Stenny v Clyde

[Replays]

Absolutely ridiculous to have been hanging on at the end but hey, 3 points is 3 points.

[shawfield shed boy]

Blair currie.[emoji173] Got the hug from yer da on the pitch he deserved[emoji837][emoji836][emoji835]

[Adolfo Rios]

For 55 minutes we were cruising and so far ahead in every department. One goal gave Stenny a boast and it was hairy at the end. That said we were still worthy of the win.

Fair play to Blair for responding to my “is that your first touch?” shout [emoji23]

[Clydeontheup]

4 minutes ago, Adolfo Rios said:

For 55 minutes we were cruising and so far ahead in every department. One goal gave Stenny a boast and it was hairy at the end. That said we were still worthy of the win.

Fair play to Blair for responding to my “is that your first touch?” shout

Takeaway!!!!

[Replays]

Special mention to Harry Paton and Chris McStay by the way. Two very good young players.

[Sao Paulo]

It's possible to read-in to a game what you predicted. That is, in order to make it seem as though you called it. However, there's nothing I can say about the first-half to make my prediction square with how it played out.

On the first-half, I'm tempted to leave it short as this: Stenny didn't turn up. Because, let's be honest, we've never had Stenny play quite so awfully against us. However, I'll be a wee bit more long winded. Cometh the hour, and a' that...

Happily, the team Lennon picked didn't form a 4-4-2, as I thought it might, given as Adam Martin's name was on the sheet. Sensibly, we kept the line of five in midfield, with Lamont spearheading it, Martin furthest right and McStay, Cuddihy and Grant filling out the other spaces. Lennon also made a profoundly sensible decision, though only under the duress of having lost Callum Home and Tom Lang, to pick full-backs to play as full-backs. What a treat. And, with no small thanks to that, we played really well in the first-half. Genuine full-backs and genuine pace in front of them gave us width and space to undermine Stenny. Stewart and Duffie used the ball so much better than Lang and Cogill would've. And, connectedly, the absence of Nicoll gave Cuddihy, Grant, Lamont and McStay a platform to take charge in midfield, playing the only the way they know how: keep it, keep it, keep it; find an opening; hit the kill-switch. Cogill and McNiff, assisted by Duffie at times, dealt with McGuigan and Longworth acceptably, subject to one caveat: not being a particularly dynamic paring themselves - McGuigan and Longworth - McNiff and Cogill didn't have it too hard; all they had to do was win their headers. If I were Ferguson, I'd have been telling my team to scelp it in behind us at every opportunity; Stenny came closest when they abandoned patience. And had they a more dynamic forward, we could've been in bother even in the first-half. But I'll doff my cap to McNiff, in particular, he held court better than I thought against two strong forwards; whereas I fully expected Cogill to cope, back at home in the middle.

I've got to cut-away a paragraph just for Stenny. What in the blazes made Ferguson put out that team!? Alright, Chris Smith was injured. And our first two probably wouldn't have been scored if he was in goals. But your midfield was abnormally weak. I mean, featherweight. And sluggish too. Your back four were undermined mostly by the aforementioned factors, but didn't cover themselves in glory independent of those. It was a half of football I couldn't have imagined Stenny playing. It does, however, just dimly allow me to understand how Peterhead and others have been able to hit you for two or three this season. Having said all that, the substitutions Ferguson made, and the attitude taken in the second-half were exactly what was needed. Those produced a recognisably athletic, mobile and hard-working Stenny side.

And so it was that in the second-half, predictably, with pre-game injuries limiting our options, and picking the team we did, we had a hell of a time of it. For all intents and purposes, our midfield was posted missing. Stenny bossed it. And had great joy down our right flank, working loads of space around-and-about Duffie and Martin in the first instance, and then - following a bizzare but quickly reversed substitution from us - with Osadolor and Millar in the second and third instances. Stenny had most of their quality concentrated on that side. And, with our midfield toiling, and Goodwillie unable to deter easy canters up-from-defence, it was hard to watch; the predictability and easiness of it all. Not to mention the comedy of Osadolor's performance in place of Martin. Who, for me, should've stayed on or been replaced by Wright, a similar but not-so-quick player. At least, when they got passed-by, they'd threaten to help us up the park if things were broken-down. As it was, Smart and Millar made a ghastly mess of everything that came to them.

We were lucky, in the end, to win this. Looked to me as though Stenny had one cross the line, but not allowed. Taking a few stills in the lead-up to goals we shipped, you'd be able to see confusion reigning at the back: Duffie, Cogill and McNiff packed together so tightly; the right hand side practically vacated, and whimpers of resistance from us, trying to empty it out; caught-in the headlines of Stenny's tempo and determination to take something. What resistance was put-up was put-up most manfully by Stewart, Cogill, McNiff and Duffie who, though they were but a gang at the end of it, at least flung themselves at the ball like defenders. McStay should have a good word, too, as he remained sturdy until his injury. Just how absent our midfield was can be summed-up by there being only one sequence of passes, between our midfielders in the second-half, which counted 5 or maybe 6 passes. It's conspicuous in my mind because of how rare a sequence it was. Unsurprisingly, it took McStay to set that up. There were perhaps ten or eleven such sequences in the first half.

You need Kevin Nicoll to fight Stenny; and you can't let them stroll into your half as we did. Hence my 3-5-2 suggestion. Two forwards to occupy their defenders, three centre halves to cope with how easily Longworth and McGuigan can turn a man, and a Stuffy midfield with wing-backs to keep it difficult to play. Nonetheless...! We won a watch. And three points we need. So, more power to us.

What I would say is this: it's now blinding-obvious to anyone not concerned purely with face-saving that Stewart and Duffie are full-backs, and are the best we have for those positions. And, also, that Cogill's a born centre-half. I say all that despite how overrun the right-hand-side was in the second half, and despite how messily we made it over the line otherwise, with each of the aforenamed individuals being culpable for some button-making moments, save for Stewart. He really was bombproof today. My MOTM, notwithstanding how well Goodwillie played and how well he took our third, and also how well McStay done. Purrs along at left-back, Stewart, so he does. Criminal to let anyone else play there when he's so consistent.

On Duffie particularly. There were two instances in the whole game where he gave the ball away without being in imminent danger of losing it. Both came in the first half, and were lofts down the wing which Martin couldn't get to. He'd nothing else on at the time. Other than that, and being in the middle of an open-wound in the second-half, he performed like a full-back should. Supported Martin; gave us width; kept the ball; won his headers; put up a fight. If I was to be harsh, I'd fault him for Stenny's first, they broke through following a contest which he was second-best in, albeit in circumstances where, with Martin having been beaten, he'd two or three opponents to contend with. Were he a bit more limber (fit), he'd have come away with it. He sunk a lot deeper after that, quite rightly, as he'd only have been a cone for Stenny to dribble round. So deep, in truth, that he Cogill and McNiff were a de facto back three, sometimes getting in one another's way.

It's a lesson learned: don't pick that team again, but do appreciate how much we profited from proper full-backs, genuine centre-halves, and how good we are if can win the midfield battle. Stick Lang in for McNiff in a reforged line, bring Nicoll back in for Grant, be careful about how tough an opposite-number Martin will have, and we'll be doing fine. And I want to see this Kipre character get a game soon...! Come on Danny, let's see if he's as good as we've heard.

Blair Currie close second for MOTM.

[drs]

4 hours ago, Scott-Replay said:

2-0!

Fun fact - I was noseying over your shoulder when you posted that

Non fun fact - I hope that stuoid twat John will be enjoying a weekend in Falkirk, the muppet wouldn't take a telling.

 

edit - probably the most tinpot thing I've seen in the SPFL today as well - the officials (and Stenny) not noticing that they started with two Number 5 shirts on the pitch.

[beaver1]

Pretty depressing stuff for all sorts of reasons. First half was unbelievable. As bad as we have been all season? Truly abysmal. Not sure what was behind the team selection but the subs made a difference and in the end we could have won,  not just drawn the game. So frustrating.

In the end Goodwillie was the difference. His second goal was absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately as I suspected, our squad is so thin that we can't cope with injuries or player unavailability. God knows what Tuesday will bring. 

[David W]

I know they lost in disappointing fashion last time out, but Stenhousemuir's team selection seemed to have not at all been based on our previous couple of games, where our full-backs (different ones from today) were at fault for conceding chances and goals. A slightly surreal midfield diamond, with Marsh playing deepest and Paterson going wherever he felt like, was completely outplayed by our pair of McStay and Grant. Our defence was almost entirely untested before the break, bar one outstanding last ditch header from McNiff.

Obviously the changes at half-time put pressure on our full-backs, which Stewart cruised through (as per) and Duffie struggled with. Perhaps some of that is down to the help they received; Cuddihy did a superb job defensively on the left, even if I felt Lennon should have put him centrally with our defence creaking. The Smart change was mind-boggling, with him basically playing as a wing-back, but the stint he had out there was probably the best we dealt with Cook in the second half; when Millar went out there it was like the game against Elgin where we played Sweeney at right-back. SP; we definitely went to more of a back three, one of the players signalled as much. I think we always lack a real organisational leader and the second goal was absolutely atrocious, with Stenny's best player left completely unmarked at the edge of the box.

Not going to have a real go at any of the players as we were stripped of three physical guys in Home, Nicoll and Lang. It was a patchwork back four and Stewart and McNiff in particular were outstanding. Effort and desire was fantastic.

Currie has probably had his two best games at Ochilview this season and his saves from Paton and Longworth were superb. Genuine match-winners. His time wasting left one of the Stenny fans absolutely seething as well. Duffie had a great first half without a direct opponent, struggled second half but stuck at it and whilst we can clearly find better, he clearly knows the position better than Lang does. Stewart gets almost no credit and it's a joke that there are still some who think Lowdon should be playing left-back when we've got a supremely consistent defender who doesn't put a foot wrong. McNiff (along with Currie/Goodwillie) will be getting my MotM points. Cogill much better at centre half, as I think everyone knew he would be.

Grant had a great first 55-60 minutes, picked up a lot of loose balls and passed it well. Fell off a cliff when the tide turned though, perhaps down to fitness. McStay as we know is absolute class, produced a terrific hit for the goal and had some fantastic touches and passes. Gave the ball away too much second half though in stupid areas and I think he knew that himself. Martin was up against a decent left-back and did some good stuff, without really putting in a claim that he should be starting regularly. Lamont has had better games, but he was better than he was against Stirling and he should have scored. Cuddihy is a manager's dream; played on the left-wing which is not at all his position, but he protected Stewart and came in off the touchline to link up well with Goodwillie and Lamont. I'm not sure he lost possession more than once. Like Stewart, he doesn't get enough credit.

Then there's Goodwillie, captain for the day. He's had a tough time against Stenny this season, but today he was an absolute mile ahead of the Dunlops. Obviously helped that they fell over themselves to set up his first goal but he worked his socks off again and the second goal was a great finish. Lennon's praise in his post-match interview is gushing. Kipre will struggle to get in ahead of him!

Hopefully Peterhead do us a favour in midweek, and we give Elgin a well deserved thumping. It's still very much unlikely as they've still got Cowden and Berwick a couple of times and Elgin at home but at least we might have a glimmer of a chance.

Three of the best players in the division on the same pitch today and all impressed. Paton, Goodwillie and McStay should all be playing at a much higher level next season. Longworth is an absolute shadow, hard to believe he's only 30 as he's playing like he's on the verge of retirement.

[CEMSFC]

Those interested in Brown's reasoning behind the team watch this video

 

 

[cfcuk]

Goodness knows how we have won any games under danny Lennon according to some on here continually picks the wrong team with players in the wrong positions [emoji23]

[Mantis Toboggan]

To be fair to Lennon, for the Osadolor sub, when Stenhousemuir put another winger out wide we needed another wide man to play out there. Who else would we put on thanks to injuries? Obviously he’d like to keep the attacking side of things on the go, but in hindsight, Lowdon in there and play t Stewart at RB would have been better  

[Sao Paulo]

3 hours ago, David W said:

 SP; we definitely went to more of a back three, one of the players signalled as much. I think we always lack a real organisational leader and the second goal was absolutely atrocious, with Stenny's best player left completely unmarked at the edge of the box.

Yeah: willing to believe that. I wasn't confident of saying so because of how poorly organised it was.

[Sao Paulo]

1 hour ago, cfcuk said:

Goodness knows how we have won any games under danny Lennon according to some on here continually picks the wrong team with players in the wrong positions

↑

Raging that we won with Duffie and Stewart playing as full-backs. Just admit it: you've been proven wrong on the internet again.

[cfcuk]

↑

Raging that we won with Duffie and Stewart playing as full-backs. Just admit it: you've been proven wrong on the internet again.

Yeah livid [emoji23]

[cfcuk]

↑

Raging that we won with Duffie and Stewart playing as full-backs. Just admit it: you've been proven wrong on the internet again.
[/quote



I couldn't give a toss who plays at fullback if we win . Just amazes me that DL he gets so much stick the guy has turned the team around while having to use a lot of Chapman's( give him till Christmas remember that one) signings

Ps good luck with the UEFA pro licence [emoji6]

[Clydeontheup]

50 minutes ago, cfcuk said:

9 hours ago, Sao Paulo said:

↑

Raging that we won with Duffie and Stewart playing as full-backs. Just admit it: you've been proven wrong on the internet again.
[/quote





Ps good luck with the UEFA pro licence
 

Do you get them on Football Manager 2008?

[Bridgeton Clyde Boy]

Elgin at home on Tuesday should be favourites for that and Saturday for Annan away who aren’t in the best of form.. potentially 6 points there

[CEMSFC]

Post Match Interview with Brown Ferguson is now available on WarriorsTV, Highlights later.

[CEMSFC]

Highlights are now available on WarriorsTV