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Mr November

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  1. Mr November
    Not really sure what your point is. Both teams started pretty well going forward and had chances during that time. Airdrie hit the bar and Gordon had a good save from Todorov, Hearts scored three really good goals and were deservedly ahead as a result. That’s what can happen when you’re up against a much better team.
  2. Mr November
    We don't really have another way of playing. We have a fairly small team full of technically good players who work hard but can lack physicality and have very little quality out wide, so playing the way that's been successful recently was a better option than trying something completely new in such a big game. It was always going to be a tough ask though. As you say, Morton will be a very different proposition. They can play some decent stuff too but will be much more aggressive and direct than Airdrie.
  3. Mr November
    I thought we played fairly well there, just up against a much better team. We've played a lot of top flight teams recently, admittedly mostly earlier in the season in the League Cup, but that Hearts team are the best I've seen come to Airdrie in a long time. I didn't think there was too much between the teams in the opening 15-20 but the difference in quality at each end of the park was evident. Airdrie are a good technical side in the Championship but the speed Hearts moved the ball was ridiculous, it felt like they always had a man in space. Shankland will take the headlines but I thought Baningime and Nieuwenhof ran the game, so composed on the ball and we rarely got near them, the latter in particular was the best player on the park. A good learning experience for our younger players for what it takes to play at a higher level. It's been a decent cup run for us though and the club have hopefully made a fair bit of money from it, so can't complain.
  4. Mr November
    Can’t believe I forgot the most important thing - we don’t need to go to Cappielow for a fifth time.
  5. Mr November
    Bit of a reality check there. A shame to go out obviously but I thought we played quite well overall, even in the opening 20 minutes, just up against a much better team. You can see why Hearts are by far the third best team (second on form) in the country at the moment, they moved the ball so well and so quickly. We’ve got a lot of technically good young players and I think that was a great lesson for them in what they need to make it at a higher level. I thought we struggled out wide, Hearts full backs were always in loads of space, but that’s a natural drawback with playing a diamond. No real complaints from me, just outclassed by a better team and plenty to learn from. The main thing now is we keep our focus for some very important league games over the next few weeks.
  6. Mr November
    Yeah, when Diack came on and again when Ngwenya came on I just assumed it would be a change of shape to be a bit more compact and double up on Nouble and Brandon. Stanway was fine at Airdrie last season when he played but I have been surprised at him becoming a regular starter in a better team. I suppose a lot of it is not really having a proper Docherty replacement? No harm to him but I knew Thistle were done when Stanway was taking the set-pieces.
  7. Mr November
    Quite enjoyed that. I didn’t think there was too much between the teams until Livingston scored, Thistle probably edged it but not enough to be two goals ahead. Hard to argue with Livingston going through, after they scored they controlled the game but I did think the game was heading for penalties, didn’t see the late winner coming. Thistle have a really good starting 11 but there’s not much depth and when it’s McMillan, McInroy, Graham, Fitzpatrick and Lawless off, Williams, Alston, Adeloye, Diack and Ngwenya on, you can see why the game fell away from them. I was expecting Doolan to go with two up front near the end when Thistle couldn’t hold the ball up at all and was surprised it took until into extra-time for that to happen, not that it made too much difference anyway.
  8. Mr November
    Yeah I agree, that’s why I’d keep McMaster in there as someone who can recycle possession and use the ball well, with McCabe behind him for long range passing if needed. Certainly wouldn’t want to change the shape away from having four in the middle. Donnell or Lyall seem the more obvious choices.
  9. Mr November
    Definitely options yeah. Gavin Gallagher is another, different kind of player to McStravick but he’d work hard and get around the park. I’d be reluctant to change a settled defence too and while I’d like McCabe in midfield, having someone like McMaster to keep things calm and recycle the ball might be ideal in a game where we might not control possession as much as we’re used to.
  10. Mr November
    Looks like McStravick is out for Sunday. Presumably Donnell in from the start in his place? A bit of extra physicality might not be a bad thing. I suppose the alternative would be Ballantyne starting with Watson moving inside and McCabe moving into midfield.
  11. Mr November
    Really excited for Sunday. The less said about the game a few years ago the better but that penalty win at Tynecastle in 2008 was an all timer. I can’t say I’m confident we’ll win, it’s a real step up from St. Johnstone, but it should be a good occasion and there’s certainly a slight chance of an upset. It’s great having so many big games just now. I’ve said it before but at the end of 2019 I tried to think of the best Airdrie games/moments of that decade and it was grim. Depressing stuff when David Hutton saving a penalty at Parkhead was more fun than most games. The last few years have been so much more enjoyable. There’s still been a few disappointments in there but going back to around January 2021, it would be hard to argue many other SPFL teams have been more fun to support than Airdrie over that time.
  12. Mr November
    Quite happy with that. Not too far away and a stadium we have a very good record at (not that that counts for much here).
  13. Mr November
    I think I’d go with Telfer. It’s a strange one as you say, as some of our better performers (Megwa, Aiken, Hancock) have had spells out the team and even Telfer was in and out for the first couple of months. Fordyce has been immense over the last month or so and while not a POTY candidate, Watson deserves a mention for being a somewhat surprisingly consistently good performer at this level. Rae is a fair shout too. As you say, there are times when he doesn’t have much to do but even then, the defence seem so confident with him behind them. I think he’s improved his decision making in one on ones too. Earlier this season we conceded quite a few goals where a player was through on goal and the way Rae used to rush out without actually blocking the goal didn’t exactly prevent them scoring, he’s had a fair number of decent saves from similar positions over the last few months though. It’s easy to forget how young he is too, I think he’ll go on to have a very good career. Hopefully any scouts just watch him against Dunfermline. I suppose it’s a good sign that there isn’t really a consensus choice in what has so far been a very successful season.
  14. Mr November
    Hoping for a TNS win tomorrow purely on the basis that I do not want to read an Airdrie v Falkirk cup final thread.
  15. Mr November
    What a difference after years of being rubbish in the cups. The only team in the country to win all four League Cup games and then a good comeback against Ross County, only to fall short in extra time. Making it to the Challenge Cup final for the first time in 15 seasons, without playing a home game on the way and whatever happens next week, a great cup victory over St. Johnstone and a big game against Hearts on BBC One.
  16. Mr November
    I’m not fully an xG/xPoints nerd but did find the difference between Raith’s actual points and expected points startling. I know a lot of that probably comes from all the late goals edging tight games but I, and I think most others, assumed that happened far too many times for it to just be luck.
  17. Mr November
    Fair play to Ian Murray. His team have struggled recently, partially down to having a very exposed and wide open midfield. What does he do against a team who have done very well playing a diamond for the last six weeks? Continues to play with at times one midfielder. Another brilliant win for Airdrie. We just look so calm, composed and organised recently. Considering where we were even at this time last season it’s a remarkable turnaround defensively, while still having plenty of quality on the ball.
  18. Mr November
    Interesting game that I’ll miss unfortunately. We’re on a good run just now but have plenty of important players injured just now. Our bench was very weak yesterday and will possibly be even weaker for this with Lyall cup-tied, so hopefully some good news on the injury front this week or maybe even a signing. Intrigued to see what Raith do. They’ve yet to get the better of us and are on a poor run. Seems like they’ve been trying to play Murrayball from the start recently, with barely any defenders playing, but he should know by now it doesn’t work like that, you need the chaos factor changing to that mid-game brings. Interesting to see if Raith go back to basics as a result or if Murray completely overthinks his lineup.
  19. Mr November
    Agreed on this. I thought Watson was outstanding yesterday. Fitzpatrick tore us apart down that side at Firhill but Watson kept him very quiet and was a threat in both boxes. It was the perfect game for him really, a real mix of two teams showing bits of quality in between lots of physicality and aggression.
  20. Mr November
    This is definitely true but I’m intrigued to see how we get on away from home now that our style is a bit more direct and we’re more keen on crossing. Obviously a lot of our goals have been set-pieces recently, which is great but we do still need to start scoring from open play more often, and there is still that doubt of what do we do when we concede first. Looking at the away games so far, Arbroath was the only major disaster, though the two goals at the end and the manner of them perhaps make that one seem worse. The first half at Raith was one of our best performances this season, while the second half at Queen’s Park was great and we did fine at Morton. Dunfermline away was ok in spells but everything else has been lots of sideways possession after conceding an early goal without actually doing much (Dundee United, Inverness, Ayr, Partick Thistle). I suppose it all comes back to getting the first goal, which seems to be very important for this team.
  21. Mr November
    Really enjoyed that. I think Doolan is the closest comparison to McCabe in this league in terms of style of play, so always interesting to watch these games. The game itself lost its way a bit in the second half thanks to the referee but I thought was two fairly well matched teams trying to play decent stuff with a good atmosphere too. Makes such a difference having home games with a bit of needle rather than playing (no offence to them) Kelty or Peterhead every week. Thistle started really well but Airdrie came back into it and had the better of the last 15-20 minutes of the first half. We’re still struggling to score from open play but our record at set-pieces has been excellent recently, helped of course by Jamie Sneddon who must be the worst keeper at dealing with crossballs in the league. I didn’t think there was too much in the second half, not a lot happened other than that chaotic 10 minute spell where the ref completely lost control. Mentioned it on our thread but Fordyce’s tackle near the end deserves another mention. Timed to perfection.
  22. Mr November
    A really impressive performance today given we were without Ballantyne, Aiken, Gallagher, McGill and even Megwa. Generally very solid defensively, Hancock had a poor game compared to his usual standards but it’s a tough role with no winger to protect him, played some decent stuff in midfield and McGregor and Todorov worked hard up front. Special mention to Fordyce for saving us in the first half when Adeloye was through on goal and then that tackle at the end. World class. Hopefully we get one of the forwards back for next week and maybe even a new signing, as Lyall will be cup-tied which will leave us even shorter.
  23. Mr November
    Airdrie 1-1 Partick Thistle Dundee United 2-0 Dunfermline Morton 3-1 Arbroath Queen’s Park 1-1 Ayr Raith Rovers 2-1 Inverness
  24. Mr November
    I think Dean Lyness summed himself up when he was asked in an interview at Airdrie which football from history he’d like to play with and he chose Peter Schemichel. A goalie would keep you out the team! If he’s just there as backup then fair enough but yeah, he was particularly poor for us and we looked much more solid at the back, and had a much more confident defence, once Josh Rae was back. For every decent game he had he’d go and do something chaotic the next week. Seemed like a lovely man and he was oddly popular in Ireland but yeah, wouldn’t want him playing regularly.
  25. Mr November
    If they’re both out I’d probably stick McGregor up beside Todorov and keep the shape as it is. Having a more compact midfield and two guys up front to press teams has worked really well and while McGregor isn’t a natural striker, I think he’s got the pace and energy to play beside Todorov and do the running that McGill offers.
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