A Blether with Bomber

written by John Kelly, Club Reporter

Following a spirited and very much improved performance at Dunfermline it was hoped that Stenny would go one better at home to Airdrie and pick up some points. Sadly that was not to be as the Warriors, despite starting positively fell away and did not look like hitting back after conceding not long before half-time.

“The start was decent but I would not say much more than that,” said Warriors coach Bomber Ferguson, adding: “It was a decent start and a start you would be happy with in most games but it was a start you would want to kick on from. But we got ourselves a little bit ragged and there was a three or four minute spell before the goal when, rather than just getting a bit of composure, setting ourselves back up and getting back into an organised shape and just sort of managing that time of game, we got a little bit panicky and that resulted in the goal and from that goal we never recovered and not really at any stage of the game did we rally and really put Airdrie under any pressure.

“That is the really disappointing thing but the learning and what we have got to take from it is when we concede when we are going forward, and that will happen as I said to them after the match, we have to have a better way or reacting to it. We need to have parts of the game where we force the issue and when we are under a bit of pressure we need to manage it a bit better. So that was the disappointing thing, given what was at stake.”

When Bomber took charge after at a similar stage last season he led the Warriors on a long unbeaten run which included many late equalisers. However, that was a different squad with more experienced players, although the current players are still good enough to get results. Bomber said: “They are good enough, they are good enough to go out and perform and to play but there is another part of it in the game, in identifying as a team when you are under the cosh and when you are on the front foot and when you are on that front foot making sure things happen quickly and making sure you are in the right positions and when you are under a bit of pressure taking a responsibility to hold the position, be a little bit more streetwise, slow the game down and try to get it to turn in your favour and then consolidate.

“Yes we do have a lack of experience in certain aspects of the team but they are gaining experience week in week out and they have got to learn from it.”

An away trip to Brechin Saturday, followed by a home game against Stranraer Tuesday is going to provide a tough few days for the Warriors but Bomber and his squad will not shirk the challenge.

“Two difficult, although being honest every game is difficult, but it is two quick games and a quick opportunity to pick up points,” said Bomber “We go up to Brechin, which is a difficult place, on Saturday but our away performances of late have been reasonable, we had good games at Stranraer and Dunfermline, obviously we want to discount the Peterhead game. It is not as though we are going up there under any illusions but we should also be going there in a positive frame of mind.”

With games in quick succession there is not a lot of preparation time but that is no great worry to Bomber, he said: “You try to get people seen in their game on the Saturday and we also have reports from both teams in recent weeks, we know these teams pretty well, we know how they shape up.

“After our games it is assessing where our players are injury wise, to see if we need any changes and then it is a case of focusing on Brechin Saturday then see what the outcome of that is, both result and personnel wise, then dust ourselves down for the next. It is two big games, really three, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, so it is a very big week coming up.”

Hopefully Bomber will have a full squad to pick from, speaking ahead of training and the reserve game Tuesday he was quite confident, saying: “Injury-wise we are OK, apart from Skip, Ross McMillan, he picked up a heavy knock towards the end of the game and we will assess that tonight on how he is but I do not expect him to miss the weekend. Other than that we are in reasonable health. We have a game here tonight and a few of the lads will be involved in that and we have training tonight and Thursday, that is all here at Ochilview so it will give me a chance to see everybody.”