Welcome to the Captain's Corner...the only place to come to find out the exclusive views of Arthurlie skipper Roland Fabiani

New Entry - October 6th 2006

Against Maryhill my previous fears were confirmed when
we started the game very poorly and were on the back
foot from the start. We were very fortunate to go in
at the break level thanks to a well taken goal from
Joe Andrews. I think scoring the goal just on half
time gave us the spur we needed and also seemed to
deflate Maryhill as they never seemed to perform as
well after the break. In the end i thought it was a
very good three points especially when we were reduced
to 10 men while the score was still 1-1. nothing has
been mention of the Maryhil player who lost his teeth
in a challenge with big Fergie and i'm sure we all
wish him the best and hope he hasnt suffered any
serious complications. I think Maryhill had a number
of very good players and i'm sure they will start
picking up the points required to keep them in the top
league for next season.
Next up we faced Shotts away and i have never played
in such a one sided game in which i have lost. It
seems recently that although we are defending well and
limiting teams to very few chances we seemed to be
getting punished for any mistakes we are making as was
the case in both the Shotts goals. On another day we
would probably have scored at least five and the
Shotts players and management were just as stunned to
have come away with the three points. One thing that
is maybe a concern is the indiscipline in the team
recently having had Davie Williams sent off for a
straight red card against Maryhill then we got Paul
Hilland and myself sent off against Shotts. The
sending off for Paul came about after a melee in the
shotts box following a push on Brian Wardle. Paul
having already been booked received a 2nd yellow and
marching orders having got himself involved although
he states the referee yellow carded him for an offence
he didn’t commit. I always find it amazing that a
referee can pick players out of such a melee and
produce yellows cards when there is about 15 players
involved pushing and pulling each other and it did
seem he was intend on dishing cards out to us. Shortly
after I have went into a tackle with their sub who
caught me out with his pace. I genuinely thought I was
going to win the ball when I went into the tackle and
was astounded when I was shown a red card. Maybe I’m
wrong but I didn’t feel it justified a red although as
soon as I done it I knew I was off the park as I
thought I was getting a 2nd yellow. As captain I was
disappointed in myself as I have enough experience to
know not to make tackles like that having been booked
already. The club have put in an appeal against the
sending off so I will be eligible until this is heard.
The one thing in my mind that did come out of this
game, which people might not agree with, is that it
showed we don’t have what it takes yet to be a
championship winning side. To win leagues you have to
win games not only when you are playing well but also
when not playing well and grinding out results.
Playing so well and taking nothing is not good enough
to win leagues especially not this one when it is so
tight. I’m not saying we wont come good as we have as
good a squad as any team in the division but it
probably wont be towards the end of the season and
into the next that we will really start to find the
consistency required, hopefully i'll be proved wrong
!!!
Next we have the perfect game to pick ourselves up,
the league and Scottish cup holders, Auchinleck. The
good thing about facing them is the players will need
no motivation at all and a win will give us a
confidence boost for the up and coming games. This
will undoubtedly be the hardest game we will have
played as they have improved their squad from last
season and reports suggest they play far more football
now. One of their main driving forces is Bryan Slavin
in the middle of the park, a good friend of mine, and
if we can stop him playing and making his box to box
runs then that will go some way to giving us the edge.
This is the type of games everyone looks forward to
and I hope we have a good turnout for the game which
will hopefully cheer us on to victory.!

New Entry - September 15th!

In the last few weeks we have now well and truly got into the nitty gritty of league footy. Playing Kilsyth at home was a real benchmark for the team as they came up the year before and finished in a very good league position causing many teams problems. In the first half some of the football we played was the best I have been associated with in my time in the Juniors and we should have had the game well and truly finished by half time. Unfortunately the old cliché ‘ a game of two halves’ came into play and we really didn’t play again after the break allowing Kilsyth to put us under pressure.

The following week we took the long journey to Glenafton, one of my favourite grounds as I have very rarely lost there! and in stark contrast to Kilsyth this was a poor game in ever sense of the word. We didn’t defend well, we didn’t pass well and until their goalies mistake we didn’t look like scoring either … Saying that I still thought we were better than Glenafton! It was just one of them days when we had too many guys not performing and we all knew we had let ourselves down badly. In the dressing room after the game it was like a morgue and that shows the high standards the players have set themselves already this season.

The following week we were back at home this time against the Farmer boys. It’s always great to be playing a derby game and everyone was up for this one. One sad note during the week before the game was the departure of Aaron Cairns and Tony McCann. Both players were finding it hard to get onto the bench never mind playing and took the decision to look for pastures new.  Both will be a loss to the club as I think they had something to offer especially Tony who I thought was an excellent player. Tony was unfortunate that competition for his preferred central midfield berth was probably more fierce than at any other Junior club with so many excellent players having been brought in by Gary. I wish both players well and hope Tony gets himself a regular start in the premier where his talents belong.

Onto the Neilston game … Despite a shaky start I thought we controlled this game and if it hadnt been for some excellent goalkeeping (Again!) by the Neilston no1 then we would have scored a few more. We still didn’t play as fluently as we did against Kilsyth but at least we didn’t concede any and I don’t think James had a proper save to make. It was good to see Martin Hughes back in the team, he was  running around like a terrier nipping at anything that moved and I think he will prove to be a very important player for us in the coming weeks. A lot has been said about the size of our squad but against Neilston we were down to 15 players due to injuries and holidays. ( I wonder if the McLaughlin brothers will come back a whiter shade of pink from Tenerife!) and it shows you that we may need all these players in the coming months. I think that the guys who have been chomping at the bit to come in done there chances no harm against Neilston and the likes of Smudger and big Fergie will be pleased with the way they performed against the ‘ton’.

Next up we have Maryhill … and this will be the first time I have gone there not knowing what to expect! … Only three seasoned pro’s still remain there after last season including my old mate and every Arthurlie fans favourite player … Kevin O’Neil. The new manager has brought in mostly untried younger amateur players due to financial constraints and this makes them very difficult opponents, as they are an unknown quantity. I’m sure Gary will be making this clear to the players that we must approach the game with the same attitude as before or we will come away with nothing. But we won’t need any motivation for at least five of our players! 

On a totally separate issue it was good to see my old team Kilwinning Rangers get their first league win of the season against Johnstone B and I hope their seasons now takes a turn for the better now. 

Come on the Lie 

Column no1 - Tuesday 8th August