Airdrieonians 23/24 Championship Thread♦️

[Passionate]

30 minutes ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said:

I’ll be honest, I thought losing the playoff final to Queen’s Park was a massive missed opportunity. The year before that the team that lost to Morton in the final was nowhere near good enough for the Championship but Murray’s last squad was excellent and we’d likely have kept Easton and Smith would still have been in contract. The guys that have stayed since then and the young lads brought in by McCabe have done so well and, while it’s still a long season to go and we should still be keeping an eye on the teams below us, we’ve had as solid a start as anyone could have hoped for in terms of establishing ourselves in this division.

Good post,  we have to stay humble we are doing well at the moment, form etc can turn on a blow of a whistle.

The squad is at 21 (was last week) although a couple in that group are complete novices e g.  Dunlop and G Gall,  we still have the annoying Keeper backup situation,  let's be honest that should have been sorted long before now ..

"Quality signings" was a quote from the manager in the close season..

I think all the guys and gals that actually go to the games are enjoying it and are strapped in for the ride, wherever it takes us..

 

Onto yesterday and Cappielow was actually decent enough, last time I was there was in the stand and the kneecapping was all I could remember..

Hasn't changed much if at all since the days of Nipper Lawrence putting them to the sword..  Storm Agnes didn't really materialise I think it was just standard Greenock fair..  back to the comfort of the Excelsior next week ,  spoiled...

[Diamonds on the Windshield]

Looks like we may have found our left back and Fordyce back on the left side of centre with Ballantyne solid on the right and Watson filling gaps in the middle has given us 2 clean sheets in difficult matches. As McCabe said Telfor made a big contribution when he came on and Gabby is getting back to being on form. Todorov set Gal up for a ruled out goal and great to see McGregor getting the winning goal. It was also nice to hear McCabe's comments on McGregor being in a better place and that is evidence of how this team are supporting and playing for each other. 

We now have options off the bench for the first time in years and all credit again to McCabe for getting better at his use of subs. So much is positive about what he is doing at the club and it is important that we get him tied in for a good few years to see where he can take us.

[GHF-23]

Alright folks, apologies I'm sure I'm not the first Hibs fan popping in here to ask, how have Murray Aitken and Josh O'Connor been doing with you? Anything I've seen has been positive about Muzz but haven't seen anything of you guys except the odd highlights. 

[Mr November]

9 minutes ago, GHF-23 said:

Alright folks, apologies I'm sure I'm not the first Hibs fan popping in here to ask, how have Murray Aitken and Josh O'Connor been doing with you? Anything I've seen has been positive about Muzz but haven't seen anything of you guys except the odd highlights. 

Aiken has been excellent, very good ball-winner who can progress play and carry the ball forward. It’s not the only reason why it happened but it’s telling that he didn’t play in by far our worst performance this season. It’s still early days but he has a lot of potential. 

O’Connor has been more mixed. I don’t think he’s ever had a good game (not including games against League Two/Lowland League teams) when starting but he’s made a good impact coming off the bench, notably winning penalties against Dundee and Ross County and then scoring the equaliser against the latter too. He’s not ready to start every week at this level but his pace and work-rate make him a great option off the bench to run at tired defenders.

[AJ77]

Great win on Sat, good to see us get points away from home and be able to hang on to a lead after scoring early on! Would've bitten your hand off for 4 wins out of the first 7 games, 2 very winnable home games coming up in the next weeks as well confidence got to be high in the camp.

On a side note seen Gavin Gallagher has been missing from the squad last couple of weeks, anyone heard of any murmurs of an incident during a reserve game recently?

[Passionate]

2 minutes ago, AJ77 said:

Great win on Sat, good to see us get points away from home and be able to hang on to a lead after scoring early on! Would've bitten your hand off for 4 wins out of the first 7 games, 2 very winnable home games coming up in the next weeks as well confidence got to be high in the camp.

On a side note seen Gavin Gallagher has been missing from the squad last couple of weeks, anyone heard of any murmurs of an incident during a reserve game recently?

He was sent off in the 7 nil trouncing by Livi in the first reserve game,  suspended for the next game the draw with Dundee I believe,  in between times after his red card he was promoted to start in first team against Univ of Stirling,  since then he hasn't made the squad, which is what happens when you carry a reasonable sized squad..   The lad is knowhere near ready to be anywhere near a championship 11.

[AJ77]

26 minutes ago, Passionate said:

He was sent off in the 7 nil trouncing by Livi in the first reserve game,  suspended for the next game the draw with Dundee I believe,  in between times after his red card he was promoted to start in first team against Univ of Stirling,  since then he hasn't made the squad, which is what happens when you carry a reasonable sized squad..   The lad is knowhere near ready to be anywhere near a championship 11.

I think it's a bit early to claim that only seen him against Dundee utd and don't think he done anything wrong, just find it odd McCabe gave him plenty praise after that but can't seem to get in the squad ahead of Cassidy, Dunlop etc.

[Mr November]

30 minutes ago, AJ77 said:

I think it's a bit early to claim that only seen him against Dundee utd and don't think he done anything wrong, just find it odd McCabe gave him plenty praise after that but can't seem to get in the squad ahead of Cassidy, Dunlop etc.

It’s maybe just a positional thing. We have lots of central midfielders, Gallagher is probably the 7th choice there, whereas not as many central defenders (Cassidy) or wide players (Dunlop). When ATS is back fit I expect he’ll take Cassidy’s place on the bench.

[Diamonds are Forever]

1 hour ago, Mr November said:

Aiken has been excellent, very good ball-winner who can progress play and carry the ball forward. It’s not the only reason why it happened but it’s telling that he didn’t play in by far our worst performance this season. It’s still early days but he has a lot of potential. 

O’Connor has been more mixed. I don’t think he’s ever had a good game (not including games against League Two/Lowland League teams) when starting but he’s made a good impact coming off the bench, notably winning penalties against Dundee and Ross County and then scoring the equaliser against the latter too. He’s not ready to start every week at this level but his pace and work-rate make him a great option off the bench to run at tired defenders.

 

I think with O'Connor us getting promoted hasn't really helped him. I think he'd have really benefitted from a season in League 1. If you'd stuck him in our team last season I think he'd have done really well and it would have helped his development. This season against better teams he's getting less of the ball and he can't afford to be wasteful in possession, plus he's up against much better defenders. In terms of ability I wouldn't say there's anything between him and McGregor, but McGregor's bit of extra experience is making him a better option at the moment. O'Connor definitely needs a run of games but we are fighting for points so can't afford to give guys a game for that reason.

With Aiken and the type of player he is I don't think it's made much difference getting promoted, in fact it's probably benefitted him. McMaster has also looked better at this level. Hard to pinpoint why, but perhaps that there's more need to have players in midfield this season who can win the ball and retain possession. Last season in lots of games it was just wave after wave of attack so all the midfield needed to do was pass the ball quickly forward, which McMaster did well, but he wasn't needed to do much else so maybe couldn't show his full potential. I think Aiken's a really good player, I worried he'd get bullied a bit in midfield but that hasn't been the case at all.

[Kenny_m]

Never like to see a club in trouble but Conor Smith needs to bin his agent!

£50,000 raised to help pay Scunthorpe United staff as football community rallies - Grimsby Live (grimsbytelegraph.co.uk)

 

[Mr November]

1 hour ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

I think with O'Connor us getting promoted hasn't really helped him. I think he'd have really benefitted from a season in League 1. If you'd stuck him in our team last season I think he'd have done really well and it would have helped his development. This season against better teams he's getting less of the ball and he can't afford to be wasteful in possession, plus he's up against much better defenders. In terms of ability I wouldn't say there's anything between him and McGregor, but McGregor's bit of extra experience is making him a better option at the moment. O'Connor definitely needs a run of games but we are fighting for points so can't afford to give guys a game for that reason.

With Aiken and the type of player he is I don't think it's made much difference getting promoted, in fact it's probably benefitted him. McMaster has also looked better at this level. Hard to pinpoint why, but perhaps that there's more need to have players in midfield this season who can win the ball and retain possession. Last season in lots of games it was just wave after wave of attack so all the midfield needed to do was pass the ball quickly forward, which McMaster did well, but he wasn't needed to do much else so maybe couldn't show his full potential. I think Aiken's a really good player, I worried he'd get bullied a bit in midfield but that hasn't been the case at all.

I think those are all good points that tie into a larger theme of our playing style evolving this season. Last season was often high tempo, attacking football with full backs bombing down the sides, players running forward and wide players finding gaps in between centre backs and full backs. There was a clear purpose behind it but still, generally attacking teams seemed to be the strategy.

Things have changed a bit this season, right from the early cup games, with much more of a focus on patient possession, building from the back and waiting for an opportunity to present itself rather than just directly attacking all the time. I think there’s more of a need for players who can take the ball in tight spaces and keep things moving until a gap opens up this season, which McMaster and Aiken are both really good at. It might change throughout the season with form/injuries but McMaster, Aiken and Frizzell has a great balance at the moment for how we want to play.

[++Ammo - Airdrie++]

9 hours ago, AJ77 said:

On a side note seen Gavin Gallagher has been missing from the squad last couple of weeks, anyone heard of any murmurs of an incident during a reserve game recently?

You talking about the reason for sending off

[Glenmavis Diamond]

Many know but nobody willing to say it, so it seems. 

[++Ammo - Airdrie++]

Just now, Glenmavis Diamond said:

Many know but nobody willing to say it, so it seems. 

Apologies, I'd only heard he was sent off for a bit of colourful language, called someone a "m*ngo" and that's what he was sent off for. I have absolutely no idea if that's got anything to do with him not being seen btw so I can't comment on that. In actual fact, I hadn't even noticed he was missing tbh. 

[airdrieman]

Was that Livi reserve game not before he came on at Tannadice? So whilst I don’t know, I’d doubt that’s why he’s not been on the bench the last two games. Think as others have said, it’s most likely because Telfer, McCabe and McStravick have all been on the bench so there’s not been a place for him in the match-day squad. I know Cassidy was on Saturday, but that’s, presumably, so we had at least one proper defender whilst ATS is out. 

[airdrieman]

13 hours ago, GHF-23 said:

Alright folks, apologies I'm sure I'm not the first Hibs fan popping in here to ask, how have Murray Aitken and Josh O'Connor been doing with you? Anything I've seen has been positive about Muzz but haven't seen anything of you guys except the odd highlights. 

 

12 hours ago, Mr November said:

Aiken has been excellent, very good ball-winner who can progress play and carry the ball forward. It’s not the only reason why it happened but it’s telling that he didn’t play in by far our worst performance this season. It’s still early days but he has a lot of potential. 

O’Connor has been more mixed. I don’t think he’s ever had a good game (not including games against League Two/Lowland League teams) when starting but he’s made a good impact coming off the bench, notably winning penalties against Dundee and Ross County and then scoring the equaliser against the latter too. He’s not ready to start every week at this level but his pace and work-rate make him a great option off the bench to run at tired defenders.

Have we won every game in which Aiken has started in midfield? Apart from Ross County, and even then that went to extra-time. That’s obviously not entirely down to him but he has been a big part of our success so far. 

He’s a good all-rounder. Good runner, ball-winner and passer, more in a link-up or retaining possession sort of way rather than in a creative #10 sort of fashion. His shooting isn’t great but he’s clearly a lad with a lot of talent who’s already controlling midfields in the Championship. I’d love to keep a hold of him but no chance that’ll happen sadly. 

[cb_diamond]

Was thinking how good our return has been for the first 7 games with 12 points so had a trawl to see what kind of points were needed to get 8th in previous seasons going back to the mid 2010s, mostly the 36-40 ballpark, which at current rates is definitely doable considering we're a couple of games off ¼ of the way through the season.

Edited October 2, 2023 by cb_diamond

[Mr November]

20 minutes ago, airdrieman said:

 

Have we won every game in which Aiken has started in midfield? Apart from Ross County, and even then that went to extra-time. That’s obviously not entirely down to him but he has been a big part of our success so far. 

He’s a good all-rounder. Good runner, ball-winner and passer, more in a link-up or retaining possession sort of way rather than in a creative #10 sort of fashion. His shooting isn’t great but he’s clearly a lad with a lot of talent who’s already controlling midfields in the Championship. I’d love to keep a hold of him but no chance that’ll happen sadly. 

He started at Tannadice too but obviously the midfield was a lot weaker that day. As you say though, I think he gives us great balance between McMaster sitting deeper and Frizzell driving forward. 

Just now, cb_diamond said:

Was thinking how good our return has been for the first 7 games with 12 points so had a trawl to see what kind of points were needed to get 8th in previous seasons going back to the mid 2010s, mostly the 36-40 ballpark, which at current rates is definitely doable.

Yeah, I had thought if we can get about 12 points a quarter we should be safe without too much bother and obviously we’ve reached that already, with two very winnable home games to come this quarter. We’ll undoubtedly have tougher spells as the season goes on though. All about continuing our strong start, opening up a gap on the teams at the bottom and seeing where that takes us.

[Kenny_m]

Another big defeat this afternoon for reserves at Killie, not sure if we are getting much out of this. Oh and no Gavin Gallagher in squad.

[cb_diamond]

16 hours ago, Mr November said:

Yeah, I had thought if we can get about 12 points a quarter we should be safe without too much bother and obviously we’ve reached that already, with two very winnable home games to come this quarter. We’ll undoubtedly have tougher spells as the season goes on though. All about continuing our strong start, opening up a gap on the teams at the bottom and seeing where that takes us.

I concur, if we can get to Christmas with 25 points or so we will be in a superb position.