Away to Airdrie

[laukat]

15 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

Beginning to think that’s an understatement- it looks similar to Archie’s when we were last in the championship- like it was organised by raffle and we picked out names like Sean McGinty etc

I think you are right. It does have horrible overtones of Archie's 2018 squad. Archie started that season with a central midfield pairing of Slater and Bannigan. 5 years later we're still trying to find someone in midfield to compensate for Bannigan's deficiencies.

Signings like Wes McDonald and Blair Alston look to be from the same sources as Archie. Someone an agent has pushed/ has a decent youtube highlights reel and someone who a 'mate' at another Scottish team has recommended.

I don't dislike the idea of signing Mulgrew but if we only have 1 signing left we need someone in midfield who can lead and do the dirty jobs. If we can't get someone in then we are going to have to try a midfield of Williamson, McInroy and Lyon and hope its good enough.

[partickthedog]

Good honest interview by Aaron Muirhead on JagZone. Conceded that the press was all wrong and that Airdrie deserved to win. 
 

I agree that it is too quick to proclaim final judgment on team, new signings and manager after 2 league games. 
 

I think that if we can get McInroy and Robinson fit and firing we might look a more cohesive unit. 

[Albert's Ghost]

I'm pinning a lot of hope on Kerr McInroy.

[Third Lanark]

29 minutes ago, Jordanhill Jag said:

When I saw the Bannigan deal it pretty much signalled we are not serious about being a Club that competes 

Yep agree completely Jim - it’s the cuddly toy all over again.  And by the time his 2 year deal is up he will be either offered a new deal automatically or be offered a coaching post no matter how good or bad he is at it

[laukat]

39 minutes ago, Jordanhill Jag said:

When I saw the Bannigan deal it pretty much signalled we are not serious about being a Club that competes 

To my mind the signing of Bannigan on a 2 year deal was a panic signing when the manager thought he didn't have the budget to get better and feared losing another experienced midfielder would send out distress signals.

Didn't have a problem with Bannigan getting a 1 year extension as backup but the 2 year deal suggests he's a starter. If Bannigan starts we need a 3 man midfield. If Bannigan doesn't start then you can get buy with a 2 man midfield if you have the right balance as per Turner and Docherty during the playoffs. 

If Williamson and McInroy were fit enough to do 90 minutes they might be the best combination in lieu of us signing someone else.

[Barney Rubble]

3 hours ago, sandy said:

I’m of the view that our team still hasn’t bedded in yet. Give it time. 

How long is time?

[BowenBoys]

6 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

How long is time?

That's right, change the subject.

🙂

[Barney Rubble]

Six competitive games in.

W 2 D 3 L 1 F 11 A 10.

Scored in every game, conceded in every game.

The message is clear.

[jlsarmy]

16 minutes ago, laukat said:

To my mind the signing of Bannigan on a 2 year deal was a panic signing when the manager thought he didn't have the budget to get better and feared losing another experienced midfielder would send out distress signals.

Didn't have a problem with Bannigan getting a 1 year extension as backup but the 2 year deal suggests he's a starter. If Bannigan starts we need a 3 man midfield. If Bannigan doesn't start then you can get buy with a 2 man midfield if you have the right balance as per Turner and Docherty during the playoffs. 

If Williamson and McInroy were fit enough to do 90 minutes they might be the best combination in lieu of us signing someone else.

Also think Zander McKenzie could be added to that combination as well

[Jimmy McD]

Not looking forward to the visit to Tynecastle next Sunday, I've my ticket so I have to go.. Looking back how we won our group Beggars belief , the only game we played well in was at Tanadice,....

[lady-isobel-barnett]

7 minutes ago, Jimmy McD said:

Not looking forward to the visit to Tynecastle next Sunday, I've my ticket so I have to go.. 

Same here.

Only thing is by the middle of the week I'll have convinced myself we've got a great chance. I'll be citing Hearts having a really tough game on the Thursday. They'll struggle to focus on a mere League Cup tie after a European game. God knows what other crumbs of hope I'll unearth by then. 

[partickthedog]

18 minutes ago, Jimmy McD said:

Not looking forward to the visit to Tynecastle next Sunday, I've my ticket so I have to go.. Looking back how we won our group Beggars belief , the only game we played well in was at Tanadice,....

I would regard that as a positive. It shows that we tend to play well away from home against strong teams that used to be managed by Robbie Neilson in stadia that begin with “T”.

[Jag36]

3 hours ago, JAG1970 said:

After today’s performance a defensive midfielder should be the priority. Although Doolan brought on Neilson today to replace Williamson that for me underlined the fact he doesn’t yet trust Stanway (maybe he will send him out on loan again?).

My guess is Neilson will start as a CB in the next league game and with Ngwenya signed we have enough cover at CB although whether the quality is good enough time will tell.

Thought Stanway looked decent in the league cup and gave the team a bit more balance and energy than when they play Bannigan/Williamson

[King Kenny]

Second goal today was really poor. Starts from Graham not closing down to Fitzpatrick not getting back in quick enough to a free cross followed by a free header. 
 

Doesn’t matter how good we think our quality is, don’t put in the basic effort in this league then you’ll struggle to beat most teams. To be fair to the players, that can’t be labelled at them too often but they looked well off it today. 
 

I think the team could be doing with freshening up. The only way we’ll know if Doolan’s recruitment is any good is to give them a try. 

[Auld Jag]

So even tho the majority of our new signings have either not played or only played 20 minutes or so they are deemed not good enough by some on this forum, more than a bit unfair imo. Give them and the manager a chance.

[exiledjag]

5 hours ago, jlsarmy said:

Don’t think you can judge any of the new players after 2 games, if you were at the game today our most experienced players were poor, Muirhead , Lawless , Bannigan and Graham.

Wasiri was our best player by a mile today, Doolan needs to play some of the new signings from the start to get them up and running.

No idea why Danny Mullen wasn’t kept , knew the League, had a work ethic and could nick a goal from the bench 

Not sure where that’s coming from now .

This was always going to be a team in transition this season, it’s going to take time .

 

Agree with comment about Mullen.. I was surprised we let him go and would have wanted him retained/resigned.

I think I read somewhere that Mullen wanted a guarantee of more game time and that Doolan (understandably) couldn't give him what he wanted so he left.

Can anyone clarify the Millen situation?

[jlsarmy]

6 hours ago, exiledjag said:

Agree with comment about Mullen.. I was surprised we let him go and would have wanted him retained/resigned.

I think I read somewhere that Mullen wanted a guarantee of more game time and that Doolan (understandably) couldn't give him what he wanted so he left.

Can anyone clarify the Millen situation?

He’s now at Derry City , time will tell whether we’ve recruited better 

[Albert's Ghost]

Just watched the highlights.  3 comments:

- the ghost goal looked like it crossed the line

- their 1st goal was an OG (Wasiri)

- Muirhead flat-footed at their second

 

[jlsarmy]

1 hour ago, Albert's Ghost said:

Just watched the highlights.  3 comments:

- the ghost goal looked like it crossed the line

- their 1st goal was an OG (Wasiri)

- Muirhead flat-footed at their second

 

Aiden not closing down and letting the cross come in and obviously a free header in the box is an issue 

[javeajag]

There is a common thread on Fitzpatrick which I suspect was the reason it never worked out at Norwich. Wide players who don’t track back, who don’t double up defensively and generally don’t work hard tracking back etc just won’t cut it at higher levels in football. Aidan just doesn’t work hard enough consistently enough ….too often he jogs back when he should be sprinting or he fades completely out the game. He has great potential but needs some tough love from the manager.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

21 minutes ago, jlsarmy said:

Aiden not closing down and letting the cross come in and obviously a free header in the box is an issue 

Haven't seen the highlights so absolutely no reason to disagree with you. Just thought it worth pointing out that on the whole Fitzpatrick tracked back really well yesterday. Fullbacks were often dragged centrally to bolster our fragile midfield. Aiden often popped up as a temporary fullback.

For much of last season Fitzpatrick was often criticised (rightly) for his lack of involvement further back. Ground covered by the lad yesterday was impressive.  At fault he may have been at the goal but not for lack of effort. 

eta posted before reading javejag's comments. Needless to say I disagree. Trying to make a scapegoat out of Fitzpatrick for yesterday is just plain wrong.  

Edited August 13, 2023 by lady-isobel-barnett

[dibble]

14 hours ago, laukat said:

I think you are right. It does have horrible overtones of Archie's 2018 squad. Archie started that season with a central midfield pairing of Slater and Bannigan. 5 years later we're still trying to find someone in midfield to compensate for Bannigan's deficiencies.

Signings like Wes McDonald and Blair Alston look to be from the same sources as Archie. Someone an agent has pushed/ has a decent youtube highlights reel and someone who a 'mate' at another Scottish team has recommended.

I don't dislike the idea of signing Mulgrew but if we only have 1 signing left we need someone in midfield who can lead and do the dirty jobs. If we can't get someone in then we are going to have to try a midfield of Williamson, McInroy and Lyon and hope its good enough.

 

[dibble]

When the announcement about the new scouting system came through I asked if anyone knew how this worked. We don’t have the cash for our own system so take it we buy into an existing one which serves a number of teams. This was similar to the one Archie used. No doubt every time we get a player through this we pay the central scouting outfit - makes you wonder whose interest it actually serves? Fills me with fear.

[javeajag]

30 minutes ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

Haven't seen the highlights so absolutely no reason to disagree with you. Just thought it worth pointing out that on the whole Fitzpatrick tracked back really well yesterday. Fullbacks were often dragged centrally to bolster our fragile midfield. Aiden often popped up as a temporary fullback.

For much of last season Fitzpatrick was often criticised (rightly) for his lack of involvement further back. Ground covered by the lad yesterday was impressive.  At fault he may have been at the goal but not for lack of effort. 

eta posted before reading javejag's comments. Needless to say I disagree. Trying to make a scapegoat out of Fitzpatrick for yesterday is just plain wrong.  

I wasn’t making a scapegoat out of Aidan for yesterday ….just pointing out that overall he doesn’t consistently work hard enough ….it’s not that he can’t or doesn’t do it simply  he doesn’t do it often enough.

[avie-man]

Not like us to throw a lead away. 

Doolan's teams look and play the exact same way as McCall's and Archie's, total deja vu watching that. They aren't going to sack him so Doolan needs an experienced head to help him, and we all knew the risks giving him the job so it's up to them to help him. Brian Graham, the finger pointing world champion will be the next manager anyway so no rush from me to get him out. The fans have made it clear they don't want anyone who doesn't know the club in positions of power on or off the park, yet it's that clear minded, lack of sentiment that's sorely needed to put an end to the gravy train and gut the place. No more cushy deals for passengers like Bannigan just coz they're "legends". Its too cosy up at Firhill.

Airdrie wanted that more yesterday which is totally unacceptable. They've a 30 year old manager and much smaller budget. Absolutely no excuses for what we saw.

Edited August 13, 2023 by avie-man