More midweek misery for Annan Athletic
Annan Athletic allowed their midweek hoodoo to continue with a terribly on Tuesday.
In our two-and-half-years in the Third Division we have yet to win a midweek fixture.
It's an awful statistic and one that, should it not be sorted in the very near future, will cost us a promotion place.
The players, management and coaching staff were in the changing room for a long time after the match was over and although there were no raised voices there is genuine concern for our continued poor midweek performances.
A few of the players had their say on what they think went wrong and I've heard a few supporters' opinions on things as well.
The formation that we played last night cropped up a few times but I'm not having that for an excuse. We've kept two consecutive clean sheets playing just about the same line-up and although the performance was poor in the first half we had kept another one until things were changed at half-time.
Annan continue to falter under the floodlights
I have watched a few of our games against Queen's Park, since I've only started two of our home matches against them. I was left out again last night and looked on as we failed to get to grips with The Spiders' style of play.
They outplayed us for long spells and their formation caused us real problems as it always seems to do at our place. Players held their hands up for poor performances but to me there looked to be something else missing and I'm wondering if it is a midweek thing.
Obviously, the majority of our players have full-time jobs and perhaps we find it difficult to combine both in the same day.
I assume the Queen's Park boys are in the same boat as us, yet it didn't look to be a problem for them at all. It's finger out time for everyone now because the pressure is almost certainly on.
The chairman has brought another player in to the club in the shape of Mark Doherty from Brechin City and this has made him reiterate that "the ambition remains to at least reach the play-off places".
There was another poor crowd at the game and you could hear the fans getting restless very early in the game. The last thing we want to do is lose the support of our fans and we need to get them back on side and quickly; Clyde on Saturday would be a very good start.
While we have brought Mark Doherty in, we have recently lost Jordan Halsman and Lewis Sloan.
Jordan did very well for the club and we were all disappointed to see him leave but in all fairness he was never shy about his desire to play at a higher level. Although it's not a massive jump he has done that in joining Dumbarton on loan for the remainder of the season and I certainly wish him all the best.
He joins up with our former team-mate Patch Walker and hopefully the two of them can help the club climb the Division Two table.
With regards to Lewis it has seemed for a long time that it would be a case of when and not if he would leave the club.
I'm disappointed to lose him from our squad as a player and a person but I'm pleased that he is now free to go and get back playing again.
On his day he is a fantastic footballer and probably has better natural ability than anyone else at Galabank, but for some reason things didn't work out for him on his second spell with us.
If he can get his confidence back, which he will by playing again, I've no doubt we'll be hearing about him again in the SFL.
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 2nd Feb 2011, jpannan wrote:Hi Chris
Difficult to understand the problem last night - certain players did not perform to their usual standard and they will know who they are, a better performance or be benched should be the message. The system has been successful recently so no excuses from those who played last night.
Prediction - Get your boots ready for the Clyde game.
Your picture of the floodlights was not at Palmerston or it would be a blackout!!!
Best wishes see you Saturday in action .
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 3rd Feb 2011, keith451 wrote:Desperately need to get this midweek monkey off our back. But I heard a lot of criticism about the 3-5-2 formation on Tuesday night but I'm not having any of that. If we'd changed after two positive results on the road then those same fans would have been calling for Cairney to be sectioned.
Anyway, have produced another article in my FourFiveOne blog taking a light hearted look at proceedings on Tuesday night. Anyone feel free to share, follow or comment...
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 4th Feb 2011, Chris Jardine wrote:jp - my boots are always ready, at least I won't have to clean them after Tuesday night! That's the only positive thing I can take from it.
keith - I've had a wee read of your blog efforts and I'll continue to keep an eye out. Keep it up.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 5th Feb 2011, The Gazelles wrote:Hi Chris,
Aa a player for a team that was voted into the third division could you do a blog on the demise of regional football particularly the Highland league? how do players motivate themselves when they know that they could win the league 10 years in a row yet not be promoted?
Scottish football is crying out for a pyramid system to give every team a fair crack of the whip instead of waiting for a team to crumble financially and let one slide in through the back door. As a Former Highland league player it saddens me to see the plight of my team Fort William as they struggle with costs languishing at the foot of the table, a promising youth set-up with no youth league! its a shambles!!
cheers
Sandy Mac
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)