G_H Posted Sunday at 12:31 Share Posted Sunday at 12:31 (edited) Corner needs to be turned soon as we are looking like relegation fodder. Not seeing any sign that it will be however. Dont think McCabe will be in contention for premier league jobs anytime soon with the showings so far this season. Edited Sunday at 12:31 by G_H 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airdrieman Posted Sunday at 21:56 Share Posted Sunday at 21:56 (edited) 13 hours ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said: Interesting to see McCabe criticising the team for going long to Reid and saying that’s not how we play, doesn’t seem like tactics will be changing any time soon. In fairness he seemed to be more critical of players not showing for the ball rather than the players that hoofed it up, but until we considerably improve in playing it out from the back and playing around a high press we’re just going to keep losing. McMaster is a big miss in that regard (as is Wilson’s experience and calmness) but we need to be prepared to deal with a couple of injuries. I’ll possibly sound mad here but would it not be good to play Frizz deeper at the moment? He’s the captain and our most experienced midfielder so surely if you have him making himself available and taking the ball under pressure it would at least inspire a bit of confidence in the rest of them? He is right about the midfield needing to show for the ball more. I like Agyemang but, as I think I said before, he’s not got the positional awareness or discipline (yet) to properly play that holding midfield role in terms of picking up the ball and re-distributing it. Really miss a McCabe, McMaster or even Telfer for that. Frizzell is a good ball-carrier and, as captain, should have taken more responsibility to end that nonsense yesterday anyway. GavGal probably the best shout for that holding midfield spot at the moment though? I haven’t listened to McCabe’s interview but that’s just silly if he’s said that. Even within a philosophy, every team needs a bit of variety in how they play, to make them less easy to defend against. And in our case yesterday, take some pressure off our defence and goalie who were getting harassed to the point of embarrassment. Part of our success last season was having this variation. And indeed, one of the few goals we’ve scored this season came from Graham launching a punt up the park for McGregor to run onto last week! I fear that the issue actually is that both Reid and Wilson aren’t good enough to win first or second balls, hold the ball when they receive it or build any sort of sustainable pressure in the opposition’s half. This is a huge problem and I think is as much the cause of our current issues than anything. And I’ve been going on about it for weeks but the fact we’re in the middle of September and our forward options are Wilson, Reid, Cooper and McGregor is negligible. Laughable! I think we will work things out and ultimately be fine. But on current evidence that is one of the worst forward lines in the Championship and is simply not going to cut it. Edited Sunday at 21:57 by airdrieman 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Rooster AFC Posted Monday at 08:07 Share Posted Monday at 08:07 That 2nd half on Saturday was terrible and I am just glad between fate, poor finishing and Quality goalkeeping it was only two goals against. Whilst I think any panic or calls for change of management are completely ridiculous after only 5 games, But I do think people have a right to being very angry and some slight concern for sure. The 1st Half was OK but over the 90 mins Falkirk looked like a tam hell bent on revenge and winning that game and we simply could not match that and began to play right into their hands as the game went on, So you have to acknowledge and accept Falkirk stopped us playing and got it spot on . Bitterly disappointing. Looking forward I would like to see the pen this week for a real experienced head in the midfield if possible there must be someone available on a free or loan as it seems Dean and Rhys are both not going to be back anytime soon. Next up is Morton, A team who look utter garbage and have been really struggling and are in a far worse position than ourselves. For now, I think this will really show us where we are at because on the back of Saturday if we come away from this game with nothing then serious questions need to be asked. We know what to expect from Morton, and we know they will be up for the game but after Saturday we expect a reaction and should have far too much for them. Let's see what this week brings and then how Saturday goes. I still think we will click and do well this season but we definitely do need to stop making things more difficult for ourselves at times. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Reed Posted Monday at 08:11 Share Posted Monday at 08:11 10 hours ago, airdrieman said: He is right about the midfield needing to show for the ball more. I like Agyemang but, as I think I said before, he’s not got the positional awareness or discipline (yet) to properly play that holding midfield role in terms of picking up the ball and re-distributing it. Really miss a McCabe, McMaster or even Telfer for that. Frizzell is a good ball-carrier and, as captain, should have taken more responsibility to end that nonsense yesterday anyway. GavGal probably the best shout for that holding midfield spot at the moment though? I haven’t listened to McCabe’s interview but that’s just silly if he’s said that. Even within a philosophy, every team needs a bit of variety in how they play, to make them less easy to defend against. And in our case yesterday, take some pressure off our defence and goalie who were getting harassed to the point of embarrassment. Part of our success last season was having this variation. And indeed, one of the few goals we’ve scored this season came from Graham launching a punt up the park for McGregor to run onto last week! I fear that the issue actually is that both Reid and Wilson aren’t good enough to win first or second balls, hold the ball when they receive it or build any sort of sustainable pressure in the opposition’s half. This is a huge problem and I think is as much the cause of our current issues than anything. And I’ve been going on about it for weeks but the fact we’re in the middle of September and our forward options are Wilson, Reid, Cooper and McGregor is negligible. Laughable! I think we will work things out and ultimately be fine. But on current evidence that is one of the worst forward lines in the Championship and is simply not going to cut it. Aye,our results have proved we can score against lower opposition,step up is a big problem with our new additions,as you say hopefully as you say hopefully we can work it out ,I certainly have my doubts with this squad of players,in Rhys we trust ,you think ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted Monday at 08:18 Share Posted Monday at 08:18 (edited) 10 hours ago, airdrieman said: He is right about the midfield needing to show for the ball more. I like Agyemang but, as I think I said before, he’s not got the positional awareness or discipline (yet) to properly play that holding midfield role in terms of picking up the ball and re-distributing it. Really miss a McCabe, McMaster or even Telfer for that. Frizzell is a good ball-carrier and, as captain, should have taken more responsibility to end that nonsense yesterday anyway. GavGal probably the best shout for that holding midfield spot at the moment though? I haven’t listened to McCabe’s interview but that’s just silly if he’s said that. Even within a philosophy, every team needs a bit of variety in how they play, to make them less easy to defend against. And in our case yesterday, take some pressure off our defence and goalie who were getting harassed to the point of embarrassment. Part of our success last season was having this variation. And indeed, one of the few goals we’ve scored this season came from Graham launching a punt up the park for McGregor to run onto last week! I fear that the issue actually is that both Reid and Wilson aren’t good enough to win first or second balls, hold the ball when they receive it or build any sort of sustainable pressure in the opposition’s half. This is a huge problem and I think is as much the cause of our current issues than anything. And I’ve been going on about it for weeks but the fact we’re in the middle of September and our forward options are Wilson, Reid, Cooper and McGregor is negligible. Laughable! I think we will work things out and ultimately be fine. But on current evidence that is one of the worst forward lines in the Championship and is simply not going to cut it. That's the thing, people talk about having a Plan B, for me a Plan B isn't deciding after 60 minutes to suddenly start hoofing it to the big man up front. It is having that variety throughout the game so that you don't become predictable. If teams know, which they now do, that you are going to religiously play out from the back and never go long (and if you do it's to a small, isolated striker in Wilson) then they can press the life out of you with no concern that you'll play it over the top, just as Falkirk, Ayr, Dundee and Queens Park did. With a bit more variety teams won't be so commited to the press, will sit off a bit and then you can start to play. In no other sport would only having one tactic be seen as a positive, yet in football 'sticking to your principles' seems to be worthy of praise. As has been mentioned quite a lot on here, all of last season when we were playing like we are now we were stuck in the bottom 3 or 4, it was when we went with 2 big guys up front and went more direct on occasions, mixed with some nice possession, that we pushed up the league. We seem to have forgotten that, although the root of it is that our recruitment limits how we can actually play. Edited Monday at 08:20 by Diamonds are Forever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Are Red Posted Monday at 09:01 Share Posted Monday at 09:01 36 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said: That's the thing, people talk about having a Plan B, for me a Plan B isn't deciding after 60 minutes to suddenly start hoofing it to the big man up front. It is having that variety throughout the game so that you don't become predictable. If teams know, which they now do, that you are going to religiously play out from the back and never go long (and if you do it's to a small, isolated striker in Wilson) then they can press the life out of you with no concern that you'll play it over the top, just as Falkirk, Ayr, Dundee and Queens Park did. With a bit more variety teams won't be so commited to the press, will sit off a bit and then you can start to play. In no other sport would only having one tactic be seen as a positive, yet in football 'sticking to your principles' seems to be worthy of praise. As has been mentioned quite a lot on here, all of last season when we were playing like we are now we were stuck in the bottom 3 or 4, it was when we went with 2 big guys up front and went more direct on occasions, mixed with some nice possession, that we pushed up the league. We seem to have forgotten that, although the root of it is that our recruitment limits how we can actually play. Exactly - throughout the game as you say... It was quite clear on Saturday that within the first few minutes of the game Falkirk would be pressing, with 3 forwards standing on the edge of our penalty box! I think that disorientated us right away, for the goalkeeper and defenders didn't know what to do. Confidence was affected right away, and by the 2nd half we were shot to pieces... Teams will know how we play now, we're a known quantity and last season's element of surprise has gone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aufc Posted Monday at 10:39 Share Posted Monday at 10:39 2 hours ago, Diamonds are Forever said: That's the thing, people talk about having a Plan B, for me a Plan B isn't deciding after 60 minutes to suddenly start hoofing it to the big man up front. It is having that variety throughout the game so that you don't become predictable. If teams know, which they now do, that you are going to religiously play out from the back and never go long (and if you do it's to a small, isolated striker in Wilson) then they can press the life out of you with no concern that you'll play it over the top, just as Falkirk, Ayr, Dundee and Queens Park did. With a bit more variety teams won't be so commited to the press, will sit off a bit and then you can start to play. In no other sport would only having one tactic be seen as a positive, yet in football 'sticking to your principles' seems to be worthy of praise. As has been mentioned quite a lot on here, all of last season when we were playing like we are now we were stuck in the bottom 3 or 4, it was when we went with 2 big guys up front and went more direct on occasions, mixed with some nice possession, that we pushed up the league. We seem to have forgotten that, although the root of it is that our recruitment limits how we can actually play. Only having one way to play is fine if you are Barcelona or Man City. It doesn’t work when you are airdrie. The likes of Pep have ruined football with their style of footie as everyone tried to recreate it with significantly poorer players. My view on footie is there isn’t a right or wrong way to play football. The right way is the one that wins you games and trophies. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
++Ammo - Airdrie++ Posted Monday at 10:52 Share Posted Monday at 10:52 Fwiw and imo only, it shows how much we miss Josh Rae, he was integral to the playing out from the back, along with Fordyce and Telfer. Those 3 were the starting point for so many good passages of play, but sadly young Muzz (an unbelievable shot stopper) I don't think has the confidence to accept the ball to feet the way Rae did. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sage Monkey Posted Monday at 11:08 Share Posted Monday at 11:08 Two points. Firstly I read a number of posts begging for a player like Charlie Telfer, does nobody remember how he played when he first joined? He played a few games, miles off the pace, got dropped, and returned a couple of months later, completely transformed. In Mochrie, Armstrong and Agyamang we have three players who have all started better than Telfer, if we can get 2 of them up to the standards that Telfer reached we will be laughing. Seconfly, the point of passing the ball around at the back is to try to draw opponents out of their "2 banks of 4 with optional defensive midfielder in between". If they are pressing our back line then that job is done and we should be pushing passes into the midfielders who ought to have more room. I also find it frustrating when we have the ball in the final third and end up passing it all the way back to the defence for fear of losing posession, get the ball into the box and try for a goal, it si goals that win games, not posession. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr November Posted Monday at 11:10 Share Posted Monday at 11:10 13 minutes ago, ++Ammo - Airdrie++ said: Fwiw and imo only, it shows how much we miss Josh Rae, he was integral to the playing out from the back, along with Fordyce and Telfer. Those 3 were the starting point for so many good passages of play, but sadly young Muzz (an unbelievable shot stopper) I don't think has the confidence to accept the ball to feet the way Rae did. Rae also had more rounded distribution, it wasn’t perfect but for all he was better on the ball he also loved pinging a pass towards the forwards. Admittedly Johnson doesn’t really have anyone to aim at but his kicking isn’t great. The other thing with Fordyce and Telfer is they’re both experienced enough to know when passing the ball across your own box isn’t working. On Saturday Johnson clearly wasn’t comfortable building from the back in the second half, and to be fair to him still played well and made good saves considering his struggles, but there wasn’t anyone to help him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airdrie76 Posted Monday at 11:30 Share Posted Monday at 11:30 49 minutes ago, Aufc said: Only having one way to play is fine if you are Barcelona or Man City. It doesn’t work when you are airdrie. The likes of Pep have ruined football with their style of footie as everyone tried to recreate it with significantly poorer players. My view on footie is there isn’t a right or wrong way to play football. The right way is the one that wins you games and trophies. Interesting take regarding Pep ruining football. I’m not sure he forced the others to follow suit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Rooster AFC Posted Monday at 11:41 Share Posted Monday at 11:41 Be interesting to see how we line up against Morton after Rhys's interview and comments in the press. Fully expecting Watson and Aitken to come back in on Saturday for sure, not really sure what other changes will be made if any. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted Monday at 12:10 Share Posted Monday at 12:10 54 minutes ago, Mr November said: The other thing with Fordyce and Telfer is they’re both experienced enough to know when passing the ball across your own box isn’t working. Spot on and add the manager to that list as well as he plays more long balls than anyone. It's all about picking the right moment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds Posted Monday at 12:11 Share Posted Monday at 12:11 54 minutes ago, Mr November said: Rae also had more rounded distribution, it wasn’t perfect but for all he was better on the ball he also loved pinging a pass towards the forwards. Admittedly Johnson doesn’t really have anyone to aim at but his kicking isn’t great. The other thing with Fordyce and Telfer is they’re both experienced enough to know when passing the ball across your own box isn’t working. On Saturday Johnson clearly wasn’t comfortable building from the back in the second half, and to be fair to him still played well and made good saves considering his struggles, but there wasn’t anyone to help him. There was a moment in the first half on Saturday where Frizz moved into space through the middle, around 30-40 yards from our goal, when Johnson was taking a goal kick if I remember right. He went to one of the centre backs but I couldn’t help but think Rae would have drilled it low to Frizz, bypassing their press and quickly getting us up the park. I don’t want to be too critical of Johnson as I like him, but it’s very clear he hasn’t quite found the confidence to play out from the back and I don’t think a match like Saturday’s is going to help him find that confidence. If we’re going to continue playing out it should get better with practice, but Johnson’s confidence will only grow if the outfield players around him are able to take the pressure off by making themselves available and not losing the ball cheaply in their own half when trying to play out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted Monday at 12:12 Share Posted Monday at 12:12 29 minutes ago, Rocky Rooster AFC said: Be interesting to see how we line up against Morton after Rhys's interview and comments in the press. Fully expecting Watson and Aitken to come back in on Saturday for sure, not really sure what other changes will be made if any. Definitely Aiken as he is more suited to a battle which no doubt it will be. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted Monday at 12:15 Share Posted Monday at 12:15 2 minutes ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said: There was a moment in the first half on Saturday where Frizz moved into space through the middle, around 30-40 yards from our goal, when Johnson was taking a goal kick if I remember right. He went to one of the centre backs but I couldn’t help but think Rae would have drilled it low to Frizz, bypassing their press and quickly getting us up the park. I don’t want to be too critical of Johnson as I like him, but it’s very clear he hasn’t quite found the confidence to play out from the back and I don’t think a match like Saturday’s is going to help him find that confidence. If we’re going to continue playing out it should get better with practice, but Johnson’s confidence will only grow if the outfield players around him are able to take the pressure off by making themselves available and not losing the ball cheaply in their own half when trying to play out. Notice big Josh has already lost his place at St Johnstone after a few horror shows although his replacement hasn't been great either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Reed Posted Monday at 12:39 Share Posted Monday at 12:39 1 hour ago, Airdrie76 said: Interesting take regarding Pep ruining football. I’m not sure he forced the others to follow suit. Must be by record winning titles,just not do , 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kircer bairn Posted Monday at 12:47 Share Posted Monday at 12:47 1 hour ago, Airdrie76 said: Interesting take regarding Pep ruining football. I’m not sure he forced the others to follow suit. Problem with managers/coaches like McCabe & Russell Martin for example is their arrogance & stubbornness in not being prepared to vary what they believe in allied to the fact that they also believe in their own hype after one season of relative success. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Reed Posted Monday at 12:52 Share Posted Monday at 12:52 4 minutes ago, Kircer bairn said: Problem with managers/coaches like McCabe & Russell Martin for example is their arrogance & stubbornness in not being prepared to vary what they believe in allied to the fact that they also believe in their own hype after one season of relative success. Hope that's not the reason we lost Fordyce, 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds02 Posted Monday at 13:55 Share Posted Monday at 13:55 Interesting people saying that we only had one way of playing out from goal kicks. I swear in the first half especially 90% of them went long to Aaron Reid who did win a fair few of them tbf but barely anyone got on to the flick ons so it just resulted in Falkirk being back on the attack. I think our biggest issue was the midfield not having enough confidence to show for the ball in these situations and the rotations that were so good last season not quite being there yet. Think these things will get better with time as I think it’s more a mental issue rather than a lack of quality. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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