Princes of Style

The players enjoyed a terrific win over East Fife on Saturday, but off the park, there was also success for yours truly, with my modelling career getting off to a flying start. Whilst enjoying my pre-match drink in the supporters’ bar at Ochilview, I had the pleasure of being summoned by the chairman, and asked to model the new third kit. Limited though my catwalk experience is, I feel I acquitted myself well, notwithstanding the obvious difficulties of making a football strip look sensible when the cold necessitates wearing about 17 sweaters underneath. (For anyone who was sufficiently dazzled by my appearance, the strip is available from the club at the price of £20 for juniors and £30 for adults!) Then the football started, and the day just kept getting better. We had our backs to the wall at times – as will always be the case against the league leaders – but we defended resolutely, whilst also creating enough chances to merit the victory. Ross Hamilton played an important role, with a sublime through ball to the Prince of Style for the first goal, and a pinpoint cross for the winner, whilst McEwan and Fergie also acquitted themselves especially well. One of the most encouraging things of all, though, was the performance of young left-back Rhys Galloway. He showed composure way beyond his 17 years, and seems to have slotted effortlessly into the first team. His performance is testament to the importance of our youth teams: if they can nurture young talent successfully, the future of the club is bright. Though he no longer occupies the manager’s chair, Campbell Money’s continuing work with the youths should not be forgotten. The long journey home to Blackpool always goes quicker with three points in the bag, and on this occasion, light entertainment was provided on board the train by a group of Celtic fans discussing their team’s dismal performance against Hibs. They would devote around 15 minutes to each player in turn, before arriving at the general conclusion that all were ‘inadequate,’ or words to that effect. Our own fortunes, just now, could hardly be more different, and the Stenny contingent down here in Blackpool will be enjoying a happy Christmas.

Ho Ho Ho

I don't think I would have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. Quite how John Coughlin has done it I don't know, but from the depths of the Cup exit at the hands of Pub Team United, to a victory against the runaway league leaders in a matter of weeks; some might say it's a miracle. From memory, I think 10 of the team that beat East Fife this afternoon were part of the shamefaced team sent packing by Threave Rovers last month. I hadn't seen the games against Montrose and Stranraer, but there were signs of encouragement in the performances against The Shire and Dumbarton, but this afternoons performance was such a huge leap in term of skill level, commitment and effort. Faced with the constant bombardment of Fife corners, free kicks and general punts up the park, we would have wilted in previous weeks, and who knows it, maybe even shipped 7 goals in 45 minutes. But I can honestly say that when we went 2-1 up I didn't think we were going to lose it. In actual fact the closest Fife came to an equaliser was when three or four of our defenders took an eternity to clear a ball that was crawling along our goal line. They were unable to break us down and in the end resorted to lumping the ball into our box aimed at their lumbering oafs. I actually wonder if we had played without a keeper this afternoon whether the score would have been any different. East Fife couldn't get close enough to him to see if he was any good or not and he appeared to be under strict instructions to stay rooted to his line as balls were lobbed into our box. We have obviously left it too late to challenge for the title, but based on this afternoon's performance and result, we ought to be capable of getting a play off spot. I have always thought that we had some good players at the club, and now we seem to have a manager who is able to get the best out of them. So my view on today's team (it's been a while since I could face rating each players performance!) Brown - had little to do. Could probably have come off his line for one or two of the 325 corners East Fife won but I guess he would have had to negotiate quite a few bulky figures in red and white before he could even get out of his 6 yard box; and in any case, Lennon and Gilbride coped manfully. McEwan - fantastic going forward in the 1st half, and fantastic defending in the 2nd. Galloway - didn't look out of place despite his tender years. He really looks a good player. Lennon - brilliant. I knew he was good, but not that good. I hadn't realised players were allowed to play with springs in their boots. Gilbride - lost the moniker "bombscare" today. He was excellent. Persistently got ahead of his man to nip Fife attacks in the bub and was generally very composed. Tyrell- he is a different player. Plays with more urgency than he ever has done, rarely gives the ball away and most amazing of all, has unlocked the mystery of the forward pass. Loved his goading of the Shire reject Stewart at the end aswell, although the ref did him a favour not giving him a 2nd yellow - would have been worth it though. Lyle - fantastic. My MOM. Has he always been that fast? His goal was without doubt the best one I have seen of ours this season. He kept going for the whole 90 minutes and generally was all over the park. Brilliant. Ferguson - fantastic aswell. I wonder if things would have been so bad if he had been around during the early part of the season. Another player who gets around the park well, and also has a great touch on him. Some of the first time passing in the 1st half was stupendous. Dempster - can't help feeling he is struggling to reach the heights of last season and I wonder if that trialist who played today signs on if Dempster will lose his place. Having said that, he played ok today. Hampshire - a better performance from him, but I still expect more. He really should have scored with the free header in the box just after our equialiser. Hamilton - a different player from the one at the start of the season. Cracking run to set up Lyle for the opener. He generally didn't stop from 1st minute to last. So overall, for the first time in ages, I am enjoying being a Stenhousemuir fan again. As for East Fife, they looked good, but not any better than us. They couldn't break us down playing the ball on the deck and resorted to high balls into our box, which rarely threatened. They will win the league, but if we play like we did today, we should close the gap by the end of the season. Merry Christmas!!

Philosophically speaking...

For the first time since John Coughlin stepped into Campbell Money's shoes, I will be making the long trip to Ochilview on Saturday. I am looking forward to this match for a number of reasons: will we get to see Willie McCulloch swing the bar one last time? Will the pie shop be selling mince pies? Will the East Fife fans be dressed up as Santa Claus?

Unexpectedly, though, recent events have led me to look forward to the action on the park as well. A game against this East Fife side is a difficult task at the best of times, but who'd have thought we'd be going into the game on the back of 3 wins in the last 4 outings? The recent upturn in fortunes is testament, first and foremost, to John's undoubted talents as a manager, but also, in no small measure, to the inherent unpredictability of the beautiful game.

We football fans are a fickle bunch. Back in October, many of us were forecasting one of the worst seasons on record, yet now we are looking towards the play-offs. In my time as a Stenny supporter, I've often defined our performance in extreme terms. Whilst I've always given enthusiastic support to the players on the park, there have been times when even modest success seemed unachievable. The flip side of the coin, of course, is that at other times, the team seemed almost to have an aura of invicibility about it.

In either case, my predictions have tended to be inaccurate. Whatever happened in 2005-6, when we couldn't *possibly* fail to win the title, yet somehow managed to finish behind both Cowdenbeath and Berwick? How about in 1998, when our relegation on the final day was nothing short of a catastrophe? It was a catatsrophe at the time, of course, but we came back stronger the following year.

The fact is that lurching from glory to disaster, and back again, is what being a football fan is all about. And, however much it might seem otherwise, this is not a uniquely Stenhousemuir phenomenon. The turbulent nature of the last couple of seasons has made me more philosophical about our progress, and I'm enjoying the football more as a result. I'm a more committed fan than ever before, but perhaps one with a better sense of perspective. If we lose, never doubt that we will bounce back next week. And if we win - well, why miss an opportunity to celebrate?

Full Circle

A trip to Stranraer, such as awaits the Warriors on Saturday, is not just any old away trip. It is, for one thing, a monumental journey which is at least as treacherous as that undertaken by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. More importantly, though, it was at Stranraer that I first saw the Warriors in the flesh, way back in 1995, at the tender age of nine.

That fateful day produced a 2-1 defeat, thanks to a wicked deflection one minute from time, but I was hooked. Eight days later, more to the point, the result at Stair Park had paled into insignificance, buried in the reflected glory of 5 November 1995. The victory over Dundee United in the Challenge Cup Final was the crowning moment in the club's history.

Never again, I thought, would a team be so heroic. Never again could a group 11 players capture the imagination in quite the same way. Twelve years later, and only one group has come close - the national team of 2007. After years of suffering, Scotland have proved that we deserve a place at Europe's top table. For once, it is not only Scots who genuinely believe that the Finals will be poorer without us.

And yet we find ourselves managerless once again. As the SFA put their proverbial thinking caps on, names such as George Burley or Craig Levein will hopefully be uppermost in their minds - both would be excellent candidates. To any non-Stenny fans reading this, though, please forgive me for hoping that John Coughlin has to wait until next time; as evidenced by recent results, John is the man to take Stenhousemuir forward.

By all accounts, recent matches have seen the long-awaited return of two crucial characteristics: against Forfar, flambouyance and fluency; against Dumbarton, reslience and determination. Last week's defeat at Montrose brought us back down to earth, but the 'Gable Endies' are a quality side who, a few short weeks ago, would have beaten us much more convincingly. So as we await this Saturday's visit to the place where (for me at least) it all began, here's hoping that, unlike in 1995, we leave Stranraer with a positive result.

Odd

Having had to make do with Blackberry updates last weekend, I witnessed my first victory since the opening day of the season on Saturday and despite the fact that the performance wasn’t necessarily a classic, there are clear signs that the team is moving in the right direction under John Coughlin. In previous home matches, once the opposition drew level that would have been the indication for the floodgates to be opened. But we now seem to have a degree of solidity about us. When we went 2-1 up I couldn’t see Dumbarton getting back in to it, and in the end we held on comfortably. The players now seem confident enough to take the ball and pass it. For (short) periods of the game on Saturday we actually passed the ball about well and maintained possession for longer than it takes you to blink your eyes. A dramatic improvement. The team are still a million miles away from being what you would probably call “good”, but in this league you don’t actually have to be brilliant. The general standard is poor. It would seem that East Fife are head and shoulders above the competition, with everyone else being much of a muchness. I think the encouraging signs for us must be that we do have some decent players in the squad and if Coughlin can get them playing to anything like their potential (Ross Hamilton has been excellent since he got back into the starting line up) then we should be able to challenge for a play off space; comfortably. Big challenge though coming up when we play the top 3 in the space of the next 3 weeks so it will be interesting to see how far we have come.

Over and out

I suppose that the defeat at Hampden last weekend to Italy which finally ended Scotland's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 ought not to have been a surprise. Following UEFA's (unwritten) rule, BIG TEAMS MUST QUALIFY, it really should have been expected that if Italy couldn't get the better of us on the pitch then the referee could be expected to do his thing. How else can anyone explain the decision to award the foul to Italy that lead to the winning goal. Or for that matter, the fact that 30 seconds earlier the officials missed another blatant foul when Gary Naysmith was body checked as he ran past his Italian marker. Both decisions were outrageous and indefensible. OK, Italy had a goal disallowed, which should have been awarded, but decisions like that are made regularly and as most people know, tend to even themselves out over time. So you take the rough with the smooth. Officials are human, so make mistakes. But what was it that the officials saw on Saturday that made them decide not to award free kicks to Scotland. Decisions that ultimately lost us the match. As far as I'm concerned it the BIG TEAMS MUST QUALIFY rule; or something more sinister. And if you don't believe the BIG TEAMS MUST QUALIFY rule, and want more evidence then I give you England and Russia. England 2-0 down at half time are awarded what can only be described as a "soft" penalty to get back in to the game. Fortunately, they were so incompetent that despite this leg up from the officials they still managed to lose. However, UEFA aren't so daft. Knowing England couldn't guarantee that they would deliver their side of the bargain, it turns out that the referee in Andorra does his best to ensure England's safe passage by sending off one of the Russians. Fortunately, despite UEFA's best efforts, England didn't make it, but as far as I'm concerned this is the exception that proves the rule. It's back to the mundanity of following Stenhousemuir this weekend, although for me I'm off on my travels again. Bristol City v Leicester City. A hastily rearranged match against Forfar, without consulting with me, means that once again I will miss a home match, but as ever my thoughts will be at Ochilview.

Technical Difficulties

This evening I watched highlights of Saturday's draw with the Shire. How, you might ask, did I manage that, down here in deepest Cambridgeshire? At this point I must confess that, so strong was my desire to catch some footage, I couldn't resist signing up for 'Shire TV' (only a free trial period, you understand...). The opportunity to watch the highlights was, of course, much appreciated, but it quickly became evident that Shire TV differs from other broadcasters in a number of ways.

For one thing, John Dempster's opener is not shown, due to so-called 'technical difficulties'. Fair enough, I thought at the time - maybe it's just our bad luck that it was the Stenny goal, rather than Joe Savage's equaliser, that they missed. Subsequently, though, it began to seem as if the camera only ever pointed at the end Shire were attacking. Don't say it too loud, but it's almost as if they don't like Stenny all that much.

To be fair to the good people at Shire TV, I should clarify that they are providing an excellent service for their supporters, and I don't actually suspect them of fabricating their 'technical difficulties'. It would just have made a better story if they did. In reality, they even showed a couple of Stenny attacks, so I shouldn't complain. Especially since, in previous weeks, two attacks per match was about as much as we were getting anyway.

In all seriousness, though, on the basis of the little that I did see, our defence looks strong and well-organised, which certianly has not always been the case this season. The majority of the highlights consisted of Stenny defending crosses, and the marking was first-rate. Ally Brown, moreover, made a couple of excellent saves, and it will be interesting to see whether he keeps the gloves once Hillcoat is fit again.

Next week, of course, the Warriors have a break, and attention switches to the Scotland v Italy match. My recent experience of living in Italy has, if anything, strengthened my desire to see a Scotland victory on Saturday, and I'm looking forward to the match with my customary optimism. A victory, and qualification for Euro 2008 from a seemingly impossible group, would surely represent the greates achievement in our footballing history. Here's hoping glorious failure is a thing of the past.

Ouch

That was a sore one. For about the first time this season in the league we totally dominated a game. It really felt as if it was just a matter of time before we would finally take one of our chances (in fact having a shot at goal would have been a good start - the number of times we worked ourselves into an excellent shooting position only to choose the wrong option i.e. passing it to an Albion defender was ridiculous) What I didn’t expect was that one of the hopeful punts up the park by Albion would actually result in a goal. I suppose it is just an indication of the way things are going at the moment that that is exactly what happened. Okay, this week’s Rovers were only slightly better than last week’s version, but nevertheless the signs were encouraging. We had a goalie who came for cross balls and caught them, we had a defence that looked solid (most of the time), a midfield who could pass the ball (provided it was nowhere near the opposition goal) and a strike force who, well, did their best. Coughlin’s teams at Berwick were all capable of passing the ball well, coupled with its fair share of players who could “tackle” and it looks like he is trying the same here. We have the players, but it is so obvious that they have no confidence whatsoever. Nobody is brave enough to shoot, despite in many cases having a clear path to goal. But, despite the positives to be taken from the game, we have now played two teams who are as bad as we are likely to face all season (surely) and we have lost them both! We really need to start winning, but once we do, I feel a lot more confident about our prospects than I did a few weeks, even one week, ago. As for the team itself: Brown - looked decent goalie. He didn’t have (m)any saves to make but took cross balls well and generally looked like he knew what he was doing. McEwan - he played in the manner he had done at the start of the season. Fully committed in the tackle and prepared to get up and down the wing. Why has he not been playing like that for the last 2 or 3 months? Dillon - hmmm, injured early on but I’m not convinced he is a left back. One of the players I think who is really suffering from a lack of confidence. Lennon - excellent. Very fast, even though he was injured, and composed on the ball. We have an excellent surface, it is about time we had some players who can play on it? Gilbride - for a centre half he is not the strongest in the challenge. I suspect that once McCulloch returns he can expect to be ousted. Not sure we would extend his loan beyond January. Lyle - just pass the ball, Willie. Menzies - thought he was poor yesterday, but given the crap we have had to endure so far this season he is one player who I think has at least given his all to the cause. Hampshire - another major disappointment for me. He was quite ineffective as a lone striker, and even managed to get outshone by Ross Hamilton when he came on. I just expected so much from this guy and he has been such a let down. Dempster - was he playing yesterday? He is not a midfielder. The game just passed him by. However, he is another player who seems to be really struggling at the moment. Hopefully he can get back amongst the goals sometime soon. I wonder if he fits into Coughlin’s long term plans? Tyrell - I thought he was excellent yesterday, relatively. He always give his best, and there is no doubt that it is not because of him that we are in this pickle. His passing as ever lets him down, but if we could get someone into the middle of the park with a bit of creativity, it would make such a huge difference. Speaking of creativity… McLaughlin - what a disappointment. Yesterday he was awful. The chief culprit when it came to misplaced passes and an inability to shoot when presented with a clear chance. Like Hampshire, he is one of the players who should be able to deliver so much more to the team than he does. As for the subs, Ross Hamilton actually played quite well, in between tripping over the odd blade of “grass”, or his own feet, or if he got close enough to it, the ball. Missed a cracking chance in the first half. I thought Murdoch was excellent in the 5 minutes or so he was on the park. Surely he has done enough to get a start next week. He is actually quite spring heeled. And Andy Thomson was the other sub. So all in all, I’m not as despondent as I was this time last week. Bring on The Shire. Ha.

Memories

The result at Threave last week was obviously a catastrophe, but enough has already been said about that, and I doubt I'd be able to add anything new to the debate. The very notion of a match at Castle Douglas, though, reminded me of our last trip there, when another catastrophe befell us. Not a footballing catastrophe, clearly, since back in December 1999, we were capable of beating Threave 7-1 without breaking sweat. No, the catastrophe was in the field of catering. On what was perhaps the coldest day in world history, the pie shop ran out of tea. In this context, two things were sustaining the 13-year old Rob. The first was, of course, the football, with Stenny looking extremely comfortable, and Martin Mooney playing especially well. Not only that, though, but I had also resolved that, at full time, I would approach Alan Lawrence to ask for his autograph. Notwithstanding the serious lack of tea, therefore, the exciting prospect of meeting the then Stenny captain was just about sufficient to prevent me from succumbing to hypothermia. At full time, the plan was swiftly put into action, with one small hitch. It had not occurred to the 13-year old Rob that the Stenny skipper, as he ran off the park, would probably not be carrying a pen. Were it not for the timely intervention of Sandy Reid, himself equipped with a pen, yours truly would not, perhaps, have created the most favourable impression on his idol. Why, you might ask, am I telling you all this? The reason is simply that talking about the football, just now, tends to lead to negativity. And there has been too much negativity around this club lately. For all our current troubles, I am not about to add a further dose of pessimism. As I write this, I'm keeping up to date with the closing stages of the Albion game via Sky Sports, and whatever happens in the closing minutes this afternoon, I will continue to look forward with optimism. Now that John Coughlin is in charge, every Warriors fan should do the same. He will, of course, need time, but his past record tells us all we need to know. Things, as they say, can only get better...

My worst, most embarrasing 90 minutes as a Stenhousemuir supporter

It’s a long way to Castle Douglas and an even longer way home after watching our latest crop of imposters. I travelled down thinking that we would get a morale boosting victory and hopefully kick start the season but when I look back on things, I think the 5-0 defeat to The Shire was eclipsed by that result yesterday. Threave, were, and are, utterly hopeless. They play in a league where their match the previous week was called off because the opposition couldn’t field enough players. And our lot of arrogant wannabes obviously thought all they had to do was turn up and stroll in to the next round. This is the same group of players who have routinely this season embarrassed themselves and the club time after time with quite inept performances. Well this one took the biscuit. Okay, the keeper was badly at fault at the goal but at the end of the day it shouldn’t have mattered; it should only have been a consololation. So while it wasn’t necessarily his fault that we lost, it didn’t help. Come back John Hillcoat, all is forgiven. Threave were there to be ripped apart but we just didn’t have the wherewithal to break them down. We seemed to have two tactics. Get the ball to either of the 2 full backs to lob the ball into their keepers arms, or try and walk the ball through the packed defence. Option 2 can work if you try and pass the ball to one of your own players when you get to the edge of the box, rather than straight to one of the opposition defence, or if the players you are going to pass to actually move about and make it difficult for the defence to mark them. I don’t think we once managed to get the ball behind their defence for one of our forwards (sorry, our forward) to run on to. An absolute disgrace. And here’s a novel idea, after you’ve made a pass, why not make a run instead of standing watching the pass? Too many of the players were anonymous. Steve Hampshire came with a glowing reputation, but yesterday he simply looked like he couldn’t be arsed. I’m sure he is getting paid a decent wage. Are the club allowed to restrict payment for non-performance? John Dillon looks like he is petrified to take possession of the ball. No wonder, as no sooner does he have it than he is passing the ball straight to an opposition player. When you are playing a top class side who don’t give you time or space to make a pass, you can understand this, but it was Threave bloody Rovers. Captain Marvel – perhaps if he concentrated on playing football instead of disputing every decision or encouraging the referee to book the opposition players he might actually have a chance of living up to his reputation. Yesterday he was just embarrassing. Brian McLaughlin – at least he put a good shift in but when he is playing with a team of statues, it makes it difficult to do anything creative. I could go on and on, but it is just depressing. The players have had chance after chance to do something about this. Presumably Coughlin realises what he has walked in to. I am really worried about where this club is going. We seem to be timing our run to become the worst team in Scottish senior (ha, that’s a laugh) football just as talk of a pyramid structure takes off.

Take Cough

So the word on the street, well the internet forums, is that John Coughlin is to become our new manager, which I think will be a good move from our perspective. His teams at Berwick in particular have always been impressive, despite eschewing the so called big name signings. He seemed to build well organised sides that were motivated to succeed despite appearing, on paper, to be weaker than most other teams in our league. Of course we tried to take half his team last season and failed miserably. Hopefully this will not be repeated once his (inevitable) appointment has been confirmed. He will have his work cut out as we are a team at an all time low, in my time watching Stenhousemuir at least. There is a complete lack of confidence in the team, together with a shortage of ability and depth to the squad. What exactly Money thought he was doing going into the season with only one goalkeeper is beyond me. Scott Johnstone might well be a good shot stopper, but he is just too short. I can't help feeling that the 1st goal we lost on Saturday against Elgin was down to his inability to command his goalmouth. If we hadn't lost that goal who knows, we may actually have gone on, well maybe not to win, but to at least avoid defeat. In any case there was an element of killing time about the game on Saturday. There was an unusual atmosphere, as if we were just spinning our wheels waiting for the new manager to come along and make everything OK! So now we have got the 1st quarter of the season out of the way, we have a couple of weeks off, we have a new man in charge (almost), so we can come back after the international break, motivated and encouraged to succeed and before you know it we might actually overtake The Shire!

Roll on...

I have to say that I was pleased to hear the news on Saturday evening. I am not referring here to Campbell Money's resignation as manager - I think we all guessed that would be on the cards after that afternoon's result - but rather to his decision to stay on as Head of Youth Development. Whatever the rights and wrongs of his managerial reign, Campbell has done terrific work with the youths, and I had worried about what would happen to this aspect if he were to depart as manager. The news that his work with the youths will continue is, as such, a terrific boost, especially in these difficult times.

It is only natural, of course, that attention will turn to Campbell's successor. Such decisions are, by definition, difficult for the board. The new manager will need something more than just a good track record, as history has proved that a good track record is no guarantee of success.

One basic decision is whether to go for a manager with experience in the senior ranks, or to recruit a first-time manager or an up-and-coming coach from the juniors. To me, of course, the only names which spring to mind are those with league experience - John Connolly was terrific at QOS, ditto Jim Chapman at Albion Rovers and Joe Miller at Clyde. Or dare I suggest Gordon Wylde, currently working wonders with the Shire?

On the other hand, the club may be able to identify a less well-known candidate; great managers often come from unexpected sourcers. In any case, the board are supporters just like the rest of us, and I am confident that they will identify the right man.

It is important to remind ourselves of one thing: this season should not be a write-off. We do have quality players here; clearly players who haven't been performing to their capabilities, but talented players nevertheless. This means that the potential for immediate improvement is there. However disenheartened we may feel after recent results, managing Stenhousemuir is far from an impossible job. From where I'm standing, the new man is in for an exciting challenge, and I look forward to supporting him, whoever he may be.

Spent Money

These are worrying times being a Stenhousemuir fan. I thought that the appointment of Campbell Money would work out just fine. I didn't necessarily think that all of his signings were great players but when you assessed his squad there was enough quality in there, if not to challenge for the title, then at least to get a play off place - comfortably. Even now, when you look at it there are decent players there - e.g. McCulloch, Smith, McEwan, Ferguson, Dempster, Hampshire. So where did it go wrong? Personally, I have absolutely no idea! And that is the problem. It seems when players who we have lauded at other clubs end up at Ochilview they became a bag of nerves. All confidence goes out the window, and no sooner do the opposition look threatening, and our team just crumbles. This isn't a recent phenomonon. Since the start of 2006, following Stenny has been torturous. What is wrong with our club? It's like the problems at Aberdeen, no matter who they signed, who they appointed as manager, there was just something wrong at Pittodrie that meant good players became bad. It's the same here. I don't envy the job of the Board of Directors. For the last two years it has been one disappointment after another. It's too easy to simply sack the manager, and quite often, it just isn't the right thing to do, but when the results are so deflating as they have been recently, it was no surprise that Money had to go, for his sake as much as the clubs. But where do we go now. Who do we replace Money with? What do they do with the squad of players whose morale will be so low? The club has done so much in recent times, really despite the results on the pitch, but now I feel that we are so low it is going to be so difficult to get that motivation back. Are all the new season ticket holders going to want to be associated with a team that gets humped every week? School can be difficult enough without having to bear the pain, and the slaggings, that come with being a Stenhousemuir Nil fan! I just hope that the new man, whoever it is, can at least get the team playing competitively straight away. We will just have to get through the Elgin match and then forget about the last 18 months and come back, after the international break, a proper football team again. Fingers crossed.

Tade & Lyle

Where to begin? There was so much wrong with our team, their tactics and their performance I quite honestly don’t have the time, or the appetite to write it all. (1) For me, the main issue is that I don’t think we created one chance in the whole 90 minutes. This isn’t just Paul Tyrell’s fault; let’s face it, he isn’t in the team because of his creative passing; but the team in general, and the tactics. Why were we playing 4-5-1 exactly? I presume we did this because Money realises that our midfield is the weakest link, as opposed to simply the weak link, and we needed some creativity in there in the shape of Hampshire. Fair enough, but why not play him in there as part of a 4-4-2? If we can’t create anything up front, we aren’t going to do it with one striker, are we? (2) You’d think if Money was good for nothing else, it would be that he could spot a good keeper. Aye right. The only time Hillcoat came off his line was to give the Stranraer fans some verbals and to flick the “V” sign at them. Nice one John. Willie McCulloch or John Hillcoat, ex Brechin reserve keeper? It’s a difficult one isn’t it? I don’t think I have seen him catch a cross ball once. Admittedly, yesterday they were difficult in swinging corners (as opposed to delicate chips into the keepers arms, which we have made our trademark) but you surely expect more from an experienced keeper like him. There’s more to being a goalie than the spectacular diving saves, surely Money must realise that? But what’s the alternative? There isn’t one. (3) The last time I saw us the one saving grace was that our defence was quite solid and was playing with confidence. Where has this confidence gone? As soon as we went one down the back 4, plus the goalie, just crumbled The two full backs, Lyle in particular, were appalling. Persistently mis-hitting passes, with Lyle also being culpable in two of their goals. And remind me why we play a right footed player at left back? (4) After the Arbroath game, the one dramatic change from last season was that the team gave loads of commitment to the cause. We might not have liked Tade’s antics yesterday whenever anyone went near him, but at least he gave his all . Typified when he dived, OK, not for the 1st time, to score with a header from the corner, while our two centre halfs stood back to make his path to the ball as clear as they possibly could. It is just so reminiscent of last season. Different players, but same problems. (5) And finally, who does that wee gnaff Lindsay think he is. When you get subbed you shake the hand of the player going off. You can maybe get away with it if you have had a good game and don’t deserve to be subbed but he was hopeless. I can’t even be bothered to find out what his first name is, as in 6 months time he’ll be lucky if gets a game for the Juniors, never mind Stenhousemuir. I don’t think getting rid of Money at this stage is the answer. We are not going to win the league but we should be good enough for a play off position, and given the quality, or lack of, in this division, a decent run of results from January onwards should be enough to get a play off place. So I would be inclined to give Money till early December and reassess then. Although having said that, if there are (m)any more performances like that, he might make the decision for us. East Fife will be quavering in their boots. I am so pissed off I can’t even be bothered to mention the fact that Keogh should have been sent off at the end for his assault on John Dempster, or I wonder if Frank McAvennie had a good day out at the game. I guess he turned up when he heard there was Hen Do in town.

Dumbarton Rocks

What a week to be a Stenhousemuir supporting member of the Tartan Army. The best away win in history; and Scotland win in Paris. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to Dumbarton; oh, how I wish the situation had been reversed and I could have swapped a few days in Paris earlier in the week for a murky Saturday afternoon watching, by all accounts, a scintillating performance by the Warriors! Disappointingly, I have not felt as if I was missing out on much over recent weeks when I have been unable to get to our games. Already there is a pervading sense of doom and gloom about the place. Okay, we beat Dumbarton, but they are hopeless, and we weren’t much better, seems to be the general consensus. I have this horrible feeling that already this season is following the path we went down last year, all of which makes for pretty grim viewing and doesn’t exactly make me excited about spending Saturday afternoons watching Stenhousemuir. Hopefully, my opinion will be different come 4.45pm this coming Saturday when I see for myself exactly how the team is shaping up. I don’t think it will be an easy game. Stranraer are one of those teams that I dread playing against as, probably for no good reason, I always think of them as being a decent team at this level who are difficult to get the better of. They have signed some decent players (eg Gillies, Keogh) but that doesn’t always guarantee success, as we know only too well. However, with Montrose beating East Fife and the wheels coming off The Shire bandwagon, it seems, as ever, that there are no great shakes in this league. Can we take advantage?

McFadulous

Regular readers (!) of my blog will know that the last few weeks have taken me nowhere near the Home of Football, but instead I have been galavanting across the globe (well Prague and Manchester). The last 7 days have taken me to Glasgow and Paris for the final leg of my World Tour. For about 30 minutes last weekend, I thought that the dream was about to be blown apart by the cheating, diving Hearts Reserves team. OK, I know our lot like the odd bit of simulation (looking at you Mr O'Connor) but we are useless at it, so it doesn't seem quite so bad as what those pesky Lithuanians got away with. They really must practice at it to be that good! In the end we played our Get of out Jail card (again) and headed for Gay Paris in high spirits. I was just happy that the dream lasted a little longer, and OK, the French were going to wreak revenge on us following the game at Hampden when the ballboys had stolen vistory from the illustrious visitors. So, I headed off to Paris to complete my "Stenhousemuir-free" football watching extravangza. Expections = very low. But it turned out that the highlight of the trip wasn't the bars before and after the game; for once the match itself was the highlight. So many times in the past I have travelled away with Scotland, where the fact of the matter is that the game has got in the way of a good piss up. I am still coming to terms with McFadden's goal - didn't it creep past the post? surely someone must have been offside? over zealous French ballboys maybe threw 2 balls on the pitch at the same time? - but it really does seem to be true. The goal stood. We just beat the French - again. And still we haven't qualified for the finals. How does that work?! If you look closely, as the camera pans across the jubilant Scottish support, immediately after the ball hit the back of the net, you can see me jumping about like a loony. But I don't care how idiotic I look, when they re-run the "Greatest Ever Scottish Goal" I'll be able to say I was there, and I'll be able to prove it! Now it's back to normality, and the truth is that I was actually enjoying not thinking about our trip to Dumbarton. Hopefully Campbell Money has used the break to good effect and that the players will be up for it. For me, Dumbarton is a bridge too far, so I will have to make do with Jeff Stellings updates, but hopefully we can round off a fantastic week is style!

O Flower of Scotland

O Flower of Scotland, when will we see your like again? The opening line of the national anthem took on a whole new meaning on Wednesday night: when will we next see a match as wonderful as this? Scotland’s defensive masterclass in Paris was the stuff dreams are made of, but down here in deepest Tuscany, my attempts to find somewhere to watch the game were notably less successful. Every time Scotland play, I resolutely check the listings of every obscure sports channel I can find, in the inevitably vain search for live coverage, before eventually settling for a text commentary on the Internet, accompanied on this occasion by streamed audio coverage from ‘Super Scoreboard’ on Clyde 1. What I hadn’t noticed, though, was the 30-second delay on the audio commentary. When the words ‘GOAL: McFADDEN’ appeared on the screen in front of me, clearly I thought my eyes were deceiving me: I was listening to the radio, and the ball was at the other end of the park with Craig Gordon! Thirty seconds later, alas, I heard the goal for real, and my fellow Internet café users may, at this point, have been a little taken aback by my animated behaviour. At full time I had the widest smile in Siena; I just wished I’d been able to watch the game. Imagine my displeasure, then, when I returned home to discover that the game had been live on Eurosport! My frustration at having missed it was such that, this afternoon, I had no option but to leave work early and watch the repeat broadcast in full. As for the match itself, our victory underlined the importance of a well-structured team. Every Scotland player had a clearly defined role, and every one of them stuck to it: at any level of football, a well-structured team tends to be a winning team. In our recent games Stenny have been found wanting in that regard: I hope we are now able to follow the example set by the national team. We have got plenty of quality, so if our players stick to their roles and do the simple things right, our season will soon be back on track. As Dumbarton attempt to ‘Raise the Rock’ this Saturday, it might just be time for us to turn a corner.

Goals allowed

This weekend's travels took me to Manchester, or to be more precise, Salford, for the Manchester United/ Sunderland match. Keano's not so glorious return to Old Trafford. It is such a different world, not just from Stenhousemuir, but from any other football club. The Superstore was jam packed before the match as Man U fans from all over the world bought their merchandise, including the new kit with the pre-prepared name and number on the back. Amongst the "7 Ronaldo" and "10 Rooney" shirts I searched in vain for one that said "24 Fletcher". He isn't the most popular player down there, but he did actually play well when he made an appearance in the 2nd half. As for the other significant Scot on the pitch, Craig Gordon was outstanding. Next weekend takes me to Hampden so hopefully the good form of these two will continue. All in all I had an enjoyable time, with the one obvious distraction. This weekend normal service was resumed as regards the internet, so I was well up to date with goings on at Ochilview. Our lack of goals isn't an altogether huge surprise to me based on what I have seen so far this season, but our inability to prevent the opposition from sticking the ball in the back of our net is. I was prepared to give Money the benefit of the doubt last season as we slumped to 4th bottom. He spent at least the last quarter giving youngsters a try out so it was no surprise that we lost as often, and by such wide margins, as frequently as we did. However, to see the same thing happening again this season does make me wonder what on earth is wrong with our team. Even if we had Gordon and Fletcher playing for us, I wonder if we would still struggle to actually look like we might mount a promotion challenge. Is it a problem that is endemic within the club? No matter who plays for us, Stenhousemuir will always be facing an uphill battle? Or am I just too pessimistic? It seemed that there were encouraging signs at the start of the season. The team wasn't perfect but there was something to work on. However, in the space of two weeks, we now appear to be as bad as ever and maybe we should be thankful Elgin are in the league, otherwise I fear we could be heading for rock bottom. Two home games, no goals, 7 against is not a good sign. Campbell has a lot of work to do.

Unlucky for some

OK, so Saturday really just wasn't my day. After travelling around 1400 miles to Ochilview for the first time in a year, a 3-0 derby defeat wasn't exactly what the doctor ordered. I had arrived (hadn't we all?) in hope and expectation of a home win. But maybe I should have known: long before I touched down at Prestwick, the early signs seemed to suggest that this was not to be my day.

I have had a number of unfortunate travelling companions at one time or another, but never before have I been stuck on a plane with a group of 50 moderately insane pensioners from Verona. Evidently somebody has taken it upon him/herself to organise annual trips for people who meet the above description, and this year, they were heading for Dundee. After spending 2 hours making a vain attempt at interpreting between Veronese and Glaswegian, I hurried off the aircraft, leaving my Dad's birthday present in the overhead locker. Perhaps I should have realised, there and then, that my luck had deserted me.

A few seasons ago I used to think I was a lucky mascot at home matches. I had my fair share of disappointments on away trips, but my trips to Ochilview tended to coincide with handsome victories, even at the most unlikely of times. Clearly this wore off a while ago, 2004 to be precise, but I've tried to find other ways of bringing the boys luck; I'm sure I can't be the only superstitious supporter around here...?

On Saturday, I went for last season's away shirt. Previously I had only worn it at one match; a 5-0 win against Montrose. Foolproof, I thought. Or not. It turned out to be no better the last 'lucky shirt' I had: the yellow and blue one from 2004-5. Back in the 90s, I thought, yellow and blue had brought us luck - Dundee in the Challenge Cup quarter-final, for example - surely the new version would do the same? That particular illusion, as I recall, came crashing down in the 7-0 defeat at Gretna.

All the same, the fact that my return to Ochilview was memorable for all the wrong reasons is, surely, a case of bad luck. Don't get me wrong, we were beaten deservedly on Saturday, but isn't it a cruel twist of fortune that I happened to be home that weekend, rather than any other? Because I, for one, am sure that none of our future performances will resemble that one.

Every team has an off-day, and Saturday was ours. In my attempt to find the positive elements in any defeat, I am tempted to suggest that Bucket put in an admirable shift, and did not deserve some of the criticism directed at him. Clearly he's not a silky player, but nor should we expect him to be: his workrate was refreshing, and should serve as an example to all. More to the point, though, I am not about to lose faith with the rest of the squad, and I fully expect them to bounce back with a victory tomorrow. I spoke briefly to Campbell in the bar last week: understandably he was less than happy, but he saw what went wrong, and I am sure he knows how to put it right. I am looking forward to watching the season unfold, and the Shire are not going to change that.

Savage Blow

I arríved in Prague at 3.15 on Saturday afternoon, and the first thing I did was switch on my mobile: once I was in the terminal building, of course. One down, but still loads of time to equalise and then ram home 4 or 5 in the 2nd half. Checked 5 minutes later to see if we had equalised. Disaster: internet access issues. It took a text message from a friend in Portugal, to me in Prague, to let me know that Homer had struck again at Ochilview. 2 down at half time. I guessed that that was that, and headed off to the Slavia Prague: Brno match. It cost me £2 to get in. A beer cost me 25p. The match programme was free and the big sausage thing was only 50p. The whole experience was a bit surreal. For my paltry entrance fee I got a decent game of football which Slavia won one:nil, but also thrown in was the obligatory police brutality and one of the most unusual sights I have ever seen at a football game. The 100 or so Brno fans at the other end of the ground stripped off their top halfs, and then spread themselves around the away end before starting some quite weird synchronised keep fit routine, complete with star jumps. As for Smicer, he was subbed. Maybe Campbell Money should invite him back to the UK to help out our flagging midfield. I got back to the hotel and quickly checked ceefax to see if we had pulled off a miraculous fightback. The TV signal was not the best so the text on the screen was a bit scrambled but it was possible to guess at most of the scores. As for our game, both team names were missing from the screen and the only clue as to what the final result might have been was "Savage 87". My worst fear. This time last year we lost 5-0 in the most embarrassing performance I have ever seen from a Stenhousemuir team. We then went on to have a completely forgettable season. Hopefully this is not the sign of things to come. Last season we lost too many games at home, with quite insipid performances, but Money was given the benefit of the doubt on the basis that it was not "his team". It is now very much his team, and for everyones sake I hope this is just a minor blip and that we will get back to winning ways next week. Otherwise, I think we all know what will happen next. Another dismal season like last season would seriously hamper all the good work the club has done attracting young fans to the club and generally improving the general atmosphere about the place. It had better not all be in vain, for Campbell, and the players sakes.

Il tifoso italiano...

Over the years I have grown used to following the Warriors from a distance, but over the last year, living in Italy rather than England has made things more difficult than usual. This coming Saturday will be my first trip to Ochilview for 12 months, and this realisation prompted me to reflect on my football experiences during that time. It has been a turbulent year in Italian football; last summer’s match-fixing scandal was followed by a burst of hooligan activity reminiscent of England in the late 1980s. The image of the game has only really been kept afloat by the reflected glory of last summer’s World Cup win, so much so that Materazzi’s now-legendary headbutt seems to feature on Italian TV at least five times each evening. Their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, of course, hasn’t been quite so flawless; it was a pleasure to see Scotland leading the group for most of the year. Our defeat to the Italians in March has left things looking slightly less rosy, but somehow I still believe we will capitalise on the complacency in the Italian camp. My local side out here, AC Siena, are a sort of Italian version of Gretna: the minnows who play in black and white, and just don’t sound like they belong in the top flight. The only difference is that I do not become annoyed at the mere mention of Siena’s name, whereas the same cannot be said for Gretna. Oh, and Siena are not captained by Chris Innes. In any case, enough of this Italian nonsense. When I was watching Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the line for Inter against Siena, I’d much rather have been watching John Dempster. When I saw Esteban Cambiasso running onto the pitch, I’d happily have swapped him for Paul Tyrrell. This weekend, of course, I’m also looking forward to seeing all the new faces, with a great sense of anticipation. Judging from a distance, there are many reasons to be cheerful: Steven Hampshire is a proven striker, John Dillon always impressed me when playing against us, and we all know what Ross Hamilton has to offer when he’s at his best. I admit that, as last season drew to a close, I thought we would have problems in the transfer market. We had finished the season badly, and I thought this would make it difficult for Campbell to attract quality players. I am delighted to see how wrong I was. Campbell’s strategy seems entirely sensible: the squad is quite small, with backup provided by our excellent youths. The fact that we’re not signing players to sit on the sidelines means we can afford proven talent, despite hardly being Gretna in terms of finances. Quality rather than quantity is the way forward. So this Saturday I will be at Ochilview; I then fly back to Italy to complete the last 3 weeks of my job, most probably also taking in Siena’s games against Roma and Milan. But Serie A just doesn’t quite do it for me. Bring on the Shire!

Season so far

To use that well worn footballing cliche, if, at the start of the season, you had offered Campbell Money 7 points from three matches he would have bitten your hand off. So far, we have demonstrated an element of solidity throughout the team that was not there at all last season. We have won games that last season we would have lost. Having said that, not everything in the garden is rosy. When did we last go on a cup run of any description? Even the Stirlingshire Cup is beyond us. While our elimination at the hands of Colin Brown down in Berwick was unfortunate, we were well and truly gubbed by Tartan Franchise MkII the midweek just past. This game was a bit of an eye opener. Franchise FC are only one league above us, but the ability of their players to control the ball, pass it, move around, not even too swiftly, collect the return pass and then shoot, and sometimes on target, was startling when compared to, in particular, our lumbering midfield. Is it any wonder that we have resorted to long range passes (punts?), bypassing our midfield maestros? Although credit to our permatan centre half Jamie Smith who does seem to be an excellent proponent of this particular activity. I wasn't at the game today but over on Pie & Bovril, it seems that we actually played decently, passing the ball about well. I can't believe Albion will be anywhere near the top 4 this season, but any point away from home this season will be a bonus; and we now have 4. Disappointingly, Willie McCulloch's new cohorts set the pace at the top. I couldn't even cling to the delight that their injury time winner had brought my coupon home, as 10 man Dumbarton had minutes earlier scuppered that hope, so it was a double blow to hear East Fife had triumphed so late in the game. So, my first little post comes to a conclusion. The intention is that after each match, these posts will provide some sort of insight into how the team is performing, who is playing well, and who is playing badly etc etc. But, as luck would have it, for me anyway, the next two matches I watch will be in Prague and Manchester, so I can look forward to seeing how Vladimir Smicer is enjoying life back home, and how Russell Anderson deals with the Manchester United 2nd choice strike force. But of course I'd much rather be at Ochilview!