The Alloa Athletic Thread

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[Ian Mcleod]

48 minutes ago, Alloa 68 said:

It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a Alloa fan,to decide not to go to games this season.But with first Fergusion,and now Rice as managers,and the poor quality on show,enough was enough for me.Brian Rice is now being found out as the poor appointment I thought he'd be.Is there another team in the league that can't get loan signings in?and that won't change.That must be down to Rice.Bottom end of the table at best.

 

 

 

 

It's important that you don't rush into making panic signings though the loan market lasts till the end of September so I think that will be massive for Alloa it is important you get a couple of guys in who help yous challenge for 4th place. A lot of teams will be relying on the loan market especially the part time teams. Rice is a well respected guy in Scottish football so he's definitely not the reason on why nobody has signed on loan yet. I think every team in the league is still trying for 1,2 or 3 signings so you are no different to that. It is worrying though that you're next 3 games are against ourselves,Falkirk and Cove but at the same time nobody expected you to win at QOTS so you never know. And if Rice does go who replaces him? Alloa have just had Barry Ferguson and Peter Grant as managers Rice is levels above those 2 it would be a huge mistake if you panicked sacked him.

[Waspie]

Alloa don't do "panic sackings" @Ian Mcleod, our managers always get plenty of time. As for our previous managers, I doubt you'll find anyone making a case for Barry Ferguson. Peter Grant on the other hand, despite making some suspect calls (like all managers) and ultimately getting relegated, did some good work at Alloa. He knew how to set up a team and at times had Alloa playing some very good football in the Championship. Indeed, the last time we consistently looked like a settled, flowing side was under Peter Grant. 

[Ian Mcleod]

4 minutes ago, Waspie said:

Alloa don't do "panic sackings" @Ian Mcleod, our managers always get plenty of time. As for our previous managers, I doubt you'll find anyone making a case for Barry Ferguson. Peter Grant on the other hand, despite making some suspect calls (like all managers) and ultimately getting relegated, did some good work at Alloa. He knew how to set up a team and at times had Alloa playing some very good football in the Championship. Indeed, the last time we consistently looked like a settled, flowing side was under Peter Grant. 

I personally don't rate Grant at all and the job he done at Dunfermline was abysmal however if he done a OK job for you then fair enough. I personally think Rice did an incredible job last season getting Alloa into the playoffs which not many people would of expected at the start of the season and Alloa would of sent us down if it wasn't for George Stanger getting sent off. You could of made a point that our keeper should of been sent off as well in that game. Overall admittedly it has been a disappointing start to the season for Alloa this season however I would still expect 2 or 3 new loan signings which will be big for you. It is very important that you get they signings right and it could be massive on how your season goes. I honestly still think Alloa will finish in the playoffs. However sacking Rice would be an abysmal decision from the Alloa board and would end up being a huge mistake in the long term.

[Waspie]

I am well aware of Peter Grant's struggles at Dunfermline but based on his time at Alloa he certainly wasn't "levels" below Brian Rice as you claimed. The team he had just when Covid finished the season early was miles ahead of anything we've had since. He inherited good players but he added some good ones too and had us looking like a very well balanced side and good to watch.  

As for last season, we were always aiming for the play-offs and we were aided in making them by QoS being abysmal and Montrose going backwards. I know you are big a fan of Rice but in reality it was solid effort in the end to finish 4th and certainly not "an incredible job". The team had  obvious limitations that were never addressed. Bit of a missed opportunity IMO in a season when the standard of the league (and semi-final play-off opponents) weren't very good. 

And once again, he won't be in any danger of getting sacked, that's not the way Alloa work. 

Edited August 19, 2023 by Waspie

[Ian Mcleod]

13 minutes ago, Waspie said:

I am well aware of Peter Grant's struggles at Dunfermline but based on his time at Alloa he certainly wasn't "levels" below Brian Rice as you claimed. The team he had just when Covid finished the season early was miles ahead of anything we've had since. He inherited good players but he added some good ones too and had us looking like a very well balanced side and good to watch.  

As for last season, we were always aiming for the play-offs and we were aided in making them by QoS being abysmal and Montrose going backwards. I know you are big a fan of Rice but in reality it was solid effort in the end to finish 4th and certainly not "an incredible job". The team had  obvious limitations that were never addressed. Bit of a missed opportunity IMO in a season when the standard of the league (and semi-final play-off opponents) weren't very good. 

And once again, he won't be in any danger of getting sacked, that's not the way Alloa work. 

Has Rice not added some good players? George Stanger was released by us because Stuart Taylor didn't think he was good enough Rice made him into one of the best league 1 Defenders and got him a move back to the Championship. Ross Maclver was a Brian Rice signing and he's got a move to a full time team and has started well there. I'm sure there's a couple others as well that Brian has got spot on. Is it Rice's fault other teams underperformed last season? The main thing is his team didn't. There wasn't really much more Rice could of done against us in the playoffs considering the circumstances with the red card and injuries again our keeper was very lucky not to get sent off at the penalty that would of changed the game completely. And it's good to hear that your board won't act stupidly like a couple of your fans want them to. It's been a poor start to the season for Alloa this season but I'm still confident that by the end of the season you'll be in the playoffs. You're just needing 2 or 3 players then it actually looks a decent sqaud I imagine you will be looking at attacking minded players.

[Waspie]

@Ian McleodOf course Brian Rice has added some good players. Others not as successful and there are questions about a few of the latest ones but still early in terms of judging them. Overall though I'd say his recruitment at Alloa has been solid and one of his strengths. Other parts of his management are more up for debate.

As for last season I was mainly taking issue with your point that it was "incredible". He inherited some very capable players and was well backed to add to them. He did a solid job and deserved credit for finishing 4th, but in reality it was a pretty average Alloa team in a poor league rather than the wonderful against the odds story you seem to be suggesting. He certainly had terrible luck with injuries in the play-offs that made the second leg an impossible task. The first leg however had seen him put key men like Scott Taggart and Kevin Cawley back in their natural positions and Alloa played very well. Both were moved out of those positions for the second leg before any of the injuries hit. Cawley, a classy creative forward player, was destroyed on the right side of defence. Those are the kind of decisions that undermine Rice's Alloa teams. Similarly our poor performances so far this season aren't down to us needing 2 or 3 players as you suggest but rather the way we have deployed the players we already have. You are clearly a massive fan of Rice and that's fair enough, but it's not unreasonable for Alloa fans to reasonably and fairly scrutinise his performance based on what they watch every week. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Waspie

[esk1982Wasp]

First ever post from me. I have been a firm supporter of Brian Rice but I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the number of changes he makes to the team from week to week and also during games. That can’t be good for building a good solid unit. He also plays players out of position, Kevin Cawley for one. Some of his signings in the close season don’t seem to be working out and I am getting a sense that something is not quite right behind the scenes just now. 
We can all see where our main issues lie on the pitch just now. Yesterday he started with LD and Quinny. LD looks a million miles away from being fit and it just isn’t happening for Quinny just now. Sammon and Rodden come on and at least we started to create some half chances. For the first 70 mins or so yesterday we had no shots on target. I can only hope we get lucky in the loan market or I fear it will be a battle at the foot of the league for us. 

[Ian Mcleod]

1 hour ago, Waspie said:

@Ian McleodOf course Brian Rice has added some good players. Others not as successful and there are questions about a few of the latest ones but still early in terms of judging them. Overall though I'd say his recruitment at Alloa has been solid and one of his strengths. Other parts of his management are more up for debate.

As for last season I was mainly taking issue with your point that it was "incredible". He inherited some very capable players and was well backed to add to them. He did a solid job and deserved credit for finishing 4th, but in reality it was a pretty average Alloa team in a poor league rather than the wonderful against the odds story you seem to be suggesting. He certainly had terrible luck with injuries in the play-offs that made the second leg an impossible task. The first leg however had seen him put key men like Scott Taggart and Kevin Cawley back in their natural positions and Alloa played very well. Both were moved out of those positions for the second leg before any of the injuries hit. Cawley, a classy creative forward player, was destroyed on the right side of defence. Those are the kind of decisions that undermine Rice's Alloa teams. Similarly our poor performances so far this season aren't down to us needing 2 or 3 players as you suggest but rather the way we have deployed the players we already have. You are clearly a massive fan of Rice and that's fair enough, but it's not unreasonable for Alloa fans to reasonably and fairly scrutinise his performance based on what they watch every week. 

Perhaps it wasn't incredible however I still think he done a very good job last season. And I think getting into the playoffs again this season will be the aim. Admittedly Rice playing players out of position is one of the most frustrating things he does as he did do that a lot with us and they were quite a couple of decisions I didn't understand myself. I think it's clear at the minute that you are needing a striker In possibly even a midfielder as well which is a bit more creative than the current options you have. I personally think calls from Alloa fans of Brian Rice to be sacked is very stupid and unreasonable. Give Rice time you still have Key players like Taggart and Donnelly that have just came back from injury give them a couple of weeks to get back to full fitness and another 2 or 3 in then I think you will see a change of results.

[Vegetableman]

Brian rice does seem to sign good players ,Good enough anyway , turning them into a unit is another thing 

i always said it would take time and i am not wrong so far  (unfortunately ) disagree with those saying we have signed poor players 

it always looks worse when the TEAM as a unit are disjointed like the last two league games , Rice deserves more time and so do the players 

no need to start panicking yet , i am as concerned as everyone else with past results but way too early to be calling for heads to roll .

[Ian Mcleod]

2 hours ago, Vegetableman said:

Brian rice does seem to sign good players ,Good enough anyway , turning them into a unit is another thing 

i always said it would take time and i am not wrong so far  (unfortunately ) disagree with those saying we have signed poor players 

it always looks worse when the TEAM as a unit are disjointed like the last two league games , Rice deserves more time and so do the players 

no need to start panicking yet , i am as concerned as everyone else with past results but way too early to be calling for heads to roll .

Yep you are probably a good midfielder and striker away from another top 4. Like I've also said it will take a couple of weeks for Taggart and Donnelly to get back to there best who are massive players for Alloa. From an Accies point of view hopefully you can pick up at least a point on Saturday and we win against you on the 16th September. At the end of the day even though my team has started off well nothing is won or lost after 3 games there's still another 33 games left will be a interesting season ahead.

[Oweny]

We have been in a decline since the pandemic ended the season in 2019-20. We have struggled since then. We had an outstanding run with great players and managers but can't see us troubling the contenders this term . 

[StewartyMac]

Don't often pop into this thread, and as a Beano, obviously no real love for you guys, but I hope you absolutely smash those mutants on Saturday. 

Not that I'm bitter about them cuffing us last night you understand 

[SouthStander1876]

47 minutes ago, StewartyMac said:

Don't often pop into this thread, and as a Beano, obviously no real love for you guys, but I hope you absolutely smash those mutants on Saturday. 

Not that I'm bitter about them cuffing us last night you understand 

Wanting your biggest rivals to win is a new one

[Rory]

If we perform the way we have the last couple of games, we'd struggle to beat Falkirk under 12s.

[StewartyMac]

20 minutes ago, SouthStander1876 said:

Wanting your biggest rivals to win is a new one

If you guys were playing a team made up of all the worst serial killers in history, I'd be in the away end with my Harold Shipman t-shirt on 

[printer]

1 hour ago, Rory said:

If we perform the way we have the last couple of games, we'd struggle to beat Falkirk under 12s.

It's worth remembering we've only lost one goal in the three games so far apart from penalties.

I still see getting our defensive shape and personnel right as Chipper's most important current task. We've got the squad to make ourselves hard to beat IMO.

Personally I'd go with a back four (Taggs, Neill, Josh, Deveny or Cammy).

I think it's also a game where playing one up front is the way to go.  

@Waspie 's 4-3-2-1 seems apt. So, this is my selection.

            PJ.                                                     Back 4 as above.                                  Miko      Stevie H.                          Roberts      Kev       Stef.                                 LD or Sammo

[Rory]

Feel we've looked OK as a defensive unit but it's been individual mistakes that have cost us as opposed to being outplayed or picked apart.

I'm sure I remember an interview with Rice where he said he likes having two strikers on the park, if he's going to stick with two up top, I'd like to see us go with a 4-2-2-2.

Morrison in goal with a back four of Taggs - Neill - Debayo/Devine - Deveney/Cammy.

Miko and Stevie as our sitting midfielders with Kev/Coulson and Scougall in front of them then Sammon and LD up front. Think we'll get the best out of Rodden if he's coming on as a sub once defenders have started to tire.

I agree that a 4-2-3-1 would probably suit our current squad better though

[Ian Mcleod]

8 minutes ago, Rory said:

Feel we've looked OK as a defensive unit but it's been individual mistakes that have cost us as opposed to being outplayed or picked apart.

I'm sure I remember an interview with Rice where he said he likes having two strikers on the park, if he's going to stick with two up top, I'd like to see us go with a 4-2-2-2.

Morrison in goal with a back four of Taggs - Neill - Debayo/Devine - Deveney/Cammy.

Miko and Stevie as our sitting midfielders with Kev/Coulson and Scougall in front of them then Sammon and LD up front. Think we'll get the best out of Rodden if he's coming on as a sub once defenders have started to tire.

I agree that a 4-2-3-1 would probably suit our current squad better though

You defo did hear Rice mentioning that he likes 2 up top he mentioned it constantly when he was with us and played 2 up top every game in his accies tenure. Even if it meant playing a winger up top he would still go with 2 up top. 

[printer]

28 minutes ago, Ian Mcleod said:

You defo did hear Rice mentioning that he likes 2 up top he mentioned it constantly when he was with us and played 2 up top every game in his accies tenure. Even if it meant playing a winger up top he would still go with 2 up top. 

He's done that with us also.

I like the intent, but sticking to it every game as a principle even when circumstances call for, say, one up is a weakness IMO. Just now we are short on strikers, but have several good attacking midfielders. In particular against a team with Falkirk's quality, winning the midfield battle is vital - IMO we have the players to do that if set up correctly.