EdinburghBlue Posted May 24 Author Share Posted May 24 Peter Weatherson leaves: https://stranraerfc.org/assistant-manager-moves-on/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thereisalight.. Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 What's happening with the Gallagher/Robertson testimonial? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattmc Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 1 minute ago, Thereisalight.. said: What's happening with the Gallagher/Robertson testimonial? Golf day on the 2nd of June. There is plans for a match but waiting on fixtures to be announced first. There will also be a dinner later in the year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thereisalight.. Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 4 minutes ago, Mattmc said: Golf day on the 2nd of June. There is plans for a match but waiting on fixtures to be announced first. There will also be a dinner later in the year. Cheers. Thought there was talk of a match and wondered if one of these ones mentioned tonight was doubling as their testimonial game 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachcomber Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 Surprised your offering deals to so many players from last season who took you to 10th place. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattmc Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 43 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said: Peter Weatherson leaves: https://stranraerfc.org/assistant-manager-moves-on/ Didn’t see that coming. Talk of Stevie Aitken joining Kilwinning as assistant. Worth trying to get in ahead of them? Think it would be of benefit to have someone experienced in beside Aggy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luddite Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 I don’t get the “replace Agnew” sentiments. He tightened up the defense and sorted out the weakness at set plays, which has been an issue since Jamie Hamill was in charge. Working with a very small budget and isolated geographically he put together a decent squad and they seem to have a fantastic team spirit. Anyone who’s been watching Stranraer the entire season knows Agnew was struggling to get 13, 14 players fit from a very small pool for the first half of the season and had a slew of truly atrocious refereeing decisions go against him. I know all teams get bad decisions but in 40 years of watching football I’ve not seen a team get so many in one season. When the team were clicking they played some of the best football I’ve seen from any league 2 or league 1 team. They are young, but, again, that comes down to a small isolated club punching above its weight and having to compete for players with big budget/central belt teams who are able to entice players and get their squad together much easier/quicker. This past campaign may have matured many of those younger players, and if Agnew can get/keep his key players healthy, bring in a couple of experienced heads and get a little rub of the green I’m optimistic about 24/25. Long story short, I don’t think Stranraer finished 10th because Scott Agnew is a bad manager. I want to see him continue with his plans for the club. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luddite Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 (edited) 9 hours ago, Beachcomber said: Surprised you’re offering deals to so many players from last season who took you to 10th place. Anyone who’s watched them regularly this season knows it’s a good team and the league position wasn’t a fair reflection of their ability and team spirit. A lot of young players have developed well over the past year, and some experienced players missed chunks of the season due to injury. I’ve got no problem with Agnew keeping the core of his current squad. Great collective spirit that can be built on and it isn’t something you can buy. Edited May 25 by Luddite 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeezebox-son Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 1 hour ago, Luddite said: Anyone who’s watched them regularly this season knows it’s a good team and the league position wasn’t a fair reflection of their ability and team spirit. A lot of young players have developed well over the past year, and some experienced players missed chunks of the season due to injury. I’ve got no problem with Agnew keeping the core of his current squad. Great collective spirit that can be built on and it isn’t something you can buy. The league table doesn't lie. I said in December, when McCall had just taken over at Clyde, that they would avoid bottom place at Stranraer's expense. I was correct in that. Even when you guys thrashed us 5-0, I still thought you'd finish bottom. You may be right, some of the younger guys might progress from last season and improve this year. But, you weren't a good team last season and the league table was 100% a reflection of the season you had. No unfair reflections or anything there. You will need a big improvement this year to avoid bottom again, I think. It looks like Bonnyrigg could be down there again and Stirling don't look to be in a good place right now either. All the best and I want to see Aggy do well, too. I'd imagine Clyde will push on a bit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLClyde Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 Decent squads don’t finish bottom of league 2. 8 points from 18 away games, after beating us in February they only won 2 of 13 games and didn’t score in 7 of those. Dress it up however you like, but over 36 games you deserve to finish where you finish. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GallowayBlue Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 (edited) 1 hour ago, SLClyde said: Decent squads don’t finish bottom of league 2. 8 points from 18 away games, after beating us in February they only won 2 of 13 games and didn’t score in 7 of those. Dress it up however you like, but over 36 games you deserve to finish where you finish. Agree with this. On a more positive note, nine departures and not all those offered contracts will accept so hopefully there should be some room in the budget for some changes. Some who were regular starters this season will hopefully play less of a role this year replaced by more experienced or frankly better players. There are six that I would love us to keep - surely some stability is a safer option than a complete overhaul? I wouldn't have resigned Lang - not sure what others think. Edited May 25 by GallowayBlue 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullyWeeStonehouse Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 4 hours ago, Luddite said: Anyone who’s watched them regularly this season knows it’s a good team and the league position wasn’t a fair reflection of their ability and team spirit. A lot of young players have developed well over the past year, and some experienced players missed chunks of the season due to injury. I’ve got no problem with Agnew keeping the core of his current squad. Great collective spirit that can be built on and it isn’t something you can buy. I’ve never known a good team to finish bottom of league 2. You got progressively worse as the season went on and deservedly finished bottom. Team spirit is all well and good but it next to useless if you’re players aren’t very good. Taking blind faith to a whole new level with this take. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luddite Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 Decent teams can finish bottom of a 10 team league when it’s of a fairly low standard generally, the top four pull away and there’s very little between the bottom 6 teams other than a handful of points and how the ball breaks. With the resources available to the manager, and assessing the teams who finished 5th through 9th, I reaffirm I think Stranraer were decent. If the consensus is the likes of Elgin and Bonnyrigg are miles ahead of Agnew’s team because of those lofty league position and points tallies then I’ll have to disagree. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luddite Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 (edited) 2 hours ago, BullyWeeStonehouse said: Team spirit is all well and good but it next to useless if you’re players aren’t very good. Team spirit is a quality every manager strives for and not all are able to muster. In the neoliberal moneyball leagues it’s may be valued less , but football in the Scottish lower leagues is still, mostly, about motivating a group of young men to harness their abilities as a team. At this level, team spirit is priceless. And if you are claiming that the likes of Jamie Dolan and Dylan Forest “aren’t very good” then, again, I’ll have to disagree. Edited May 25 by Luddite 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Blackwell Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 1 hour ago, Luddite said: Decent teams can finish bottom of a 10 team league when it’s of a fairly low standard generally, the top four pull away and there’s very little between the bottom 6 teams other than a handful of points and how the ball breaks. With the resources available to the manager, and assessing the teams who finished 5th through 9th, I reaffirm I think Stranraer were decent. If the consensus is the likes of Elgin and Bonnyrigg are miles ahead of Agnew’s team because of those lofty league position and points tallies then I’ll have to disagree. The worst team finishes bottom of the league whether they are “decent” or not, or whether the standard of the rest of the league is “fairly low”. Who said anyone was “miles ahead” of anyone else (and that includes the team that won the league this season)? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luddite Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 1 minute ago, Nigel Blackwell said: The worst team finishes bottom of the league whether they are “decent” or not, or whether the standard of the rest of the league is “fairly low”. Who said anyone was “miles ahead” of anyone else (and that includes the team that won the league this season)? Well if I’m being told Stranraer can’t be described as a “decent team” because of their league position, that would imply that the description of a team is based on league position alone and they are a “bad” team and all the teams above them vary from “decent” to “good” to “very good”, depending on league position. Obviously Stranraer finished with the worst points tally, and it may be I’ve mistakenly inferred “miles ahead” sentiments from comments here, but considering only 8 points separated 10th from 5th, whereas in the three leagues above the bottom teams finished 10, 19 and 31 points behind the team one place above, I don’t think Stranraer were “worse” than teams 5 through 9 to the extent they should replace their manager and dispense with a squad that were a much of a muchness compared to the majority of teams they were competing against, hence my use of the descriptor “decent”. Im old enough to remember the days of teams struggling in lower leagues and within 1 or 2 years that same squad and manager achieving some pretty impressive feats. Personally I judge managers on the evidence of his players wanting to play for him, but I am, admittedly, a dinosaur in that regard. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 19 hours ago, Beachcomber said: Surprised your offering deals to so many players from last season who took you to 10th place. I was also fairly shocked. Some right deluded chat on here as well. League 2 will be a harder league next season and offering out 15 deals to a group of players who just finished bottom of the league seems absolutely bonkers. You’ve got to imagine the likes of Elgin, Bonnyrigg and East Fife will be stronger next season and there is absolutely no chance Clyde will be scrapping it out at the bottom. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stardog_champion Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 A bit late to congratulate Stranraer in their play offs. Hopefully that never happens again 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilly Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 2 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: I was also fairly shocked. Some right deluded chat on here as well. League 2 will be a harder league next season and offering out 15 deals to a group of players who just finished bottom of the league seems absolutely bonkers. You’ve got to imagine the likes of Elgin, Bonnyrigg and East Fife will be stronger next season and there is absolutely no chance Clyde will be scrapping it out at the bottom. I think there has to be a bit of realism with Stranraer. They will have the smallest budget in the league next season for starters. Secondly, they were absolutely ravaged by injuries last season more than most - I truly believe they would have been nowhere near bottom with better luck in that department. I mean it's scant consolation when you do finish bottom but they are easily the best team that's ever finished bottom of the SPFL IMHO. Not a honking side like we have seen in recent years with Berwick, Shire, Cowden etc. Do you try and keep that unity together with those offered deals or start from scratch with no gaurentee of getting better quality with such poor money on offer? I think they have done the sensible thing and even then they are going to lose their better players. Personally I hope we are in for Dylan Forrest - a player I really like who would bolster our squad. Matty Grant and James Dolan will also be on the radar of league one clubs. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonball Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 1 minute ago, Neilly said: I think there has to be a bit of realism with Stranraer. They will have the smallest budget in the league next season for starters. Secondly, they were absolutely ravaged by injuries last season more than most - I truly believe they would have been nowhere near bottom with better luck in that department. I mean it's scant consolation when you do finish bottom but they are easily the best team that's ever finished bottom of the SPFL IMHO. Not a honking side like we have seen in recent years with Berwick, Shire, Cowden etc. Do you try and keep that unity together with those offered deals or start from scratch with no gaurentee of getting better quality with such poor money on offer? I think they have done the sensible thing and even then they are going to lose their better players. Personally I hope we are in for Dylan Forrest - a player I really like who would bolster our squad. Matty Grant and James Dolan will also be on the radar of league one clubs. Injuries didn't help, but we also had a bunch of youngsters heavily involved who should find a bit more consistency as they develop. Most of those we really want to keep would require a development fee to go elsewhere. Including loans, nine players have gone. I would imagine at least a couple of those we want to keep will also move on. That creates quite a bit of space for new signings. I would hope we can take what's there and add some quality, experience and physicality. Some of those offered contracts will be (at the very least) inexpensive squad players, and ones the manager knows and understands. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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