Airdrieonians Off Season Thread 2016

[DestroyedByMadness]

Just to highlight the impact made:

McBride:  11 league games:  5 wins / 2 draws

Wilson:  11 league games: 5 wins / 1 draw

And Wilson had the luxury of playing McBride's team on his initial 4 game streak before changing things for the worse.   Since then we've lost 5 of 7 games and drawn 1.    In that span we've conceded a ghastly 18 goals.

This is completely unacceptable from Wilson and Dalziel and looks like a complete unravelling to me.

 

[Diamonds are Forever]

That was a mess. Our entire plan to score a goal seems to be to get the ball forward to Ryan as early as possible and let him do everything himself. If that fails maybe Brown will stick one in the top corner. I barely noticed McIntosh was playing yesterday (and this isn't a criticism of him) because there was no purpose to his role. He wasn't the deepest lying midfielder to try and give protection like Hutton was meant to, and he wasn't the one meant to breaking forward like Leitch was meant, instead he was caught in between in the centre circle watching long balls get launched over his head and he doesn't have the legs to catch up with the second ball. As usual Russell's position meant he wasn't attacking or defending and was just trying to win fouls in no-man's land. The full-backs get completely exposed because there's nothing in front of them. I'm not even blaming Russell or Brown for that really, for them to be any kind of attacking threat they need to be right up the park supporting Ryan which means they aren't going to be there to cover. The problem is when we play so direct we are asking Brown and Russell to make up 50-60 yards every time it is punted to support Ryan, and then make that same 50-60 yards back to cover. Usain Bolt couldn't manage that. There is also a lack of leadership on the park, there is a real petulance to the team, which unfortunately the captain and oldest player sets the tone with. Mensing will help but I think we need another couple of experienced guys in that mold, which we obviously aren't going to get.

All that said, we looked better defensively with Mensing at the back, the first goal was a freak and the last a late breakaway so the 4 goals conceded is a bit misleading to how the central defence pairing looked. They never looked like scoring through the middle of our defence for once, it was out wide that we got torn apart. If we'd appointed an experienced manager (or even just a manager) we would be fine this season - a McPherson, Duffy, McCall type. I said at the time I did not understand the logic of getting rid of an inexperienced manager and replacing him with an even more inexperienced manager. And to then say that Dalziel would provide the experience to help him... why not just appoint an experienced manager to begin with!

 

[waysider]

I'm hesitating as I wasn't at the match but surely playing Conroy at full back was a bad idea. He's our main man in midfield and taking him out of there would cost us. Would it not have been better playing McIntosh at centre back and Gorman at left back?

[AFC1878]

An experienced manager probably wouldn't touch the job with a barge pole. And he would command a decent wage which would vastly reduce the playing squad budget. 

[AFC1878]

6 minutes ago, waysider said:

I'm hesitating as I wasn't at the match but surely playing Conroy at full back was a bad idea. He's our main man in midfield and taking him out of there would cost us. Would it not have been better playing McIntosh at centre back and Gorman at left back?

That was the overwhelming consensus amongst the fans that were there.

[Francesc Fabregas]

Even although he's getting on a bit, there's still a lot to like about Iain Russell but his play-acting and willingness to throw himself to the ground at any opportunity must be infuriating to watch on a weekly basis. Yesterday, he put in a smashing tackle midway through the second half but that was the only positive thing he did in the whole match - the rest of the time he was crumpling to the floor and crabbing over phantom fouls. The red card he picked up a couple of months ago at Albion Rovers might be one of the most pathetic I've ever seen at this level.

[Diamonds are Forever]

6 minutes ago, AFC1878 said:

An experienced manager probably wouldn't touch the job with a barge pole. And he would command a decent wage which would vastly reduce the playing squad budget. 

 

They would have at the time of Wilson being appointed. And still would to be honest, on paper it's a great opportunity. Would it be that much more than Wilson's wages and Dalziel's 'consultancy fees' combined? More than Gus McPherson is getting at Queen's Park?

The problem with this whole project so far is that from top to bottom almost everyone who has been appointed - from the board room (King), to the management team (EWB, Dalziel, Wilson) to a lot of the players - were not appointed objectively based on being the best candidate for the role. They were appointed because of their connections, we are now seeing the effects of that.

[Diamonds are Forever]

12 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

Even although he's getting on a bit, there's still a lot to like about Iain Russell but his play-acting and willingness to throw himself to the ground at any opportunity must be infuriating to watch on a weekly basis. Yesterday, he put in a smashing tackle midway through the second half but that was the only positive thing he did in the whole match - the rest of the time he was crumpling to the floor and crabbing over phantom fouls. The red card he picked up a couple of months ago at Albion Rovers might be one of the most pathetic I've ever seen at this level.

 

He's general play has been poor this year. In fairness he's not playing a role in a system which is helping at all. It's forcing him into areas of the park that he isn't comfortable in and doesn't have the ability to play in, so as a result he resorts to trying to win fouls. I know he's always done that regardless of position, but it's definitely been made worse.

[DestroyedByMadness]

30 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

He's general play has been poor this year. In fairness he's not playing a role in a system which is helping at all. It's forcing him into areas of the park that he isn't comfortable in and doesn't have the ability to play in, so as a result he resorts to trying to win fouls. I know he's always done that regardless of position, but it's definitely been made worse.

What part of the park does he like to play in?   He's not a winger and his display at Livvy suggests he's not a striker either

[Diamonds are Forever]

3 minutes ago, DestroyedByMadness said:

What part of the park does he like to play in?   He's not a winger and his display at Livvy suggests he's not a striker either

 

I think over 160 career goals trumps one poor display at Livi..

He's clearly past his best and he's not going to be brilliant anywhere. But he should be playing up front, not roaming around pointless areas of the work out wide where he gets crowded out easily and is not threat.

[DestroyedByMadness]

14 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

I think over 160 career goals trumps one poor display at Livi..

He's clearly past his best and he's not going to be brilliant anywhere. But he should be playing up front, not roaming around pointless areas of the work out wide where he gets crowded out easily and is not threat.

We've been playing an alleged 3 up front all season and he was signed for that.   He's clearly not a winger and he's clearly not a centre forward.   

Do we change formation just for him ( or McKay)?

Actually we should! 

Yesterday we should have gone with Ryan and Russell (or McKay) through the middle with Brown behind.   We would have been better with Leitch, Hutton and Conroy as a midfield 3.   Would've been much better balanced.

If we're playing v. a lone striker we should play 2 centre backs and 5 along the middle, a no. 10 and 2 strikers.    Against 2 strikers go with 3 at the back, 4 across the middle, a 10 and 2 strikers.

We need to forget about wingers as we have none.   Stewart (or McIntosh) and McDonald would provide the width for me.

As for Russells 150 goals, that was in the past.  

[thediamonddude]

In the game against Livi, he was played more as a number 10 behind Schmidt, rather than an out and out centre forward. This meant he was still dropping deep constantly and it's not his game now. I can count on one hand the amount of games this season where he's actually been used alongside Ryan as an actual striker, but those are the games when he's looked best.

I agree with DaF that his best days are behind him, but if we were to deploy him in that central striker role he'd be far more effective. Playing him at right mid just insults everyone and does the guy no service.

It's clear that he was brought in to play as part of a front 3 like you say DBM, but the same thing applies - he doesn't have it in him to fulfil that role anymore. That shows poor planning and recruitment from our management again. If McBride/Wilson we're going to persist with a 4-3-3, they'd be much better with Ryan out wide - he has the attributes to play there and ends up having to drift there most of the time anyway.

TW needs to act on this nonsense now though, we're a total shambles. Wilson and Dalziel were a mistake and should never have been appointed. Don't get me wrong, it was the right move to get rid of McBride, he wasn't the man to lead us forward, but as DaF has said, he should've been replaced with experience. What I'd give for Gus MacPherson as manager right now.

We need change and we need it now if we're to have any hope of salvaging this season.

[Diamonds are Forever]

4 hours ago, DestroyedByMadness said:

We've been playing an alleged 3 up front all season and he was signed for that.   He's clearly not a winger and he's clearly not a centre forward.   

Do we change formation just for him ( or McKay)?

Actually we should! 

Yesterday we should have gone with Ryan and Russell (or McKay) through the middle with Brown behind.   We would have been better with Leitch, Hutton and Conroy as a midfield 3.   Would've been much better balanced.

If we're playing v. a lone striker we should play 2 centre backs and 5 along the middle, a no. 10 and 2 strikers.    Against 2 strikers go with 3 at the back, 4 across the middle, a 10 and 2 strikers.

We need to forget about wingers as we have none.   Stewart (or McIntosh) and McDonald would provide the width for me.

As for Russells 150 goals, that was in the past.  

 

So what, we just ignore all the evidence that proves he is a central striker and play him somewhere else which there is no evidence for? I said he's clearly past his best, but that's all the more reason to play him in the position he's comfortable in and can use his know-how and experience in. I don't care what position he was signed for, it's clearly not worked. He should be in a 2 up front with Ryan.

And no, we don't just change formation for him. We change formation because it's clearly not working, for a variety of reasons.

I have no idea how you conclude he is 'clearly not a centre forward' given the amount of goals he's scored in his career from playing in that position.

[DestroyedByMadness]

7 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

So what, we just ignore all the evidence that proves he is a central striker and play him somewhere else which there is no evidence for? I said he's clearly past his best, but that's all the more reason to play him in the position he's comfortable in and can use his know-how and experience in. I don't care what position he was signed for, it's clearly not worked. He should be in a 2 up front with Ryan.

And no, we don't just change formation for him. We change formation because it's clearly not working, for a variety of reasons.

I have no idea how you conclude he is 'clearly not a centre forward' given the amount of goals he's scored in his career from playing in that position.

You're arguing with yourself.  I've said for a while he shouldn't be on the wing and that we need a formation and tactics to suit.

When I said he's clearly not a centre forward that's the position Ryan plays in our front 3.  Russell never has or never will be good in that position.

As you said he's been disappointing pretty much all season noatter where we play him.   

[Diamond Oracle]

 
So what, we just ignore all the evidence that proves he is a central striker and play him somewhere else which there is no evidence for? I said he's clearly past his best, but that's all the more reason to play him in the position he's comfortable in and can use his know-how and experience in. I don't care what position he was signed for, it's clearly not worked. He should be in a 2 up front with Ryan.
And no, we don't just change formation for him. We change formation because it's clearly not working, for a variety of reasons.
I have no idea how you conclude he is 'clearly not a centre forward' given the amount of goals he's scored in his career from playing in that position.

I'm yet to see the evidence he's a footballer, never mind a central striker.

[The Chlamydia Kid]

I can remember when TW came in and 99% of our fans online were treating him like some kind of messiah- this was ramped up ten fold when he announced that we would be going full time.

The very small number who chose to reserve judgement until they'd seen some action were hounded as traitors to the cause.

Funny how quickly things turn around....

[waysider]

4 minutes ago, The Chlamydia Kid said:

I can remember when TW came in and 99% of our fans online were treating him like some kind of messiah- this was ramped up ten fold when he announced that we would be going full time.

The very small number who chose to reserve judgement until they'd seen some action were hounded as traitors to the cause.

Funny how quickly things turn around....

You sound pleased to be proved right.

When he came in the Club was stagnant. At least TW has tried something. I still think that this could work in the long run with better decision making. Some of the people he has chosen to do things have been very bad decisions. King seems to have wasted TW's money and the choice of Dalziel (who hasn't the time to go to matches) and another rookie manager was baffling to me at the time.

Whether he'll make another change this season remains to be seen. There are some players at the Club who are not bad I still have hope that the next management decision might improve things. 

People have short memories. The Ballantynes had no more money and the Club was dying. I stopped going to matches because of the rubbish that was being produced. At least I have the feeling that TW will at some point get a decision right (by the law of averages) and things might improve.

 

 

[The Chlamydia Kid]

No not at all pleased but I think it's good to remind all the happy clappers of the sychophantic arse lickers they were for months when they desperately tried to quash any dissent online or at the Q and A.

He might turn it around - I hope he does- but it illustrates the point that some of you might do better to ask questions rather than blindly just accept what ever lines you're fed.

[Wise old Elf]

8 hours ago, DestroyedByMadness said:

Just to highlight the impact made:

McBride:  11 league games:  5 wins / 2 draws

Wilson:  11 league games: 5 wins / 1 draw

And Wilson had the luxury of playing McBride's team on his initial 4 game streak before changing things for the worse.   Since then we've lost 5 of 7 games and drawn 1.    In that span we've conceded a ghastly 18 goals.

This is completely unacceptable from Wilson and Dalziel and looks like a complete unravelling to me.

 

What was appalling in our so called Head Coach was young Stewart having a nightmare of a game and he could not see the way to bringing him off to save the lad the humiliation and frustration of a bad day at the office. For a young lad to suffer that without a coach responding was despicable to say the least. He also did not seem to notice that Leitch was also having a nightmare and left it to his frustration earned him a red card. They used to talk about something rotten in Denmark I think there is something rotten with our Management staff go now Wilson your time is well UP!.

[waysider]

I was at the Q and A and didn't notice much 'quashing of dissent'. The only person who was told to shut up was the guy who questioned the signing of Lithgow at the very beginning. As far as I was concerned that was old news and I (and I am sure others) wanted to hear about the plans for going full time.

i understand the dislike of some people of 'happy clappers' but there are also people who equally annoy me and that is those who see a conspiracy in every event and have a presumption that everything said by the Club is a lie.

All of that having been said, I do hope some serious questions are asked at the next Q and A as there is a lot to explain. I hope Dalziel and Wilson don't attend as it might inhibit some of the questions.