The Voice Of The Dressing Room
13/11/09 To say last Saturday was a disappointment is an understatement. It wasn’t much of a game but one we were more than capable of winning. Unfortunately we didn’t seem to have any spark about us in the last third of the pitch to really put them under pressure. Having said that we probably still had the better openings and I can’t really remember Kieron having any saves to make in the game. Those of you who were at the game wont need me to tell you that the goals we gave away were awful. If you gift teams in the Super League goals like we did last Saturday then you won’t pick up many points. It is something we clearly need to sort ahead of our next 2 league games against Kelty and Camelon. Those 2 games will define our season and whether we will be challenging at the right or wrong end of the table.
This Saturday we have a break from the league and welcome Broxburn in the East of Scotland Cup. They are on great run just now and flying high in the league. Anyone who knows junior football will tell you that any game against a team managed by Steve Pitman is extremely tough. We are under no illusions as to how hard the game will be on Saturday but it is vital we get back to winning ways.
Everyone at the club is pleased for Paul Tansey and Adam Nelson getting into the East Region select squad. Hopefully that will boost their confidence ahead of the game on Saturday. With a bit of luck maybe the mojo of Scotland’s hottest teenage striker is starting to rub on his brother!!! We certainly hope so!!!
However there must be some outstanding strikers going about in the East Region if Matty King can’t get in the squad. I think he has been by far our best player this year and I am amazed that he isn’t in the squad.
Another noticeable absentee is Mr Ramage. Clearly the selectors have not been to our recent games or they would have seen a young Rambo rampaging up the line like his all time football hero Joe Tortolano. Perhaps the management team still remember Mr Ramage from their time together at Linlithgow Rose where Rambo had his very own personalised seat on the bench. The pounds accumulated by the “Judge” on that bench have never been shed. Unfortunately the selectors have clearly thought “once released always released”!!! However I bet there is no one else in the squad who can empty the ball to the safety of the stand like Rambo. Don’t worry big man you are well thought of by the lads in the dressing room, especially Nelson who loves your chat on nights out!!!
Hope you enjoy the game on Saturday.
Voice of the dressing room.
05/11/09 The mood of the team last week was one of great disappointment. Although we were not outstanding by any means I don’t think we deserved to lose 3-0. If you look at the chances created in the game we had 2 great chances before they scored and one chance when the game was 1-0. This is not a criticism of the strikers as they have dug us out of many a hole in the past but it just shows the fine line between winning and losing at this level. I can’t think of any chances that Irvine Meadow had apart from the goals they scored which we were very disappointed to concede. The first goal was one long punt down the middle with the goal scorer standing behind our last defender. However as he didn’t react to the “first phase” he was able to spin round once the right midfielder collected the ball and had an open goal for the rebound. Even the electric pace of Porto and Shand isn’t going to catch a guy with a 5 yard start!!! We lost 2 goals in the last 5 minutes with the second one definitely offside as the guy was standing all alone in our 6 yard box. It is a sign of how far we have come that we came away from last weeks game disappointed to have lost to a team that spends fortunes on players and can bring on a sub such as Brian McGinty who played 110 games for St Mirren including those in the SPL up to 2007. Those kind of players don’t come for free so I think we have to look at the bigger picture. Everyone should remember last year when Boness beat us at the same stage of the Scottish Cup and look at what we went on to achieve in the rest of the season.
Tomorrow’s game against Camelon is huge. The Super League is crazy in that you can win a few games and go top of the league or lose a few and you end up at the bottom. We are not fooled by Camelon’s league position as they have a squad full of quality players. Paddy Flannery and Sean Kilgannon, to name but a few, have played at a much higher level and pose a big threat to us. We will have to be at our best to win but it is something we are all focused on doing.
There is one blow regarding the squad tomorrow with Gary, a.k.a. Gazza, a.k.a Scott “Cross Field Pass” Devlin away to Fort William for the weekend. It is a big blow to Camelon’s preparations, sorry I mean Musselburgh’s hopes of winning the game. He is supposedly away with friends but my contacts tell me he is up there on trial at the mighty Fort William. As you can see from the table below they are on fire just now:
League Table - Scot-Ads Highland League - 2009/2010 Season
Pos
P
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
P
Fort William FC
16
10
1
0
9
5
34
-29
3
Strathspey Thistle FC
17
11
0
2
9
8
40
-32
2
Rothes FC
18
11
0
0
11
11
51
-40
0
Gary, a.k.a. Gazza, a.k.a Scott “Cross Field Pass” Devlin is going to have to be on top form to impress. The lads wish him all the best.
Ps No need to rush back!!!!
Hope you enjoy the game on tomorrow.
Voice of the dressing room.
23/10/09 With regards to last weeks game the plus points were the fact we got through and kept a clean sheet. I accept the fans at the game were probably not falling over themselves in excitement. None the less we would settle for 3-0 every week.
This week’s game against Hill of Beath is going to be as hard as any game we have had this season. They are an established Super League team full of good players. I don’t think I have played in many easy games in Fife and Saturday will certainly be no different. We haven’t been helped recently with the run of injuries we have had. It doesn’t look much better for Saturday with a number of boys getting treatment this week plus Adam is serving the last game of his suspension. We seem to produce our best performances when we are down to the bare bones and hopefully the same will be true tomorrow.
Training this week has been good. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the manager being away on holiday!!! Some of the lads thought he had set up CCTV at Fisherrow to ensure Rambo had us doing his ladders, possession, shooting and a game!!! Word is we are getting a conference call for his team talk on Saturday!!!
We certainly won’t have any problem in the coaching department on Saturday. There will probably be more “coaches” than players. In addition to the normal coaching team there are the lads who are chocolate, sorry I a mean “injured”, who will fill the away dugout with ease. Some of them seem to think they are potential management material because they have won a few Cups on Championship Manager!!!! To be fair Johnny Bain’s knowledge on the game is outstanding. I hear he is top of the list for the Liberton Boys Brigade job after his successful spell coaching in San Francisco. Apparently his San Fran team were experts in exposing the “back door” of opposing teams!!!
Hope you enjoy the game on Saturday.
Voice of the dressing room.
16/10/09 The over riding feeling after last weekend’s game was disappointment. There is no doubt that Whitburn deserved to win but we were very poor. The big difference being in the Super League is that when you are poor or make mistakes then you don’t pick up points. Perhaps last year we might have scraped a win or a draw with that performance but not in the Super League.
This weekend we have a game against Lochore who we played at home last year. They gave us a tough game that day and we expect nothing less on Saturday. For various reasons the numbers are down this week so some of the reserves might get a game, myself and Rambo are delighted!!!!
The Scottish Cup draw wasn’t kind to us after drawing arguably the best Junior team in Scotland away from home. You only need to look through their squad to know the kind of quality they have. However in my time at Musselburgh our best performances have been in games when we were written off. Although we know it will be extremely difficult we will go there to win and we definitely have enough about us to cause them problems.
Initial discussions have started this week about our Christmas night out. The manager mentioned a fancy dress night which went down well with the lads, especially Gibby. It would allow Gibby to pitch up in his normal gear, no mask and everyone will know exactly who he is meant to be, Sloth from the Goonies!!!
ps Gibby you will have to think of some new chat though as Sloth has never played for Norwich City!!!
Hope you enjoy the game on Saturday.
Voice of the dressing room.
10/10/09 After not having a game last weekend we are looking forward to Saturday. We all know it will be a really tough game against a club which is one of the biggest in the East Region.
We certainly know all about their history, it gets repeated over and over again by Messers McGlynn and Ramage. If I had £1 for every time they mention how many goals they scored, how many cups they won, how great a team they were etc I would be a millionaire. We have also been told that there are statues of them in Whitburn. If the statues were done to scale then no one will have trouble finding the park as they will be Supersize!!!! I think the Egyptians had an easier job building the Pyramids than the sculptor who made the statues of McGlynn and Ramage!!!
Seriously though Whitburn are one of the big clubs in the East Region and it will be a great scalp for us to go there and get 3 points. We played them in a semi final at the end of last season and beat them so they will be out to reverse that on Saturday. There is no doubt that we will have to be at our best to win and that means a big improvement from our last outing. I won’t mention too much about the Haddington game other than at least the Reserves kept a clean sheet!!!!!
Hope you enjoy the game on Saturday.
Voice of the dressing room.
24/09/09 I was glad to get back amongst it again after holidaying in Las Vegas recently. Sin City was certainly fun but the real reason I was glad to leave was Mr Ramage was flying in for a holiday with his good lady. I don’t know how she copes but there was no way I was waiting for his patter. Its no secret, his chat isn’t the best, just ask Mr Nelson!! A recent Saturday night was ruined for Adam after being concerned by the big man and his Whitburn glory days chat!!!
Things just keep getting better and better on the park. To go into the mini break top of the league is a great achievement for the guys, especially considering the teams we have played. I would say in most of the games we have played the opposition have had more of the ball but our defence has been outstanding and we have some of the best strikers in the league with the two Kings.
A special mention must go to Chris King who recently got engaged after a whirlwind romance. Kingy doesn’t do things by half but he is definitely madly in love. Unfortunately this has left the other love of his life, Matty King, out in the cold!!! We will be arranging a match day collection at Olive Bank for Matty, with all donations going towards his subscription to www.match.com.
Another major bit of news coming out of the dressing room is the manager completed the Great North Run last weekend. I know what you are thinking and all the lads are thinking the same thing, how on earth did he manage that?? The words “Davie McGlynn” and “good fitness” have never been used in the same sentence before. I am not about to change that here after a picture of a man fitting the description of Mr McGlynn was spotted crawling across the finish line with a caravan attached to his back!!
Hope you enjoy the game on Saturday.
Voice of the dressing room.
27/08/09 The first game of the season is upon us and we can’t wait. We put in an unbelievable effort last year which culminated in us winning the league comfortably and winning a cup. Our reward is an opening day cracker against Linlithgow Rose at home.
Although we lost last night in the League Cup semi final against Linlithgow Rose we take a lot of confidence into the game on Saturday. We were down to the bare bones last night in terms of numbers with Calvin’s better half having their first child, Trigger having a “chocolate ankle”, Tansey being Tansey, Bainy being Bainy and Dode still suspended. Therefore to put in the performance we did and earn a draw against a team like Linlithgow was a great effort in the circumstances. In the first half I think we were the better team and Kieron didn’t have a save to make. Granted in the second half they came into the game more and were better than us. However when you have the 2 Kings in your team then one goal is never enough and they duly supplied the equaliser. Hopefully we will get Chris King into the game more on Saturday because the damage he can cause with good service is there for all to see. Much will be said about our indiscipline but those who were there last night will know that both Nelson and Wes should never have been sent off. If people are being honest then I think there was an “Eduardo” dive for Nelson’s red card and I am still wondering how Wes got his second booking.
I have seen a bit of criticism on the forum regarding last night. However anyone who knows the junior game and had a look at their bench will know that nearly every one of them would walk into any Super League side. That tells you the strength in dept they have but it also says something about us that we managed to take them to penalties with the players we had missing. That’s where our luck ran out and the less we say about “Gary’s” and big “Lafferty’s” penalties the better!!!!
The boys would like to publicise our appreciation to “Dad’s army” for loaning us their star centre midfielder last night. He was due to go on his annual Saga holiday but showed his commitment to pull the strings in the middle of the park instead!!
Everyone is looking forward to Saturday and let’s hope we can get the 3 points although it will be extremely tough therefore your support will be most welcome.
Voice of the dressing room.
09/08/09 It was a good win by the team on Saturday. I don’t think anyone at the game could deny we deserved it as Kieron didn’t have a save to make and we missed a few chances ourselves. The performance was a step up from the one in midweek although we still have some way to go before the big kick off.
The manager confused a lot of the boys at the weekend and for once it wasn’t his team talk!!!! I have been slated by a few of the lads for insinuating that some of them are thick as mince but what happened on Saturday confirmed my thoughts. Davie brought in a drinks cooler to keep the water cold and during the warm up a few of the boys were thirsty but could not manage to figure out how to open it up. To be honest you don’t need to be Einstein to work it out but then again we are talking about Goggs and Mikey. Young Mikey was not happy with me for comparing his brain power to Gibby last week and insisted he would redeem himself by opening the cooler. Needless to say he didn’t have a clue and is surely on the way to being called “Trigger”. However I better watch what I say or I could be facing a defamation case as I doubt “Trigger” would be happy being compared to Mikey!!!!
Voice of the dressing room.
07/08/09 For those of you who were there on Wednesday night you will no doubt be of a similar mind to the players, disappointed. We were poor and lacked any tempo against a determined Dunbar side. Our performance was summed up at the Dunbar goal, Kieron makes a great save from the penalty but we were so slow to react that Dunbar were able to get to the rebound and square the ball for a tap in. It was our first competitive game and only our 4th of the season but we definitely need to get up to game speed soon. Linlithgow is not far away and that kind of performance would not get you any points against them. We have a big game tomorrow against Penicuik where we will need to pick up our performance considerably to collect 3 points. It will be good to see Danny Kelly again, I just wonder who he will kick first although there is a clear favourite!!!!
To finish on a positive note I think everybody concerned with the club and the town in general should know about the team's very own "SMEATO". Typical of the man he doesn't want the publicity for his outstanding bravery however the story needs to be told. "SMEATO" was starting the first week of active duty in his new job when a fellow colleague was attacked by a seasoned criminal. As you would expect from "SMEATO" he thought of others first and jumped on the attacker and by all accounts fondled him into submission!!!! This new job is made for our hero because those who have seen him play will agree that he likes to get up close and personal. The new job also sees "SMEATO" working alongside a fellow team mate. Unfortunately, although witness to the attack, the unnamed team mate displayed bravery more like "TWEETY PIE" that "SMEATO". Enjoy the game tomorrow.
Voice of the dressing room.
05/08/09 It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were beating 2 Super League teams in a week and winning back to back doubles!!! But here we are again, preparing ourselves for another season.
We are unbeaten so far in pre season. I think we deservedly beat Raith under 19’s and were unlucky to only draw 1-1 with Hearts under 19’s. On Saturday we were up against one of the most successful Junior teams in Scotland in recent times. The game ended up 1-1 although I think the general feeling amongst the lads was we must do better. Let’s take the positives though, on a huge park Andy Porteous scored one of the goals of the season, a volley into the top corner following a text book 3rd man run into the box. This certainly caused mass shock amongst the squad with poor Andy suffering from “post traumatic goal disorder”. The side effects were so serious that Andy almost collapsed after 65 minutes and had to be replaced for the good of his health!!!
There have been a few changes to the squad with the loss of Danny Kelly, Paul Currie and big Del Boy. Regular visitors to Olive Bank will not need me to tell them the huge impact Danny and Paul, in particular, had at the club. They are going to be big boots to fill but the manager has spent his dad’s pocket money wisely. The lads he has brought in, Dode Fraser, Kieron Renton, Calvin Shand and the YTS boys, Mikey and Cammy, are definitely good additions to the squad. They have fitted in really well with the rest of the lads although none of them are going to win Mastermind!!! In fact Gibby is a bit worried that young Mikey could take his place as “Sloth” in the remake of the Goonies!!!
In terms of the League Cup section all the guys are looking forward to some competitive games. We are all delighted to be going back down to Dunbar. There is no doubt at this time of year the playing surface at Dunbar is the best in the East Region so it should hopefully suit our passing game. It is fair to say we have not done well in the past with regards to the League Cup. The manager treats it like a pre season warm up but after the recent success we have had you can’t really argue with him on that front.
Get behind the team and hopefully we can start the season with a win.
Voice of the dressing room.
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