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.