2008...

Looking back on 2008 it has been something of a mixed year. We started off the new year looking like we could put together a challenge for a play off spot, but two insipid performances against Arbroath and Dumbarton that resulted in one – nil defeats meant that it proved to be too little too late. Nevertheless, the one bright spot was the introduction of Robert Love to the first team and he has been a bright star, albeit one that has not had as many opportunities to shine as I certainly had hoped for this season. The new season has been quite unusual. For a period it looked like we were going to stroll to the title, without looking all that impressive if truth be told. In typical John Coughlin style, our defence looked, and continues to look, impenetrable. Up until the last two matches, we had managed to score in every league match which meant that more often than not we were guaranteed at least one point (i.e. the opposition would have to score twice to beat us) Now, we seem to have hit our bad patch that all teams do at least once during the season although the reality is that we haven’t played well for quite some time now but our big lead meant that we have managed to keep our noses in front going in to 2009. How do we turn it around? The back four of Lyle, Smith, Ovenstone and McGroarty seemed to be working a treat, but since Smith regained fitness it’s as if Coughlin is trying to fit Gary Thom anywhere into the team on the basis he doesn’t deserve to be dropped. I think he just needs to bite the bullet and give Gary a rest. No doubt there will be suspensions in the future which means Gary will get plenty opportunities in the future. As for suspensions; we have had too many. Particularly in midfield where key players (Motion and Ferguson) have been missing for periods of time. We need the stability back of a regular midfield quartet and therefore need to cut out the stupid bookings and sending offs. Up front, we need a new striker to play with Dalziel, or to play instead of him if the stories about his injury problems are to be believed. Without the support of Brand the goals have dried up for Dalziel and I feel that we need to have, effectively, a better alternative to Steve Hampshire. I think the next few weeks will be critical for us. We really need to start putting together some decent performances. Another long unbeaten run would potentially be all that is needed to win the title as there is no doubt that this is a very competitive league with almost anyone capable of getting a play off place.

London calling...

Some considerable time has passed since I last posted: having finished my studies and entered the real world, my time has been occupied by moving to London and starting a new job. As such, the distance of my 'commute' to Ochilview has lengthened once again, though I look forward to attempting it sometime early in the New Year.

Fortunately, however, whilst I have 'gone South,' our league form has done nothing of the sort. The defeat at Berwick was forgiveable, if only because there seems to be an unwritten rule that the supposedly rubbish teams always give us our most difficult games - Elgin in October, anyone? Last week's victory over Albion, of course, put us back on track - though having misread a thread on the Fans' Forum, I must confess to being a tad confused when I saw the teamsheets. I was under the impression that - rather than signing for Albion Rovers - Marc McCusker and Marco Andreoni had signed for us. At least they didn't inspire their new side to victory!

After our clash with the Shire, as ever, I was greatly amused by the highlights on ShireTV. Their commentator's latest wheeze seems to have taken the form of a vendetta against Craig McEwan. First he is accused of 'bodychecking' Shire striker Andy Rodgers, then we are told that the referee's failure to award a penalty against him was 'the moment that changed the game': why the commentator thought it was a penalty is anybody's guess. The incident which led to the sending-off of Shire's Paul Hay, meanwhile, is entirely obscured by a 'convenient' camera angle: one can only assume this was because his guilt would have been clear if his actions had been visible.

However, enough of my ranting: despite my occasional jibes at ShireTV's expense, I am always grateful for the opportunity to watch Warriors highlights online. There was a rumour that our recent match at Cowdenbeath was being filmed, possibly with a view to launching an online highlights service for Stenny supporters: we shall have to wait and see. In the meantime, I will look forward to tomorrow's clash with Forfar. The Loons have three ex-Warriors in their squad (Ally Brown, Graham Gibson and Kevin McLeish), two of whom played a part in our victory over East Fife precisely twelve months ago - arguably our finest result of last season. Here's hoping they don't come back to haunt us...

Fantastic Plastic

I read with a degree of disbelief in the Falkirk Herald that we are having trouble getting players in on loan because some clubs are reluctant to let their players come to us because we play on an artificial pitch. While George Peat and his fellow cronies within the game bang on about streamlining the administration and removing the self interest that is undoubtedly rife throughout the various administrative boards, what hope is there for the game when attitudes like this persist? In case these people hadn’t heard, the professional game in Scotland, like most other industries is well and truly goosed. Any sort of innovation which will help sustain the game in this country should be embraced and encouraged, but no, all you hear is how the “plastic pitches” (a misnomer if ever there was one) are not what football should be about – the ball doesn’t bounce properly, the pitch causes injuries, the home team gets an unfair advantage etc. Yet, almost every single club who has installed one of these artificial pitches swears by it. For us, I presume, our revenue must have increased dramatically since the pitch was installed, not just from the ground share with East Stirling, which I presume we would not have entered in to if we still had a grass pitch (who can forget the state the pitch was in the season we shared with Falkirk?), but from the various other activities that take place on the pitch through the week. So, while it won’t be the difference between us challenging Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man Utd etc as the biggest club in the world, it should help us make ends meet.