We started the weekend with a home  game at Derek's Berwick, who were sitting bottom of the table ,but we know they are better than that,they opted for a 3-4-3 normal as we went for a 4-3-3 normal, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but defences on top for the 1st half ,2nd half subs on and we broke the deadlock on 68 minutes when Hale fired home 1-0,from then on defences ruled and closed the game out as we edged the shot count 10 to 6,well played Derek. 

Next we travelled to Steve's table topping Alloa Athletic, a quality side who are going really well this season,they opted for a 4-2-4 early ball as we went for a 4-3-3 normal, they started quickly and opened the scoring on 8 minutes when Kong headed home 1-0 and he drilled home his 2nd on 42 minutes 2-0,half time came and subs on ,both sides pushing on looking for that opening  and they sealed the game on 78 minutes when Gentles slotted home 3-0 as they outplayed us for periods and outshot us 8 to 4,well played Steve .

So a 3 point weekend sees us sit 11th.

Falkirk had an indifferent weekend results wise. We started with league leaders Cove Rangers at home. An excellent end to end game finished in a five three victory. The first half ended four three ahead after twice being behind. We confirmed victory in the 79th minute though Gilmour, his second of the match. Johnston also scored twice and was awarded the man of the match. The second game was away at Airdrieonians. At halftime it was goalless and we didn't see the poor second half display coming. We conceded four times before a late consolation goal two minutes from time. A shocking four one defeat. We do though remain in sixth position, the last playoff place. 

This weekends league session saw EDI record a 2-0 away win at AYR and followed that with a 0-0 home draw with PET. The resulting four points kept EDI in 6th place in what is turning into a very competitive battle for the promotion and play-off positions in Division 2.

Next up  is a SESL Cup game versus ANN which will cause the manager a few headaches concerning balancing EL's between League demands and Cup hopes. The expectation is that EDI will try to put out a decent starting line-up but not at the expense of the following important League games ahead next weekend.

As SESL heads into the final quarter of the season....... it is still all to play for.

Two more wins keep us top of Division 3 and, with only second place Partick Thistle also getting two wins the gaps to 5th and 7th place increase.

The game against Inverness was a little annoying as we couldn't make our dominance against their managerless team count as Cooper kept the game scoreless at half time. Substitutes had to come on to secure the win. Donnelly had a quiet game so it was up to the wingers again with Fuller getting two and Kong the other in a 3-0 win. It could have been much more but for Cooper who made 12 saves.

Things went better against Ross as we took an early lead so no need to tactical substitutions. With Donnelly and Fuller on the bench they didn't get a chance to improve on their respective Boot competitions. Instead it was Kong with 2 and future star, Gentles with the 3rd in another 3-0 win.

Still looking excellent in two of the end-od-season awards, a chance on two more (I'm amused to see Forfar with 3 if the top 4 squibs) and even an outside chance on fair play and maybe over-achievers though no real idea on the latter.

On Wednesday we play Hearts in the SESL Cup. We are very slightly stronger in T11 but do I allow this to distract us? Morrison will need to rest in one of the next three games but we can win the cup game.

Dumbarton have hit the skids and it is a slippery slope. Since the end of the SESL Cup Group stages, things have not gone so well. It could be said that this turn in fortune coincided with certain comments about facing junk but that would be too easy of a get out. Quite simply, the results are down to bad management.

An away day at FRA where the home team were well rested and second top of the Division - well that was easy - DUM rest up and take a beating. Which was coming anyway.

Then a home to the all conquering MOT. Having rested and being at home it was T11 all the way. That equates to 80% SL used - not sure if MOT have faced that level this season. I could check... Anyway, some chat about marking a WG but the truth is DUM got beaten by 4 saves to 1.

The thing about playing 80% SL is that it takes up a lot of EL and next up was a trip to see my mate Ricky at STE. 49% SL v 47% SL. Not an exibition match and a narrow defeat by one goal to nil. GD is still in the positive.

Then a home game to East Lothian's finest, LIV who had just played out a thriller with HEA. 44% SL v 41% SL produced 5 goals but the 77% SL they brought to the Rock produced nothing. Zilch. Hee Haw. Nada. (That's plenty Jack...)

Well, all that has resulted in DUM slipping back into the myre but panic not. DUM were even lower down the table not so long ago. Indeed the only thing that kept DUM off spot 16 was that fabulous GD.

Next up, a rest* from the League and a Cup game against follow Division 1 strugglers - NAI. My mate Ricardo. Should be a friendly encounter.

*not the EL kind of rest

Queen’s Park had a slow starting SESL Cup campaign which eventually cost us in the end. At the start of the SESL Cup group phase we were a very drained team. We have a small squad and we needed to bring in some new recruits as young academy products Harry Sweeny and Victor Campenaerts joined the team and immediately were starting in the SESL Cup. The first two games of the cup campaign were bad losses of 4-0 to Stirling and 2-0 to Dumbarton as we tried to get some of our best players some rest. Starting with the third game we were able to field a strong lineup and came out of there with a 3-2 victory over Cowdenbeath. Our next game was a conservative 0-0 draw against Queen of the South getting us to 4 points in the group. We had a good chance of going through with a win and that was what we got in our final game against Greenock Morton but while we had good control of the match at 2-0 in the 60th minute we went into a stall and these conservative tactics from the manager proved costly when maybe we should have pressed our advantage. We ended up out of the next round on goal difference as Queen of the South pipped us in the group to 4th with GD of -2 to our -3. So close…

Returning the league play the team could have let the disappointment get to them but the lads did a great job with a tough two away game week at Stirling and Montrose getting us two valuable away draws as we sit at 7th in the table now just 2 points outside of a playoff place that we will fight hard to get at the end of the season.

Motherwell took their 11 match win streak into the weekend ready to return to the league and ready to take on the hardest stretch of league schedule. Hearts (H) and Dumbarton (A) on the weekend, and then Annan Athletic (H), Dundee (A), and Fraserburgh (H). Winning the home matches would be especially important, and the stretch of DEE and FRA back-to-back will be a serious opportunity to either nearly seal up the league or let one/both sides back into the race.

But first, the task at hand. Motherwell welcomed Hearts as the Well were hoping to do the double over HEA for the first time in recent memory. Motherwell lined up 'C' vs 'L' in what surely stood for "Clunky." However, Motherwell were still at home, where they have yet to lose a match and only drew once in the cup. That home form continued as Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Ray Wylie Hubbard were on target early, opening up a 2-0 lead. The visitors would pull one back before halftime, but that was as close as they would get. Guy Clark ended up finishing things off with a swcond half brace. And HEA could only manage a consolation goal in the 89th minute. Not the best tactical performance from the Well, but being well rested, at home, and against a slightly tired HEA, they just had too much to be beat. 3 points in the bag while FRA keep pace with a big win over DUM and DEE stumble with a home draw against ANN ('C' vs 'S', the ultimate nightmare for any counterattacking team).

Next up was a trip to DUM, and this one looked juicy. DUM had their T-11 available to them, and the two sides looked evenly matched. Shot % was 7 to 6.1, so this one would come down to which goalkeeper and which shooters would have their day. Nearly straight off the kickoff, it was superstar Ray Wylie Hubbard who pounced first. The visitors up after 2 minutes! It would only get worse for the home supporters, as Jerry Jeff Walker doubled the advantage in the 17th minute. From there...not q lot fo chances. Merle Haggard was equal to all 4 shots on target he faced, and Motherwell only ended up with one more shot. Big 2 goal away victory, but Motherwell were probably lucky to win without any nerves. The big tactical play of this match was marking WG Jamie Hamilton with a T-11 quality defender. Clearly manager Foss-Grant stole this from Steve at ALO, but it seemed to work quite well nonetheless. Motherwell continue their win streak to 13 matches across all competitions, and 10 matches in the lrague. FRA go down to ANN, and the lead at the top grows to 10 points.

Big weeks ahead, as MOT now only need 9 wins from the last 12 to guarantee the title. They can do even worse than that if some of those wins are over DEE and FRA. But, certainly now is not the time to overlook ANN, who just took 4 points off those two and have already beaten MOT this season...

Eduard, you keep beating yourself up - bemoaning g dropped points v ANN and looking for the sack. 
This will be the same Eduard who has managed to go through the last 12 games undefeated. 🙄🙄

Do you actually want sacked, are you looking for a change of team (there would be a queue for DEE), or is this bluster so we sympathise with you. A poll maybe with the result being acted upon.. 😂😂😂😂

It is tempting just to re-post the last league week’s journal entry as the Fifers once again endure a poor weekend, with just one point from our two league matches.

Our first Saturday game was against Clyde, equal with us on points, and we remained equal on points after this meeting.  There was little to report from the first half but we took the lead early in the second after an Adam Lareef shot took a deflection that left Clyde’s keeper Yann Sommer helpless.  With fifteen minutes left, we were holding our lead and getting optimistic about three valuable points, but a brilliant solo effort from Ian McCall undid us and we had to be content with one point.

Which is more than we got from our visit to Arbroath.  We were not outclassed here, in fact we outshot our hosts, but (not for the first time this season) there was a significant difference in the keepers.  Arbroath scored four times from six shots, we scored just once from ten, and that an effort from Aan Trouten (pictured) which was probably offside.

We have now dropped to 14th in the table but still have a chance of avoiding relegation as we are only four points behind eighth place.  This Saturday we’ll face Abion Rovers and Hibernian – both matches we are capable of winning.

With the recent acquisitions of WG Nicolas Kuhn and WG Marley Redfern, Manager Bushby feels that the squad will now have more flexibility when it comes to tactics and also pose more of an attacking threat, something he feels has been lacking at times this season.

It remains to be seen whether this slight change of direction will be successful during the remainder of this season but if it does bear fruit then recruitment for next season will certainly see a slight change of emphasis and EDI will certainly look to build on that.

The hard truths about our beloved football squad (since 2024)

DEE's going down!!!

MAYBE(!) not this season. The Blues might JUST grind out the necessary points to avoid relegation.
But DEFINITELY next season - unless we get rid of you-know-who!!! 

Prime example: DEE vs ANN, a visit from the dead last!
Strange enough that the Blues can only produce 5 shots, even stranger that none of our so-called shooters can produce a single goal.
Even our new "star striker" OConnor failed TWICE - a clear waste of our hard-earned cash (We've told you so already!).
End result: a disastrous scoreless draw!!!
Given that our offensive can't get much better (and more expensive!), this can clearly be only one guy's responsibilty!
Lack of competence (the coach!) simply results in lack of confidence (the players) - and Dundee can't even win THIS match!

Just compare this to Dundee's cup performance.
Quite obviously the assistant coach takes over in the cup matches - and has delivered THREE consecutive trophy wins!!!
Not a SINGLE lost tie in the last FIFTEEN knockout stages!
It's clearly NOT the team, it's clearly the coaching.

Do we REALLY need ANY more arguments to ...
Sack this guy!

(written with hardly any SRA bias at all -Ed)

If there was ever any doubt that the SESL exists solely to showcase Stranraer’s footballing majesty, Matchday 34 put that to rest quicker than an Elgin defender facing Xian Carbon. The boys in blue dismantled Elgin City 5–1 in what can only be described as a travelling circus of goals – and the clowns were all wearing Elgin shirts.

Elgin dared to take the lead through Olly McDonald in the 42nd minute, but that only served as a polite wake-up call for Stranraer’s goal avalanche. From then on, it was like watching a cat toy with a very confused mouse. Xian Carbon equalised almost instantly, and Ser Richer Shakest (a name surely forged in the fires of destiny) got in on the act with a calm strike. By the second half, it was a conga line of Stranraer scorers – Everett, Prendel, and a double from the gloriously named Mondo Polestar – leaving Elgin begging for the final whistle like a puppy at dinnertime.

Elsewhere, teams without the privilege of being Stranraer floundered about. League leaders Motherwell did win 2–0 against Dumbarton thanks to Ray Wylie Hubbard’s country-music-themed finishing, but who cares? Fraserburgh, second in the table, were handily smacked 3–1 by Annan, proving that relying on one Ferran Torres is a recipe for sadness.

Clyde and Livingston also picked up wins, but frankly, no one’s talking about them because they don’t have Ser Richer Shakest. Even Hearts managed to collapse at home, 0–4 to Stenhousemuir, who must have borrowed some of Stranraer’s swagger for the evening.

The table still shows Motherwell out in front with 45 points, but Stranraer’s swashbuckling performance keeps them in fifth, breathing down the necks of the timid mortals above. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the league collapses under the weight of sheer entertainment value.

Golden Boot? Ferran Torres still leads with 21, but keep an eye on Shakest – after tonight’s heroics, surely the league will invent a second Golden Boot purely for artistry.

As far as SRA are concerned, the league isn’t a competition anymore. It’s just a long, slow countdown to everyone admitting they’re the main characters.

(Do reporters actually get paid for this dross? -Ed)

Falkirk had an excellent week and somehow managed to finish top of group E. We started with two drawn matches. A three all draw against Arbroath after being three nil down and then an one all draw with Stenhousemuir after conceding late on. We then confirmed qualifying with a seven one demolition of Clydebank. We then made sure of top spot after a three nil victory over Saint Mirren in the final match. We now play Peterhead in the last thirty two. Hopefully we can have another good cup run. 

We started the weekend with a home game against Jame's Montrose, a real solid side who are always hard to break down, we opted for a 4-3-3 normal as they went for a 4-2-4 early ball, we started the quicker and opened the scoring on 2 minutes when Hale powered home his header 1-0 and on 3 minutes Chilvers fired home his low shot 2-0,Montrose slowly played themselves back into the game and pulled one back on 18 minutes when Dessers headed home 2-1,we kept probing and pushing and Ashworth headed home on 24 minutes 3-1,from then on defences ruled and closed the game out as we edged the shot count 8 to 4,well played James. 

Next we travelled to Tyron's East Stirling, another side who we have always struggled against as you never know how they will set up,they opted for a 4-2-4 longball,we started quickly  and opened the scoring on 8 minutes when Henderson deflected home a loose shot 0-1,defences then took control of the 1st half,2nd half subs on ,they started the 2nd half strongly and levelled things up on 53 minutes when Eleney fired home 1-1,but we pushed on and on 83 minutes Loturi slipped through the offside trap and slotted home 1-2,we just edged the shot count 4 to 3 ,well played Tyron.

So a 6 point weekend sees us climb to the dizzy heights of 13th.

"Having said that, Cove are going to get promoted and Steve is doing a great job there." - Cove Rangers lost both games yesterday (yes it looks like they were sorting out EL)

"The players [Berwick] got aren't going to stop [them] getting the wooden spoon or be any use next season." - Berwick Rangers got their first and second wins in the league this season (one was against an NMR team).

Anyway onto Alloa Athletic: we started the day in 3rd place, three points off the lead and ahead of our first opponents on goal difference. Ross is doing a great job at Aberdeen, they have the worst T11/T17 in the league and remember they didn't have the cash to buy CP pre-season. In the past we've always seemed to struggle against Aberdeen, but this was a game we expected to win, especially as we were playing our T11 to start with. It took us a while to get going and they scored first but we scored twice just before half time. Fortunately we made it 3-1 before 60 minutes so we could make a conditional substitution. At this point Aberdeen were matching us shot for shot but we held on to win. Two goals for Donnelly and one for Fuller stregthen our grip on their Boot competitions. With Cove losing to Falkirk and PArtick drawing against Forfar, we moved top on goal difference.

Then it was home to Dunfermline: We were below T11 as player rotation meant the 3rd winger and two of the three weaker defenders. Our opponents are a tricky side to play with three big forwards but very weak goalkeepers. If the shots went to the right players we should win easily but there wasn't a great deal of difference in shot chance. Somehow it was 0-0 at half time with Morrison saving their 3 shots from big forwards, but none our 4 shots not going to Donnelly (he was caught offside twice). We had to bring Fuller on to strengthen our attack. Of course it was Fuller that scored the first goal, but the lead was short lived. We took the lead again through the other winger and made it 3-1 on 77 minutes. Conditional subs again but this time two minutes too late. 4-1 on 79 minutes and it looked like a Captain's bonus was coming our way but Kane pulled one back on 87 minutes. All their 7 shots went to their top three forwards whereas 5 of our 12 shots went to SL 21 Doidge and none to Donnelly.

We stay top as Partick beat Cove to leap above them into 2nd and Aberdeen won to go 3rd. Forfar won partly thanks to an unfortunate NMR from Stirling to increase the gap to 6th place. It's still very tight at the top.

Donnelly now has a six goal lead for the Bronze boot as neither of the two players just below him scored. Fuller has a five goal lead in the Young boot. Donnelly is also joint top of the Man of the Match table and Watson still has a chance of being the Shooting Squib, a table lead by two Forfar players.

Another mixed bag of league results in the latest session saw EDI record a superb 5-0 home victory against COW but that was followed by a tough 3-2 loss away at CEL to give EDI a 3 point weekend and move up to sixth place in the Division 2 table.

Next weekend sees a very similar pair of games with EDI on the road at AYR before a home match versus PET.  A mid-week SESL Cup game follows against ANN which should be very interesting for EDI to say the least and a tough game is anticipated.

Another Saturday and zip points. In fact we are on a roll - prefer bacon or lorne sausage but we are talking points. It is 8 matches since our last win, and that includes 5 SESL Cup group matches where we gained the sum total of 2 points. Okay, that gives me midweeks off till the season end, so not a total loss although the income from a KO game would have been nice. We were mugged in the 88th minute from getting a 2nd round match.

Today we lost to a 70th minute goal v Elgin, their only shot and their keeper saved the 5 we put in. Then away at Clyde we lost 2-0, can't complain there - they had an SL15 lad sent off giving us a glimpse of a point, but on the play result was correct.

Games v Arbroath and East Fife don't look much more promising so frankly we are kicking our heels playing out the final 12 matches in the league - can't win the division, and might yet make the relegation playoffs if we don't watch out - mmm!!

The Fifers were optimistic of qualifying from their SESL Cup group and we duly achieved that, with three wins, a draw and a loss.

The loss was to Albion Rovers, in a game we might easily have won.  We were better in al areas of the outfield, and won the shot count 16-10, but the problem was that there was a big difference in our keepers – Reece Beveridge (pictured) an SL21, George Kittle SL34.  We did manage to score two goals, but Beveridge was beaten four times.  The old boy isn’t really up to it these days, I’m afraid.

Our next two games were against Division 3 opposition – Aberdeen and Dunfermline Athletic.  Both were comfortable wins, 5-0, though the margin of victory was in both cases perhaps a little flattering.  Kieran Millar was on target again, with a hat-trick against Dunfermline.

Then, on Wednesday, we came up against the mighty Dundee.  This was a dead match, in the sense that both teams were already sure of qualification, but we had an MVP to win, so were taking this one a bit seriously. Dundee were taking things easy, with most of their team playing passive, though their reserve keeper was playing dirty.  Dundee started out stalling and we took an early lead, equalised by Dundee on 26 minutes.  But then two quick strikes put as 3-1 ahead.  Not happy at this, Eduard pulled his reserve keeper, and switched to Counterattack.   Now Dundee were more of a threat but we still held a significant shot-count advantage, 19.1% v 7.4%.  Again, Beveridge in goal proved a problem as Dundee pulled one goal back and then, for the last 20 minutes, switched to press.   Now our shot chance soared, 38.3% against 7.5%.  Disappointingly, we only gained six more shots and were unable to beat Gadzhalov, while Dundee found a late equaliser.  We felt robbed, but maybe unreasonably.  We at least wrapped up the MVP.

Our last 32 match will be against Brechin City, which we will start as favourites.  Must remember to keep Beveridge on the bench.

After two defeats to COW and GM, DUMs chances of qualification were hanging on a shooglie peg. The last fixture was against my old mate Roy and STI were already through. A win was required and that's we got.

Interestingly, DUM and STI both finished on 9 points and the top spot was to be decided by the a flip of a coin - I think. On this occassion I was happy to allow my mate Roy to go through as top seed. That's what friends are for.

Both MSA and SESL groups have just passed, so let's take a look at Dundee's propects ...
 
The squad looks in pretty good shape. As usual MSA has been rather kind to the Blues, currently the highest skilled squad pretty much on par with MOT - and still improving.
Some new talent joined, and especially FW OConnor has been a useful addition giving some shooting power and flexibility. No serious needs, but still a decent fixed-deposit account - if needed.

The league campaign is looking solid. #3 and 1.81 PPG are good enough for the 1st half, especially while expecting a usually better 2nd half.
The major problem is already mentioned Motherwell: Unlike last season they are rolling more than solid - while Dundee is missing a couple of xPs.
The result is a huge 10 LP gap, not impossible to close but definitely challenging. 

The cup campaign went much better. 
Defending the CECIL Cup was ultimately successful. Even an ugly draw (facing only strong Div1 sides, starting with FRA in round #1) was no issue.
No qualifier was too stressful, mainly thanks to GK Gadzhalov's performance. Even the final, a rematch vs SRA, turned out more easily than expected, thanks again to Gadzhalov keeping his net clean in a 2-0 match.
The SESL group stage in a rather easy group turned out smooth cruising. Annoyingly the result despite finishing 1st is a R32 vs COV, definitely not the draw you wish for.
Nonetheless, the goal is to win 5 more and defend the SESL Cup, too.

4th match and up against Kevin's Airdrie, always a tough side to play against,they opted for a 4-3-3 normal as we went for a 4-4-2 normal, game on and nothing to choose between the sides in the 1st half as both defences stood firm, 2nd half and much the same but they broke the deadlock on 78 minutes when Gunn fired home 1-0,try as we did we could not find a way back as we were outplayed for periods and outshot 4 to 2,well played Kevin.

Last match in the group stage and a must win game and we were up against Daniel's Annan Athletic, a side with a cracking cup pedigree, they opted for a 5-3-2 stall as we went for a 4-3-3 normal, we started the quicker and Brophy headed home on 3 minutes 0-1,just the start we needed and then on 7 minutes Hale with an amazing diving header 0-2,from then on we defended well and deep ,but we kept pushing on edged the shot count 5 to 0 but could not find another way through the stubborn defence, well played Daniel.

So we finish 4th in our group and progress to the knock out stages.

EDI manage to qualify for the knockout stages of the SESL Cup with two wins in their final two games of the group stages.

Manager Bill Bushby had earlier hinted that while a Cup run would be very welcome to EDI, the league campaign remains paramount and a return to Division 1 is the main aim. Having said that, it currently looks very tough for EDI considering they are only sitting in mid-table and all the teams that are above them appear to be very tough teams and there seems to be few if any straight forward games coming up in the second half of the season.

Nevertheless, EDI are committed to improving as the season continues but with EDI finding it very difficult to find any potential trading partners (for some reason) any chance of bringing in reinforcements are looking extremely unlikely in the coming days.

Nevertheless....Onwards and Upwards.

Motherwell ended the SESL cup group stage on a clean 15 points, able to snag a couple wins on the tail end over an ALO side who were resting players and a BER side that sit 47th in both T-11 and T-17. The ALO win was only in doubt had ALO's SL9 GK stood on his head for 72 minutes, but the finishers for MOT were too lethal. All 4 goals came from shooters that would have had 72-88% chances of scoring on that goalkeeper, so the shot allocation worked out just fine for MOT. 4-0 here in a result that certainly did not bother the losing side. Motherwell then faced BER, and here Motherwell focused on saving up EL for the league matches to come. 44% SL used surely must have been a season low for MOT, but it ended up being just enough. This one probably should have ended 0-0, as both sides only got 2 shots off, but MOT were lucky enough to have their DM Gary Clark Jr score on his shot against the superior BER GK. Result didn't end up mattering for either side, but Motherwell will appreciate continuing the 2nd leg of the MVP. Only mark against the win came with Joe Ely getting himself sent off just 31 minutes in.

Speaking of Joe Ely, that red card would be his last action in a Motherwell kit. He was soon shipped off to PET in a trade that saw meatball of a player Al Bondigas trade out the blue of Peterhead for the Claret and Amber of Motherwell. Motherwell had to pay a pretty penny in cash and resources to get his signature, but manager Foss-Grant was confident that he would slot right in and represent the future of the Motherwell midfield for a couple seasons to come. Also signing on to a future at Motherwell was a speedy youngster WG, BB King. The 0/8 WG signing came also at a steep cost, but will represent a huge boost to MOT's OFF stats for seasons to come. This signing starts the refresh at the WG position for MOT, as ageing Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Jerry Jeff Walker have been stalwarts at the position for seasons on end.

The SESL Cup groups are over and we finished in 3rd place after three wins then two losses. I though 3rd might be better than 2nd as it looked like Hearts would finish 3rd but just about anything was possible. As it happens we play Hearts. Not that that worries me as it's unlikely that we'd win the SESL Cup. 

With Morrison on EL 10 it works out well as he can play the next 4 league games, rest against Hearts and then 9 of the final 10 league games - crucial if we are to get an unexpected promotion.

SESL Cup no more - thanks to being mugged in the last minute by PET. Not sour grapes - only needed a draw but decided not to close up the game and it rebounded on me. 
PET will now face FAL next - and will fancy their chances - good luck there. 
We would have liked to have one KO match - income if nothing else - but at least I can estimate the income we can earn before season end - 3rd division sides won't be getting any of my cash this season...😉😉💰💰

Jimmy O'Rourke still injured - completely messed my season. Can't look at him playing again till a week on Saturday 🙁

SESL Cup is proving difficult due to it - possibly going out today - just making it a painful season as we slip down the division. Can't buy at auctions or trades - needing the cash for next season's CPs. Limping along - but got a cruise coming up so not all bad news. 😂😂

EDI said farewell to SW Franco Baresi today as he left to join CLY in a swap deal that sees WG Marley Redfern come to EDI. While the manager was sad to see Franco leave, he did admit to looking forward to the addition of Marley who is a potentially top class WG that will hopefully add some variation to the current EDI forward line and give a much needed boost to our goal threat.

It's the game we've been all waiting for many seasons. But mostly at Albion, the chance to stick to that other team 10-0.   Manager Cooper was asked for his prediction well I don't predict our useless captain will at minimum qualify for a double captain bonus.   When told that wasn't possible he said surely it is we're doing the whole league a favour not letting that other team qualify for ko stages of the cup.   I'd say good luck to Tyron but he knows I didn't not mean it until after the fixture.

Motherwell took care of business in the SESL cup groups with three wins in the first three matches to guarantee a top 3 finish in group F. We had been fortunate with the draw - MOT found themselves in a group with four div 3 sides and a lower than average avaerage T-11/T-17. But, the group is still full of great, experienced managers that could cause MOT a ton of trouble should they choose to/be able to put out first string sides.

First up was a match against Montrose in which Motherwell raced ahead early. The score was 5-0 by the 32nd minute and 7-1 by the 40th, as 6 different MOT MFs, WGs, and FWs got on the scoresheet. Things ended 7-2 in a captains bonus win for the league leaders. Both sides averaged 57% SL, highlighting the strength of MOT's T-17 and the uphill battle MON faced.

Next up was FOR, who needed to train up an apprentice GK in the first half. The hard work of their 45 minute stall was undone by their rookie GK's struggles, and the 3-0 halftime advantage put this one to bed. Both sides scored two in the second half, and the final ended 5-2. Ray Wylie Hubbard completed his hat-trick in the 89th minute, and he earns his captain another bonus SL. FOR played a higher avg SL% than MOT this time, but the SL gulf was too large (especially due to the apprentice GK).

Finally it was EDI, the lone div 2 side in the group. Both sides put out fairly strong lineups, and it was EDI who opened the scoring from their O tactic, firing home their first (and what would be only) shot in the 45th minute. Motherwell used their highest avg SL% so far at 66%, and it turns out they needed every percent. Guy Clark leveled the scores in the 56th minute, and it was Steve Earle who would score the winner 5 minutes later. A late stall preserved the 3 points, and MOT don't get a captain's bonus but do get an MVP.

Very successful run from MOT in the league and cup - now just to fight to make sure we don't let both slip during the second half of the season

Ah well, a bad weekend for us but ill not lose sleep over it. Lack of cover for our best player, Jimmy O'Rourke, has shown us up to have no forward line capable of scoring. His injury isn't so much as a body blow for any cup hopes - we have none, but he is good at make changes in matches he plays in. 

So, accordingly, a 0-0 v Ayr United and a 0-2 v Partick Thistle leaves us possibly not qualifying for the KO section of the CUP.  Maybe not a bad thing as we are not desperate to train up lads and it would save ELs for league matches. Decisions to make as game 4 comes up tomorrow....

We started our cup campaign with a game against Dave's 1st division Hearts,a quality side with a good cup pedigree, they opted for a 4-2-4 longball as we went for a 4-3-3 normal, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but defences on top for the 1st half ,half time came and subs on ,nothing in it as both sides probing for the opening and on 55 minutes a sloppy back pass saw Brophy race in and slot under the onrushing keeper 0-1,and on 72 minutes he raced through and fired home his 2nd 0-2,defences then stood firm, we were outplayed and outshot 3 to 2 but Hamilton in our goal was in outstanding form with 3 saves and won us the game,well played Dave.

Next we were up against Les's Hamilton, another quality side, who always make it hard to play against them,they opted for a 5-2-3 longball as we went for a 4-2-4 longball,game on and they were controlling the game as they dominated possession but we stood firm till half time ,2nd half subs on and our defence was solid up until 70 minutes when Moukoko slipped through and slotted home 1-0,we had no way back as we were outplayed and outshot 7 to 0,only Hamilton in our goal who was in outstanding form with 5 saves kept us in it,well played Les.

Next we were up against Bill's Celtic, another really class side who always do well in the cups ,its in their pedigree, they opted for a 4-2-4 longball as we went for a 4-3-3 normal, another really close exciting encounter with both sides enjoying lots of possession but defences on top, 1st half and both defences stood firm, 2nd half and subs on ,72 minutes and Celtic down to 10 men as Trusty saw red for a deliberate trip,but we could still not find a way through as they edged the shot count 5 to 2 ,but it ended goalless 0-0,points shared, well played Bill.

Falkirk had their best week to date winning all three matches. Last weekend's first league game was at home against mid table Queens Park. We totally dominated the match but the shock was that we converted seven of our ten chances, without a single shot at our goal to win seven nil. We moved up to sixth place and helped our goal difference in the process. The second league game was away at third placed Forfar Athletic. This time we relied on luck and our keeper Gunn. We went one up on 38 minutes though Durie and held on until the 66th minute. We then went to stall on 75 minutes and somehow found the winner four minutes later though Speedie to win two one. In midweek we started our SESL group games with Livingston. We got off to a flyer going three nil up and only conceded late on, to win the match three one. With higher ranked teams in our group getting to the knockout stages would be a great achievement. 

Alloa Athletic are safely through the group stages of the SESL Cup after three wins. With Group C wide open, it's impossible to predict who we would play so I'll probably just concentrate on saving EL for the following four consecutive league games.

First up - the smash and grab that was the Edinburgh game. What can I say? We were very lucky with the way this game went. With Morrison on EL 4, I did think about a 90 minute Stall but the team is too strong for that. So it was Roe in goal, with the condional Morrison on 18 minutes if losing and unconditional substitution on 36 minutes, both going to Early Cross. Donnelly was also on EL 4 so he was condionally coming on after 30 minutes if not winning.

Edinburgh had the best shooting chance throughout the game but only got 4 channces, with 2 of them offside and we got 5. The first bonus was Blackie scoring on 16 minutes (9% chance of not being offside, hitting the target and then scoring). The second as Edinburgh not equalising so Morrison never had to come on. A thoroughly undeserved 3-0 win.

The Edinburgh luck meant that both Morrison and Donnelly could play the full 90 minutes against Montrose. Luckily I hadn't realised who we were playing as I might have changed to Ball Control. Maybe James thought the same as he went for Longball. This time we were much the stronger but it looked like our luck had reversed as on 4 minutes their SL 19 DF scored against our SL 32 GK. At 30 minutes we made a WG sub and were 17.7% to 6.6% in shot chance. But on 33 minutes we wewre 2-0 down with both sides having 3 shots and 1 offdside. Morrison was having a nightmare game. We finally got back into the game, equalising before half time then going 4-2 up before 60 minutes. We'd had 9 unanswered shots, but Klos was in fine form and they pulled one back on 75 minutes. 4 shots and my "superstar" keeper could only save 1 of them. The final 15 minutes were nervy but we held on.

The bank balance is healthy, morale is high (118k for the next game I believe) and the team is very strong. Our unbeaten run of 11 games will probably end on Monday.

With only 3 points from the first 3 games in the SESL Cup group stages so far....EDI will need to win one of the remaining 2 games if we are to progress to the knockout stages of the competition. Those 2 games are versus BER and MON and despite league positions of both of those teams EDI will be expecting competitive games.

Next weekend sees a return to the league campaign where EDI will be hoping to improve their current league position and some personel changes may be in the pipeline.

You can say that again Bill

No.

No.

Ah, MSA!  A time we dread as we watch our hard-earned and carefully-spent CPs vanish at the touch of a button.

But actually, this season MSA has not been too bad for the Fifers and as I write this our T17 is the third best in the game, behind only Dundee and Motherwell.   And looking at our SESL Cup group (B), things are not so bad either.   Three Division 1 teams, and three Division 3, so in theory qualification should be fairly straightforward.

On Wednesday the campaign got under way with a tie against East Stirolingshire.  Four of their players totalled 6SL between them.  Six of their players were single-digit SL.  They stalled, but we wandered into the lead after two minutes through our evergreen captain, Scott Shepherd.  A second from Gregor Nicol took us to a comfortable break but then the Shire dug in and held out until late on, when Nicol (pictured) knocked in his second and Adam Lareef added a fourth goal to give us the perfect start in the cup.

Next up – Albion Rovers! 

It’s been a much better league week for East Fife, yielding four points.

Things started on Saturday with a home tie against Livingston.  This was quite an even match.  We generated more shots than our visitors but had an SL32 keeper to beat – never likely to be easy.  An early lead put us in good heart, with Kieran Millar (pictured) netting after 20 minutes.  He’s having a prolific season, with 16 goals to his name, though that has to balanced against the 24 DPs he’s managed to pick up.  Anyway, we led at half time, but Livingston equalised early in the second half.  Adam Lareef soon restored our lead, and it looked as if we were going to pick up all three points.  But a late equaliser spoiled our day – 2-2 was the final score.

A visit to Elgin City promised to be quite a challenge, and they were certainly the stronger team on paper. They went in front after a quarter of an hour, but goals from Kieran Millar (2) and Jack Healey gave us a surprising 1-3 lead at the interval.  We held things steady for the first half hour of the second half before Elgin pulled it back to 2-3, but a quick response from Millar completed his hat-trick and gave us a 2-4 lead.  A late consolation goal for Elgin didn’t change things, and we took the points with a 3-4 win.

Our league position is improved.  We are still in the playoff spots, but not impossibly far from safety.

The one thing that seems to have come out of all this is that  we seem to have most div 3 guys using 35 or less CP whilst the div one fellows are using 50 0r more.

This means that whilst the div one guys are right to value CP at 100K or more in their worlds, the div 3 guys have a valuation of 43K, or more truthfully 75K their cost of the last CP used.

Nontheless the great thing about the differing values of CP is that it creates genuine room for trade which assists the playability of the game.

None of the above in any way changes the fact that DEE and Mr Haberman scare the pants off me.

Great read, Colin. I can see the sun kept you indoors so you had time to write your book (and qualify for the participation cash 💰

Lots of good stuff and you managed to get a lot off your chest, so you can now sit back and relax and await the various comments.

I read your mentions of my 2 lads coming in at 0/17 at the price of 10TPs and 950k each. Reasons for going for them were:

1 I didn't want to start matches training up a 0/5 etc (plus 25k extra per game) whilst trying to compete in the 1st division.

2 I'd have to fork out 800k just to buy them - didn't have that spare at the season start.

3 When as a 3rd division side moons ago (with different clubs - I've had more clubs than the average golfers full set) I made the offer to train up lads for higher teams and did okay from it. 
4 I needed to cash in on my age 4/25s - who would be about 5/16s next season and I'd have difficulty moving them. Getting 2 age 0s plus my own purchase gives me my sponsorship of 300k for having at least 3 x age 0 SL10s on board.

Finally I have points in the bag so far - despite lowering my SLs we might survive the season and stay in the 1st division. But for why? Team will not make a splash at the top, so we become cannon fodder for the teams swollen with age 30 players. So this is it - we either go back down or if we remain up top, I'd be happy to change with a lower division side. The rest of this season is a win win for us either way. 🙄😉👍👍

A couple of surprises on Sunday to add the surprise that we're in the top 4 of the Division.

We started mid-table in T11 and T17 so I didn't really expect much from this season. It was a continuation of last season's rebuild - or so I thought.  So to find ourselves in third place is u expected but pleasant. 

But mid-season ageing was upon us and I "knew" it would hit us hard. But we're 4th in both T11 and T17. And we had decent amounts of CP and TP left - it wasn't as though I'd fast tracked coaching to given us an advantage.

And then the auction. We had 17 CP and I could see where we could do with another 6 or 7 to coach my defenders. The bids in the auction were initially to make sure CP went for 110k each - pretty much the going rate. Imagine my surprise when we won two lots - 16 CP. It left us broke.

We managed to beg DUM to take 3 off us for the same price we paid if he didn't libel me too much. But we can coach players up to where I hoped and even have a couple spare for Morrison. After all we could get promoted now.

In fact we will have 5 left over (6 if we get the 4th MVP) and might keep them till next season. We laid an average of 109k each for the 16 so 45k over is acceptable. Or we might sell them for 120k each but only if we can sell them all.

Last week I hit the 50k mark so no point posting more nonsense, but this is a fresh week and a fresh start. It is a new week, right.

The following is just for Participation Bonus and should not, under any circumstances, be taken seriously.

Buckle up!

The shenanigans of last week were quite enjoyable to watch but I wonder how many noticed the total number of blog entries calling for a certain trade to be reversed. Let me tell you. One. One blog post where, let’s say Anon, posted to reverse the trade and then offered this;

??? made 2 offers for this player which I consider were worth more than trade agreed.

That one line perhaps infers that Anon did not offer cash but some player and/or resources combo which he evaluated to be more than was accepted. This may well have been the case but perhaps not. We have all been there when you offer a trade and the other guy goes elsewhere.

I have found this to be for several reasons including but not exhaustive to, the offer was not good enough, the other guy wasn’t looking for players or resources, the other guy doesn’t like you or perhaps he just traded with his bestie.

Anyway, everyone else that commented on the deal appeared to fall into two other categories. I don’t understand why AI has sold their 3/38 player and/or I don’t care. I was very much in the latter but was enjoying the bants.

Now, Anon also posted some figures to back his Reverse the Deal stance. I am going to assume that the whole blog was a joke without the 😉 . The numbers were what I call PIE IN THE SKY (PITS). You take two or more numbers that look like they are real and genuine because you have seen them somewhere before and you create a formula to make a PITS number. In the blog, Anon uses the value of CP, 100k and PU, 10 and comes up with 1000k PITS. We know from AI accounts that Kev bought CP for 43k each so 10 would be 430k. The other PITS number is the one that has been used for many years and it grinds my gears. 10 CP used means up to 250k in extra training slots. Really? Does it? P.I.T.S. What if AI used ten free slots, then what is the cost? The actual number of extra slots used by AI (at time of trade) was 11 or 275k. Now it is possible that 250k could be allotted to the traded player and only 25k on the other 17 CP used by AI. Or you could go with an average. 275k divided by 27 CP used. 10k per CP.

This blog, for some reason, snowballed into questions on valuation. I have no idea why. Who cares about valuation.

Some others went with another formula to try to get a valuation. The Gut Feeling (GF) figure. This was first muted by Steve, who is normally all about the numbers but on this occasion, he opted for;

I'd offer Kev a few k for Josh OConnor but how do you value a 3/38 player? Has to be well over 2000k.

A very good GF figure after admitting that he hadn’t tried to use any other method of valuation.

I have absolutely no problem with PITS and/or GF. Carry on but this is where we start to get close to the point of this post – hang in there.

The afore-mentioned PITS were not made up by Anon but rather have been used for many seasons by Div 3 managers to exploit Div 1 managers into parting with more of their cash than is necessary. It is an absolute scam and quite a few of the Div 3 guys are in on it. It’s so powerful that even Div 1 guys, such as Anon, are quoting the figures like they are gospel.

Andrew asked how we have come to a point where a 0/17 player is worth 30% more than a 3/38. I am not sure what the crux of that comment was, but the answer is simple. A 0/17 player is ‘worth’ 200k and 10 TP. That’s it. What you pay is up to you.

The scam boys have been telling you that they have used extra TP slots and other such nonsense. But it is a scam. After HIB bought in two 0/17 guys for 950k and 10 resources each – oh my! – one of the cheeky Div 3 rascals actually advertised on the blog how good the scam was.

Something along the lines of – guys! Get onboard. 200k outlay and 750k profit before MSA. It’s more lucrative than any sponsorship deal. Money for old rope!

My bet is that a Div 3 guy came up with the cost for APPs rule. Charge Div 1 400k and they will soon try to get round the rule by coming to us for a premium. Utter scam. Free money to retire useless old duffers – Div 3 guy for sure. Probably one of these guys invented the Nigerian Prince Email scam too. Charlatans.

So, the thing is this, to make the scam work, the Div 3 guys have to convince the Div 1 guys that they are doing them a favour and the costs to the Div 3 are huge. They use PITS and a bit of GF thrown in. The GF is the Div 1 guys looking down on the poor Div 3 guys and trying to give them a helping hand. The Div 3 guys appear like Oliver with the begging bowl. They would be better just running around shouting – SPARE A TALLON FOR AN EX-LEPER.

The Div 1 guys have been buying into this for years. Have they ever thought about the PITS figures? Probably not. Just accepted and paid the cash.

Well, let’s throw in another PITS figure. Remember, you take a figure that already exists and use it to create a PITS. The Div 3 guys, while training your 0/5 to 0/17 tell you that it costs up to 250k in extra training slots. We know that is PITS but let’s accept it for now. They don’t tell you how much they save on EL thanks to using your guy for 10 or more matches before they take your hard earned cash off you. But Col, EL doesn’t have a value, I hear you cry. Really? Someone thinks it does. Ever seen this; +8EL for 80k. EL now has a value. PITS for sure but let’s use this to find out how much the Div 3 Mafia are saving.

10 matches to get 10 PU and at least 45 mins per match at 3 EL per match. So, the Div 3 guy is resting one or more of his players and is saving 30 EL (450 mins) or 300k while training the APP. Yes, they don’t tell you that. In fact, ALO played LEVITT in 15 matches for a total of 1311 mins (75 EL or 750k) and PT played Boyle in 10 matches for 587 mins (39 EL or 390k). More than the minimum 450 mins/300k.

Now, to the point.

One of these Div 3 guys used all of the above to his advantage last week. The poor Div 3 guy. The PITS numbers and, for sure, the GF figures.

Do you think Kev does not know how much he spent on his 3/28 guy. Of course he knows. 530k. He had the fun out of the guy last season (2/33) and this season he has a very decent 3/28 but how does he maximise his profit.

Throw in 10 CP that everyone thinks is worth 1000k and he has a 3/38 player. Different animal but not really. It’s a 3/28 with 10 PU. Big deal.

Now, right before MSA, when this player will lose 4 SL, he advertises him for sale. 38 is looking like a big number. So big that most don’t think they can afford it. Kev doesn’t care. He spies two Div 1 Glory Hunters. Both in the CECIL Cup Final and he is hoping that both will come in for the Match Winner. He throws the guy on the transfer list with little or no fanfare and sits back like a fisherman who has just cast into the water using a rusty nail as a hook.

Kev does not care which of these heavy weights wins the signature as he is laughing all the way to the bank. Then the outcry and Kev is made to look like a victim, Kev ‘Tiny Tears’ Hull – haha, don’t make me laugh. He is the Keyser Soze of SESL. Even the Stickmen walk with a limp.

I say, well played Kev. BRAVO!!!

Of course, I am not saying ALL the Div 3 guys are shysters, but they are recruiting more and more all because the Div 1 guys, like Anon, are swallowing the BS, along with some substandard grapes.

Keyser and Steve (AKA Fagin) were last seen at the castle gates asking the Sheriff of Nottingham  to provide safe passage through Sherwood Forest. Paupers? Hardly.

While I might highlight some things that I see going on, I would ask Keyser, et al to remember I am one of you. Yes, it was 40 seasons ago, but my journey started in the Old Country before I travelled through the leagues to the land of Milk and Honey. I am, at heart, a Div 3 guy. Capiche?

If you managed this far – well done – you deserve a beer 😉

If you have been affected by any of the above, please use the blog to raise your concerns.

Now, where is my popcorn…

We started the weekend with an away game at high flying Partick Thistle, both sides opting for a 4-3-3 normal, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but we opened the scoring on 18 minutes against the run of play when Henderson drilled home 0-1,they seemed to up their tempo and levelled things up on 24 minutes when Robinson fired home 1-1,half time soon came and subs on ,we struggled to retain any possession for any length of time as they were outplaying us all over the park and they hit us on 72 minutes when Brannigan  slotted home 2-1,as we were outplayed for periods and outshot 6 to 2.

Next we travelled to Roy's Stirling, another quality side who we have always struggled against, they opted for a 4-5-1 ball control as we went for a 4-3-3 normal, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession, although all of ours was in defence, they pushed on and opened the scoring on 27 minutes when Valiant deflected home a loose shot 1-0,we slowly played ourselves back into the game and levelled things up on 36 minutes when Grieves powered home his header 1-1,half time soon came and subs on ,2nd half and defences stood firm, we were outplayed and outshot 12 to 3 but Ross in our goal was in outstanding form with 9 saves,well played Roy.

So a 1 point weekend sees us sit 15th.

Falkirk went into last weekend's fixtures expecting a decent return of points but knowing it could be another disaster. The Bairns did though pick up four points after two clean sheets. We started with a solid two nil home victory over another mid table team Inverness. Goals from Ferguson and Durie winning the game and seeing us move up to eighth. We then traveled to second bottom Ross County and picked up a point after the game finished goalless. A match we should have won but for County's keeper Logan Ross. Back down to tenth going into this weekend's fixtures. 

Donnelly didn't take long to get on the score sheet and on 74 minutes new signing Doidge made it 3-0. We stayed in 4th but now only 4 points behing new leaders Partick as Cove could only draw.

Unfortunately the live feed for the game against Berwick failed (viewer not working). We dominated the game with 11 shots to 4. Donnelly had a great day with a hat-trick. The only blot was Williams being sent off after 85 minutes which made selection mnore difficult for the first SESL Cup game - against Berwick. The win took us up to third, something I never expected us to be at mid-season, still level on points with Aberdeen but now only three points behind Cove who retook top spot.

Donnelly leads the Bronze Boot by 4 goals over Forfar's Skelly and Fuller leads the Young Boot by 3 goals over Montrose's Igamane.Kong is level with Inverness's Cooper for Young MOM and Watson just needs MacLeod to score for Forfar to lead the Shooting Squib.

Things are looking good.

We started the weekend in 4th place, level on points with Aberdeen but a much better goal difference, and five points off top placed Cove Rangers.

First up, East Stirlingshire at our place. Our usual 4-2-4 early cross was the stronger despite having our two weaker defenders, our third winger and our appentice up front. East Stirlingshire started off the brighter with a shot from their star forward and another forward getting cauhght offside (the perils of longball). But it was Alloa that opened the scoring from Fuller, who is having a great season. E ast Stirlingshire got caught offside againg and then we made a substitution that increased our strength. To more substitutions from us and a forced one due to injury for East Stirlingshire and we totally diminated possession from then on.

With MSA now done and the first half of the season in the rear view mirror, its time to reset and decide what the realistic targets are for EDI for the remainder of Season 59...

EDI finished the first half of the league campaign off with a 3-0 home victory over QOS and followed that up with a 1-2 win at GM to take a full 6 points from the session in fine style. Those results still leave EDI in mid-table in what has been an under-whelming season up to this point and leaves many questions about the current squad unanswered, especially looking forward.

The manager seems fairly happy regarding the core of the squad but still feels somewhat uncertain about which tactics suit the team best and remains undecided about which direction he wants to go with future signings and potential tactical options. 

As for the second half of the season...The group stages of the SESL Cup will go a long way in deciding just what the teams priorities are as a cup run is long overdue at EDI and while the manager would dearly like to return EDI to Division 1, this season may be a bit too much of an ask. 

Still, at midway all is still to play for at EDI.

• Motherwell's league performance: About as perfect as we could ask for. 9 wins in a row to finish the first half puts us in great position to finally bring home the trophy this season. It also feels that we haven't gotten here just by riding our luck - most of our wins feel about fair based on the stats, and having a big GK in net has certainly paid off. We have had some matches with good luck and some with bad luck, but nothing has felt super out of the ordinary range of outcomes this season.
• Motherwell's cup performance: Fairly happy with the performance. Getting past GM and FOR felt pretty good, and the matchup against SRA was pretty tight throughout. Our finishing and shot creation was poor, but our goalkeeping was quite good. SRA played a great home-and-away and were deserved winners. Going out here seemed to benefit our league campaign, though, so it doesn't feel too bad to have lost. Solid cup campaign that earned us some revenue and didn't ruin our run on the league. Seems fine.
• Challengers for the league: Fraserburgh have to be considered the main threat. 7 wins on the bounce, and had their league start not been so bad they would easily be breathing down our necks. Very strong front 6 rotation means they will score on anyone they face. Two strong GKs as well. We very well might have to only drop points in 2-3 matches in the second half to keep our lead over them. The match home to FRA will certainly be one circled in which MOT will need at least a point to keep them at bay. Would love to not need something from the last weekend, as we now have 2 away matches to play on the final weekend. Our run-ins never do us any favors! Other challengers at this point would be HIB and DEE, sitting 10 points back, but it seems DEE are more focused on cups this year and HIB may struggle with disciplinary and EL issues later on in the season. But we certainly can't count either one out.

Motherwell came into the weekend flying high - 7 league wins in a row, and 7 points clear of second place. This meant that no matter what happened on the final weekend of the league before the midseason break, MOT would end up sitting first place for the restart. Could they hold onto their large gap, or even extend it? In the way were recent cup runners up Stranraer and a nice away trip to Highland side Nairn County to finish things off.

Stranraer came to Fir Park with decent ELs despite their cup exploits. No 'stall' needed here. SRA started off with their top goalkeeper, but he was left frustrated after MOT stars Ray Wylie Hubbard and Jerry Jeff Walker came out firing. Their goals in the 6th and 12th minutes put the home side ahead, and there was no looking back from there. MOT took this lead into halftime, at which point the visitors brought on their backup goalkeeper. Would this be the chance for Motherwell to pile it on and secure a captain's bonus? No, it was SRA who found the next goal, their second striker Carbon firing past Motherwell's star GK to narrow the advantage. Could the visitors find an equalizer? Motherwell shut up shop at the 60th minute, but SRA did have one chance to equalize at that point. The chance fell to a defender, unfortunately, and Merle Haggard was equal to the shot. 2-1 victory for Motherwell, and they stay top with the same 7 point lead.

Next up was the trip out to Nairn County, and Motherwell's strikers were suddenly licking their lips seeing NAI's backup GK in net. The visitors came out of the gate strong for the second match in a row, with DM Gary Clark Jr scoring in the first minute! MF Townes Van Zandt wanted to get in the action, too, scoring just 3 minutes later. This one was getting out of hand! Striker Guy Clark put this one to bed, scoring in the 20th minute, and from there it was 70 minutes of formalities. NAI only had one shot on target for the match, meaning perhaps MOT should have rested their star GK. MOT scored one more right after half time, with Muddy Waters getting his second goal of the season. Most of the goal scoring action came from pretty deep for MOT, giving you an idea of where possession sat throughout this one. A very comfortable 4-0 win for MOT, who keep a 7 point gap over FRA and now have a 10 point gap over DEE and HIB.

Ah well, a win and a loss - both deserved - and we remain in the top 4, just. After a 0-0 half time t home v Stenhousemuir we changed players and the tactics and scored twice inside 3 minutes. That finished it off so we were happy.

Away at Livingston in the 1st match in the reverse fixtures we caught a team on the up and nwent down 3-0. Changing to Press late on cost us 1 of the goals but Livvie deserved the points so no complaint.

Unfortunately we have an injury being worked off and one suspension, 12 points gained on a player who has NEVER played "a" - and the SESL Cup ties coming up. Good fun though!!

Good read below Ed.

DEE going for a cup double, and let league take care of its self, and no way DEE going down.

Stewart ex boss of RAN used to throw league games to dominate the Cups.

The hard truths about our beloved football squad (since 2024)

Disaster strikes - twice (this week)!

We admit Dundee has won both matches this weekend. Having watched those matches, we can only conclude that we've been insanely lucky - and both Stranraer and Nairn felt pity for our team.
However, 6 much needed points to maybe stay in Div1.

The mid-week cup match was not finished at the time of going to press, but we can safely assume that mighty Stranraer has steamrolled over our guys.

Still, you might ask: what disasters!?

Disaster #1: Glass scores!
MF Declan Glass was leading the Shooting Squib trophy by miles. All of his 15 "attempts" at scoring failed, miserably but expectable when you know who his coach is.
What would a smart coach do now? Just send Glass to a cheap vacation spot in Bulgaria or even the Congo - but never ever let him play and shoot again this season!
Of course, attempt #16, against Stranraer's U18 goalie, found it's way INTO the net.
Once more, game over, Dundee can't even win the Shooting Squib!!!

Disaster #2: Piles of money down the drain!
We all know that Dundee has an incomptetent coach. Too bad he's ALSO manager.
The only way he knows to stay competitive is buying, buying, buying.
Now, buying young players with a bright future is something we can definitely agree with. But WHAT HAPPENS!?
Dundee buy old man OConnor, way past his prime for a RECORD fee! What's next, zombie Maradona!?
Bad enough, but even worse: Dundee way overpaid, as DUM manager Scott has thoroughly calculated.
It's bad enough to be bad, but bad AND broke is just too much!!!

Just sack this guy!

I think last week’s journal said that it had been another tough week for the Fifers.  So this week I can report that it has another another tough week for the Fifers.  Once again we managed just one point from our two Saturday matches and we’ve now slipped into the relegation zone.

Our first game was a home tie against Motherwell, who came to Bayview with Counterattack tactics.  This led to a lively encounter in which Motherwell had the upper hand.  The upper hand, yes, but they hardly deserved the 0-4 lead they held after 27 minutes – a lead which became 1-5 after half an hour.  In the second half, Andrew ordered his men to stall and there were no further goals.  We actually won the shot count 11-9 but it’s not easy beating an SL39 keeper – and Reece Beveridge had a nightmare here.

Onwards and upwards!  Well, onwards, anyway.  We were on the road with a visit to Stenhousemuir, who boasted a mere SL38 keeper.  With a five-man defence in front of him, it seemed unlikely that we would score here but we did manage to take the lead after 48 minutes through a well-placed Adam Lareef (pictured) shot.  The lead was soon wiped out – just three minutes later – and that concluded the scoring.  It had been a game of few chances, and a draw seemed a fair result.

Next up, Livingston and Elgin.  Two points from the last four matches.  A win is badly needed.

It has taken 14 games for St Mirrens season to really kick off. This weekend saw them gain there first 6 point haul of the season. They got a 2-1 away win against Deverondale which then then followed up with a 3-1 home win against Hamilton Accies. This moved them up to 12th in the league.

They now face another difficult weekend with two away game first at Rangers and then the second at Saint Johnston. The manager will have a full team to choose from and the team will be looking to keep on improving as they mount there campaign to avoid the return to the third division.

Falkirk definitely had a mixed weekend in the league. We kicked off with a visit to Steve's Alloa Athletic. A decent first half ended goalless. After going a goal behind on 67 minutes we then conceded two late goals to lose three nil. A bit of a harsh result but we dropped to thirteenth after the game. The second match was at home against Dunfermline Athletic. A chance to redeem ourselves. The game couldn't have gone any better. After just 37 minutes we found ourselves six nil ahead and that's the way the game finished. We moved back up to tenth, just three points off a playoff position. We still have hope. 

Just as well I was away Saturday as results were in line with expectations. I am trading out older lads to lower the age of the team but the 1st division is a hard place to try these sort of tactics out. 

We are glad we made early points gains so we can limp along from now on till the season end and see where we finish. Facing 2 away matches at FRA and MOT the wroting was on the wall so we tried to see out the first halves on stall and then alter at the break after the subs increased our OFF/DEF and training could be guaranteed.

Both saw us a goal down at the half and it got worse after that. Losing 3-0 and 6-0 and still be 3rd, BUT only 12 points above the automatic relegation zone means we have a lot to play for.

Can only hope the SESL Cup section gives us some chance of advancement (to earn gate monies so we can buy the required 50CPs for next season).

Our remaing 4/25FW is up for grabs on the transaction page....

The latest league session saw EDI take all 3 points in the first game with a convincing 6-1 home victory over RAN followed by a somewhat predictable 2-0 away loss at STJ. Those two results see EDI sitting in no-mans-land (9th) in the table as we approach mid-season.

The final two games of the first half of the season sees EDI host QOS before a tough road trip to GM to conclude the first part of the league campaign. Then its on to the SESL Cup group stages where EDI will be hoping for some sort of cup run for a change.

Another good weekend for the Wasps, although we might have money problems: if I keep posting Journals and Blogs we're almost bound to break 4000k now, Maybe time to spend some on home bonuses. I'd offer Kev a few k for Josh OConnor but how do you value a 3/38 player? Has to be well over 2000k.

Anyway, we opened the weekend against Stirling. Roy has played a lot of Ball Control this season but I did note he also played some Long Ball with his three very decent MAs. Stirling were only goal difference off a play-off spot so had to be respected. With Morrison tired it had to be Roe in goal at SL 14. My first line up was a 50% passive stall and take the likely loss. Then I thought I could make a go of it by playing Opportunistic or Counter Attack against that Ball Control. I worked out, based on Stirling's previous GP/DEF/OFF figures, that O would give both sides about 3 or 4 shots and C would be 8 or 9. Stirling have a big GK and the latter was likely to be disastrous. So my second line-up was Opportunistic. 

Then we had the mind games. In the end I decided to first work out who was playing in each game, based on EL and rotating players and then decide the best tactics. The Stirling game had 3 top DFs and both top WGs and I didn't like C, especially if Roy did play L, so opted for the usual Early Cross. As it happens Roy pretty much played a T17 line-up with their reserve keeper. A comfortable 6-2 victory marred by an injury to Josh Gentles that meant an adjustment in the second game. Donnelly's hat-trick kept him top of the Golden Boot. Another goal from Brian Fuller keeps him top of the Young Boot (more money woes?) and we even have two contenders for Shooting Squib.

And then it was Montrose who play 100% Early Cross. Now here I was only likely to play two top DFs and the WG position shared between Kong and Fuller with reserve, Watson. I felt that we were weaker if playing E vs E. As it happens James also played a reserve WG so E vs E would have been very close. But I also fancied trying B again, even though it meant a FW and WG playing at MF. The knock that Gentles took against Stirling meant a hasty change to the substitutions, where I ended up playing 3-4-3 as Blackie had to play FW. I knew moving Donnelly to MF would cause a 2:1 problem so not worth it. We got lucky with the shot chances and I was happy to see the game drawn. This gave us a 3rd MVP, worth 110k.

Donnelly scored again to stay two goals ahead of Josh Skelly and we find ourselves in 4th place. I still feel we won't get promotion as MSA will hit three of our big defenders and our third winger. But life is good at the moment.

Nice write-up Rob, but it's a mystery how ROS scored just 1 goal in total from last 6 matches.

ROS forward options are great. 

Could you try play top 11 for 2 matches, and then rest top 11 in a 3rd match?

ROS roster is maybe one or two players short to rotate and rest key players.

Good luck moving up Div 3 Rob, and lucky for you BER below you in usual wooden spoon zone are having worse match resolution results than you so far this season.

Today 11 goals for, and just 1 against for MOT.

Who on earth can stop them this season.

Impressive.

Forgot to wrap up the weekend:

Motherwell now enjoy a large cushion at the top as the teams behind them generally have a bad weekend. HIB came away pointsless after two losses. 3rd placed ELG win one and lose one to slip to 4th. 5th placed ALB lose both and slip to 7th. 6th placed SRA also lose both and end the weekend 8th. Only 4th placed FRA and 7th placed DEE pick up max points towards the top, moving them up to 2nd and 5th, respectively. So, the chasing pack is now FRA, HIB, ELG, and DEE, sitting 7-8 points behind MOT. Some happy supporters down in Lanarkshire!

Motherwell started the weekend top for the first time this season - one point separating them from HIB in second place. A trip to EF and a top of the table clash home to HIB awaited.

MOT and EF both opted for fairly aggressive lineups to kick things off, and the shots would come flying in with N facing C. However, MOT had a 14 SL advantage in net, and that sure made a difference. In the first 30 minutes, Billy Bland and Guy Clark both hit braces, and club top scorer Hubbard scored another. EF were only able to score one, and the 1-5 scoreline made it to half. At that point, MOT subbed off their attacking unit and shut up shop for the rest of the match. Big win for the Well, though their captain misses out on a bonus through tired legs. Results elsewhere went their way, and Motherwell found themselves 4 points ahead of 2nd place.

Finally, the big showdown of 1 v 2 was not much of an event. The Well played a nearly full T-11 against HIB's stall, and they were able to get a few first half shots as a reward. The HIB GK was equal to the first two, but Ray Wylie Hubbard would not be denied, opening the scoring  18 minutes in. HIB made some subs at half and switched to optimistic, but it did not make the required impact. The home side continued to enjoy a considerable shot % advantage and RWH scored his second a couple minutes after the restart. HIB then paid the price of playing 'a' when their MF, Dennis, was taken off injured with all 3 subs used. Certainly could have worked out, taking that risk, but on the day it was just misery for the visitors. MOT would score 4 by 4 different players in the last 30 minutes, including a hat-trick for RWH. This one ends 6-0 for the home side, and Motherwell supporters have had the joy of watching 11 goals from their club on a spectacular weekend. Hard luck for HIB, as their GK had an awful match and they had an injury at the worst possible time. They will bounce back and continue to pick up a lot of points in the last 16 matches.

We started the weekend with an away game at Simon's Brechin, always a tough side to play against, both sides opting for normal 4-3-3 tactics, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but they broke through on 20 minutes when a deep cross saw Bosman power home his header 1-0,half time soon came and subs on ,we pushed on and had the majority of play and outshot them 8 to 2 ,but McGeady in their goal was in outstanding form with 6 saves as our front line failed to find the back of the net again,well played Simon. 

Next we were at home to Andy's Falkirk, another quality side ,we opted for a 4-3-3 normal as they went for a 4-2-4 longball, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but defences on top for the 1st half,2nd half subs on and both sides pushing on looking for the opening goal ,Falkirk started to dominate as we could not retain any possession for any length of time, 75 minutes and they changed tact to stall, and defences stood firm as it ended goalless 0-0 ,a hard earned point, well played Andy as we were outplayed for periods and outshot 12 to 5 ,but Ross in our goal was in outstanding form with 11 saves.

So a 1 point weekend sees us stay 15th.

It’s been another tough week for the Fifers.  We had two away fixtures on Satirday, the first against Dundee.  We had rather the better of things in the first half and our veteran skipper Scott Shepherd (pictured) put us in front just before half time.  Still a goal down on the hour, the Dens Park Blues switched to Press and immediately found an equaliser.  Flushed with success from his tactical brilliance, Habermann switched his team back to Normal tactics for a while before changing his mind again.  Confused, Dundee failed to score again, and the game petered out to a 1-1 draw.

Our second away game was against Fraserburgh, and here we got off to a terrible start, conceding twice in the first seven minutes.  We did manage to pull on back almost immediately but Fraserburgh scored again before half time to lead 3-1 at the interval.  After that we created chances, but their SL39(!) keeper was up to the challenge.  One second half goal was not enough, we lost this one 3-2.

Another tough week, but we fight on, in the playoff spots, but not far from safety.

Stranraer may have lost 2-0 away to Cove Rangers, but it was the travelling support who were celebrating long into the night as their team’s 4-1 home win in the first leg proved decisive. The aggregate score of 4-3 sends the Blues through to a much-anticipated cup final, sparking scenes of joy among the loyal fans who made the long midweek journey north.

Despite the defeat on the night, Stranraer’s grit and determination over both legs earned them their place in the final. As the final whistle blew at Balmoral Stadium, relief quickly turned into euphoria. The travelling supporters, outnumbered but never out-sung, erupted in cheers, hugging one another as dreams of silverware began to take shape.

The return trip to the southwest was filled with songs, smiles, and a shared sense of belief. Buses echoed with chants of “Blue Army” and stories of past glories as fans young and old dared to imagine lifting the cup once again. The semi-final might have ended in defeat, but the journey home was pure triumph.

Now, all eyes turn to the final, a repeat of last year's loss. With belief running high and the spirit of the fans behind them, Stranraer are ninety minutes from glory.

The hard truths about our beloved football squad (since 2024)

Cut the crap!

 Another week - another disaster!
 Another relegation 6-pointer vs East Fife, at home: just one team came to play, the visitors!
 Near total dominance by the Fifers and a deserved lead, only a late lucky equalizer gave the Blues at least 1 point.
 Most surprisingly, several of Dundee's star players didn't show up at all.
 If you can't defeat your relegation rivals at home, how do you plan to stay in Div1!?
 
 The away match was over before the start. Hibernians shows what a competent coach can achieve with even seemingly mediocre players.
 Again, several overpaid Blues were missing, but we don't think it would have made any difference.
 An easy 3-1 win of the clearly superior team. 
 Only some envious crazy number crunchers would call the Hi-Bees "lucky".
 
 Those two matches just showed - once more - the impact of quality coaching, so can we please 
 Sack this guy!

Decent lesson. 

Some may say every day is a school day.

At the weekend Alloa Athletic splashed out 1848k on two auction buys. 850k (thanks a bunch, Andy) went on David Devine who immediately adds 12 SL to the top 6 defenders (71k per SL is cool with us) and almost as important is on 10 EL.

998k went on William Blackie, a 0/10 FW who will be a star in years to come. 

Even after spending all that we still are the richest team in Division Three and fourth richest over all. I'm pretty sure we can get close to 4000k by the end of the season. This is thanks to 950k paid by Hibernian for Dylan Levitt. 

*The Latin for "a pound in weight" is libra pondo. The British used pound for the weight but decided, in their wisdom, to use lb as the abbreviation. Why not?

Libra pondo was also used for the amount of silver needed to make 240 pennies - us old people remember when 240 pennies equaled 1 pound. Well if we used lb as an abbreviation for a pound in weight why not use L for a pound currency? In blackletter type the top of the L is curled and one or two lines were added, hence £.

And why I put A££o A££o

If Cove Rangers were hoping to enjoy a quiet seaside visit to Stranraer, they got the footballing equivalent of a deep-fried Mars bar to the face. The Blues turned on the style, the steel, and just a sprinkle of shithousery to dismantle Cove 4–1 and take a commanding lead into the second leg.

Ser Richer Shakest opened the scoring with a majestic looping header after just two minutes—because why wait to embarrass the visitors? Ismaning Ghench then made it two after capitalising on Cove’s impression of a team playing blindfolded.

Cove huffed, puffed, and moaned to the ref, but Stranraer were having none of it. The hosts pressed like caffeinated terriers, with Xian Carbon tormenting the Cove defence and keeper Nick Suman looking increasingly like a man Googling “career alternatives” by halftime.

In the second half, Ser Richer and Podrick Payne added two more goals—the latter’s strike confirmed by goal-line tech and a deeply offended Nick Suman. Cove finally pulled one back late on, but at 4–1 down, their Highland hopes are melting faster than a snowman in July.

McCumiskey’s men march north with swagger, and on this evidence, the second leg might just be a coronation on Wednesday? The SESL match engine however might have other ideas??

So how's it going?   You ask ok you probably didn't but here goes.  
Somehow we are 5th in the league.   Meaning I calculate 5 more wins will mean we can't get relegated.   Which was the main aim at the start of the season.   Despite not really being focussed on it we have also made into the Cecil Cup semi finals.   Although I have a feeling we will get hammered over 2 legs by Dundee.   But we will give it a go.   Golden boot iis looking promising with Adams, Ruby and Minshew all in the top 10.   Hopefully we can get the win there.

Ah well, after the previous weekend where we managed to accumulate 4 suspensions we approached last weekend's fixtures expecting little.

Away to Annan we unashamedly went stall - we didn't have 5 subs - but had the tactics ready to be changed if we went behind. Fortunately keeper Slater fulfilled his potential and saved the 5 shots he faced, so we finished the game at 0-0.

That gave us 2 players back to face Dundee at home. Probably the Dens Parkers had an eye on their upcoming Cup tie today, but we nwere actually quite comfortable in the 3-1 win - only scare was when we were pulled back to a goal lead halfway through the 2nd half, but within minutes we regaqined the 2 goal cushion. So a good week, and only Bushiri is on suspension.

And now we take charge of 2 lads trained to 0/17 and say goodbye to forward Youan who has the a short trip to Livingston - no doubt he will score against us in the return league match... we have no money but who cares..!! :-)

I think the deals done tonight will be proof enough Hibs are not too concerned with the 1st division title - how many times do I have to tell people? :-)

My plan was always to deal away the age 4 lads (most of them) for younger blood even if it meant dropping my starting SLs. Now we sit back and quietly play therough the games trying to recover enough cash for next season's CPs. At least we have earned our sponsorship cash - 3 x age 0 lads over SL10 - tick !!

Our poor form is continuing,we started with an away match at Steve's high flying Cove Rangers,both sides opting for a 4-3-3 normal tactics, they started quickly and opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Yule slotted home 1-0,we slowly played ourselves back into the game and levelled things up on 26 minutes when Loturi fired home 1-1,half time soon came and subs on ,we were struggling to retain any possession for any length of time as they outplayed us all over the pitch and they went ahead on 75 minutes when Jitonio fired home 2-1 ,we had no answers as we were outplayed and outshot 11 to 1 ,well played Steve ,tidy side you have there.

Next we were at home to Kevin's Airdrie, another side who we have always struggled against, both sides opting for a 4-3-3 tactics, nothing to choose between the sides in the 1st half as defences stood firm, 2nd half subs on and they opened the scoring on 54 minutes when Dunlop scored with an amazing diving header 0-1 ,we had no reply as we were outplayed for periods and outshot 4 to 1,well played Kevin.

So another pointless weekend and we drop to 15th not where we want to be .

After the disappointment of the cup, Motherwell had low ELs and some tactical questions to solve in the league. Away to Clyde and home to Arbroath, should they give away one to restore ELs? Or try in both?

The tactic for the away trip ended up being a first half stall followed by a second half with a stronger side. The first half worked a treat - no action at all, and a 0-0 scoreline. On came Motherwell's best three attackers and off we went. 4 goals blew away the home side, and Motherwell were in cruise control. Unfortunately a bit too much of cruise control, giving 2 goals back in the last 9 minutes to give away the captain's bonus. But, no complaints at all, as a big win without destroying our EL is all we could ask for. Motherwell move top with their 5th league win in a row, and after HIB draw with ANN 0-0

Next up came a visit from ARB. The opposite tactic was taken here, with MOT sending out their best side first. A big attack led to a dozen shots for the home side, with the first goal coming from Earle in the 9th minute. ARB were able to find the equalizer in the 30th minute, but MOT restored their lead just a minute after. Motherwell couldn't get any more past ARB's big GK, but a 2-1 lead at the half was just fine. Motherwell then made some subs and moved into a stall, meaning the second half had more yellow cards than goals. 2-1 the final, and Motherwell stay top after a 6 point weekend. 

HIB are 1 point back in 2nd after securing 4 points, while ELG fall to 5 points back in 3rd after a win and a loss. A big clump of teams are behind that on 20 and 19 points, 7 and 8 points off the pace.

In the team "about" I state that this is just a holding season, building for season 60. Things have gone better than expected: we are somehow 5th in Division 3 with a goal difference bettered only by Partick Thistle, we have 1000k more than the second richest team in the division - in fact if we didn't spend any more we'd finish with around 5500k. I have money to burn. We have 9 TP left, which is all planned for post MSA and 18 CP, 17 of which will be used post MSA. I've managed to be able to put out teams that could win in all but one game (and that we could have won if I hadn't stalled). This is a completely different tactic to my usual T11 twice, 50% stall the 3rd game.

Previously I bemoaned our luck: 4-5 vs Cove Rangers, 0-0 vs Queens Park to name two, but that luck changed last weekend:

First up was 12th placed Falkirk. We were the stronger from the start and I had like ofr like substitions at DF and WG and Donnelly coming on for Gentles after (probably) 30 minutes. As the game passed 60 minutes and it was still 0-0 I realised something was wrong - I know I clicked on the player tactics I wanted as I specifically remember the CP and TP I wanted to use, but either I saved them as match 20 or forgot to actually save them. Fortunately, Donnelly wasn't needed as Graham headed in the first goal, which brought about press tactics from Falkirk and we scored two more from Fuler and Graham, again. The main luck was that none of the three tired players picked up injuries, and also their replacements didn't waste EL as they were all on 4 to start with.

Also I was lucky enough to be around to spot this so could change my tactics for the next game: Partick Thistle are riding high in the Division, they were top at the start of the game, and it showed why with a 9.5% to 6.2% shot chance advantage. Donnelly was on from the start and they only had an SL 24 GK but they also had a big MF and FW player. After 25 minutes we were 2-0 down despite both teams having had three shots. This was looking like one of those games. The only way I would be improving the side was a 60 minute substitution of Roe (GK playing at SW) for Gentles and a weakening midfield substitution. It was not looking good.

Still 2-0 at half time and they're all over us: Robinson (SL 35 MF) had his second shot saved (he scored his first) and Chalmers (SL 34 FW) was caught offside. It seemed only a matter of time before they scored their 3rd and all we could manage was a defender missing the target. On 56 minutes we managed to pull one back - a defender of all people and both teams swapped things around on 60 minutes. Partick took off a FW and brought on a SW and the shot chances dropped to 8.3% to 5.0%. Against the odds we were now getting more shots and at 68 minutes we'd had 8 each and Kong equalised. That brought an immediate response from Partick who took off a DF (coincidentally the same name as the DF we took off after 30 minutes) and brought on a FW.: 11.3% to 5.9%. 75 minutes and Donnelly finally gets on the score sheet and even has another chance on 89 minutes. Amazingly we had 10 shots to their 8 (and an offside).

Up to 5th but it's very tight at the top and mid-season will hit our two aged defenders and back up winger.

The next game should be very interesting as Stirling have been playing a lot of Ball Control, which I started using to combat teams who play Early Cross, and which is now my tactic of choice.

It's an abysmal season for Dumbarton. So far. Luck has left us. From the dreadful start in the CECIL Cup to the poor run of form in the League. When will we turn that corner.

One bright spot was seen at the weekend when SRA rolled into town with their shiny new CECIL Cup on displayed after thrashing a very poor MOT side in the Final. They had their fancy, shiny boots and their modern fade hair cuts but our lads were in no mood for a lesson off anyone. Especially not a bunch of farmers.

No way. By the end of the game SRA were handed their pies on a plate and off they went on their rented John Deer.

Next up, Hearts - muck

Motherwell's CECIL cup run came to an end this week after a tough 2-3 aggregate loss at the hands of SRA. Overall it was a fairly even matchup that could have seen either side progress without needing too much luck.

The first leg at Fir Park ended up 0-0 after Motherwell found it hard to get too many shots. SRA came into this one with a lot of EL in defense and very little in attack, and the lineup did indeed show a stall at kickoff. Stats show that MOT will have expected about 7-8 shots and SRA about 1, but the match didn't quite live up to that expectation. Only 4 shots for MOT and 2 for SRA, while SL 29 GK Ruthtowner was up to the task - including saving 2 from SL35 FW Hubbard. Impressive away display for SRA.

The second leg was always going to be an uphill battle for MOT. SRA had a good EL advantage after their stall, and MOT would need to rely on their superior GK if they wanted to win this tie. Going aggressive tactics from the start, SRA opened the match with a giant 15-4% shot chance advantage. SRA turned that into a deserved 2-0 lead at the half, though MOT substitutions and changes in tactics started to help their low shot chances. SRA went a further goal up before MOT started roaring back, making the tie 2-3 after goals in the 82nd and 84th minute. Could they find the equalizer to win on away goals? No, it was not to be. GKs made 25 saves combined in this one, and MOT go home in the quarterfinals this year.

SRA played this tie very well - I think with their squad and ELs I might have tried about the same. They were worthy winners for sure. MOT will feel hard done to not have gotten a single goal at home, but that's how it goes sometimes with this game. Both teams played it well, and I think it was a great tactical battle. Both teams should leave this one with their heads held high.

Falkirk crashed out of the Cecil Cup at the quarterfinal stage. The damage was done in the first leg at home against Cove Rangers. We didn't play that badly but couldn't convert against their high class keeper. On the other hand we conceded four and that was that. The away leg was played using stall and we lost three nil, seven nil on aggregate. Fair play to Cove and Steve they deserved it. Our league form continues to be poor. A four one away defeat at East Stirlingshire, after we took an early lead. Then a home game with bottom team Berwick and a very fortunate one nil victory, thanks to our keeper Gunn. Hopefully we can start picking up some decent results. 

EDI manager Bill Bushby held a serious team meeting this morning and made it very clear to the entire playing squad and staff that the club expected far more from everybody involved. He added that he felt the club was being short changed by the players and coaches alike and that the situation was now at the point that it was unacceptable not only to the EDI board but also to the management team, he went on to include himself in this assessment of the current state of play.

EDI will be expecting far more from everyone at the club for the remainder of the current season.....Time will tell ?

Well, it's been a good few weeks over at Hampden. We came into match 9 on 7 June in 12th place. On that weekend we started with a home game against bottom side Berwick so this was definitely a must win. We were able to take advantage of Berwick's tired defense to generate 9 shots on target that game and thankfully were able to get 3 of them past a solid performance from Atwell in goal who had 6 saves. That gave us a 3-0 win and bring us up to 10th. We followed that up with a point away at Alloa where our two goalies combined for a 7 save shutout and we came away with a very fortunate 0-0 draw but it was another point and lifted us to 9th.

The next weekend we welcomed new defender Romain Bardet to the team and we threw the raw recruit straight from the academy into the starting lineup. However, the young Frenchman performed admirably along with the rest of the defense and our offense took advantage of a SL 14 goalie to get a solid 2-0 home win against DFA. This gave us our first MVP of the season which will be put to good use. The weekend closed with our first away win of the season at Inverness. And while we were lucky last week this was a deserved 2-0 win against a depleted INV team. This win brought us up to 4th by the end of the weekend.

Finally, we had an important session last weekend where we had two home games. With a small squad we were starting to run out of energy but needed to have a good showing and take advantage of the home support. We put out the best squads we had available and got a solid win over Ross County. Then we had a tough time against a stubborn Aberdeen side that looked to have won it in the 84th minute. But a miraculous equalizer in the 90th minute from Oleksiak salvaged a point and the stalemate left us a point behind Aberdeen and still in 4th in the table. The last few weeks have really turned our season around and we'll have to keep up the momentum since it is a long season and we're still only a third of the way through.

Another one of those weekends where it could have gone better but happy with four points.

Against Airdrieonians we started out as 6.9% to 5.9% favourites. We had the better GK (34 to 29) but they had OConnor at SL 38 and we had Donnelly at SL 33. It looks close on paper. 30 minutes pass and we haven't had a shot but they've had three, including one from OConnor, which is saved. I make a substitution that increases our shot chance to 7.2% and we score on 36 minutes with our first shot. And then a minute later as Donnelly does his business.OConnor gets caught offside and later has another shot saved as they pretty much get their "expected shots" but all we get is Gentles caught offside. We didn't make the most of our possession but Morrison had a great game and we score two from two shots. A good if slightly flattering result for once.

Then it's a visit to Brechin City. Again we have the GK advantage (34 to 28) and Donnelly SL 33, and our SL 29 pair of wingers playing all game, whereas they have McGinn at SL 32 in MF and Raeside and Bosman at SLs 29 and 26. They have the 7.9% to 6.4% advantage but another close game on paper. Raeside is injured after just 3 minutes to be replaced by the weaker Crouch, their advatage is reduced but still better than ours. After six minute Donnelly has already had two shots but both saved. I'm already feeling aggrieved as he had a 50% chance of scoring each time. A shot from Kong on 11 minutes, also saved, and already it's feeling like it's not going our way. Brechin have been unlucky in not having a shot yet, 20th minute and they score from their first shot, well a cross really.  We've had our "expected shots" by half time with nothing to show for it. In the second half we get a couple of chances, one to each winger and Fuller equalises. For Brechin, Hickey played a little too long and picked up a bad injury and we were the stronger team. In the end we only had the 7 chances (fair) but they had 8 (2 offsides and 3 off target, thankfully). A draw seemed fair at the start but I feel we were unlucky with how the game actually went. With 2 shots from Donnelly and 4 from the ShSL 26 WGs the xG is 2.44

So another opportunity missed but we're in touching distance of promotion - something I wasn't really looking for this season.

Stranraer lit up Stair Park with 70 minutes of champagne football, before spending the final 20 minutes looking like they’d forgotten how feet work. A 3–2 win over Motherwell felt more like a heist than a match by the end—but who’s counting?

Mondo Polestar was on fire, scoring one, assisting another, and generally treating Motherwell’s defence like traffic cones. Jules Everitt’s dodgy cross somehow found its way to Xian Carbon, who lashed it in for 1–0. Hudd Anstler doubled the lead with the kind of poacher’s finish that makes defenders question their life choices.

Then came the pièce de resistance: Polestar’s third—cool as you like, curled in like he’d already seen the highlight reel.

At 3–0, Stranraer looked unstoppable (stalling but with over 40% shot chance!? -Ed). Then someone clearly hit “reset” on their confidence settings (Well PRESS anyway -Ed). Dresser Prendel fell asleep, Motherwell scored. Seconds later, chaos in the box, another goal. Suddenly it was 3–2 and fans were chewing their scarves.

Still, the job got done. Stranraer take the team to the CECIL Semis against COV, Mondo Polestar takes the headlines, and Manager McCumiskey takes a mild heart attack. A thrilling win, with just enough panic to keep things interesting.

A shaky start to the league season sees East Fife sitting in 11th place in Division 1, a playoff spot, but very much in touch with the teams above us.  Still all to play for.

We haven’t lost in last four matches, but that’s not as impressive as it sounds, as we’ve only managed one victory and three draws.  

The one win was an impressive display against Annan.  We dominated the match, not allowing them a single shot on goal while netting three times ourselves.  Kieran Miller, Jack Healy and Alan Trouten were our scorers.  Miller is having a prolific season, with eleven goals from his ten appearances – pretty impressive for a midfielder.

A strange fact is that our three wins this season have all come against teams whose names start with the letter ‘A’.  Sadly, Ayr, Aberdeen, Airdrie and Alloa are not in the right division for us…

A belated welcome to Mamdou Bah who joined East Fife just over a week ago from Auction 2.

Bah is a seriously well-travelled defender with, it is rumoured, a belle at every ball.  Even as a schoolboy he possessed a charm that melted all his teachers, and in his life he has continued to win the heart of every woman who crosses his path.  He’s a smooth-talking stud of a man who carries his twelve-string guitar on his back wherever he goes.  Originally from Guinea he is likely to feel the cold in Scotland but has already bought himself a small collection of intricate Aran jumpers to keep him warm through the Scottish winter.

Stranraer came, saw, and did absolutely everything but score in a glorious 0–0 away leg masterclass that has set the table for a Stair Park showdown that’s spicier than a vindaloo on a speedboat.

Fir Park expected a routine night. Motherwell rolled out their big names and fancy haircuts, only to be met by a Stranraer squad that tackled like caffeinated rhinos and defended as if their mums were in the stands (which they probably were).

Captain Plunder Ghench led the backline like a Viking philosopher, while keeper Krawl Ruthtowner stopped everything but time itself. His double save in the 62nd minute caused three Motherwell fans to spontaneously combust.

Up front, Crewe Jickee had a one-on-one and—bless him—attempted a lob that cleared the bar, the roof, and probably entered low orbit. "Ambitious," said the commentary team. "Delusional," muttered his mum.

Still, with Weerie Opollo’s tireless runs and Ismaning Ghench accidentally nutmegging himself twice, the away support were entertained. And hey, it’s not every day you frustrate a Premiership side so much their fans start booing their own half-time pies.

The tie returns to Stair Park today. Bring your flags, your voices, and maybe a defibrillator. The upset’s brewing. Strap in, folks. It’s on.

The hard truths about our beloved football squad (since 2024)

DEE's (still) going down!

You've heard it before, you'll hear it again.
The Blues might have won both matches this week, BUT all just by the slimmest of margins - and simply by pure luck.

S48 champions Clyde dominated at will and showed their skills, only 2 of the very few Dundee attempts were successful for a 2-1 away win. 
Plain robbery by the DEEs.

Last season's champions Arbroath were even more impressive. Dundee's defence was simply overpowered and had to concede no less than 3 goals.
Yet, somehow, after 90 minutes Dundee had scored 4 for a ridiculous win.
DEE's GK Ghadzalov getting the MOM - despite 3 goals against - says it all.

Dundee is - even after such a successful weekend - just 6 points above the relegation zone.
Division 2 seems almost inevitable.

Still - a small shimmer of hope has arisen: our coach may have read our advices.
You remember DnD's last week suggestion ...

Well, if you have Haaland and "McDunno" in your squad, you tell McDunno to shoot!?

This week just one shot went to 'rumble foot' Glass. All other shots went towards somewhat competent shooters - and turned into 6 goals.
If the coach would just follow our suggestions more often, we might not have to 
Sack this guy!

Motherwell kicked off the weekend in fourth place, 4 points behind league leaders HIB. A trip to last-placed LIV and a visit from second-placed ELG awaited.

First up LIV had an uphill battle for their match against MOT, with their top GK suspended for the match. This left SL17 GK McCrorie to do the work against MOT's potent forward line. The home side went for a big stall to try to keep the visitors out, and for the first half it worked well. Only one shot fell to the visitors, and GK McCrorie was equal to the shot. The second half, however, was a different story. Muddy Waters opened up the scoring from midfield, and Guy Clark doubled the lead just two minutes later to make it 0-2 after 58 minutes. Motherwell then brought on the backups in a couple positions, but were not done attacking. Billy Bland got onto the scoresheet, and Steve Earle finished the job just a couple minutes before full time. 0-4 the final here, and with other results going their way, Motherwell climbed up into 3rd place and were now only 1 point behind 1st and 2nd.

The new league leaders were ELG, who had to come to Fir Park next in an important duel for the two sides. The opening lineups showed both teams had come to attack, and so this one was expected to be high energy. It sure didn't dissapoint. Some early pressure from the visitors forced a fine save from Merle Haggard, and after 20 minutes they would get their reward, as Olly McDonald, already booked, scored to quiet the crowd. Motherwell would up the pressure from there and get several shots during the first half, but GK Kyle King was equal to each one, and Elgin took the lead into the half. The second half continued to be lively, but it seemed that both goalkeepers were having a good game, making save after save. It wasn't until the 69th minute that the home side were finally able to break through, with Guy Clark leveling the score. From there either side could feel the opportunity to take home all 3 points, but it was Jimmie Dale Gilmore who provided the lethal shot, scoring the winner in the 74th minute. 2-1 to the home side, and Motherwell take all 6 points on the weekend. Both goalkeepers played well, and despite the loss it was Kyle King who got MotM, with 10 saves to his name, compared to Haggard's 5. Motherwell move into 2nd, 1 point behind HIB, and ELG end the weekend in 3rd place.

First up away to Hearts and discover their manager is refereeing the game..🤔🤔

At half time and 0-0 he had to do something so there goes my first sending off and a penalty to boot. Later on he boosted the Jam Tarts goal difference with a second sending off and we went down 4-1 tamely. Thinking if we'd come back he'd dismiss more if my completely innocent babies. 😉😉

Temporarliy we celebrated as we toppled from 1st to 2nd in the division. We hosted Dumbarton who wanted to rest a few players up and on a good day we might have got 5. But this wasn't a good day as Bushiri was sent off after 4 minutes, so the plan was to get the points whatever. We did this with 2 goals and lo and behold we went back to the top.

I am trying hard but you boys don't seem to want to overtake me. So I'll make it easy for the next 2 opponents, Annan and Dundee. I'll play with 4 lads suspended and lots of low ELs and surely someone will take over at the top. 🤔🤔🤗🤗

Falkirk made it into the quarterfinals of the Cecil cup this week but their league results have been greatly effected. We started last weekend with a trip to Stirling and came away with a point after the match finished one apiece thanks to a Ferguson equaliser. Then a home game against high flying Montrose with the match this time finishing goalless thanks to our keeper Gunn. The two points left us twelve, closer to bottom than top. We then had the return game with Hearts at home in the Cecil cup. We expected them to play a weakened team being six one behind from the first leg but we couldn't take that chance and played a strong lineup. We won easily five nil, to progress eleven one on aggregate, who would have thought it. Now for Cove Rangers in the quarterfinals, another division 3 team but they are currently second.

We started the weekend with an away game at Bryce's Queens park, a quality side with good players right across the park,both sides opting for normal 4-3-3 tactics, game on and both sides started well although we were constantly defending, they broke through and opened the scoring on 31 minutes when Oleksiak fired home 1-0,35 minutes and things went from bad to worse as Anderson saw red for a clumsy challenge and we were down to 10 men but we stood firm till half time,2nd half subs on and we tried to play ourselves back into the game but on 66 minutes Vingegaard slotted home 2-0,we had no answer as we were outplayed and outshot 4 to 0,well played Bryce. 

Next we were at home to Willy's Forfar and they went for a 4-2-4 early ball as we went for a 4-3-3 normal both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but defences stood firm, half time came and subs on ,60 minutes and they changed tact to longball but to no avail and on 82 minutes they changed tact to press  and on 85 minutes they broke through as Skelly fired home 0-1 and Robson headed home on 88 minutes to seal the game 0-2,we just edged the shot count 5 to 4 but nothing to show for our efforts, well played Willy.

So a really poor weekend as we gain 0 points and drop to 13th.

In the latest  round of league matches, EDI went to DUU and managed to come away with all 3 points with a 0-1 victory. In the 2nd match, it was CB who took the points with a tight 1-2 away victory. As a result, EDI now sit in 7th place in the Division 2 table and still in touch with the promotion play-off positions. Although it is still fairly early days in the league campaign, it is felt that EDI need to up their game somewhat if they are to maintain that challenge.

In other news.....MF Joseph Jacobssen yesterday put in a formal transfer request as he is finding it difficult to settle in Edinburgh and at a lack of game time. The manager said that if a suitable offer were received that it would be readily accepted.

Stranraer stormed into Station Park like a team possessed and left with only a point — but every single person in Nairn knows they should have left with three.

From the first minute, the Blues tore into Nairn with a swagger and style that had the home crowd silenced. Ismaning Ghench was electric on the wing, twisting poor Fraser Dingwall inside out, while Crewe Jickee ran the midfield like a maestro. The Wee County defence were chasing shadows all afternoon as wave after wave of Stranraer attacks crashed against the heroic (and incredibly lucky) Lewis Munro in the Nairn goal.

The breakthrough finally came in the 53rd minute when Xian Carbon, who had been threatening all match, rose like a salmon to bury a bullet header past Munro. It was nothing less than Stranraer deserved after carving Nairn open time and again.

But football can be cruel. A complete fluke in the 80th minute saw the ball fall kindly to Ben Barron, who poked home the most unjust equaliser you’ll ever see. The Blues pushed for the winner, but luck deserted them.

Make no mistake — this was a Stranraer masterclass. Next up: MOTHERWELL IN THE CUP. If the Blues play like this, the Steelmen better be ready. The Blue Wave is coming!

Motherwell entered the second leg of their cup tie against FOR knowing that their 3-0 lead gave them a little room to rest and play reactively, but not enough to truly rest the whole team. MOT decided on playing their top GK and a big stall in front of him, with about 6 T-11 players, 3 T-17 players, and 2 true backups playing. Motherwell could afford to go behind in this one, but if things became 0-2 or 0-3? Changes to plans would have to be made.

The stall worked fairly well against Forfar's strong lineup, and it took until the 38th minute and Forfar's 4th shot for them to finally pull one goal back. Could FOR continue to make this one interesting with an early second half goal? No, MOT GK Merle Haggard was up to the task today, making a neat save in the 50th minute and two more in the 75th and 77th minute to keep this one out of reach for the home side. Forfar wins the leg 1-0, but Motherwell wins the tie, 3-1. Job done for MOT, as Haggard saves 5 of 6 shots on target, some stars rest for the league ties ahead, and the team advances to play SRA in the CECIL cup quarterfinals. That will be a big test for the Well!

The hard truths about our beloved football squad (since 2024)

DEE's going down - not much news!

THREE matches later - ZERO wins later!!!
And if you can't win a single match against the likes of Livingston, Elgin and East Fife ...

It's even worse! 
Dundee not only fails to win, but even to SCORE:
2 goals in those 3 matches, just 11 goals total - only Annan has scored less!!!

BUT we're always willing to help. 
The solution is all too easy, even our (still) current coach should get this:
MF filler Glass is the runaway leader in the shooting squib ranking - with ZERO goals from THIRTEEN shots!
AND Dundee is proud to ALSO have the #2 in this remarkable table, Meekings with 0/7.

NONE of our FIVE "star" shooters has seen more than 9 shots.
Well, if you have Haaland and "McDunno" in your squad, you tell McDunno to shoot!?

This could be so much better, if we just 
Sack this guy!

I can't help but feel disappointed at last weekends results. After dispatching Forfar 6-1, solely due to Willy playing an SL 9 GK I thought we had a chance of a six pointer with Cove only playing an SL 17 GK. 

I can't remember who were the better side but shot chances were high. Unfortunately most of our shots went to players other than Donnelly who only got the one. Meanwhile 7 of their shots went to their SL 35 FW and he scored 4 (xG being 2.94). If the shots had been distributed "correctly" I'm sure we would have won. So it feels like 3 points dropped.

In a few minutes we have the return leg of the Cecil Cup where we simply hope to avoid a blow out. Luckily morale isn't based to the score as ours will take a battering.

At last - a loss (and a draw to boot) in the league. We had points in hand at the top but more to do probably with the schedule than the team. We went to Stranraer first and wanted to give ne winger Watson a TP. So we went Stall and looked to alter things secondhalf when he was subbed. Other new lad Bowie slotted one in after 27 minutes (which we never expected and then STR equlaised just on the ref's half time toot.

But we forgot to change the tactic at the break. Wished we had since Stranraer stuck on their rookie shot stopper, Klayhammer, and he was never tested. 1-1 we would have taken at the start so we were okay with the score.

Then Nairn came to town and it went belly-up. We lose a goal in the 1st minute then after half time we lose our star midfielder, Collins, only for County to rattle in 2 more as looked to alter things. Kennedy and Cadden, both defenders, pulled goals back but the damage was done. in fact we had 4 shots at their keeper, none falling to the forwards..

We now have to re-group for a difficult midweek 2nd round 2nd leg tie at Livingston. Last week it was a cracking game 2-2, all goals in the 2nd half. This should be a tight one till the end (pens possibly - although Livvie do have 2 goals in the bag) - or we might decide to rest for the away derby game at Tynecastle and a home match v Dumbarton.

I could get my scores for the weekend till Sunday afternoon due to bad wifi - probably as well.....

Stranraer showed true grit and heart to come from two goals down and snatch a deserved 2-2 draw against Albion Rovers in a match that should have been a showcase for the Blues' dominance.

Despite falling behind to two opportunistic goals—more a result of loose officiating and fluke deflections than genuine Albion quality—Stranraer never lost their heads. Ser Richer Shakest sparked the comeback with a cool finish just after the restart, before super-sub Mondo Polestar buried the equaliser following yet another dazzling run from Shakest.

At the back, Hudd Anstler put in a colossal shift, repeatedly shutting down Albion’s rare forays forward, while Podrick Payne and Jules Everitt were tireless. The Blues carved out more chances, had more shots, and looked every bit the better side.

Stranraer fans will leave Stair Park proud. This was a point earned—and nearly three stolen. At St Johnstone on Wednesday for more Cup drama!

Well we were looking to bounce back after a really bad last weekend with 2 losses but were up against 2 teams well above us in the league but we were hoping home advantage would come into play.

1st we were at home to Josh's Inverness, a side we have always struggled against, we opted for a 4-3-3 and marked their danger man Billy Smith as they went for a 4-4-2 normal, they started the quicker and Sharp lost his marker on 3 minutes and fired home 0-1,not the start we were looking for, but our defence regrouped and stood firm till half time, 2nd half subs on ,we slowly played ourselves back into the game and levelled things up on 55 minutes when Kelly fired home 1-1 and we pushed on and Kelly drilled home his 2nd on 59 minutes 2-1,what a turnaround, our defence stood firm till the end as we outshot them 4 to 2 and held out for 3 very valuable points, well played Josh. 

Next we were at home to Ross's high flying Aberdeen, who were in a rich vein of form ,we opted for a 4-3-3 normal as they went for a 5-2-3 normal, we started quickly and opened the scoring on 4 minutes when Hale slipped through and slotted home 1-0,8 minutes and a deep cross saw Hale power home his header for his 2nd 2-0,26 minutes and Loturi fired home 3-0 and Hale completed his hat trick on 36 minutes 4-0 in an amazing 1st half, 2nd half subs on and we pushed on and Brophy fired home on 59 minutes 5-0,77 minutes and Chilvers drilled home 6-0 and Grieves sealed the game on 86 minutes when he slotted home 7-0 as we outplayed them and outshot them 17 to 0,well played Ross .

So a 6 point weekend pushes us back up to 10th.

After the exploits in the cup, Motherwell went into the weekend 6 points off of the leaders (HIB) and with a tough slate of ALB away and STE at home. The task was made much harder by the surprise injury to one of Motherwell's few adept defenders. How would they attack the weekend?

The decision was made to rest starters and go for a low block against the very attacking ALB side. Given the stats they put up...it probably was the right decision. Even our T-11 would have struggled to get a point away to ALB with that lineup (241 OFF), and so to escape with a 2-0 loss and some EL gained seems pretty reasonable. However, the odd thing is that MOT were actually fairly close to nicking a point. Only down 1-0 after 60 minutes, MOT went to a normal formation to try to snag a goal. Nearly worked! They got a shot fairly soon after that could have been the smash and grab leveler, but twas not to be. The shot fell to an average finisher and we didn't even hit the target. ALB get a late goal to seal the 3 points and get a deserved win.

Next up was a visit from STE, and Motherwell expected a fairly strong side given the EL available to the visitors. However, a fairly tame stall was presented, and Motherwell were able to blow them away with 4 first-half goals. A fifth was added later on, but the bad news was that Motherwell's captain had been forced off just 4 minutes into the match. One free CP lost due to random injury, and more EL wasted. Motherwell will need to bring in some players to work into the rotation soon or else!

As good of a weekend as could have been expected. In the auction, Motherwell failed to secure the signing of the top defender on offer, but were happy not to spend the amount needed to get him (would have taken over 1000k). Instead, 8 CP is really the next best thing we could have won. At basically pre-season prices, too, it means that MOT now have about made up for their inability to start the season with a full 50 CP.

Motherwell welcomed 3rd division side to Fir Park on Wednesday in a first leg featuring two very strong goalkeepers. Merle Haggard and Zach Paris has a combined SL of 70 going into this match, so goals would be at a premium in this tie. Ray Wylie Hubbard got the party started for the home side, scoring just four minutes in with the first shot of the match, however, so the home support were in a joyous mood. And onslaught of attempts for Motherwell produced a second in the 22nd minute, as Hubbard got his brace. It would remain that scoreline in the 60th minutes, when both sides made changes, with FOR changing tactics and MOT switching to be a bit more defensive. The home side were feeling good, but just 10 minutes later disaster struck when star defender Gary Clark Junior was stretchered off. It was unclear exactly what happened, but FOR's Rory MacLeod was booked for the event. Forfar moved into a late press, which didn't produce them a chance, but did give MOT 4 shots in the last 8 minutes, including the hat-trick for Ray Wylie Hubbard.  Big day for him, and big day for MOT keeper Merle Haggard with 6 saves to his name.

Big 3-0 win to take into the away leg, but job not done just yet. The bad news is that Gary Clark Jr's injury was diagnosed as torn ligaments - a worst case scenario for a random, non-fatiuge injury, with only 1 in 100 random injuries being that bad. The injury will test our squad's EL and cost us a physio boost, but hopefully MOT will manage. EL will be an issue for sure as Motherwell aim to balance their cup run with trying to push back towards the top of the D1 table.

EDI continue to struggle with consistancy and after a loss and a draw last week, bounced back to form with an away win at  RR and followed up with a home win versus KIL in this weeks league session. Hopefully the consistancy will gradually improve as the teams three youngsters gain experience and train up to a better level in the weeks ahead.

EDI currently sit in 6th position in the Division 2 table but will certainly need to show some improvement if we are to have a realistic shot at promotion back up to Division 1. There is still a long way to go this season and certainly much to play for.

Falkirk had a bad weekend last week losing both matches against the top two teams. We started with an away game at Aberdeen. We conceded in the last minute of the first half to go in one nil down. The goals flew in after that with us losing five two. We then played Partick Thistle at home. A great first half and we had a two nil lead. With Hickey being replaced by Ralston our defence fell to pieces conceding five second half goals to lose five two yet again. Not the best way to prepare for the Cecil cup last 16 game away to Hearts FC. An awful start on 2 minutes seen us concede but then a slice of luck with Hearts keeper Halkett being injured and replaced. We then seemed to score every chance we had and finally won six one, to give us a great chance of making the quarterfinals. 

Last Saturday we visited the league leaders, Hibernian, for our first match.  This was a closely-contested match, but not much fun for the spectators as there were few chances on goal.  We won the shot count 5-4, but lost the match to the only goal of the game, which only just crossed the line late in the first half.

A home tie against Stranraer looked an easier proposition for us, and again we won the shot count 9-5, 7-4 on target.  But we had our reserve keeper, Matty Rollo, between the sticks and he simply wasn’t up to the job, managing only one save in the match as Stranraer coasted home 0-3.

So, two league losses, but perhaps we’d do better in the CECIL Cup against Dundee FC.  We could hardly do worse, you might think, and yet we managed just that.  We had home advantage but Dundee were too strong for us.  They scored twice in the first four minutes and by the 25th minute they were 0-4 up.   After that things did improve a little – we drew the rest of the match 1-1, but a four goal defecit is a lot to make up in the away leg.

On a cheerier note, we are pleased to welcome Charlie Murray (pictured) to the club, as we wave goodbye to four loyal servants - Brian Easton, Iain Vigurs, Mikey Cunningham and Seb Ross all retired this week.

Just re- read my journal. Only one wee mistake.. when I mentioned we created NINE shots before half time - it was in fact NONE. Prediction text or just too large fingers?  I know what my money is on.. 💰💰😉

The hard truths about our beloved football squad (since 2024)

DEE's going down!

DEE's loss at Motherwell was - if ever in doubt - safe after min ONE! 1st shot, 1st goal, game over.
90 more boring minutes, finally 0-3.

DEE's home loss in the relegation 6-pointer vs Stenhousemuir was all but fixed (and deserved) trailing 0-2 and 2-3.
Ridiculous luck finally turned the match into a 4-3 win - and extremely important points against a dominant away side.

Still, it's only a 4 point cushion againt #14 and a straight relegation spot.
Next week already might see us dead last!

Unless we
Sack this guy!

A decent weekend with a 4-0 win over Ross County and a disappointing 0-0 draw with Queens Park where the wrong players got the shots. But it made an MVP and therefore more cash. We're also half way to getting our sponsorship sewn up. Promotion is unlikely but it's not the be all and end all.

On Wednesday  we had an impossible task against Albion Rovers in the Cecil Cup. Although my intention  was to play a junk stall lineup, just over 50% I thought we might just get lucky and played the same players in a 4-2-4 early cross. And got thrashed. At least we scored - Tim Kong once again on the scoresheet - now 6 goals from 7 shots in all competitions.

Stranraer took a giant step toward cup glory with a commanding 4-1 away win over St Johnstone in the first leg. From the opening whistle, the Blues showed their class and intent, overwhelming the hosts with relentless energy and incisive attacking play.

Weerie Opollo opened the scoring with a cool finish before Ser Richer Shakest stole the show, netting a stunning brace and dominating midfield with flair and composure. Stranraer’s high press and sharp movement left the Saints reeling, and a late Shakest header sealed a fourth.

Though St Johnstone grabbed a consolation, they were second-best throughout, and only a string of saves from Josh Rae prevented further damage. The Blues’ back line, marshalled by Dresser Prendel, was composed and resilient.

With a three-goal cushion and the return leg at Stair Park to come, Stranraer are in firm control—and the dream of a famous cup run feels closer than ever.

Glad the CECIL Cup tie v Livingston is over. 
We were battered during the first 25 minutes - Bursik saved 5 shots -we created nine in that time. Got up half time 0-0 - phew!!

Then second half we scored twice, but on each occasion Livvie came back with levellers. 2-2 it finished and we stay alive for the 2nd leg - just. 🙄🙄

We started the weekend with a home game against Steve's Alloa Athletic, a really tough side to play against for us anyway, we opted for a 4-4-2 normal as they went for a 5-2-3 early ball, they started quickly and opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Donnelly fired home 0-1 and he drilled home his 2nd on 16 minutes 0-2 in a 1st half which they controlled, half time came and subs on ,but we could not find a way through the stubborn defence and on 63 minutes Graham hit a cross cum shot which beat everyone 0-3 and Donnelly completed his hat trick on 80 minutes 0-4 as we were outplayed and outshot 7 to 4,well played Steve. 

Next we travelled to Daniel's Dunfermline, always a tricky place to get a result at,they opted for a 4-3-3 normal as we went for a 4-2-4 longball, they started like a greyhound out of the traps and opened the scoring in the 1st minute when Wanyama fired home 1-0,minutes and he fired home his 2nd 2-0 and he completed his hat trick on 4 minutes when he powered home his header 3-0,12 minutes and Oakley slotted home 4-0 and Kane drilled home on 22 minutes 5-0 and he fired home his 2nd on 42 minutes 6-0 ,we were dumb struck they came through us like a hot knife through butter,2nd half subs on and our defence actually appeared and played well but the damage was done in the 1st 45 minutes as we were outplayed and outshot 7 to 3,well played Daniel.

So a really poor weekend sees up slip to 15th,we need to address this and fast.

The Hibees band wagon rolls on - don't ask me, I have no knowledge how it is happening, I am just enjoying the ride whilst it lasts.

Defintely thought last weekend, despite home matches against both East Fife and Albion Rovers, i would get my first loss and look towards mid table obsurity, but the lads (and my mates at Olmec) contrived to get me through the first match against EF by a single goal by Youan before half time proving to be the winner. We had a 4 shots to 5 disadvantage in the game but MOM keeper Slater saved all 5. We sneaked away to rest and face ALB. 

By now the ELs were getting lower as I insist anybody less than SL20 plays "aggressively" if they can. This proved to be a good match for us, as although Youan scored another goal, new man gained in the 1st auction, Bowie, also contributed with a strike, and the 4-0 win gave winger and captain Stevenson a Captain's bonus.

So, we still sit at the top at least till Saturday, and face a last 16 CECIL Cup tie tomorrow v Livingston. We faced them in the opening league game so they know where Easter Road is. Not sure where I want to rest players - league or cup. With 18 league points we have opportunities to rest before anything bad happens threatens, but I can also see how the Cup draw pans out. 

While I am here, I will have either FW Youan or FW Doidge available for transfer, as Bowie is moving up to replace one of them. A lower age DEF (we can work out resources to compensate later) would be nice... Interested?

Stranraer are gearing up for a high-stakes two-leg cup tie against Division Two leaders St Johnstone, and fans are optimistic their First Division challengers will rise to the occasion. Sitting second in their league and boasting some of the most exciting talent, Stranraer look primed to make a serious statement.

At the heart of their push is striker and maestro Mondo Polestar, whose vision, flair, and relentless energy have been key to Stranraer’s success this season. Behind him stands the imperious Krawl Ruthtowner, a commanding presence in goal whose reflexes and leadership could be pivotal in this tightly poised contest.

While Creasey's St Johnstone may come in with momentum, Stranraer’s superior pedigree and big-game mentality could prove decisive. With belief surging through the squad, the Blues are poised to prove they belong at the top—and this cup clash is the perfect stage to show it. They might have avoided the Blues in the league but they cannot hide forever.

Having drawn the first leg of our CECIL cup tie against Deveronvale we were optimistic of progressing into the last 16 round.  But our visitors seemed to have a very good chance at the kick off, and were relieved to take the lead after 20 minutes when Trevor Brooking was put through by Scott Shepherd and coolly lobbed the keeper.  Soon after that, we lost Ross Peggie with a twisted ankle but with Jacob Comerford on the bench this didn’t cause us too many problems.  

We went into half time 1-0 ahead and soon doubled our lead when Gregor Nicol (pictured) headed home from close range.  We were in control now and added a third just on the hour when Alan Trouten tapped in a loose ball from close range.

We were happy and maybe a bit relieved with this 3-0 win and look forward, with a little trepidation, to meeting Dundee in the last 16.

A successful week overall for Falkirk. We started off with a home match against Airdrieonians FC. A man marking job was given to Hickey to pick up their main striker OConnor, we never looked back. A solid two nil victory with goals by Ferguson and Speedie, to send us top on goal difference. We then traveled to bottom team Brechin City who had zero points and hadn't scored in their opening three games. You guessed it, we lost two nil. That wasn't such a surprise looking at Simon's starting line up. Not sure why they are struggling prior to beating us. Then In midweek Cecil cup action at home against Elgin City. After the away tie finished all square a great chance for us to progress. Our best performance so far by miles ended in a three nil win putting us though to the last 16 versus Hearts. Another huge test. 

EDI badly needed to bounce back from a very lacklustre start to the season and duly obliged in last weekends league session. two home wins against AYR and then CEL yielded six points and saw EDI climb up to 6th position in the Division 2 league table.

The manager is under no illusion though despite the team finding some much needed form. With three youngsters in the current squad, he will need to handle them carefully if they are to be fully trained up before the end of the season.

This weekend sees EDI travel to PET before a home game versus SM and the manager will be looking for some consistancy from the team and hopefully build on last weekends results. 

Although only in the early stages of the season, EDI will need to improve their finances to ensure that they keep pace with the rest of the league if they truly want to remain competitive going forward and as such 'Coaching' and 'Training' will need to be regulated soon to allow the manager to build up funds going into next season.

It’s been a poor start to open the season for QP. In the opening round of the CECIL Cup we played Alloa. We had the better of the shots in  the home leg and evenly matched goalies but Alloa’s Morrison was on his game while our Zunino only made the one save from 3 shots and we headed to Recreation Park with a 0-2 hill to climb. Amazingly in the away leg by 55’ we had gotten ourselves back in the tie at 3-1 to us but proceeded to throw it all away in the last 30 minutes by giving up 2 goals and settling for a 3-3 draw and falling out of the cup at the first hurdle. 

To the league then. Our lack of depth was apparent in the first game away to PT which we lost 3-0 but in our first home match against Stirling our woes continued as we outshot STI 5-1 but could only make one of our shots count while they made their only shot worth a point. Once again Zunino was outplayed by the opposition, not a good sign for our starting goalie this early in the season.

Luckily last weekend we were able to finally get off the mark with a 3-1 home win over an understrength MON side but one that had been in good form coming in to the match with 6 points from the first weekend. After getting ourselves a win we went out to East Stirlingshire but couldn’t even get a shot on target. So, we have 4 points from our first two weekends and already find ourselves on the back foot instead of taking a step forward this season. We definitely need to find ways to improve our depth and with our CP stash need to get creative to solve these issues.

The hard truths about our beloved football squad (since 2024)

DEE spells disaster!

You WOULD think that a squad winning both cups last season WOULD be competitive.

Reality check week #2:
A visit at newly promoted ALB should provide some easy 3 points for a "TOP" team.
NOT so with our current coach: ARB was spirited, motivated, tough. DEE NOT so, even unable to score from a penalty.
Well deserved ZERO points for the Blues.

Matches vs last seasons' #3 FRA are always difficult. 
Given that FRA are often enough overperfomers - AND a perfect development spot, just look at their superstars - there wasn't much hope for DEE going into this match.
The Blues might have looked good enough, going into min 90 with a 2-1 lead - BUT FRA's competent coaching provided a well deserved equalizer.

DEE's squad MIGHT look good enough in numbers, BUT unless we can solve the obvious COACHING issues, the Blues are heading for ANOTHER relegation battle.
UNLESS we just
Sack this guy!

Motherwell make it through to the next round of the CECIL Cup after a 3-1 aggregate win over GM. The second leg was MOT's first clean sheet of the season, the 1-0 victory coming in no small part because GM simply weren't given the shots they deserved by the engine. Motherwell, on the other hand, were given plenty of shots but in the end could only convert one against some good goalkeeping. The win worked just fine, and Motherwell progress to face Forfar for a spot in the quarterfinals. 

Motherwell have the very unfortunate draw of being stuck as the #1 spot in the bracket. That means, no matter how far they advance in the tournament, they will always have the home leg first and the away leg second. Motherwell will need to rely on getting the job done in the first leg and making sure to not leave themselves too much to do away from home.

Forfar will be a tough challenge next, as they also have a very good goalkeeper in net, as well as the firepower up front to punish anyone. It's possible a T-11 in both legs will be needed to beat them, which makes a tricky balancing act with the league push. Decisions will need to be made about how to manage players and make sure that we don't burn ourselves out in either competition.

Motherwell aimed to continue their good start to the season with the second weekend of league play. After two straight 4-3 wins to kick off the season, they would face Dumbarton at home and Annan Athletic away. Six points would keep them on pace with the league leaders, but it is still far too early in the season for any matches to be must-win.

A good first 30 minutes saw MOT pull ahead 2-0, fueled on by their home support. DUM decided to bring on their star players at that point and replace their sweeper-playing-goalkeeper. The real match kicked off from that point, with the away side facing a real uphill battle. The score held from there until Motherwell decided to get a little risky with their substitutions. Dumbarton were able to take full advantage, scoring in the 68th minute to set up a tense finish to this one. They would get one chance to level at the very end, but it fell to the wrong player and MOT's backup was able to make the game-saving save. 2-1 the final here, and MOT stay the course with 9 points from 9 available.

Next up came an away trip to ANN, and Motherwell predicted some fierce opposition in this one. A nearly full t-11 side was sent out, and from opening kickoff the stats looked to be pretty well in MOT's favor. The 11.9% to 6.5% shot chance advantage didn't really play out in reality, however, as it was ANN who were able to open up the scoring in the first half, beating Motherwell's big SL33 GK who really has had a poor start to the season. Motherwell were missing the target with many of their chances and offside with most of the others - 5 first half chances led to only 1 shot on target. The second half was more of the same, as Motherwell just simply could not score. ANN's SL 26 GK was a bit robbed of the MotM award - I would say he deserved it simply by stopping 3 shots on target from Motherwell's big SL 31 striker. Bad day in front of the net for Motherwell, who perhaps were due a bad result.  I'd also like to call out that ANN were due a good result - I think they had gotten some bad luck in their opening matches and probably deserved to be in the points already. Not the end of the world, but Motherwell will hope to chase down the league leaders next weekend with better finishing.

Okay, another close match inthe 2nd leg of the 2nd round of the Cecil Cup. Away at Raith Rovers last Wednesday we carved out a slim 2-1 win. Yesterday should have been a straighforward home tie - nothing adventurous but don't give much away.

49 minutes in and Doidge gives us a goal lead with a nod of his head. 2 goals up - job done! Nope, We managed to have Brownlie sent off with 21 minutes to go and Rovers came back and 6 minutes from the end (after I have subbed off main man O'Rourke to save him for the weekend) Andrews equlaises. They still need a goal to force penalties, but penalties are a lottery. We held out however and face 2 matches with our opening day opponents Livingston - winners to face Alloa Athletic or Albion Rovers in the last 8..

2 suspensions for this weekend's first game at home to high flying East Fife, but we wouldn't have it any other way.. :-)

In the first leg I thought we were robbed a couple of chances and said we needed the luck to go our way to have a chance. And so it was with us getting 3 more chances than expected and Aiidieonians getting what the "deserved". A draw might have been the fair result based on stats as we had the better keeper but I was delighted to ee us win 3-2. Man of the match was Tim Kong who now had 5 goals in all competitions from just 5 shots.

Next up in the cup is Albion Rovers and I spotted that they've conceded 5 goals in 3 matches this season. There's always hope. Realistically, however, it's just another 150k or so and players getting CP or TP a couple if games earlier.

Dunfermline mounted a spirited comeback in the second leg of this cup tie, claiming a 3–2 home victory against Stranraer. Goals from Victor Wanyama (2) and Trent Crimm gave the Pars a flying 3–0 start inside 33 minutes, threatening a miraculous turnaround. However, Xian Carbon and Mondo Polestar struck back for the Blues, easing nerves after the early scare. Stranraer absorbed relentless pressure late on, with substitute goalkeeper Krawl Ruthtowner putting on a heroic display to preserve the aggregate advantage. Despite defeat on the day, Stranraer advance with a dominant 9–5 aggregate win to face local ricals STJ next week.

Man of the Match: Krawl Ruthtowner.

Having lost our first two league matches, the Fifers were a little down coming into Saturday’s matches.  The manager brought in a motivational expert to gee up the team and it worked a dream.  Their upbeat, optimisitic, charismatic style annoyed the players so much that they chucked him into the club’s swimming pool, and they all felt much more optimistic after that.

The first match was against Arbroath, last season’s champions, who fielded a team with a few weak links – notably, the back two.  Things didn’t start too well for us, as Jack Healey picked up a yellow card in the first minute but it wasn’t long before we went ahead as Keiran Millar bent one in from the edge of the box.  Then an injury to our sweeper brought our backup keeper on as a rather strange substitute…but it didn’t seem to matter as Millar scored again just after the half hour, only for the Lichties to pull one back to make it 2-1 at half time.  In the second half, we suddenly clicked into gear, with a hat-trick goal from Kieran Millar and one from Adam Lareef making the final score 4-1.  Greta stuff!

Then we had a second home tie, this one against Albion Rovers, and another early yellow card for us as Alan Trouten offended.  There was plenty of action in the first half, but only one goal - that man Kieran Millar heading home from close range.  Again, a one goal lead at the interval, and again we lifted our game in the second half.  Kieran Millar (pictured) was our player of the season last season, and now he scored an astonishing four second half goals.  Five in the match, eight in the weekend.  Amazing!

The Fifers started their CECIL Cup campaign with the away leg of our encounter with Deveronvale.   We knew this wasn’t going to be easy when we saw that The Vale’s manager, Leon Permentier, was also refereeing the match, but in fact he had very little chance to influence proceedings in what was always a fairly dull affair.

After a goalless first half, Deveronvale took the lead early in the second – a nicely placed header from Gab Riella finding the net.  It looked as if this would be the only goal of the match until, in the 86th minute, Trevor Brooking slotted the ball through to Greg Nichol (pictured) for the equalising goal.  

So we go into the home leg all square andleave ourselves with every chance of progressing to the last 16 of the cup.

We started the weekend with a home game against Tyron's East Stirling, a quality side who were always hard to break down, we opted for a 4-3-3 normal as they went for a 4-2-4 longball, game on and both sides enjoying lots of possession but defences on top for the 1st half, 2nd half subs on and we pushed on but could not find a way through the stubborn defence, although we outshot them 10 to 2 ,Raya in their goal was in outstanding form with 6 saves and it ended goalless 0-0 ,points shared, well played Tyron. 

Next we travelled to Derek's Berwick, another side who we have always struggled against, both sides opting for a 4-3-3 normal, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession, defences on top for the majority of the half but on 39 minutes we broke the deadlock when Hale slipped through and slotted home 0-1,half time came and subs on ,they started the quicker and levelled things up on 46 minutes when Reaper fired home 1-1,but on 50 minutes Loturi fired home 1-2,but undettered Berwick pushed on and levelled things up on 62 when Lawler slotted home 2-2,they outplayed us for periods and outshot us 6 to 2 but it remained 2-2 points shared, well played Derek.

So after this weekend we sit 9th.

Four games in, Division 1 has already delivered its fair share of surprises. Hibernian sit proudly at the top with a perfect record—four wins from four and an impressive +8 goal difference. Once tipped as outsiders, Hibs have emerged as early title contenders, with their clinical attack and tight defence setting them apart.

In stark contrast, pre-season favourites Hearts and Livingston have endured nightmare starts. Both sides are winless and sit joint bottom with just two points apiece. Hearts, in particular, have leaked 14 goals—only Stenhousemuir have conceded more. Livingston, meanwhile, have lacked creativity going forward and solidity at the back.

Elgin City and Motherwell are close behind the leaders, while SRA and Dundee FC remain within touching distance. But the early spotlight belongs to Hibernian, who have defied expectations and now look like genuine contenders in what is shaping up to be a wide-open campaign.

Holy mackerel!  4 games in and top by 3 points. Mad game but I see already we will be having suspension and EL problems. That's okay - we usually do, just usually a little later than this.

Home to Clyde we gave a penalty away via a clumsy Kennedy tckle. A yellow card later and we are a goal down after Mccall scored. But we come back and POTS player O'Rourke equalises on 35 minutes and its half time. Close game with few on target chances but we we took one of them and O'Rourke claimed the winner with 15 minutes to go.

Then away at might Arbroath we looked fopr a pointbut were ready for a loss. On 9 minutes it was Schaedlar who gave away the penalty from which Taarabt scored. He collected a red card, and we go a goal down - didn't look good. But again we came back and Doidge 4 minutes later converted a Stevenson cross for the leveller, and then the same lad headed in just after the half hour mark and we go in a goal up. Supporters were "over the moon" here. TBH we were hoping the home side were training up their rookie keeper, and they were, so we probably got lucky. 

Second half was a tight affair - more tactics than shots but Youan claimed our 3rd 3 minutes from time for an unexpected 3 points, but on shots created maybe about right.

Now for the Cecil Cup on Wednesday and we know we will need to be ready for a Raith Rovers comeback, and we will be. League we will NOT win, but a Cup is a possibility.

I was a little disappointed in the shot allocation against AI on Wednesday. Today made it triply frustrating as the random numbers seem to be conspiring against us. I know we aren't going to get promotion as the side just isn't strong enough but still...

First up, Dunfermline. I knew we were likely to be the weaker side on the pitch but at least we had Morrison (SL 30) in goal and the best they could muster would be Williams (SL 16). Early Cross isn't great defensively and not hel;ped with the recent injury to Slater. It wasn't quite T11 but close after 30 minutes. So it's frustrating when, apart from Kane who we'd expect to score 1 from 2 shots, that Morrison could only save 3 of the other 6 shots on target. While Williams also managed to save 3 of the 6 shots he faced. It also doesn't help when our defenders get 3 of the 8 shots.

Then it's Inverness. They have powerful attackers, are pretty much certain of Cecil Cup progress and we aren't. This was the time to stall and take a beating. Only Josh had other ideas and stalled himself. Shot chance was obviously low on both sides. I half expected Inverness to come out all guns blazing in the  second half and their apprentice keeper to go off. But they didn't anf their shot chance dropped to 0.5%. Sharp went off and Moore came on. With 1 FW playing stall it's likely he will get a shot but at 0.5% over 45 minutes against my SL 31 GK the expected goals was 0.08. Yes of course we lost.

So it feels like two points lost to random luck. We play AI on Wednesday, with WGs that are still not fully fit as I foolishly, with hindsight, thought we could get something from the DFA game. All we need is a miracle i.e. some luck for a change.

Falkirk got off to a great start in the league picking up four points from the opening two matches. We started with a home game against Forfar Athletic. The match finished two apiece with all the goals coming in an end to end first half. We must give credit to our keeper Gunn who kept us in the game with several fine saves. The second game was away at Cove Rangers. At halftime we were two one up and never looked back scoring another two in the second half to win four one. Again our keeper won man of the match but this time it was Brown. We then had Cecil cup action away to Elgin City. Durie give us the lead on 42 minutes but City equalised late on and the game ended one apiece to set up the second leg nicely. For the third time our keeper won man of the match this time back to Gunn.

After a very poor Cecil Cup loss, EDI followed that up with a terrible opening session to the league campaign that saw the team thrashed in the first game and just about hang on for a point in the second game.

The manager swiftly reacted by trading away the 2nd choice GK and bringing in two promising apprentices in GK Felix and DF Alberto. With two home games this weekend he will be hoping for a couple of somewhat more competitive showings from the selected line-ups and a belated kick-start to the still young season.

The manager has now stated that the squad should be strong enough to do better as it currently stands and he plans on no further departures or arrivals to the squad.

All of the EDI fans will certainly be looking for some far stronger showings from the players and manager over the next few weeks.

Our week #1 opponents were teams you don't want to play in week #1: 
DUM and ANN are both T11-heavy quality sides, the teams you want to play once their rotation issues get relevant.
Still, you have to play what you get, so ...

Match #3 vs DUM showed both teams seemingly still asleep. Not much action, few shots, just one goal. 
No complaints, though, given that Camperdown's 1-0 was enough to secure the mostly correct 3 points for DEE.

Match #4 at ANN was as difficult as expected.
Even more so, since DEE's offense failed to produce a single shot in the 1st half.
3 shots in the 2nd half weren't impressive either, but Caniggia scoring twice from both attempts was.
The MoM did not go to Caniggia, but to GK Gadzhalov - and well deserved for 8/8 saves.
3 slightly lucky points from a visit as minor dog, always appreciated.

DEE's main problem seems to be how to get the expected shots on the pitch, but that's somehow difficult to train.

At the start of the day I would have been happy to know we were going to draw our game with Airdrieonians as I knew we'd have veteran Ashley Roe in goal for the whole game. They have some strong players and, with our EL issues, I expected a tough game. As it happens we were the stronger on the day and I was disappointed to only get two shots (xS was more like four). Out of five games we've been short changed twice, hopefully the luck will swing our way for a few games. Having said that we are unbeaten this season and part of that is only playing 30 minutes of stall and not giving games away.

The return leg will be tougher, I suspect, as Kev is likely to play the big players the whole game now that he has a chance to progress.

Before that we have games against Dunfermline and Inverness in the league. I'll be happy with two or three points from these. Inverness were my first SESL team and the season we won the league (my only SESL championship) we were three points behind Dunfermline  but won our last two games and they could only manage a draw and a loss. Happy days.

Right, now the Cecil Cup starts for us. 2nd Round tie saw us paired with Raith Rovers - a tough enough tie at the best of time. We travelled for the 1st leg and incredibly the new lad we gained in last Sunday's auction, Kieron Bowie, scored in the 1st minute and the first attack.  However Baah headed in an equaliser after 16 minutes. Youan, who has scored in both our league matches so far, did it again when he floated a cross over that deceived keeper Goram and ended up in the net. 2-1 at the break and the same score at full time. A tight game with only a 2-3 on target shots count so still a lot to do to win the tie but 2 away goals gives us a good opportunity to go to the 3rd round.

With a start record of DLLL Cowdenbeath have had a slow start to Season 59. The draw at home to one of the league title favourites Edinburgh City being the sole highlight. Captain Tiger Woods scoring an early goal, only for Edinburgh to hit back quickly. 

Manger Bishop commented. "It's not necesarily the start we were looking for but we're not too down at the moment. We had a dfficult opponent in Hamilton in the CECIL cup, even then the scoreline probably flattered them a little. Our league campaign opened away to Celtic, not the easiest tie but one we could and should have done better in. We then had a home match against Edinburgh City, in the end taking a point from the side with the top T11 & top17 stats is not a bad result. Our morale has taken a bit of a battering and we have to focus on getting some decent results in the bag. Hopefully we can sneak a player or 2 in over the next few weeks to help in that respect."

Did East Fife’s season start as it means to go on?  I hope not.  We started affairs with a home tie against Elgin City.  The outfields were fairly balanced but our visitors fielded an SL5 keeper and we duly took the lead in the 6th minute, with defender Jacob Comerford (pictured) firing one in from range.  All was well, and we held our lead at half time.  But in the 56th minute, Elgin equalised, and with four minutes left they took an undeserved lead and all three points.  Our shot tally waws two, well below expectations, and we have a bad feeling about how things might develop for us.  We are sure to be in a relegation fight and need to win matches like this to survive in the top flight.

We will pass swiftly over our second match.  Clyde deserved their win despite the red card they received but to concede three times from four shots is disappointing.  Coaching Matty Rollo must be a priority for us.

I suppose we should be thankful of four points from our first two league games but it really should have been six, as we played the bottom two teams in T11.

The game against Berwick was very disappointing in that we had double their shot chance but only managed 6 shots to their 5. To make matters worse, Vic Watson picked up a knock which meant he wasn't fully fit for the Aberdeen game where he was to play in midfield. I was in a rush to alter orders and, with hinsight, should have left him out and play Gallagher rather than play Watson passive. We are now below the minimum EL (16 total) for the three WGs for optimum play.

As for the Aberdeen game, that went pretty well with me being able to rest Morrison and bring Roe on in goal foir the final 30 minutes; he even saved his only shot to be joint leader in the golden gloves race. Also Donnelly only had to play the last 30 minutes but was ready to come on after 30. 

The only downside was the injury to Slater: the 4th official had been told of the substitution which we planned for 60 minutes only for him to get injured at that time. At least it wasn't a minute earlier, which would have cost us an extra EL

Early days but happy with 3rd in the table and unbeaten. Our younsters are also also scoring quite well. Aidrieonians will be tough on Wednesday and the selection and tactics will be tricky due to those injuries.

Well well, first weekend of the new season and new division and we are off to a good start.

Home to Livingston (who finished a tidy 6th last season in the top division) we were in front on 12 minutes through Youan only for MacAllister to square it 10 minutes later. The game was a fairly level match throughout - we maybe created more chances but it was gouing to take something special to separate us. That came in the 62nd minute when new signing from Partick Thistle, John Collins, struck home to give us an opening win, 2-1.

Collins came as a swap for Latapy, who agreed his aging legs needed a new challenge, and Thistle came up with an offer he couldn't turn down. Good luck to him, but welcome John.

Then we made the trip to fellow promoted Elgin City, who had just played at East Fife and won by the odd goal in 3. We would have settled for a draw at the start, but we did guess City would play at least for a half their rookie keeper, Olly Kelly. He did play but we only had a Cadeen goal to show for the first half. Once City had replaced Kelly with 1st choice keeper, Kyle King, we expected a tough 2nd half. Surprisingly we got more opportunitiies to test King, and O'Rourke, Youan, and Doidge all counted as we gained a 4-0 win, and temporary top spot in the division.

Won't be there long as after a midweek away game at Raith Rovers in the Cecil Cup, we are home to Clyde then away at Arbroath. Mid table next Sunday methinks.

Motherwell kicked off the season home to Nairn County in a match that home supporters were hoping would kick-start another title challenge. Lineups showed that Motherwell had a significantly stronger attack and advantage at GK, but had the slightly weaker defense of the two sides. Odds pointed perhaps to a narrow home win. The first half certainly opened up Motherwell's way, with last season's golden boot winner Hubbard getting an assist early on by setting up Steve Earle for MOT's first goal of the season, just 16 minutes in. A second would come 20 minutes later, with Jimmie Dale Gilmore opening his account. The only real blemish on the half was a caution for Ray Wylie Hubbard, meaning that a suspension may come earlier than hoped this season. The visitors improved their attack but weakened their defense at the half, but any further goals evaded the sides for 15 minutes more. By that point, MOT decided to bring on their backup goalkeeper and were forced into an injury sub. However, they retained plenty of threat and turned the match into a beat down - scoring two back to back to make it 4-0 in the 70th minute. Both goals by Ray Wylie Hubbard, who as we saw last season loves a brace. BUT, this match was not over. NAI would quickly pull one back in the 72nd minute through their weaker MF, and, as NAI moved to press, the backup GK for MOT really started to fail under pressure. A huge mistake in the 83rd minute led to a second for the visitors, and he could do nothing about the 86th minute shot that brought this one back to a 1-goal match. The home support collectively breathed a sigh of relief at full time as this one finished 4-3, but a huge warning to last season's runners up here. Perhaps backup keepers should be used more sparingly than that! The 3 points mean that this weekend already avoided being a failure. Though, up 4-0 in the 70th minute, dropping the captain's bonus is still a slight negative given the game state. Better in-game management will be required going forward.

Next up came title rivals HEA away. About one of the hardest fixtures that one has to face in the season. An optimistic take on it is that, since opening weekend is often more luck based than usual, it may be best to get tough fixtures out of the way early when you may be able to steal an undeserved point or more. Lineups showed these two teams were almost dead even to kick off the opening half. Nearly the same attack and defense stats, you would expect these teams to end up with similar shot numbers by the end of it. Motherwell had the dream star, as the visitors scored just 3 minutes in through defender Blett Youngfren. It would stay that way until a disaster 11 minutes struck for the Well. The home side equalized in the 34th minute and then took the lead right from kickoff in the 35th minute. Their star WG and FW both getting on the scoresheet. They would turn it into a 3-1 advantage at the stroke of half-time, as HEA seemed to be cruising to victory at the break. What could manager Foss-Grant say to his squad that would turn this one around? Not much happened for the first 15 minutes after the break, and so perhaps some substitutions might make a difference. Motherwell brought on their second striker of choice, while HEA moved out their strikers and brought on some players to improve the defense. This seemed to be the chance the visitors needed, as they changed into a press that HEA simply didn't have the attacking firepower left to take advantage of. Midfielder Townes Van Zandt changed the game in an instant, scoring a brace separated by just 4 minutes to make this 3-3 in the 68th minute. It would be the sub, Guy Clark, who would score the winner here, pouncing on a poor backpass to make it 3-4 in the 74th minute. 3 points stolen from a very losing position, with both sides going on goal binges, scoring 3 in a row in separate 11 minute spans.
 

Motherwell leaves the opening weekend with 6 points somehow, after two very exciting 4-3 victories. Luck was on MOT's side this weekend, so we will hope we need less of it and have some more comfortable victories ahead. The squad can't let the victories go to their head, however, with the cup just ahead and a very long season to go. Focus will shift to the midweek cup from here.

[Blog published slightly after intended :) ]

Motherwell go into this season optimistic about our chances of competing for silverware again after being in the running for something for most of the past four seasons. With St. Johnstone now down in Division 2, it looks like we will be following Fraserburgh on most team's schedules, at least early on. Hard to know what this will translate to, as we ended up facing strong lineups from most sides both of the past two seasons, when St. Johnstone were both very strong and very weak.

Opening weekend always is a bit of a crapshoot. All teams have most of their top players ready to go, and getting two wins generally requires either some luck from OLMEC or a really favorable schedule. With Division 1 newbies Nairn County at home and away to Hearts, it seems like MOT had a fairly average opening schedule where you might expect 3-4 points out of the weekend. As blogged last season, season 58 was the first ever top-flight 6-point opening weekend for Motherwell during the current manager's reign. [The first 8 seasons produced the following point totals from the first two matches: 1, 3, 4, 1, 4, 3, 3, 3. Never 2 wins, and even getting 4 points had been rare]

Success will likely be anything 3 points or higher in the opening weekend. 4 may be the true target for success, while getting 0-2 pts will be a big stumble. 6 pts will be viewed as a big stepping stone.

Finally, the first auction will provide an opportunity to balance our squad early on. Failing to get a player will be ok here, but if we can get a good deal for a position of need it will make our season planning that much easier. Moves in the market may also be options for securing a T-17 player, should a reasonable option become available. Realistically, we need to turn our aging 6/20 FW into a different position and we need to get the 2/10 out of our T-17 by bringing in someone stronger.

Stranraer dominated in a spirited 2-2 draw against Livingston, who were fortunate to escape with a point. Leading 1-0 at halftime, Stranraer controlled possession and created better chances throughout. Despite registering fewer shots, Livingston were clinical, converting two rare openings. SRA’s relentless attack produced eight shots on target and deserved more. The result flattered the visitors, who relied on luck rather than skill to avoid defeat in a match Stranraer truly owned.

Opening today at home v Livingston. They had a good last season after winning the 2nd division the season before. Finishing 6th in amongst a division of 30+ SL players is no mean achievemnet.

However we are up on merit, if a little hiccup along the way, and should hold our own throughout the season. We have some players who will not take well to MSA but hoping to move them out before then and get a younger squad. Main man should be MA O'Rourkealthough methinks keeper Slater might have a few games where his hands will be blistered by shots.

We will enjoy the extra gate monies and hopefully use them to good effect. Here we go!!

Falkirk opened the season with their Cecil cup qualifier against Peterhead. The first leg was away at the Balmoor Stadium. Against the run of play we scored from our two chances on target and at the other end our keeper Gunn had a man of the match performance and kept a clean sheet. A great result to take into the home leg. Again Peterhead had the better of the game and broke the deadlock on 60 minutes. We then stalled it out for the remainder of the game to win the tie overall two one on aggregate. Our reward is a last 32 match against Division 1 team, Elgin City. Hopefully our luck holds. 

Stirling did not get off to the best start, Drawn against fellow Div 3 team Forfar the first home game went 3-1 to the away team. The stats weren't too bad with the T-11 out but Stirling will need keeper Harry Bosch to get coached up asap if we don't want to keep conceding 3 goals per game.

You may have guessed but the second game away to Forfar also ended 3-1.

Stirling were able to purchase the max CP in pre-season but it did not leave enough cash to buy any apprentices before the CECIL Cup games. The idea was to trade CP for a DF Bosman but we were unable to bring any trades through. We have our first apprentice now though after the BIO payout and can start to train/ coach up more players now as the defence isn't great. 

Well we were drawn against Tapani's division two Greenock Morton, a classy looking side who we have always struggled against. 

First leg at home and we opted for a 5-2-3 normal as they went for a 4-3-3 normal, they started quickly and opened the scoring on 5 minutes when Morton fired home 0-1,we slowly played ourselves back into the game and levelled things up on 11 minutes when Grieves fired home 1-1,and went ahead on 40 minutes when Brophy volleyed home from just inside the box 2-1,half time came and subs on ,nothing to choose between the sides but they hit us on 67 minutes when Wall slotted home 2-2,they outplayed us for periods and outshot us 5 to 3 but we are happy with the draw,well played Tapani. 

Away leg and they opted for a 4-3-3 normal as we went for a 5-2-3 longball, both sides started well and game changing moment on 17 minutes when Hale brought down Larrivey in the box,ref pointed to the spot, Larriverry got up dusted himself off and fired home his spot kick 1-0,28 minutes and Neon slipped through and slotted home 2-0,36 minutes and they were down to 10 men as Bill Kangaroo saw red for a clumsy challenge, and on 42 minutes a shot hit low saw Morton stick a leg out and deflect it home 3-0,2nd half was a tale of defences as both stood firm as we were outplayed for periods and outshot 7 to 5 ,well played Tapani, best of luck in the next round.

Well, we're just about all set for the season. Two trades may look like I've weakened the team as both outgoing players were in the team's T11 but the replacements aren't. But both outgoing players were midfielders and they hardly contribute in early cross. Their replacements are at defender and winger and add more in attack and defence. And we took in 580k.

In fact the squad looks kinda odd with a T11 consisting of a GK, five DFs, three WGs and two FWs. With the next three being a GK, DF and MF we seemed to be set up to play quite strong in all games  rather than my usual junk every third game. When I say strong I mean relative to our mid table T11/T17.

EDI fell at the first hurdle in the Cecil Cup against DEV. A 1st leg 2-0  away loss followed by a 2-2 Home draw was enough to end any hopes of a cup run but hopefully EDI can bounce back in the upcoming league games and restore some much needed confidence.

New signing MF Joseph Jacobssen joined EDI from ALO the day after the cup loss which saw WG Vic Watson move in the opposite direction. The signing reflects a slight tweak in the make up of the EDI squad which the manager was looking for without any loss of SLs and the trade fulfils that aim.

The squad will be added to further over the next week or so as two youth players are expected to sign full contracts during that time and the manager is also considering another possible trade depending on the clubs finances.

A near perfect start for the Wasps. Maybe the change of nickname worked as last season we could hardly score. Today we scored 2 goals from 4 shots - a sting in the tail, indeed.

We were the weaker side but defended well. Queens Park weren't helped by Jamie Brandon getting 4 of their 8 chances; missing the target once, having one saved  and getting caught offside twice.

We didn't even have to bring on Jacobssen who is rumoured to have asked for a transfer to team with "better prospects".

We won't be resting on our laurels as Queens Park can easily turn the tie around in the second leg but any aggressive play will be risky.

On the eve of the new season......

EDI Manager Bill Bushby has stated that EDI will be making a significent new signing that will be expected to herald a slight change in tactics for the team and that EDI are on the cusp of signing two new youth team players to the full squad.

As a consequence, EDI will look to step up somewhat from last season and as previously mentioned, will also look to employ a more varied choice of gameday tactics to exploit future opponents chosen tactics on a week-to-week basis.

One or two other trades are currently being considered but at present nothing is in the pipeline.

Motherwell return to another division 1 campaign after the disappointment of last season. However, a new season means new promise, so let's check in on what we can expect this year:

Positives:

• MOT start off with one of the best T-11s and T-17s in the league. There will be a lot of SLs on the pitch from the start, so hopefully MOT can avoid a slow start
• MOT have 3 strong age 1s. This youth means we shouldn't be grtting old fast over the course of the season.
• We have strong FWs that are moving towards their peak, and a good GK duo. Perhaps two of our most important positions - this locks us down for always having a chance in matches.
• Awards came through - this allowed us to only be 9 CP behind, but also have 9 OTF to start the season. We'll count this as our risky expenditures only cost us 5 CP. That's a crisis avoided.

Negatives:

• Our wings are old and one too few. Can we move a FW for a backup WG? Can we sign some youth in this position? We likely need 3 WGs in the next 3 seasons.
• Defense is still thin. meh.
• A suspension in the t 11 and an average morale are not the optimal day one stats.

We'll likely have to assess the early season and decide where to spend our funds this year. Do we push for players that can get us there this year? Or spend money on more youth? Can MOT push for a trophy? Probably, but this time we'll have to do a lot better in the big matches compared to last season.

East Fife are in Division 1, by the skin of our teeth.  Whether we’ll still be there next season is somewhat doubtful, however.  Two new recruits will help our cause, we hope.

Kallam Higginbotham is a winger, qualifying from our academy.  He has four pet cats and possesses a natural ability to make everyone smile with his ridiculously big grin that always follows “what’s yours?”.  Other than tending to his pets and working towards his grade A saxophone exam, he spends his spare time on the indoor ski slope.  He hits the alps three times a year clad in same gear he was wearing as a ten-year old, but somehow he is cool enough to pull it off.  Let’s hope he can tear up the wing at the same speed as he descends the piste.  And falls over less often.

Michael McKenna comes to the club as a Bosman signing to strengthen our forward line.  He’s a player at the top of his game (SL12), who expresses his personality through his very extensive and obscenely expensive shoe collection.  Boasting a powerful blue-sky brain, he is a workaholic who gets the best out of any team he’s a part of.  He loves to drink a complex champagne cocktail that no barman has ever heard of, but he is no party animal and tends to sneak home early, often forgetting to pay the bill before he leaves.  If ever his friends complain about this habit, he is quick to point out that drinking is a team game.

EDI will begin season 59 back in Division 2 and after 'Ageing' and 'Pre-season' the team find themselves with the 2nd highest T11 and the highest T17 in the entire division at present. Encouragingly, EDI are still have the youngest average aged squad not only in Division 2 but currently in the entire SESL league. Some of those stats may change prior to the start of the new season but the manager is happy with the situation at this time.

EDI have not been sitting back during the off-season either, A deal has been agreed for a player swap that the manager feels will help the team in the upcoming season in an area that he felt needed some improvement from last season.

The financial director also reports that the financial situation is currently healthy and early season tickets sales are ahead of previous seasons.

In other team news......EDI have signed A1 DM Winston Bogarde on a 'Bosman' and have also promoted FW Tony Cottee to Club Captain. The manager has stated that he expects to promote 2 youth team players to the full squad over the coming weeks but gave no details at this time.

It turns out Albinson didn't want the POTS and so we have awarded it to FW 2/28 George Oakley instead. 

Turns out he was not too chuffed at being second and took the huff so we have given it to him rather than him being in a huff through the off season :)

Some final and closing thoughts on season 58 from around the club, before we get our pre-season orders in and start worrying about another year of growth. 

Press Dept: The stadium is being cleaned, the staff are enjoying their breaks and the club shop is officially closed. The pitch is being ripped up and relaid after what was a long season. Its quiet round here, but its not long  now until the roar returns to the stands, the smell of the hot dog vans polutes the air and we go again. Renew your season tickets (both of you) and pre-order your new shirt for when the shop reopens. We are Stenny till we die! 

Manager: Brilliant season. Great committment from the players and exceeded our aim - Chairman Happy - Season 53 we finished rock bottom of SESL for the first time in the clubs history after collasping dramatically down the divisions. The team was a wreck, it wa s adark time for the club. But the rebuild began setting a foundation in season 54 (11th Div 3), then moving to success in seaosn 55 winning Division 3 title. In season 56 we narrowly missed the division 2 title (2nd) and season 57 we excelled in the top flight (4th). This season was always going to be the toughest - the squad that had grown to success we ageing badly and we needed to go again, so to finish 5th and cement our division 1 credentials was a huge success - especially give our starting T11 - This seasons over-achievers! The stars kept pushing us on against the odds and we have amanged to bed-in a couple of age 0 stars who will flurish over coming seasons too. As always im just raring to start again - lets go!

Mascot: Its hot man! - I'm glad for the break

Fans: Back to our best - Optimistic about the future. Just ordering my new kit. 

Groundsman - The new pitch looks amazing, once its fully down, i know im setting up this team to push on - Stenny for the title!!

Dumbarton top goal scorer gets the nod. Star forward and all round good guy, Ross Chapman with 28 goals from 61 shots across all competitions. He is still young and will be scoring more for Dumbarton for a few seasons yet. A close second was winger Jamie Hamilton with 24 goals.

A decent season for the whole team.

Billy Sharp (FW) in real world football is leading scorer in the English league & one of my favourite Blades players for me. I think he has done well at INV in SESL too. While he played similar mins to Kieffer Moore (FW) this season he has scored double the goals with 24. They were not enough to stop us from relegation but without the goals we would not have had the good cup run so I think he deserves the POTS. 

Ted McMinn has excelled in his WG play this season. He ended the season as our best player on paper and the stats back this up. 19 goals from 29 shots in only 31 matches is an excellent conversion and our second top scorer. Only 8 DP was low by any standards and 2 POTM. Well done Tin man. Can’t wait to see you next season. 

Raith would like to nominate Wes Hoedt.  Why  - he seemed like a nice guy, always had time for the fans, a cheeky selfie here, a thrown sweat band there, the odd boot casually tossed into the crowd (less said  about the resulting concussion and black eye from his size 12 the better).  Also a solid defender, and in real life who can forget his goal for Watford vs Hull.

ANN nominate: L. Lactis (Age 3 / FW) for our POTS ... what can you say about wee beastie of a striker, maybe normally he's associated with being too cheesy ... not this chap, while maybe his chatter is a little fermentative, he can also produce a goal or 21. While, he did notch the golden boot, he more than helped ANN to an unexpected title :-)

KIL Player of the season is the man who lead the line for us superbly all year.  JR Smith scored 29 goals in all competitions wigth 22 of those coming in the league campaign, only surpassed by the two powerhouse strikers at champions DEV. 

Smith popped up time and again with important goals, none more so than the equaliser with seconds remaining in our playoff.  With defeat staring us in the face, Smith was in the right place to slot home and force a penalty shootout which saw us gain promotion.  

A good performance this season is likely to see Smith move into the top 10 all time scorers for the club and he will be a crucial player as we attempt to progress in Division 2 next season.  Well done JR!  

Ted McMinn has excelled in his WG play this season. He ended the season as our best player on paper and the stats back this up. 19 goals from 29 shots in only 31 matches is an excellent conversion and our second top scorer. Only 8 DP was low by any standards and 2 POTM. Well done Tin man. Can’t wait to see you next season. 

At the Queens Park season ending awards banquet last night, manager Bryce Kalmbach presented midfielder Jamie Oleksiak with the Player of the Season award. Oleksiak was joint top scorer in all competitions this season even though he played in the midfield. Another key aspect of his season was his durability playing in 33 matches joint top on the team. In all his minutes he only got a single yellow card definitely helping the team accomplish their fair play sponsorship goals at the end of the season.

Ayr United held their Player of the Season in Burns Cottage where Robert Burns came out of retirement with Glen Michael and Palladin to award the prizes for this season. 

Our Player of the Season was awarded to GK Charlie Albinson

Instead of a COW it's a GOAT. Tiger Woods.

4 Man of the Match awards and scored 22 goals. His ratio was 2nd best in the division of 1.05 goals per match. Beathen only 2nd place finishing Motherwell, not bad for a team that were ultimately relegated. :-(

He is a serious contender for Captain next season, just hope he can avoid injury. 

The team have taken a vote on who they think was this seasons POTs and the winner He Rick Larson.

The leader of a very mean defensive line which only allowed 23 goal to be scored against them in 30 league games. Which was a major reason the team have managed to gain promotion this year. He also managed 2 goals and 3 MOM awards in what was an outstanding season for him.

James Henry 4 MOM awards best of any outfield player

in a season full of ups and downs he has been mr reliable ( a strange mirror on real life)

Following a glittering ceremony last attended by 11 players (and 5 subs) it was announced the main man (he him) this season is Robbie Muirhead 2/33 WG.

The plan was to take a poll vote amongst the LIV fans but the average attendance is noted in Sesl stats as 0 (zero zilch).

Take a bow Robbie Muirhead. 

Easy decision to elect Cole Palmer 2/33 MA as the Arbroath player of the season.

Chipped in with 17 goals despite playing in midfield much of the season.

A future Captain in waiting, but for now can celebrate with the lads who finished div 1 title in 1st place.

Did MOT lose the title, more than ARB win it.

The NAI player of the season? 11 man of the matches and arguably cheated out of the golden gloves award, obviously Lewis Munro. Stumbling block its not allowed to be a GK. 

Back to the drawing board, Ben Barron? Young boot winner, 16 goals in 26 games a big reason we are playing division 1 football next season. Stumbling block its got to be an age 2 player or above.

Back to the drawing board, scraping the bottom of the barrel now. If it cant be Munro or Barron then it has to be Ormsby or Robesten. Robeseten outshone Barron upfront with 25 goals which is some effort. Ormsby managed a "paltry" 15 from the wide areas which is a cracking return. The 4 mom awards to Robesten's 2 swings it in favour of Ormsby, most because it will likely benefit the team the most.

Horace Ormsby 2/30 WG - NAI player of the season*