Mr November

Murray said before the Alloa game that Lyons was back in full training, though given how long he was out for you'd think he might need a few weeks to get up to full fitness. I know we're all talking about Walker coming in at right back and moving Watson inside but after the Falkirk game Murray said Walker's natural position is centre back. I suppose it comes down to trust but given Watson's a better option going forward I wonder if we could try Walker at centre back beside Fordyce? I don't think he's played anywhere other than right back for us, other than a short spell in midfield when everyone went off injured at home to Morton in the play-offs, but it could be an other option. McCabe's been a very important player so far this season and getting him back into midfield would make a massive difference.

Airdrie 2-1 Peterhead Dumbarton 2-1 Clyde Falkirk 1-1 Alloa Montrose 2-2 Cove Queen’s Park 3-1 East Fife

Yeah I also felt it was pretty similar to the previous game with both teams performances reversed. I don’t think there was too much between the teams, if we’d managed to scramble a late equaliser I don’t think it would have been entirely undeserved, but I don’t have any complaints about not Alloa getting the win. Alloa defended well, moved the ball about nicely and caused us problems on the break. Henderson took his goals well, though I’m not sure why all our defenders backed off him every time he ran forward. Airdrie were ok but Easton and Frizzell struggled to get going in midfield. For all the attacking options we had on towards end (1 natural defender!) we didn’t create too many clear chances and I never really felt like we were going to score. Scott McGill had his poorest game in a while, Taggart and Scougall both continually beat him and McGill’s constant cutting inside when he gets forward didn’t really work today. It’s not his fault, he’s clearly not a left back, but today showed we do need to sort that position if Quitongo isn’t going to play anytime soon, if at all.

I'd missed this until seeing this clip on twitter earlier too. Paton's wee angry run towards Easton before turning and screaming at Ramsbottom You love to see it. I love Easton more with every game.

Alloa 1-2 Airdrie Clyde 1-2 Falkirk Cove 2-2 Queen's Park East Fife 3-2 Dumbarton Peterhead 1-1 Montrose

I thought Schiavone was excellent on Saturday. I’ve seen Dumbarton a few times now and I haven’t been too impressed with Orsi up front, most of the threat has came through the wide players but Schiavone looked a real step up on Saturday and lead the line really well. Due to injuries/COVID we haven’t been able to play Kerr and Fordyce together much but when they have played they’ve generally strolled it. Saturday was their poorest game as a pairing though, Kerr particularly struggled to deal with Schiavone throughout the game.

Between Crighton, O’Reilly, Big Nat and Adam Brown there’s plenty of options to score it using Gary Deans logic. Not a great draw for us really, it’s a game we really should be winning at a ground I like but their record over us gives me the fear, even accounting for their current issues.

He had to be escorted off by two stewards

That was some laugh. That’s twice this season the games between Airdrie and Dumbarton have been strangely angry and incredibly entertaining. After a few seasons of pretty uneventful games I’m all for it. The first half was pretty even, Airdrie had slightly more of the ball but Dumbarton undoubtedly had the better chances and to be honest probably should have been ahead. It was pretty clear a Dumbarton sending off was coming at some point given the number of bookings in the first half, though I thought it would be Buchanan first rather than MacLean. The second half was pretty similar until the sending off. McCabe missing the penalty seemed to galvanise Dumbarton and even with ten men they probably created slightly better chances. MacLean being sent off after his antics in the previous game was funny. I said after that game that being back at games and having a pantomime villain style player like MacLean was great fun and it was the same again today. I’ve got no idea what he was sent off for though and I’m not sure anyone else around me did either. Buchanan’s red card was coming all game but Geggan should know better for his second yellow. I’m not entirely sure what Farrell was sent off for but Eric Phillips thumping the dugout after McCabe missed the penalty, then looking dejected at 2-1, going mental at the equaliser before Airdrie went on to get the winner was very entertaining. That was Dylan Easton’s poorest game for a while but what a goal to make it 2-1. Really pleased for Salim getting his first goal too, he hasn’t really got going yet but hopefully that will give him some confidence. I thought Airdrie’s defending and passing was pretty poor throughout the game today. I’m not sure if it was over confidence but there was a lot more slack passes than previous weeks, particularly between the defence. We were very lucky Kerr’s mistake early on wasn’t punished and to be honest he struggled throughout the game. I know we had 5 strikers on but leaving a spare man at the back post when you have a 3 man advantage is dreadful defending. It all worked out in the end but we need a big improvement next week. It was great to see how much that win meant to the players and coaching staff though. I don’t think last season’s team would have won that, especially after Paton’s equaliser.

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

This is disappointing to read after a great win today. I hope Rico’s been given some time off to clear his head, as I can’t imagine he’ll be too pleased with the outcome of the investigation or the wording of it, but either way he doesn’t seem to be too happy about it going by that tweet. Not being able to prove it is one thing but the way the board have handled this since then has been really poor.

I thought Falkirk were meant to be good when they played two up front? Brilliant win today, another very good win at Falkirk for the third season in a row. We're only two months on from the 2-1 defeat in Airdrie but things seem wildly different for both teams now. After that game I thought we were pretty poor and needed some big results to turn things around and while Falkirk were by no means spectacular that day being able to grind out a win against us is something they hadn't been able to do for two seasons. I thought Falkirk looked considerably poorer today than the game in August and to be honest never felt like they were going to score. As soon as we got our first goal I was confident we were going to go on an win and we did so very comfortably. I was a bit concerned when the teams were announced given both our full-backs were out and Nesbitt and McDaid are ostensibly good wide players for this level. McCann had some joy early on but other than that Falkirk rarely threatened out wide. Given he's neither a defender or left-footed, I thought Scott McGill was outstanding today. It doesn't seem to matter where we play him, he always puts in a good shift. Josh Kerr's header for the third goal was great too. Other than long-throws, we haven't scored too many from set-pieces over the last few year and I can't recall too many goals from our defenders either, so it was good to see Kerr scoring a great header. I'm sure the Falkirk fans were singing about Sheerin saying they're like Barcelona during the game in Airdrie but I thought out midfield dominated things today. The diamond shape seems to suit us, it allows us to get four technically good midfielders playing close to each other and we've played some great football at times in the last couple of games. Dylan Easton especially is really coming onto a game and starting to influence things in the final third. I was delighted to see him get his goal today, he was probably the best player on the pitch for me.

If you follow this link it seems to take you to the away sections: https://falkirkfc.tickethour.co.uk/privateSales.html?deepLink=98&hash=1X3iMfBOYLQkJzveo-eO1QLIKZ91560#

Alloa 1-1 Peterhead Clyde 1-2 Montrose Dumbarton 0-1 Queen’s Park East Fife 1-3 Cove Rangers Falkirk 1-1 Airdrie

He’s done well so far. Due to injuries/COVID he’s been moved about quite a lot. I think he’s played as an attacking midfielder, right back, right winger, left winger and on Saturday on the right of a midfield diamond. We’re only just beginning to find our best team but he’s certainly made a decent case for being in it. The way we’re trying to play seems to suit him, a full season here (hopefully) challenging for promotion should see him go back to Hearts a much better player.

I thought a 1-1 draw seemed fair overall. It wasn’t the best game, I don’t think either team showed anywhere near the quality they have in other games this season and there weren’t too many clear chances for either side. I was in the Montrose end which wasn’t too busy, which I think is to be expected given the lack of trains on a Sunday, but I’d imagine there were a fair few other neutrals there too in the Queen’s Park end. That’s the fourth time I’ve seen Queen’s Park this season and every time it’s the same issue. They knock the ball about really well, they have lots of midfielders who are good on the ball, but they seem to struggle creating clear cut chances. Simon Murray is usually pretty busy up front but he was fairly quiet today and Bob McHugh was barely in the game either. Their diamond shape probably suited their technical midfielders but thing never really clicked for the front two. Both sides defended pretty well which probably led to few chances for either attack. I thought Charlie Fox was the best player on the park. Montrose were organised and Webster always looked a threat in behind. James Keatings struggled to make too much of an impact on the game and doesn’t really look match fit. Cammy F Ballantyne was excellent, always looking to get forward and I think he’ll be a big player for them once again this season.

I really enjoyed that today. That's two home games in a row we've won while playing brilliant football going forward, we probably should have scored more but that was another comfortable win. McCabe being back made a big difference, even at centre back. To be honest I wasn't too concerned by him being up against Goodwillie, Crighton and at times Fordyce have struggled against him in the past but McCabe's a very clever player and him and Kerr kept Goodwillie pretty quiet today. I didn't watch last week's game but I think we saw why we're better with Watson at full-back today, even if his final ball was a bit poorer today than in recent weeks he's a great option out wide and also does his job defensively. I don't think anyone was particularly excited when he signed but he's been excellent so far, barely put a foot wrong in either position and has put in very consistent performances. McInroy was excellent in midfield, did a great job at recycling possession, winning the ball back and generally always being in the right position. I'm interested to see how he gets on in that role against a better team, as I thought Clyde's midfield were pretty anonymous today, but that was a very promising debut. Easton and Frizzell were great to watch again, always looking to get the ball down and carry it forward. Frizzell in particular has really impressed me over the last month or so. He was quite frustrating against Dumbarton and Falkirk, he clearly had ability but kept making the wrong choices in the final third and running into defenders rather than having a shot on a few occasions. He looks much more confident now and we're beginning to see how good a player he can be. I can see why he didn't really have too much of an influence in a Jim Duffy team, he'd probably have struggled in our team last season too, but he's a perfect fit for the way we're trying to play just now. I thought Gallagher lead the line brilliantly today. I've been a bit critical of him and Kouider-Aissa as a partnership as neither seem naturally suited to dropping deep and linking play but Gallagher was excellent at that today, he won a good share of headers and his touch was better than usual. Him and Smith have the potential to be a good partnership so I'd like to see that continue. I always aim for 15-16 points a quarter, as that should get you in the play-offs at the end of the season. We're just short of that but given how inconsistent every other team is, 14 points and a maximum of 5 points off top at the end of the first quarter isn't the worst result, especially given we still haven't had a chance to choose from a fully fit squad. Obviously our start was very poor but I think we've seen from the Peterhead game onwards, and to an extent at Dumbarton, that this team does have a lot of potential and I'm quite excited to see how we get on over the rest of the season. A break next week might be a good thing to give Fordyce, Gabby McGill and maybe even Lyons more time to recover, hopefully we can go to Falkirk with everyone available and a strong bench to choose from. I'm pleased for Ian Murray too. We all know he has his critics, I've generally supported him more than most but was pretty critical after the Falkirk game, but he's done well to turn things around after the poor start and have us playing some great football recently. He seemed to really enjoy that win today too, I'm not sure why Clyde fans seemed so upset with him but I enjoyed seeing him give a bit back at the end.

Airdrie 2-1 Clyde Alloa 1-1 Cove Falkirk 3-0 East Fife Peterhead 2-2 Dumbarton Queen’s Park 1-1 Montrose

When Gallagher isn't scoring he really struggles, we saw that last season and the first few weeks of this season, but as soon as he gets his first goal he's back to his usual standards. Other than Megginson and Goodwillie there aren't any particularly outstanding strikers at this level. As much as we would all like someone of that ability, there's not many players like that available and Gallagher is a very good option. As you say, I think pretty much every team in this league would happily take him. I wasn't there yesterday so can't comment on it too much but one of my concerns from the East Fife game and some earlier games is we maybe lack a clear link between midfield and attack at times. Easton and Frizzell are good but they're both always looking to push forward, Smith is naturally going to play wide and drive inside and neither Gallagher or Kouider-Aissa seem particularly suited to dropping deep and linking play. In the East Fife game it was almost like a 5-0-5 at times, with Agnew sitting incredibly deep and everyone else pushing forward. That was fine against East Fife but we might need to sacrifice one of the attacking options for another midfielder to try and control games against better teams. We can probably get away with it with McCabe as the sitting midfielder but having someone in beside him might allow him more freedom to dictate play. We have good players in these positions, it's just working out the best way for everything to fit together. To be honest, I'm really not sure what our best team is at this point. We have some decent options in midfield and attack, in terms of depth I think we have the best group of forward players in the league, but I'm not sure what the best setup is to get the best out of everyone. I'm still a bit unsure about Gallagher and Kouider-Aissa together but I'd give them another go next week to see how they get on. I was thinking that something like this below could work when everyone is back but even then that leaves out Kouider-Aissa and Gabby McGill. I suppose this is a good problem to have, compared to plenty of recent seasons where we've had no strength in depth! Currie Watson - Kerr - Fordyce - Quitongo McCabe - S McGill Smith - Easton - Frizzell Gallagher

I went along to this today as I didn’t fancy trekking up to Cove (a good choice in the end). I thought it was a really enjoyable game, both teams lacked a bit of quality in the final third but there was plenty of effort and intent from both sides. There wasn’t anything particularly aggressive about either team, just a lot of low key Alloa fouls really, but it always felt like we were one bad tackle away from things spilling over. I suppose there’s always the risk of that when David Hutton’s on the pitch to be fair. I didn’t think there was too much in the first half, Alloa were probably a bit fortunate to go in a goal up but Boyd took his goal well. Dumbarton certainly looked the more threatening side in the second half and had a couple of decent attempts outside of the goal but never really created any particularly great chances. Alloa were organised and compact but rarely threatened after going ahead. It was pretty much the opposite of our game against Alloa last week, where Alloa had loads of the ball but no real idea what to do with it after Gallagher’s early goal. I thought McKee was pretty disappointing, he had some nice touches but he’s wasted out wide. Ross MacLean was very involved when he came on but his finishing was really poor. Pigantello impressed me in midfield too, won the ball back consistently and looked to build play from there. I have to agree with @The Moonsterabout Niang. Almost everything positive about Alloa came through him today. He’s perfect for this league, strong, good on the ball and always looking to get in opponents faces. Robertson had a steady enough game but if Alloa are able to improve on Adam King, who I feel is the clear weak link in there, with someone a bit more creative then that would be a very strong midfield. I’m disappointed I left right at full time now and missed the Barry Ferguson scenes at the end.

A junior team in Scotland is definitely not where I expected him to end up! He was a strange player, some fans loved him, others didn’t rate him. He had a very decent start and looked like a really composed, accomplished midfielder for this level in a couple of early games but there were also plenty of games which seemed to pass him by. The way we played didn’t really suit him, he liked to drop deep and collect the ball from the centre backs but Sean Crighton and Callum Fordyce are hardly ball playing defenders and we we spent more time launching long balls towards Callum Gallagher and Paul McKay. He dropped out the team and was barely seen after the restart, it seemed fairly clear that Ian Murray didn’t fully trust him and to be fair we looked a significantly better team with Kyle Turner and Paul Paton in midfield. Overall he was decent enough, we’ve certainly had a lot worse players in recent years but equally he wasn’t anywhere near as good as some people made him out to be, at least not consistently enough. He’s more than good enough for whatever level the junior team are at.

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

Enjoyed that today. We started really well, constantly pressing East Fife and Gallagher did what he does best and was in the right place at the right time to score the rebound from Smith's shot. After the first 15-20 minutes we fell out the game a bit, we allowed East Fife to look more dangerous than they were and we were pretty wasteful at the other end. Whether he meant it or not, Scott McGill's goal was excellent and it was good to see Gallagher get another, hopefully three goals this week will give him the confidence he was clearly lacking. We probably should have scored more but given we had a fairly makeshift defence I'll definitely take three goals and a clean sheet. I thought we really missed McCabe in midfield today. Agnew was fine at recycling possession but we lacked a bit of composure and someone to take control of the game. At times we ended up playing with 5 defensive players and 5 attacking, as Agnew sat very deep while Easton, Frizzell and Smith all looked to get forward and in behind the strikers. A better team might have exposed that gap but East Fife didn't really do much about it today, most of their attacks seemed to come from poor passes and slack play from Airdrie. I'm still not sure about Gallagher and Kouider-Aissa up front together. Kouider-Aissa did most of the dropping deep to try and link play but from what I've seen both seem better as the focal point of the attack. It's still early days though so hopefully things will click. Two much needed home wins in a row, along with every other team being inconsistent, has certainly made the league table look a lot better. I was pretty critical of the team after the Falkirk game but fair play, they've turned it around since then. Another tough game next week but no reason why we can't be confident going into it.

Airdrie 2-1 East Fife Clyde 1-3 Queen’s Park Falkirk 2-1 Dumbarton Montrose 2-0 Alloa Peterhead 1-2 Cove

Yeah this is one of the big issues for me. On the whole I don’t think most Airdrie fans are any worse than fans of any other club but there’s always been that small group of fans who consistently cause problems. As much as it’s easy to say they’re not a real fan, unfortunately they are and they’re a problem. The club need to make a strong statement about this and deal with it quickly.