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...