Clyde FC vs The Spartans - 05/10/2024

[the_bully_wee]

Plenty more baffling selections, but at least he got 3/4 subs right this week. As others have said it was pretty disjointed stuff in the first half and Spartans looked the better side without really creating anything more than us over the piece.

Hopefully Rennie is now considered a starter as he turned that around for us along with Cuddihy, who I really hope can remain fit for a while. Allan continues to look sharp and I've no idea why he was taken off when he was, as Dunachie is only a solution for when he is spent or otherwise unavailable. Once again we saw the good, bad and ugly sides of Robbie Leitch; such a frustrating player.

A fair draw against Spartans isn't a bad result in isolation, but the negative reaction is somewhat understandable when we're in such desperate need of a win. There is a favourable looking wee run of games coming up and, while there are signs of improvement when we have the right team on the pitch, it's imperative that McCall starts putting it out from the first whistle.

[Brian Carrigan]

Jordan Allan must be carrying some sort of injury. There’s no way you sub him today if he can give you more than an hour. 

[David W]

1 minute ago, Brian Carrigan said:

Jordan Allan must be carrying some sort of injury. There’s no way you sub him today if he can give you more than an hour. 

Maitland did say on Thursday that him and Redfern were struggling a bit with knocks. Didn't seem like it in his case! Cuddihy was sending him away through into the channels with ease by that point, lost us quite a bit of momentum particularly given the (understandable) reaction.

 

[Clyde01]

McCalls team selection was baffling again. We had a better midfield sat on the bench than out on the park. Murdoch, leitch and Darren Lyon were all rotten yet 2 out of 3 played the 90mins. Rennie made a big difference and having Cuddihy back is a plus. A very underwhelming first quarter of the season (which could yet end with us bottom) and fans starting to noticeably turn on the manager, we are not in a good place.

Final word to Ross Lyon, he’s had plenty of pelters, deservedly so at times but played like a man possessed today.

[HaleyReinhart]

Coming away frustrated today again at a really good chance at 3 points going begging and potentially being bottom on Saturday. 

 

On the game itself, as others have noted, the first half was really poor but we still carved out the better chances for me. Allowed Spartans way too much of the ball and seemed happy to sit in deep. 

 

I can't believe Darren Lyon lasted as long as he did. Was like a man down today! I sympathise with players getting up to speed etc and he must have something to have been in the championship but I'm not sure I've seen someone shy out of as many 50/50's as him. Looks gutless. 

 

Other subs were decent and even goal aside, Rennie had a good outing. Thought Cuddihy was excellent minus a few rusty/hairy moments. 

 

After spending the money we have, it's mental that Hamilton, Cuddihy, Rennie and even Ross Lyon are being relied on to save us. 

[David W]

Firstly, the Spartans played some nice football at times but also had periods of the game when they looked absolutely dreadful. Despite some lovely wee triangles and passages of play they almost created nothing clear-cut outside of a couple of set pieces and a superbly taken goal. They've underachieved almost as much as we have with what can't be a cheap squad. I can't help but feel that for all he scores a goal or two, Blair Henderson doesn't help them much. Howie absolutely dominated him today.

Next, there were a few stinking performances (D. Lyon, Redfern, Dunachie) but I thought the rest of them put in a shift second half and deserved their point. In terms of outright chances, we probably should have won the game. There's been some decent periods over the past three games which suggests that there's clearly something of a decent side there; I thought Houston was far more aggressive than he has been against a tough opponent, Allan was sharper and Leitch had a much better second half. Cuddihy made a massive difference (look even at the change in Murdoch's performance), Rennie was MotM despite only playing 45. I didn't feel particularly happy-clappy applauding them off, no real complaints with the players today.

However, the manager is another matter. I make that now a total of 29 changes that he has made week-to-week in the league games (I didn't include cup ties). An average of over 3 changes a game, and it's never been less than 2. Now, I totally get that a few of the players have been horrendously inconsistent; e.g. compare Redfern today with his sub appearance last week. I get that Cuddihy basically missed the entire first quarter of the season, having been a standout in the LC, and that Connell going down injured when he was playing well was a blow. I also get that if you ask ten Clyde fans to pick the team, there will be ten wildly different answers at this stage, so no surprise he comes up with an eleventh. It's completely unfathomable though that he is still experimenting with players in bizarre roles/positions and getting team selections so badly wrong from kick-off. The aforementioned supporters haven't had years and years of experience and relative success in higher divisions than this; he should be doing so much better.

I hope the international break is a bit more productive than the last one when all we seemed to do is accumulate injuries and come up with a gameplan for Edinburgh that involved launching the ball nowhere near Dunachie.

Finally, I'd also echo the comments regarding Lyon. Ideally you'd want a bit more quality, but sometimes you just need a bit of energy and attitude. Now we need to find that balance elsewhere on the park.

[Bob731]

I really don’t have any issue with the majority of the players but the lack of urgency is astounding at times.

[RutherGlen]

9 minutes ago, Bob731 said:

I really don’t have any issue with the majority of the players but the lack of urgency is astounding at times.

If the players are following McCall's lead in apparently not bothering to consult the league table, maybe they're under the mistaken impression we're flying high at the moment?

It's all fine though, as McCall says...we'll see where we are at the the halfway stage, and then where are are at the three quarters stage...and so on and so on. I don't know what we're all worrying about! 

[haufdaft]

I saw McCall actually shouting at an on field player from the touchline today. 

Wow! 

[RutherGlen]

10 minutes ago, haufdaft said:

I saw McCall actually shouting at an on field player from the touchline today. 

Wow! 

Yes but what was he shouting? He could have been asking one of the players for a lift to the pub after the game for all we know. The guy clearly doesn't give a shit and it's almost definitely rubbing off on some/most of our squad. 

[GroundskeeperWillie]

6 hours ago, Bully Wee Clyde FC said:

Wodering if McColl has a learning disability?

R Lyon and Leitch on the same flank makes us weak.

Allan detached up front is usually fruitless.

We overrun in MF.

I hope I'm wrong.

FFS have a word with yourself or at least have the decency to delete this post after that first sentence.  Whatever the gripes with McCall, that is atrocious

[Shawfield78]

McCall out . Surely no arguments now. Baffling as ever with some of his decisions. 

[GroundskeeperWillie]

3 hours ago, Clyde01 said:

McCalls team selection was baffling again. We had a better midfield sat on the bench than out on the park. Murdoch, leitch and Darren Lyon were all rotten yet 2 out of 3 played the 90mins. Rennie made a big difference and having Cuddihy back is a plus. A very underwhelming first quarter of the season (which could yet end with us bottom) and fans starting to noticeably turn on the manager, we are not in a good place.

Final word to Ross Lyon, he’s had plenty of pelters, deservedly so at times but played like a man possessed today.

Though Ross Lyon was one of our better performers today.  He never hides regardless and - despite what some might say - has that ability no matter whether he's asked to play on the left or the right

[RutherGlen]

11 minutes ago, Shawfield78 said:

McCall out . Surely no arguments now. Baffling as ever with some of his decisions. 

Can we afford to sack him? No chance is he going to walk. He's getting paid a reasonable amount for doing next to nothing remember...why would he step aside?

[RutherGlen]

7 minutes ago, GroundskeeperWillie said:

Though Ross Lyon was one of our better performers today.  He never hides regardless and - despite what some might say - has that ability no matter whether he's asked to play on the left or the right

Agreed. One of the few players we have who isn't afraid to have a go at the opposition. It doesn't always work but at least he's prepared to try. Too many of them prefer to offload the ball as quickly as possible or pass back the way to avoid actually having to do something productive. 

[Brian Carrigan]

I cannot for the life of me fathom McCall’s selections. Paul McKay playing number 10 is absolutely outrageous. I understand Redfern wasn’t having the best of games, but he’s still capable of doing something, so hooking him and leaving Darren Lyon on at half time was criminal. Tommy Robson warming the bench is baffling, when imho he’s been one of our better performers this season so far. Still no explanation as to Connell and Hynes absences. 

Extremely frustrating, but at least that’s four unbeaten. It’s so mad how much Clyde FC hate winning games.

[Shawfield78]

7 hours ago, RutherGlen said:

Can we afford to sack him? No chance is he going to walk. He's getting paid a reasonable amount for doing next to nothing remember...why would he step aside?

True he probably won't. Guess I'm hoping he does the decent thing . But he won't. 

[Right turn Clyde]

You’d like to think your manager knew how many points we had and who we were playing next.

[RutherGlen]

1 hour ago, Right turn Clyde said:

You’d like to think your manager knew how many points we had and who we were playing next.

Yes, and if for whatever reason you didn't know you would think you would have the intellect (and common decency) to not allude to the fact. McCall rarely misses an opportunity to tell us he doesn't know! 

If I didn't know any better I'd say the guy was trolling us. 

[haufdaft]

35 minutes ago, RutherGlen said:

Yes, and if for whatever reason you didn't know you would think you would have the intellect (and common decency) to not allude to the fact. McCall rarely misses an opportunity to tell us he doesn't know! 

If I didn't know any better I'd say the guy was trolling us. 

I'm not defending McCall but it's it possible he's pretending he doesn't know? That way it's a display of the "only look at one game at a time", "we concentrate on our team's performance", "the league table only matters at the end of the season." 

I'm more concerned about his lack of interaction with his players during the matches. Do the coaching team only talk to the players pre-match and at half-time? Compare to every opposing manager who scream and gesture to their players during the game. McCall instead can be seen scribbling into his wee book, "Dear Diary, we're shite again"