Cup replay against Preston Athletic will be tough
First of all, I'd just like to apologise for the lack of my blog last week - hopefully there were a few of you who actually missed it!
The name of Annan Athletic will be pulled out of the hat for the third-round draw of the Scottish Cup on Thursday afternoon.
Everyone at the club is delighted to still be in the competition but . Don't get me wrong, we were never in any danger of losing the match.
We controlled the game in terms of possession but we were very disappointed in ourselves in terms of creating chances, especially in the second half.
Annan will be without captain Kevin Neilson for their Scottish Cup replay with Preston Athletic. Photo: SNS
You have to give massive credit to Preston Athletic for their performance in the match. They were harshly reduced to 10 men within half an hour but restricted us to very few chances and even created a couple of half chances themselves.
They were a very organised unit and, after speaking to their manager, Stevie Myatt, he is expecting their squad to be stronger for the replay so by no means should any of us be taking the result of the replay as a formality.
I, for one, won't be paying any attention to the third-round draw until Saturday is out of the way.
Whereas Preston will have players back who missed the original tie, we will be without our captain, Kevin Neilson, for the replay. Big Nelly is going in to hospital to have his metal plate removed from a facial injury he received in a work accident a few months back.
This obviously means that the manager and Andy Aitken have at least one enforced change to make. I'm sure we would all rather have our captain in the team but we're in the fortunate position of being quite strong in that area so there are plenty of options available to Harry and Andy that shouldn't disrupt things too much.
A few of the boys who played on Saturday had the chance to get it out of their system when we faced on Tuesday night. We fielded quite a strong side in the game and got ourselves a 2-2 draw after last week's disappointing result against Partick Thistle.
We just about managed to put a full team out who all had first-team experience, with the exception of two under-19s in Callum West and Patrick Slattery. It was probably just as well because Queens themselves had five of their first team involved in the game.
I'm hoping for a double celebration this weekend to go along with a win in the Scottish Cup. It's our yearly jaunt to on Sunday afternoon along with a few of my friends and our partners.
I'm not one for gambling at all so I save it all up for this weekend. Hopefully the boys have a few tips for me, otherwise it will be left to my girlfriend Laura to pick the winners. Laura normally makes her choices either by the name she likes or by the fanciest outfit worn by the jockey so I won't be getting my hopes up!
As much as it would be nice to pick up a few bob winning on the horses I'll definitely settle for the win bonus against Preston Athletic on Saturday afternoon.
Hi there, I'm Chris Jardine, midfielder with Scottish Third Division side Annan Athletic. I hope, throughout the season, I can give you a good insight into life at the newest Scottish League club and maybe even a few laughs along the way.
Comment number 1.
At 27th Oct 2010, Allan J Rennie wrote:Hi Chris,
Long time reader but first time I've posted.
I noticed you got on the score sheet the other week and saw your horrific celebration in the Sunday Mail the next day. I was expecting a blog on your goal scoring exploits last week but as you mention one wasn't forthcoming.
One thing I’ve noticed in your recent blogs is the number of reserve matches that you and other regular first team members play. A lot was made over the summer about elite players being tired from too many games. Yet it seems to me that players in the lower leagues almost play as many games. Do you think that is the case? And is player burnout a serious problem in the lower leagues?
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Comment number 2.
At 27th Oct 2010, drvonshineck wrote:Hi Chris,
I throughly enjoy reading about the happenings at Annan every week. I was quite concerned about the future of your blog when you didn't post last week. Fancy doing a blog on Dundee's situation or more broadly the financial role within football? Did you sign that spanish trialist?
Keep up your good work
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Comment number 3.
At 27th Oct 2010, jpannan wrote:Hi Chris
Had withdrawal symptoms last week - NO BLOG!!
Watch you doing your warm ups every week (home and away) sometimes to no avail however when the opportunity came a timely goal was the icing on the cake.
Keep up the good work with your efforts on and off the park.
Keep the blogs as topical as you are allowed.
Looking forward to the future Many supporters hope that when you hang up your boots that you will remain with Annan in a managerial/coaching position.
As Xavier would say
Hasta Luego
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Comment number 4.
At 28th Oct 2010, jpannan wrote:Hi Chris
Typo error should be Javier !!
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Comment number 5.
At 29th Oct 2010, Chris Jardine wrote:Allan - I wasn't best pleased with the picture myself but it's been a while since I've been in the sports pages so I'll take what I can get!
There's obviously a massive difference between the top players and players at our level. We only train twice a week at the club and when we're involved in a reserve game, we'll miss a training session. It can sometimes be a bit of a thought to go training or play in a match after you've been working all day but burn out? No chance!
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Comment number 6.
At 29th Oct 2010, Chris Jardine wrote:drvonshineck - that is something I would be looking to do. I'm friendly with Colin McMenamin, who recently lost his job at the club so I'm watching the situation closely.
We have signed Javier. He has played a couple of reserve games and came off the bench for the first team also. He has settled in well and could be a big player for us this season.
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Comment number 7.
At 29th Oct 2010, Chris Jardine wrote:jpannan - you can catch me during half-time heroes as well!
I'm hoping to stay at Annan as a player for a wee while yet but staying on at the club once I am eventually finished would be great. I've been there for about 13 years now and have grown to love the place so if there was something there for me in another capacity, other than a player, there's not much else I'd rather do.
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