Alloa v Hamilton & Hamilton v Alloa

[1320Lichtie]

Fair play Hamilton… took real character to come back there. 
 

Alloa…. What a way to end your season 

[Vegetableman]

Not bare bones but missing bones in the end

stanger and taggart off a depleted squad was just a joke in the end

1 youth player in the starting line up says it all

dejected but it could have been oh so different with a full squad / line up

From what i have seen it won't be the last time we play hamilton this year 

 

[Rory]

Poor result, we've moaned about Rice playing people out of position this season but he had no option for this game as we were really down to the bare bones.

Feel for Luke Rankin, subbed off 10 minutes after coming on!

At least we have the Stirling derby to look forward to next season

[Kevchenko]

A bridge too far in the end and as disheartening as it was to watch, couldn’t help but sit there and laugh at the make up of our defence in the second half with what was left of the squad. 
 

Taggs injury was for me as big if not a bigger blow than the red for Stanger. Bad enough having to see Kev as a wingback, never mind a full back, and Hamilton totally exploited that side. Stanger will be disappointed with himself over the red, but he has been excellent all season and looks like he is on his way up. No issue with the second yellow but the first looked harsh (particularly then seeing Cammy getting rugby tackled on the same spot in the second half with no booking given for that). 
 

Credit Accies for the way the took control of the game just before halftime and feeding off the momentum. Got to be honest and say I will be pretty surprised if Airdrie don’t go up though over the two legs though.  
 

Utterly ridiculous shouts from a single individual in the Alloa support at Rice around halftime and in the second half - what the actual f**k was he supposed to do?! I would imagine going to a back 5 when we went down to 10 would have been his preference but he literally had zero recognised full backs and only 2 centre halves available. Bizarre behaviour. 

[LeodhasXD]

If I can also make a point - that referee has had a shocker at the penalty.

You need to make a genuine attempt at the ball to avoid a red as a goalkeeper. The goalkeeper missed the ball and grabbed Sammon's ankle. Andy Graham was at pains pointing this out to the referee that the ball was three yards away from Sammon. Stonewall red card. 

10v10 would've had a completely different dynamic and while sore - I don't envy anyone playing Airdrie who will be worthy playoff winners.

[accies1874]

I thought Smith was going for the ball tbf

[LeodhasXD]

Just now, accies1874 said:

I thought Smith was going for the ball tbf

I've got the benefit of the replays but it's another example of woeful refereeing. The first attempt is for the ball. The second one is a red.

[KierenAAFC]

Who would’ve thought we would have a back line of Buchanan, MacIver, Graham, O’Donnell and Coulson?! One defender and the rest attackers and youth attackers!
 

Can’t fault the players today. Never seen a team deal with so much adversity. I will never complain about an injury ‘crisis’ again as I’ve never seen anything like it today! 

Proud of the players all things considered. A sad way to end the season. Also, a sad way to end an Alloa career for a few of the players, Stanger in particular. Today definitely not reflective of what has been an excellent season for these young players.

Edited May 13, 2023 by KierenAAFC

[Magic Hat]

13 minutes ago, Kevchenko said:

Utterly ridiculous shouts from a single individual in the Alloa support at Rice around halftime and in the second half - what the actual f**k was he supposed to do?! I would imagine going to a back 5 when we went down to 10 would have been his preference but he literally had zero recognised full backs and only 2 centre halves available. Bizarre behaviour. 

You are 100 percent entitled to your opinion but for me Rice has been an awful appointment.

That is twice this season that when we have been down to 10 men he hasn't had a clue what to do. No team should ship 4 goals in just over 5 minutes.

Poor signings, retaining players that weren't good enough, playing key players out of position and being tactically inept.

Unfortunately I think he will be here next season 

[printer]

34 minutes ago, Kevchenko said:

A bridge too far in the end and as disheartening as it was to watch, couldn’t help but sit there and laugh at the make up of our defence in the second half with what was left of the squad. 
 

Taggs injury was for me as big if not a bigger blow than the red for Stanger. Bad enough having to see Kev as a wingback, never mind a full back, and Hamilton totally exploited that side. Stanger will be disappointed with himself over the red, but he has been excellent all season and looks like he is on his way up. No issue with the second yellow but the first looked harsh (particularly then seeing Cammy getting rugby tackled on the same spot in the second half with no booking given for that). 
 

Credit Accies for the way the took control of the game just before halftime and feeding off the momentum. Got to be honest and say I will be pretty surprised if Airdrie don’t go up though over the two legs though.  
 

Utterly ridiculous shouts from a single individual in the Alloa support at Rice around halftime and in the second half - what the actual f**k was he supposed to do?! I would imagine going to a back 5 when we went down to 10 would have been his preference but he literally had zero recognised full backs and only 2 centre halves available. Bizarre behaviour. 

Couldn't agree more. 

[Vegetableman]

5 minutes ago, Magic Hat said:

No team should ship 4 goals in just over 5 minutes.

That was barely a team though which you don't seem to have taken into account

As said previously what would you have him do ?

He aint perfect  (rice ) but hardly to  blame for injuries  Maybe badly timed defender holidays was his fault too ?

[printer]

14 minutes ago, LeodhasXD said:

I've got the benefit of the replays but it's another example of woeful refereeing. The first attempt is for the ball. The second one is a red.

Will be interesting to see the highlights, but maybe the pen is given for the first attempt?

[printer]

10 minutes ago, Magic Hat said:

You are 100 percent entitled to your opinion but for me Rice has been an awful appointment.

That is twice this season that when we have been down to 10 men he hasn't had a clue what to do. No team should ship 4 goals in just over 5 minutes.

Poor signings, retaining players that weren't good enough, playing key players out of position and being tactically inept.

Unfortunately I think he will be here next season 

 

I get you don't like Brian Rice and/or the style of football we have sometimes played under him, but from an objective viewpoint getting us into the playoffs is clearly a good achievement. 

[Kevchenko]

3 minutes ago, Magic Hat said:

You are 100 percent entitled to your opinion but for me Rice has been an awful appointment.

That is twice this season that when we have been down to 10 men he hasn't had a clue what to do. No team should ship 4 goals in just over 5 minutes.

Poor signings, retaining players that weren't good enough, playing key players out of position and being tactically inept.

Unfortunately I think he will be here next season 

 

I am not going to argue about what happened at the Edinburgh game and on other times when he has played players out of position when there hasn’t necessarily been a need to do so but I have to question what you believed was the alternative today?

 

The 8 or 9 minute spell where the 4 goals went in was brutal, no doubt, but again, what was he supposed to do at that point player/position wise? At 2 each I think everyone is praying we hold on until halftime so he at least has 15 minutes to try and set something up for the 2nd half, but we just couldn’t get there, Hamilton seen an opportunity to go for the jugular and took it. 
 

Of those he retained last year there’s only 2 or 3 I really questioned, and to be honest, one of them has had a remarkable level of improvement this year and another is one of the divisions top scorers. He has taken us to 4th, behind 3 teams who are all better than us (and full time), I find it hard not to call that a successful season. 
 

The big glaring hole recruitment wise for me was the lack of a ‘different’ striker, other than that he’s done pretty well. 

[Vegetableman]

1 minute ago, Kevchenko said:

I am not going to argue about what happened at the Edinburgh game and on other times when he has played players out of position when there hasn’t necessarily been a need to do so but I have to question what you believed was the alternative today?

 

The 8 or 9 minute spell where the 4 goals went in was brutal, no doubt, but again, what was he supposed to do at that point player/position wise? At 2 each I think everyone is praying we hold on until halftime so he at least has 15 minutes to try and set something up for the 2nd half, but we just couldn’t get there, Hamilton seen an opportunity to go for the jugular and took it. 
 

Of those he retained last year there’s only 2 or 3 I really questioned, and to be honest, one of them has had a remarkable level of improvement this year and another is one of the divisions top scorers. He has taken us to 4th, behind 3 teams who are all better than us (and full time), I find it hard not to call that a successful season. 
 

The big glaring hole recruitment wise for me was the lack of a ‘different’ striker, other than that he’s done pretty well. 

on that note Nice to see bradley rodden out another injury which has been forgotten about

really bad luck for this playoff campaign , things happening that we could do nothing about .

[LeodhasXD]

27 minutes ago, printer said:

Will be interesting to see the highlights, but maybe the pen is given for the first attempt?

It's a two handed affair - right hand goes for the ball and misses (would have been yellow, fairly, if it upended Sammon but he stays on his feet) and then the left goes for Sammon's ankle to pull him down. It's cynical and within the laws of the game it's absolutely not a genuine attempt at the ball. 

[Waspie]

Painful viewing today but ultimately we have been pretty up and down all season even when at full strength. We went into this game missing a lot of key men and despite the early goal, I was shitting it as soon as Taggart went off. The red card soon after was a disaster and even after somehow getting another goal it was still going to be a big ask with what we had left. Ultimately we ran out of players. 

I don't think we can reasonably be too hard on Brian Rice today. Personally I think we're more solid with a back 4 rather than 3 and I'd have preferred to see us start with that, even if it meant Cammy was LB. A lot of what made us good Tuesday was having key men like Taggart and Cawley where they are most effective. I do wonder too could he have tried to arrest the slide in those crazy few minutes, and even with the lack of men the second half setup was crazy open. Surely in that situation you go as tight as possible and hope to hold on and maybe steal a goal. But these were judgement calls and ultimately we had a shit hand to play. I'm not his biggest fan and feel over the season there was a better team there than we saw, but with a 4th place finish he has done enough to stay on. There is a bit of work to be down on that squad and being honest massive surgery would have been required had we somehow got up (and we'd have no chance in the final with the squad that was left). 

All the best to Accies, great comeback whatever the circumstances. 

[Ye Olde Hamiltonian]

3 hours ago, AyrshireTon said:

I look forward to a video of the home fans singing "Keep the Board".

That will never happen trust me.

In my 47 years of support, once once have we been run by Owners with the best interests of the club at heart.

Remember,over £6 million "disappeared" from the sale of the old Douglas Park leaving us with two Stands and a Gazebo.

Today was weird,Alloa may feel the Keeper should have been off,but I think he went for the ball first.

A part-time team down to the  bare bones with 10 men were always going to concede eventually, but I never expected four goals in quick succession.

At 5-2 we made a few subs and kept possession.Main thing though is confidence returning to a team who  have been playing with fear.Guys who couldn't score now have confidence back.

Airdrie will be favourites but I said months ago we would win The Play Offs if we end up there,so not changing my opinion even although it is a minority view.

 

[Magic Hat]

39 minutes ago, printer said:

I get you don't like Brian Rice and/or the style of football we have sometimes played under him, but from an objective viewpoint getting us into the playoffs is clearly a good achievement. 

It probably is Printer and sure he will be here next season based on that.

I know I am in the minority but still don't rate him as a manager.

If people have enjoyed that this season then fair enough.

[Magic Hat]

1 hour ago, Vegetableman said:

That was barely a team though which you don't seem to have taken into account

As said previously what would you have him do ?

He aint perfect  (rice ) but hardly to  blame for injuries  Maybe badly timed defender holidays was his fault too ?

I accept the sending off and injuries were a major reason for the Hamilton come back, and we we're down to the bare bones, but for me that doesn't excuse the tactical misgivings of Rice.

Quite often teams galvanise when going down to 10 men and very few shop 4 goals in just over 5 minutes.

As I said to Printer, realise I am in the minority but don't rate Rice and this in my opinion has been a poor season, despite finishing 4th.