Stranraer 0-3 Brechin, Improvement Options

[boob]

Was a defeat but were never three goals in it, lots of positives to take IMO. Players shoowed like they wanted to play and gave their all i think. Good to see locals on the bench and big Mickey starting at the back.

Never really seen penalty incident but heard it was soft. That knocked a bit of confidence out of us but McBride and McConolugue still showed they could play good football and McColm had a good few flick ons. He held the ball up well at times but still needs to try and use his height more. McConolougue showed he is still good player and did well.

Good to see Mickey at the back, he never looked out of place. He showed obvious nerves early on and lacked pace but was excellent in the air, and was fully comitted and put in some great tackles. Banjo is good entertainment, but really is not good enough for second division football (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Alan Murdoch did really well when came on. Had a good run down the right wing and brought some pace up front and strength. never looked out of place either. Roddie never did himself any harm either.

Noticed we played the Offside rule alot today, not sure if it was working and dont think it works either?

Brechin are a good side though and we did well to compete with them for some periords of the game.

OHH and nice banner eh? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/winkblue.jpg)

[trueblue4ever]

Brechin no won for ages but no bother against poor blues team. Kane only one to impress as blues fail to create much at all, thought big centre from reserves slow as a week in the jail, fish out of water comes to mind. Few options now so just case of seeing season to ends an get some player who can cope in 3rd.

Poor crowd as well, soft pen call killed any rally for knoxy. Hard to judge his stock the now as no easy for anyone is it.

[beefybake]

Was a defeat but were never three goals in it, lots of positives to take IMO. Players shoowed like they wanted to play and gave their all i think. Good to see locals on the bench and big Mickey starting at the back.

Never really seen penalty incident but heard it was soft. That knocked a bit of confidence out of us but McBride and McConolugue still showed they could play good football and McColm had a good few flick ons. He held the ball up well at times but still needs to try and use his height more. McConolougue showed he is still good player and did well.

Good to see Mickey at the back, he never looked out of place. He showed obvious nerves early on and lacked pace but was excellent in the air, and was fully comitted and put in some great tackles. Banjo is good entertainment, but really is not good enough for second division football (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Alan Murdoch did really well when came on. Had a good run down the right wing and brought some pace up front and strength. never looked out of place either. Roddie never did himself any harm either.

Noticed we played the Offside rule alot today, not sure if it was working and dont think it works either?

Brechin are a good side though and we did well to compete with them for some periords of the game.

OHH and nice banner eh? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/winkblue.jpg)

This sounds a little like McBride and McConalogue played well,as they have done all season.

But that overall the team was outclassed on the day. Is that how it looked?

[cosmo]

Steven Etienne was a class apart, well assisted by Twigg. Plus points for Stranraer Murdie held the ball up well when he came on and looked a centre forward. McBride is worth a step up but can't do it on his own. 90 minutes and neither keeper had much to do, just about sums up a poor game.

[cosmo]

From today's Dailly Record
KEITH KNOX insists winning a relegation battle with Stranraer comes a distant second to preventing the club going to the wall.

The former Stair Park defender has taken on the job as caretaker boss of a side eight points adrift at the foot of the Second Division.

But as he prepares to pick his team to face Brechin, Knox admits he is on a mission to ensure the town still has a senior side.

He said: "The most important thing for me is ensuring the survival of the club.

"It matters more to me than most as I've lived all my life in the town and worked here for 10 years as a player and two years as a coach.

"The financial problems have been well documented and like everyone else we're experiencing difficulty in getting local business to back the club due to the credit crunch.

"The first thing I did as caretaker was explain to the squad the harsh reality of our plight.

I think they appreciated being addressed with honesty which hasn't always been the case.

"We have only 12 signed players but the guys I have are good enough to win the battle on the field and stay up.

"Over the years we have depended on players from the Glasgow area but we'll go with local kids and reserves boys.

"Whether we're playing in the Third Division next season or the Second is not the priority.

Being able to have a club in the town is all that matters.

"Apart from the second half against Stirling when we lost 8-2, which was an embarrassment, we've not been outclassed.

"There is a lot to work with here and if we can do something against Brechin it would give everyone a lift."

Just about sums up the feeling of most of us involved at the club, I would say.

[wee_man]

I would have liked to have seen the game from the stand making it a wee bit easier to read the game than from where i watched it at the standing area next to the pie hut.

Bridey was without doubt our best player, very neat and tidy on the ball, comfortable with either foot under pressure, always finds himself space and time and rarely wastes the ball whilst always showing for it and has a great engine - hes a player! He will have no trouble finding a team next season. I dont get to see many games as i myself play on a saturday but i didnt think the standard was great, although the wind undoubtedly played its part in ruining the game as a spectacle.

Danny is a centre midfielder, not a winger. You cant expect him to beat their full back in a 1v1 and whip in a dangerous delivery if hes never did it during his development. His game is all about getting in a central midfield area and shoving it wide to build an attack, not driving at the full back and doing a stepover to beat an opponent and give us delivery. I know thats Gibsons spot and Danny was just played there today as Gibson is currently injured/suspended.

Thought Mickey gave an honest performance. By no means pretty, but he gave 100% commitment and thats what we will be counting on in the short term ie next season. Managed to get his body in the way a few times, although never comfortable with the ball at his feet and lacked pace against players who have been playing at this level for longer than him. I mentioned that the jump from south division to 2nd division is massive a couple of weeks ago, I wasnt Lying. Some players adapt to playing at a higher level better than others, time well tell.

Stuart did quite well, can see him making a lot of first team appearances next season.

Boob - liked the banner, you've got sfc at your heart - great to see.

Bedtime, Forza Blues

This post has been edited by wee_man: Feb 8 2009, 04:30 AM

[Remi Blue]

[quote name='wee_man' date='Feb 8 2009, 04:19 AM' post='51669']
IDanny is a centre midfielder, not a winger. You cant expect him to beat their full back in a 1v1 and whip in a dangerous delivery if hes never did it during his development. His game is all about getting in a central midfield area and shoving it wide to build an attack, not driving at the full back and doing a stepover to beat an opponent and give us delivery. I know thats Gibsons spot and Danny was just played there today as Gibson is currently injured/suspended.

I agree with most of your post wee man, but not re Danny. I may be wrong, but I thought his time at Northampton was as right back/wing back and would completely agree with that as being his most productve role. I don't feel he offers a huge deal in centre mid, but his engine and pace are qualities that the right hand side of the team does not possess currently (Banjo! and Gibson.) As for Gibson, I have been really disappointed with him this season - never gets by a man to the bye line and any balls he puts in have been poor at any game I have seen. Looking to next season, with a McColm/Murdoch front line being more than likely, if we could get Danny re-accustomed to the wide role, I would expect to see him at least getting some supply to the front lads from a more dangerous position than any service this season has provided. I suppose this all depends on how competitive the team would be in the Third (a certainty, unfortunately), but out wide is definitely where I would prefer to see him being used. Mind you, witht he cloth having to be cut sensibly from now on, it may be that Knoxie won't have any other options than Danny in the centre, we will see.

Glad to see you have the Blues at heart though. I wish there were more in the Toon like you.

[che]

Well Wee Man, looking from the stand we were amazed at the penalty decision did not see too many Brechin players appeal got us of to a bad start. Agree with your comments about players moving up the leagues,Mickey will not face too many better strikers than Brechin's, but with the financial state of the club, Mickey and the other reserve players have to be given an extended run to prove their worth to the club. For the posters who were not at the game Mickey took a very painful looking kick to the face which it took Walter Cannon some time to patch up, however he carried on bravely and I thought looked more comfortable when moved to the right side of the defense. Club survival remains the main aim.

[exiled blue]

Not a great game yesterday.I din't think it was a penalty,from where I was sitting in the stand it appeared as if the Brchin player tripped over the ball.Keeper could do nothing with the 3rd goal,very well taken by the Brechin player.
I thought the local lads who came in played well enough but will take a bit of time to adjust to the pace of the game at this level.