Shyberries

I write this immediately prior to my departure for the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, which I still insist on referring to as such even though it seems to change its name every five minutes. Since I last wrote the season has certainly begun to take shape – we have learnt that Brechin and Livingston are good (no surprise there then), and that Dumbarton are useless (again, not a huge surprise).

 

Our last two matches have each been characterised by comical defending, but whilst two weeks ago it was our defenders who were culpable at Almondvale, last week the tables were turned and we were gifted goals by Dumbarton. I was especially pleased to see Ross Clark restored to the line-up against his former club; he was in danger of becoming something of a forgotten man, but his two goals will certainly have helped him avoid that fate.

The national side have of course also been competing for our attention in recent weeks – whilst the recent double header with the Czexh Republic and Spain yielded nothing in terms of points, it was certainly memorable (whether for good or bad reasons). Levein has taken a lot of stick for his 4-6-0 formation in Prague, and I must confess that – even though my conception of football tactics is more defensively-minded than most – I think he pushed it a bit too far. (Giving ourselves no attacking outlet simply made the defensive work more difficult.) Nevertheless, in view how new he is to the job, and of his excellent track record at club level, I think we have to cut him a bit of slack – he showed against Spain that he is more than capable of learning from his mistakes, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing the 4-6-0 again any time soon. Honourable mentions, also, to Stevie Naismith and David Weir – the former is something of a goal machine just now, whilst the latter defended impeccably in both matches and continues to defy his 40 years.

Closer to home, I am keeping my fingers crossed that today’s trip north will be a more rewarding one than my last (the 2-0 defeat to Ayr in September). Airdrie United are a club for whom I have great respect – their stadium is excellent (certainly a pleasant change after Somerset Park), and they are building on a great footballing heritage in Airdrie. That said, I confess to being surprised at their relative suceess this season – with a squad of relative unknowns I had expected them to struggle. Jimmy Boyle has done a great job with them, however, so we will certainly have to be on our guard this afternoon…

Talking tactics

I made the long trip up from London to Ayr for last week’s match - the first one I’ve seen this season. Unfortunately, as the old adage goes, it’s a long journey home after a defeat, and that was a particularly sore one. I think the word is ‘frustrating’ - put simply, the game was clearly there for the taking if only we had played to our potential.

What lessons can we take forward into today’s game with East Fife? On the defensive side - despite a couple of individual errors for which we cannot legislate - I actually thought we looked reasonably solid. In normal circumstances I would prefer a back four to a back three, but given that a back three seems to give us greater stability (especially in view of the fact that we no longer have Tiger to protect the defence) - perhaps a that is the way forward.

On the attacking side, Ayr was just a bad day at the office. Obviously we are missing Williams and Lynch, but with the likes of Dalziel, Quinn and Anderson in the team, plus Murray and Magic coming off the bench, we should have created far more opportunities than we did. For future weeks, though, the key question is how to fit two wingers into the line-up if we’re using a back three - Murray has been left on the bench since this formation was introduced two weeks ago, but in the long term I’m sure most would agree we need him back in the side. Personally I would like to see us line up in a 3-4-3 formation, with one ‘out and out’ striker supported by two wingers.

In a few minutes time we’ll see whether Coughlinho agrees!

Stenny fan in 'not hating Falkirk' shock

Here’s something you won’t hear very often on this website. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a wave of benevolence, but there is definitely some sense in which I am feeling less antipathy towards Falkirk than usual.

It might have something to do with their being managed by Steven Pressley, or – as I prefer to call him – God. With his inspirational performances down the years for Hearts and Scotland, he was always a player whom it was genuinely difficult not to admire. Perhaps I’m just finding it difficult to mentally process the fact that he truly is managing Falkirk – I confess to being momentarily confused the other night when I saw pictures of him celebrating his current side’s Cup victory over his beloved Jambos.

Another factor may well be that – in the opening weeks of the season – they came up against two sides for whom I reserve greater venom, namely Dunfermline and Stirling Albion. I still bear something of a grudge against Dunfermline after last season’s Cup debacle – put simply, if you break the rules you should be thrown out of the competition, none of this replay nonsense. (I was especially irked by the fact that Jim Leishman fronted their appeal, despite the fact that he had – apparently - been overheard admitting Calum Woods’ ineligibility an hour before the original game.) As for Stirling, on the other hand, they are an intrinsically pointless institution - there is little more to be said.

I suppose the best hope is that Pressley moves on to bigger and better things, Stirling return to their natural habitat in the lower realms of the SFL, and Jim Leishman ceases to be so annoying. Then, perhaps, normal service (i.e. hating Falkirk) will be resumed…

'Progress' report...

Our progress so far this season might be described, at best, as 'mixed' - and even that would be pushing it. After positive performances in our opening two league matches and - lest we forget - the demolition of Dundee in the Challenge Cup, surely one of the best Warriors perforamnces since the glory days of 1995, things have regressed considerably. We go into this afternoon's match at Dumbarton on the back of five consecutive defeats (three in the league, one in the Challenge Cup and one in the Stirlingshire Cup).

Let us focus first on the positives. Over the years we have developed the habit of signing strikers of considerable pedigree, only to see them flounder once at Ochilview - Paddy Flannery, Murray McDowell or Craig O'Reilly anyone? Fortunately it appears that Alex Williams will not be falling into that particular trap - he has lived up to his reputation as a quality striker, and all Warriors fans will be hoping he returns to fitness as quickly as possible.

Our problems, however, lie in defence. A nunber of our recent defeats (most notable those against Alloa and Peterhead) have been defined by individual errors, and it is becoming ever clearer that the defenders are struggling without the protection which last season was offered to them by Craig Molloy, sitting in front of the back four. Last week's defeat to Dumbarton was something of an anomaly in this respect - their goal was more attributable to the skill of Derek Carcary than to any shortcomings of our own - and judging from the highlights we actually played pretty well over the piece. Hopefully we can take that forward into this afternoon's match with Forfar.

On a different note, it would be remiss of me not to mention the success which ex-Stenny star David Templeton has been enjoying. I have been extremely impressed with his form for Hearts this season, and he throuoghly deserved his recent call-up to the Scotland under-21 squad. I was particularly fond of his goal against Hamilton the other week, which had 'Made in Stenhousemuir' written all over it: he capitalised on an uncharacteristic mistake from Simon Mensing - another ex-Warrior currently thriving in the SPL - before firing home past Tomas Cerny. Whilst our present players might have a fair distance to go before any of them can emulate Templeton, here's hoping that we recover swiftly from our current troubles...

Pass me my vuvuzela

In all my many years following the Warriors, I can scarcely recall such excitement in respect of a new season. The summer months have seen us hogging the limelight with an array of impressive and attack-minded signings: for me, the highlight was Alex Williams’ arrival. On one level, his goalscoring record over the years speaks for itself; on another level entirely, he will undoubtedly have endeared himself to Stenny supporters by turning down an offer from Stirling Albion (his alma mater, and a club currently paying a highly uncharacteristic visit to the First Division) to join up at Ochilview. Yet at the same time, my reaction to all this has been one of puzzlement - Coughlinho has, after all, built a reputation as a highly successful coach of defensively-minded teams. Why this sudden change of philosophy? It’s almost like Arsene Wenger (or – to quote an example from closer to home – Des McKeown) instructing his players to settle for a one-nil victory and shut up shop. I am more than happy to trust John’s judgement – and if the new style pays dividends then it will be most welcome; I simply find it surprising. And I do have one reservation – the loss of midfield dynamo Craig Molloy. It has been suggested that last season’s excellent defensive record might be attributed – at least in part – to the ‘defensive’ work performed higher up the park. Notwithstanding his loss of form in the latter part of last season, ‘Tiger’ was the great protagonist in that respect. Our new midfield is packed with talented players, but they are mostly attack-minded. I might not win many friends for saying this, but as things stand just now, I would have been tempted to sacrifice one of our many forwards if this had enabled us to hold onto Molloy. But that is all water under the bridge: now is the time to look forward to the season ahead. Readers might be forgiven for thinking that I too have changed my philosophy: this blog has traditionally been a bastion of optimism, yet here I am worrying about our midfield and hankering after Craig Molloy. To redress the balance, then, let me state that- whilst this post highlights a couple of minor concerns – I am certainly not immune to the growing wave of Stenny-optimism. The squad is – on balance – significantly stronger than last year, and by extension, the strongest that we have had for many years (since last year’s squad was itself our strongest for a while). As such I will stick my neck out and say I think we can finish (wait for it)… THIRD, behind Brechin and Livingston. And – at the other end of the spectrum – even if hell freezes over we should still finish ahead of Airdrie United, who are likely to be hindered by their lack of any players over the age of about 14. On that note, let the long journey begin.

Alphabet games

Whilst not exactly screaming from the rooftops, the majority of Warriors supporters will probably be quietly contented with our recent progress. Though our league position is not yet the healthiest, we appear to have turned a corner in terms of form. And securing our passage through to the Fourth Round of the increasingly bizarrely named 'Active Nation Scottish Cup' is, of course, a welcome bonus.

In the midst of all this optimism, then, it might come as a surprise to learn that - in the League at least - we are seemingly incapable of beating teams beginning with any letter other than 'A'. Of our four league victories this season, two have been against Alloa and two against Arbroath. Unfortunately, however, before our next meeting with Arbroath on 16 January, we face five clashes against teams beginning with other letters.

This is, of course, partly the fault of the SFL, who, back in July - with their decision to relegate Livingston to the Third Division, thus handing Airdrie United a First Division spot for this season - reduced the number of teams beginning with 'A' in our league, by the not inconsiderable margin of 33%. Whilst that may be a cross we have to bear, we really do need to break the hoodoo tomorrow. The Clyde game will not be easy - they have a capable new coach in one-time Stenny assistant John McCormack - but this is still a great chance for us to pull clear of the danger zone.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the recent off-field developments at the club. The long-standing plan to become a Community Interest Company (CIC) has finally come to fruition, and looks set to benefit the club in a number of ways - safegaurding our future on the one hand, whilst also giving formal recognition to the club's work with the local community. For those readers who are still looking for that last-minute stocking filler, I urge you to follow my lead and buy a share in 'Stenhousemuir FC CIC' - the perfect gift!

Return of the blogger...

It has, for various reasons, been a long time since I posted to this blog - the usual, more regular updates will recommence henceforth. My last post was immediately prior to our victory in the play-off final, and much has happened since then. Over and above the football, of course, everything was put well and truly into perspective during the summer, by the tragic deaths of Gordon Lennon and Paul McGrillen, two former Stenny favourites. My thoughts remain with both sets of families and friends, as I'm sure do those of all readers.

As for matters on the pitch, the opening weeks of the season have been nothing but varied. After a flying start, we now find ourselves at the wrong end of the table after a run of poor results. Yet there are a number of reasons to be positive - we have shown we can compete well in this league, and with a bit more luck we would undoubtedly have been further up the table.

This was most obviously borne out by last Saturday's derby defeat to Stirling Albion. Unlike many Warriors supporters, I have always tended to regard Stirling as geniune rivals. As such, there was no chance of me missing their first visit to Ochilview since 2001 - hence my 6:30am departure from my London home last Saturday! Whilst the result was ultimately disappointing, the first half display was the best I've seen from any Stenny team for several years. Fingers crossed, therefore, that we can take the positives from defeat, and pick up a few victories in the coming weeks.