Scottish Reprise- Return to East Stirling

[Faramir]

18.9.10

East Stirling (0) Aberdeen (1)

It is little wonder that Aberdeen's keeper Thomas Hopp was awarded MOM honours. We outshot them 17-4 in the match, but lost thanks to an own-goal by Anthony Hallam in first half injury time. It was painfully frustrating to watch as we did a great job of breaking down their defense- only to see Hopp come up with big save after big save. We tried every combination in our attack to try and score and just couldn't do it. Hallam was just trying to get back into a play after Nathan Goris missed the tackle when he tried to head it over the bar and instead headed it just under the bar past Ibrahim Arslan. It was a tough match to wind up with a loss in.

[Faramir]

22.9.10

East Stirling (4) ICT (0) League Cup 3rd Round

Early in the match, it seemed a repeat of our loss to Aberdeen as we kept launching shots- only to see Niki Mainpaa come up the needed saves. We finally broke that curse when a pretty passing sequence saw Niels Ringoot lay the ball across the edge of the area and Chris Hamilton slotted it home for his 1st goal of the season. That quickly became a quickstrike double as Marc McCusker drove a shot past Mainpaa following a deft pass from Hamilton. We compounded the visitors' woes when Preben Vatle Hammersland scorched a cross in that John Bruce was able to flick past Mainpaa. With a comfortable 3-0 lead to start the second half, I instructed the boys to control the tempo. They did that to perfection and John Bruce made it a brace as he completed our scoring in the match by taking a pass from Ringoot and dumping it into the goal. We closed out the clean sheet for Steven van der Deyl- giving him a mostly easy night.

[BlackStrider]

fantastic story here faramir, any chance we could see some screenshots of your team/league table etc?

[Faramir]

Thanks BlackStrider No chance of screenshots, I have played the story beyond where the actual posting is...

***

25.9.10

Livingston (4) East Stirling (1)

You would never know that we lost this badly from the stats, as we equaled them in shots and in posession. The difference was they finished their chances and we didn't today. Ibrahim Arslan had an off-match and their first goal was a 30 yard free kick from Mario Thompson that Arslan slightly misjudged- enough for it to get past him. Their next goal came when Nathan Goris got caught standing around watching the play up the pitch. They counterattacked and split our defense where Goris was supposed to be as Aaran Butcher fired a well placed shot past Arslan. We drew a goal back when Tom Patterson tripped Markus Paatelainen in the area and Paul Hopkins converted the penalty kick, but they moved back ahead 3-1 at halftime as Alessandro Simonetta decisively finished off a nice through ball from Shaku Camara as Anthony Hallam didn't close quickly enough. They then capped the match in the second half as Butcher made it a brace with a shot that Arslan clearly should have had before it skipped past him into the net. We still tried to get one more back, but it wasn't happening today and it was a bitter 4-1 defeat for us to 2nd place Livingston.

[Faramir]

3.10.10

East Stirling (1) Celtic (2)

Same story, old story against Celtic as we took the lead in the early going, but made a mistake that cost us a goal and then allowed them to win the match with poor defensive play. The lead was ours at 3 minutes when Adam Andrzej got up to deflect a Gregor Balazic corner past Radek Kolenderski. We came close to adding to the lead several times, but couldn't quite put the ball in the net. Andrzej then handed a pass to Niklas Bentdner and he said 'thank you' by putting the equalizer past Ibrahim Arslan to even things late in the first half. They scored the match winner when Bentdner easily outleapt Nathan Goris and deflected a long centering pass by Arslan midway through the second half. We never managed another good chance as they celebrated another win over us.

[Faramir]

6.10.10

Hibernian (1) East Stirling (3)

We ended our losing skein with a strong effort as we knocked off Hibernian 3-1 at Easter Road. Neither club looked particularly sharp in the early going and we botched a goodly number of passes. Things began looking up when Markus Paatelainen started a nice triangular passing play that saw MOM Preben Vatle Hammersland delicately slot the ball for Steve Lewis to fire inside the far right post. Less than six minutes later we added to the lead as a good Hammersland pass forced Dustly Mulder to take down Paatelainen in the area. Markus stepped up and calmly converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal this season. We pushed the lead to 3-0 early in the second half as Mulder unwisely tripped Hammersland in the area to earn a yellow card and another penalty kick. Adam Andrzej stepped up and knocked the penalty home. We yielded a late consolation goal as Derek Riordan ruined Ibrahim Arslan's clean sheet. It was a win we needed badly to get us going again.

[Faramir]

7.10.10

After considering our backline problems, I have come to the conclusion we need Danny Black back in the middle. Black's organization was one of the reasons for our strong defense in the past and I guess we need him there. I will move Carl Laurie back to rightback. We will likely need to dispose of one of our center defenders, as we will have too many with this move.

***

23.10.10

East Stirling (3) Dunfermline (1)

After spotting them an own-goal in the opening moments, we managed to fight back for a solid 3-1 win over Dunfermline at Firs Park. Anthony Hallam managed to score another own-goal while trying to push the shot wide of the net. We rallied midway through the first half when Marc McCusker crossed to MOM Paul Hopkins and his shot eluded David Whitehead for his 5th goal of the season. Both sides had some good scoring opportunities strewn throughout the remainder of the first half, but thanks to poor shooting on both clubs it remained locked at 1-1. Midway through the second half our pressure finally paid off when Steve Lewis, on for McCusker, rammed home a rebound after Whitehead had initially stopped Hopkins at point blank. Gonzalo Higuain added the punctuation point as his well placed shot snuck inside the far right post to cap the 3-1 win.

[Faramir]

27.10.10

East Stirling (2) Dundee United (3)

We couldn't overcome a brutally bad first half where we fell behind 3-0 before rallying as we lost to Dundee United 3-2 at Firs Park. Danny Black's poor play led to the first goal as he lackadaisacal pass set up Marc Wilson for a 20 yard blast past Steven van der Deyl. Frank Jung struck next for the visitors as Davide Ferrante missed a tackle and Jung blasted a close-in shot past van der Deyl. The same situation repeated itself as Ferrante again missed a tackle and Jung fired another shot past van der Deyl to give them a 3-0 lead. Gregor Balazic drew us a goal back when he blistered a 30 yard shot past Mark Brown in first half injury time. We had momentum when we scored again to open the second half as Markus Paatelainen slipped a well placed shot inside the right post. It looked like we were going to equalize several times throughout the remainder of the second half, but Brown was brilliant with diving stops, smothering saves and a well placed leg as he kept us from ever evening it and Dundee United gained an important 3 points as they tried to battle out of their relegation hole.

[Faramir]

30.10.10

Motherwell (0) East Stirling (4)

It was a nice rebound effort by the boys in our derby match with Motherwell as we blitzed them to earn a 4-0 road winn. After they came close twice in the early going we moved to the lead as John Bruce drilled a shot past Scott Flinders after Adam Andrzej threaded him a nice pass on a throw-in. Less than five minutes later, Gregor Balazic boomed a 30 yard shot past Flinders for his 5th goal of the season. Jamie Scott then took advantage of a bad goal kick and slammed a shot past Flinders to score in his debut and put us ahead 3-0 by the 25 minute mark. We added one more in the second half when Gonzalo Higuain, who earned MOM honours, deflected a cross from Brian Kerr past struggling Flinders. We came close to adding more goals, but our shots were just a slight bit off and we were more than happy to close the book on the 4-0 win.

BSP- 13 matches played

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Celtic 32 pts (+14)

2- Rangers 25 pts (+9)

3- Livingston 25 pts (+8)

4- East Stirling 21 pts (+9)

5- Hearts 21 pts (0)

6- Dundee United 18 pts (+4)

7- ICT 18 pts (-3)

8- Motherwell 17 pts (-1)

</pre>

[Faramir]

1.11.10

Anthony Hallam was named Young Player of the Month for October and I was pleased for him as he establishes that he can be a good player. Gonzalo Higuain was 3rd in Player of the Month balloting, but had the Goal of the Month for his strike against Dunfermline.

***

2.11.10

It was bad news to see Preben Vatle Hammersland carted off the practice pitch. The diagnosis was grim- torn hamstring and likely at least three months out of action. With David Armour set to leave at the beginning of the new year on transfer, I will have to search for another inexpensive addition- as Tommy Beckford is the only other leftwing besides Gonzalo Higuain and he is not ready for Senior action yet.

[Faramir]

6.11.10

East Stirling (1) ICT (0)

We were more than a little unlucky to only have scored once, but I was happy enough to take the victory away from the match- even if it could have been more decisive. It wasn't for lack of trying, as we launched 17 shots at ICT's Niki Maenpaa, but Maenpaa's fine work in goal and a lot of timely tackling from their backline kept us from having more than one goal. I was most pleased about our strong performance defensively as we limited them to 5 shots and really none of their chances troubled Ibrahim Arslan too much in earning his clean sheet. The lone goal came when Maenpaa made a good save on Marc McCusker. Lewin Nyatanga hurridly cleared the loose ball away, but Gonzalo Higuain skinned the pass away and sent a cross back that McCusker volleyed past Maenpaa midway through the second half. Beyond the fine effort defensively, I was pleased that we showed we could battle for a close win from the opening whistle until the closing one.

[Faramir]

10.11.10

Rangers (2) East Stirling (0) League Cup Quarterfinal

I can't fully lay the blame at the disputed redcard that cost us Justinas Borevicius, but it clearly put us at a serious disadvantage that 'Gers took advantage of in the second half to broom us from the League Cup with a 2-0 win. Until that point in first half injury time, we had played well. Rangers had held the advantage for much of the half, but Steven van der Deyl was performing well in our net and had kept things scoreless. We had managed a few chances ourselves, but Jamie Jones had been equal to our efforts. I won't dispute the penalty called on Borevicius' bump in the area, but the redcard was both unwarranted and uncalled for- especially given this was a Quarterfinal match. Martin Scott missed the penalty kick and we counted ourselves fortunate to be scoreless at halftime. The second half saw 'Gers exploiting the extra space and when Carl Laurie couldn't get up to head away a cross- Robert Snodgrass was on the far side to drive it into the net. The put the match on ice when Danny Segers slipped the marking of Nathan Goris and snapped a shot past van der Deyl to finish off a good pass from Andrea Gasberroni. I played mostly our second line players because of fitness problems for most of our regular first line players.

[Faramir]

20.11.10

Rangers (1) East Stirling (2)

It was the closest I have come to being thrown out of a match. The match seemed a carbon copy of the League Cup Quarterfinal, with the exception that we had taken the lead in the first half. We struck for the lead at 16 minutes when Marc McCusker flicked on a goal kick from Ibrahim Arslan and Paul Hopkins was quickest down the pitch. Hopkins slipped a well placed shot inside the far right post past Jamie Jones. McCusker came oh so close to adding to the lead when he got free behind the 'Gers backline, but he drilled his shot off the outside of the post. I can not tell you how angry I was, but it was close enough to get me the 'one more word mate and you are out' warning. Danny Black challenged Andrea Gasberroni just beyond the edge of the area. He clearly wasn't the last man back and it certainly wasn't an onerous foul, but he was given a redcard. The difference in this match though, was that our first line was playing and playing hard. We didn't allow the 'Gers the extra space on the pitch. When Hopkins made it a brace with a rocket from 20 yards off a great pass from MOM Sergio Zijler, I managed to feel a little better. That feeling disappeared when Scott Brown deflected a cross from Res Strebel past Arslan to draw a goal back with the second half only half gone. I give Arslan, who played hurt the last 20 minutes of the match, and the whole side a lot of credit- it wasn't pretty and there were many close calls- but the final whistle sounded with us still holding on to the 2-1 margin as we stunned 'Gers at Ibrox with our heart and determination. Arslan will likely miss the next match because of his neck injury.

[Faramir]

26.11.10

I feel like celebrating with the news that the Firs Park Park renovation is complete. We will now have a 6281 capacity Stadium with 5745 seats and a brand new facility that hopefully will help convince our younger ambitious players that we are on the right track to working our way up.

***

27.11.10

Dundee (1) East Stirling (0)

We played well enough to earn a draw against struggling Dundee, but Karl Dryden put up a clean sheet against us in a frustrating 1-0 loss. We outshot the home side 17-7 for the match and moved the ball well offensively, but just could not convert our close-in chances. The lone goal in the match came from Juanma Pena as he escaped the marking of Justinas Borevicius- playing for injured Danny Black. A long centering pass from ? found Juanma with enough space to slash a shot past Steven van der Deyl. We pounded away in the second half, but had difficulties getting our shots on net. The final whistle found us a tired, dispirited group as we lost another close match.

[Faramir]

28.11.10

It is amazing to me to see that we don't have one draw after 16 matches. We are truly a Jeckyl and Hyde club with 9 wins and 7 losses- nothing in between. If we had turned even one or two of those losses into points- we would be further up the table.

The major disappointment this season has been Markus Paatelainen. Since returning from his injury last year, he just hasn't been the same player. This year he only has 2 goals, despite a wealth of chances and has frustrated both the staff and his fellow players by failing to even come close to the net with his shots- seemingly not concentrating. The lack of offense from him has shortcircuited our offense a fair bit so far- so much so that Marc McCusker will now be the regular first line starter and John Bruce will also see time.

***

28.11.10

Gregor Balazic came out with wanting to move to a bigger club again. He refused to listen my assertion that we would be able to accomplish this together and asked to be transfer listed at his own request. I set his price at 9 Million and put the appropriate notices out. I don't want to lose him, but his unhappiness is also a detriment to the club.

***

1.12.10

The addition of Andreas Dahl, a 26 year old Swedish defensive midfielder, comes at a good time as he arrives on free transfer after signing a contract with us to leave Orgryte. Dahl's addition was meant to compliment Balazic, but if I am forced to sell Gregor then Dahl will have to replace him.

Not only Balazic, but now Adam Andrzej wants to move to a bigger club. He was content to not make waves at the moment, but it is likely only a matter of time- the same as Balazic.

[Faramir]

4.12.10

East Stirling (1) Hearts (0)

The dedication of the 'new' Firs Park went well as we outplayed Hearts for an important 1-0 win over the club immediately behind us in the standings. The shots for the match told part of the tale- we outshot our visitors 14-4- but we again lacked superior finishing. The scoreless first half saw Christopher Kallqvist make several excellent saves including diving parries on a header by Paul Hopkins and a fingertip save on Gonzalo Higuain's rising blast. The second half started the same way, but we finally managed to break through. Markus Paatelainen, on for a tiring McCusker, flicked a header down and set Hopkins free in the area. Hopkins made a quick dipsy-doodle move before slipping his shot past Swen Konig, who had replaced Kallqvist moments before. We played strong defensively, especially the center tandem of MOM Anthony Hallam and Davide Ferrante, who broke up many attacks at the edge of the area in helping Ibrahim Arslan preserve his clean sheet in the close win. In a microcosm of the struggles of Paatelainen- he was called for six offsides in the 25 minutes of the match he played.

[Faramir]

11.12.10

Aberdeen (0) East Stirling (0)

Greg Kelly was what stood between us and victory and today his fine work earned him both the MOM honours and Aberdeen a point in a match we dominated. The first half was more even between our two sides, but we had the better scoring chances. It was still scoreless thanks to Kelly's save on a John Bruce header. I thought we would get the goal to go ahead early in the second half as we pressured them badly. In the sequence of the match, Kelly stopped Marc McCusker initially, Bruce on the rebound and then Gregor Balazic on the second rebound before their backline finally cleared the loose ball away. Kelly came up with one more big save in the late going as Steve Lewis, on for McCusker, drilled a low shot that he got fintertips on to preserve the scoreless draw- our first draw.

[Bowman4NQ]

Keep up the good work!

[Faramir]

Thanks Bowman

***

18.12.10

East Stirling (4) Livingston (0)

2nd place Livingston had come into the match flying high, but we sent them into a tailspin with our best performance of the season as we completely dominated them in an impressive 4-0 rout. It was only 1-0 at halftime as our goal had come from Marc McCusker as he deflected a cross from Adam Andrzej past Phillip Calington. The second half saw some of our best finishing of the season, starting with Sergio Zijler as he deflected another long cross from Andrzej past Calington. Peter Merkestijn followed with his first goal in a good long time as Paul Hopkins picked him out free at the edge of the six-yard box. Gonzalo Higuain then added the punctuation point with a 20 yard shot rifled in from just inside the edge of the area. Ibrahim Arslan earned his clean sheet with a few saves.

[Faramir]

19.12.10

BSP Table- Midseason- 19 matches played

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Celtic 45 pts (+25)

2- Livingston 37 pts (+11)

3- East Stirling 34 pts (+15)

4- Rangers 33 pts (+11)

5- Dundee United 26 pts (+6)

6- Hearts 26 pts (-3)

7- ICT 25 pts (-3)

</pre>

My midseason assessment of our club is mixed. I am very happy with where we are in the table, indeed we are about where I hoped we would be. How we got here though...we haven't managed consistent offensive performances. If we had done that, we would have been even further ahead at present. The lack of offense from our two scoring leaders of last season- Markus Paatelainen and Peter Merkestijn, who only have two goals apiece- has been a problem. Our best players have been our wingers- Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Zijler- and Gregor Balazic. Our backline was a problem until the point that Danny Black moved back to the center and Alan Lowing became starter at rightback. That move has stabilized the defense. We have several unhappy players that I had to transfer list and will be moving on as of January 1st- Justinas Borevicius, David Armour, Adam Tiran and Edward O'Neill. We will be adding a couple players as well as I continually try to build up the depth. Likely one of the key questions in the second half is whether Balazic and Adam Andrzej back off on their demands to move to bigger clubs. I would much prefer to keep both of them, but whether I can is an open question at this point.

[Faramir]

26.12.10

Celtic (2) East Stirling (1)

This story is getting much too old, but it remained the same again today. We had taken the early lead as Adam Andrzej drilled a 25 yard free kick past David Marshall. The entire first half we outplayed Celtic and we had several chances to add to the lead, but just couldn't get the ball in the goal. I urged the boys to show the same intensity in the second half, but we weren't able to sustain it. Celtic started their rally when Niklas Bendtner was able to flick a header past Ibrahim Arslan after Andrzej's poor clearance handed the ball to Steven Whitaker in the midfield. We were then done in by veteran Maciej Zurawaski slipped marking to deflect a cross from Whitaker into the corner of the net for the matchwinner midway through the second half. They clamped down on us and we couldn't get free for a good chance to equalize. We continue to play one good half against Celtic, when it will take two to beat them.

[Faramir]

1.1.11

In a tremendous achievement, Danny Black was voted Oceania Player of the Year- beating out Adam Timmins and Ryan Nelsen. Black had finished 3rd in last year's voting and it is a great reward and recognition for his fine play. At age 24, Black already has 35 Caps and is a fixture on the New Zealand National team.

***

1.1.11

The opening of the transfer window finds a lot of comings and goings. Justinas Borevicius is heading to Kilmarnock for 375K, Adam Tiran is moving to Darlington for 22K, Edward O'Neil is going to Morton on free transfer and David Armour is on his way to Oxford for 35K.

We welcomed a pair of arrivals. 26 year old Swedish leftwinger Martin Fribrock joins us for 24K from Dundee. Fribrock's arrival was a bit of a hedge on my part- because Preben Vatle Hammersland was very unhappy about not getting as much playing time as he wanted before his major injury. I consider it likely that he will want a new home when healthy, though I would like to keep the talented youngster. The other arrival is also a Swede- 22 year old keeper Nicholas Sharro who comes from Falkirk for 50K. Sharro has been playing in Scotland since coming to Gretna when only 17 and really impressed both me and my scouts with his skills. Much as I respect Steven van der Deyl's efforts- he is not a BSP or continental level keeper. Sharro should pair with Arslan to really give us two quality keepers- and is the kind of keeper I have been searching for to pair with Arslan. The fans of Falkirk were happy to see him leave, but we are just as happy to bring him to East Stirling.

[Faramir]

1.1.11

East Stirling (2) Hibernian (0)

We celebrated the New Year with a closely played 2-0 win over Hibernian thanks to Steve Lewis. Lewis came off the bench to replace ineffective Markus Paatelainen and his brace was the difference in the win. We completely outplayed Hibernian in the first half, but had nothing to show for it thanks to the sharp play of Gaetano Romano in net. We had come close several times, but were just enough off to ruin our best chances. The second half started the same way, though Ibrahim Arslan had to be sharp to stop Derek Riordan and Blagoy Georgiev. The difference came when Lewis entered the match as his dynamic play was instantly evident. Lewis got us the lead when he streaked down the pitch and outleapt Adam Virgo to flick a long centering pass from Adam Andrzej past Romano. With the lead we committed to playing defense and did a nice job assisting Arslan as they tried to rally. Lewis put the match on ice for us when he showed his blistering pace up the pitch to run onto a long goal kick by Arslan and then finish off his brace with a sizzling shot past Romano. Sergio Zijler earned MOM honours for his superb midfield play in the match.

[Faramir]

8.1.11

East Stirling (1) Hearts (0) Scottish Cup 3rd Round

Sometimes you don't deserve the win, but get it anyway- and that was the case today. We had no business beating Hearts, but Martin Fribrock capped a terrific debut when he took a corner from Ryan Carr and whisked it past Swen Konig at 85 minutes for a dramatic match winner for us. Before that we had lost Davide Ferrante to a redcard at 20 minutes for a trip from behind. Alan Lowing, who had come on to fill out the backline after Ferrante was sent off, then went down with an injury and we had to switch to an unusual 2-3-3-1 lineup. Hearts appeared set to grab the lead early in the second half when Fribrock was whistled for a disputed trip in the area. Carlos Martinelli stepped up, but Ibrahim Arslan saved the penalty- as part of his MOM effort. Arslan made several stellar saves and preserved the clean sheet and our unlikely advancement to the 4th round.

[Faramir]

11.1.11

It took some doing and a second appeal, but we now may have the help we need at forward. 26 year old Ecuadoran forward Pedro Esterilla received a conditional WP and we were able to complete our 325K transfer purchase from Turkish side Besiktas. Esterilla was languishing there- never making a Senior appearance- after coming over from Ecuador. I believe he just needs the chance to prove he is a high quality forward- and he will get that here.

***

15.1.11

Dundee United (3) East Stirling (2)

We completely wasted a good opportunity for a much better result. The second half saw our poor work defensively cost us at least a draw as we lost 3-2. We took the lead in the first half when Sergio Zijler placed a shot inside the right post past Jan Mercy. We had other chances to extend that lead, but Mercy came up with big saves on Paul Hopkins and Gonzalo Higuain. Zijler made an idiotic handball in our area in first half injury time and his mistake allowed them to equalize as Mark Wilson converted the penalty kick past Nicholas Sharro- making his debut. We gave Sharro no help as they took the lead when Lorenzo Lai was left unmarked by a tardy Adam Andrzej in front of the net and deflected a free kick past Sharro. We answered that goal when Chris Hamilton, on for a winded Peter Merkestijn, slipped a well placed shot inside the left post. The match winner came from the home side as Mateusz Ceiluch snapped a close-in shot past Sharro as he skated free on the far side of the play. Mercy came up with the save of the match when he parried away Hopkins' late blast to preserve the win.

[Faramir]

16.1.11

We will have to hope that Nicholas Sharro is up to the task, as Ibrahim Arslan pulled a hamstring in practice and will likely miss the next month of play.

****

18.1.11

I was surprised to receive an offer to take over St.Mirren. They are currently 8th in Division 1 and made me a substantial wage offer to become director of operations and manager there. I turned them down, because East Stirling is where I want to be.

***

22.1.11

Dunfermline (1) East Stirling (3)

It certainly looked like another frustrating match for us, but the boys kept their poise and we were able to score a pair of goals late in the second half to win out 3-1 over Dunfermline at East End Park. We played another superb half of football to open the match and took the lead in the early going when Paul Hopkins laid the ball off for Gregor Balazic and he rifled in a beautiful 30 yard shot past Bruno Costa. There were several more good chances for us to add to that lead, but Costa snapped up the best ones and we missed close with others. That haunted me as they worked a nice throw-in play late in the first half and Serge N'Gal outmuscled Danny Black before blasting a shot inside the far left post past Nicholas Sharro. We struggled in the opening moments of the second half before getting back on track. Adam Andrzej earned MOM honours and it was mostly for a pretty 25 yard curling free kick that eluded Costa and returned the lead to us. We then put the match away with a well executed counter-attack that saw Hopkins deal the ball to Peter Merkestijn and Peter drilled his shot inside the far left post to make the final margin 3-1.

[Faramir]

25.1.11

For a nominal transfer purchase price of 20K, we purchased 22 year old Scot leftback Clark Kay from Falkirk. Kay is a well rounded player and I think he will work out better in the long-term than Jeremy Nieus or Ryan Carr.

***

29.1.11

The only player I had put a bid on as the transfer deadline approached was Livingston's midfielder Frederick Holster. Unfortunately, Celtic outbid us for him. Still, it was suprising to see Livingston sell their best midfielder- at all. I won't be putting any more bids out, I think we can finish the season fine with the players currently on hand.

[Faramir]

30.1.11

East Stirling (3) Motherwell (1)

I have to take my hat off to Motherwell's loaned keeper (from 'Gers, who just bought him from Chesterfield) Jason Fisher. He had us talking to ourselves through much of the match with some brilliant work in net. Motherwell grabbed the lead in the 4th minute when Nicholas Sharro bobbled a ball away and Ashley Chambers scooped it up before making the easy shot into the goal. We went to halftime trailing 1-0 despite having thoroughly tested Fisher in the first half. We finally found a way to equalize when Pedro Esterilla whipped a shot past Fisher after a threaded pass from Sergio Zijler early in the second half for his 1st goal at East Stirling. It seemed we were stuck there and would have to settle for a draw when Paul Hopkins struck for the match-winner at 87 minutes with a sharp angle shot that caught the inside of the far right post. Zijler then capped his MOM performance by taking a well timed through ball from Anthony Hallam and bursting up the pitch before delivering a thundering shot past Fisher to clinch the match for us in injury time.

***

1.2.11

We almost had the daily double of Player of the Month awards, but Sergio Zijler was barely beaten out by Livingston's Lars Martin Engedal, so we had to settle for seeing Anthony Hallam awarded with Young Player of the Month for January.

[Faramir]

5.2.11

Dundee United (3) East Stirling (1) Scottish Cup 4th round

We were summarily broomed from Scottish Cup competition as we failed to show either the crisp offensive execution or the solid team defense that we had demonstrated of late. They took the lead in the early going as Carsten Bruns deflected a short cross past Nicholas Sharro. We evened the match when David Gray coasted in from rightwing and rocketed a shot past Jan Mercy. It was the only mistake Mercy made enroute to an MOM performance. They answered Gray's goal when Ivan Torres' through ball found Frank Jung lurking behind our backline and he scored his 10th goal past Sharro. We rallied in the second half and mainted pressure on them- untial Chris Hamilton pulled Lorenzo Lai in the area and Mark Wilson buried the penalty kick to make the final scoreline 3-1.

[Faramir]

12.2.11

East Stirling (4) Rangers (0)

This match was a 'coming of age' match for the boys, as they went out and proved they can handle Rangers on even terms. If not for a terrific first half by 'Gers keeper Jamie Jones, the scoreline would have been even worse as he had a trio of goal-saving stops. We had taken the lead in the early moments of the first half when Pedro Esterilla began proving his class as a forward with a blistering shot past Jones after a superb pass from MOM Sergio Zijler. We made it a 2-0 halftime lead when Paul Hopkins slipped a well-placed shot past Jones inside the far right post off a nice lay off from Gonzalo Higuain. It was Hopkins' 10th goal of the season. We continued to pressure the 'Gers backline in the second half Alan Hutton was forced to push Hopkins from behind in the area. Gregor Balazic converted the penalty kick to make it 3-0. Esterilla then added the punctuation point in second half injury time when he ran down a long pass from Higuain and drilled a shot past Jones to make it a brace and a 4-0 final. Nicholas Sharro earned the clean sheet in the match.

[Faramir]

16.2.11

ICT (2) East Stirling (0)

We failed to build on performance against the Rangers as we fell 2-0 to a determined ICT side that outplayed us overall in the match. Both sides played hard in the first half, but they were much crisper than us in execution and they had the better of the chances. We had played better in the second half defensively, but hadn't shown much offensively when Ricardo Tavares caught Nicholas Sharro flat footed with a 30 yard strike that sailed past Sharro into the right side of the net at 70 minutes. We tried to rally, but they used a quick strike counterattack to find Graham Bayne behind our backline and he finished off our hopes of rallying with a well placed shot past Sharro to complete their 2-0 win. We paid a price for not fielding a lineup featuring more of our regular first liners in the loss, as I was resting many of them for this midweek tilt.

[Faramir]

19.2.11

Hearts (2) East Stirling (1)

Another good effort wasted as we allowed to Hearts to score early and late as they edged us 2-1 at Tynecastle. A good volley by Alvedin Nezirovac gave them the lead at the 4 minute mark. We settled down and generated some good chances, but Christopher Kallqvist seemed to have our number today as he stopped Pedro Esterilla and Paul Hopkins in close and Andreas Dahl hit the crossbar when he had an open net on a rebound shot. We played even better in the second half, but an offsides call wiped out an Esterilla goal and Kallqvist remained a stone wall in their net. They finally caught us with a counterattack and Bjarne Ingebretsen scored as they appeared to clinch the match. We kept working and Steve Lewis' cross was perfect for Esterilla to ruin Kallqvist's clean sheet with a goal, but it was too little too late as Esterilla missed over the bar on a last second chance to equalize. The match was very costly as Gonzalo Higuian suffered a torn calf muscle and will now be out until next season.

[Faramir]

21.2.11

The injury bug is suddenly piling on its woes in a big way. Anthony Hallam, Nicholas Sharro, Marc McCusker and Chris Hamilton all joined the list in the last couple days. In better news, Ibrahim Arslan appears ready to get back into play in our next match. Our leftwing situation is still a bit dire as Higuain and Fribrock are injured and Preben Vatle Hammersland is not at full speed for the next match.

***

2.3.11

Another one! Gregor Balazic is having hamstring troubles and now could miss up to the next month of play. He is a player we can ill afford to lose as we reach this important stretch.

***

5.3.11

East Stirling (1) Aberdeen (2)

I was absolutely furious with our backline after this loss and I let them know it. We had played a solid match and taken the lead in the second half with a fabulous 30 yard strike from Preben Vatle Hammersland. Ibrahim Arslan was playing superbly and things looked good. But our backline handed them both goals to send us to a crushing 2-1 defeat. On the first goal, Davide Ferrante made a half-hearted clearing after a sensational save by Arslan on Nathan Jarman. We paid the price when Lee Miller was first to the ball and fired it past Arslan. Then with time winding down Danny Black made a lazy cross field pass. Giannos Mertakkas stepped right in and scooted down the middle of the pitch and scored the match winner for them. It was such a waste of a solid performance otherwise to just plain give them both goals to beat us- very frustrating in a match I dearly wanted to win. We dropped to 5th as surging Hearts overtook us in the standings.

[Faramir]

7.3.11

We will be without Sergio Zijler for a week or two due to a badly bruised shin as our injury problems seem to be reaching epic proportions. For our next match, a key showdown with Livingston at Almondvale we will be missing: Gregor Balazic, Sergio Zijler, Anthony Hallam and Gonzalo Higuain from our normal starters. In addition Chris Hamilton, Martin Fribrock, Mark Staunton and Jamie Scott are also out at present.

***

12.3.11

Livingston (4) East Stirling (2)

There is little other way to put it- we collapsed in the latter portions of the second half and they won because of that. Our backline again failed to do their job and Ibrahim Arslan could not come up with the big save we needed and it was another bitter loss on the books because of that. We took the lead early on when Preben Vatle Hammersland rifled a low shot past Simone Villanova. We gave that lead away when Danny Black's poor clearance led to Aarran Butcher picking up a rebound and flipping it into the net after Arslan made the initial save on Alessandro Simonetta. We grabbed the lead again going to halftime when Marco Baroni tripped Pedro Esterilla in the area and Paul Hopkins converted the penalty kick. There were several chances to add to that margin, but poor finishing on the part of Hopkins and Esterilla short-circuited those opportunities. They got back even early in the second half when a nice play off a throw-in allowed Yannick Kitumba to drill a well-placed shot past Arslan inside the far right post. We were battling them for the chance to take the lead and Villanova kept coming up with the saves to keep us from gaining it. Simonetta showed his class as he turned Black inside out and then scorched a shot past Arslan to give them the lead at 83 minutes. Jamie Ford then earned a redcard for taking Simonetta down as the last man and Giancarlo Pepe pushed in the rebound on the ensuing free kick to finish off the bitter pill of another loss that could have been something better for us.

[Faramir]

16.3.11

East Stirling (2) Dundee (3)

We are sinking without a trace and it can be put down to two things- our backline has been terrible and our finishing has not been effective. Those were the same culprits in all of our recent losses and both reared their ugly heads again today. Ala'a Hubail gave them the lead when we failed to clear another loose ball away from our net and he slipped a shot past Ibrahim Arslan. Paul Hopkins equalized for us when he finished off a nice cross from Pedro Esterilla. They went right back in front for halftime as Danny Black gave away another ball in our end and Sascha Meier drove a shot past Arslan. We fought back to equalize early in the second half when Esterilla slammed a shot past Karl Dryden after a good pass from Hopkins. Peter Merkestijn continues to frustrate me with his misses- he missed the net four times when given excellent chances to put us into the lead. Of course all those misses came back to haunt us when Hubail blistered a nice shot past Arslan late in the second half as Nathan Goris couldn't mark him well enough. We had a chance to equalize when we earned a late penalty kick- but in an indication of our hard times- Hopkins' penalty kick was saved by Dryden. Every loss has been the same in this stretch, we play well enough to earn a better result, but our poor backline play and lack of a big save is resulting in losses. The backline will obviously be a major concern for this offseason. With the loss we now appear locked into 5th place, unless we can somehow right ourselves and begin getting better results. Celtic defeated 'Gers in a showdown match which virtually ensures them their 6th BSP title in a row.

[Faramir]

19.3.11

Hibernian (2) East Stirling (0)

Our recipe for failure remained unchanged as two defensive lapses cost us two goals and we weren't able to convert on our good scoring chances. After watching Martin Moffat foil two excellent scoring chances by Marc McCusker, it was disheartening to see Adrian Nevins make an awful decision to pass across the area- directly to Hibernian's Diego Buonanotte. Buonanotte calmly slipped it on to unmarked Herbert Schwab for an easy tap-in goal past Nicholas Sharro. We were still battling in the second half when Nathan Goris couldn't stay with Herwin Vorsthof as he motored past him to cap an excellent counter-attack with a crushing goal. We kept at, but another shot off the post and off the crossbar clearly indicated our fortunes hadn't changed in the 2-0 loss.

[Faramir]

22.3.11

It is clear that our spate of injuries- most to key players- exposed our lack of depth. It also exposed our lack of heart on the part of the players, as I have been pretty disappointed with our club during this string of losses. That is certainly the project for the summer- to change the dynamics of this club for the better. I still think the core of players we have is very good, but we need more.

***

1.4.11

The only highlight of the last month was Preben Vatle Hammersland's rocket shot against Aberdeen that wound up Goal of the Month. It was easily our worst month since I have been at East Stirling. Things are looking up as we are close to getting several of our injured players back- I hope that gives us enough spark that we can finish the season better and try to gain some momentum going into the summer.

[Faramir]

2.4.11

East Stirling (3) Dundee United (1)

We finally broke through to break the losing string as we fought all the way for a 3-1 win over Dundee United. Our central defense tandem of Anthony Hallam and Mark Staunton held firm down the stretch, though they were a bit scary at times, as we scored a pair of second half goals to earn the win. Peter Merkestijn blasted a shot past Mark Brown after Paul Hopkins laid the ball off for him to give us the lead at 33 minutes. It was the old story as Hallam missed a tackle and Lorenzo Lai then passed to Frank Jung. Jung wasn't marked closely enough by Staunton and he equalized as we wound up even at 1-1 at halftime. I credit the improved second half effort to the return of Sergio Zijler as his hard work seemed to energize the club. The difference in the second half was the terrific long passing of Staunton as he set up both our goals on long through balls. The first found Hopkins cruising free of their backline and his shot slid inside the right post. Marc McCusker, on for Pedro Esterilla, then capped the match with a blazing shot by Brown after taking the pass from Staunton. Brown had played well for them in net, the score could easily have been much higher if not for several key saves. It was a gigantic relief to finally gain another win.

[Faramir]

9.4.11

East Stirling (6) Celtic (2)

All of the gloom of the previous month went away as we stunned Celtic 6-2 for our first ever win over them. The win also put an end to their 16 match unbeaten streak. Pedro Esterilla put the sword to their backline as he scored in both the 2nd and 11th minutes to give us a quick 2-0 lead. Paul Hopkins set up Esterilla on both goals. Adam Andrzej boomed home a 30 yard blast past David Marshall on a free kick to send us ahead 3-0 just after the midpoint of the first half. It seemed like every other match against them though as Maciej Zurawski managed to flick a header past Ibrahim Arslan to draw a goal back late in the first half and then Frederick Holster volleyed past Arslan in the opening moments of the second half as Celtic was on fire. A funny thing happened to their rally though- we snuffed it out. The tandem of Anthony Hallam and Mark Staunton (an ex-Celtic player) gelled and kept them at bay with good tackling. One more threaded Hopkins pass gave Esterilla enough space to drill a shot past Marshall to complete his hat-trick and the rally had fallen by the wayside. We took advantage of their aggressiveness as Hopkins scored a goal after being sprung on a counter attack by Esterilla and then Marc McCusker put the puncuation point on the win after he came on for Esterilla by taking a pass from Sergio Zijler and driving a hard shot past Marshall to make it a 6-2 final. Arslan played most of the match with a badly gashed face and will now miss a couple weeks healing up. If Celtic had won, they would have clinched the BSP title, so I was very pleased to keep them from doing so at Firs Park.

BSP Championship Playoff Group 33 matches played, 5 remaining

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Celtic 76 pts (+43)

2- Rangers 61 pts (+29)

3- Livingston 58 pts (+18)

4- East Stirling 52 pts (+20)

5- Hearts 50 pts (0)

6- ICT 41 pts (-12)

</pre>

[Faramir]

16.4.11

East Stirling (4) Hearts (2)

It was nice to have gained a little momentum as we entered our showdown match with Hearts. The winner would be well on track for the 4th place spot, with the loser needing to make up a lot of ground. It was a bad start for us as Gregor Balazic, just back from injury, lost marking on Alvedin Nezirovac on a free kick and Nezirovac flipped a shot past Nicholas Sharro to give them the lead in the 5th minute. I could sense the club was changed- in our bad stretch we would have been pressing- but we just worked our chances and then equalized as Adam Andrzjec blistered a 30 yard free kick past Christopher Kallqvist. We had plenty of chances to take the lead, including a shocking error by Paul Hopkins as Pedro Esterilla's good pass gave him an empty goal to shoot at, but he bobbled the ball and Kallqvist smothered it when all he had to do was give it a little push into the net. Moments after, it was Nezirovac again as he swooped past Mark Staunton and delivered a smashing shot past Sharro to send us to the dressing room behind 2-1. We were calm this time, and went right back to attacking them in the second half. The equalizer came early on as Peter Merkestijn half-volleyed a winner inside the left post off a throw-in from the right. We kept the pressure up on them and this time it was their backline that cracked when Robin Faber failed to clear a loose ball and Merkestijn made it a brace as he fired the rebound home after Kallqvist made the initial save. Esterilla then finished off a quick counterattack with a slashing shot past Kallqvist to knock the last bit of wind out of the rally attempts of Hearts as we won out 4-2.

[Faramir]

23.4.11

Rangers (4) East Stirling (2)

Though our problems were the same, bad backline and missed finishing, the tone of the match was completely different and it was a match that we could have won if Jamie Jones had not played so well in their net. We fell behind quickly as Andrea Gasbarroni was completely elusive and Anthony Hallam was no match for him today. Gasbarroni deflected a cross from Garry O'Connor past Nicholas Sharro in the 7th minute. We answered when Sergio Zijler blasted a ball past Jones after a good pass from Adam Andrzej set him up. They hit back immediately as Gasbarroni made it a brace as he slipped past Mark Staunton to direct a cross past Sharro. Hallam then missed a tackle in a one-on-one situation with O'Connor and O'Connor slotted the ball past Sharro for a 3-1 lead for them. We hit back again when Gregor Balazic snaked a pass through to Paul Hopkins and he finished well for his 15th goal of the season. I had found hopes that we could equalize after halftime, but instead Staunton missed a tackle in a one-on-one with Lasse Qvist and Qvist then scored to make it 4-2. We kept working, but Jones was dazzling the rest of the way in preserving the 4-2 win for 'Gers. Hearts edged Livingston 1-0 at Almondvale to move back within two points of us for 4th place. Celtic's 1-0 win over ICT clinched them their 6th consecutive BSP title.

***

27.4.11

Celtic lost to Chelsea on 4-3 aggregate in the Championship Cup Semifinals. Chelsea will face Barca, which edged Arsenal on 2-1 aggregate.

[Faramir]

30.4.11

East Stirling (5) ICT (2)

You wouldn't know it, but the real difference maker in the match was Ibrahim Arslan. Arslan returned from injury and had a brilliant match- despite yielding two goals- especially given Anthony Hallam leaving with injury in the 3rd minute and Davide Ferrante having a terrible match replacing him. The highlights of the match will show our 1-2 punch of Paul Hopkins and Pedro Esterilla. Hopkins notched a hat-trick, including a penalty kick, in the match while Esterilla had a brace as the pair of them put the sword to the faltering ICT backline. Keeper Nicky Maenpaa wasn't given much of a chance by our 'terror twosome' as they carved apart the defense in accumulating all five of our goals. This was all after we fell behind- again- in the opening moments as Romario Sabajo knocked in a rebound that we failed to clear. The win was costly as Hallam broke his collarbone and will be out until next season. Preben Vatle Hammersland will also likely miss the remainder of the season with a thigh strain. With Martin Fribrock also out with a groin strain- we have no healthy leftwingers on our roster and will have to make do for the rest of the season. Hearts managed a scoreless draw with Rangers and are now 4 points adrift of us for 4th place.

***

1.5.11

We swept Player of the Month honours for April as Paul Hopkins was Player of the Month and Mark Staunton was Young Player of the Month. Staunton's emergence may be one of the key discoveries for the season as he pairs very well with Hallam.

[Faramir]

4.5.11

Celtic (2) East Stirling (0)

Celtic got their revenge as they beat us 2-0, but I have to tip my hat to their keeper Radek Kolenderski. If Kolenderski doesn't play as well as he did, we could well have taken a draw out of this match as we worked hard and earned some good scoring chances. Maciej Kurawski continues to enjoy playing against us and it was his deflection of a sizzling cross from Emrah Ekin in the 3rd minute that gave them the lead. Ekin earned MOM honours as he also scored their other goal later in the first half. Ekin took advantage of Jamie Ford's inexperience to race past him down the left side of the pitch before rocketing a shot past Ibrahim Arslan. Arslan played well in the match and gave us a chance, but we couldn't find a way to score on Kolenderski. Hearts lost 3-1 so we are now assured of at least a 4th place finish, but Livingston's late swoon has given us a chance at 3rd, if we can beat them in our final match- we would edge them on goal differential, so the final match will definately mean something.

[Faramir]

8.5.11

East Stirling (2) Livingston (0)

With 3rd place on the line, we put together a hard working match and made the most of our scoring chances as we dumped Livingston in front of a packed house at Firs Park to begin some celebrations at having finished 3rd in BSP. We took the lead in the first half when Sergio Zijler, playing with a badly bruised shin that should have sent him to the sideline, threaded a pass through from the right sideline to Pedro Esterilla. Esterilla, demonstrating the sniper traits that made him so attractive to East Stirling, never stopped the ball and whisked it past an off balance Simone Villanova to give us the lead at 21 minutes. Ibrahim Arslan was called on to make several saves as Livingston tried to rally quickly. We still held the lead at halftime, but I warned the boys that we needed to remain aggressive. It was Zijler who was the architect again as his curving cross picked out Paul Hopkins as he came free in the center and Hopkins pushed a strong header through Gareth Williams (on for injured Villanova). With a two-goal lead, we put more men behind the ball and forced Livingston to press forward. If not for Arslan's sharp work it might have turned disastrous, but his steady play in net frustrated the visitors and we were content to play in the middle of the pitch until the final whistle sounded and we had surprisingly moved up into 3rd place in BSP.

BSP 2010-11 Final

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Celtic 88 pts (+47)

2- Rangers 74 pts (+38)

3- East Stirling 61 pts (+23)

4- Livingston 61 pts (+15)

5- Hearts 54 pts (-5)

6- ICT 44 pts (-20)

</pre>

[Faramir]

9.5.11

Amazingly we played all season and only managed 1 draw- something that I find hard to believe. Well, maybe not too hard to believe given the 'Jeckyll and Hyde' nature of our club. Both Paul Hopkins and Adam Andrzej are drawing mentions for Player of the Year honours and both would be worthy selections. Hopkins finished 4th in goals with 19 and both he and Sergio Zijler broke our assist record with 14 each on the season. Pedro Esterilla managed to get 12 goals in his limited time with us. Marc McCusker finished with 9 goals, followed by Gregor Balazic and Gonzalo Higuain with 8. Peter Merkestijn and Andrzej each had 6 goals, while Steve Lewis had 5, Zijler and John Bruce both chipped in with 4.

Capturing 3rd place means a certain spot in European competition next season and it also earned us 1.2 Million. My hope this summer is that Balazic decides he is happy to stay here and also that I can get Mark Staunton under a new contract. Currently, Staunton still remains miffed that it took this long to get him some Senior playing time and given his performance versus the others I tried- it is hard to blame him for that feeling.

We will need to overhaul the defense and add depth elsewhere, but I really like our core group of players- Adam Andrzej, Anthony Hallam, Sergio Zijler, Gonzalo Higuain, Peter Merkestijn, Paul Hopkins and Pedro Esterilla.

[Faramir]

9.5.11

More reason to celebrate as Paul Hopkins was selected as BSP Player of the Year over Alessandro Simonetta and Jefferson Farfan. Goal of the Season belonged to Gonzalo Higuain for a shot he made in October against Dunfermline.

***

11.5.11

Liverpool defeated Stuttgart 4-2 to win the Euro Cup.

***

14.5.11

Rangers edged Livingston to make it a double as they captured both the Scottish Cup as well as the League Cup earlier.

***

18.5.11

Chelsea defeated Barca 1-0 to win the Champions Cup.

[suppitty]

I'm sure you've mentioned it earlier, but how big is your stadium now? kutgw

[Faramir]

suppity- *chuckles* ask and be answered

***

22.5.11

It was a cause for celebration- at least for me- when Gregor Balazic let me know that he would now prefer to stay at East Stirling and that he wanted me to remove him from the transfer list. I had been hoping he would make that decision and I feel a lot better about our future with him as part of it. Similarly, Adam Andrzej had let me know earlier that he would like to stay as well, so all of our key players are happy to be with the club- and that is the way I needed things.

***

29.5.11

Big news from the Board today. First was the news that they were expanding Firs Park by another 5246 seats to around 16000. The expansion will take about 5 months- roughly the same time frame it took them to renovate the Park last season- but we won't have to vacate the Park to accomplish the addition. We will have to close the South stands, so our seating and associated revenue will be slightly less. The Board took out a loan to finance the increase, so we will be repaying that a tune of 75K a month for awhile, but at least we are not looking at the huge red numbers. The Board also offered me the option of a variety of weekly wage budgets and transfer funds. They appreciated the fact that I had stayed well within the budget for the last several seasons and mentioned that the loan amount from the Bank was a bit less onerous because of the extra funds we had available. After reviewing their options, I settled on a weekly wage budget of 80K (ours is roughly 60K, but we have some players coming off of it on July 1st too) and a transfer fund of 1.9 Million. This seemed the best balance of offerings and will allow me a few modest purchases to try and improve the depth on the club. The other, and really the best news to me, was that our brand new training facility is now ready to use. We now have a training facility on par with Celtic and 'Gers and no longer have to take a backseat to them when players are considering where to play. We also now have a dedicated youth academy, which should improve our ability to develop youngsters. All of this was grand and the day was a sunny one in more ways than one.

[Faramir]

31.5.11

I made the painful decision to begin some turnover in our coaching and scouting staff. Overall, I am pleased with some areas of our training- but less happy with others. Though I could wait on deciding for a month, I thought it would be fairer to buy David Ludzic, Gary Himsworth and Gary Parkinson out of their contracts as coaches. I also did the same with our advance scout- Steve Ingham. I will be looking for replacements, as well as additions of one more scout and a couple more physios to help balance the load out a bit.

***

4.6.11

The replacements for the staff have been hired. Joining our staff are 32 year old Antoine Hamel from Liechtenstein, 33 year old Gary Green and 34 year old Andrew Ford from England. Hamel will coach ball control, Ford will coach shooting and Green will be the general staff helper- helping out in any discipline needed. We also hired two new scouts, Dave Rowland and Dutchman Jeffrey Smits. I will be using Smits more on the continent, while Rowland will take over as advance scout of opposing clubs from the departed Ingham.

[Faramir]

5.6.11

The opening of the transfer window found only one addition for us, but it is a significant one. 24 year old Italian center midfielder Filippo Savi had played last season at Dundee, but was willing to move to us for a raise (and a 3.5 Million minimum fee release). It cost us 200K to land him from Dundee and he gives us another very good midfielder to toss into the mix. He most likely will battle Peter Merkestijn for playing time.

It also brought the departure of Ryan Carr, as he was sold for Arbroath for 16K. Carr was not getting the playing time he desired and it was time to allow him to move to a club that would give him the chance to play.

***

8.6.11

The parting wasn't particularly sweet, but both Markus Paatelainen and myself agreed he needed to move to a new club. Markus will be hoping to revive his career at Ross County as we accepted a 250K bid from them and he promptly signed a contract to move there.