TAFKAC

Also, the fact that Frank has had various operations to try to get back to play but none have worked. Barring a miracle, he is well and truly retired. On a coaching note, Eric Phillips was previously on the Stranraer bench as a trialist (I know he can't be a trialist now).

Strange stats that mean nothing: "Team X has not beaten Team Y at Team Y's home ground on a Tuesday night, with a lunar eclipse with a male on the throne since 1923."

Suggesting Kriston could play any of those positions - or indeed any position - is a stretch. Horvath and Vincze were not bad.

My limited memory was that he was appointed at the end of the season and by the time things kicked off again he had been replaced. Having a quick check, Moyes did score an own goal against Albion Rovers but that was in the league. That was the fifth game of the season as well...

Impressively, this also misses out John Murphy. He replaced David Hay at the end of the 2008/09 season but was then replaced by Bollan. Fairly certain, he didn't even manage a game...

There were already B teams (Stranraer, University of Stirling) in the pyramid. That said, not a fan of B teams in the pyramid at all.

That must be the frustrating thing. As I said, Stenhousemuir fans will know better than me, but you would have thought the team should have been on an upwards trajectory last season. Learning from some of the mistakes at the start of the season and getting better and better as the season went on. By the end of the campaign, you think they should be one of the in form teams. Although missing out on the play-offs would be disappointing, you think the core of the squad is there and it is a case of a few additions rather than ripping it up and starting over. However, those issues that were apparent last term are still there (the goalkeeper/the midfield, etc). Stenhousemuir should have been one of those teams looking to hit the ground running, really set the pace, etc. It's not really worked out that way.

I would largely agree with this. I'm not a Stenhousemuir fan but Stranraer. There's always been plenty of chat about Swift, as a former player, being a future manager at Stair Park. With that in mind, I think there were plenty of people who were keeping an eye on how he did. Stenhousemuir seemed very much to be a team that would fool you. Every little good bit of form where you think things were on the up was followed by a couple of bad results. A bad run, when you thought time was running out, was followed by a little surge in form. So, the circle went on. Last season, a bit like Hamill at Stair Park, could almost be excused given there were massive turnovers in players and the challenges that Covid brought. This season would be the season where it was a Swift team. There were signs that he had brought in players over the two seasons who should be more than good enough. Tom Orr scored double digits in his single season at Stranraer. Matty Yates was a player who had impressed at Stranraer and seemed destined for bigger things. Willie Sewell was a player who scored loads in the lower leagues and there were a handful of clubs looking at him. There were players already in the squad who had attracted glances from other sides. Equally, I think from early in the season, there were a few eyebrows being raised. For example, the goalkeeping issue from last season - Was it sorted for this season? Stenhousemuir fans will, obviously, know more than me but it just seemed to never work out. Being X points off the play-off given the expectations - rightly or wrongly - isn't enough. To be "in with a shout" of the play-offs given the expectations was the bare minimum when they should be comfortably in the play-offs and chasing and challenging those above.

I thought about posting this in the Stenhousemuir thread but here makes just as much sense. They must be an incredibly frustrating team to support. Every time it looks like Swift has them playing well, they seem to do a complete u-turn and then go on a really poor run. Equally, any time they seem to go on a poor run, they go and pick up a result. In terms of yesterday's game, no doubt Stranraer deserved all three points. They were well on top in the first half and probably could have been further in front. Kouider-Aissa missed the target with two chances when he should have worked the goalkeeper. In terms of the first goal, Brennan comes racing from his goal and puts his clearance straight to James Hilton. As soon as that happens, you can tell what is about to happen. Fair play to Hilton, it's a smashing finish. If he tried to drill a shot, it probably would have hit a defender. The fact he goes for the lob means Stenhousemuir's only hope is it goes wide. He can be a frustrating player but he's the one in the Stranraer team that can really do something a little bit different. The second again highlighted defensive issues when a cross into the box is not dealt with. Maybe a little bit unlucky that it falls straight to a Stranraer player but Stenhousemuir should be clearing it. It looked like it could be game over at that point but Stenny get one back when Matty Yates beats Luke Scullion to a cross and heads home. Stenny were improved after the break but even then Scullion was hardly overworked. The main talking point/points comes just after 70 minutes. There will be Stranraer fans that think the sending off is harsh but I don't think you can go into tackles with that much force these days and not expect to run the risk of a red card. The reaction from the two benches is typical and sure enough it is a red for Kyle Girvan. Obviously, no idea what was said on the touchline but Hamill is sent off as well. You fancy that it will be all Stenhousemuir for the remaining 20 minutes or so but immediately they concede a goal. That must be a real sickener for their fans because they seem to have the upper hand and then immediately go and concede. Tom Orr pulls one back but, outside of a couple of corners, Stenny fail to really call Scullion into action again.

They are real. The red strip was worn against Annan on Saturday.

The first quarter has been and gone and attention turns to the halfway point of the season. With that in mind, how have things started? Have you been surprised by how good/bad you have been? Have any of your summer signings turned out to be brilliant/terrible? Where do you think your club can finish this season? How do you rate your team's start out of 10? Difficult to say. Stranraer's season could be summed by 'if'. 'If' they had held out to beat Bonnyrigg Rose... 'If' they had held out to beat East Fife. Both games finished 2-2 and both games saw Stranraer lead going into injury time. However, 'if', doesn't matter. Both games ended in draws and I'm sure every club will have hard luck stories over the course of the season or times when they deserved little and took a point/three. Three wins, three draws and three defeats over the opening nine games is not terrible, particularly when many would have tipped Stranraer to be near the bottom. That said, while there have been times where Stranraer have played really well, they always look like conceding. A single clean sheet in all competitions hints at that. I think, overall, 6/10 is probably about fair. How safe is your manager's job? Going into the Dumbarton game there were certainly grumbles from the home fans. At that point, the record stood at one win (1-0, courtesy of a penalty against Annan on the opening day), three draws and three defeats. Since then, Jamie Hamill's team defeated the previously unbeaten Dumbarton and Albion Rovers. There is probably a decent percentage of the fans that are not won over by Hamill. I think at times the team wants to play too much football when being more effective would be the way to go. Equally, I don't imagine the budget is massive and having the club in and around the play-offs is decent. Enough rambling though, I think the committee is fairly happy with how Hamill has been doing. Best performance? It's got to be the Dumbarton game. As I mentioned, Dumbarton were unbeaten and looking like they were going to run away with things. Instead, Stranraer played them off the park for 45 minutes and then scored twice with just under 20 minutes remaining to seemingly wrap it up. That inability to keep a clean sheet returned and Dumbarton were level with four minutes to go and Stranraer down to 10 men. Paul Woods went up the park and scored the penalty to get a deserved three points. Worst performance? I was not there but Stirling away in the game before the Dumbarton match. 4-1 down at half time pretty much says enough. Best player? There have been a few players who can be happy with their first quarter performances. Dylan Forrest looks a decent prospect and Kyle Girvan has done not too badly at centre half. Paul Woods can disappear from games but given his goals and his willingness to get on the ball, it would likely be him. I was not a massive fan of his in his first spell but he's been a pleasant surprise since returning to the club. Best summer signing? With 11 players brought in, I've got plenty to choose from. I've mentioned Dylan Forrest and it would probably be him. An honourable mention to Luke Watt though. He was forgettable during a loan spell at the club years ago and the fact he had not really been a great success elsewhere did not fill me with hope. That said, he has done not too badly at right back. Which opposition side/player has impressed you? As mentioned, I was not at Stirling so could probably rule them out. Charlie Reilly was influential for Albion Rovers a few weeks ago and Joao Balde looked decent for East Fife. Kane Hester scored one, won the penalty and played a role in the winner for Elgin. Where will your team finish? I'd like to say in the play-offs and, as much as I think it is a cliche, there is little between many of the teams. A good run can really push you up the table. That said, I think Stranraer might finish just short. Fifth.

McIntosh was hopeful he would be back by the end of the month so this might be a little too early for him.

Stranraer have signed Craig Malcolm...

I guess this kind of fits... What happens to the games in the Premier Sports Cup that have since been awarded as 3-0 wins. If you take Stranraer v Forfar, it would seem to make sense that all goalscorers/appearances/bookings/sendings off are just cancelled/deleted but is it as straight forward as this?

It's tended to have been James Hilton up front with Scott Robertson acting as the one backing him up.

I think a lot of that is fair. Personally, at the start of last season, I thought it would be a transitional season. Hamill was in his first year in charge, he came into the job late and he did not get a full pre-season. I think that meant a number of signings that probably would not have been made if there had been an appropriate period of time for the new management to scrutinise everything. Throw in the Covid situation as well. That said, I was hoping that as the season progressed we would show signs of heading in the right direction. To an extent that happened and we brought in Hilton but we never really looked like a team who were going to find form and step it up gear. So, attention turned to this season. We lost, arguably, four important players - Burns, Sonkur, Yates and Muir. The issue up front was there last season and losing Yates and Muir has certainly not helped that. I don't know the ins and outs but I imagine strikers have been targeted and we have missed out on them, whether that is through money or geography, who knows? Equally, to be three games into the season and not have one striker (minus Duffy, who very much seems to be assistant manager first and player second) is poor. I'm not suggesting we should have rushed into signing a striker but we have had weeks/months to get it all ready. I'm sure the management are working hard to address the problem but it is frustrating for the fans. I thought at times last season we had too many nice footballers and not enough players who could stand up when things got tough. Have we addressed that? Similarly, our solution to the defensive issues of last season seems to be to add inexperience in Girvan and a former WoSFL player in Watt. Time will tell if they are of good enough quality, which, obviously, I hope they are. There's obviously still plenty of time for the players to prove me and others wrong and there's plenty of time for new signings to be made but I don't think it is a surprise that no one is tipping us for the league title.

When did James Hilton leave? I see he was a trialist for Stranraer yesterday. How did he get on with yourselves?

Stevie Aitken left EK earlier in the season. His brother, Chris, is the manager there now.

Cummins played left back for Stranraer for a bit of last season.

Jamie Hamill mentioned after the game at the weekend that Curtis has an injury. No indication of when he will be available again though...

Spotted this after reading about Hickey's goal for Bologna. Luis Binks, who also plays for Bologna, is eligible for Scotland.

It's also worth pointing out that Hamilton has only played fewer than 15 minutes in one of his last 12 appearances for the club.

I've no idea what the temperature was at Stair Park on Saturday but the referee certainly allowed a water break in both the first and second half. As you say, it would seem odd for either team to be against it.

I think Maley MIGHT have been still at Stranraer when Farrell came in. His appearance would have come under Brian Reid though and I think Maley went away out on loan. I'm not saying that this was the target Farrell was referring to, just highlighting the connection.

Did Farrell say there was someone he worked with previously joining the club? Evan Maley was at Stranraer. Funnily enough, his one appearance was right at the end of Stranraer v Dumbarton in 2016.