Falkirk's away form is terrible. An away game at Cove Rangers and two fairly even teams. The match didn't pan out that we and Cove ran out easy five one winners. Our home form though is much better. The second league game last weekend was against Elgin City at home. We didn't exactly dominate but we did get all three points in an one nil victory. The SESL group games started with matches with Forfar Athletic and Cowdenbeath. Both finished all square, two apiece and three apiece. Three games left and all to play for. 

Coming into SESL Cup break QP's league form was that of a typical mid table side like we should be right now. Home wins versus Dundee United (1-0) and Queen of the South (2-0) and away losses to Kilmarnock (0-4) and Brechin City (0-3). It's really all we could have asked for at that point with a small squad and trying to bank as many points as possible before MSA. At this halfway point in the league season we are in 8th with 26 points but trail that all important 4th spot by only 3 points but our terrible -11 GD will definitely act against us if we are still close at the end of the season.

In the SESL cup we really wanted to get off to a good start since our first two group games were against the only other non-D1 teams in the group. However we were very low on EL with our top lineup but still tried to go for it. In our first game we played Queen of the South for the fifth time this season! We had a stronger lineup but couldn't get the shots away and were outshot 4-2. But both top goalkeepers were on their game so this ended up a 0-0 draw that didn't really do either of us any favors. Next we had Nairn County who brought their top players and took advantage of our patched together lineup to walk away 2-0 winners. All is not lost though as Albion and Queen of the South also only got 1 point in the session so that 4th spot is still up for grabs.

And before we end this week, we say goodbye to veteran GK Alan Parry. Alan joined us midseason last year from CLY and was a good veteran presence as our young #1 Cal Raleigh continued developing. Alan is using those mentorship skills now as he begins working with our youth teams as a goalkeeper coach.

A bit of a mixed bag of results for the first two SESL Cup games.

We were low on EL for the game against the strongest team in the group so it was our usual (near) 50% stall with 11 passive players. And the 0-2 loss has to be considered a bonus considering their SL 30 and 34 forwards.

Then we played one of the two weakest teams in the group and hoped for a big win. We were the stronger side but unfortunately could only manage a 2-1 win. 

Next up it's the other weaker team and once again EL is low but I feel it's a must win. Six points could be enough to qualify for the knockout stage.

We started our Saturday with a key match when we travelled to third-placed Brechinders.  Maybe Fran Morillo decided that this was not one to contest – certainly his line-up looked a little under par and we had the better of things throughout.  We went into the lead after a quarter of an hour and added another in the second half to emerge comfortable winners, 0-2.   

Into the second half of the season and we were at home to Dundee United, who had won their our first encounter.  This time the Tangerine Arabs had no such ambition, their intentions clear from their 5-4-1 Stall formation.  Our star forward, Scott Shepherd half-volleyed us in front midway through the first half and assisted in the second just after half time.  Two more goals quickly followed and we notched up a comfortable win, 4-0.

We made an addition to our squad this week with the addition of Elie Youan in a part exchange deal with Edinburgh City.  He has a lot of experience and will help to bolster our attack in the second half of the season.

,
We turned our attention away from the league to compete in the SESL Cup.  Our first group game was against East Stirlingshire.  There didn't seem to be a lot to choose between the teams but we had our reserve keeper between the sticks and that made a huge difference.  Things started well enough when our new signing (above) headed us into the lead on eleven minutes but after that we started leaking goals in an alarming way - four in all in this disappointing loss.

We did rather better against Cove Rangers, dominating throughout, and scoring a goal in each half to open our account in the cup.  A win and a loss is, we hope a start good enough to get is through the group stages.

Rob, you DO know that you are confusing the SFLSL Cup with the one the rest of us are playing for -the SESL Cup. Could happen to anyone I guess 😂😂🤔🤔

We opened our cup campaign with a game against Matthew's St Mirren, we opted for  a 5-2-3 normal as they opted for a 4-3-3 normal, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession and they opened the scoring on 37 minutes when McNeil slotted home 0-1,we hit back on 41 minutes when Sims powered home his header 1-1,half time came and subs on ,we pushed on and on 54 minutes a slick ball through saw Loturi fire home his 1st goal for the club 2-1,from then on defences ruled as we edged the shot count 7 to 1,well played Matthew. 

Next we were up against Bill's Celtic, a really classy side ,we were struggling on how to set up against them but we decided on a 5-2-3 normal as they went for a 4-3-3 opportunistic, game on and nothing to choose between the sides in the 1st half hour,but on 36 minutes the game changing moment when Oluwayemi saw red for a dangerous tackle and Celtic down to 10 men,half time came and subs on ,still nothing to choose between the sides up until 66 minutes when Brophy fired home 0-1,defences then took control and closed the game out as we just edged the shot count 2 to 0 and held out for the win ,well played Bill. 

So 2 games played and 6 points a welcome start.

EDI have stripped their squad down to the bare bones but the manager has stated that the current roster is now done and the rebuild has already started.

Relegation from Division 1 is assured as is SESL Cup elimination after the group stage. The remainder of the league campaign will be about coaching up the players that are left with a view to the next two seasons.

Hopefully EDI will be able to bounce back but there will be some pain along the way.

With us ensconced in mid table in the division - happy with that - we turn to the SESL Cup - a nice and timely diversion from league games - and which gives me a free Saturday from reviewing.

2 games against Elgin City (5-0) and Dundee United (4-2 and maybe a tad fortunate to score 4 although we created a few chances with just a winger and a forward). But it IS 6 points and I reckon a win will be enough for 3rd place and probably a draw will get us at least 4th place.

Qualifying gives Marinello an extra hand for Training as he reaches his 0,20 as my new Sweeper.

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

Quite surprisingly regular keeper Carson wasn't seen on the pitch this week. 
The coach apparently gave both young keepers some time to shine and show their skills - or the lack of.
The results couldn't be more obvious:

• Barrett: clean sheet, 100% save rate, just perfect
• Gadzhalov: five goals against, a single succesful save, just disgraceful

We are delighted that even coach Habermann seems to have come to his senses.
With numbers like these, Barrett shines as a beacon of hope - in most dire times. The other guy might be used as groundsman, maybe.

Still ...

Sack this guy!

A very indifferent weekend where we travelled to Dundee, not expecting much as they have proved to be a bit of a bogey team to us (in a nice way...) So we were pleasantly surprised to come away with a 1-1 draw. 

So we then hosted Hamilton Accioes, who at the time of the start to Saturday's games were top, and agnst whom we decided to field a less than full team, so as to be ready for the SESL Cup ties. Also as we knew a win would propel us into a promotion race.  As it came out we were upset at going down to a side we should have beaten (1-2). The good news we are where we expected to be - between 7th and 10th place to avoid playoffs at either end of the division - out turn will come next season when the lads will be able to mount a challenge.

We now go to prepare for the SESL Cup matches - a welcome break from the league. 

I guess this is the break we were looking for last week. A small intrlude from the relentless tough games of division 2. A chance to take stock on our league performances and regroup. Not a rest from SESL completely of couse and we wouldnt want that. SESL cup kicks off this week and our first 2 lineups are in already. We definitely want to progress to the knockout, so striking the right lineups is going to be difficult as its a very tough group. The group of death as its been referred to already is a fair an accurate description. Some big hitters to deal with. 

The pause on league play comes at a good time though to be fair after a brilliant weekend for STE. We've edged back to the top of the pile in division 2 thanks to a 6 point session. Beating HAM was clearly a must-do task if we were going to continue fighting amongst the top few, we couldnt afford to let them forge out a gap at the top. But there's still just one win between the top 4 clubs. No one can take a breath. Division 2 has had the fewest goals of all 3 divisions so far. A stat you ma associate with being less exciting, but it isnt. All games seem to be well fought out. Everyone knows they've got a chance. 

Personally im delighted with our performance in the league so far. We havent lost in the last 15 games. Thats right back to the first game of the season where we lost to Stranraer. We've barely conseded any goals and we have navigated through a few absences (injuries and suspensions). 

MSA has given us the same headaches as everyone else we now try to understand the best way to rotate our lower SL squad going forward. 

Another tough weekend for Ross as we had 2 away games.

We started at Arnold's Queen of the South ,who were struggling in the lower levels of the table ,but they have a good squad and just need a few things to go their way ,they opted for a 5-2-3 counter attack as we went for a 4-2-4 early ball, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but we struck 1st on 15 minutes when Law fired home 0-1,defences then took control and closed the attacks down up till half time,2nd half and we started quickly as Brophy drilled home on 49 minutes 0-2 and we controlled the game from there on and Brophy fired home his 2nd on 89 minutes to seal the game 0-3 ,as we outplayed them for periods and outshot them 12 to 4,well played Arnold.

Next we travelled to Roy's Stirling, always a tough place to get a result at,they are a quality side who seem to save their best for us,they opted for a 4-5-1 ball control as we went for a 4-2-4 longball, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession albeit we were defending more than attacking, but on 33 minutes Sims fired home 0-1,game changing moment on 44 minutes when Cash had a straight red card, Stirling down to 10 men,half time came and subs on,we started well in the 2nd half and on 56 minutes Salah powered home his header 0-2 and we sealed the game on 72 minutes when Brophy fired home 0-3,we were outplayed for periods and outshot 10 to 6 ,but Laidlaw in our goal was in outstanding form with 8 saves which kept us in the game,well played Roy.

So a 6 point weekend and we rise to the dizzy heights of 4th place.

Another six-pointerand some luck (not witht eh results as they were deserved).

In the Fraserburgh game I got a little confused with marking and substitutions. I had some big players on less than 6 EL but wanted to win this game. I swapped lineups a few times and lost count of howe many players were where. This could have been a disaster as my marking orders were for Durnam and Graham to mark Kounde. But I changed the lineup and didn't change marking. Looking at the orders I have no idea what my intentions were exactly. But as it happened Alon surprised me with a 4-4-2 rather than go big for the win. The change to stall when we went 1-0 up just made it easier. I had a nervous last 15 minutes with two midfielders going below 0 EL.

I knew I was going to be able to submit orders after the game (the wife has gone away for the weekend). I still had players on low EL so three defenders played passive risking the last 18 minutes. Two EL 3 players played 45 minutes each and three other EL 4 players played less than 90 minutes as well. Forturnately Arbroath don't have a great keeper set up so despite only being a little stronger for 60 minutes I was confident of the win. Arbroath were unlucky to only have one chance after 60 minutes when they had a 7.7% shot chance (2.33 chances expected)  and that was offside. In fact 5 of the 11 chances were offside.

A 5th Captain's bonus for Craig Howie is very useful. We're a crazy 6th in T11 (started 12th=) but still only 13th in T17 (started 16th). I'm not sure what MSA will do to that, especially T17, as two of those are being sold. We,ve moved up to 8th in the Division, five points clear of the play-offs.

Next up Clydebank in the SESL Cup and "Mike". We're low on EL but will be able to put out 10 players on 6 or more and their number one keeper is out with concussion. A little unlucky to get a -12 injury on 90 minutes but that's the risk you take playing 90 minutes starting on EL 4. Easily the strongest team in the group, I'm glad we're playing them first to get them out the way.

Falkirk started last weekend's matches with a trip to promotion chasing Cowdenbeath. We got batted. We started with stall due to our low skill levels and players available after the cup run and found ourselves three nil down at halftime. It got a bit better second half but we finally lost four goals to nil. The second game was at home with Annan Athletic who had also went out of the Cecil cup at the semifinal stage. We got off to a flyer, going two up by the nine minute mark. We then struggled to create chances and finally conceded on 72 minutes but held out for a two one win. Our keeper McGregor was man of the match, saving six of their seven chances. Whilst we scored with our two that were on target. Very fortunate.

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

We have already said enough about our stupid new keeper signing.
No we haven't!

Match 1: Barrett starting, supremely confident and skilled, leading his squad to a 7-1 victory. The only goal against even came after he was finally swapped for Carson.
Match 2: Gadzhalov, nervous, clumsy, incompetent - and not saving a single shot, losing 0-2.

Any more questions?
Sack this guy!

Our charge for the Division 3 title faltered last weekend, when we gathered just a single point from our two matches.  Having said that, we still had a healthy seven point lead and hoped to extend that against Montrose. We started with a big advantage in shot chance, which was increased when Danilo limped off just eight minutes into the match.  But it was Montrose who took the lead through Matthew Wright after 11 minutes.  We seem to concede too many early goals but worked hard to make the most of our possession and steadily took control, with Scott Shepherd scoring a first half hat-trick give us a 3-1 half time lead.  Shepherd soon added his fourth goal but despite the mountain they had to climb, Montrose never game up, pulling it back to 4-3 before we scored again.  Even then, Montrose weren’t finished.  With ten minutes to go they made it 5-4, and I was mightily relieved when the final whistle went with that the final score.

We were blessed with a second home fixture, this time welcoming Berwick to Bayview Stadium.  Our line-up was the stronger but once again we went behind to an early goal, D_Blanket putting the visitors in front after eight minutes.  We are used to this now, and weren’t knocked out of our stride for long - three goals in eleven minutes put us well in control of the match with 28 minutes gone.  Derek Purvis switched Berwick to Counter Attack at half time, but it made little impression on us as we glided home, 3-1.

Tomorrow we've got a big match, a visit to Brechin who are lying third.  Fingers crossed for that one....

Motherwell earned their first ever 'big' trophy this week, securing the CECIL cup with a 3-0 victory over local Lanarkshire rivals Airdrieonians. After five straight 2nd places (2nd in Div 1, 2nd in CECIL cup, 2nd in Div 1, 2nd in Div 2, 2nd in CECIL cup), Motherwell finally ended top of the pile in a competition.

The match looked a well-balanced affair at the start. Both sides came playing their best 11, and the match was likely a coin flip if you asked the neutral. The first opportunities fell to AI, but midfielder Steve Davis failed to take advantage and had both of his shots saved by the MOT GK. However, the match would take a big turn when Motherwell got their first chance in the 13th minute. Progressing the ball from the back, Sula was able to find start striker OHannigain, who left no doubt and made it 1-0. His composure to turn a defender and lob the goalkeeper was extraordinary on such a big stage! AI really needed to regain their wits and create more chances, as the match was far from over. However, they seemed to be a bit shell-shocked, and not a minute later it was OHannigain again at it. A solo effort this time, he was able to use the defender as a shield and get his brace, with just 60 seconds separating the two goals. Again, still plenty of time for the comeback, but AI really needed to keep their composure. Instead, it was their star striker who just couldn't keep himself under control. A yellow in the 19th minute followed by a second for barking at the ref in the 43rd, and now AI really had it all to do. AI would need a quick one in the second half to find themselves on the right path back here. But, in the 59th, continued pressure forced AI DF Fellows into a bad tackle in the box and it was a penalty for Motherwell. OHannigain would take it to complete the hat-trick, and score it he did. A cup final hat-trick! That's how the scoreline would finish, MotM Sean OHannigain scoring all 3 - the cup coming to Motherwell for the first time!

As a real tactical analysis, this one was a close one if you look at how the sides lined up. AI started with the slightly higher shot %, but left themselves open to a higher chance of red cards and PKs by running 10 'd' players compared to MOT's 6. I may have also gone for 'a' if I were running AI, as I tend to go for 'd' when I have the stronger bench and 'a' when I have the weaker bench.
As I calculated it while setting my lineups, 10 'd' players would put you at a 42% chance of conceding one or more penalties in a match. 6 gets you around 28%. I wasn't too comfortable with the higher odds of giving away a free goal. As a secondary consideration, I don't love throwing 'a' or 'd' on my defenders unless they are a high level DM. Seems like that just will increase both penalty/red card odds and the odds that your shot chances fall to your defenders instead of your high SL FWs, WGs, and MFs. Obviously MOT got the extreme luck with this - 3 out of 4 non-penalty shots fell to our star FW. That's well above what you would expect even with a set up that tries to get him more shots.

Once we had the lead, our orders really took over to seal this one down. Players moving from 'd' to 'n' in order to reduce penalty chances. WGs moving to DF for the 30-minute stall at the end. It was going to be very hard for AI to come back in this one at that point, even if they had not had their star striker sent off.

In total, I think Motherwell got the luck of every 50/50 chance falling our way in this one. Low shot counts early, MOT's shots falling to the right player, and discipline being only a problem for AI. We took good advantage of that luck with our orders being well set up to protect a lead, but I think if you run these same orders from both sides 100 times, AI probably wins 40-something of them. Was a really well-balanced cup final despite the end outcome. Congrats to Kev on a very impressive run to the final - I hope this runners up medal is the lead up to you winning the cup next season, just as it was for me last season.

It has been very interesting to view the opinions of some of my fellow SESL managers in regard to my decision to partially rebuild EDI. But the fact remains that i have now accepted that relegation from Division 1 is inevitable despite those words of support and advice.

As previously stated,  EDI players that are currently A3 or older are now available for trade but due to my team only having a small squad, any transfers will have to involve a player coming to EDI in return + TPs/CPs/cash, i am happy to accept older and lower level players as part of any deal.

At the time of writing, GK Banks, DF Dailly, MA Cole & FW Youan are the only likely players to leave should suitable offers appear.

We started the weekend with an away game at Mark's Dundee United, a really tough side to play against, they opted for a 4-2-4 normal as we went for a 5-3-2 normal, hoping to pinch a cheeky point with a more defensive set up,game on and both sides enjoying lots of possession but defences on top and all attacks were broken down before they could develop, half time soon came and subs on,2nd half and much the same ,we were outplayed for periods and outshot 3 to 0 ,but Ross in our goal made 2 outstanding saves  to keep us in the match and a well earned point as it ended goalless 0-0,points shared,well played Mark. 

Next we were at home to David's Kilmarnock, another tough side to work out and play against, we opted for a 4-2-4 early ball tactics as they went for a 4-3-3 normal, we started quickly and opened the scoring in the 1st minute when Law powered home his header 1-0,31 minutes and Salah cut in from the wing and rifled home from an acute angle 2-0,half time came and subs on ,we pushed on and on 50 minutes Law fired home his 2nd 3-0 and on 82 minutes he completed his hat trick 4-0 as we outplayed them for periods and outshot them 9 to 5,well played David.

With this 4 point weekend we now sit 8th.

Motherwell have at times this season struggled to produce chances and struggled to finish them once they do. However, the semifinals of the CECIL cup seem to be where those problems came to die. After an away leg where Motherwell were lucky to find the net on 3 of their 4 chances (hero Jerry Jeff Walker scoring the 3 biggest goals of his young career), Motherwell decided to turn up the chance creation to 11 at home. 19 shots is always going to be impossible to deal with even for the best of goalkeepers, and Motherwell were able to finish 5 of those chances in the 5-1 victory. Jerry Jeff Walker again tried to be the big hero with 6 shots, but this time was only able to find the net once. Surely he will be hungry to continue building his cup legacy in the final!

The league weekend was the least excitiing for Motherwell in many seasons. With this season being billed as a rebuild, nobody would have been too surprised to see MOT lower in the table. However, the surprise cup run in the CECIL cup has pushed a lot of supporter energy that direction, and so the league results are the last thing on their minds. A very welcome (and not completely deserved) away win to EDI  gave MOT a valuable MVP after the cup success. However, a letdown at home to INV brought us back down to earth. That match was especially frustrating, as down by one at the half, MOT brought on some of their stars and had a large stats advantage over the visitors for the second half. However, things continued to get worse from there, with  INV scoring three more and coming away 0-4 winners. The match should have been closer, but MOT definitely shot themselves in the foot resting up for the big cup final.

Rising goal machine Xian Carbon promised to bang in a few more against high flying Stenhousemuir on Saturday. The young striker hit a mere FIVE goals last weekend and will prove to be a handful at Ochilview this coming weekend. Holland, the Stenny wonder keeper will have to be on his best form if he is to keep a cleansheet. SRA will be looking to close the gap on the promotion seeking Hawthorn. Indeed, SRA are the only team to have beaten STE in the league this season and will be looking for the full six points beofre the mid-season break.

Is the SESL cup group stage a 'break'? It's sometimes seen that way for managers fighting for league titles, promotions and avoiding relegation. Of course SESL group cup play can be just as tough. But it can also be a lt more random with some teams choosing to rest players, train youngsters or generally just recover to go again in the league.

We need a break. Divsion 2 continues to be uber competitive week in week out. There are no easy games at all. I'm not even sure how to keep pushing some of my players. 

The biggest challenge for me this season continues to be my inability to predict the outcome of games :-) It's true in the prediction league, thats clear. But its also true of my weekly fixtures.

Every week i expect to have a good go at winning one and really think ill struggle in the other. Every week i seem to be right. But in the wrong games!!  Last week was no exception. I hoped for 3 points against Ayr. They are a good team with a great manager, but they are struggling this season and havent got a win yet, but we couldnt get it done and we came away with only 1 point. But then Dundee i thought we would struggle. There's so much attacking potential, so many threats. But we won with relative ease and kept a clean sheet. 

This week we've got top of the table, away and a strong rival in Stranraer. Both managed by experienced managers. So i am making NO predictions. Ill just take what comes! 

First of all - to William @ Edinburgh City.  Olmec likes you and doesn't like you. Steve @ Alloa thinks it has it in for him all the time - not so - it's only about 80% of the time. Me? I think it does quite well for me - but maybe it likes my side of Edinburgh to yours... :-)     If the worst comes to the worst, embrace dropping to a division you will compete in, and enjoy the games and the managers - best division overall!!

Now, back to the weekend. We went to high flying Clydebank with a lesser squad expecting to lose that one and lo and behold, we gained a deserved point as neither team could make a breakthrough and actually only created 1 shot each. (0-0). We then entertained bottom side Ayr United, looking for their first 3 pointer of the season. We were holding some lads back to ensure they didn't break their duck against us. On 55th minute they scored and 10 minutes later they got a penalty and my lad Milloy was sent off. BUT our up and coming keeper, JoJo Wollacott saved it, and we went from strength to strength after it, equalising on 68 minutes and sneaking in a winner long long afterwards. The new Sweeper we just purchased, on SL9, then tackled Ayr's forward Willock at the death to avert a possible leveller. So, a 4 pointer weekend, and I DO have sympathy for Ayr - it will come good yet..

NO seriously !!!

Answers on a postcard please.....before its too late.

And sadly for EDI fans.....the latest league session was a case of back to normal.

Two losses and to be honest, EDI should have got at least a point from the two games but the gods of SESL flexed their muscles again and rubbed salt into the wounds by hitting our star GK Peter Shilton with a -18 injury which will keep him on the bench until at least the later stages of the SESL Cup group stages.

On the UPside..EDI have a fully fit GK Gordon Banks to step into the breach...but even so, SESL has its heart set on driving EDI into the 2nd Division regardless of the managers best efforts.

What has the manager and club done to deserve this treatment ??

Answers on a postcard please.

Well that went awfully:

First up DP.: We play passive a lot. When playing 50%/stall there's no point wasting EL so I play passive. All 11 players were passive against St Johnstone with a strong fair referre - yes we picked up the only yellow card. Against Livingston we again had a strong/fair referee - we picked up the two yellow cards given. We should be okay for the Sponsorship award as we've played 20 of a maximum 47 games but three star players are on 8 DP and likely to miss a crucial game of three later in the season.

On to the games: St Johnstone - yeah we were low EL so stalled. The moist annoying thing about this game was my new SL 17 GK couldn't save a single shot. Waste of 1000k so far.

Livingston: This should have been a close game. As per usual we marked 4 players and had a slightly worse shot chance - but both above 8%. It looked good with, on average, their MFs getting more shots than their marked FWs. And we did have an SL 36 GK.  (If we hadn't marked it would have been 3 to 1 in the FWs favour). But this is Olmec: first we get a MF injured after 2 minutes and then we didn't convert the shots.

Their FWs got 3 chances - 2 were offside (why don't you play sweepers, Steve? <--- THAT) but unfortunately Rashford converted his 36% chance. Meanwhile Offord got 2 chances for us at 52% - nope. Three of the chances went to MF/DFs - all saved - success for marking. I can only order 4 marking and the player put down to mark Cantwell was also allocated to Montano. He got two chances at 18% and scored. Rankin and Jacobssen got 3 chances for us at 22% - nope.

So yes, a little aggrieved at the results (yes luck goes around - look at the Albion Rovers game).

So we drop into the play-off again. But I won't be swayed against Ball Control. Fraserburgh up next and Alon has been mixing E and N. And our EL is not where I wanted due to the effort put into the Livingston game. 

Falkirk's Cecil cup run ended at the semifinal stage. Let's first start with the positive, maximum league points. Two home matches both ending in one nil victories. Saint Mirren was first then Airdrieonians FC next. Very valuable points. So back to the semifinal with Motherwell. It all went wrong in the home leg. A close game that we outshot them five to four, we somehow managed to lose three two. McGregor in goal having an off day. So the return game we needed to be proactive. We went two behind before pulling a goal back just before halftime. The big problem though was an injury to Robertson on 34 minutes leaving our defence with a big hole to fill. A very one sided second half saw Motherwell score another three and deservedly come out five one winners. Overall though a great run by the Bairns to get this far.

It's been a decent couple of weeks for the Queen's 11. Two weeks ago we had a massively important session with two home games and we went all out to win them both and climb up the table. Our first game was against Ross County who went full stall out of the gate. Luckily we were able to break through early and get a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. That turned out to be our only shot of the game but it was enough. Somehow even though County were full stall they outshot us 2-1 but luckily our capable goalie Cal Raliegh was able to see the clean sheet out. The second game that session was against a dangerous Berwick side, no stalling from them as they came to win. 2 first half goals were enough to get all three points as our defense did a great job to keep Berwick to one shot that day.

Last weekend was a different story as our side was depleted from our efforts of the week before. As a result we tried to regain some EL by resting key players and throwing out the stall at Montrose. After we got the surprise first goal, "The MON" (is this really their nickname?) ran right through the stall and hit us and our backup goalies for 6. They were just on a tear last weekend as they followed it up with 5 against Berwick so we just ran into the form team on the weekend. The second game at home against league leaders was so close to a big three points until we let EF equalize in the 83rd minutes. To be honest, Olmec really had it in for use that game as we had a comparable shot chance (5.3 against EF's 5.6) but they got 7 shots to our 2. If not for 6 key saves from man of the match Cal Raleigh we wouldn't have even had the one point at the end of the day.

This weekend is another normal away and home weekend where a more reasonable level of EL will see us try to get a point on the road and take care of business at home. 

Nine points clear at the top, and with nine wins in a row, we hosted Ross County, who were sitting at the wrong end of a very bunched mid-table.  Although we were the better team on paper, we failed to gel as a team on this occasion, and with our reserve keeper Reece Beveridge between the sticks, the run came to an end.  Ross County went ahead in the first half and added a second after the interval.  A great win for Rob Lye’s team, who took this 0-2.

We then travelled to Hampden Park to face a Queens Park team lurking in mid-table.  There was very little to choose between the teams although we did manage to create rather more chances.  However, it was The Queens who opened the scoring with half time approaching with a brilliant left-footed effort from Jarome Iginla.  It seemed that would settle things and Bryce Kalmbach ordered his men to stall for the last fifteen minutes to make sure of the three points.  Oh dear!  With seven minutes to go, our new signing Ryan Schiavone drove home an equaliser, 1-1 the final score.

So, despite a one-point weekend, we still have a seven point lead at the top.  Next weekend we face Montrose and Berwick and will hope to get back to winning ways.

No, it's not a name change - just a comment made about the real life Hibs team.

i think it was an excellent decision to allow Kotherwell to equalise in extra time last Saturday, which meant they finish 7th and in the bottom 6.

Worked it out, better not to be in the top 6 and get another 5 losses, but in amongst the dead men and maybe win a couple of matches. Good thinking from the manager - shame the treasurer won't be too pleased at lower crowds but hey ho! That's life...

PS in SESL good luck to Airdrieonians who carry the 2nd division hopes for a Cecil Cup win. (Nothing against Motherwell, their opponents in the Final, but the top division win enough..)  🏆🏆🏆😉

Motherwell traveled to Falkirk for the first leg of the big semifinal in the CECIL cup on Monday. The initial lineups pointed towards a fairly even match: FAL had the 8.7% shot chance to MOT's 8.4%. Given FAL's goalkeeper advantage as well as their very smart marking of MOT's forward OHannigain, my early guess for this one would have been a score of 2-1 or 3-2 to the home side. A one goal advantage for FAL would have been about fair and average had you run this one 100 times.

However, on the day, luck ran on Motherwell's side. Firstly, the shot counts ended up being below expectation, which is always good for the side with lower expected stats. FAL's 5 shots and MOT's 4 shots give a much more random outcome than if the shot counts would be 9-8 or something similar. Secondly, Motherwell's goalkeeper, Merle Haggard, saved about what was expected - 2 out of the 4 shots on target from attackers that had about a 40-50% chance of scoring their shots. Finally, Motherwell's 4 shots all fell to a player with their second best shooting SL (5 of MOT's starters had a shooting SL of 26, behind their marked forward's 38)...and three of those happened to go in. A shootingSL 26 against a SL34 GK should probably only score right at 1 out of 4 shots...so, 3 out of 4 is extreme variance in our favor.

Looking at this one, a score of 2-1 in FAL's favor seems like it should have been the outcome. So, Motherwell will be very happy that they got very lucky on the day. 2-3 the final, and MOT can aim to find their way to the final with either a win or draw at home in the second leg.

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

Another extra edition!
We know that our squad needs some more star players, if only to compensate for our clueless coach.
What we did get is: a 4th goalkeeper!

Seriously, how dumb can you be to waste our money on some Bulgarian junior keeper. 
Most especially, if you already have a rising home-grown GK star: Frankie 'The Eye' Barrett!

Better managers have already called this madness; we call this: One step beyond.

Please, finally, stop this crazy Hun, and
Sack this guy!

Another set of league matches and we won one and lost one. 

The big surprise was Airdrie, who knocked us out of the CECIL Cup Quarter Finals mid week, rested a few lads and despite me trying to help them get some points by getting Newell ordered off after a few minutes, we just had the edge and moved to a nice 3-0 win. This put us dangerously close to the top 4 in the division, something we don't want to be finishing near.

Sorted out in the 2nd game when we hosted Dumbarton, played well enough to earn at least a point and lost all of them in a 2-0 loss. That put us down a few places, so we are feeling better as we get a midweek break now, before facing Clydebank, who want to go up, and Ayr United, who at the moment can't buy a win (but if the brown envelope is fat enough, I am sure we can come to an arrangement....

We are not now looking for an age 0 player to bring in to the club - we won a sweeper, who will be a 0,20 by the season end, just as my 2 sweeper/central defenders (Brownlie and Stanton) both reach season end at 415 - starting next season at 5/11. BUT we would be open for 3 TPs... ??

Very much unexpected but nevertheless......4 much needed points for EDI in the latest league session at least keeps the boys in touch with the remainder of the lower reaches of the teams in the Division 1 table and gives the manager something to build on.

The next session sees a home game versus MOT which is followed by an away game at the mighty/rich STJ. If EDI can find a way to scrape a point or two then the manager will be mightily happy as mid-season follows just two games later and points are already at a premium.

It's been an absolutely brilliant start to the season for the Accies. Two more wins this weekend sees them sitting in pole position in Division Two which features some awesome squads and talented individual players.

The Accies squad doesn't have any huge standout stars like many other teams at this stage but they do boast an array of strong talent in all positions. A back up goalkeeper is probably the one position that could be strengthened and the manager was hopeful he could pick up a very talented youngster in this weekends auction. Unfortunately, despite the club providing substantial financial backing the Dundee bid to add a further young goalkeeper to their squad exceeded their valuation of the young lad. This provided an opportunity to add apprentice Jamie Smith to the first team squad and it is believed he will be given every chance to get some game-time with the Cup competition likely to provide plenty of minutes between the sticks.

Despite missing out on his top target in the auction the boss was delighted to add to the coaching bank which will be invaluable if the club are to keep as many of their highly talented players at their top levels.

We started the weekend with an away game at Paul's table topping East Fife,not an easy place to play at or get a result and they were on fire this season,both sides opting for a 4-2-4 normal,game on and both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but on 26 minutes we opened the scoring when Boyce slipped through and slotted home 0-1,half time soon came and subs on ,both sides pushing on creating chances but on 67 minutes Olaigbe drilled home his shot 0-2,from then on we defended well and enjoyed lots of possession, we were edged 6 to 5 in the shot count but held out for the win,well played Paul,not what we were expecting but we will happily take the 3 points.

Next we were home to Fran's Brechin City, a side with a massive T11 of nearly 5 above ours,we opted for a 4-2-4 early ball as they went for a 4-3-3 normal, we started slowly and were sluggish in our defence and were punished on 19 minutes when a deep cross saw Loudon head home 0-1 and things got worse on 35 minutes when Iglesias fired home 0-2,half time soon came and subs on ,and at half time coach rob told us to wake up and start playing,2nd half we came out and on 46 minutes Boyce fired home 1-2,we were  enjoying lots of possession and creating chances but McCabe in their goal was in outstanding form with 5 saves as we outshot them 10 to 2 but nothing to show for it ,well played Fran ,impressive side you have there.we now sit 12th.

OK - I lied, it was a brilliant weekend and our first six-pointer in the league and vindicated (to me) my decision to stall out the Cecil Cup games against Annan.

First up was bottom of the table Greenock Morton. To be honest I expectd us to win this but still started with our top 11. Greenock started with Opportunistic but quickly changed to Stall - I'm guessing a typo - which reduced both sides' shot chance by 2%. Again I tried Offord in midfield and Armstrong up front and it was Armstrong who scored two goals tio make it 3-0 on 51 minbutes. Tius allowed me to take off a couple of big players, Headroom had already been substituted when we went 2-0 up on 47 minutes. The win put us above Clyde into 11th place and gave Howie his 4th captain's bonus.

Then came our biggest test yet, helped by the fact that Motherwell have two Cecil Cup games coming up and so I hoped wouldn't be at T11 the whole game. However we were (hoping to) and I didn't even order any substitutions.

Andy started his team on Counterattack, which has the same 20% bonus to the OFF stats that it does against Normal. I knew Motherwell liked to play this tactic and was a little unsure whether to stick to Ball Control. C vs B gives the defenders +.25 OFF + 20% giving them in effect 0.54. With 98 at DF this adds up to 33 more OFF compared to us playing N. On the other hand WGs are effectively 1.74 and FWs 1.2 and I could reduce this a lot by marking.

So it started off at 10.6% vs 8.1% At 27 minutes (when we had a bad injury) Motherwell had had 5 chances and us just 2. Not happy about that but one consequence of the 0.54 OFF the defenders got is that they have more chances of getting the shots. In fact this, wit the marking mean that apart from SL 20 FW Phil Denver, three of the defenders each had a better chance of getting a shot than SL 37 O'Hannigain andf they got a shot each, with the other two going to the midfielders (slightly less chance than O'Hannigain)

The injury made it 11.6% to 7.4%. Both sides got 2 chances up to half time, both sides scoring in the 36th minute and us scring again in the 43rd. Motherwell's shots went to a MF and Denver, a player I didn't order to be marked as he's only SL 20. (I did order 7 players to be marked). 

Motherwell made 3 subtitutions - a like for like at DF, an SL 9 FW for what was an effective SL 9 FW and an unmarked SL 29 MF on for the marked SL 29 WG and changed to Normal. Shot chances drpped to 5.1% and 5.0%., Mortherwell got two more shots - we didn't get any - up to 60 minutes, but they both went to those weak MFs (a bit unluckily) then Andy turned to Press.

Now it was 8.5% vs 12.3%. Two more quick chances to Motherwell, weak MF and the SL 9 FW. It wasn't until the 85th nute that I felt we'd won as we went 3-1 up and they had one final shot to a DF.

In the post match comment I said I was disappointed at the 5 shots - Stewart would have worked out that the expected shots were 8.7

The wins move us up to 9th place. Next up - St. Johnstone who can't put a foot wrong.

First of all Falkirk's league results. A two nil home defeat to leaders Hamilton Accies and then a four nil victory at Stranraer. It's now five wins and five losses. The Cecil cup quarterfinal with Dumbarton. The home leg and the opponents played stall. We finally broke them down on 59 minutes though Marcari for an one nil victory. The second leg was much more open. We went one up in 30 minutes, conceded 9 minutes later and then two one up just before halftime. We conceded again straight away at the start of the second half and then three two up on 51 minutes. We conceded for the third time on 74 minutes then stalled it out until the final whistle. We now play Motherwell in the semifinals. 

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

Extra edition!

Hard to believe: we didn't lose a match mid-season. But, wait: we are already eliminated from the CECIL Cup, even before the Quarters. So no thanks for that!

Many thanks for the two league disasters, with 10(!) goals against the mighty DEE's.

And with 2 away matches this weekend: div 3 here we come.

We all know who is responsible!

So, please - no more wasting time:
Sack this guy!

With the mid-point of the league campaign rapidly approaching, EDI find themselves sitting just one place off of the bottom of the Division 1 table.

Clearly EDI are in dire need of points and soon but with two away games up next at Celtic and then Greenock Morton that will be no easy task.

Its certainly going to be a long hard season for all concerned with the club.

So the Cecil Cup adventure is over for another season. Getting through 3 rounds without losing a goal looks impressive, but we didn't face a 1st division side, and Airdrieonians pummelled us in the 1st leg at our ground, making the reverse match a hopeless venture.

We sent out a scratch team, like our opponents,. and couldn't believe he would send off a Diamond plus give a booking to my ace winger, who now has 2 matches out. The 0-0 was a fair result, and the 2nd division now has 3 teams in the Semi Finals. Motherwell from the top league will likely be still favourites for the Cup.

But nearly all the training is done, now for the league...

It was another super Saturday for East Fife as we notched up two more wins in the league.  Our strong league placing seems to be helping us as both teams we played decided to rest some key players.

We first faced a rather weak East Stirlingshire team who came to stall at Bayview stadium.  Shotless, the visitors could only hope for a 0-0 draw but we went ahead after 14 minutes and scored a second after 31.  A sending off for the Shire’s reserve keeper forced them to strengthen things at the back and they were able to hold the score at 2-0.

Then we visited third-placed Peterhead.  A tough match on the face of it but Stephen Williams decided that it was too tough for his men and set up with a weak back two and Stall tactics.  They hung on to a point for 24 minutes but we were completely dominant, netting four times without reply to extent our winning streak to nine matches.

So, we are nine points clear at the top and Sunday's signing of Ryan Schiavone will strengthen our squad particularly up front.   We payed a hefty price for him but we have the money to spend and are already wary of Robin Hood.

Next weekend we face Ross County and Queens Park.  Can we extend the winning streak to eleven? 

Well that could have gone better. It was a big Annan side that faced ouer 51% stall as I decided to concentrate on league survival. Maybe if we'd managed to avoid a big defeat I'd have gone for it in the second leg.

The Gods were against us anyway and a mistake by me didn't help. In the post match comments I said 20 shots wasn't fair (tongue in cheek obviously and made before seeing the final outcome) but it probably was.

The mistake was the first substitution where effective SL 21 Slater in DF was replaced by Headroom in MF. This gave me 39 DF and 87 MF, reduced to 78 due to the 2:1 rule. The shot chance jumped to 20%. Even though the 54th minute substitutioins made the MF less, it had no effect due to 2:1 in effect.

When Mottram was red carded 8 DF lost meant another 16 MF lost - 28% shot chance. When Headroom was injured it actually made no difference. Except he was injured on 73 minutes so lost an extra EL compared to 72 minutes as well as the -4 EL injury.

Luckily Roe had one of his better days with 16 saves because the injury and red card dropped us below 50%

The second leg is a no brainer.

Back down to earth as today we got battered in the 1st leg of the Quarter Final at home to Airdrieonians. The 4-0 scoreline doewsn't do justice to us as we creqated a 4-6 shot dcount, but the Diamonds keeper had one of these days (and a bus parked on his goal line).

Wednjesday will be an opportunity to play the reserves and future retirees as we rest for our weekend matches - ironically first one is against Airdrieonians - that will be 3 games on the trot against the same team..

Just realised after today's games that the 1st division has 2 teams in the last 8 and the 2nd division has 6, and aall 4 of the ties today were won by 2nd division sides. The ties might not be won overall by the middle division sides but it shows the talent the division has (except at Easter Road).

A win and a loss at the weekend - happy with that. We had an entertaining home game v Nairn where it was only due to a 3 goal burst in the 2nd half which put us 5-2 up that we looked like getting all 3 points. Their late goal was fully justified, and we had 5 different scorers.

We went to Stennie who were (and still are) above us and it was a tight game we could have got a point at. Not to be - a goal on the hour mark keeps us down in 5th. 

And today we play Airdrieonians in the 1st leg of the CECIL Cup Quarter Final. Cup or League - MMMM!!!!

East Fife are delighted to announce the signing of Ryan Schiavone.  Yes, he was expensive, and yes, he is old, but we've long been waiting for a good forward to come up in the auction and wanted to make sure of getting him.  And Robin Hood was also in my mind....

We started the weekend with an away game at Bryce's Queens park, a quality side that are always hard to play against, they opted for a 4-3-3 normal as we went for a 4-3-3 stall hoping to pinch a cheeky point, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession, ours albeit in our own half, but they opened the scoring on 16 minutes when a deep cross saw Forsberg power home his header 1-0and they held this till half time,2nd half and subs on ,defences on top for the majority of the play, they changed tact to stall on 75 minutes and closed the game down in an even game of 2 shots each,well played Bryce.

Next we were at home to James Montrose, another quality side who love to play attacking football, both sides opting for a 4-2-4 early ball tactics, game on and they started quickly and opened the scoring on 8 minutes when Wright fired home 0-1,we slowly played ourselves back into the game and levelled things up on 19 minutes when Brophy came in with an amazing diving header 1-1,29 minutes and we were ahead when Law fired home 2-1,36 minutes and a quick break saw Brophy fire home his 2nd 3-1 and on 43 minutes Law drilled home his 2nd 4-1 in a satisfactory 1st half for us,2nd half subs on ,50 minutes and a quick break saw Danilo fire home 4-2,58 minutes and a scintillating run down the wing saw Salah cut inside and rifle home his shot 5-2,67 minutes and Danilo slipped through and slotted home his 2nd 5-3,from then on defences ruled and closed the game down as we just edged the shot count 9 to 6,well played James.

So after the weekend we sit 11th.

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

We know by now that our recently appointed manager Habermann has no clue.
We now know that he not even has a heart!

When young Frankie 'The Eye' Barrett woke up on matchday 15, he looked forward to once more impress with his skills against Cowdenbeath.
But this fell aside when he was suddenly shocked: his beloved gold hamster Mr Fluffy suffered from serious digestive issues.
Fearing for the life of his best friend, he begged coach Habermann for a day off - to give Fluffy some loving care.

BUT Habermann said NO!
He spoke of some silly numbers and training plans, and showed no mercy: poor Frankie had to play.

Little Frankie gave his best, he just wasn't in it. From the 7 shots on his goal, he almost saved 1.
Understandably his mind was elsewhere.

Our manager has once more shown his total lack of skills - and heart!

So, please - no more wasting time:
Sack this guy!

After some bad luck in the early games Alloa probably used up all our good luck in one weekend.

First up was Albion Rovers with their big players. Yes we have big players too but needed to rest after the Cecil Cup. I thought Matt might rest too as some were on low EL. So it was our usual 50%-ish stall with passive players  Albion came to play but also around 50% (we both started at 49%). However they had a couple of decent forwards and a decent winger second half. Their shit chance varied but should have given them 6 or 7 chances against McDowell, our SL 5 reserve keeper. I expected a 4 or 5 nil loss. But this is Olmec and he granted Albion just 3 shots, all to SL 18 players who missed two and had a the third saved by McDowell (62% chance of a goal if on rarget). A thoroughly undeserved draw. We also got our first MVP.

Then it was Celtic. We had the better team out there and played our familiar ball control (71% used now) marking 4 players. We weren't able to mark Scott MacDonald. Despite a 7.6% shot chance, Celtic only had 2 chances - the marking worked in that both chances fell to MacDonald ShSL of only 20 but he never got the chance getting caught offside both times. Meanwhile at the other end we created just 6 chances (below the expected 7 or 8) with one offside and one off target. However we scored 3 from the 4 on target shots to move out the bottom 4.

It really does. 😀

Following on from last week's games and my post below...

This weekends games were just as, if not even more confusing.

First up a game, we were dreading actually with a couple of big absentees. But they took the chan e to rest players and we should have totally dominated. But 0-0 was the result. 

Then next up a game we could easily have lost we manged to win by cranking up the tactics as we went through the match. 

We haven't conceded in 5, which doesn't feel to meet our stats. 

The SESL random generators are wild at the moment. Haha.

But putting the randomness of our specific results aside, we have to be happy to come away with 4 points this session, navigating through a massive suspension for the club. 

Some big games ahead, in such a competitive league the pressure is relentless this season. 

Falkirk's league results as expected, win at home and lose away. A two nil victory over Ayr United was followed by a five one defeat by Dundee FC. It was of course all leading up to the Cecil cup third round second leg game at Raith Rovers, with the Bairns having a two one advantage from the home tie. After just eight minutes we we're two nil down and it was looking like a walkover. That all changed on 53 minutes when Johnston nodded in for the all important away goal and game on. Man of the match Nevin scores the equaliser on 67 minutes and we manage to hold on. We now play fellow division 2 team Dumbarton in the quarterfinals. 

It turned out to be quite an easy second leg against Elgin in the Cecil Cup, undoubtedly helped by Elgin being short changed by shot chances. However we were worthy of our win and at one point had a 45% shot chance as Jason pressed. The only cloud was the fact that I forgot to man-mark but that didn't matter in the end.

Last weekend I mentioned being disappointed in Offord's lack of chances so I decided to play him in midfield and Armstrong up front. Armstrong then gets 5 of the 17 chances and scores two goals with just a 13% chance of 2 or more - and Offord did get 4 shots scoring the 3rd goal to give us only our 2nd Captain's bonus.

Our reward is a tie against Annan, which will be tough for three reasons: Annan are stronger in T11, we don't have any league games between the two Cup games and Dan is one of the better managers.

As Saturday dawned, we were lying second in the Division three table, three points behind Deveronvale. Our first match was against Dunfermline Athletic, who had knocked us out of the CECIL Cup, so we were especially keen to win this one.  There wasn’t too much between the teams on paper, and home advantage may have been the deciding factor, certainly we had most of the play and most of the chances.  Two goals in the first quarter of the match were enough to decide things and unexpectedly our 2-0 win took as to the top of the table on goal difference, with Deveronvale suffering a crushing 5-0 loss at Montrose.

And so came the clash with Deveronvale, both of us on 18 points, 5 points clear of the rest.   Deveronvale played their usual Early Cross, but we straight on the attack, striking twice in the first seven minutes, both goals coming from our star forward Scott Shepherd.  The Vale weren’t lying down though.  They fought their way back into the game, first with a lovely chip from Gabriel Martinelli, and then with a precise shot from the same player.  The second came within a minute of half time, but that was long enough for the us to retake the lead.  Those exiting early for their burger missed some thrills!  Scott Shepherd's shot was deflected onto the post for Mikey Cunningham to tap home.  So, 2-3 at the break and all to play for in the second half.  It was tightly contested now, both sides creating chances, but East Fife scored the only goal of the second half, Shepherd completing his hat-trick to take the match 2-4.

Wow!  We're three points clear at the top!  Next Saturday we face East Stirlingshire at home and then Peterhead away - both very tough matches.  We'll be glad if we emerge with from that still on top of the table.

Have to say that after a nice break away with my partner, daughter and grandson, I returned to find my team managed to do enough to qualify for the last 8 of the CECIL Cup. We didn't try anything spectacular, we had a 2-0 lead from the away game, so it was more defensive but using up some peripheral lads to allow some of the better ones a rest before Saturday.

As it turned out we weren't stretched - Forfar didn't get many shots even wioth a Press in the later stages (tghank you Olmec) - and we created enough chances to win the game, but more importantly, to get through for another 2 training days. Training has gone well for us so far, and we will have 5 (maybe 6) age 1 lads on full PUs byb the ne dof the season, and all will turn 2,37 early next season.  Lots to look forwqard to... :-)

I'm still reflecting on a strange weekend - Match's 12 & 13 didnt go as i expected, but did prove to me that this is the toughest Division 2 i've seen. There are a lot of very good teams in Division 2 this season, we know that. But its tougher than that, because there's some great & experienced managers too. There's some of the highest T11's in SESL right now, but then some have high T17's, some have high cash balances (potential), some have big squds with depth, some have tight squads and osme of them are really young squads too so are going to age well. Some have balanced teams, some rely on stars.

It makes planning a strategy to try and win really difficult. 

Then we have the SESL computer messing with my head too. When we kicked off the season, i thought my team was set up to be relatively free-scoring, but would really struggle at the back. It hasnt turne dout that way at all so far. We've scored the fewest of the top 6, but we've conceded the fewest by a distance. Its making us adjust our play style and be more creative match by match. 

Then there was this weekends games. I thought we might have a tough game against Elgin, Jasons got a great squad there, but needed to rotate to WILDLY different GKs. So i was pleased to see 5SL GK in net for the first half. But we really bloody struggled and went in at the break 1-0 up when the beast SL33 GK came on and i thought we would fall apart for our failings in the first half. But then we go and score 3 in the second half!?

Against Nairn i thought we would have a bit of joy - its a great team again that RIchard has but i thought we could edge it having put out a strong lineup! But what a frustrating game - nil nil, we were restricted to 1 shot and suffered an injury and a red card. 

But the twists kept coming - i assumed we would be losing pace on top of the table, but i see the other results have some surprises too - Clydebank have lost both (against 2 other tough opponents that are somehow sitting in the bottom half) and we've gone a point clear at the top!?

I cant keep up :-)

Now we have a tough run of games with a weakened squad. Brazil out for us could make a real difference for us this season, especially having Earl suspended too (for the second time!) and already having had Hungary suspended. 

Another disappointing league session saw EDI lose to RAN and that was followed by a very frustrating loss to HEA despite us having a much better final shot count....clearly SESL Gods want EDI relegated and it is increasingly likely that will be the outcome at the end of the season.

Either way, the manager has now been told by the board to watch the pennies in the hope that the club will be in a position to improve NEXT season regardless of which division EDI find themselves in ?

Didn't see that coming - we would be the only 6 point team in the 2nd division last Saturday.

Home to Cove Rangers we enjoyed a goal lead at haklf time but Rangers came back at us after the break and we conceded a leveller. We went normal straight afterwards and were rewarded with the winner 2 minutes later. Reckoned we were worth this win after a few attempts which didn't come off.

We headed off to Elgin City straight after the shower and sausage rolls and faced a 45 minute stall home side. Got a shock when they went into the lead, but we came back and were 2-1 up at the break. They then equalised again but again after we went normal we scored 3 times bedfore conceding a late goal. Happier now as we pull away from the relegation zone whilst still holding on to a CECIL Cup place. We host Forfar Athletic with a 2 goal advantage and will not be taking our opponents lightly... :-)

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

We had some minor hopes of establishing DEE in the nowhere regions of Div2 after the recent results.
Sadly, this was before visiting bottom-most St Mirren!

Even before the match the home squad showed how to please the crowds: 
the smell of quality bratwurst mixed with the visuals of bengal lights, thanks to some extra spending of the sponsors.
The game was as one-sided as it gets: 4-1, 'nuff said.
Our statistics even measured a historic low number of 50% in "total skill". 
We don't exactly know what this means, but it is apparently a very bad thing!

Thanks to the mercy of Falkirk - fielding a stalling youth team - the DEEs could make at least 1 win this session.
But - we are nearing the end of our tether.

So, please - no more wasting time:
Sack this guy!
 

We started the weekend with a home game against Stephen's Peterhead, a strong looking side who were riding high up the table,both sides opting for 4-2-4 early ball tactics, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but they opened the scoring on 27 minutes when Brady fired home 0-1,we hit back and levelled things up on 28 minutes when Law drilled home 1-1 and right on the stroke of half time Sims slotted home 2-1 at the break,2nd half subs on and we started the quicker and Turner rifled home on 47 minutes 3-1,they upped their tempo and Jones pulled one back on 57 minutes 3-2 ,and then on 68 minutes Boyce brought down Jones in the box,ref pointed to the spot, Jones got up and duly fired home his spot kick 3-3,we regrouped and pushed on and Boyce had his redemption on 79 minutes when he powered home his shot 4-3,turning point of the game came on 84 minutes when Levein brought down Sims in the box,ref pointed to the spot and then produced a red card, Peterhead down to 10 men,Sims dragged himself up and duly fired home his spot kick 5-3 and to seal the game Tilson fired home from range on 90 minutes 6-3 as we just edged the shot count 11 to 9,Laidlaw in our goal made 6 outstanding saves to keep us in the game,well played Stephen. 

Next we were at home to Derek's Berwick, a really tough side to play against, we opted for a 4-2-4 early ball as they went with a 4-3-3 normal, we started the quicker and opened the scoring on 16 minutes when Boyce raced through and slotted home 1-0 and Law drilled home on 41 minutes 2-0 for a healthy half time lead,2nd half subs on and we were controlling the game through the midfield area, 75 minutes and Salah raced down the wing and cut inside and rifled home from an acute angle 3-0 and he did the same on 82 minutes for his 2nd to seal the game 4-0 as we outshot them 9 to 4,well played Derek.

So a 6 point weekend which lifts us up to 10th.

After the expected loss against Hearts (52% SL, 8 passive players) we came up against a strong Clyde side who played, I think, 9 of their T11. Of course it was Ball Control again (72% now) and a 8.4% to 4.4% shot chance advantage that gave us a 2-1 lead. At 68 minutes John Fraser picked up a thigh bruise, which maes him doubtful for the Cecil Cup game midweek, but also changed the shot chances to 8.7% and 5.9% but Clyde weren't getting any more chances. For once we got the shots "we deserved" and they didn't. It's nice to win after only 1 draw in the last 4.

We're still in the bottom four but I'm fairly confident we can climb up the table.

I'm not sure what happened here in the Clyde match report: "47: TadgerColin Meldrum...."

Injuries proved to be troublesome: in the Hearts game Ben Armour hurt his ankle. The injury itself doesn't affect us too much as he wasn't likely to play on Wednesday anyway, but it did mean Max Headroom wasn't substituted on 54 minutes and started the game against Clyde on 4 EL. I didn't pick it up between games and fortunately he didn't get injured but he's knackered and also doubtful for the Elgin game.

I'm a bit disapppointed in my two stars' efforts. I'd expect Oford to have had around the 30% of the shots but it's down at 15% and Roe has only saved 32% of shots.

Falkirk had two wins, both at home and one defeat this week. We started off in white hot form at home against Dumbarton. A six nil victory with six different scores. This was followed by an away trip to Clydebank. This time we got well beaten five one. The score was a bit harsh, conceding from only six chances. In midweek the third round first leg Cecil cup match against Raith Rovers. We went a goal behind on 50 minutes but came back well to score a minute later and then the winner on 61 minutes. It gives us a chance in the second leg. 

With EDI back in their customary position of being in and around the Division 1 relegation zone another season of struggle looms large. This weekends session sees the team travel to face a very strong RAN team which is then  followed by a home game versus local giants HEA. If EDI get lucky we might scrape a point somewhere along the way but that looks seriously doubtful at the moment considering our current form.

However, it is not all doom and gloom for EDI as the roster is starting to shape up nicely as the season continues and it is still early days as far as the league campaign goes. Hopefully the roster will look more competitive compared to several other teams after MSA and EDI can find a way to perform yet another 'Great Escape' akin to the last two seasons.

After a solid start to the season QP hit a bit of a lull already. 4 points from the first weekend was followed by a 0 point session where poor goalkeeping at home really hurt as Partick Thistle were able to leave Hampden with 3 points after scoring on their only 2 chances of the game. A heavily rotated lineup at home also saw a 3-0 home loss to Alloa in the first leg of our CECIL Cup Round of 32 match that killed the tie after the first 90. The good news is that we were able to keep training players up with the extra games and have really been able to improve our squad early in the season. This paid off in the third session of the league season as Cal Raleigh now a 2/31 keeper was able to make 4 saves and keep the clean sheet in a big 1-0 win over a strong DFA squad. And then even though we lost a cracker 3-5 at high-flying DEV we were able to score 3 away goals which was an encouraging sign that our rebuild is heading in the right direction.

In other news, we are happy to welcome new apprentice GK Mike Zunino to the squad while saying goodbye to some of our veterans. Looking forward to this weekend we have a home game against EST and difficult trip to Peterhead that will test the depth of our now smaller squad.

We've played 9 games and I feel that Olmec is not doing us any favours. Two of the games we played low SL and stalled and in another three our opponents stalled. But of the other four we have drawn three and lost one. One of the draws as evenly matched in that we were the weaker but had better attackers and goalkeeper. It's the other games where I feel Olmec hates us. 

The latest being the Cecil Cup game against Elgin. Nine shots to five was fair but they scored their goal from Shooting SL 24, 20 twice and 16 twice against my SL 34 GK. Our nine shots came from ShSL 26 twice, 25 five times and 23 twice against their SL 32 GK. Similar to the Raith game we were hard done by but at least we have an away goal. Marking kind of worked in that their SL 29 FW didn't get a shot but once again my opponents marked WG managed to get two shots and scored. Probably just unlucky...

We have a couple of tough games agaist Hearts and Clyde where I need to make sure we're fit enough to play the second leg next Wednesday.

Ah well, we live to fight another day in the CECIL Cup. Going to Forfar for the 1st leg, we worked on trying to hit on the break - and we did just that, leading by a goal till near the end. The Loons went to Press and we hit a 2nd goal to enjoy (probably a bit lucky overall) a decent lead for the return game next week.

The training is still going on, and all the age 1s will be fully trained inside the next week. However we are still on the relegation zone and the teams in the top 4 needn't worry about us just yet.. 😂😂😂

Motherwell find themselves in a weird position early on in this season. Are they rebuilding? Are they going to try for the cup? Or the league? From some perspectives, there is no dominant side in Division 1 this season. Recent powerhouses CEL, RAN, and HEA are all either lower T-11 this season than usual, or they have had worse results than usual to start the season. Leaders STJ are likely favorites for the league given their table position and players, but MOT are still just one previous result going more their way from being top above STJ on goal difference. Furthermore, the CECIL cup looks more wide open than usual - 3 of the top 5 T-11s above MOT are already out of the cup, and a 4th (STJ) would have to overcome a massive deficit in the second leg to progress. MOT had previously planned to conserve funds and build up youth players to replace aging oldies in key positions (FWs of age 4, 6, and 6. MFs of age 3, 5, and 5). That would involve not spending CP too wildly early on and going a slow-and-steady route towards a decent Div 1 finish. However, should they push on to try to win now in a season where there seems to be a bit of a power vaccuum?

A key match to highlight that points towards not pushing for the league title is our matchup away to winless GM. MOT started this match with a 5% shot percentage, which was surprisingly low due to GM's 2nd minute switch to stall. However, with halftime substitutions, MOT's shot % rose to 6.6% and they faced a SL 9 GK. Surely the winner would be coming in no time. However, OLMEC up to its usual tricks decided to give no shots in the second half, leading to a final of 0-0. Those are the matches that you have to win to win the title - perhaps moving to press at a tied scoreline was the move, but it would have been hard to predict such a weird situation coming up. However, we probably could have predicted a significant GK advantage had we pressed - lessons for next time.

However, in the cup, MOT was able to put a bit more effort into their plans and found success for being a bit risky. Home to STJ, MOT went with a counterattack tactic with a home bonus of 30. For their efforts, MOT were rewarded with a 22.9% shot percentage to STJ's 8.1%. The big risk paid off, and MOT were able to set themselves up with a huge 6-2 home win to take to the second away leg. Should they be able to hang on, perhaps the CECIL cup provides opportunity for MOT. If they do so, it will be through a typically challenging route - A Motherwell route to the final looks likely to be facing 4 of the top 7 sides in division 1 as their 4 opponents. In contrast, only 1 of the 8 teams left on the other half of the bracket are Div 1 sides. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise this season, given how strong Div. 2 is gearing up to be.

Deveronvale are setting a furious pace in Division 3 but we are managing to stay with them, just about, with two more wins at the weekend.

On Saturday we were at Firhill to play Partick Thistle.  Marc Legowski had two veteran forwards on the pitch but nevertheless went for Long Ball tactics and was delighted to see his side take the lead on twelve minutes.  Most of the pressure was coming from us, however, and we soon equalised through skipper Alexis MacAllister to make the half time score 1-1.  The pattern was much the same in the second half - we had most of the possession, but struggled to create chances.  It looked as if this was going to end in a draw, but wth five minutes left we finally found a way through with a piece of individual brilliance from Scott Shepherd.  

On Sunday, we were at home to Forfar Athletic.  Following his usual pattern Willy Krosnyak ordered his team to stall in the first half, with a five-man defence.  But the tactics suffered an early blow when Ann Struther shot us into the lead after only two minutes.  After that, Forfar settled and there were no more goals in the first half.  For the second, Forfar rested their apprentice keeper and switched to Long Ball tactics, but this didn’t really bring them much more into the game.  The second half was largely uneventful and we took the three points, 1-0. 

Next weekend we face Dunfermline, who knocked us out or the CECIL Cup, and then Deveronvale.  Will be tough!

After a tough start to there campaign in the second division last week the last thing St Mirren needed was a visit from Clydebank who had won both there games 4-0 last weekend. The fans must have fear the worse as Clydebank took the lead midway thought the first half. St Mirren dug deep and ther was no more scoring in the first half which the home team must have seen as a bonus. The early stages of the second half were a cagey affair and both teams push for goals. Then in the 68 minute a cross from Gorden Ramsey missed everyone in the box including the keeper and drifted into the net. There was to be no more scoring in the half and when the final whistle was blown the score remained 1-1. St Mirren have got there league campaign under way with an unexpected point which they must look at a point gain and not 2 dropped.

The second game of the weekend saw the team travel to Ayr United who sat just above them in the league buoyed by the point they have gained in the last match. The team buoyed by the last result came out and attacked from the start and by the 15th minute were 2-0 up with both goals coming from the midfield a second in 2 games for inform Ramsey and Jacobs who was set up by Ramsey. This seemed to shock Ayr into action and they pulled a goal back. So at the break it was 2-1. Both teams went for it in the second half but there was to be no more scoring so at the final whistle St Mirren had there first victory and also moved above Ayr in the table.

So after last weekend a haul of 4 points from 6 is a great comeback from St Mirem and gives the fans hope that they can compeat in this division. We will have to see what next weekend brings to see if the team can continue to improve.

2 tough matches this weekend which started with a home game against Leon's table topping Devonerale ,we opted for a 4-3-3 opportunistic as they went with a 4-2-4 early ball, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but they opened the scoring on 16 minutes when Gabriel fired home 0-1,we settled down and defended well albeit a lot deeper than we wanted, and they hit us again on 44 minutes when Jesus slotted home 0-2,half time came and subs on, 2nd half and we played a lot better albeit defending, but we were outplayed and outshot 7 to 2,well played Leon,tidy looking side you have there.

Next we travelled to Tyron's East Stirlingshire ,a really hard place to get a result against, both sides opting for  4-2-4 longball tactics ,they started the quicker and opened the scoring on 6 minutes when Nurkovic fired home 1-0 ,we then settled down and enjoyed some possession, but then they upped the pace and on 34 minutes Smith Rowe fired home 2-0,36 minutes and Jesus headed home 3-0,38 minutes and Nurkovic fired home his 2nd 4-0 and Trossard fired home on 45 minutes 5-0 in a 1 sided 1st half,2nd half and we upped our tempo and our defence was matching their front line but on 85 minutes Trossard fired home his 2nd 6-0 as we were outplayed and outshot 10 to 3,well played Tyron. So we drop down to 15th and now have an almighty uphill battle ahead.

League game number three away at Stenhousemuir. We didn't play to well and failed to create a single chance in a two nil defeat, so let's move on. League match number 4 at home against Hibernian. At home we are a force and we put Hibs to the sword beating them four nil. Then in midweek the Cecil cup second leg game at home to Greenock Morton. The first leg ended goalless so we needed a fast start. We got just that going one up on 5 minutes and we never looked back. A four nil victory which put us into round three and a tie with Raith Rovers. It also means we hit our sponsorship target of a last 16 place, so 300k richer. 

3 games since last weekend with a win, a loss, and a draw. 

First up the return CECIL Cup tie at Stenhousemuir. With 3 goals up from the 1st leg we sent out a quiter line up and the game was played at half speed - Stennie preferring to rest some lads (understandably) for the weekend - and we sneaked a goal at the end for a 1-0 win. Next up is Forfar who, after removing Rangers in the same round, will likely start favourite against us. 

Yesterday we faced Cowdenbeath at home and lost 2-0 due to Laird having "one of these days" saving all 5 of the shots we put to him. Not for the first time we got mugged, but worse was to follow when we noticed Annan had NMR'd in their 1st game. We altered things at the last minute and we faced the same team playing another NMR game. But again we got mugged with 8 of our shots being saved by a keeper who gained 2 x MOM awards on the same day, saving 2 points in their 2 games for his undeserving team  (Said it before - all NMR games should be 0-3 awards but it won't/can't happen..)

So we drop to 5th bottom - in line with our T17 - and we have a relegation fight to attend to. Not bothered as at least we won't be concerned with any possible promotion whilst we train up youngers.... :-)  

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

This week at Hamilton saw a new low at DEE's performances:
Half the squad were also-rans and never-will-bes. 
But even the remaining familiar faces playing paired the speed of glacial movement with the aggression of sloths.
There were even rumours that the manager has called for "special" preparation of the team's pre-match drinks.

The result was an utter disaster - once more.
Only by the grace of the Accies and Tiffoney's single shot we only lost by 2 goals.

Admittedly the match vs Stranraer was slightly better.
But this only showed what the DEEs would be capable of - if they would have some competent manager.

So, please:
Sack this guy!

Despite Alloa losing to 1-0 to Raith Rovers I know I'm playing the right tactics. We were the strongest by about 35% throughout the game and got 6 chances to 4 (both teams we sold short) but we had 2 offsides (1 from a midfielder) and Raith has 1.

All our shots went to midfielders with a 34% chance of scoring which works out at 40% 1 goal and 40% 2 or more goals. So we were simply unlucky.

All the Raith chances went to marked players which is also unlucky. So Alloa will continue to fight relegation playing Ball Control.

The game against Rangers went pretty much as expected considering we have a Cecil Cup game on Wednesday. Elgin will be no pushovers and I've noticed Jason plays fast and loose with EL management.

A very interesting league session..............

EDI  face off versus a totally PASSIVE INV side and somehow scrape a 0-0 draw...HA!!

Then EDI face RR and get a player sent off, quickly followed just minutes later by conceding a penalty and then succumb to lose 5-0....HA!!

Anyone would think that SESL(?) have it in for EDI.....

bring on the conspiracy theories ???

The cup exit in midweek hurt. We were hoping to do better. We knew we we were out before the second leg of course. At 3-0 down we were ppared to put up a fight and give it a go, we had a feeling HIB would sit back in the second leg and would have had a go. But when we lost our star man in midfield for a few weeks we had to accept our fate. So we used the game instead to rest some others too. Giving us a strong lineup for the next two league games. 

On the flip side, last weekend we werent expecting two wins. They were tough games and to come away with clean sheets was a surprise. We desperately need another quality defender if we are to compete this season, but coming by one appears to be tough. We have little cash and little resource so it could be a tough 2nd half of the season - picking up every point we can now is key. 

Disappointed to miss out on the Sponsors this season - first time in  a while we wont have that to work towards and we will miss the reward at the end of the season. 

This is the most competitive division 2 ive ever seen!

Comprehensive defeats to CB in both legs of the SESL Cup plus more of the same in the league versus ABE marked the managers card re hopes(?) for this season but did highlight the reality of what EDI can expect going forward. As a consequence, the manager soon took steps to strengthen the squad for future seasons as the writing is clearly on the wall in terms of this term.

OUT go MF Kyle Jacobs and WG Peter Sissons....IN come SW Franco Baresi and MA Calum MacKay. The moves could possibly harm EDI in the short-term but look sensible investments for the future.

The board has reminded the manager in no uncertain terms that if EDI do find themselves relegated this season(as looks likely) that the club will expect a very quick return to Division 1.

Alloa go safely through to the next round of the Cecil Cup after a 1-0 win against Queens Park. I must admit I wasn't sure how Bryce would play this after the first leg 3-0 loss. I had players I wanted to play for CP and TP, and a couple extra just to be safe, but was able to play a lot of reserves. Thankfully we weren't embarrassed as Queens Park stalled.

Only six Division One sides remain in the Cecil Cup, four knocked out by other Division One sides and six by lower division teams, though not necessarily weaker. Alloa are the only Division One side in the top half of the draw and in that top half only two teams have stronger T11s - and they play each other next round. We were going to concentrate on the League and Division One survival but....

Saturday we play Rangers and Raith. The former are somehow in the relegation zone and were knocked out the Cecil Cup by third division Forfar - well actually by Olmec and their SL 33 goalkeeper. But Bill is a legend and Rangers are fully fit. Raith are managed by James Tucker and we know each other very well in United and TMVL but Alloa haven't played them in the league since season 21, the last time Raith were in Division 3. Raith are pretty much fully fit, but so are we. We are both on 5 points with identical goal difference, nearly identical T11 and the same T17. It should be a great match.

Motherwell continued their difficult early schedule (First 5 matches against 5 of the top 8 from last season) with a home match vs Clyde. Motherwell came in with a strong statistical advantage in this one to go along with being the home side. The Well finally got the goalkeeping performances that they had been searching for, as the Clyde attack were able to put up 7 shots on target but the two MOT GKs were up to the task of saving 6 of them. MOT were similarly given a boost by a random injury for Clyde's best midfielder early on. The net result was 18 shots and 3 offside for the home side, with 5 of those 18 shots turning into goals. Two goals to open the season's account for OHannigain, and two more for midfielder Foster. The opener was for DF Sula, and 5-1 gives us our first important Captain's Bonus, which is needed to sustain our high quality goalkeeping for this season and the next.

Next up was a tricky away match to Albion Rovers and their monster SL32 GK Gracie. Letting up a high volume of shots against your high SL GK will end up paying huge dividends in this game, as the SL boost for best GK that can come with that will make your goaltending all the better the following season (especially noticeable early in the season). Gracie, as expected, put in a MotM performance in this one, saving 7 of 9 shots on target from Motherwell. Albion Rovers were able to get the same number of goals from their 4 shots on target, and this one ended 2-2 in what was a dissappointing result for the visitors. MOT settle for 1 points (though it could have been worse, as they had to come from behind), and settle in 4th place after four matches, three points behind defending champions St. Johnstone.

It was a good weekend for East Fife, difficult to see how it could have been better, in fact.  Two wins, two captain's bonuses, and an MVP.

We started with a win at Queen of the South.  We seemed to be on top throughout and two first half goals left us confident of a victory.  More experience for Alan Trouten in the second half and we still managed a third goal, 0-3 a very satisfactory score-line.

Then we were visited by Stirling, unbeaten in the league but unbeaten via one win and two draws,   They adopted a 5-4-1 Stall formation and held it at 0-0 until the 24th minute but then, having gone 1-0 down their concentration seemed to fade and they conceded twice more just before half time.  Nathan Austin completed a hat-trick just after the restart and there was a fifth goal for for us immediately before the final whistle, 5-0 the final score.

On we go - on Saturday we have matches against Partick Thstle and Forfar Athletic, and will hope to close the gap on Deveronvale at the top.

And life is sometimes just as hard when you move down a division....

We sit with 2 wins and 2 losses (hammerings if I am honest). Last weekend we won unconvincingly (but overall I think deservedly) 2-1 at St Mirren before playing a 2nd away fixture at Falkirk, and being turned over to the tune of 4-0.

This midweek we go to Stenhousemuir for the 2nd leg of the CECIL Cup where we enjoy a 3 goal advantage, but are taking nothing for chance. Then we entertain Cowdenbeath, who score goals for fun, before then nipping down to the borders to play Annan Athletic, no push overs.

Said it before, the 2nd division can be the most equal of divisions - no resultb is guaranteed.. Great fun!! 

St Mirren are finding that moving up a division is proving as hard as they expected. They have yet to register a point from the four games they have played in the league this season. They have not been in all the games they have played but silly mistakes and a lack of concentration have cost them the points.

Speaking with the manager he is still upbeat and is sure the team will turn things around but it needs to happen sooner rather than later as they do not want to be left with too much to do. He said that the team could get away with the errors they are making in the lower division but now the better teams are capitalising on these and making the term pay. There is a need to bring in a few new players to improve the depth within the squad. They have a fairly good starting 11 but struggle when they need to bring on players or try and rota the team to rest players.

Fans will hope the team are not going to get relegated this season after spending so many year trying to get out the bottom league but the popular press make them favourites to drop back down the league this season.

We started the weekend with a home game against Willy's Forfar, a tough looking outfit who looked strong in all areas,both sides went for a 4-2-4 longball tactic,a really close exciting encounter with both sides enjoying lots of possession, we started the quicker and opened the scoring on 7 minutes when Law headed home 1-0 and went 2-0 up on 40 minutes when Boyce drilled home from range, his 1st goal for the club and boy did he celebrate, half time came and subs on ,they pulled one back on 51 minutes when Ross slotted home 2-1,but from then on our defence stood firm as we edged the shot count 9 to 7 and held out for our 1st win of the season,well played Willy. 

Next we travelled to Daniel's Dunfermline, they looked a really strong side with plenty of high level players all over the park,they opted for a 4-4-2 normal as we went for a 6-2-2- stall hoping to pinch a cheeky point, game on and they started the quicker and opened the scoring on 9 minutes when Strike headed home 1-0,we did not change our tactics and were hopeful they would slip up but they did not,we defended well and allowed only 2 shots on target ,well played Daniel,so after 4 games we sit a lowly 13th.

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

This week was supposed to be the big turnaround:
two fellow bottom dwellers AI and AYR visit Dens Park. 
Any junior trainee should have gotten 6 LPs from this.

We got
- a lucky draw vs AYR: clearly outplayed by the visitors, saved by our backup GK
- our 1st season win (!!!) vs AI: hard to believe and by the slimmest of margins, but nonetheless!

At least we won't finish the season without any win.

BUT we are still relegation bound - after 3 of 4 matches at home! 

So better now than too late:
Sack this guy!

No one at Princess Royal Park would object if the season would end now. 
After 4 games The Vale top the league with 12 out 4 and a GD of +11. 

Seasons are long and we all know that the best performing teams in the first weeks are rarely the ones to keep that position until the end, but will Deveronvale be the exception to the rule, maybe? 

Coach Permentier: "We started the campaign on excellent form, scored a lot of goals and 2 clean sheets. Compliments to the entire team, but specially to our defense. Alisson is still not 100% fit, but PJ (Morrison on loan from Alloa Athletic) has really stepped up, while the defenders try to make it as easy as possible for him" 

Captain Antony: "nós jogamos bem. agora espere até o fim" (We play well, continue until the end of season)

Next weekend the Banffites play two teams that are currently struggling to get off the bottom. Can they add 6 more points? 

Match 6 was an expected loss. My tactic in trying to avoid relegation is goingto be try twice and lose one. This game was the turn to lose. Edinburgh are only a bit weaker than us in T11 but our EL was too low to compete so it was simply a matter of playing players I wanted to coach/train and make sure we hit 50%. As it happens we played 51% and only lost 4-0. It was looking a lot worse as we went the four goals down in just 17 minutes but over the 36 minutes before Ashley Roe came on I'd have expected four shots anyway. Roe only had one shot to face, Olmec not treating Edinburgh too kindly.

Then it was one of my former clubs, Inverness, who were top of the table with a 100% record. They also have a similar strengthed T11 and chose to stall. It was a comfortable 2-0 win but I really would have liked that third goal to rest some.players and get the captain's bonus.

The win takes us up to 11th place but it's tight mid-table so early in the season. T11 is now up to equal 7th and T17 equal 13th, not that I ever play T17.

Wednesday sees the second leg of the Cecil Cup where we have a 3-0 lead.

.

Falkirk started with an away match at Elgin City. Two early goals in each half gave Elgin all three points, which they deserved in truth. The second game was at home against Nairn County. A much better performance and a five two victory to boot. Dalglish scoring an hat trick and winning man of the match. Cecil cup second round matches in midweek with a trip to Greenock Morton. The game ended goalless but we did have the better of it. Hopefully this puts us in a decent position going into the home tie.

Having made an ignominious exit from the CECIL cup, East Fife commenced their league season with a massive own goal.  Following an equally balanced, and equally scorelined 1-1 first half against Dundee United, I brought on reserve keeper Reece Beveridge in midfield which forced our sweeper, Scott Mercer, to go between the posts.  This understandably unsettled the players somewhat, and we conceded three second half goals.

The only slight good news from this is that I happened to be online at 3pm and realised (and it took over half an hour before the penny dropped) that I was about to do exactly the same thing in our second match.  Time, just, to go in and change my orders, and that was enough to register a 2-0 win at home to Kilmarnock.

So, a less than perfect start, but hopefully things will pick up from here...

Motherwell travelled to INV in a cup match where the home side seemed interested in resting their starters for the league. A stall tactic with backup players meant that this one was for the taking for the visitors. A 9% shot chance with INV's backup GK in the net had the manager dreaming of a 2-3 goal win, but Motherwell simply couldn't find the shots. No shots at all in the first half was a real travesty for the supporters, and by 60 minutes I believe the last viewer turned off the TV. The first shot of the match came 68 minutes in, and the backup GK performed admirably. He was tested again in the 73rd minute and was up to the task, which would be the final opportunity of the first  leg. Zero to zero going into the second leg at Fir Park, and MOT will have to hope that OLMEC gives them closer to their expected number of shots if they want to progress into  the next round. Will Inverness field a stronger lineup and go for it after the first leg draw? We will have to see.

Motherwell often have their worst results of the season at the very start. Last season Motherwell went on an unbeaten streak from early in the SESL Cup group stages until the last 5 matches to show their late-season strength, but their title aspirations were partly undone by a couple late losses as well as their failure to secure many points early in the season. Could this year be similar?

A home match against Rangers (under new management) was a tasty opening tie, and this one certainly delivered. Motherwell were able to get the large majority of the chances, but Rangers would not give up so easily. An early Foster goal was quickly undone by a Rangers equalizer. The home side were able to keep up the pressure, and in just  the 10th minute Joe Ely made it 2-1, a lead Motherwell would fail to build on and took into the break. Just one minute into the second half, again Rangers found an equalizer. And yet again Motherwell took the lead back, with Jerry Jeff Walker lobbing one in to make it 3-2. On the stroke of 60 minutes, Rangers got their third - the Motherwell goalkeepers really seemed to not be ready for the season to start. From here, RAN went quite aggressive with the press, and it seemed to benefit the home side more than anything. Shot after shot came in, but the RAN GKs made quite a few saves. In the 80th minute, Erik Sula got to play hero, with the defender scoring the late winner to ensure all 3 points were secured. 4-3 the final, with MOT GKs saving only 2 out of 5 shots on target, while the RAN GKs saved 6 out of 10.

Next up was the tricky away fixture at Hearts. The Well were able to match Heart's stats despite the home bonus as the home side played a rare 'B' tactic. Both sides had rare chances to score in the first half, but it remained 0-0 at the break. Early in the second half, as MOT had subbed in their better GK, HEA immediately were able to score two to give MOT a hill to climb. Phil Denver was able to score in the 76th minute, but despite some continued pressure MOT were unable to find another shot. 2-1 the final, as MOT find their first loss of the season. No shots for their star striker a killer for the visitors, and again poor goalkeeping really makes the match much harder than it needed to be.

Last midweek we played the CECIL Cup 2nd round 1st leg. Stenhousemuur came calling and we got a bit lucky as after a no score first half, they changed to Press. That suited our tactic and line up and we scored 3 times without reply.

Main thing right now is the training being done- and hopefully after next weeks match we will have 2 more training chances as we look towards a 3rd round matchup - yet again likely versus Rangers. 😢😢

2nd round and we were drawn against Colin's division 2 Dumbarton,a cracking looking side with lots of quality, we opted for a 4-2-4 longball as they went for a 5-2-3 longball,both sides started well and were enjoying lots of possession, but we were struggling to break down a stubborn defence but on 31 minutes Brophy slipped through and slotted home 1-0,and constant pressure saw us score again right on the stroke of half time when McCall fired home 2-0,half time came and subs on we carried on where we left off and constant pressure but on 56 minutes they pulled one back when Crowley fired home 2-1,defences then on top as we outplayed them for periods and outshot them 17 to 3 ,only Vaughn in their goal with 11 outstanding saves kept us at bay ,well played Colin looking forward to the away leg.

It was a comfortable away win against Queen's Park in the second round, first leg. Both sides were sold a little short on shot chances but we were always the stronger side. Unfortunately the third goal came too late to save EL.

Queens Park are off and running in season 56 and there's literally nowhere to go but up. But it was actually a good start to a make or break season for the manager.

We started off with a strange quirk in the schedule that resulted in the Queens Trilogy (TM), three games all against Queen of the South. The first two were in the CECIL Cup First Round. In game one at home a solid defensive performance coupled with a industrious but wasteful offense did just enough to see us come out with a 1-0 win to take into the away leg. Another solid defensive performance got us over the line with a 0-0 draw albeit with a costly injury to starting forward Ryan Kesler.

The start of the league season saw us once again away to QOS. A heavily rotated lineup started this game with a defensive posture that switched at halftime to try and nick the win. The strategy worked on the day and we came out with a pretty fortunate 1-0 win again. If we were fortunate in that game though, we were the reverse in our home game against Stirling. STI scored in the first 15 minutes with what turned out to be their only shot of the game and as we threw forwards on without any clear chances appearing, it looked like we were doomed until star forward Jarome Iginla delivered in the 84th minute to earn the draw. Overall, very happy with 4 points to start the season!

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

We know pretty well about this new guy's lack of competence - on- as off-court.

But we couldn't know how bad his scouting was - until now:

An impressive PL score of 1 pt, and an equally impressive 32nd of 32 rank, leave no doubt about his skills.

So please, and seriously:

Sack this guy!

We started our league campaign with a home game against Roy's Stirling, a side like ours lacking high T11 stats so this could be close,we opted for a 5-2-3 normal as they went for a 4-5-1 ball control, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession, they opened the scoring on 24 minutes when Celehar fired home 0-1,we kept pushing and levelled things up on 38 minutes when Law powered home his header 1-1,half time came and subs on ,52 minutes and Stirling down to 10 men when Poole saw red,we tried to use this advantage but could not find a way through the stubborn defence, we edged the shot count 3 to 1 ,but points shared,well played Roy.

Next we travelled to Marc's Partick Thistle, a strong looking side who looked good for the campaign, they opted for a 4-3-3 normal as we went for a 5-3-2 normal, Partick started like an Express train as they opened the scoring in the 1st minute when Diack fired home 1-0 and on 4 minutes 2-0 when Owen's came in with a flying diving header,from then on defences ruled and closed the game out as they shut down all attacks before they could develop, we were outshot 3 to 2 but stayed in the game,well played Marc.

So a slow start with a single point and we sit 15th.

Participation is at an all time high for me at Alloa, it's not since my early days at Deveronvale that I participated so much.

Also it's a long time since I traded as much as I have this season: 1000k for a 1/16 DM, 400k for an age 4 MF, a big TP for CP trade and a small oldies sell off. And there's one more big trade to come.

And when I do this I don't just go through the motions - I play the game. I feel positive about the season and expect a good result tomorrow in the Cecil Cup (cue 2-0 defeat).

Opening league fixtures and we seem set for a roller coaster season - up one game down the next.The quicker we get the age 1 lads trained up the better. 

(I am looking to swop my CPs for your TPs - head over to the transaction page NOW!)

We opened with an Accies side probably still smarting at not being promoted last season. We opened the scoring - I know, it surprised us too! Then the Accies keeper was red carded, but it inspired them more so than us, and we dul;y got walloped 4-1.

Stranraer came to see us in game 2, but (thankfully) Andrew left some lads at home and decided to rest them. We won 4-0, but with a full squad they would have more than competed with us. (Envelope is on it's way, Andrew!)

This midweek we face Stenhousemuir in the CECIL Cup 2nd round 1st leg - could go anyway, but at least we are in the draw so get 2 more training daysin this round  before next weekends league games - both away from home.

Sack this guy!

We saw a new face on the manager seat last week, the unknown nobody Eduard Habermann - following beloved and successful Simon Bijker.
It showed!

Match 1 seemed just about not totally incompetent. But Habermann obviously forgot to tell this DFs and MFs that their job is to pass towards the FWs, not to shoot themselves.
Add to that DEE's obvious lack of aggression - as shown by the opposing Dumbarton side - and we can be very lucky, that our DEEs came away with a lucky scoreless draw.

The following match 2 vs Clydebank showed what happened, when this hap- and clueless amateur faces a solid side. 
Fielding a 19 yo GK and a couple of have- or never-have-beens turned into an expectable desaster. 
Luckily Clydebank were friendly enough not to go for the 2-digit win.

Afterwards this guy mumbled some junk about probabilities or optimization.
WTF - this is not Backgammon!

It wasn't the start we were hoping for with two 1-1 draws.

Against Arbroath we were 10.8 to 5 8 percent better off but the chances weren't forthcoming as we only got five chances to their four. We also had the goalkeeper advantage and marked their more dangerous players. So a 1-1 draw has to be considered a disappointment.

On the other hand Aberdeen are a stronger side and had 6.0 to 5.1 percent advantage and, although the chances were again slightly against us the marking did it's job so we're happy with the draw.

Attention is now on the Cecil Cup and games against 3rd division Queens Park, a tie we ought to win.

Falkirk had been drawn to play fellow division two team Cowdenbeath in round one. The first leg was at home. An awful start going behind in the first minute. We equalised on 30 minutes though Johnstone and went ahead on 71 minutes though Nevin after Brown had been sent off for the mad cows. The away leg. We opened the scoring on 33 minutes though Johnstone conceded on 78 minutes then scored the winner in the last minute though Dalglish. Another two one victory, four two on aggregate. We now face division one team Greenock Morton in round two. Today we start league action with a trip to Elgin City. Can we make it three straight wins?

Well we won the home leg 2-1 and had a small advantage as we went to Steve's Cove Rangers and were hopeful ,they opted again for a 3-3-4 normal as we went for a more defensive 5-2-3 normal, game on and we started quickly as Sims fired home from range on 13 minutes 0-1,from then on we were under the cosh as wave after wave of attacks prevailed, we were glad to hear the full time whistle, 2nd half subs on and back to the job in hand ,defending, they pushed on and levelled things up on 51 minutes when Jitinio fired home 1-1,they were outplaying us all over the pitch as we struggled to retain any possession for any length of time but our defence stood firm as we were outshot 11 to 2,Laidlaw in our goal was in outstanding form with 6 saves which took us through to the 2nd round ,this has not happened for quite a few seasons,well played Steve. 

EDI start the new league campaign with a home fixture versus FRA which is followed by an away trip to ARB. EDI will be looking to get off to a solid start and hopefully get some early points on the board. 

Next week sees the first leg of the first game in the Cecil Cup but the opponent is as yet unknown. EDI have stated that they will be hoping for a good Cup run in at least one of the Cup competitions but the league campaign will still be paramount.

The first half of last season was a complete disaster and this season has started no better.  We faced Dunfermline Athletic in the CECIL Cup.  The away leg came first and it was pretty evenly balanced - we had a shot chance of 7.3 against 5.9, but Dunfermline outshot us 4-2.  The first half was goalless.  We brought on some subs at half time which swung things very slightly in The Pars direction, so we were pleased to take the lead.  We were less delighted when Dunfermline scored three times in the last 17 minutes to take a 3-1 lead into the second leg.  

Here, with home advantage, we held a significant lead in shot chance, 9.1 to 2.5 but the actual shot count was only 2-1 in a goalless first half.  Half time subs again weakened our team slighly but the shot chance still looked good - 7.7 to 2.1.  But nothing happened until the 89th minute when we scored with the only goal of the second half.  Too little, too late, and we say goodbye to the CECIL cup for another season.

Hopefully the gods will treat us better in the league....

Good start, but not perfect. We have made it through the qualification round of the CECIL cup, so better than last season! But one of the benefits of those first two games, is not only the gate receipts, but an opportunity to improve our MOR ratings heading into the first league games, so we were hoping for 2 wins, but came out with one win and one draw - perhaps not playing hard enough. We had the squad to get the wins. 

Through trading, we have managed to partly sort our defence. Its not a strength of ours this season, but we have taken the edge off by bringing in a few squad fillers. We could do with another star to play at the back with Ireland. We continue to monitor the tranfer list. 

Starting the league campaign this week with two away games is a tough start, but the plan is done and the lineups are in. Fingers crossed. 

Unusual for us in light of the last season's turmoil, but we complete a midweek with advancement in the CECIL Cup (till we get paired with a CEL, RAN, HEA , STJ etc draw in the 2nd round).

We should have qualified against MON and we did - scoring 6 and conceding none - but at this stage and with my limited funds, training was the order of the day. A 2nd round double header gives us 2 more pay days for increased training. 

Our 5 x age 1 players will be the nub of our team gouing forward, although they will take till they all achieve the full 10TPs to make a real difference to our shot shy team from last season. Still, it's fun while we try it.

You heard it here - promotion is NOT the aim this season, but next season. We went up too soon last season and it showed. Not going to make that mistake again. The lads will be ready then and not before....

Of course we will try to win every game, but it won't happen as we qare ranked around 36th in T11 - actually wwe must be candidates for relegation. THAT won't happen   (we hope!!)

With the signings of Andy Graham from Deveronvale and Craig Slater from Arbroath, we are all set for the new season and the one goal of staying up. Alloa have only been in Division One before and were relegated.

Then arrival of Slater improved our T17 to 15th place briefly but Arbroath jumped back up with their new players. However T11 jumped from 12th= to 9th= so things are looking up. 

And I'm on it this season hoping for some decent participation money.

We were drawn up against Steve's Cove Rangers ,a quality side from division 2,we opted for a 5-2-3 normal as they went for a 3-3-4 normal, steady start from both sides as possession exchanged ,on 16 minutes Brophy brought down Jitonio in the box,ref pointed to the spot and then produced a yellow card, Jitinio got himself up and fired in the spot kick but Laidlaw was quickly down to his right and made an amazing save,Cove kept creating and on 28 minutes Yousef fired home 0-1,we regrouped and pushed on and on 44 minutes a slick move saw Law slip through and lob the onrushing keeper 1-1,half time came and subs on ,2nd half and defences were on top as they closed down all attacks before they could develop and just when we thought a draw was on the cards a last ditch attack on 90 minutes saw Olaigbe stick out a leg and deflect a shot home 2-1,an even game where we held our own and just edged the shot count 8 to 6,well played Steve all to play for in the return leg. 

Full marks for Mark getting us back in the groove so quickly...

We start in the CECIL CUP 1st round tomorrow due to our relegation back into the 2nd division this season and face Montrose. Could go either way 🤓🤓

Have always stated this is the most interesting of all the divisions as many of the teams are close together in skills, and with promotion and relegation only in the 2nd division, it means nearly every team has a goal. The first is a bit like the SPL or the EPL - a few who CAN win the title and the few fighting the drop - the rest punching away mid table. The 3rd has a promotion chase, and as long as you avoid the dreaded wooden spoon, a lot of teams have little to push for. The 2nd is the one where most games will mean something.. (just my opinion of course and not likely to be accepted in many camps - don't care, I am participating..💰 

We are rated in the relegation area of the division so we intend training and training and staying mid table this season - then the push the following season will get us up to the 1st.. That is the grand plan...🤔👍😉

Alloa dug deep into their pockets to pay 1000k for 1/16 DM Andy Graham from Deveronvale. "The maths was simple" explained manager, Steve Turner at a press conference after his signing. "Last season I decided not to spend 300k on a 0/5 MF and sold the unused TP for 800k. That's effectively 1100k for a 1/17 MF that never was, in effect giving us the 1/16 DM instead for 100k less.

"Further more, had we bought the 0/5 MF it is almost certain we wouldn't have made 4th place and maybe not even 6th as we probably wouldn't have spent 600k on Jerry Armstrong in the last auction. That 600k makes us 750k for this season's Division One bonus and probably 400k for the over achievers and 400k+ for 2 OTF manager of the season.

Pre season done and we are set - looking forward to a better season, although until the forwards are trained up, we might still find it difficult to score goals.

WE start with 4 x age 1 players qalthough the Bosman lad is goping off to greener pastures once we start trading. We will then bring in another age 1 lad, a keeper who will get a full training up before MSA. We will need about 60TPs this season and might need to trade off some CPs to get them. The defence is looking quite good - capable at best - but oh! the forward line.

We have some cash to play with and a full 50CPs so feel we should hold our own in the 2nd division.

So back in division 3 and this is going to be another uphill battle, we start with a T11 of 20.8(14th in division) and a T17 of 17.9(joint 11th in division) and an ageing side of 3.86.

We bring in FW Eamon Brophy from St Mirren and young SW Ryan Leak from Salford City, we expect some more signings during the season as some retirees after match 10,Denis Law will Captain the side this season ,we have not set our aims high this season as we try to rebuild in all areas of the side,hopefully our GK situation will be a lot better this season as this was our downfall last season,something we overlooked at preseason, we have full backing from the management who are aware of this seasons plans.

Pre-season orders are ready. Clyde FC appointed a new manager and although according to their rivals this season Clyde FC has a good team, their new manager still has to adapt with his new position. He needs to know well the players.

The avarage age of the team is 3 which is quite young and thus the new manager told the players that he expects that each and every one of them do his best and to play as a team. The target for this season is to avoid relegation. 

The first two fixtures are against teams that both of them are leading Clyde FC in the series. Celtic and Greenock Morten. Last season results speak for themselves. So, in a week's time Clyde's new manager needs to show what his skills are.  He wants not to be shown the backdoor, he needs to prove himself the trust of the board of directors shown in appointing him as Clyde FC manager. 

Writing for a second time after the first one was deleted moments before completion...

David Noonan takes his place as the new captain for Motherwell after joining from Dumbarton just this past season. A strong half season for the goalkeeper will point towards an important role in the season ahead, as well. He will be expected to rotate with Merle Haggard in a great GK duo for the season ahead.

New signing from Chile Luis Rojas should provide needed depth for Motherwell, with a small squad needing to make waves again in the league and the cups. While he will likely not be a starter much this season, he should have some important roles to play from time to time.

Motherwell's early season fixtures look like they will start with two big challenges - home to Rangers and away to Hearts. A hard start for even the best of sides! The silver lining here is that this will split the two onto either side of the SESL cup group stage for the second meetings of the season. Participation in the semifinals and finals of the CECIL cup will likely have an effect on one or both of MOT and RAN before their second meeting.

Motherwell enter the season 5th in T-11 and 6th in T-17. Could be better, could be worse. Hopefully a trade or auction signing early on can help strengthen the squad, as they will be struggling to fight on multiple fronts without some additional players coming in. Motherwell's front line and Midfield are both looking old, so young reinforcements at both positions will be important to keep the squad healthy.

Only 4 teams left to submit pre-seaosn orders now, so things are starting to come together ahead of the kick off.

This is going to be a TOUGH season, there are some great teams in this division! We have a few things on our side - Average age is good, T11 is OK. CP & TP are OK. We are carrying a Morale bonus from last season, but our OTF is poor, our star man is carrying a suspension and our defence needs a LOT of work to give us any chance. 

We have a few oldies on the market and need to pick a few players early. Hopefully the Division 2 auciton will be kind, but if not we are going to have to get the scouts out there again. 

We do want to push for promotion this season, but its such a competetive league this season, it looks like it could go either way yet. We are going to push for a fast start and hopefully the Morale bonus can help us get out of the blocks. 

We have our eyes on a sponsor this season and may well make use of the ldies trade in too, so lots to do. 

We are also going to do better at the prediction league this season. I can say that with confidence. Because we were so poor last season, we cant possibly do any worse. Can we??

Problem is, the season is still over a week away and the trasnfer window isnt open yet!! come on people! 

Pre-Season has now been concluded for EDI and the manager is reported to be happy with the state of the club ahead of Season 56. 

EDI have a few young players in the squad at present who are considered potential stars and expectations are high that the team can step up somewhat and it is hoped that will be reflected not only in the league table but will produce a Cup run in one or other of the Cup competitions.

The squad will need to be added to and the manager will address that with the addition of another youth player being promoted to the first team squad as soon as finances allow. 

This  season should prove to be a really interesting one for EDI.

Back when I was in Division One with Deveronvale I used to make a prediction on where teams would finish.  Well I'm back in Division One and feel buoyant  and I'm going to ned the participation cash so here we go again. I use a very variable formula based on T11, T17, CP/Cash, OTF and, new this time, a little tweak for certain managers. Some teams haven't done pre-season so I've assumed 35 CP for 1500k and am using a 1 CP for 100k anyway. I can't predict what managers are going to do viz-a-viz trades, auctions etc.

Champions: Rangers. They have the best T11 and now have an excellent manager replaced by another. Bill was a giant in OASL

2nd to 4th: St. Johnstone, Motherwell and Fraserburgh, the latter two being very close. Fraserburgh are quite low in T11, 12th= along with Alloa but I know Alon and how he plays so expect another good showing.

Quite a bit behind these (in my scoring) are Hearts, then Livingston in 5th and 6th

A long way behind Livingstone are Alloa 7th (which shows my prediction formula is a bit off as we're dead last in T17 - when I make my trade when the window opens, see team About, I have us and Celtic switching places), Celtic a close 8th and Clyde 9th (despite the 3rd best T11 and best T17). The latter underperformed last season, I think, and have a new manager to SESL (welcome Raymond, I hope you prove me wrong)

A big drop to Aberdeen in 10th althugh Ross does over-achieve.

Fighting to avoid a play-off spot are Edinburgh and Greenock in 11th and 12th.

Fighting to avoid automatic relegation are Arbroath, Raith and Inverness. Arbroath have another new to SESL manager but despite 50 CP and Cameron's optimism, they start 15th= in T11 and 12th in T17 and have a terrible GK pairing.

Dead last is Albion Rovers. Gracie will have to win the Golden Gloves again I think for them to avoid relegation. Albion are equal bottom in T11 and similar to Arbroath in T17 but could only afford 35 CP.

It's back to division 3 for East Fife after a disappointing playoff loss to St Mirren.

But we will continue to build, and with the second best T17 in the division and a good bank balance we must be among the favourites to secore promotion back to division 2.  And then up to division 1?  Or back to division 3?  Ah well....

Last 2 games were irrelevant as to saving our necks but we achieved 2 more draws, making our last 3 games a bookie's nightmare, with all 3 games draws. We were down a long time back, and although in a few games we went stall, we always had a codicil in to change to O or N (or even P if the last 10 minutes gave us a chance of something). Philosophy is usually never to play with single figure SLs unless TPing, alter players with 17SLs to 19SLs to "a" to put them into a 20+ situation, and genaerally try to compete in every game.

And see where it got me....   :-)

Motherwell will enter the new season with some positives to work with as well as some downsides that will need immediate addressing.

Starting with the downsides, Motherwell's attack is going to look very old next season. One age 4 and 3 age 6s is simply not going to cut it for the attacking line. The Well will need to add new strikers quickly into the season via trade or auction to be able to make the season successful in the long term. Midfield, as well, will only have one player in their prime available, though some of our DMs can be provisioned to fill MF slots instead of DF if we are able to pull in defenders with our signings instead. Since our squad ended the season very shallow in terms of depth, player acquisition will be a big part of our early season plans.

On a brighter note, we were able to sign a new GK this season, so we should not have any concerns in net the coming season. Our defense also continues to look quite stable, and we will have good WGs to create shots with as well. If we can get MF and FW positions sorted out we will be in good shape to have another competitive season. We have yet to win anything in our time up in Div. 1, but perhaps we can get a surprise trophy in here one of these seasons.

With the final Division 1 league position for EDI being 10th, which exactly mirrored the T11 and T17 of the team in the statistical table, the manager clearly has to improve that situation. Natural progression will slightly improve both the T11 and T17 going into next season but more certainly needs to be done if EDI have any hopes of maintaining their Division 1 status.

However, the manager would much rather see some serious improvement in both the T11 and T17 but also in the teams league standing. Financial considerations mean that EDI will be restricted and therefore struggle to achieve those aims and the task of the manager in the upcoming new season will be to juggle several priorities if EDI are to thrive.

With EDI only having 18 players in their squad at the moment they would dearly love to strengthen the  squad but there is only so much that can be done and patience will have to be the key word again.

A tough new season looks likely for EDI.

HIBs Review

Success - none to write home about - I enjoyed the season, the team and the fans didn't.

We got relegated around half way through the season, and we looked forward to it. Frankly we went up and after PSA we had an ancient forward line with no SLs. The defence held us in some games. WE have trained up 4 age 0 players and will receive one more at the beginning of next season, so the youth will have it's fling.  

We had 3 home wins and 2 away wins in the league, but by denying Celtic 5 points from 6 we had a hand in destroying their title chances. Sorry!!
SESL Cup  - we made the last 8 but were robbed... The CECIL Cup we went out in the 2nd round to a good Annan side. By contributing and doing divisional reviews we should have a balance of around 3500 to start the season, so roll on next season!!

Great season that. But it feels like there's a lot to disect! 
Success - Top of the league, 63 points 80 goals scored. 
Not bloody ideal - There was a moment when we were 10 points clear, so why did we make it so hard in the end? In fact towards the end it looked highly likely we would finish 2nd, but for a very good 3 game run-in and a bit of luck elsewhere. But we shouldnt have had to rely on luck. 
Success - 'The Plan' - We got promoted (and won the league) while achieving lots of our objectives to give us a chance of not sinking straight back to division 3. Scored goals to get the sponsor payout. Trained a GK from scratch while winning (its tough!). Got 3 to 4 Team stars to help us in division 2 next season coached. Kept the average age young! Won some awards - we needed to win in a certain way to enable us to boost the bank balance and it worked. 
Failure - Cup runs. There wasnt any. Of any form at all. and the fans expected it. Plus it was part of the plan to boost the bank balance. 
Success - Didnt know it at the time, but the 4-4 draw with AI was pivotal. 3-1 down with 8 minutes to play the lads dug deep.
 

Division 2 is going to be TOUGH next season for s both - some great teams. 

Nice read David on preview playoffs today.

Also EF and ALB recent journals, good reading.

Playoff Previews:

Greenock Morton v Cowdenbeath

Beath have one injury – Armour (DM) who will be missed as he gets play time - but in this one off, and despite the Blue Brazil having low Els, especially in defence, I expect a decent team to make a show of today’s one-off match. Morton have a full squad and will probably start favourites. Both teams come off the back of 2 losses, so morale will have dipped for both – a win here will mean one side will be a lot happier tonight.

Arbroath v Hamilton Accies

The big talking point here is Campbell’s suspension which will mean Arbroath’s hopes will rest on 2nd string keeper, Dave, who is on SL 11. Accies have the power to win here, and it will probably come down to how Arbroath manage the Accies attack, they have enough ammunition to score themselves. A high scoring match, perhaps?

Brechin City v Nairn County

Both clubs have a suspended player, thinking City’s might miss their defender, King, slightly more than County will miss their forward, Robesten. Otherwise both teams have full squads to choose from.

East Fife v St Mirren

Intriguing game this – the Fifers were dead and gone after the first 7 league games were losses, but one thing they can do, is score goals. Vigurs is a big loss for them today, although Saints Cash will also be missed in their back 4. Saints had a blip when starting their league campaign as well, but their real form has been their home performances, where only Airdrieonians and Stirling have taken all 3 points.

Not wanting to fall out with anybody, but if pushed to assess today’s games, I would go for wins for Morton, Hamilton,  Brechin and East Fife.

It's been a season of two halves for East Fife

Pre MSA : Played 16, Won 3, drawn 2, lost 11 - 11 points

Post MSA : Played 14, Won 8, drawn 4, lost 2 - 28 points

We didn't do much differently, just astonishingly bad luck in the first half I think.

Thank goodness our playoff match against St Mirren comes in the second half of the season!

6th in the league tailed off a little but punched above this coach's weight!

No sponser money as usual we missed out.   However Jeffries and Gracie's performances have meant 700k coming in to the coffers thanks to a Golden Boot, Golden Gloves and tying for most man of the match's 

now if I can get another 70k in were will be able to purchase 40Cp

Ricky, you enjoy your success - after last season your lot came good and deserve the win. (Now, after dropping down a division for next season, I am hoping you might be saying the same to me in about 5 months time.) 

No, wait - we will be opponents next season... :-)

I would but I've already agreed a deal with a Div 3 team.

After a near miss in the CECIL cup, where Motherwell failed to topple Rangers in the Well's second time reaching the final under manager Foss-Grant, Motherwell had an exciting end to the season - at one point both top of the table and into the semifinals of the SESL cup at the same time. Six wins from a last six would have seen them do the double - did they have the players and ELs to take care of business?

Unfortunately, the answer was a big time no - Motherwell had to cede the SESL cup semifinal to St. Johnstone, though they did have a chance there had they been able to keep it close for the first 60 minutes of playing conservatively. Unfortunately, two late goals there meant that 3-0 was too big of a gulf to take any risks.

Now, with saved up endurance, could Motherwell go on and take the league? It would be three away matches out of the four if they did it. The first one did not go to plan, a 6-3 loss to Celtic meaning that Motherwell had lost control of their fate in the league. Things got worse as Celtic then failed to show up for their next match, where a tie would have done MOT a world of good. Instead, Motherwell found themselves behind St. Johnstone on goal difference, needing a favor from another opponent to knock a couple points off the leaders.

Motherwell faced Hearts away first, and were actually able to run out 3-0 winners in this one (in part due to a very medium Hearts side being put out). But, since St Johstone also won theri match, Motherwell would need Hearts' same lineup to go out and beat St. Johnstone away in the final match to even give Motherwell a shot. Well, that match ended up not even mattering, as the Well also stumbled at their final hurdle: an away match to a desperate Raith Rovers side that needed the win to secure safety in the league. RR put up a HB40 that gave Motherwell a real uphill battle, and that uphill battle became nearly impossible as Motherwell put up a very poor goalkeeper showing. another 6-3 loss for Motherwell, and they end up finishing the season in 2nd place.

2nd in the league, 2nd in the CECIL cup, and semifinals in the SESL cup is nothing to be ashamed of. But, certainly tough coming so close not to walk away with any silverware!

Plenty of things to discuss as the season draws to a close. But first up, we have to stop and enjoy the moment. 

Manager, Staff, Players and most of all FANS are absolutely delighted to secure the division 3 title this season. 

At one point it looked a sure thing, at one point it looked like it was a lost cause. But in the final week we've dipped for the line and the trophy is ours. Right up until the 34th minute of the final game it wasnt looking good. But Leons DEV delivered, not only equalising (which would have been enough), but pushing for the win againt AI. Of course, we had sadly made hard work out of it and as we headed into the final 2 games the title was out of our control. But we knew we had to concentrate on our own game. Win the two tough games in front of us and see what hapened elsewhere. Actually we had to win the last 3 games to have a chance. And we did. 

Another trophy in our some-what sparsley filled cabinet.

But importantly it feels like we are set up for 'a chance' next season. I wuldnt say set up for success, but definitely in with a shot. With a healthy average age im interested to see what the end of season ageing process delivers... 

Please remember as you and I cross divisions how nice - might well do another deal next season - are you looking for an age 1/17 FW or MF (start of season.)  :-)

I forgot to mention a couple of very important signings: 

The first was Jerry Armstrong a 5/28 FW in the last auction for 600k. Jerry played 6 and a half of the last 8 games and scored 3 goals from 8 shots  But what goals they were; 2 were in the 5-3 win over Livingston and the 3rd was the winner in the last game against Cowdenbeath. Two draws rather than two wins and we're in 7th place.

The other was John Fraser in a trade for Patrick Cunningham, who was on -7 EL, with 6 games to go. John played in 5 games and thankfully didn't pick up any more DP. It wasn't a straight swap, I paid 100k and lost an SL but gained 13 EL. It was David Blair that suggested the trade, he didn't ask for the 100k, and I will be eternally grateful.

At last - an end to this tortuous season we have had.  With no striking force we had to rely on defence to keep us in some games, which to be fair, they did.

Our last league weekend saw no goals in the 2 gamwes, but the games were contrasting ones.

We went to Parkhead, and had to play our reserve old timer keeper, Marshall, in goals. He played out of his skin and saved all 7 shots he faced, broke the Celtic forwards hearts and killed their remaining chances of the league title. (Have a feeling going NMR v St Johnstone the week before maybe broke their spirit - but I digress.) We were bruised but unbeaten and retired home with a point we didn't expect or need.

We entertained Edinburgh City next, William brought in a useful forward line and again we went defensive. Only this time we restricted City to one shot, saved by restored 1st keeper, Farm, and created 10 shots, 5 on target, any of which might have sneaked 3 points for us, but would have stuck our opponents into a playoff match. But all were saved, another 0-0 draw, and both teams happy.

So we go down but with 4 age 0 players, and one to come in next season at the start, and will be in a division where we should be able to train up a useful forward line and compete.

EDI only managed a single point from their last two games but thanks to results elsewhere, EDI just avoided having to play a relegation play-off game by goal difference.for the second season running.

Clearly the manager needs to set the bar somewhat  higher next season and he will duly be doing some homework to address the situation during the short off-season. 

There are several weak spots throughout the squad that need strengthening and also a clearer tactical direction is required to take the team forward over the next few seasons. With this in mind, the manager will be taking a long hard look at the balance on the squad with a view to find some much needed improvement.

In the final game of the season, EDI fielded a forward line of SL30, 25, 30 & 30 and yet only generated ONE single shot. Clearly something needs to change at EDI......Maybe the manager ?

What a season for Alloa Athletic.

It didn't start great, with just one win in the first five league games but we started getting things together fighting our way up to around 7th place, where we seemed to be stuck for ages. I've been over the schedule and reckon luck evened out over the season, a few games where I felt robbed,based on the post-match comments and a few where I felt lucky.

I persisted with ball control throughout the season, working out at about 48% - it should have been more with three or four games where I messed up orders. December was a bad month for mistakes, including three NMRs in the SESL Cup group games. According to my Bio/Team update we were 10th in T11 and 12th in T17 after the first two Cecil Cup games and we finished 10th and 13th respectively (Inverness finished 8th and 11th so it's neck and neck in the over-achievement award).. As it stands we have 439k more now than at the start of the season and there's participation and sponsorship cash to add to that.- we won't be able to afford 45 CP though as I've struck a deal already for a trade next season.

Disappointing not to win the fair play award wirth so much passive play and not a minute's aggression, and also Offord missing out on the Silver Boot at the death, though his MotM award in the final game puts him in a 5-way tie.

So, next season. Well I expect we'll struggle - we will be one of the oldest, if not the oldest team in Division One and current T11/17 numbers put us around 14th, with the play-offs to come.

However this will only be Alloa's second season in Division One. We were there in season 17 finishing 13th with 9 wins in the league. For the record the next worst team is East Strirlingshire with 2 seasons and a total of 12 wins. 

Falkirk go into today's last two matches sitting in seventh position just outside the playoff places. Last week's results were mixed. A disappointing two one home defeat by Peterhead was followed by an excellent four one victory against top of the table Airdrieonians FC. Hopefully we can pick up enough points today to at least by in the playoff mixup. 

After a four match winning streak, two against bottom four sides and two against what were top four sides, we find ourselves in reach of an automatic promotion spot. However a play-off spot is more likely but not guaranteed.

With us on 50 there's Dumbarton on 49 and Hamilton on 46 points. Both can reach at least 4th place.

Hamilton have the easiest schedule playing Ross County and Queen of the South. 52 points could be enough for a top four spot but if they fall short it could be tough for the play-offs. Difficult decision for Les.

Dumbarton have tougher games and both against teams that could fall into or get out of he play-offs for relegation. They also have a worse goal difference than Hamilton so might need four points just for the play-offs.

With us on 50 points is Cowdenbeath with a much better goal diference.  We play each other and win either way guarantees at least a play-off spot but not promotion.

The key game might be Aberdeen vs Cowdenbeath for the first match while we play Inverness who are fighting to be champions of the Division.

My dilemma is our low EL. Do I try and beat Inverness and Cowdenbeath? One loss will almost certainly condemn us to the play-offs with next to no team to compete. I could stall out the Inverness game and see where we lie and maybe just conserve EL for the play-offs. Or try and beat Inverness who has a similar T11 (Josh has done a great job with the team) and then see what we need to do.

East Fife's quest to avoid relegatoin continued on Saturday with a home match against Montrose, just a point above us in the league, and holding one of the playoff spots that we covet.  We went big on advertising this one and the ground was packed.  Lose this and my bag might also be packed.  We hald a significant advatage over our visitors and so it was no surprise to see them take the lead after eight minutes.  We managed to equalise just before half time and in the second half our superiority told as we kept putting the ball in the net and came out 5-1 winners.

So, we climb a place to 12th ahead of Aberdeen's visit.  There wasn't much to choose between the teams and the first half was goalless.  But we conceded twice in the second half.  The difference between the two teams was, in the end, the goalkeepers, so we are pleased to have Alan Fleming back from suspesion next week. Interesting to see that East Fife have the worst disciplinary record in the division, without ever once playing aggressively.

With Montrose also losing their second match, we remain in 12th....can we stay there?

SESL Cup FINAL

Rangers…1 St Johnstone…4

It is congratulations to Mark @ St Johnstone who won in the end pretty convincingly in yesterday’s Cup Final.

To be fair the job was made a lot easier for them by some indiscipline and what is known in the game as “forward’s tackles”. The first arrived after an even first 20 minutes when Novo put in a challenge in the box against Ballantyne which the referee gave a penalty for, and a red card for Novo. Ballantyne sunk the penalty and the game looked like going one way only. To their credit Rangers came back and straight from the kick off Drinkell brought them level. Another 7 minutes on and Arveladze fouled Ballantyne (that lad gets around) in the box, and referee repeated the punishment, a penalty and a red card to Arveladze. However McGregor saved Ballantyne’s kick (probably learned from the first one). After 37 minutes McCoist picked out May with a fine cross and it was 2-1 to the Perth men at the half.

2 minutes after the break, Ballantyne capitalised on a bad headed McCulloch clearance and stuck it home to give a 2 goal advantage and Beckenbauer’s 83rd minute cross cum shot only increased the margin. With the Gers playing all their forwards on “a” and getting 2 of them sent off, it obviously impacted on their ability to create chances. Yet overall they managed to create 5 on target shots, one less than the Saints, and it was keeper Sinclair in the Perth team’s goals with 4 saves who received the MOM award.

With the final session of the Division 1 league campaign upcoming...EDI will face SESL Cup winners STJ at home followed by an away trip to HIB to wrap up a difficult season.

EDI are still very much in danger of dropping into the relegation play-offs and badly need a productive last session to avoid having to face the extra game. 

The manager does however have a full squad to choose from with no new injuries or suspensions to worry about so there will be no excuses there. 

It has also been reported that the financial targets set out at the start of this season have now been met and regardless of where EDI ply their trade next season, the manager will begin next season without any financial restrictions.

The Gaffer was delighted that his team had progressed to the SESL Cup final but was once again faced with the familiar problem of reenergising his squad and playing two league matches while ensuring that his team would be in a fit state to face STJ in Wednesday’s cup final. It was a task The Gaffer relished but once again he had to accept that he couldn’t field a competitive team in both league games in order to achieve his objective. Another worrying aspect was that six players who would probably start in the cup final were one booking away from suspension. After some deliberation The Gaffer decided that a cup win was more important to the club than Saturday’s six league points. He wouldn’t risk the six players if it was possible to avoid playing them.

The first game at Dens Park was a ‘no-brainer’. Dundee had played an Ave SL of 42% in their previous two games so their T11 was fully charged and ready to face The Gers. RAN, on the other hand, was low in EL so The Gaffer decided to play as many of his reserves as possible. However, his two big FWs were on EL8 so it seemed a shame to waste them by playing them defensively in MF. The Gers therefore began with a 5-2-3 formation which The Gaffer knew was really a bit of a ‘Hail Mary’ on his part. As expected, DEE dominated the shot chance stats, but what was not expected was Drinkell giving us the lead before we retreated into a defensive ‘stall’ on the half hour mark. Amazingly, the shot generation process kept the hosts at bay by awarding them a single shot which Ritchie saved. It was three unexpected and undeserved points for The Gers. Unfortunately The Gaffer was forced to play two of his defenders who were in risk of suspension and Butcher received the game’s only caution which will keep him out of the cup final.

The lineup for the second game at home to Arbroath virtually picked itself as The Gaffer ‘rested’ the five players who were now one booking away from missing the cup final even although they were now all on EL10. Butcher, already suspended, now played the 90 minutes. Fortunately, ARB fielded an Ave SL of 52% which included their veteran SL11 GK. This enabled The Gers to unexpectedly coast to a 4-0 victory.

The Gaffer was delighted to achieve a six point Saturday when his expectations had been nearer the zero point mark.

After 17 matches unbeaten, Motherwell were looking at an important week: St. Johnstone in the cup and then away to second-placed Celtic in the league before their final home game vs Edinburgh City. The semi-final vs St. Johnstone would always be a decision as to whether or not MOT could feasibly compete on both fronts, or if they needed to prioritize one competition over the other.

MOT put out a defensive lineup against STJ, and the semi-final went about as expected. STJ put on a lot of pressure, and were able to get a halftime lead through an early Clark goal. From there, a flurry of two goals before the 60th minute put this one to bed. The final of 3-0 was certainly fair for the lineups put out. Afterwards, manager Foss-Grant mentioned "Had the score stayed 1-0 at 60 mins we were due to open up for the last 30. But down 3-0 it wasn't worth the injury and card risk." Maybe fair, but the supporters that made the journey for the semifinal were certainly disappointed by the showing put out there. That makes one final and one semifinal in the two cups this season. Successful overall, but certainlly a lot of frustration coming up just short this season.

Could MOT make up for that disappointment by working their way to their first ever league title? The match against Celtic certainly loomed large, and as an away fixture it was going to be a tough one. Motherwell lined up with a counterattack formation, giving them a shot % advantage over a CEL side playing normal with a home bonus of 22. However, an early flurry of Celtic shots meant that they took the lead in this one. MOT were able to equalize, but couldn't hold on until halftime. 2-1 at the break. From there, disaster struck as MOT were looking for the equalizer. MOT SW Martinez was injured, and since MOT had already subbed on their defender, the system decided that MOT should sub on their backup GK as a SW. Well, unfortunately for MOT, that backup is an age 0. So, then the system had to take MOT's best GK out of goal, put in the age 0, and leave MOT exposed to letting in further goals. The best part is...Martinez (an SD), usually plays DF instead of SW, but since MOT were playing 'c' then SW made more sense. What a disaster. OLMEC decided to make it worse by giving CEL more shots from there and letting most of them in. 6-3 the final in that mess of a game. 

MOT then faced EDI and had a 15.5% shot chance against a 1.5% shot chance, so the three points were pretty assured. Only getting 2 goals from that was certainly disappointing (as the captain bonus would have been nice), but that's how it goes sometimes. Easy 3 points, but MOT still sit behind STJ in 2nd place, level on points, but way behind on GD.

MOT will need a huge performance away to HEA and RR next week to stand a chance at the title. From there, they will still need help if they are to pass a STJ side that look on their way to a league title and maybe also a SESL cup trophy.

We started the weekend with an away game at Steve's Alloa Athletic, our previous team and have always struggled against them to get a result, they opted for a 5-4-1 stall as we went for a 5-3-2 stall hoping to pinch a cheeky point,both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession, 30 minutes and they changed tact to ball control and subbed their low s/l GK for their high s/l GK really strengthening their back line ,but we held out till half time,2nd half subs on and they pushed on as we struggled to retain any possession for any length of time as they were outplaying us all over the park ,54 minutes and Offord raced in and slotted home 1-0 and he sealed the game with his 2nd on 89 minutes 2-0 as we were outplayed and outshot 5 to 1,well played Steve.

Next we were home to Mike's Clydebank, a team we have always struggled against, we opted for a 5-3-2 opportunistic as they went for a 4-4-2 normal, both sides started well and enjoyed lots of possession but defences on top for the majority of the 1st half but on 43 minutes Kenneth drilled home from range 1-0,half time came and subs on but 2nd half belonged to defences as both stood firm as we outplayed them for periods and outshot them 4 to 1,well played Mike .

So we sit 14th and it will get no better as we prepare for life back in division 3.

Our drab season continues and only next weekend left before a break. The team played away to fellow relegated Elgin City and although we competed the hearts weren't quite in it. Main thing is to stay away from a possible suspension to start next season.

We lost 3-0 so that'll give a bit of heart to the lads from the north. We moved on to host Clyde (an enigma of a club, who have some great players but send out some strange lineups). They put out a decent lineup against me on this occasion, but my lads weren't put off by the 30plus SL players they have. We completely outshot them (and held them back even with our aged 2nd string keeper between the posts. Our 11 shots should have got more than the 2 goals we did get, and the 2-2 draw flattered the visitors for sure). Having said that the points weren't important to either of us.

Next weekend we go to Celtic (where was Bill and a line up for his 2nd match v St Johnstone on Saturday - the loss almost guarantees the Commish the title) and then a home game against our local rivals Edinburgh City. (Normally it would be Hearts but their team is so high in SLs it isn't a derby we look forward to. City is more on our level and we are putting on a wee tipple for their officials afterwards.) 🥃🥃👍👍

Falkirk picked up six points from last weekend's games and got back into the promotion race. A four nil home victory over bottom team Queens Park was followed by a three one away win at Stirling. Today we have two home matches both against teams also chasing promotion, Peterhead in sixth and top of the table Airdrieonians FC. A think two more victories this time would be far more impressive.

This season has turned into a battle to avoid the wooden spoon. And it was a story of two different weekends on that front. Coming into match 41/42 we were one point above BER and STI with a six-pointer at Stirling. Unfortunately, we had put everything into the two home game weekend before and got nothing to show for it so  we had to travel to Forthbank and had a depleted lineup to boot. We summoned what we had and put out the stall but it was Stirling's day and definitely not veteran keeper Alan Parry's day as he could only stop one of Stirling's six shots and we lost a huge amount of ground in the battle, giving STI a handily superior GD on the season and moving them two points ahead of us. That left us a home game against PET to get something out of the weekend but although we put out a competitive lineup and even got a quick 5' goal but alas could not hold on and went down 2-1...not great Bob!

Matches 44/45 saw us coming into the weekend a point adrift and with our GD going the wrong direction it really is like a two point gap up to BER. An away stall game against Falkirk saw that GD get worse as we put all our eggs into the home game basket against DEV a team that has been hanging out just above the bottom three for a while now hoping not to get drawn down into the race to avoid the wooden spoon. It was basically another six pointer in that fight and this time even though we were outshot our GK Cal Raleigh was able to do his best impression of a wall and kept out all 5 DEV shots on target to get us a vital 3 points. We are now even with STI, 1 point behind BER (with another huge six pointer against them this weekend, but unfortunately away) and only 3 behind DEV but with a much inferior GD to each acting as basically an extra point in their favor.

A look at Hamilton’s squad told The Gaffer that the second division club would be no pushovers in the SESL Cup semi-final. Accies boasted six players at SL30 or above and were capable of fielding an attack and midfield that could compete with the best. If The Gers were going to have any advantage it would be in the defensive areas.

An Average SL of 68% played 62% with The Gers 4-2-4 ‘C’ formation posting an initial shot chance advantage (14.2 to 12.4%) over Accies 3-3-4 ‘N’. However, this was reversed when HAM switched to ‘Early Cross’ after The Gers had taken the lead in the 10th minute but The Gers reached the interval 3-1 ahead. Accies decision to play with two ‘dirty’ wingers now came back to haunt them when Zanatta was dismissed but the 10 men of HAM managed to reduce the deficit during the second half but couldn’t quite force a penalty shoot-out.

In the final analysis the red card and The Gers GK advantage (SL30 v 26) probably proved decisive. Both teams experienced good and bad fortune during the game, as you would expect, but crucially The Gers good luck came during the shot conversion phase when we converted four from seven and McGregor saved seven from ten. It came as no surprise to The Gaffer that our bad luck came during the shot generation phase where we ended up with a 7-11 shot count deficit despite the Calculated Shot Count values being similar (8.67 to 8.93). Another oddity was that none of our three FW players was allocated a shot but fortunately our SL34 MA got two. The Gaffer was just relieved to see his team progress.

The directors won't be happy as we played the teams placed 3rd and 4th the weekend.

Planning to stay out of trouble we played stall against St Johnstone and predictably lost by 2-0. Not so predictable was the stats that said Saints had 2 goals from 2 shots whilst even on stall we created 2 shots. Not to worry - Treasurer was still happy not paying a bonus.

The 2nd game was at home to Albion Rovers. Again we started stall but to our surprise new signing Bagan opened for us on 5 minutes, and even though the equaliser came 6 minutes later, we created chances. A minute after the restart Harvey put us up 2-1, and a minute later James added another. With 14 minutes left we changed to O even though S was working well. Truth be told, Rovers created as many on target shots as us, but Farm saved 4 of them, so getting a rare MOM award.  A not so happy Treasurer - we are down but with new signings WG Bagan and DF Milloy we could have a decent team starting next season. Bagan picked up a yellow card, so he is unavailable for a game. That is par for the course for us... :-)

Semi Final Scores:

Rangers…4  Hamilton Accies…3

This game had everything!! Forget the scoreline for a minute. Hamilton outshot their more illustrious opponents and McGregor in the home goals saved 7 (seven) of the Accies shots to keep their lead. He didn’t get the MOM award – that went to 2 goal Lovenkrands. Ferguson after 10 minutes and then 3 minutes later Lovenkrands made it 2-0 for the Gers, and looking good. Between the goals Accies changed to EC and in the 15th minute they pulled one back when Stephenson nipped in to touch home a Latona cross. A Fulton mistake with 4 minutes remaining in the half allowed Lovenkrands to put the Gers 2 goals in front again. It got worse for the Accies when right on the half time whistle Zanatta was red carded for an over the top tackle on Novo.

Second half Hamilton were by no means out of the game and on 59 minutes a Ferguson swipe at a loose ball finished up in the back of the net, to reduce the score to 3-2. Pivotal moment in the 69th minute when both teams added to their total. Firstly Ferguson put the Gers 4-2 up only for Harris to bring Accies back into it after a woeful back pass by McCulloch. It was end to end from then on with both sides creating a couple of chances but the scoreline remained 4-3 till the finish

St Johnstone…3  Motherwell…0

A shame Motherwell decided to stall for the game in a hope of reaching a penalty shootout, but that decision was presumably a tactical call in order to have a good squad for this weekend’s clash with Celtic in a top of the table league match. In the end it gave the Saints an easier than perhaps expected win and a Final against Cup supremos Rangers.

Well’s line up was a pretty good one but the stall only gave the ball to Mark’s Saints that much more, and a breakthrough was expected. It came in the 14th minute when Clark’s attempted cross eluded everyone and nestled into the back of the net. With no change in tactic coming from Well, the second half became a formality and goals were added by May (54) and McPherson (60) – the last named got the MOM award.

SESL Cup FINAL

Rangers v St Johnstone

It was a mixed week for East Fife.

We started on Wednesday with our cup QF against Saint Johnstone.  We used this as an opportunity to recharge some batteries, and a weakish side, as expected, went out of the cup, 0-4.  Good luck to Saint Johnstone in the semis!

Then to the league campaign, where we have gradually be clawing our way towards the playoff spots in recent weeks.  A home tie against Partick Thistle was a must-win match, and we did manage a win.  But with a 10-0 shot count against an SL13 keeper, the 2-0 score-line was a disappointment.  A captain's bonus would have been - a bonus.

But three points is three points.  We took ourselves to Stranraer for what proved to be a rather dull 0-0 draw.  Another rather disappointing result as we held the advantage throughout, but failed to get the shots that might have been expected.  

So, another four point week puts us just a point behind Montrose in the playoff zone.  And it's Montrose we face next in the first of two home matches this weekend.  Sadly, our first choice keeper has got himself suspended for two matches....

EDI currently sit 9th in the Division 1 table with a total of 36 points which means that they are six points and two places above the relegation play-off positions.

With the last four games being home v. FRA, away v. MOT and then home v. STJ and finally away v. HIB the manager feels that a further 3 points may be enough to avoid a play-off game but would much prefer the security of at least 4 points but has stated that those points still look very difficult to come by.

All coaching and training  points have been used now so as far as EDI goes.....what you see is what you get from here through to the end of the season. On the plus side, GK Banks, DF Dalton and DM Sourness are all available for selection again after serving suspensions. The physio reports that the manager has a fully fit squad to choose from so the manager has the luxury of being able to freely make upcoming team selections.

Progress into the cup semi-finals meant that The Gaffer was faced with the familiar problem of reenergising his squad, playing two league matches while ensuring that his team would be in a fit state to face Wednesday’s semi-final opponents. It was a task The Gaffer relished but once again he had to accept that he couldn’t field a competitive team in both league games in order to achieve his objective.

EL levels dictated that a relatively weak team would take on Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill. The Gaffer therefore chose a defensive 6-3-1 ‘stall’ formation with an Ave SL of 50% in an attempt to stifle what was expected to be a strong Rovers lineup. The hosts didn’t disappoint and fielded an Ave SL of 64% boosted by a home bonus of 22. The Gaffer was content under the circumstances that his team limited Rovers to a CSC of 5.06 which produced six shots and two goals.

The Gers were more like their old selves in Saturday’s second game against Morton at Ibrox. They fielded an Ave SL of 60% against Morton’s 54% which produced a good 8.12 to 2.50 CSC advantage, a 6-1 shot count and a 3-1 win. The only disappointment was McGregor failing to save the only shot that came his way.

In the last 5 league games, we've seen a return to form at STE. Played 6, Won 3, Drawn 2. Including a 4-4 draw with AI. 

But its not enough.

Where once we looked comfortable at the top, now we have slipped to 2nd place. And right at the worng time of the season. The 0-0 draw with Dundee United has really hurt us. 

But it's got to be said, if Airdrie clinch the title this season then Kevin absolutely deserves Manager of the Season. Never letting go off the title hunt. Now its our turn to not let go. The odds may have dropped, we may have some low EL, we may have a suspension, but we have to push through. We are going to need 12 points from 12 to have a chance and there's not easy games left. 

Lose to 3rd place Ayr in the next match and we may have bigger issues. Time to dig deep boys....

Motherwell started off the week with a quarterfinal matchup against Fraserburgh. This one would be a tight affair, with Motherwell fending off a couple early Fraserburgh shots and keeping things level as the match started to settle in. Motherwell would start to grow into this one, as the rest of the half was rather one-way traffic, but the Fraserburgh goalkeeper was also alert and playing quite well on the day. The second half resumed with Motherwell seeing all of the opportunities, but Inaki Pena (FRA) against made two fine saves in the 51st and 57th minutes to keep everything level. It wasn't until the 66th minute that Motherwell were able to make a breakthrough, as Alan Forrest was able to use a defender to shield his shot and finally beat the brave Fraserburgh goalkeeper. Motherwell would move into a stall from here and see out the match as a 1-0 victory. On to the semifinals to face one of the toughtest cup opponents out there: St. Johnstone.

Back to the league, where Motherwell surprisingly found themselves two points behind first placed Celtic. It wasn't too long ago when Motherwell were in 7th place after only winning half of their first 16 matches. Six points were required this weekend to keep any hope, as the last four matches were scheduled to be incredibly difficult. First up was an away trip to Elgin City. It didn't take long for the visitors to get off the mark, as new signing Phil Denver (fresh off of his red card suspension) scored in the first minute here. A concerning injury to veteran Valenzuela in the 16th minute meant that manager Foss-Grant was forced to bring on his superstar striker OHannigain early instead of giving him the rest he needed - not ideal! Elgin's defense did well enough from here to keep it a one goal margin at the break.However, it would only take 3 minutes of the second half for Phil Denver to get his second for the club. Despite Elgin City pulling one back with their first shot in the 58th minute, Motherwell would restore their two goal lead immediately after. Denver got his hat trick in the 68th minute, and this one would finish at that score: 1-4 with Motherwell taking home all three points.

The penultimate home match of the season for Motherwell saw the Clyde Cats come into town. Motherwell made a real effort to pack the fans in for this one, as Clyde's new GK meant that this one would need every advantage that Motherwell could afford. Motherwell were able to get the majority of the chances early, but they simply could not beat CLY GK Colin Meldrum (formerly of KIL). Save after save he racked up - and before you knew it it was the second half and Meldrum had 7 saves. Motherwell had brought on all of their best attackers at this point and...finally the deadlock was broken. An interchange between Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Phil Denver led to a saved shot from Phil Denver, but the rebound came right back out to Gilmore who tucked it home. This one still had 19 minutes to go, and Motherwell would face a big chance from Clyde's Billy Dodds in the 86th minute. Fortunately David Noonan was up to the task and Motherwell would hang on to a nervy 1-0 win. This one could have been much more comfortable, but MotM Colin Meldrum had quite the impressive day for his new club, Clyde FC.

Fortune favored Motherwell today, as leaders Celtic also dropped points away to Fraserburgh. The home side's first half blitz saw the score sit at 4-0 at the break, and Celtic couldn't do enough to claw their way back into it. Motherwell now sit first in division 1 with four matches to go - not sure that's ever happened before!

A draw away to Celtic will now be enough to keep Motherwell on top of the table with three matches to go. From there, however, MOT would likely need to aim for all 9 points given they would likely have both Celtic and St. Johnstone right behind them. With a cup Semifinal also coming up, it will be a big question as how to best manage resources through all of this.

We started the weekend with an away game at Josh's high flying Inverness, a free flowing attacking side, they opted for a 4-3-3 normal as we went for a 5-2-3 opportunistic, they started the quicker and opened the scoring on 11 minutes when McCoist fired home 1-0,we were slowly playing ourselves back into the game when McCoist drilled home his 2nd from outside the box on 36 minutes 2-0 and Macgregor slotted home on 41 minutes 3-0,2nd half and we had no answers as we were outplayed all over the park and outshot 6 to 1,well played Josh.

Next we were at home to Alan's free flowing high scoring Cowdenbeath, who were pushing up the table,we opted for a 5-2-3 normal as they went for a 4-3-3 opportunistic, they started quickly and opened the scoring on 5 minutes when Barnes fired home 0-1,but on 8 minutes we hit back when Law fired home 1-1,20 minutes and Woods found space and slotted home 1-2,but on 29 minutes we were all square again when Megginson fired home 2-2,steady play for the next few minutes before a quick break saw Boyle slot home 2-3,half time came and subs on ,we pushed inland on 55 minutes Law drilled home his 2nd 3-3,60 minutes and they changed tact to counterattack  and on 68 minutes were back in front when Barnes stuck out a leg and deflected home for his 2nd 3-4,69 minutes and a quick attack saw McMillan power home his header 3-5 and they sealed the game on 71 minutes when Woods headed home his 2nd 3-6 as we were outplayed and outshot 9 to 4 ,well played Alan.

So after a pointless weekend we sit 14th and can climb no higher ,3rd division football it is for us next season,we have to sit down and rethink how we play as we have conceded far too many goals this season. 

Falkirk had a bit of a disaster weekend last week and promotion hopes have been dashed. We started with a home game against Dunfermline Athletic. Nothing much between the teams and we didn't play to badly, outshooting them eight to five. We ending up losing four one mainly due to our youth keeper Gunn having a bit of a shocker. The second match was away to Forfar Athletic. This time though we were outplayed and outshot nine to three and ending up losing two one. Today we open with a home game against bottom team Queens Park. If we can't win this one then the season is well and truly over for us. 

(MY) SESL Cup Quarter Final Review

Dundee United…1  Rangers…1  (Gers 4-3 pens)

Both teams put out decent strength sides although the Gers had far more SLs on view. The 30th minute was pivotal, as once Fletcher put United in front, any hope of holding the lead was wiped out when Arveladze levelled straight from the kick off. The rest of the game had Rangers creating a couple more chances but Birighitti in the United goals saved them. Penalties and the Gers higher SLs told as they sneaked into the Semi Finals 4-3.

Hamilton Accies…4   Albion Rovers…0

Accies served up a cracker here and fully deserved their Semi Final slot and an encounter with Rangers. They created 10 shots (8 of which went to forwards) and but for 6 saves by Gracie in the Rovers goals it might have got worse. 2 goals up in the first 9 minutes through Harris and Sterling, it was Stephenson’s brace in the 52nd and 59th minutes which sealed the very good win for them.  Rovers stuck at it but didn’t really get going – their 3 shots were comfortably saved by Fulton. A kick in the teeth to Rovers is that Jeffries picked up a yellow card as early as the 3rd minute and he will start a suspension tomorrow.

East Fife…0  St Johnstone…4

The Fifers deserved their day and the larger gate receipt, but obviously decided to try but not send out a top squad – preferring to concentrate on staving off a relegation, perhaps?  Who knows (except the Fifers manager) but Saints didn’t bother and wandered through this tie with relative ease. Souness (26) and Kucheryavyi (40) finished the tie off by the half time whistle, and Ballantyne, with strikes in the 61st and 62nd minutes ended the game as a contest.

Fraserburgh…0  Motherwell…1 

Pena in the Burgh goals saved his team front a bigger loss with his 6 saves (and MOM award). Almost singlehandedly he kept his team in it so that the Steel Men couldn’t relax. It took a single 66th minute counter from Forrest to finally kill off the north men’s cup ambitions. Motherwell move on to face the men from Perth.

Semi Final Line up:

Rangers  v  Hamilton Accies

St Johnstone  v  Motherwell

The Gaffer was still suffering from the nightmares brought about by his team’s unfortunate elimination at this stage of last season’s competition so he had no intention of taking this season’s quarter final against Dundee United lightly. The Gers were favourites and the game started that way with RAN posting an initial 9.7 to 4.6% shot chance advantage. Calculated Shot Counts over the 90 minutes were RAN 10.01  DUU 4.14. What could possibly go wrong this time?

Well, the shot generation process kicked things off by virtually eliminating The Gers advantage. Instead of the expected 10-4 shot count in The Gers’ favour we ended up with a very disappointing shot count of 4-3. Fletcher then put United ahead on a 38% scoring chance only for Arveladze to equalise immediately also on a 38% scoring chance. Arveladze thought he’d won the tie five minutes from time but the goal was chalked off for offside on a 5% chance!

‘Olmec’ was really messing with The Gaffer’s head now as it announced its Man of the Match as Nacho Novo. The wee Spaniard probably had his worst game in a light blue jersey not only missing his two 46% scoring chances but also failing to convert his penalty on a 73% scoring chance. How can that be assessed as a MoM performance?

When the dust had settled, RAN had scraped through 4-3 on penalties leaving a frustrated but very relieved Gaffer to ponder how to best recharge his team’s EL batteries for Saturday’s league fixtures.

The team had just come away from a difficult cup tie against Clyde so the squad’s EL values weren’t in an ideal shape to face Hearts at Ibrox followed by Raith at Kirkaldy. A quick look at the Hearts and Raith squads indicated that The Gers were likely to face strong lineups from both opponents and with another cup tie coming up against Dundee United, The Gaffer knew that once again something had to give.

The Gers fielded an Ave SL of 55% against HEA’s 64% in the first of Saturday’s league encounters and as The Gaffer had expected The Gers struggled to contain a strong Tynecastle side (Calculated Shot Count 5.51 to 6.97). This brought The Jambos a generous 8-4 shot count advantage and a 4-1 away win.

Raith fielded the anticipated strong lineup (Ave SL 65%) and boosted their chances by employing a home bonus of 22. The EL values of the Gers’ squad were in a better shape which enabled The Gaffer to field a lineup with an Ave SL of 60%. The Gaffer was delighted to see his team post a CSC advantage of 10.03 to 6.71 but not so pleased to see both teams generate 10 shots. However, the shots on target figure (7-9) was more representative of the CSC values which helped The Gers record a welcomed 3-2 away win.

The Blues finally managed a full six pointer session with impressive wins against PT and high flying Dons. This comes as a great relief to under-pressure Boss McCumiskey. Newly relegated SRA had expected to shine this season but lacklustre performances on the field have left them dangling too close to a double drop! With six matches to play there is an outside chance of a playoff in either direction!! McCumiskey has spent heavily on youth and although this might pay off in a couple of seasons the fans want instant success. This will have to wait and for the beleagered Chief, he has to hope the Chairman still holds faith in him. Next up the oldest team in the league MON and then EF. Only two wins are expected here...... 

It's been another good week for East Fife.  We started on Wednesday with a cup tie against Raith Rovers.  We conceded our usual early goal but came back to win it 2-1, the winner coming from Ann Struther in the 53rd minute.  It was a tight game - the shot count was 9-9, on target was 6-6.  Keeper Alan Fleming won this for us and deserved his MoM award.

Our first league match on Saturday was against Clydebank, eight points ahead of us.  A win would be a great result.  The early goal against us didn't help but we have come to expect it.  We equalissed before half time and went ahead on 56 minutes.  But Clydebank quickly scored again and we had to be content with a 2-2 draw.  This was one where we were the stronger team and we were very disappointed not to get three points.

The second Saturday match was a visit to Hamilton Accies, pushing for promotion.  For once there was no early goal and we reached half time at 0-0.  An exchange of goals early in the second half left this looking like a 1-1 draw but with three minutes left Ann Struther, for the second time in the week, found the winning goal for us.  And for the second time, Alan Fleming picked up MoM.  This was a fortunate win, to be sure, but over the two league matches four points seems a fair haul.

We've closed the gapa a little on the teams above us, but still have a lot of work to do to avoid relegation.

The first part of this season, was in the main a big success for STE. We came out of the blocks quick in the league and racked up the points. At one stage being 10 points clear. Morale bonus was flying, coaching training plan was working on every angle and our T11 was flying. It felt like we were winning on all fronts. We met our sponsor target quick and oue average age was well placed to take us through mid season ageing.

But its become a totally different story of late. Knocked out of both cups, we were getting tactics wrong, making mistakes and seemingly had some bad luck too. What went wrong!? Squad management became tough with tired players and the odd suspension. Cameroon picked up a knock meaning he cant get his full 10TP which is disappointing. Its become a dog fight at the top of the division, leading only by GD. 

A 4-4 draw took it out of us this week at Airdieonians in a game that could have gone either way on the day. 

But it leaves us top and the season could still swing either way. Its going to be real tough with the fixtures we have left. I think we will need full points to win this division, which seems unlikely right now. 

This weeks two league games saw EDI lose 0-1 away at GM and then win ourhome game 2-1 against DEE t collect 3 points from the session. This was enough to keep EDI in 10th  position in the Division 1 table but only 5 points and two places above the relegation play-off positions.

Sadly, EDI also now have two players suspended for 2 games each and also another player suspended for a single match. With EDI only having 18 players on the roster, the manager will have to box clever with selections in the upcoming league session. 

Regardless of whether EDI survive for another season in Division 1 or not, the manager will clearly have to find a slightly different approach to recruitment next season if EDI are to flourish at the top table or slpi down the league ladder.......No pressure there then Boss!!

Motherwell came into the week looking to continue their streak of 11 matches unbeaten. First up was a cup match against Falkirk, and next came a league doubleheader of a tough away trip to St Johnstone and a visit from Hibernian.

First up were Falkirk, and here everything went pretty right for the Well. An early lead, a sending off for the opposition, and a half of stall from the opponents that gave them just not enough time to mount a comeback. 5-2 as Motherwell advance to face Fraserburgh in the quarterfinals.

Next up was one of the toughest fixtures on the calendar - away to St Johnstone. Fortune was on Motherwell's side, as the hosts had their big GK suspended for this one. Motherwell would just need to get shots on target and force the backup to beat our top keeper. Well, things certainly did not go to plan in the opening 10 minutes. Not only did the hosts score just 2 minutes in, but by the 10th minute our new signing at FW decided to get his second card in two matches - this time red! Who scouted this guy? Motherwell still had enough shot % to give themselves a chance here, and the first of such chances came in the 28th minute. And fortunately for the visitors, that chance fell to star FW OHannigain, who made no mistake. 1-1 at the half, and Motherwell from here could bring on more support in the shape of SL30s WG Forrest and MF Foster. The changes seemed to be enough, as MOT would take the lead just into the second half. The game was far from over at thay point, but GK Noonan did the job asked of him. His 5 saves made the difference in this one as MOT bring home the points with a final score of 1-2.

After that drama, a home match against HIB should have been the relaxing finish as Motherwell cruised to 3 points again, but no such luck. HIB came with a very stubborn opportunistic formation that was very effective in limiting shots and upping their odds of points. They were never going to win this one if it was a shootout, so keeping the shot count low was a brilliant strategy. We would expect to score on a SL16 GK, but with only 4-7 shots expected in a match like this, you never know when bad luck will strike! And it sure did look like this one could go that way. By the 75th minute with the score 0-0, even the most confident of MOT supporters would have been quite nervous. And when, in the 79th minute, the ball fell to one of MOT's worst finishers, MF Eriksen, nobody really got their hopes up. But, his half volley was true and the goal would be enough to secure 3 points for the very anxious home crowd. Not a classic, but it was a case of excellent tactics from the away manager. Excruciating watch on the viewer for the home manager.

With Celtic dropping points away to Clyde, that means MOT are now just 2 points back of the title position. 6 wins from the last 6 would guarantee the trophy due to a match against the league leaders, but that will be a serious tall ask. 4 of six matches away, including trips to Celtic, Hearts, and Raith Rovers. I think we will likely have to rely on help from opposition against Celtic and St Johnstone, as I doubt Motherwell can pull the rabbit out of the hat that many times. Part of the equation will also be: how do we mix in the cup quarters with this? Is effort better spent on the league, the cup, or both?

Not a lot going on here... Last midweek we went out in the last 16 of the SESL Cup to Dundee United by 1-0 - they now get to play Rangers for another pay day... Good luck to them.

Then at the weekend we managed to score 1 goal (in the 1-1 draw with Cove Rangers, which we might have won, but it would have been too little too late for us, so they need the point more, and then we went down by 1-0 to Motherwell. We have 8 games left so playing them out to try to bring a new look to next season in the 2nd division.  Can't wait...

We started the weekend with an away game at Ross's high flying Aberdeen, always a tough place to get a result, they opted for a 5-1-4 normal as we went for a 5-3-2 normal, game on and we were under pressure from the opening whistle as wave after wave of attacks came in ,but for the 1st 15 minutes we stood firm but on 15 minutes Watkins fired home 1-0,19 minutes and Fleming slotted home 2-0 and McGrath fired home on 29 minutes 3-0,14 minutes where we could find no answers ,half time came and subs on ,we slowly played ourselves back into the game and pulled one back when Law fired home 3-1 and then he headed home his 2nd 3-2,but we could not find another way through as we were outplayed for periods and outshot 8 to 2,well played Ross.

Next we were home to Arnold's Queen of the South, who like us were struggling for form at present ,we opted for a 5-3-2 normal as they went for a 4-3-3 opportunistic, a really close exciting encounter with both sides enjoying lots of possession, but defences on top for the 1st half,subs on and both sides looking for that opening and on 59 minutes Olaigbe came rushing in with an amazing diving header 1-0,from then on our defence stood firm and held on outshooting them 3 to 0 for an invaluable 3 points ,well played Arnold.

So a 3 point weekend sees up jump up a spot to 14th ,but still far,far away from safety and we must prepare for the drop back into the 3rd division.