The Alloa Athletic Thread

[printer]

Anyone know who the trialist number nine is?

[Magic Hat]

2 minutes ago, printer said:

Anyone know who the trialist number nine is?

I am assuming it is Jones who has been really poor in the games I have seen him in.

[Dink]

It's Kurtis Jones again (I think). He's not good enough.

Edited July 11, 2023 by Dink

[Dink]

A decent enough performance if you ignore the complete lack of goals threat. Fingers crossed that Sammon and Donnelly are going to be back for the start of the season.

[printer]

1 hour ago, Magic Hat said:

I am assuming it is Jones who has been really poor in the games I have seen him in.

 

1 hour ago, Dink said:

It's Kurtis Jones again (I think). He's not good enough.

Ta.

Yeah, he didn't show much at all.

Thought we were a lot better when Rodden replaced him and started buzzing about at pace. Even the young lad Cannon showed more IMO.

Overall, second half especially, I thought that was a good run out and we showed some promise. Difficult to judge exactly given Dunfermline had so many reserves out and were down to ten men.

All of the new signings look decent enough. I liked Roberts in particular, especially if we can get him more central, both he and Virtanen should be encouraged to get forward.

Deveney looks an exciting prospect. Put so many balls in the box.

 

[Waspie]

I thought the first half was pretty grim which wouldn't matter at all but for the fact we seemed to have lacked tempo in the other friendlies. As such, it was encouraging to see a much brighter second half, albeit still a bit harum scarum. The centre backs didn't have too much to do but looked solid and Deveney was busy with some good deliveries. Virtanen looks like he could form a formidable partnership with Stevie, who was just Stevie. Second time I've seen Roberts and again loads of energy, although hopefully will add a bit more composure as he settles. 

Up front as we all know is the problem. Robert Jones has really struggled everywhere he has been, hard to understand why he is on trial. It was good to see Rodden buzzing about like he did when he first signed but he's still really a wildcard off the bench for me. We need Sammon in there and at least one other attacker with pace and a goal threat. 

Broken record but we look potentially strong now in defence, holding midfield, and we're very well off in creative midfielders. Flat back four, Stevie and Virtanen in midfield two, with Coulson, Scougall and Kev behind Sammon (with LD to come back for the creative three). Think of that with Taggart and Deveney bombing down the flanks . It would make a really good team regardless, but particularly at the moment when we're so short of out and out attackers. 

And since Lewis expects it after his comments on the stream - Kev at RB again

Edited July 11, 2023 by Waspie

[printer]

31 minutes ago, Waspie said:

I thought the first half was pretty grim which wouldn't matter at all but for the fact we seemed to have lacked tempo in the other friendlies. As such, it was encouraging to see a much brighter second half, albeit still a bit harum scarum. The centre backs didn't have too much to do but looked solid and Deveney was busy with some good deliveries. Virtanan looks like he could form a formidable partnership with Stevie, who was just Stevie. Second time I've seen Roberts and again loads of energy, although hopefully will add a bit more composure as he settles. 

Up front as we all know is the problem. Robert Jones has really struggled everywhere he has been, hard to understand why he is on trial. It was good to see Rodden buzzing about like he did when he first signed but he's still really a wildcard off the bench for me. We need Sammon in there and at least one other attacker with pace and a goal threat. 

Broken record but we look potentially strong now in defence, holding midfield, and we're very well off in creative midfielders. Flat back four, Stevie and Hetherington in midfield two, with Coulson, Scougall and Kev behind Sammon (with LD to come back for the creative three). Think of that with Taggart and Deveney bombing down the flanks . It would make a really good team regardless, but particularly at the moment when we're so short of out and out attackers. 

And since Lewis expects it after his comments on the stream - Kev at RB again

Both of them?

My heart sank when Kev was put to right back. He'd looked creative and sharp before that, linking up well with Scougs etc. What a waste!

Edited July 11, 2023 by printer

[Waspie]

Just now, printer said:

Both of them?

Ha, imagine the Falkirk support if we turned up there with two Stevie Hetheringtons . 

Stevie and Virtanen in the midfield two

[Kevchenko]

1 goal in 5 games pretty much sums up where our deficiencies are at the moment. First half was pretty brutal but the second was more encouraging than Saturday, although there’s the caveat of being against 10 men. 
 

More positive tonight in that there were a couple of times where I would have fancied Sammon to get on the end of great balls across goal from Deveney and Buchanan. 
 

Rodden looks to be getting back to when he first joined last season but agree that his role could be second half energy coming on against a tiring defence. 
 

Midfield looks in a pretty good place and Deveney looks really exciting getting down the left hand side. 
 

As @Waspie said, a 4231 looks quite a good fit for this squad - Stevie and Virtanen sitting more away from home and perhaps Roberts coming in for one of them at home to get a bit farther forward. Never a huge fan of 1 up top but if the 2 wide midfielders operated more inverted it would be able to become a front 2 or 3 quite quickly. 

[printer]

3 minutes ago, Waspie said:

Ha, imagine the Falkirk support if we turned up there with two Stevie Hetheringtons . 

Stevie and Virtanen in the midfield two

[printer]

7 minutes ago, Kevchenko said:

1 goal in 5 games pretty much sums up where our deficiencies are at the moment. First half was pretty brutal but the second was more encouraging than Saturday, although there’s the caveat of being against 10 men. 
 

More positive tonight in that there were a couple of times where I would have fancied Sammon to get on the end of great balls across goal from Deveney and Buchanan. 
 

Rodden looks to be getting back to when he first joined last season but agree that his role could be second half energy coming on against a tiring defence. 
 

Midfield looks in a pretty good place and Deveney looks really exciting getting down the left hand side. 
 

As @Waspie said, a 4231 looks quite a good fit for this squad - Stevie and Virtanen sitting more away from home and perhaps Roberts coming in for one of them at home to get a bit farther forward. Never a huge fan of 1 up top but if the 2 wide midfielders operated more inverted it would be able to become a front 2 or 3 quite quickly. 

It will be interesting to see how that works out. One of the reasons I liked Roberts as much tonight was that he gave us something different. 

Virtanen and Stevie H (how good is it to have him back?) look similar types; sitting in,  defensive minded, comfortable on the ball. Roberts looked more like he is all about energy, getting beyond the defence. That's something we lacked last year.

Edited July 11, 2023 by printer

[Kevchenko]

2 minutes ago, printer said:

It will be interesting to see how that works out. One of the reasons I liked Roberts as much tonight was that he gave us something different. 

Virtanen and Stevie H (how good is it to have him back?) look similar types; sitting in,  defensive minded, comfortable on the ball. Roberts looked more like he is all about energy, getting beyond the defence. That's something we lacked last year.

Yeah Roberts definitely looks more box to box. Agree with Stevie and Miko being very similar and to me I would have them together away from home/against the full time teams/defending a lead - against the potentially ‘weaker’ teams, having both could be overkill. 
 

The pair of them could set records for the amount of bookings this year, but give me players like that who will get stuck in and no doubt throw themselves in to tackles (recklessly sometimes!) over a player who pulls out of tackles any day. 

[LeodhasXD]

1 hour ago, Waspie said:

And since Lewis expects it after his comments on the stream - Kev at RB again

Get him upfront and in their box! Away from ours hopefully 

[Vegetableman]

Virtanen certainly looked the most likely to score , he can't half fire in a rocket or two, can see him getting a few goals 

Not worried at all  and fully expect us to eventually gel and give the FT teams a run for their money 

I could sense the game tonight getting a bit "unfriendly " culminating in that sending off , Sent off in a friendly ? how often does that happen

i am sure we can get a loan  striker in but mindful of donnelly and Sammon to come back , Taggs  and robbo waiting in the wings too

As for the Trailist  no 9  no thanks  , very ineffective 

Although the Trialist  keeper was not really tested he seems to be around here a lot might be worth keeping around as a backup .

 

[Ian Mcleod]

1 hour ago, Kevchenko said:

1 goal in 5 games pretty much sums up where our deficiencies are at the moment. First half was pretty brutal but the second was more encouraging than Saturday, although there’s the caveat of being against 10 men. 
 

More positive tonight in that there were a couple of times where I would have fancied Sammon to get on the end of great balls across goal from Deveney and Buchanan. 
 

Rodden looks to be getting back to when he first joined last season but agree that his role could be second half energy coming on against a tiring defence. 
 

Midfield looks in a pretty good place and Deveney looks really exciting getting down the left hand side. 
 

As @Waspie said, a 4231 looks quite a good fit for this squad - Stevie and Virtanen sitting more away from home and perhaps Roberts coming in for one of them at home to get a bit farther forward. Never a huge fan of 1 up top but if the 2 wide midfielders operated more inverted it would be able to become a front 2 or 3 quite quickly. 

Brian Rice will never have a team play with 1 up front that was one of his main things when he was at Accies to have 2 strikers up front don't think they was ever a game in his tenure for us that he went with a 1 up top. 

[Waspie]

6 hours ago, Ian Mcleod said:

Brian Rice will never have a team play with 1 up front that was one of his main things when he was at Accies to have 2 strikers up front don't think they was ever a game in his tenure for us that he went with a 1 up top. 

He's said that a number of times since coming to Alloa too, although there were a few occasions last season when we did go with something very like a 4-2-3-1. 

I said this a few times last season too, but the idea that 2 up front is automatically more attacking than 1 is flawed. Perhaps the most attacking Alloa side I've seen (perhaps) was the Jack Ross team with Spence at the top and Cawley, Flannigan and Kirkpatrick behind. They had a huge goalscoring threat and were absolutely terrific to watch. The subsequent Goodwin teams in the same shape with slightly different personnel were also very good. Those were more effective attacking Alloa teams than last year with 2 up front in Sammon and MacIver. I do feel we are currently blessed with very good creative options for a 3 behind a striker and that we could potentially be as good as anyone in the league with that kind of shape. 

That said, those creative players can obviously also flourish in other formations, just need to ensure we get another really decent attacker (at least 1) if we're going with 2. Although - and this was mentioned last night on comms and last season here - we could also play Kev up with Sammon and he would do well, better than at RB! And that's perhaps the most fundamental point, play men in something like their natural roles whenever possible. The first leg against Accies was one of our best performances with key men deployed in their strongest positions. 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Waspie

[FFC 1876]

9 hours ago, Waspie said:

Ha, imagine the Falkirk support if we turned up there with two Stevie Hetheringtons . 

Stevie and Virtanen in the midfield two

You'd need more than two of him to make a half decent player.

[Ian Mcleod]

3 hours ago, Waspie said:

He's said that a number of times since coming to Alloa too, although there were a few occasions last season when we did go with something very like a 4-2-3-1. 

I said this a few times last season too, but the idea that 2 up front is automatically more attacking than 1 is flawed. Perhaps the most attacking Alloa side I've seen (perhaps) was the Jack Ross team with Spence at the top and Cawley, Flannigan and Kirkpatrick behind. They had a huge goalscoring threat and were absolutely terrific to watch. The subsequent Goodwin teams in the same shape with slightly different personnel were also very good. Those were more effective attacking Alloa teams than last year with 2 up front in Sammon and MacIver. I do feel we are currently blessed with very good creative options for a 3 behind a striker and that we could potentially be as good as anyone in the league with that kind of shape. 

That said, those creative players can obviously also flourish in other formations, just need to ensure we get another really decent attacker (at least 1) if we're going with 2. Although - and this was mentioned last night on comms and last season here - we could also play Kev up with Sammon and he would do well, better than at RB! And that's perhaps the most fundamental point, play men in something like their natural roles whenever possible. The first leg against Accies was one of our best performances with key men deployed in their strongest positions. 

Yeah Rice at times at Accies even played a Left Back up top when he was at us. Just seems to be something he believes in for some reason to have 2 strikers even if it is meaning playing people out of position which I probably don't agree with. 

[printer]

3 hours ago, FFC 1876 said:

You'd need more than two of him to make a half decent player.

Not according to the fans of the clubs he's played at, with the (oh what a surprise) exception of your odd mob.

[laughing gravie]

8 hours ago, FFC 1876 said:

You'd need more than two of him to make a half decent player.

All down to whether we coach the best out of him like they do at TFS