Diamond72

Last night really showed up the difference in maturity of the sides. What typified it for me was young Dunlop tearing down the wing to put a cross in and the Utd defender had hands on his back. That was the cue to go down and let the ref make the decision. Dunlop continued and the ball ran out of play, parly due to his inexperience but more his desire to show what he could do. Rhys is no mug and you are right, we have to be more streetwise. Just take a leaf ot of Cammy's book to see how he 'manages' the opposition.

I think that to be fair, even Ballantyne would have struggled with QP's pace down that side. Not saying that Hancock played well, his misplaced pass when out of position resulted in Josh Rae having to make a great save. Aiken as said, had probably his worst game for us and failed to hit the target when the opportunity arose. What concerns me most however is the fact that we are trying to walk the ball into the net most games and our strikes from around the box are missing the target or straight at the keeper.

Sorry, but after watching that a few times Rae should really just have launched that. Poor decision making in my opinion, but it is always on the cards playing that way.

The positves from the Ayr game were fairly few but I was totally impressed with McStravick and his ability to put in a great cross. I can see how someone like Todorov in the middle could really benefit from this. I'm sure Rhys has seen this also so hopefully Todorov and McStravick get more minutes, starting with Queen's Park.

I wouldn't say that Gabby had a good game today but I would venure to say that it was more down to lack of service to him in my opinion. To say that he has been poor all season is again an over-reaction as far as I'm concerned. Cast your mind back to the wonderful link up play of his that led to Gal's goal against Raith. I've never thought of Gabby as a wide player anyway, I believe that he performs at his best through the middle.

Arbroath will be boyant after such a convincing win over ICT. I'm sure they won't expect such an easy game though as they got on Saturday. ICT were truly awful and got exactly what they deserved. I was delighted to see the pitch in great condition however and it should benefit our style of play if we keep the ball on the ground. This for me, like others have said, is a crucial match. Despite their recent form Arbroath will be fighting it out at the bottom in my opinion.

Totally agree with these points. My recollection of GMS was of a talented young guy who used us to bring his fitness up. In my opinion he only really showed up for us in games like the Morton cup game where he could put himself in the shop window. This is not a wholly negative comment on him however as most players would have done the same. And as others have said, the club and team do not need this type of signing going forward as it does not benefit us in the slightest.

Not to drag this out but I believe we need height and physique in the side for next season, and I quote Leon when he joined us, "He said: “I feel that I’ve been overlooked in my whole career because of my height. If I was a bit taller then I’d have more opportunities elsewhere but there is nothing that I can do about that".

Leon McCann will be the first to admit that he is plaing football in L1, not through lack of footballing ability, but a lack of height and physique needed for the higher leagues.

Like many others, I believe that this is our best opportunity for years. Last season's failure for me was all about two players, Simon Murray and max Currie. Murray made the difference in the finals for QP big time and the lack of a quality keeper for us cost us dearly when the chips were down. We are playing a side in Hamilton who have rarely hit the highs recently in terms of scoring and don't look as big an obstacle as QP were last season. My main fear this time concerns the officials. I looked on in amazement as the Hamilton keeper in their last game was allowed to stay on the field after bringing the Alloa guy down in the box. These are the margins that can make or break a season for us, hopefully we can be on the better end of some of these decisions for a change.

I think that the pressure is all on Falkirk for these two ties. Their supporters are absolutely unforgiving and this I believe transfers to the players big time. Pingu has never really gotten over the Airdrie playoff defeat with Raith at the start of his career so tomorrow should be a cracker. I will be content if Falkirk don't score from a Henderson knock down from a cross and a cut in from the right by Kennedy. Surely we have learned from past games.

I didn't expect too much from the Thistle game as they are leaders and at home. It is games like these that the quality of the forward line makes a difference however. Had we had someone like Graham in our starting lineup then I'm sure we would have taken something. Thistle tired badly after the hour as will Cove I suspect. It is in this final 30 minutes however where the quality of finishers in the team really comes into play in my opinion. We have gained success recently from players like O'Reilly and Turner driving into the box, this was totally absent yesterday. Most of our attacking play ended up with speculative crosses which we hoped would land kindly for us. I still think that we could reach the playoffs however, but the title is Thistle's for the taking.

That is the best performance against Montrose for a good while, we certainly deserved something from it. I have always maintained however that the quality of a teams forward line will ultimately decide places at the end of the season. We had numerous opportunities today to win that game out of the park but as usual the lack of quality and composure in the final third let us down. That is why the likes of Cove, Falkirk, Partick and so on will be almost be assured of finishing near the top. Here's hoping that next season we can address this long running need for quality in this area. I personally don't see us getting promoted this season for this fact alone.

Murray takes almost all of the blame but the players need a good long look at themselves also. Our goal tonight came from a great Thomson cross and a well timed header. It's up to players like Thomson , Roy and so on to perform like this more often. Also, Turner in midfield has shown in one game what all the fans have been crying out for in midfield for two or three seasons now, quality and creativity. I know this is all about finance but why pad a squad out with several average players when you can use the money in that direction....maybee Murray will tell us some day.

The sad fact is that we have found out the hard way that most of our first eleven are not good enough for this level. Falkirk, Partick, Cove have a bigger budget than ours and it shows on the park. It is our performances against East Fife, Montrose and the likes of Dumbarton that we should judge Murray on. To this end he has underperformed with his squad. This present side is the most impotent bunch I have seen in years, we offer very little threat going forward to any team and have relied on breaks from set pieces and throw-ins. I have no idea with regard to the club's signing policy, but everyone was crying out for experienced striker/s at the start of the season with a good creative midfielder and none of that happened. O'Reilly, McKay, Thomson, Robert have all failed miserably as well in providing assists to the strikers that we do have, hence the fact that opposing goalkeepers have an easy time ( as in the past three games). We thought that our steady defence would at least give us some points but this has not been the case. Sean Chrichton takes much of the blame for this but then you look at a center forward (Jack McKay) playing right back and fluffing a clearance at Peterhead which led to a goal. It's all gone wrong some how and it doesn't look like being remedied anytime soon I'm afraid.

The last three games were no surprise in my opinion. Unfortunate at Peterhead with the sending off but Partick and Cove entirely predictable. Cove and Partick have got far better players for a reason, they pay more. Look at tonight and the threat coming from the bench for Cove, we can't compete with that. What really disappoints me is that we are the most impotent side for many a year. We constantly fail to threaten or hurt sides due to a lack of quality in forward areas. We never look like a threat and rely on second ball from set pieces. The whole team appears disjointed and devoid of a clear plan...this is Murray's to own. Rarely in fifty years have i seen a side so lacking in direction or potency.

Airdrie fans like myself keep supporting the side when we see a chance of improvement. I, like many others have lost that hope today. We are, and have been under Murray, a side that relies on opponents mistakes from set pieces rather than build up play. We have too many players who cannot retain possesion for any length of time and a general lack of quality in key areas. Those that can retain possession are usually on the bench (Sabatini). What troubles me is that we have players who are actually regressing under Murray. Leon McCann is a prime example of a young guy who came to us, comfortable on the ball and full of confidence and now look at him. It is perfectly clear that many of our players would perform far better with other sides.

When i look at our squad compared to the others that have outplayed us this season the one defining difference has been our lack of composure on the ball in key areas. This has led to lost possession and countless punts up the park. If we are going to look at the squad here is my list of players who I believe have the composure to retain the ball and make a decent pass: (not in any order) McCann, Fordyce, Kerr, Sabatini, Stokes, Mbayo, Gallagher, Robert, Carrick, Connell. I for one have never bought into the excuse of being a young side, for me it is having a team where the majority of them are composed and confident with the ball at their feet. To be fair to some of the boys, they have been moved into unfamiliar positions throughout the season and this has not helped.

just listened to Murray's post match comments about the fact we are a 'young side' and got even more angry about today. Edinburgh City looked the better side in both games this season and today were missing Henderson, their main striker. They pretty much strolled the game and did enough to get a result, not much more. We on the other hand never threatened and I think we all know why. From Murray's first month with us it was evident that he sets his sides up to 'counter-punch', to not lose. We have rarely seen a peformance from us where were go and commit from the outset to attack the other side. We wait until we are behind to do that and in a lot of cases it is too late. We faced a League two side who are mid table today and never tested their keeper. Such is our expectations these days that a few years ago that performance would have seen considerable pressure on the manager. Young Thomas Robert's agent and mentors must be wondering seriously about the lack of opportunities for their boy to show his abilities. How any young player can flourish under that setup is beyond me.

Cannot even be arsed to comment on this today other than I'm furious at spending £12 to watch it through the wrong end of a fuckin telescope...grim!

I may have missed the info but where was Callum Gallagher on Saturday? I don't remember him being listed as injured, all I remember is him coming off during the Falkirk game in a rather unhappy fashion.

Delighted with the result but the game totally hinged on Falkirk having an off day in front of goal. It is evident that we are a team of counter-punchers who will get a result like this now and again. Trouble is the other side scores first and then we lose more goals chasing the game. Can't fault the effort of the boys today, they were excellent and deserve the win bonus. My real gripe is that Murray continues to set the side up against other sides in the league in a similar manner and hope for results from set pieces. Like Gary Bollan, this shows that he does not really trust the team to go out and express themselves in a positive way. The Falkirk commentary team pretty much agreed, saying that Airdrie's game plan worked 'today'...all a bit of a lottery for this side.

I agree that we are not very far behind many of the sides that have beaten us this season. I have however been consistently saying that we lack potency in finding the net in tight games. Look at the Partick, Edinburgh and East Fife games for example where we were undone by a dynamic and dangerous center forward. We do not have enough players in the side who can hurt teams and this includes set pieces like free kicks and corners. Also, for a team that likes to play the long and high ball, where is the height in the forward line? Funny thing is, we probably have a better chance against Falkirk the way this side is set up.

Personally think that we are short of one piece of the puxzzle. A tall experienced centre forward who can hold the ball up well and give defences a hard time. As I have said many times....our forward line does not cause any real fear for other sides. At the moment we are trying to feed on scraps from the second ball up front, this is typified by the incessant long throws into the box which must have a success rate of about 0.1%.

just watched the extended EFTV highlights and whilst big Sean did not have a great game he certainly was not to blame for the first goal. He certainly lacked composure for the second and cost the goal but over the piece he has been a real bonus for the side. We never really got to grips with the pairing of Wallace and Hamilton and in many way s that is our failing. We don't have a 'strike partnership' of any sort......no consistent pairing of a couple of strikers who know each other's game. Trouble is, there is no sign of it happening anytime soon.