 to nil.

https://www.idlehandsduffy.com/post/diamond-watches-stenhousemuir-0-2-airdrieonians Agree with the sentiment that we've improved on last season as a squad and that it could all come down to the relative strength of the other sides this year compared to last. Just so excited that it's nearly, finally, properly here.

As much as I think we'll be better than least season, would anyone really not be satisfied with third place, tucked closely behind 1st and 2nd? Because that's what we managed last season. Airdrie being hard to beat is hardly some minor achievement, in recent years.

Game day, then. Predictions? A lot of reports of streaming issues in the games last night; ours have been pretty bang on during the last two fixtures so here's hoping we have benefited from the multiple test events and it all goes smoothly tonight. Oh, and... 1-0 Airdrie.

If yous want to go ahead and draw this game, that'd be lovely.

Hahaha fair play, he was so so good again, but I just felt Crighton deserved it for winning his individual battle with McHugh. Kerr has looked so good all pre-season and has to be one of the first names on the teamsheet, no argument from me there. glad to have young Connell join up, we'll see how he gets on but seems an exciting prospect who'll be hungry to develop and progress.

https://www.idlehandsduffy.com/post/diamond-watches-airdrieonians-1-0-queens-park ^ Match report from weekend. I'll echo a lot of what has been said already; good win in a good final workout against a good team who you'd reckon are better than most of the teams in League 1. They'd be comfortable at worst, probably pushing for playoffs. A lot to be pleased with; worked the ball well at times and were tidy in possession. Moved the fitba' well. If we can get a fee for a 35 year old goalie in this climate, that'd be remarkable business. Much as Hutton is rightly well liked, that's money we've no right to be getting.

That's it open now mate- https://www.airdriefc.com/2021news/201002/DTVLive---Airdrieonians-vs-Queen’s-Park

If the whole squad have been put into quarantine for an entire 14 days, as is being widely trailed, then I don't see how Kilmarnock can play any games within that period. They aren't going to buy a whole squad. Is there a youth team that could sub in?

For 14 days. Puts the kibosh on Killie League Cup ties as well.

The 13 player and GK rule is a sport rule, but if the health board/local authority decide the game should be off then that will supersede it. Means it isn't up to the SPFL. That never happened with St Mirren and their local health board, I guess. I don't know about the second 3 players, but the first 3 had their positives confirmed by NHS tests yesterday. Seen BurstBaw on Twitter saying the Daily Record report was premature; game expected to be called off but hasn't officially been yet.

Liam McCloud at it again with that 'bulk of Scotland squad coming from the Old Firm' chat again. Five. Five old firm players in the squad.

One more pre-season game afterall...

Yeah, i think Robert has been, well, 'intermittently exciting' was how I described him in my report on Tuesday's game. You can see in flashes the real talent there, his close control can be excellent, he has vision, intent, good low centre of gravity too. A few tricks and flicks and some good passes. But you can tell he's a young player, as well, which pretyy much always spells inconsistency. He's here for a first taste of first team football and we need to be patient. I think impact sub might be how we utilise him at least to begin with. When there's a bit more space later in the game, when opposition players might already have a yellow and cannae risk getting right stuck into him, he could be a match winner. He's probably the player in the squad with a bit of magic in his boots that could turn a game, and he's only had a few halves of football with us. I still think there have been enough glimpses of his talent to be optimistic for what we'll see from him over the course of the season.

Haha, quite. I accept that if you don't have Steven Fletcher and instead have Mcburnie (at that time, at any rate) you'll struggle to be as good as you were away to Albania or at home to Israel going forward. But both those games were abject performances well below par in every position on the park. McFadden has been on that show pretty much ever since, but not once have I heard anything other than excuses for those games. If McIntyre wasn't so sycophantic, he might have asked him what went wrong in those games and made him answer.

Not listened to last night yet, but the night before I did enjoy Faddy trying to use injuries and lack of prep time for the Israel away and Kazakhstan away debacles. Nice try, James.

Pretty guff game to watch, but I expect us to start the season much closer to the QOS game than that one. My report- https://www.idlehandsduffy.com/post/diamond-watches-airdrieonians-1-1-albion-rovers There's been some histrionics on here which isn't surprising but as many have also pointed out, we've gotten what any team wants out of pre-season; a series of games that allowed all the players to get minutes under their belts, no injuries picked up and a few things tried out. We were solid defensively last season, second least goals conceded, and carried a threat, 5th most goals scored, but you're hoping we can improve that second part. Our home form, too, let us down; top of the away form table, 5th on home form. Transfer markt tells me we've got the largest squad but also the youngest in the division, which is interesting if accurate. We've only lost Smith and Roberts from the players who made major contributions last season, so you're wanting to get the same again from defenders, at least the same again from Gallagher and Carrick and a bit more from the midfield and subs bench. We'll have to see how Thistle and Falkirk go, but as it stands I don't see why we can't be doing as least as well as we did last year, given the state of the squad right now. Cannae wait for the real stuff to start. Appetite thoroughly whetted.

Nevermind!

I did wonder whether Clarke might play him at wing-back with Forrest missing. I suppose he might, but I think if he goes with wing backs he's more likely to go with Palmer on the right. Could Fraser find himself further in field? Possibly. But you'd fancy McGinn or Christie to be given the free role ahead of Fraser, should anyone be asked to do that.

He sure is. But if Clarke decides to start without wingers, as he did the last two games, Fraser will have to start on the bench.