Looking forward

I, for one, was glad to hear that John would be retained as manager for next season, and equally glad to hear that many of those supporters who had previously sought his sacking are nevertheless willing to back him now that the decision has been made. I am - dare I say it - even slightly optimistic that performances might improve in the remainder of the season, now that the uncertainty has been lifted. One thing is for certain, though: if we are to make the play-offs, we can do without officials like those on show at Montrose last Saturday. There was obviously plenty to criticise about the players' performance, but surely the worst performance on show was that of the linesman who ruled out Kevin Motion's goal. The website report states that two Stenny players were 'interfereing with play'; I can see no evidence of this on the footage, but in any case, since when has encroaching upon our own free-kick taker been deemed a foul?!

Returning to the subject of John's future, however, I was especially interested in the following quote from the Chairman: '...with the financial backing we feel there has maybe been undue expectations on the management team – not in terms of promotion which is a number one aim of the board, but more around the need to use the finances which maybe does not suit the model John would normally adopt.' This is a crucial point. I wonder if there has been a temptation for John to 'splash out' - especially in the January transfer window - on players for whom - whatever their pedigree - we had no great need at the time. Given that John has always tended to be a defensively-minded coach, I am thinking especially of all the attacking players we've signed recently - Iain Diack, Alan Morgan, Andy Ferguson and Andrew Stirling (though I did enjoy watching the latter's contribution to our third goal on Saturday - scant consolation for a poor performance, but excellent footwork nevertheless). Perhaps it is this temptation to sign attacking players which 'does not suit the model John would normally adopt'?

In any case, full marks to both John and the board for admitting where mistakes have been made, and for attempting to learn from them, rather than just giving up. I, for one, would be delighted if we could get ourselves promoted 'a la Berwick 2007' - i.e. on the back of solid defensive performances. Attractive football is always a nice bonus, but the main thing is winning matches.

Which brings me on to tomorrow's game at Shielfield. I was planning to travel up from London for this game, but a friend of mine is moving abroad this weekend so I'm staying down here to see him off. In any case, this is do-or-die time for the play-offs, and somehow I think we might just sneak it.

Fanny Paddery

In these tought times, I realised today maybe things aren't so bad after all. Ian Diack might be bad, but surely he isn't as bad as fans favourite, Paddy Flannery. I passed this Stenhousemuir legend outside the same bakers on Rose Street frequented by another Stenny luminary, the one and only Miller Mathieson. Wonder if he's doing anything tomorrow around 3pm...

Should he stay or should he go

Earlier today the club confirmed that John Coughlin would remain as manager into next season. The dreaded Vote of Confidence. Following on from the humiliating defeat at Montrose on Saturday I was convinced that the time had come for Coughlin to go. To me it appeared that there was something fundamentally wrong at the club. The same problem we have had, it would seem, forever. Why is it that we can, on the face of it, have as good a squad of players as any other club yet we still manage to come up short every season? As usual, in situations like this, the manager becomes public enemy no. 1. Someone is to blame, and he is an easy target (he has of course not done himself any favours with some of his team selections!). Almost without fail, every Stenhousemuir supporter was delighted when Coughlin was appointed. He had a great record at most of his other clubs. So, is sacking Coughlin the answer? Is there really anyone else better than him available to the club? On reflection, probably not, but I think Coughlin can consider himself lucky. To me it appears that he has been treated very well by the club, and the supporters. Don’t forget that his record last season was hardly something to shout about. One thing is for sure though, if we start the next season off slowly then it won’t be long till we are looking for yet another manager.

Manager of the year?

Whilst our form has turned somewhat sour of late - at least until tonight's victory over Albion Rovers - one Stenny hero who nevertheless has good reason to celebrate is our ex-centre back Harry Cairney, who is nearing the end of a remarkably successful season in charge of our Third Division rivals Annan Athletic. Cairney represented the Warriors between 1983 and 1992, making 306 appearances, before moving on for an equally long and successful spell at Brechin City. He began his managerial career with Annan in the 2003-04 season, and returned to the club in 2006 following an unsuccessful spell at Arbroath. Yet when Annan were elected to the SFL at the start of the current season, the challenge facing Cairney was perhaps the greatest of his career.

Annan’s election was a surprise to many, myself included: I felt that Spartans had a strong case, with excellent infrastructure and a relatively strong squad (which at the time included Kevin Motion) already in place – the side had finished as champions of the East of Scotland League. Annan, on the other hand, had finished seventh in the same league, and the club had to put urgent plans into place to bring Galabank up to SFL standards – the work was still ongoing when we visited them in August.

Against that backdrop, Cairney did remarkably well to assemble a squad capable of competing at this level. Of the 25 players in Annan’s first team squad, eleven joined the club last summer. (Most of these players were youngsters with no SFL experience; one of them was Darren Johnstone, whose previous senior career had consisted of around three matches for Stenny in 2003.) They have played their part in an excellent campaign: the side got off to a flying start, and have really hit form again in the last couple of months.

The Third Division manager of the year award is, as such, something of a no-brainer. Sides such as Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton and ourselves were always expected to be in promotion contention, and even the Shire have invested considerable funds in their squad this season. Whoever goes on to win the title, then, the team of the season is undoubtedly Annan Athletic. When the season began I was amongst their many doubters – I expected them to finish rock bottom – but they remain alongside ourselves in playoff contention, and have thus proved me entirely wrong.

In support of the gaffer...

Prior to tonight's last gasp victory at Cliftonhill, I sensed some people might have been starting to lose patience with John. It is, however, important to keep things in perspective - not simply because we won this evening, but because John has, overall, done a very good job since he came to the club. Whatever people say about his motivational abilities, the fact is any group of players on a losing run will look like they've lost heart. It's a blip - a fairly major blip, admittedly, but it doesn't mean John has suddenly become a bad manager.

As it stands, we still have a good chance of making the play-offs, especially after tonight's result. Even if we head into the play-offs on something of a downward spiral, the pressure-cooker type atmosphere of those games means they're a law unto themselves - I'm sure the players we have, with John at the helm, would give a good account of themselves. And if the worst comes to the worst, and we find ourselves in the Third Division again next season, there is certainly nobody better than John to have another go at winning the league. The point I'm making is that nobody stands to gain anything from a change of management. Whatever happens in the remaining matches, I'd be very surprised if the board would consider sacking John, and I hope John himself is equally intent on sticking with it for the long term.

In the 2005-06 season, under John’s stewardship, Berwick had a very similar campaign to ourselves this time around, setting the pace early in the season before falling away during the winter. (The ultimate beneficiaries and eventual champions were of course Cowdenbeath, who took advantage after our own challenge collapsed during April.) The following season, however, after a slow start, John’s Berwick team came good and won a richly-deserved title. In the current situation, then, I remain optimistic about our long-term prospects, precisely because we have John at the helm.

Home straight

It’s been a while since this blog has been updated. General disillusion and depression regarding the team’s performance is to blame I think. However, as we enter the last quarter of the season one way or the other this could get quite exciting. Our form showed some signs of improvement during the recent double header against Cowdenbeath. It was far from perfect but it was certainly a step in the right direction; namely, towards the opposition goal as opposed to side ways or backwards. The introduction of Craig Molloy has been one factor behind this, and the pairing of him with Kevin Motion in the middle in the second Cowden match meant that we enjoyed our best performance for quite some time. Of course all good things must come to an end. It would have been nice if it had lasted more than 3 or 4 days though. The match against The Shire was disappointing for so many reasons, but the fact is that I don’t think any team in this league would have coped with them that day. Until the 4th goal went in I didn’t think we were actually playing that badly, and certainly the introduction of Andy Ferguson up front seemed to give us a real physical presence we haven’t had all season, but at the end of the day we were beaten by a (much) better team. The issue for them is whether they can keep that level of performance up for the rest of the season. If they can then they could win the league. I thought Cowden looked a spent force when we played them. Very similar to our performances over the previous few weeks. Given Cowden’s slump it means that all of a sudden the race for the title is very much back on. Given our poor form of course this shouldn’t really be of concern to us but we certainly have the squad capable of challenging for the title, it is up to them and the manager to get the team performing to the level that they are capable of. Of course, if things continue the way they have since the turn of the year then we need to look over our shoulders. A play off spot is not guaranteed. Forfar in particular look like they could mount a challenge. The ability of most teams to beat anyone in the league means that nothing is decided yet. If Forfar or Albion do go on a run then it means that they are taking points off other teams which could open the way for a team to take the title, if they can go a decent run for the remainder of the season. I have my doubts that it will be us (too many well documented perceived weaknesses in the team) but you never know what is going to happen next. Meanwhile we head north to face bottom dogs Elgin who by all accounts seem to have improved since Ross Jack took charge. I think it will be a tough match but if we can take three points then it could be the kick start we need.

Escapism

The last couple of weeks have been nothing if not frustrating. On the one hand, we have lost ground in the league, and Saturday’s defeat at the Rock meant that we were unable to capitalise on Cowdenbeath’s slip-up. In the Cup, meanwhile, it was infuriating to lose the game to such a ridiculous goal: I watched it several times on Sky Sports that evening, and it looked progressively more bizarre with each viewing. Positive thinker that I am, however, my intention is to put our current trials and tribulations to one side, and to focus on Stenny players of old – specifically Roddy McKenzie and Chris Innes, now team-mates at Livingston. It seems an eternity since either was at Ochilview, so it might come as a surprise to many to hear that neither has yet reached the veteran stage of his career – Roddy is 33 whilst Chris is one year his junior. Innes spent two seasons with us in the late 90s before moving to Kilmarnock for the healthy sun of £45 000, whilst McKenzie’s became an instant legend in November 1995, when his remarkable performance in the shoot-out helped us secure the Challenge Cup. My interest in Livingston’s fortunes is based not only on their ex-Stenny stars, but also on their Italian contingent. I recently spent a year living in Italy, and was thus pleased (if a little bemused) by Angelo Massone’s decision to invest in Scottish football. His ‘grand plan’ seems to have turned a little sour of late, with the sacking of his compatriot Roberto Landi as coach, not to mention the ongoing financial difficulties. I will nevertheless be hoping that Livi recapture the form they showed in Landi’s first few weeks as coach – it would be great to see Roddy and Chris back in the SPL next season. Closer to home, meanwhile, our attentions turn to next week’s clash with Montrose. Whether or not the Diack transfer saga is resolved before Saturday, this game is crucial to our title hopes. Here’s hoping we get back on track…