Mike says -

“Our victory yesterday was tainted slightly by the problems Keith Stewart had in getting a team on the park but all you can do in football is play against the opposition in front of you. For our part the early season rustiness has gone and we are beginning to find our feet all over the park. Two clean sheets and seven goals in two games helps the confidence of players right throughout the team. Edinburgh Uni have had a remarkable start to the season and all we can do for now is hold on to their shirt tails.

Things settle down a bit this week with no midweek games and two nights training where Mike gets more time to work with the players. We’d hoped Alex King would be back but his heroics at Stirling have cost him and us dearly. The wee man was limping yesterday and it will obviously take a bit longer for his groin to heal. Chris Smith has a strained Achilles which is hindering him at present but on the plus side Danny was able to get back on the park in the closing stages yesterday.

It was good to see Gavin, Cloudie and Deano among the goals. We are expecting a good return from that trio this season as well as a good few from Donal and David. I’m sure all our midfield players will be looking to hit the net regularly and as Chris Smith gets stronger he’ll get his chances in front of goal. Seeing you defenders go up and score from set pieces is always pleasing and Chris Townsley’s chest-in from four yards yesterday was the first of many I’m sure.

A happy Saturday night for all and today our minds turn to Tynecastle who’ll be smarting from their result yesterday. I might just remind our players on Tuesday that our worst performance by far last season was in the corresponding fixture. Back down to earth time.”

Mike

Mike says -

“We travel the short distance to Muirhouse tomorrow on league duty. Sam and I will be reminding the players of our last visit to the Civil Service playing fields at the end of January where we conceded a late equaliser and nearly lost the game in injury time.

I’m sure Keith Stewart would have settled for his side staying in our league after their promotion the previous season but a late run saw the Strollers climb to equal fourth only four points behind Whitehill in second place. Like the majority of the teams in our league Civil like to get the ball down and play football and if the wind stays away tomorrow it should be an excellent game on a magnificent surface.

For our part Sam and I are tempted to go with the same team which gained three points against the Vale on Tuesday. Danny O’Donnell was on the bench that night but Sam and I would have been loathed to put him on. The big fellow was able to train fully last night however and looks like he’s back in contention for a starting position. Alex King on the other hand is probably another week away and we hope to have the wee man back training on Tuesday.  

The season has still to settle down as each and every team finds its feet. I have always been in favour of League Cup sections over the first two or three weeks to allow every team to bed in but what do I know about football?  As a consequence there have been some strange results and I’d expect a few more tomorrow. We can only take care of our own business and Sam and I will have the players well prepared for a hard game at Muirhouse.

Get yourself along.”

Mike

Mike says -

“We started last season very slowly and it’s taking us a few games to get into gear this time round. The Vale are a very good side and when they realised there was half an hour to go and despite creating one promising opening after another we were only one up you could sense from their players and their technical area that they thought they could get something out of the game. Thankfully Gavin’s strike settled the outcome but I sat the players down after the game to explain that teams take heart from our inability to capitalise on our excellent build up play and that we’ll pay for it some day if we don’t score a second and put the game to bed. I’m not sure if that went down too well but the players know I’m right and I also know that someone is going to be on the end of a good few goals from us as we settle into the season. 

We have moved into second place in the league and Sam and I are happy that we are on the right track. We haven’t peeked too soon, that’s for sure.

Stewart and Sean both played well on Saturday but Sam and I went for the younger legs of Deano and Gavin last night. Donal is on fire just now and edged David out up front. Both Danny and Alex hope to get back to training on Thursday so hopefully Sam and I will have a headache picking the team for Muirhouse on Saturday. 

More of that on Friday.”

Mike

Mike says -

“Tonight is the first league meeting between The Vale and ourselves for a number of seasons but let’s hope we do better than we’ve done in cup-ties over the last couple of years. Two seasons ago we only played tonight’s opponents once and that was in the League Cup 2nd round down at Innerleithen where the home side won 2-1. Last season we only met at the Academy on 12th December and The Vale once again came out on top 2-1 in the semi of the Image Printer’s Cup.

What does that tell us? The Vale have done well recently in cup-ties against us at home or away. It also tells us that those players who played against us last December will be coming here knowing they have turned us over in the past and will run out and play with no fear. Also with Robbie Horn in charge for the first time either as caretaker or in a permanent position, The Vale players will have an extra spring in their step as they try to impress the new man in charge.

Sam and I will have to wait until the last minutes before picking our side. Danny is almost back fit while Alex is struggling. Donal, Cloudie, Sivie and Chris Smith all had knocks or strains going into Saturday’s game at Gala and may not be 100% depending on the reaction to their ailments. I’ve kept in touch and they all think they will be available but we’ll get them out for a run and kick of a ball before Sam and I make our final decision on tonight’s team.

Wee Sammy said on Saturday after their victory over Whitehill that the Uni had won another yellow jersey. They did that and after three wins they currently lead the pack. We can’t take that off them this evening but we can get a bit closer to them in the title race. A very good Vale side stand in our way and it’s up to us to raise our game and go for the win. We hope our players can rise to the occasion and Sam and I are looking forward to watching them try.”

Mike

Mike says -

“First of all any plaudits from the game must go to the home side. With two or three experienced players and a lot of young legs Gala defended stoutly in the first half against waves of attack, scored two early goals in the second (the first a peach from their point of view) and then thankfully tired as we turned on the pressure. Paulo was immence as was Waldie beside him, Henson in goal did very well in the second half and extra time, I like the look of young Smith and McBride in midfield while Anderson was always a handful up front. Fraser and Ally must be looking forward to a successful season.

For our part it was hard to be critical of the boys at half-time. We’d preached respecting the opposition and playing at our tempo before the game and we certainly took the game to Gala in the first half. Omar was doing his Walcott (on a good day) impression and it appeared only a matter of time before we scored. We weren’t firing on all cylinders up front but we also weren’t getting many breaks. We had umpteen balls delivered into the box mostly from the right but not once did the delivery or subsequent second and third ball drop at a Spartan’s foot or head. Although we had the territorially advantage and the majority of the ball, the Gala keeper never had a real save to make in the first half and it finished 0-0.

Sam and I and encouraged the boys to keep the pace up, provide a bit more movement in the box and not to be frightened to have a pop at goal whenever we could. 12 minutes in and we’re 2-0 down.  By this time Graeme Ford (a good friend of mine who once marked Paul Mason out of an Aberdeen v Arbroath reserve game for me a long, long time ago) was on the park and I was thinking “is this going to be one of these days?” and ”how am I going to face Graeme’s brother?”. Thankfully our boys kept the faith and more importantly kept the pace of the game up. The Gala keeper was being called into action more and more and when Omar equalised with 12 minutes to go we might have won the game in 90 minutes.  As it was it took us 120 minutes and the happiest people at the game were the Vale committee as they watched our tired players leave the field.

Danny was still unavailable yesterday and Alex King suffered for his heroic efforts playing with an injury at Stirling. Sivie and Donal were struggling before the game and Chris Smith has a problem with his Achilles. Jorge chose a right good time to go elsewhere to look for a game.

Over the piece Sam and I can’t be unhappy with the effort and desire we showed yesterday. The guys who came in put in a good shift and Sam and I will check the fitness situation of all the players before we pick a team for the Vale on Tuesday.

More of that later.”

Mike

Mike says -

The games are coming thick and fast at the moment and tomorrow we head down to Gala on cup duty. Fraser and Ally have put a young team together (Paulo aside) and they’ve started the season with two wins in two local derbies which is never easy. I saw them beat The Albert 4-2 a week ago today and they followed that with an impressive 6-1 win over Kelso a couple of nights ago when we played Stirling.  Against Hawick I was impressed by their spirit, organisation and youthful enthusiasm. Our lot better be prepared for a hard shift tomorrow.

For our part we are still to get into our stride. Don’t get me wrong, Wednesday was better than last Saturday but we can still begin games better and we have to start converting a higher percentage of the chances we create. Sam and I will bring in fresh legs after two games in a week but as you have heard me say a hundred times we know we can change the starting eleven around without weakening the team. Stewart, Sean and David haven’t started a game yet this season but all three will tomorrow and Sam and I will consider one or two other options later today.

We always enjoy our trips down to the Borders and tomorrow is no exception.”

Mike

Mike says -

“Considering we had dropped two points on Saturday that was a very important win for us last night. I’ll also stand by what I said yesterday about Stirling University who are here to stay in our Premier League and will be big, big players in the coming years if their football scholarships continue. The team they put out last night were excellent footballers who can only improve as they get stronger over the next two or three years.

Sam and I emphasised starting on the front foot and although the Uni scored first I thought we were an improvement on Saturday over the first fifteen minutes. We stuck to 4 4 2 but changed out game plan to longer rather than short passes and it paid off with Donal’s equaliser. Maybe we didn’t want to play the talented students at “football” but either way we got stronger as the game went on and had two or three opportunities in the second half to put the game to bed. We didn’t so it was a slightly nervous last ten minutes.

It’s shaping up to be a very tight league this season with remarkably Sammy and his boys along with ourselves the only unbeaten sides. For ten teams to lose one of their first two games is unheard of but as I say it looks like anyone can beat anyone this season.

We get a break from league action this weekend as we head to Gala in the East of Scotland Cup. More about that tomorrow.”

Mike