Start of the Season - Annan Away

[bishbashbosh]

1 hour ago, DWH said:

If we can get money to pay Ferguson's apparently ludicrous salary plus keep us full time, can we not find the money just to get rid of him??

 

He clearly is no manager and is much more likely to lead us into League 2 rather than the Championship....

DWH, not having a pop at you but It’s been said by others on here that this season in league 1, survival would be success. 
The manager leading us to the championship this season I am afraid is pie in the sky.

not sure what a manager can do with young players who may not be ready for this level. We will just have to wait until they hopefully mature, become better players and we get a few games out of them before they are picked off by other clubs.

things may change of course if he gets a couple of quid to spend before the transfer window closes end of august. Maybe get an end of career player like cloughie did at derby when he bought Dave Mackay. 
“Probably the most imaginative, brilliant, inspired thing that Brian Clough ever did was to sign Dave Mackay for Derby County. Probably the most surprising thing that Dave Mackay ever did was in agreeing to join the Rams. The football world was astonished when the man who was already a football legend in two countries threw in his lot with Clough’s developing team at the Baseball Ground in July 1968.”

a famous Scotsman once said you win nothing with kids. It’s up to ours to prove that wrong the way Neville, beckham, scoles, butt, giggs etc did. Obviously us at a lot lower level.

today Falkirk beat Dundee Utd.     St Johnstone scraped through against the mighty Brechin.   East Fife pumped big spending Morton who have signed 9 new players including 2 or 3 of ours.  
 

Our stats from today’s game shows yet again where we fall down. When players cross the line, it’s out of the managers hands, players who train full time should at least be working the goalkeeper.

 

Shots

Annan Athletic 7Inverness CT 10

7

 

 

10

Shots on target

Annan Athletic 4Inverness CT 3

4

 

 

3

Shots off target

Annan Athletic 0Inverness CT 7

0

 

7

[ICTPaisley]

2 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Loooong journey home for our team and fans after a defeat. In fact when did we ever have such a long journey home after losing, must be Stranraer some time last century?

April 2022 v Queens must be in the discussion.

[Robert]

17 minutes ago, ICTPaisley said:

April 2022 v Queens must be in the discussion.

Going off good old Google, the distance between the stadia is:

Stranraer 254

Annan 240

QotS 234

[tm4tj]

 

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Perhaps that we should add that one shot hit the post, one shot hit the crossbar and two were desperate blocks by defenders.

 

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

5 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

 

SPOT FECKIN ON - Very close to what I would have said if I had been interviewed.

[ClickbaitProponent]

4 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Loooong journey home for our team and fans after a defeat. In fact when did we ever have such a long journey home after losing, must be Stranraer some time last century?

There is not many of them so I wouldn't worry. The longer Gardiner stays the less support the club will get.

[ICTPaisley]

25 minutes ago, ClickbaitProponent said:

There is not many of them so I wouldn't worry. The longer Gardiner stays the less support the club will get.

The support is rubbish when he’s not there as well to be honest. It’s a good excuse though.

[STFU]

7 hours ago, ICTPaisley said:

Would that not make him cup tied and therefore unable to play for Queens Park? 

Yes but I'll wager he's still here when the window closes.  No other club willing to match his wages and club unwilling/unable to pay off the difference so he's sitting tight.

[STFU]

If only we had a club record goal scorer in the squad that we could play in an advanced position we might convert a few of these chances being created.

[caley100]

Don't forget friends, Last season we had a honking league cup start to the season with only a win vs Bonnyrigg and Defeats from Dundee, Dumbarton and Airdrie! And with a lot of better players than i feel we have now.

So losing League cup games is quite the norm for us, In fact if you look back the stats we fail to qualify on a frequent basis, Now i'm not saying we should accept today's result with a shrug of the shoulders and think that it's just us, But once again its the worrying trend of poor conversion of chances to goals.

I'll be going along next Saturday to the game and hope that this bunch can click and give us hope for this season.

 

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Newman ***  Rarely tested but looked solid.

Strachan *** Looked raw and needed support of those around him. Not scared of going forward,

Davidson **** Huge improvement in what I have seen before.

Devine **** Gawd do we need to keep him fit

Savage **** Appears to have become some fans boo-boy. On today's performance totally undeserved. Always in space and looking to go forward.

McLeod ***** MOM - first time I have seen him and very, very impressed - Roddy MacGregor +

Gilmour ****Solid as ever

Bray *** Some great touches and full of energy but may be better utilised centrally.

Longstaff *** Ran and ran, some great touches - so left footed - play him wider left.

McKay ** Sorry but he was the weak link today. NOT a forward any more. Our Harry Kane !! 20 30 minute man.

Brooks *** Plenty of pace and energy, Could/should have had a hat trick. Needs big man up beside him, Now if we had Goss we would have options and walked it.

Ref was poor and allowed too many fouls to go unpunished.

Positives - I attended in the belief that this report would be a total slagging. We were the better team, we played the better football and we did not deserve to be beaten, We were quicker going forward, we tried to use width, we tried to hit the bye line. Some of the forward thinking 1-2 touch football was a joy to watch. We worked for 90 minutes. We looked solid at the back.

Negatives - Oh jeez many of our final balls and finishing was shocking. OK we made the chances but blew them all. There were a number of occasions when we played the ball back when there was a forward ball. Some of our support are still in the boo-boy category and lets get rid of the dynasty but lets support those on the field - including Dunc. I bet there will not be many of the blindfolded agreeing with this report. On reflection I actually did want this to be a slagging, ended up pis*ed of with score BUT encouraged by the performance.

 

 

[Eagle4Caley]

27 minutes ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Newman ***  Rarely tested but looked solid.

Strachan *** Looked raw and needed support of those around him. Not scared of going forward,

Davidson **** Huge improvement in what I have seen before.

Devine **** Gawd do we need to keep him fit

Savage **** Appears to have become some fans boo-boy. On today's performance totally undeserved. Always in space and looking to go forward.

McLeod ***** MOM - first time I have seen him and very, very impressed - Roddy MacGregor +

Gilmour ****Solid as ever

Bray *** Some great touches and full of energy but may be better utilised centrally.

Longstaff *** Ran and ran, some great touches - so left footed - play him wider left.

McKay ** Sorry but he was the weak link today. NOT a forward any more. Our Harry Kane !! 20 30 minute man.

Brooks *** Plenty of pace and energy, Could/should have had a hat trick. Needs big man up beside him, Now if we had Goss we would have options and walked it.

Ref was poor and allowed too many fouls to go unpunished.

Positives - I attended in the belief that this report would be a total slagging. We were the better team, we played the better football and we did not deserve to be beaten, We were quicker going forward, we tried to use width, we tried to hit the bye line. Some of the forward thinking 1-2 touch football was a joy to watch. We worked for 90 minutes. We looked solid at the back.

Negatives - Oh jeez many of our final balls and finishing was shocking. OK we made the chances but blew them all. There were a number of occasions when we played the ball back when there was a forward ball. Some of our support are still in the boo-boy category and lets get rid of the dynasty but lets support those on the field - including Dunc. I bet there will not be many of the blindfolded agreeing with this report. On reflection I actually did want this to be a slagging, ended up pis*ed of with score BUT encouraged by the performance.

 

 

Actually sounds quite encouraging.

[Robert]

Thanks for the report IHE.

You have summed the situation up perfectly. As fans we need to separate our thoughts about the club’s situation from how we feel about the players. The players need and deserve our full support and we need to understand that the younger ones may make mistakes whilst they will all be affected by the uncertainty at the club.

I’d heard that Savage was a target at Brora so it’s disappointing to read that it was the same at Annan. He needs our support in the same way as the others do, but it’s good to hear he had a good game. 

[Yngwie]

1 hour ago, caley100 said:

Don't forget friends, Last season we had a honking league cup start to the season with only a win vs Bonnyrigg and Defeats from Dundee, Dumbarton and Airdrie! And with a lot of better players than i feel we have now.

And a better manager too!

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

11 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

And a better manager too!

And CEO ?

[Satan]

All the feeds I had gave our formation as 4 4 2, really surprised at that but surely some mistake? Or are we just one CB short...

[Robert]

31 minutes ago, Satan said:

All the feeds I had gave our formation as 4 4 2, really surprised at that but surely some mistake? Or are we just one CB short...

I saw that but assumed it was lazy reporting by the BBC etc.

Bray and Strachan played as wing backs in the friendlies so I assume that’s where they played yesterday.

Other than the Clach game, where he was in midfield, Davidson played on the right of the back three in the friendlies so I’d be surprised if he, Devine and Savage were not the back three yesterday too.

Edited July 14, 2024 by Robert

[ymip]

We were 5-3-2 with Bray and Strachan as wing backs. Devine, Savage and Davidson three centre backs. Gilmour  McLeod and Longstaff in midfield. Billy and Brookes up front.

I was very impressed with McLeod in midfield. I thought Strachan and Bray did OK too and seemed to gain confidence as the game progressed. Not so impressed with some of our senior players who really should be stamping their authority on a game like this. Gilmour was disappointing for me but not convinced he's fit. Savage continues to slow the play down too much which drives me nuts. He did however go up the park a few times which was a bit more positive. 

We should have won as we had 5 or 6 good chances but unable to capitalise. Same unwillingness to shoot as last season.

Ferguson suggesting he had to hook senior players with 15 to go but I thought this was too much when we were chasing the game.

Least said about Ferguson Jr the better. 

 

 

[bishbashbosh]

12 hours ago, STFU said:

Yes but I'll wager he's still here when the window closes.  No other club willing to match his wages and club unwilling/unable to pay off the difference so he's sitting tight.

Not what I have been hearing. Waiting for queens application to come through and he is gone. 
SFA website
A club wishing to sign a migrant from another UK club must submit an application to the Scottish FA. If the criteria are satisfied, a governing body endorsement will be issued for a maximum of three years in respect of their employment with the new club.

 

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

16 minutes ago, Satan said:

All the feeds I had gave our formation as 4 4 2, really surprised at that but surely some mistake? Or are we just one CB short...

That surprised me too. But it was a 4 and stayed that way. Bray was wide right the whole game Longstaff was more roaming and would have been more effectivewell  wide left - Gilmour and MacLeod were well covering midfield. Billy started as a proper no 9 but he drifted back more and more as the game progressed.

[izzy]

15 hours ago, tm4tj said:

 

Very pleasing start to the season .Great effort and very unlucky not to have come away with a win . 
Well done to all . Looking forward to what’s to come .I must say the welcome we were given by Annan FC was exceptional and looking forward to our next visit in 4 weeks .

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

It may have been as ymip says but Bray was far more advanced than Strachan who also did a lot more defending 

[tm4tj]

13 hours ago, caley100 said:

Don't forget friends, Last season we had a honking league cup start to the season with only a win vs Bonnyrigg and Defeats from Dundee, Dumbarton and Airdrie! And with a lot of better players than i feel we have now.

So losing League cup games is quite the norm for us, In fact if you look back the stats we fail to qualify on a frequent basis, Now i'm not saying we should accept today's result with a shrug of the shoulders and think that it's just us, But once again its the worrying trend of poor conversion of chances to goals.

I'll be going along next Saturday to the game and hope that this bunch can click and give us hope for this season.

 

Jeepers. Have you hired a writer highly skilled in diplomacy and pragmatism. 

[Eagle4Caley]

14 hours ago, Robert said:

Thanks for the report IHE.

You have summed the situation up perfectly. As fans we need to separate our thoughts about the club’s situation from how we feel about the players. The players need and deserve our full support and we need to understand that the younger ones may make mistakes whilst they will all be affected by the uncertainty at the club.

I’d heard that Savage was a target at Brora so it’s disappointing to read that it was the same at Annan. He needs our support in the same way as the others do, but it’s good to hear he had a good game. 

Why oh why do some of our 'fans' feel the ned to barrack certain players. Savage is a decent player at the start of his career and from when I have seen hime he has looked pretty good, quite why, when the club is in a perilous position some feel it necessary to undermine a player who could be key to our survival or progress is beyond me. Liam Polworth got some poor treatment and that I suspect would have helped his decision to leave [and how we have missed him...and Vigurs as creatives in midfield].

Remember if players who play for us were top top players who never made any mistakes they wouldn't be playing for us.

This is a make or break season where our survival hangs by a thread...lets not shoot ourselves in th foot by alienating players