Shanks' Say

In the build up to the game, there was the usual press interest, all building up East Stirling to yet again beat us. Not long after kick off, it was clear to see Shire were believing the hype and the Elgin team were a bag of nerves. Shire came right at us from the start and created many chances in both halves and to be honest thoroughly deserved to win.

So what is to blame for our most embarrassing victory to date as an SFL club? So far I’ve heard the conditions be blamed, the injuries and suspensions which lead to playing an extremely young and inexperienced side be blamed, simply our luck running out, there has been many reasons discussed and done to death. I know it’s extremely pessimistic of me and many people will say it was only one game, but it was much more than that.

The situation with the skill seekers at the moment is not the best for the club, many will say it’s good for them to get first team experience and we are a team building for the future, so there’s no problem playing them as back up to the players that are currently injured or suspended. We might be building for the future, but the reality of this situation is some of these players might not be good enough in the future. They are all good talented players, but we can’t go on playing them the way we are right now. A worrying statistic from the weekend is that on Sunday the Under 19’s played in Ayr. Kyle McKendrick, Phil Reid, Iain Vigurs, Paul Napier, Garry Wood, Anton Lennox and Gary Melrose all played both on Saturday and Sunday, These players may be open to ‘burnout’ if they are going to be used this way at ages as young as 16.

I have no complaints about the youth set up and youth getting a chance, I’m a great admirer of what ‘Robbo’ and Kenny have done with these players, but in my opinion, it’s essential, they can’t be playing both first team and youth team games every week or else we won’t have these players for the future.

This did not happen last year because of the depth in squad available, but at the end of the season ‘Robbo’ decided to cut the size of the squad and work with a smaller playing pool. This decision, in my opinion, was a mistake. We need to bring more players in, be it by free transfer, loan or whatever, we need more experienced players and more cover. I know we don’t have the funds needed for this and we can’t afford to bring in players, but to be honest, can we afford not to?? At the moment we are not going to be able to win games with the team we are forced to play, I know it’s all about the future, but it also has to be about now as well. If the form begins to get worse, the crowds will get worse. There were 500 there last week, that figure could be considerably smaller on Saturday. It’s important we bring players in. There is no guarantee that Nelson, Cumming and Renton will still be here in January and if we lost them without bringing anyone in, I would strongly expect us to finish below or just above Shire. We need experience and depth or else they youth players will suffer burnout and the rest of this season won’t be an enjoyable experience. Some say I’m being harsh, but in honesty, I’m being realistic.

Just a little word for Shire, who were really up for it on Saturday, more so than us. They impressed me and look a much better team than the one that only recorded 8 points last season. I was most impressed by Joe Robertson and Ross Donaldson. They are both players, I would have at Elgin in a second, good luck to them for the rest of the season.

Between now and my last column, there was a Scottish cup draw, where we were given a bye in the first round and then the game every club wanted to avoid – away to Gretna.

If we are going to win that first cup game, it’s going to be extremely difficult, but never say never. Hopefully by then we will have key players back and will be clear of any suspensions. It’s 90 minutes of football and anything can happen. There have been many cup upsets in the past and there’s no reason we can’t win this if we don’t go there just to turn up and expect a thrashing. What finer place to win our first cup game than at Raydale park, where I doubt many teams are going to win this year.