Mr November

Bonnyrigg deserved winners today. Generally controlled the game and if they’d been more clinical could have scored a couple more. They were fortunate with the opener but no more than they deserved. I thought Ross Gray was by far the best player on the park. He’s the one player in that team who was that bit extra quality on the ball to drive forward and open up defences. Forfar were well off it though. They had some nice touches in midfield but absolutely nothing up front. Bonnyrigg seemed much more keen to win every second ball too.

At least he’s got it out the way early this season!

I think we might line up 343 with McCabe dropping to centre back, only different for me is I dont think Gabby should be dropped, especially with his 3 assists in 4 games. I'm a massive fan of Callum Smith, but in the league Cup games his finishing has been atrocious and don't think he's been good enough, I'd drop him for Jamieson. I think we’ll go with the same shape as the St. Mirren game. A compact 4-1-4-1 off the ball with McCabe dropping in and the full backs bombing forward to go 3-4-3 when attacking. It seemed to work well that night and gets the best out of McCabe. I’d probably stick with McGill, Gallagher and Smith. They’ve caused problems in the cup games but as you say, the finishing has been awful. Give them the first half tomorrow and if it’s more of the same then it’s time for Jamieson to come on.

I see he’s described us as a “League One giant”. We really need him to do the match reports.

Without knowing too much about McMaster or Wylie it seems like a decent bunch of options there. They certainly all seem suited to the style we want to play. It seems like Wylie got the most assists and yellow cards for Celtic B last season. It’s a completely different challenge doing it in League One but hopefully that means that he’s good on the ball but can also get stuck in, a bit like Frizzell. If he’s half as good as the last left footed midfielder we got from Celtic then we’re onto a winner.

I asked about that on the Clyde thread and the consensus was that he’s wasted out wide and is much better playing through the middle. That still leaves us a bit short out wide and lacking any natural wingers but plenty of competition for that main striking role. I suppose if we play the back three at times we can fit two of them in but even then that probably leaves the other three out unless you’re being very bold.

He spoke about how good players can play anywhere after one of our games last season so yeah, enjoy! Based on the last few seasons, the first couple especially when it wasn’t his fully team, he tends to prioritise players he trusts and fits things around that. He’d rather play someone who he knows will do a job and follow instructions out of position than play someone he’s unsure about.

I agree to an extent but to be fair he did an excellent job at Dumbarton at this level. It’s perhaps a different challenge but he almost took them to the promotion play-offs. I don’t think he had many falling outs at Airdrie last season, admittedly with a squad that was fully his for the first time. The squad seemed incredibly close and that was probably a big factor in us scoring so many late goals. He did seem to have his issues with some players when he first came in but given they were a bunch of plodding, overpaid jobbers I can’t blame him.

Cheers, that’s what I thought from seeing him too. We’re creating plenty of chances but none of our strikers have really got going yet so he should get plenty of opportunities.

We created more quality chances than most teams will at Gayfield but as you say, really lacked composure in front of goal and were punished for it. Gallagher, Smith and McGill all had decent numbers last season for the minutes they played but none of them have got going yet this season, though it’s very early days yet. I wouldn’t worry about that too much, Robinson seems to be trying (not very successfully based on last week) to build his own team there with the usual quick, physical strikers and runners in midfield. Even Jay Henderson, a Scotland under-21 international who played 26 games for them last season has only made a couple of sub appearances so far in the cup, so giving the young players a chance doesn’t seem to be top of Robinson’s list. I agree with you on Moffat. We’ll likely only play three forwards at any given time, unless McCabe has been heavily influenced by latter day Murrayball, and having all of Moffat, McGill, Smith, Jamieson, Gallagher and Salim feels a bit top heavy.

Can he do a job out wide or is he best as a number nine? We have Gallagher and Salim as central strikers and tend to play McGill and Smith as pretty attacking wide players. If Jamieson can do that too then great but there’s plenty of competition to play through the middle.

Thoughts on Lewis Jamieson? We’ve just signed him on loan. I was really impressed by him in the 1-1 draw at Airdrie but keen to hear how he was during the rest of his spell.

Lewis Jamieson! Very happy with that. I didn’t think a striker was a priority but he was excellent in the 1-1 draw against Clyde last season, took his goal really well. Some Falkirk fans wanted to sign him so us getting him is a good laugh but I’m wary they’ll invade our thread to go on about it in six months like with Salim.

1. Dundee 2. Partick Thistle 3. Inverness 4. Queen's Park 5. Raith Rovers 6. Arbroath 7. Morton 8. Hamilton 9. Ayr 10. Cove

1. Annan Athletic 2. Stenhousemuir 3. Bonnyrigg Rose 4. Forfar Athletic 5. Stirling Albion 6. Dumbarton 7. Stranraer 8. Albion Rovers 9. East Fife 10. Elgin City

It's always good to have competition but I can't imagine Josh Rae or Oluwayemi being keen to come here and be second choice, or indeed Celtic being keen to loan out a promising player who might not play regularly. I assumed the plan would be Rae in goals, the Northern Irish boy from the Academy on the bench since he seems to be involved in the warm-ups with Hutton focusing on coaching. Unless Rae is injury prone, or Oluwayemi turns out to be amazing, then another keeper seems a bit of a waste of a loan. If we don't sign Owen Moffat this time then he's the new West Ham striker.

1. Falkirk 2. Dunfermline Athletic 3. Airdrieonians 4. Queen of the South 5. Alloa Athletic 6. Montrose 7. Kelty Hearts 8. Clyde 9. FC Edinburgh 10. Peterhead

Fair play to Kyan Gunn, a week later and Stephen Robinson still hasn’t got over him pumping St. Mirren out the cup.

Is the Andrew McNeil that was on the bench for you today the boy who was at Airdrie (twice) under Murray? He was in our reserves in 19/20 and was then released at the end of the season and ended up at Berwick, only to rejoin us on loan halfway through 20/21 when our second choice keeper left and our third choice got a bad injury. I remember Murray saying he was a great keeper which made it even stranger that we released him and decided to find a new young jobber to sit in the stand instead. Fair play to him if he’s managed to get a move to Raith though.

Yesterday was the only game so far he hasn’t scored in, so Arbroath obviously did something right there! He was on loan from Kilmarnock during the second half of last season and played a few games but was mostly just padding out the squad. He’s played all four games so far, partly because we’re very light on numbers, but it’s fair to say he’s grabbed his chance and done really well. I’m hopeful he can really kick on this season, he’s a decent all rounder and seems to have a great skill of arriving into the box just where the ball ends up. On Watson, I alluded to it earlier but that’s just what happens sometimes when you come up against a very good player from the league above. Linn’s goal during the week was ridiculous, he’s certainly not slowing down much mentally or physically.

Dunfermline 1-1 Alloa Falkirk 2-0 Montrose Kelty 1-1 Edinburgh Peterhead 0-2 Airdrie QOS 3-1 Clyde

We’re unlikely to get someone as good as him but the difference in physicality between Charlie Fox and our team in both boxes in the play-off final last season was ridiculous, nobody could get near him. Playing your classic bruiser centre back might cause issues playing out from the back, which is where Watson or McCabe help, but I do agree some more physicality is needed at times. As far as loans go though, they’re now just a necessary part of football. We live in a world of short contracts so if we’re able to bring in a player short-term who improves us, as McInroy, Paterson and even McGill did, then that can only be a good thing.

I thought Watson was poor yesterday, couldn’t handle Bobby Linn at all. I like him and he’s a good League One right back but Ballantyne is a definite upgrade there for me. Good interview with McCabe here

Frustrating to do near enough exactly the same thing we did last year. I’m not too bothered by today’s result, we were just beaten by a better team, but if we’d beaten Edinburgh we’d be through. It was a strange game today. We started quite well and Smith should have scored early on, only for Arbroath to go up the park and score. It was hard to see what Hutton actually did for their goal but it certainly didn’t look great. After that we got in behind a very good defence numerous times but every time either wasted a clear chance or waited too long and overplayed it. I’m not hugely concerned about the strikers, we saw last season that the goals should come, but it is frustrating watching them miss so many chances at the moment. The main thing for me is that even without Easton we’re still creating plenty. I thought Cole Gibson did well again, had a few dodgy moments but generally looked confident and has certainly done enough to suggest he can at worst be our Dean Ritchie replacement. The game was done as soon the second goal went in and Arbroath strolled the second half. For as well as we’ve played up until now, today showed the difference in levels between a good League One team short on numbers and a good Championship who have been together for a while. A very big week ahead in terms of recruitment. While we can’t get carried away and assume it’s an easy win, a trip to an even more depleted than us Peterhead is a great opportunity to start with three points ahead of a tough looking August.

Same thoughts from our end. We got in behind a good Arbroath defence several times in the first half but wasted every chance, whereas Arbroath were ruthless with theirs. Airdrie played some decent football at times but Arbroath are a strong team who were excellent at stopping us and quickly passing the ball up the park to kill any momentum. Agreed on Nicky Low, Adam Frizzell has ran the midfield in our last three games but Low strolled that today. Enjoyable day out though despite the result, nice to get a now rare trip to Gayfield. All the best for the season, hopefully another good season for you.