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Archive Latest November
2004
(27/11/04)
A Draw
Rovers gained their first league point since 25th
September after coming back from 2 goals down against Elgin at Cliftonhill. When
the tide turned against Elgin they seemed determined to waste time and kick lumps
out of Rovers players at any opportunity. This resulted in City having a man
sent off after 2 yellow cards and also another 4 receiving yellows. Scott Crabbe
scored his 1st of the season (his 2nd since arriving at Cliftonhill) and Paul
McLaughlin scored in only his second outing.
A full match report will be on the site tomorrow.
Cheapskates
Today saw a return of the skinflint who sits in his Range Rover on the hill
watching the match to avoid paying the £8 admission charge. Other cheapskates
at Cliftonhill today arrived on the Elgin supporters bus, apparently the bus
parked at the back of the ground and the fans just sauntered in through the gate
which was open to let the St. Andrews ambulance into the ground. The fans headed
to the Rovers bar but while there were chinned for the admission money.
(25/11/04)
Christmas Yoof Camp
The Rovers youth department are holding a Christmas football camp from 27 to the
30th of December. It will be running from 10.45 to 12.15 at Airdrie Leisure
Centre, for age groups from 6 to 11 years and all are welcome. Contact Willie
McNab at the club on 01236 606334 / 629001 for details or to put your kids name
down.
Youth supremo makes the following points
1. Get the kids out from under your feet, to give your good
lady the morning off for a change.
2. Let the kid come along and enjoy himself, without you shouting at him.
3. They could be selected to visit one of our training centres.
4. They could be selected into one of our Soccer sevens/ Youth Teams.
5. They then could be leaving school into fulltime employment with the Club and
also getting a Sports Recreation level 2 and 3 award.
6. You could be paying in to watch him for Albion Rovers First team.
7. See how easy it can be when you believe in Santa.
Calendars
Rovers calendars are hoped to be available from this Saturday, cost £5. As can
be seen from the pics below (click to enlarge) they consist of each month being
on an individual page which is contained in a CD case for display on any flat
surface.
Youth Audit
The club recently went through a health and safety audit just in relation to the
youth development programme. This went well and not wanting to minimise the
importance of health and safety general manager John Reynolds (as you can read
in his behind the scenes article in this week's programme cost
£1 from your friendly seller) says some of the things they have to
ensure are "frankly ludicrous". He points out the youngsters don't
handle machinery and the "dangers" they do face include mopping the
floors and cleaning boots. John wonders how Cliftonhill coped with 27381 people
in 1936 when many would have a carry out with them and smoking "like
lums" in a wooden stand
SFA Audit
The SFA will be visiting Cliftonhill next Tuesday to audit the club for
the licence which shall be a requirement from 2006. The conditions applying to
the granting of a licence are incredibly detailed and onerous to most clubs in
Scotland. Every aspect of the club comes under scrutiny such as qualifications
of coaches, boundary walls and ground maintenance in general. Requirements such
as massage tables in both team dressing rooms and officials dressing rooms too
and having an additional dressing room for mixed gender officials are also
requirements. It is suggested that any club not having a licence by the deadline
will cease to get any money from the SFA, that is youth funding (tens of
thousands of pounds per season to top rated clubs such as Rovers) and also
general distribution of money from things such as international matches and
sponsorship.
Pitch
The club has just spent a four figure sum on improving the pitch, having
vertidrain treatment and adding sand so that it can stand up to the forthcoming
winter weather.
Thanks
Kevin McAllister has thanked the travelling fans for their backing during the
recent poor run of results.
Christmas Lights
The Coatbridge Christmas lights were switched on yesterday in a ceremony by
presenter Heather Suttie and some Rovers personnel. The A&C Advertiser
failed to mention Rovers involvement.
More Youth News
The Youth Initiative is now closed for the shut down and will restart in
February 2005.
Fixtures
Sat 27th Nov Under 19s Away to St Johnstone 12.00 kick-off
Sun 28th Nov Under 17s Away to Cowdenbeath T.B.C.
These 2 teams finish up on the 12th December 2004
Youth co-ordinator (Willie McNab) for the kids teams, has organised their annual
karaoke/buffet night in the stadium lounge on Friday 10th December at 7.15pm in
conjunction with chick Young
Youth players day out will be to the Hollywood Bowl. Jimmy Lindsay has organised
his prizes for the winners and losers.
(20/11/04)
666
Three games against Gretna this season and the
Borders side have score 6 each time. That man Kenny Deuchar bagged 5 of the home
side's goals. New signing Paul McLaughlin started the match and Jim Mercer
returned after his injury. things could have been much worse as the
appropriately named referee Mr. Winter turned down no less than 3 strong penalty
claims by the league leaders.
A hardy band of supporters braved the freezing conditions to make the journey. A crowd of in excess of 2200 last week at Gretna was an official 626 this week.
A full match report will be on the site tomorrow.
(19/11/04)
New Signing
Kevin McAllister has signed 20 year old Paul McLaughlin formerly with Hearts and
just released by Alloa. He will be available for the Gretna match.
Calendar
The Rovers 2005 calendar is expected to be available
late next week (buy yours at the Elgin game on Saturday). It is a desk top
calendar contained in a clear holder similar in size to a C.D. the price is a
very reasonable £5.00.
(17/11/04)
Bus To Gretna
The bus to Gretna will leave Big Owen's at 12 noon on Saturday. The price for
this trip is £9 and you can text JJ on 07866 481272 or e-mail him at
wearingshades@hotmail.com
to reserve your place.
Reserves
As we told you on Monday Rovers went out of the
reserve league cup on Monday by losing 5-4 at Stranraer. Paul McManus scored a
hat-trick and the other Rovers goal was scored by Graeme McCaul. Rovers were 4-2
up with 10 minutes to go but a late collapse ended their cup chances.
Safety Certificate
Cliftonhill has just received it's new 12 month safety certificate.
Departures and Arrivals
Jamie McGowan has been released by Rovers due to his work commitments leaving
little time for training. Apparently the veteran player is in the midst of
setting up his own business. A direct replacement for Jamie could well be in
place by Saturday for the trip to Gretna. We understand that the arrival of a
couple of players on loan could well be in the pipeline in the near future.
Calendars
Rovers 2005 calendars could well be available in time for the Elgin match a week
on Saturday. They are desk calendars rather than the wall hanging type and will
cost (subject to confirmation £5), they are sponsored by Gavin Shanks &
Sons (David Shanks family company).
(15/11/04)
Reserve League Cup
As yet unconfirmed reports say that Rovers
reserves lost 5-4 at Stair Park, Stranraer tonight.
(13/11/04)
Yet
Another Drubbing
Rovers were on the end of a 3-0 drubbing at
Ochilview, their sixth match lost on the trot. The first goal was lost in about
70 seconds when Chick Connolly under-hit a passback and it didn't improve much
after that. East Stirlingshire gained a point to be just 3 points behind Rovers,
next week's only fixture in the 3rd division is us away at new league leaders
Gretna. A point or 3 there would secure Rovers from the danger of being bottom
of the league after the following Saturday's fixtures, having lost 12 goals to
Gretna in the 2 previous matches this season doesn't node well.
A full match report will be on the site tomorrow.
(11/11/04)
Management Duo Meet Fans
Manager Kevin McAllister and assistant Scott Crabbe
met hard-core fans at Cliftonhill tonight. Despite the teams' lowly league
position the duo were given a warm reception by the assembled fans. Wasting no
time the first question raised was "What's gone wrong this season?".
Needless to say this was a question which was easier to ask than answer. The
response basically boiled down to a lack of confidence and a large number of
injuries not helped by playing two games a week at the start of the season. The
managerial opinion is that the youngsters, many of whom are exciting prospects
are being relied on too much because of the injuries when they should be rested
more.
The manager stated he'd like 2 or 3 more players but it's not easy attracting worthy ones to Cliftonhill. When the transfer window opens in December some players may leave to make room for new boys. Swap deals have been actively considered but it's unclear whether anything of this sort will happen. A fan raised the physical make-up of the team being on the weedy side, the likes of Jim Mercer and Mark Yardley being missing has been to the detriment of the teams presence.
The duo confirmed that Chris Silvestro moving back into defence was not an ideal situation but it was felt necessary. It's perceived that the poor showing at Elgin was a turning point in the sides confidence and also dismissed the thought that there was a lack of fitness. They admitted that the pitch was now suffering due to the lack of attention during the close-season when it was thought the club would be playing elsewhere this season, but that affected both sides during a match.
Individual players were discussed throughout the meeting which lasted approx 75 minutes. Kerr Potter hasn't featured due to injury as has Graeme McCaul and Mark Yardley worked hard in training. When Jim Dick was mentioned by a fan as a possible signing target Crunchie indicated this was not on the cards.
It was revealed that players receive fines for receiving silly bookings such as Scott Crabbe's last Saturday. John Reynolds who was also present for much of the meeting chipped in that the discipline under Kevin's reign has been a marked improvement on recent years.
The meeting finished focusing on the one aspect of the team everybody seemed content with - namely the goalkeepers. Mark Peat and Chris Fahey received praise and Kevin McAllister showed sympathy for whichever had to sit out the match on the bench as both had been in good form despite the number of goals let in.
Jim Mercer and Jordan Smith may return in a couple of weeks time but they don't want to bring them back too soon as their injuries may recur.
Stenny Bus
The bus to Stenhousemuir will leave Owen's bar at 1.30
pm. The price is £5 per head call or text JJ on 07866 481272 to reserve your
seat or email him at wearingshades@hotmail.com.
(6/11/04)
"Must-win
match" Lost
Manager Kevin McAllister called the match
"must-win" but for the 8th match in succession Rovers failed to win
and for the 5th match in succession they lost. East Stirlingshire winning for the
first time this season has raised the real possibility of Rovers being bottom
dogs later this month. The last team Rovers beat was Stenhousemuir, who are of
course the team we visit next Saturday. The management duo can expect some
searching questions at the fans' forum this Thursday.
The only bright spot on by far the wettest day of the season was the Jed Stirling special from 25 yards. Chris Fahey regained the No. 1 jersey after his disagreement with the gaffer.
(3/11/04)
Karaoke
The Supporter's Bus Karaoke is this Friday
(5th) at 7.30 in the supporters' lounge. All are welcome whether they
travel on the Supporter's Bus or not! It costs £5 at the door for adults or £3
for kids. Food and drink shall be
on the menu as well as a quiz.
Fans'
Forum
The club has confirmed that the
forum shall be held in the supporters'
lounge on Thursday 11th November, kicking off at 7.30pm. Manager Kevin
McAllister and his assistant Scott
Crabbe will be in attendance.
Fixture
Change
As expected the Monday 27th December match at Gretna
has been brought forward to
Saturday 20th November the
Scottish cup 1st round day.