ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds Posted Saturday at 16:22 Share Posted Saturday at 16:22 Utterly hopeless. Without some signings we’ll get nowhere. No physical presence in midfield or up front. No fight. I still think the main issue is the midfield. Wasn’t clear at all today who was playing where in the middle of the park and we miss McMaster coming deep to get the ball. That doesn’t excuse the inability of the defenders to play the ball out. Same goes for the lack of support for the striker, but again that doesn’t excuse Wilson’s performances, he looks totally devoid of confidence. I was one that was calling for the back 5 but I’m not sure it’s actually helping much. If Bruce and Hancock are both out now I think it has to go back to a 4 with MacDonald going to left back and Watson to right back. We should be signing McInroy and re-signing McGill, even on short term deals until January. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passionate Posted Saturday at 16:27 Share Posted Saturday at 16:27 1 hour ago, airdrieman said: Penny for McCabe and the boards thoughts on their recruitment right now. f**ked it comes to mind. The goalies - Johnson can’t use his feet and Wright is 25 and never been a goalie for anybody. Fullback - MacDonald looks good. Bruce would get muscled off the ball in S2 football. Centre-half - Aidan Wilson looked good but has barely played. Graham and Badley-Morgan are two dumplin’s who can’t pass a football despite that being our entire mantra. Presumably a fair chunk of the budget was spent on bringing them up from down south since, for some reason, we thought we could get through another season with only one centre-half. Midfield - Mochrie and McGrattan flatter to deceive to put it mildly. Armstrong would be better off playing walking football he’s that far off the pace. I liked Aiken last season but he’s not been at it since his injury. Agyemang maybe has something about him but he’s very raw and perhaps isn’t ready to play Championship football every week. Forwards - Ben Wilson is paid a fortune to do f**k all every week. McGregor is an average winger yet somehow we’re relying on him to stay fit and score goals for us. Cammy Cooper might as well be one of us for how much he plays and Reid was shite in League 2 last season yet he’s somehow our best forward after finishing 4th in the Championship! So out of all the signings, MacDonald and Aidan Wilson are probably the only two capable of starting every week in the Championship? That’s pathetic considering we signed about 14 players. Not good enough. Ben Wilson started like an Owen Coyle in his prime, we thought we unearthed a gem, and then you start to think how is he here, out of contract at Clifton ville second top scorer on Irish football and gets overlooked by clubs with larger budgets and scouting networks than us, who needed a goalscorer... Apparently a few had scouted him and decided against signing him, no doubt the Consilium last chance saloon link with us led to the signing, no idea of wages but would think he would be one of the bigger earners.... I enjoyed your recent interview with Marc Smyth who was ,is at Clifton ville he was quite diplomatic in his description of Wilson as a player, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr November Posted Saturday at 16:51 Share Posted Saturday at 16:51 On 24/06/2024 at 20:49, RandomGuy. said: Interested to see how he gets on. ~ average finisher who gets a lot of chances and does that translate to Airdrie in the Championship? Remembered about this chart of Ben Wilson at Cliftonville. Obviously looked clinical in the League Cup and hasn’t really shown that at all since which averaged out probably fits this. Doesn’t offer too much in terms of link up play and I think his aerial/hold-up play has been even less efficient with us. You can forgive his limitations if he’s scoring goals, and the team probably isn’t set up ideally for how he plays, but he’s undoubtedly one of our higher earners and is offering absolutely nothing. A lot of the players who left this summer were situations we couldn’t help. Rae, Megwa, Fordyce, Telfer etc all moved on for various reasons and that’s just part of football and where we are in the pecking order. Our attack was the main area we needed to improve on and also the one area we had control. Gallagher was clearly going to move on, and it was the right time for everyone for that. Letting McGill go was always a gamble, and I understand the reasons why, but he was a popular player and had a very strong end to the season. Todorov was under contract and also finished the season well. To choose to let all three leave and replace them with Wilson (who the club should have known severely lacked an all round game), Reid (who has done alright but is very raw and a downgrade on Todorov) and Cooper (who is classed as “one for the future” and is presumably a fair bit off the standard required at the moment) is a shambles. We’ve got plenty of other things wrong this summer but choosing to make what was already the weakest part of our team considerably worse is baffling. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond8 Posted Saturday at 16:52 Share Posted Saturday at 16:52 McCabe has to go before it’s too late imo. Get someone in that’s a relative safe pair of hands and let’s see if they can get a tune out of that rabble. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Fernández Posted Saturday at 16:52 Share Posted Saturday at 16:52 That was absolutely grim viewing today, EK 100% deserved the win and it would've been daylight roberry had we snatched a winner at the end. I think we've got to now question some of the recruitment this season. The amount of experience that we've lost, not just on the pitch but also in the dressing room is massive and we haven't replaced that. Some of the players don't look upto the standard at all, I know it takes time for a new team to gel together but we are now almost in mid October and with the next two fixtures coming up, I don't see us picking up anything from those games. Injuries have had an impact, but the team that played today should be more than capable of beating EK. Surely this week we should be looking at signing some of the names on this list on short term contracts until January. The likes of McInroy, Adeloye, Grimshaw, McGill etc are sitting about doing hee haw. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/scottish-championship/vertragslosespieler/wettbewerb/SC2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr November Posted Saturday at 17:03 Share Posted Saturday at 17:03 I don’t think there’s any chance of McCabe being sacked. The board backed Findlay to spend a relative fortune on mediocre League One players and to be fair punted him when it was clearly he was never turning it around. They backed Murray on several occasions when it felt like a majority of fans had turned on him. Indeed, five years ago today we got punted out this cup at home to Elgin and I think the board gave Murray a new deal around that time, despite us sitting around 5th in the league. McCabe will be given time to turn things around and I think rightly so. He’s been in dodgy positions before and figured out a way of turning things around. The concern this time is the squad is in such a state, even ignoring injuries, that it’s hard to see how things change without new signings. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moses1924 Posted Saturday at 17:14 Share Posted Saturday at 17:14 That was dreadful, not much to add on what others have already said. Don't know how we turn it around but that was team heading for a 10th place finish in the league. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WL Diamond Posted Saturday at 17:21 Share Posted Saturday at 17:21 Don’t think we can keep using injuries as an excuse for the inept performances and poor results week after week. Even a second string Airdrie team should be good enough to beat a team from three leagues below. Something has gone far wrong at the club, between losing half last season’s team and all their experience, a bunch of poor signings and the injuries on top. Whether it’s all just down to McCabe and his attitude and belief in his own ability I don’t know. The team on the park are showing no confidence, desire or any signs of the ability to play at Championship level. The summer signings with the possible exception of MacDonald look out of their depth, which is especially disappointing for players who seemed good on paper like Ben Wilson and Mochrie. A lot of talk on here of short term signings, changes in January, players returning from injury etc. But do we still have belief that McCabe would make these changes or will he plough on regardless in the belief he knows best? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted Saturday at 17:45 Share Posted Saturday at 17:45 4 minutes ago, WL Diamond said: Don’t think we can keep using injuries as an excuse for the inept performances and poor results week after week. Even a second string Airdrie team should be good enough to beat a team from three leagues below. Something has gone far wrong at the club, between losing half last season’s team and all their experience, a bunch of poor signings and the injuries on top. Whether it’s all just down to McCabe and his attitude and belief in his own ability I don’t know. The team on the park are showing no confidence, desire or any signs of the ability to play at Championship level. The summer signings with the possible exception of MacDonald look out of their depth, which is especially disappointing for players who seemed good on paper like Ben Wilson and Mochrie. A lot of talk on here of short term signings, changes in January, players returning from injury etc. But do we still have belief that McCabe would make these changes or will he plough on regardless in the belief he knows best? I make no excuse for today but 8 players out injured and MJ on international duty is indeed a valid excuse and very worrying for upcoming league games. There is no chance that the Manager will be sacked and quite rightly so given his previous 2 seasons. He's a young manager who will make mistakes but I'm still 99% behind him but the real issue was the turnover of players and the club/manager can't repeat that again. The one niggling issue I do have and have mentioned it many times, is the Consilium link and McNamara's shadey deals for personal gain at Dundee Utd! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted Saturday at 18:18 Share Posted Saturday at 18:18 14 minutes ago, Kenny_m said: I make no excuse for today but 8 players out injured and MJ on international duty is indeed a valid excuse and very worrying for upcoming league games. There is no chance that the Manager will be sacked and quite rightly so given his previous 2 seasons. He's a young manager who will make mistakes but I'm still 99% behind him but the real issue was the turnover of players and the club/manager can't repeat that again. The one niggling issue I do have and have mentioned it many times, is the Consilium link and McNamara's shadey deals for personal gain at Dundee Utd! McStravick was known to be out until at least Christmas going into the summer and should have been accounted for with recruitment (and I assume it was given we have about 4 players in his position!). McCabe was also injured since March and for chunks of last season before that, and even when seemingly fit tended to alternate himself in and out of the team for McMaster. Even without his injury I doubt he'd have played 90 minutes every week anyway. We also knew about Johnson being certain to be called up hence signing Wright to play during the International windows. On top of that we decided to gift away a striker that did a decent job last season, and now we're complaining that we're short of options up front. We also started the season with Wilson as our only real centre back (not counting Janny who I think most agree isn't an acceptable long term option there), he then gets injured and we have to hunt around for some. Obviously injuries are a concern and haven't helped, but all they've done as highlight/exaggerate an existing problem which was a dreadfully put together squad that is unbalanced and lacking in experience. I've always been one of the first to defend the club in terms of not being able to push the boat out financially to compete, but I don't see that as the main issue here, we've just spent the money we do have poorly. We built a squad on the basis we'd get lucky with injuries like we did the last few years, unfortunately we've had a bit of bad luck and it's all fallen apart. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted Saturday at 18:58 Share Posted Saturday at 18:58 12 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said: McStravick was known to be out until at least Christmas going into the summer and should have been accounted for with recruitment (and I assume it was given we have about 4 players in his position!). McCabe was also injured since March and for chunks of last season before that, and even when seemingly fit tended to alternate himself in and out of the team for McMaster. Even without his injury I doubt he'd have played 90 minutes every week anyway. We also knew about Johnson being certain to be called up hence signing Wright to play during the International windows. On top of that we decided to gift away a striker that did a decent job last season, and now we're complaining that we're short of options up front. We also started the season with Wilson as our only real centre back (not counting Janny who I think most agree isn't an acceptable long term option there), he then gets injured and we have to hunt around for some. Obviously injuries are a concern and haven't helped, but all they've done as highlight/exaggerate an existing problem which was a dreadfully put together squad that is unbalanced and lacking in experience. I've always been one of the first to defend the club in terms of not being able to push the boat out financially to compete, but I don't see that as the main issue here, we've just spent the money we do have poorly. We built a squad on the basis we'd get lucky with injuries like we did the last few years, unfortunately we've had a bit of bad luck and it's all fallen apart. A club our size simply cannot cope with the amount of injuries we've had as it affects the continuity of a new squad gelling and consistency of team selection. Also the manager has repeatedly mentioned players managing and playing through injuries, Reid & Hancock are 2 that spring to mind which is not ideal either. I agree that the we built a squad with many unproven players and made that point throughout the close season. It was guaranteed that some wouldn't make the grade but unfortunately that percentage is higher than anyone expected. I'll always argue that we are the poor relations of full time football in Scotland and we can't afford the experienced players and perhaps it's maybe time for the board/PH to seek additional investment or move on if they feel they can't sustain the club progressing. My main issue is with the "marquee signings" on the bigger wages who have not performed, Mochrie has shown glimpses but nowhere near enough and whilst I've not totally given up on him he looks as if he doesn't want to be here. Ben Wilson hasn't done enough either even though leaving him isolated up front hasn't helped and Aidan Wilson obviously injured. Maybe Agyemang could be included in this bucket as well but to me these were the guys who were signed as starters to make an impact. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr November Posted Saturday at 20:32 Share Posted Saturday at 20:32 3 hours ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said: Utterly hopeless. Without some signings we’ll get nowhere. No physical presence in midfield or up front. No fight. I still think the main issue is the midfield. Wasn’t clear at all today who was playing where in the middle of the park and we miss McMaster coming deep to get the ball. That doesn’t excuse the inability of the defenders to play the ball out. Same goes for the lack of support for the striker, but again that doesn’t excuse Wilson’s performances, he looks totally devoid of confidence. I was one that was calling for the back 5 but I’m not sure it’s actually helping much. If Bruce and Hancock are both out now I think it has to go back to a 4 with MacDonald going to left back and Watson to right back. We should be signing McInroy and re-signing McGill, even on short term deals until January. I think the two benefits to a back five were allowing Hancock and MacDonald to get further forward and provide width and also to let Reid and Wilson/McGregor play up front, giving us an outball and making us a bit more direct. It was never a perfect solution but given Hancock missed the Livingston game and Reid was played up front on his own against Dunfermline before his injury, we never actually got to see if that would have improved anything. Would it suddenly make us good? Most likely not, but I think we’d be a bit less bad. Assuming the currently injured players are still out next week and with Bruce (and maybe Graham as some people mentioned?) out, what do you realistically do next week? Wilson can’t play up front himself so you probably need someone else up there. As you say our options at the back are limited. We have no width at all in midfield. Do you try a narrow (not a diamond) midfield and try to be compact with two banks of four and hope we get somehow some joy going forward? Honestly no idea what would work. Johnson or Wright Watson / Graham / Badley-Morgan / MacDonald McGrattan / Aiken / Gallagher / Frizzell Wilson / Mochrie Leaves you with a bench of ATS, Armstrong and Cooper. Brilliant. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted Sunday at 07:25 Share Posted Sunday at 07:25 14 hours ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said: We should be signing McInroy and re-signing McGill, even on short term deals until January. Don't disagree but they are unlikely to be match fit and I'm pretty sure there are reasons they haven't signed with anyone to date as surely they've had offers. In Gabby's case he might just tell us to feck off given that we didn't even offer him a new contract. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Reed Posted Sunday at 08:02 Share Posted Sunday at 08:02 14 hours ago, moses1924 said: That was dreadful, not much to add on what others have already said. Don't know how we turn it around but that was team heading for a 10th place finish in the league. Starting eleven would not survive in League 1 ,a lot of bad results in our history yesterday rates with them,EK looked streets ahead in ability and experience ,Make no wonder Raith sacked their manager when we beat them ,Nothing changes week in week out,surely Rhys can see that most of yesterday team would not get a game in league one, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passionate Posted Sunday at 08:13 Share Posted Sunday at 08:13 This may be a controversial question with the Diamond Coaching school taking place this week at the stadium, this is the coaching school ran by Prunty and Frizzell, and runs from 10 am till 4pm daily, I am told Sam Graham will be helping out this week also... When will Frizzell or Graham train, he was miles off it and 2 yards off the pace against a lowland league team and looks as if he needs get the head down and work hard, is this a distraction, are players totally committed to the cause, this goes for Rhys McCabe also who runs his own coaching school albeit in the evenings with a dodgy calf... Everything seems very easy.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Reed Posted Sunday at 08:33 Share Posted Sunday at 08:33 18 minutes ago, Passionate said: This may be a controversial question with the Diamond Coaching school taking place this week at the stadium, this is the coaching school ran by Prunty and Frizzell, and runs from 10 am till 4pm daily, I am told Sam Graham will be helping out this week also... When will Frizzell or Graham train, he was miles off it and 2 yards off the pace against a lowland league team and looks as if he needs get the head down and work hard, is this a distraction, are players totally committed to the cause, this goes for Rhys McCabe also who runs his own coaching school albeit in the evenings with a dodgy calf... Everything seems very easy.... We have players coaching,that's hard to believe, 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Reed Posted Sunday at 09:32 Share Posted Sunday at 09:32 58 minutes ago, Jack Reed said: We have players coaching,that's hard to believe, Think I would have brought Hutton on for the pens, 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds Posted Sunday at 09:59 Share Posted Sunday at 09:59 If Bruce is out for the next game and none of the others are back we’ll have three outfield subs. Mochrie and Armstrong should be among those I reckon. Is there any reason why we wouldn’t be filling our bench with boys from our U18s? Not suggesting they’d be good enough or would make a difference but we done that before when we had squad issues and Kyan Gunn even got a goal against St Mirren. You’d think a manager so intent on developing young players would at least put some on the bench rather than leave empty spaces. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted Sunday at 09:59 Share Posted Sunday at 09:59 Just listened to Rhys's post match interview and his comments that "Hancock's hamstring won't get better". I assume he means rest is the only solution so that looks like another lengthy absence and severely weakens us. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Reed Posted Sunday at 10:19 Share Posted Sunday at 10:19 16 minutes ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said: If Bruce is out for the next game and none of the others are back we’ll have three outfield subs. Mochrie and Armstrong should be among those I reckon. Is there any reason why we wouldn’t be filling our bench with boys from our U18s? Not suggesting they’d be good enough or would make a difference but we done that before when we had squad issues and Kyan Gunn even got a goal against St Mirren. You’d think a manager so intent on developing young players would at least put some on the bench rather than leave empty spaces. Think we have enough young lads on the park,championship we are in the championship not a place for playing in to many young players as been proven, 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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