diamond_for_life Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 I think the fact Megwa was a superstar is clouding the judgement of how much of a player Ballantyne was for us. Think back to his injury and Megwa making his debut. We all felt the loss of Ballantyne before we knew how special Megwa could be. I get the point folk are making that he was our “3rd” best full back but again that’s because Hancock also came out this season looking every bit the star he is. Not because Ballantyne is some bang average at best player. We now have one recognised full back left out of the 3 we had and let’s not forget the job Ballantyne also did at left back for us too. He could play either side. The boy Macdonald could prove an absolute find but I surely can’t be the only 1 thinking this is actually a big loss for us. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb_diamond Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 4 minutes ago, diamond_for_life said: I think the fact Megwa was a superstar is clouding the judgement of how much of a player Ballantyne was for us. Think back to his injury and Megwa making his debut. We all felt the loss of Ballantyne before we knew how special Megwa could be. I get the point folk are making that he was our “3rd” best full back but again that’s because Hancock also came out this season looking every bit the star he is. Not because Ballantyne is some bang average at best player. We now have one recognised full back left out of the 3 we had and let’s not forget the job Ballantyne also did at left back for us too. He could play either side. The boy Macdonald could prove an absolute find but I surely can’t be the only 1 thinking this is actually a big loss for us. Agree with all of this, this is a very, very sore loss. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 20 minutes ago, AJ77 said: Rumours of Greenock not sure how true yet, will find out more tomorrow. Yeah, wishful thinking. For some reason we seem to be cursed with our idiot fullbacks until retirement 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
++Ammo - Airdrie++ Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 14 minutes ago, diamond_for_life said: I think the fact Megwa was a superstar is clouding the judgement of how much of a player Ballantyne was for us. Think back to his injury and Megwa making his debut. We all felt the loss of Ballantyne before we knew how special Megwa could be. I get the point folk are making that he was our “3rd” best full back but again that’s because Hancock also came out this season looking every bit the star he is. Not because Ballantyne is some bang average at best player. We now have one recognised full back left out of the 3 we had and let’s not forget the job Ballantyne also did at left back for us too. He could play either side. The boy Macdonald could prove an absolute find but I surely can’t be the only 1 thinking this is actually a big loss for us. This. A lot of folk gloss over memories because that player has upped sticks and turned his back on "their club". Ballantyne was/is a great player, fully commited,never shirks a challenge and gives 100%. Because he's now decided to leave Airdrie, he's all of a sudden someone that was just making up the numbers. Laughable and a sore loss. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 3 minutes ago, itzdrk said: Yeah, wishful thinking. For some reason we seem to be cursed with our idiot fullbacks until retirement If Ballantyne ends up with Morton we can prepare ourselves for Ross Millen coming in… 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mybitchunderprotest Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 3 minutes ago, ++Ammo - Airdrie++ said: This. A lot of folk gloss over memories because that player has upped sticks and turned his back on "their club". Ballantyne was/is a great player, fully commited,never shirks a challenge and gives 100%. Because he's now decided to leave Airdrie, he's all of a sudden someone that was just making up the numbers. Laughable and a sore loss. Players come and players go, that's the way this game works. Ballantyne was decent but as we saw last season, entirely replaceable so it's just a matter of McCabe making sure that he brings in someone of at least similar quality. The only thing that bothers me in all this is losing players to teams in the same league. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Fernández Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 (edited) Gutted with that one Ballantyne was great for us and it's disappointing he'll be likely moving to one of our League rivals. His contribution in the 2nd half of our promotion season playing at left back contributed massively in us going up. Agree it's unlikely we'll sign Megwa on loan this season but I can see us signing Flynn Duffy as a replacement. He's followed a similar career trajectory to Mason Hancock having played regularly and done well on loan in league 2. I can see us more going for a left back as we'd have MacDonald and Watson who can play right back. Edited June 9 by David Fernández 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moses1924 Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 real dissapointment Ballantyne has left especially after Fordyce also leaving and doesnt do much for the confidence in resigning Friz or Telfer. Big close season coming up now and will say a lot for how good a manager Rhys is as it will very much be his team that starts the season with the majority of the team he inherited having left. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thediamonddude Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 It’s funny that folk mention people ‘glossing over memories’ because he’s chosen to leave us but you could easily argue that in reverse. A lot of club’s supporters (so this isn’t just unique to us) tend to wildly overreact to player departures at this time of the season. That can lead them to think that every player that goes (particularly first-teamers that go to other folk in the same division) is a disaster for them. As others have alluded to though, players come and go, we’ve come through it before and we will again. I stand by my original assertion - in his first season, Ballantyne was hugely underwhelming. For the first 3/4 of that campaign, he got stupid suspensions that cost us, and injuries that meant he didn’t feature. He did show up big time in the run in, but wasn’t even playing RB most of the time - it’s worth noting Janny was more than able there. Last year, he made 32 appearances across all competitions - contrast that with Mason (39), Kanayo (30), Janny (47) and Dycey (46) and he was arguably the least utilised of our ‘regular’ defenders by some way. Yes, he’s got 2 more appearances than Megwa but he joined way after the League Cup games, after the league had started, left to go back to Hibs for a spell and was cup tied for the Challenge Cup games. Hell, Mason managed 7 more appearances and also had a lengthy injury. It’s also a minor gripe of mine but his nonsense in the first leg of the playoff against Thistle, ripping Hemfrey to shreds when he was just as culpable (if not more so) for that goal is also something I didn’t like about him. Felt he often (unfairly) had a go at others. As I said before, is it a loss? Undoubtedly so. Is it a huge loss or some sort of unmitigated disaster that means we’ll be significantly weaker this season? Not for me, no. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanetti Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 1 hour ago, thediamonddude said: A lot of club’s supporters (so this isn’t just unique to us) tend to wildly overreact to player departures at this time of the season. That can lead them to think that every player that goes (particularly first-teamers that go to other folk in the same division) is a disaster for them. As others have alluded to though, players come and go, we’ve come through it before and we will again. That's normal though and there's a good reason for it, clubs like mine and yours rarely sign a player who's an obvious upgrade. The majority of the guys who do well for us come in as a bit of an unknown and surprise everyone, or start out poorly but with time grow into the player we're eventually disappointed to lose. You'll probably find that Ballantyne among the others you've lost are replaceable eventually, but I'll be surprised if it doesn't take time to get there. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 It's not just Ballantyne leaving, it now casts major doubts that we have the finances available to keep Telfer, Rae & Frizzell. If they all go then we're almost starting from scratch which would be hugely disappointing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thediamonddude Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 7 minutes ago, Kenny_m said: It's not just Ballantyne leaving, it now casts major doubts that we have the finances available to keep Telfer, Rae & Frizzell. If they all go then we're almost starting from scratch which would be hugely disappointing. I can see why you think that but not necessarily, and that’s kind of my whole point here - Ballantyne going signifies nothing other than the club offered him a deal and he’s chosen not to go with it. It doesn’t mean we don’t have enough money and it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a mass exodus. Let’s say the club make offers to the 4 players in question (Frizzel, Telfer, Rae, and Ballantyne) and regard Ballantyne as the least valuable of the 4 - that might mean his offer is below that of the other 3 and clearly, below what he thinks he’s worth, so he walks. I would think based on importance, contribution to date, etc. they’ll be looking at the other 3 as more crucial to their plans. Now, of course, any of/all 3 could still leave but, IMHO, Fordyce and Ballantyne going doesn’t automatically mean we’re offering rubbish wages and have no chance of keeping anyone else. I also totally get your point @Zanetti - what you say is very true. Still though, whilst each and every person is entitled to their opinion on here, mine is that these things happen, no amount of doomsaying or otherwise will change that and we just need to trust those in charge. In our case, there is little to no evidence, based on recent windows, that Rhys and the board won’t have contingencies for this/won’t be able to still build a good squad, so the panic from some is very much unjustified. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_H Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 (edited) I really hope that in 3 - 4 weeks time that I'm not posting on here about how the squad is shaping up to be a shitshow. From our 3 signings: One signing looks decent on paper (Wilson), one was in a team that very recently lost 5-3 on aggregate to the bottom of league 2, and the other doesn't have much in the way of positive reviews from anywhere and seems get signed just for height. The flip side of the coin is that we have lost a number of key players through either loans ending or contracts being up with a high likelihood of going to same division teams (as we have seen with Fordyce already). I hope that the club kick on and sort things out by making quality signings/secure more contracts for some of last seasons key players rather than leave things to the last minute. Edited June 9 by G_H 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 8 minutes ago, thediamonddude said: I can see why you think that but not necessarily, and that’s kind of my whole point here - Ballantyne going signifies nothing other than the club offered him a deal and he’s chosen not to go with it. It doesn’t mean we don’t have enough money and it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a mass exodus. Let’s say the club make offers to the 4 players in question (Frizzel, Telfer, Rae, and Ballantyne) and regard Ballantyne as the least valuable of the 4 - that might mean his offer is below that of the other 3 and clearly, below what he thinks he’s worth, so he walks. I would think based on importance, contribution to date, etc. they’ll be looking at the other 3 as more crucial to their plans. Now, of course, any of/all 3 could still leave but, IMHO, Fordyce and Ballantyne going doesn’t automatically mean we’re offering rubbish wages and have no chance of keeping anyone else. I also totally get your point @Zanetti - what you say is very true. Still though, whilst each and every person is entitled to their opinion on here, mine is that these things happen, no amount of doomsaying or otherwise will change that and we just need to trust those in charge. In our case, there is little to no evidence, based on recent windows, that Rhys and the board won’t have contingencies for this/won’t be able to still build a good squad, so the panic from some is very much unjustified. Of course it will depend how much each individual manager values a particular player but ultimately if it comes to a bidding war then we'll lose out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
++Ammo - Airdrie++ Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 I personally think the sliding doors moment might have been in January. Apparently an offer was made and accepted for megwas in January but for whatever reason, Hibs fudged the paperwork at their end, meaning we could only take him back on loan and not "own" him. I'll be very surprised if we get him back. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 40 minutes ago, thediamonddude said: I can see why you think that but not necessarily, and that’s kind of my whole point here - Ballantyne going signifies nothing other than the club offered him a deal and he’s chosen not to go with it. It doesn’t mean we don’t have enough money and it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a mass exodus. Let’s say the club make offers to the 4 players in question (Frizzel, Telfer, Rae, and Ballantyne) and regard Ballantyne as the least valuable of the 4 - that might mean his offer is below that of the other 3 and clearly, below what he thinks he’s worth, so he walks. I would think based on importance, contribution to date, etc. they’ll be looking at the other 3 as more crucial to their plans. Now, of course, any of/all 3 could still leave but, IMHO, Fordyce and Ballantyne going doesn’t automatically mean we’re offering rubbish wages and have no chance of keeping anyone else. I also totally get your point @Zanetti - what you say is very true. Still though, whilst each and every person is entitled to their opinion on here, mine is that these things happen, no amount of doomsaying or otherwise will change that and we just need to trust those in charge. In our case, there is little to no evidence, based on recent windows, that Rhys and the board won’t have contingencies for this/won’t be able to still build a good squad, so the panic from some is very much unjustified. I can't help but feel the fact Ballantyne only played 20 league games will have impacted what the club were willing to offer. He had an operation to clear things up yet we were still managing his games until the end of the season. Given that, it may be that the club don't feel confident enough to push the boat out for him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 (edited) 1 hour ago, Kenny_m said: It's not just Ballantyne leaving, it now casts major doubts that we have the finances available to keep Telfer, Rae & Frizzell. If they all go then we're almost starting from scratch which would be hugely disappointing. Rae is an interesting one as I had assumed for the last few months that he was gone, so I've not even really thought about him, the fact he hasn't officially gone yet is a bonus. Wonder whether his injury has had an impact on a potential move. Edited June 9 by Diamonds are Forever 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glasgow Diamond Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 1 hour ago, G_H said: I really hope that in 3 - 4 weeks time that I'm not posting on here about how the squad is shaping up to be a shitshow. From our 3 signings: One signing looks decent on paper (Wilson), one was in a team that very recently lost 5-3 on aggregate to the bottom of league 2, and the other doesn't have much in the way of positive reviews from anywhere and seems get signed just for height. The flip side of the coin is that we have lost a number of key players through either loans ending or contracts being up with a high likelihood of going to same division teams (as we have seen with Fordyce already). I hope that the club kick on and sort things out by making quality signings/secure more contracts for some of last seasons key players rather than leave things to the last minute. Don't see why we seem to be judging new signings on hearsay. Personally I had never heard of megwa , mcstravick or Hancock before we signed them and they haven't worked out too badly. Nobody can guarantee they will be successful but give them a chance 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Blue Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 9 hours ago, Zanetti said: That's normal though and there's a good reason for it, clubs like mine and yours rarely sign a player who's an obvious upgrade. The majority of the guys who do well for us come in as a bit of an unknown and surprise everyone, or start out poorly but with time grow into the player we're eventually disappointed to lose. You'll probably find that Ballantyne among the others you've lost are replaceable eventually, but I'll be surprised if it doesn't take time to get there. Agreed. We've lost Oakley, Crawford and Muirhead so far and they come into that bracket IMHO. Players who seemed to have list their way and found some form with us. Sore to see them go to rivals but with time hopefully not irreplaceable. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirdrieDaft77 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Cammy Ballantyne heading to Partick 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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