Robert

We are not good enough to play it out like this. Ridgers kick out straight to Cameron. Lucky escape as he blasted wide. That’s a few times Ridgers has been under pressure trying to pick out a pass. Followed by another decent save by Ridgers when Cameron in on goal. Alloa will feel they should be in front.

Saved by Ridgers again. Just as we seemed to be getting on top.

1-1. Toddy! Picked out by Sutherland and well finished by Toddy.

Could have been 2 down there. Ridgers did well to stop Trouten when one on one.

1 down. Cameron. No one near him when the ball was played across to him. Ridgers had no chance.

Nice comments from the Alloa commentators about the last Wyness Shuffle. Heart in mouth moment there in box but Alloa player booked for a dive. Best from us the shot from Carson after good play by MacGregor but held by keeper at second attempt.

Looks like 4 4 2 with MacGregor and Storey in wide midfield roles. If we are going to play it out from the back we need to pass better than we have so far. Looks like Alloa will press us like Dundee did so hopefully we can keep the ball today.

Thinking about the recent formations, possibly 4 4 2 with Sutherland and Toddy up front rather than 4 2 3 1? We will see soon enough.

Thanks. Just fired the stream up and all good. I never got an e-mail when I asked for a new password, so registered with a different w-mail address. Got the PayPal receipt but nothing from Alloa. Anyway, all good and here’s to three points. Interesting starting line up: Ridgers Duffy B Mckay Deas Harper Welsh Carson Sutherland MacGregor Storey Todorov Subs are C MacKay, Toshney, Devine, Vincent, Allardice, D Mackay and Keatings Devine got a knock on Tuesday so that may be why he is on the bench. Good to see MacGregor back. Toddy up front I assume with Sutherland and Storey wide. Would still like to see how Carson and Allardice pair up in the middle.

Anyone tried to buy the livestream? I have had issues on the website and, whilst I have paid £12, I am not confident everything has worked. I won’t know until closer to kick off. They have changed supplier since our game with them in December.

The problem is that to get money for Keatings, Raith would have needed to buy him in the transfer window. They didn’t make an offer, and he is within his rights to sign a PCA as he is a free agent in the summer. I have no idea whether he got an offer of a new contract or extension from us and it is very possible he wanted to return to the central belt. I doubt there is anything the club could have done, but equally I am sure he will be professional during the remainder of his time with us and try to make as much of an impact as he can.

I can assure you, several glasses have been emptied!!

A positive thought. We have a 100% record in Saturday games in 2021.

Morton and Ayr are playing each other tomorrow, which highlights the need for us to do what we seldom do in the league and beat Alloa.

HT 1-1 FT 1-2 ICT Sutherland Alloa Cameron

20 March confirmed as the date. Uncertainty as to whether it will be an 18 game campaign or 22 with a split after 18.

Tomorrow’s game between Dunfermline and Raith is off due to a Covid case at Dunfermline and the number self isolating as a result. They are unable to fulfil the fixture.

Any thoughts on the FM’s session today? I watched part of it and thought she came across well, and kept her cool. There was logic in the thought processes she outlined, at least in the bits I saw. Time will tell what the Committee comes up with. I am sure politics will play a part. There are 4 SNP members, 2 Conservative (I was extremely unimpressed by the Tory vice convenor!), 1 Labour, 1 Lib Dem and 1 Independent who used to be a Green, so it probably comes down to the Independent.

I was critical last night too and my glass is usually half full. We all want the best for the club, but this season is unique and we hopefully come out of it unscathed and can have a great season when the 2021/22 campaign starts. The forum needs different views and healthy debate.

I know!!!

Assuming we beat Buckie, the County game will be on the weekend of 3/4 April, when we are due to be playing Morton.

This game has been rearranged for Tuesday 16 March. I think that gets us up to date with games, but it also means two games against Raith within 5 days. Seeing the cup thread, presumably we will be at Buckie on 23 March.

I agree, and I was being critical last night watching the game as I want us to do well. Unlike others, I don’t think there is any evidence of players not trying. Last night Dundee had a game plan that pressed us back and didn’t give us space. Due to that we lost the midfield battle and struggled to create anything. That resulted in long balls being played which promptly resulted in us not keeping possession and getting pressed back again. We need to decide who our target man is, if indeed we are playing with one, and then build the team and formation to support that. We’ve had Sutherland, Storey, Todorov and even Keatings playing as lone striker, with mixed success. Sutherland is better up top than out wide, and with our injuries we should use Storey’s pace by playing him wide. Looking at this season compared to last season, I think there are a number of areas we are weaker. I like Duffy and he is developing into an important player for us, but he is not yet as effective as Rooney. We will see more from him next season. We are also missing Walsh and injuries to Doran and McDonald have meant we have had to play players wide who are not naturally wide players (such as Sutherland and Mackay). Dare I say it, we are also missing White, as whilst he got mixed reviews here, he was a nuisance to defenders and was our top scorer. Add to that the injuries, particularly those to Carson, Toshney and Doran, the turmoil behind the scenes with the issues faced by Robbo and Kells, the run of postponements (our form was better before the postponements started than it has been since), the number of youngsters being used (which is a positive in the longer term), of course the pandemic impact and the changes that has brought, and the financial position we are in, not forgetting that many of us on here were already hoping at the start of the season that we would simply have a club at the end of the season, and there is some inevitability that we would struggle to meet our expectations this season. There is still time to go on a run and challenge for a play off place, as Queen of the South have shown, but currently we need to focus on getting points and steering our way out of trouble at the bottom. We have three games ahead that are winnable, but equally we could lose some or all of them. We will know by 2200 next Friday which battle we are in! I agree with Naelifts, now is the time to show our support, not just to the players but to Robbo, Kells and McCann.

Can’t say I’m surprised as he has had issues in the past and the pandemic will have been tough on him, so returning closer to home is understandable. He will probably earn more too. Hopefully we see the best of him for the rest of the season. Is there an up to date list anywhere of who is out of contract when?

I agree. Other than when Storey was through on goal, I don’t recall much from the starting front four. Keatings was lively but Sutherland and Mackay had little impact. We bypassed the midfield first half so Welsh and Allardice could not have any positive impact. Carson made a difference and I’d like to see how we play with him and Allardice as the central pairing. The other difference was the good use Dundee made of wide areas, whereas we were ineffective playing wide other than when Duffy and Harper were rarely able to get forward. Harper played a great cross for our goal, but as we were pinned back we struggled to have any width. What a contrast from the first half hour on Friday.