Jan Vojáček Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Another week with no thread until this stage. So I'll just start it then... Dumbarton come in off the back of their poorest showing of the campaign so far, a 2-0 defeat in Elgin, and I think everyone will be somewhat nervy ahead of this - was it a blip, or was it a sign of what's to come? The Blue Toon meanwhile have enjoyed a decent enough start to life back in the bottom tier, they look a hell of a lot stronger than last season (which isn't saying much to be fair) and have one of the division's better squads on paper in my eyes. So this will be a big test. Stevie Farrell meanwhile arguably has the strongest squad (depth wise) on paper. But is still struggling to find a settled side and formation. Personally I think this is one where the bravest side will win - with both capable of attacking and scoring a few goals. I'd like to see us line up like this. Brett Long Aron Lynas Sean Crighton Mark Durnan Kalvin Orsi Carlo Pignatiello Blair Malcolm Finlay Gray Greig Young Michael Ruth Declan Byrne Is that harsh on Matty Shiels? Yes it is. Do I think Aron Lynas makes us a better player? Yes I do. And three out and out defenders will be needed against Shanks and McAllister, who could take advantage of a square peg back there. Do I really like the wee triangle of Lynas, Orsi and Carlo, who are all able to interchange on the right? Yes I do. Ross MacLean and Jinky Hilton couldn't get in the game last week, and we looked far more dangerous with Michael Ruth playing. As we usually do. We can't start the Blair x Malcolm pairing together either. That was a disaster. Carlo/Malcolm/Gray should hopefully give us a decent amount of drive to win that midfield battle. Win that and you win the game. If you're looking for some pre-game listening (and have missed my voice this season) I was on the Blue Toon Talk Podcast this week looking ahead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Normally you might assume that the upcoming two home games against the Blue Toon and Stranraer could be significant in the context of the season, but I'm finding it difficult to muster much enthusiasm. Patience is the Key has been replaced by Caution is the Watchword. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Farrell out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Missing the game tomorrow as I'll be in Saarbrucken for my Saturday football fix. I'm not convinced by Byrne. I know I'm in the minority, but I don''t think he carries any kind of goal threat. The problem we've got is that whilst MacLean is probably our best forward when he's 100%,, we very rarely get those kinds of performances from him.. Maclean and Hilton gave Stenny serious problems but can't be relied on to do that on a regular basis. Pre-season I thought that Peterhead would be consolidating rather than pushing for immediate promotion back to League One. I'd like to have seen them in person to confirm that or to change my views. I still don't think they're title material, but they're certainly dangerous. We've had 6 league games now, along with the League Cup and Challenge Cup. There's no excuse for not knowing our strongest 11 and best formation. We need to start playing with a consistency of selection and tactics. Tomorrow is the kind of game that'll tell us a lot about our chances this season. Clearly it's early enough that a loss would be far from a major setback, but equally I'd expect us to be showing what we're really about by now. We need a result tomorrow for sure, but I reckon that a performance is as important. Scraping a 1 goal win via an own goal or a rebound off a player's backside? Fine. A win is a win. But we need to start showing what we're actually about this season. We need to start convincing fans that the manager and players know what they're doing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Quitely Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 1 hour ago, BallochSonsFan said: Missing the game tomorrow as I'll be in Saarbrucken for my Saturday football fix. I'm not convinced by Byrne. I know I'm in the minority, but I don''t think he carries any kind of goal threat. The problem we've got is that whilst MacLean is probably our best forward when he's 100%,, we very rarely get those kinds of performances from him.. Maclean and Hilton gave Stenny serious problems but can't be relied on to do that on a regular basis. Pre-season I thought that Peterhead would be consolidating rather than pushing for immediate promotion back to League One. I'd like to have seen them in person to confirm that or to change my views. I still don't think they're title material, but they're certainly dangerous. We've had 6 league games now, along with the League Cup and Challenge Cup. There's no excuse for not knowing our strongest 11 and best formation. We need to start playing with a consistency of selection and tactics. Tomorrow is the kind of game that'll tell us a lot about our chances this season. Clearly it's early enough that a loss would be far from a major setback, but equally I'd expect us to be showing what we're really about by now. We need a result tomorrow for sure, but I reckon that a performance is as important. Scraping a 1 goal win via an own goal or a rebound off a player's backside? Fine. A win is a win. But we need to start showing what we're actually about this season. We need to start convincing fans that the manager and players know what they're doing. Stevie Farrell can afford to experiment, he's under the least pressure of any Manager in Scotland. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 28 minutes ago, Frank Quitely said: Stevie Farrell can afford to experiment, he's under the least pressure of any Manager in Scotland. He can afford it personally, largely because the club can't afford to punt him and I doubt they've got the appetite for trying to recruit a replacement. But the club really can't afford it. Tomorrow will be a difficult game. Sttranraer won't be pushovers either. And those 2 take us to 1 game away from a quarter of the league fixtures being completed. At some point we need to go on a run of 2-3 games in a row with a settled starting 11. I know that injuries and suspensions happen that can rob us of that option, but it shouldn't be a case of tinkering by the manager unless we need to combat a specific opposition threat. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Just now, BallochSonsFan said: largely because the club can't afford to punt him I’m not suggesting Farrell gets sacked 6 games into a season where he’s lost 1 game but can we please put this chat to bed man. If we wanted to sack Farrell we could, just like we done with Stevie Aitken and others before him. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 2 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: I’m not suggesting Farrell gets sacked 6 games into a season where he’s lost 1 game but can we please put this chat to bed man. If we wanted to sack Farrell we could, just like we done with Stevie Aitken and others before him. I know you continually refuse to believe that we're struggling financially but: We have no main shirt sponsor. We're struggling to shift match sponsorship. We're struggling to get local businesses interested. We're struggling to bring fans through the doors. We really can't afford to sack Farrell and his coaching staff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Financially stricken football clubs have been known to jettison under-performing management. This is indisputable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 6 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said: I know you continually refuse to believe that we're struggling financially but: What I refuse to believe we cannot afford to sack Stevie Farrell. You gave us this exact same patter relentlessly before we bagged Stevie Aitken. If we want to sack Stevie Farrell we can. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 7 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said: I know you continually refuse to believe that we're struggling financially but: We have no main shirt sponsor. We're struggling to shift match sponsorship. We're struggling to get local businesses interested. We're struggling to bring fans through the doors. We really can't afford to sack Farrell and his coaching staff. Why do we have a budget fit to win the league then? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 (edited) You’d think we’d want to make sure our streams actually work, if we’re so desperate for money. Half the time you can’t even buy them, the other half you pay and it doesn’t work. That said, I still haven’t had my tenner back for the Kelty stream, so maybe that’s the plan. Edited September 22, 2023 by FifeSons 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 27 minutes ago, The Moonster said: Why do we have a budget fit to win the league then? Faz would probably claim we have the worst budget in the league. Gas lighter extraordinaire. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Pete Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: What I refuse to believe we cannot afford to sack Stevie Farrell. You gave us this exact same patter relentlessly before we bagged Stevie Aitken. If we want to sack Stevie Farrell we can. He's best ignored. He's been doing his "I'm so clever and know it all" patter for years. Self important dafty. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 2 hours ago, The Moonster said: Why do we have a budget fit to win the league then? We have a League Two budget. We've built one of the better squads in the league on paper, but its a league two budget and we'd struggle with unexpected costs, such as sacking a management team and recruiting a new one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Sweet Pete said: He's best ignored. He's been doing his "I'm so clever and know it all" patter for years. Self important dafty. Or he's heard it first hand from the club on several occasions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Pete Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 52 minutes ago, Sweet Pete said: Not quite, but the battle to save the club isn't being conducted on here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 54 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said: We have a League Two budget. We've built one of the better squads in the league on paper, but its a league two budget and we'd struggle with unexpected costs, such as sacking a management team and recruiting a new one. Sacking the management team surely isn't an unexpected cost, we've sacked almost every one appointed and as such plans should be in place to trigger that scenario should it become necessary. I'm not saying we should sack him either but the option is surely there for the board. Out of interest, who at the club said we were unable to afford sacking him? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Cabeza Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Another long trek for us this week as we go back to the Rock for the first time since we were both playing in League One. Our last visit was a 1-1 draw and we edged it 3-2 in the game earlier. Our form this season has been much more promising. Last season, we amasssed 16 points from 36 games as opposed to 10 from 6 this season.Our new management team of Jordon Brown and Ryan Strachan put in the hours recruiting well in pre-season and that's now starting to bear fruit. The only league games we have lost this year were when Kieran Shanks was suspended and we missed his energy up front.Now that Rory McAllister is back, his partnership with Shanks is going to cause trouble for quite a few teams in this league. We also have a strong midfield with Andy McCarthy, Joe McKee, Hamish Ritchie, Connor O'Keefe and Jack Brown who have been chipping in with goals this season. Dumbarton seem to have a strong team but as last week's result showed, nothing is guaranteed in this league. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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