I’ve been away (again.)

That’s why I didn’t mark the fact that on Tuesday night, due to Airdrie United’s defeat at Hamilton, we could not be automatically relegated this season. The worst that can now happen is that we will be involved in the play-offs.

This is what most Sons fans (in a spirit of realism) would have settled for before the season started. That we are in a position to stay in Div 2 without the benefit of the play-offs is testament to the remarkable efforts of the players (and the new manager since he was appointed.) This would be the case even without Dunfermline’s points deduction.

To be certain of survival a couple more wins might still be required, though.

SFL Div 1, New Broomfield, 19/1/13

I looked at the temperature forecast for Airdrie for yesterday and decided I didn’t want to freeze my backside off for two hours and pay for the privilege. Plus if I had gone it might have jinxed us.

This was a “mustn’t lose” which we didn’t lose!

An Airdrie win here would have severely dented our progress. As it is the good work involved in beating teams at the top of the league in previous weeks hasn’t been put to naught by a failure to beat the team we most needed to. We’re now level on points and goal difference. And we’ve hauled in Cowdenbeath.

How long this run can last I don’t know: but long may it continue. Our next three games are against teams with a bit of form, though.

SFL Div 1, The Rock, 12/1/13

Hurray! A home win in the league!

Boo! Dunfermline allowed Airdrie Utd to beat them.

You can’t rely on anyone these days.

Rangers Football Club no longer exists.

The company comprising it has been liquidated, the club along with it. So why are the Scottish football authorities scrabbling around trying to accommodate a new club apparently still claiming to be Rangers?

The sleight of hand which has seemingly transferred the assets to a new company – but miraculously without also transferring its debts! – cannot carry the history with it.
It is a new company – and a new club. As such they merit no special consideration – certainly not elevation to Div 1 of the SFL when any other new club would have to start in Div 3 (and moreover would have to provide three years’ worth of audited accounts for the privilege.)

In the same way, Airdrie United are not a continuation of Airdrieonians. (They are arguably Clydebank; except Clydebank fans do not consider them so.)

Whichever title the new “Rangers” takes (I append a few suggestions below*) the club is not and never will be Rangers. The SPL, SFA and Sky may wish them to be but they simply aren’t. As I understand it they also have not much of a squad of players. That many of last season’s Rangers players are taking themselves elsewhere shows they do not think the new company is a continuation of the old.

The threats, distortions and scare stories of the SPL (and apparently, to its shame, the SFA) with regard to the potential financial apocalypse they claim will happen should the new “Rangers” not be admitted to Div 1 are a form of blackmail. What they imply is that they intend to break a contract (the annual payments the SPL makes to the SFL) or incite others to break theirs (the two years’ notice requirement for clubs to leave the SFL.) This stuff is beyond sordid. I do not believe any of the administrators, chairmen etc who put forward such arguments give a stuff for Scottish football – only for the feathering of their own nests. The hidden agenda is of course to cast adrift (via the formation of SPL 2) the smaller clubs, in other words that portion of Scottish football where its true soul actually resides.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the true good of Scottish football to be asserted, to break the stranglehold that the Old Firm had/has on the neck of the Scottish game, to make the playing field more level again.

I fear it will be thrown away.

*Not the Real Rangers, (Dis)continuity Rangers, I-Don’t-Believe-It-Is-Rangers, All-Too-Real-Rangers.

SFL Div 1 Play-off Final, Second leg. Excelsior Stadium, 20/5/12

Where was the anguish? Where was the angst? In a way this was even more unreal than watching us live on TV. 2-0 up after about twenty minutes, scoring just before half-time, cake icing and tiki-taka in the second half? It doesn’t get better than this. Except I was tense up till the Airdrie lad’s sending-off. At the time I didn’t think it was more than a robust challenge but the TV replays showed he took James Creaney’s leg and both his boots’ studs were showing so the ref got it right.

Next season might be a struggle but I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m basking in this.

I actually first took a photo of the scoreboard at 1-3 but this superseded it.

Craig Dargo may have been official man of the match (and he did give us the platform to win the game with his two strikes) but I’d like to mention Tony Wallace. From coming into the team as essentially Kevin Nicoll’s understudy he has grown into the season and his performance yesterday boded well, even if once again Airdrie’s Paul Lovering may have conned the ref into getting him booked. The TV replay was inconclusive as to whether there had even been a foul in that incident – which looked innocuous to me at the time. But it was Tony who beautifully set up the third goal for Mark Gilhaney and so gave Airdrie an almost impossible task in the second half and Tony again who waltzed through their defence for the fourth after good work from Brian Prunty.

Stephen Grindlay had a couple of excellent saves and actually commanded his box a few times but still had two moments which revealed his bomb scare capabilities.

We could have punished them further but that would maybe have been unkind. Certainly we tried to score “cute” goals when 4-1 up but the efforts didn’t come off.

Airdrie looked plodding. Maybe their efforts against Ayr United and at The Rock had taken it out of them. But our lads put in a tough shift at Arbroath in the semi-final and were still fit and really up for this. Credit to the backroom staff as well then.

Finally, a curiosity. We have been promoted without a positive goal difference in the league. Has that ever happened to anyone before?

SFL Div 1 Play-off Final, First Leg, The Rock, 16/5/12

This was weird. It was totally unreal to watch my team – my diddy team – on live television, with the full treatment, build up – though that was short – replays, half time study on the manager etc. It was also unreal not to be shouting encouragement (or otherwise) during the game.

Anyway, Airdrie had most of the possession but didn’t really do much with it. The shots Stephen Grindlay had to save were mostly comfortable for him, their other efforts went high or wide. We did not play well, our passes too often went astray. Nerves, perhaps. We took the lead out of nothing, Brian Prunty finished it well, though. Then – total unreality – we scored with a free header from a free kick. Unlikely hero, Tony Wallace and a great delivery from Scott Agnew.

Airdrie’s Paul Lovering then conned the ref into booking Tony Wallace, who was perhaps still affected by that a few minutes later when he made the challenge the ref gave as a penalty. Even with the replays I was struggling to see a foul there.

I knew Grindlay would save it, unfortunately he didn’t block the rebound shot.

Second half not much happened, except Pat Walker was brought down by the keeper after he’d flicked the ball past him in the box but the ref wasn’t interested then near the death Prunty had a one-on-one which the keeper saved with his legs before Paul Nugent made the needless challenge that led to his second booking.

So we have it all to go through again on Sunday. I don’t think I could stand another 90 minutes of 0-0. It’s on a plastic pitch too, which you’d think would favour them.

SFL Div 2, The Rock, 21/4/12

I wasn’t at the game but this was a potentially important result. Had we lost we were in real danger of not finishing in a play-off spot. As it is one, more win from two remaining will secure third place. Possibly even a draw might do depending on results elsewhere.

Since our ten game unbeaten run we had hit a bit of a slump and only one of our players (Craig Dargo at Cowdenbeath) had scored for us in six games since the 3^rd of March! Our other two counters in that time were opposition own goals.

The result yesterday was all the more commendable since we fell behind early in the second half.

It is still possible for us to finish as low as sixth despite two of the teams in the next three playing each other next week (especially given our poor goal difference) but we would need to have a calamitous last two games.

We could relegate Stirling Albion next Saturday so they’ll be up for a scrap. Brechin (at home on 5^th May) ought to have nothing to play for, though.

We could even lose our last two games and still finish 3^rd.

In this Division, where anybody can beat anybody, you just never know.

SFL Div 2, The Rock, 13/8/11

I was only going to write this season about matches I actually attended but this result requires comment.

I don’t want to talk about it.

Nor the 4-0 defeat to Dundee in the League Cup.

Nor last week’s humping at Airdrie.

You spot the theme, don’t you?

Played 2. Won 0. Drawn 0. Lost 2. For 1. Against 8.

SFL Div 2, Excelsior Stadium, 16/4/11

With thirty minutes of this one to go we were safe, ten points ahead of Stenny with three games left. At the end of it we are far from that happy state; only six points ahead. And our goal difference is worse.

They have Alloa, Brechin and Peterhead to play – one in the top four. We have Ayr, Livingston and Forfar – all in the top four.

We need points somewhere in that lot. Two of theirs are away, though, and the only away win they have was against us.

We find ourselves in the unusual position of wishing the team immediately below us to win on Saturday.

SFL Div 2, Glebe Park, 1/3/11

Three (count them; three!) equalisers. When was the last time we did that? And against a top two team away.

I “watched” the game on the BBC website and teletext. Every time they scored I thought, “That’s it,” then cheered up considerably when we got back in it.

I think it’s the first time this season we have gone behind and not eventually lost the game. Progress.

But Stenny and E Fife both won so it’s tight again at the bottom. Alloa and Airdrie Utd might be in the mix too.

All to play for.