Div 3 Press - AUGUST'06

This is the first blurb from the new Forfar manager.

Not a new experience, SESL, as I was in earlier on as manager of East Fife till I took Hibs from relegation one season to the Cup Final the next.

Heady days and not likely to be repeated with this motley crew. 3rd division will give me a chance to build and try to move up. (At least there is no relegation here).

I won't go into the realms of guessing the likely promotion candidates etc only to say I am pleased to be back and I do recognise quite a few names from the past (and other PBeMs!!)

Forfar has a few bob to spend so there will be changes to the team lineups as new lads are brought in, but season 1 (17 to you) will be spent competing and surviving and building - enough to get on with.

I am happy to deal with trade offers, and for good measure am probably the oldest player in the League - controversilal or what SESL/header.gif

See you around - good luck to all for the upcoming matches.

Dave (FOR)

Welcome (back) to SESL David.

Oldest manager in sesl, eh? If you go senile, remember to trade me your 20+ SL players first !

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Ross County Press

It is going to be a major challenge starting off at Ross County this season.
The club lacks depth and there is a distinct lack of firepower upfront.
However ROS is solid with their starters in net, the back four and midfield.
ROS is going to rely heavily on starting 'keeper Les Patterson to keep the twine at the back of the ROS net from bulging. The back four of Gough, McQueen, Craig Campbell, recently acquired potential Scottish super defender Willie Miller are oozing with potential. After a little bit of coaching, this unit should be amongst the best set of defenders in the division.
Gordon Strachen and John Rankin form a highly rated solid core in ROS's midfield
with Lovenkrands and Challanger backing them up. The main concern about the ROS midfield is their lack of depth. If ROS manager Len Lear can't work his magic in getting a couple of other MF's to support the existing crew, ROS will be in deep doodoo by the middle point of the season.
The major problem facing ROS this coming season is the lack of firepower from their forwards. Davie Winters will be ROS's main striker backed by a journeyman group of Joe McAllister, Marek Heinz, and Ben Gray. This entire upfront group does not appear as if it would be able to strike any fear into the hearts of opposing teams this season.
ROS Manager Len Lear said," I have my work cut out for me especially with trying to improve the lot of our strikers. If ROS's strikers had been stronger last season then I have no doubt in my mind that ROS would have remained in D-2."
To sum everything up with ROS. They have a lack of depth and not much scoring power. This is going to cost ROS a chance at promotion this season. However, I feel they should be good enough to finish in top 10 in D-3.
ROS Manager Len Lear wishes all SESL teams - good luck this season!
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Good luck at ROS Len, how many clubs have you managed in SESL now?

Stirling relegated to division 3 is about to start the season with an double game against Queens Park for the Cecil Cup. A difficult task to proceed to the next round but if it is over and out after these 2 games, no worries.
No worries because the goal for this season is to rebuild the team, promotion is not necessarry, going for a playoff is good enough for now. Next years goal is definitely promotion.

I lost count...just kidding!
I only switched this time to accomodate Richard B. at NAI because apparently he is a devoted NAI fan(so I am told) or I would have stayed where I was. Just trying to help out the SESL. I intend to stay at ROS for a long time.

Good luck at FOR , Dave.

I can confirm that i am a real life Nairn County fan and will be attending Princess Royal Park(Deveronvale) this saturday to watch them in action. I also was lucky enough to represent Nairn County at all youth levels and would of broke into the first team if i had not moved to Aberdeen to attend University.

After a less than stellar conclusion to the campaign that saw a talented team struggle towards relegation despite talent all over the pitch, ELG returns to the Third Division with an immediate return to the second flight on the agenda.

Let's take a look at the side department by department:

Goalkeeping

Arguably the strongest portion of the team. Trialist Keiron Renton joins as a 1/16 to prove an able understudy to number one Gary Bailey. "In my managerial career, I haven't had this sort of depth between the sticks. We're looking to keep both players and improve this area to give both a chance to be elite keepers in this division," manager Kyle McCarthy said.

Defense

A bit of a worrisome area as McCarthy has only seven fit defenders from which to choose and only four should see the pitch. John Mackay and Hugh Dickson are seasoned campaigners who will have to shoulder most of the load. Peter Canero is a star in the making who looks to improve in leaps and bounds, while Paul Kaczan is starting to feel his age but remains a fixture due to a lack of depth in the defensive third.

"Obviously, this is a compartment where the team needs some strengthening. If that means we have to play a midfielder out of position to provide some cover, then that's what we'll have to do," McCarthy said. "But don't think we're done here. We know we can't get through the season with four decent fullbacks."

Midfield

Cagey veteran James McKenzie leads a midfield that can go four deep without calling on wingers and holds a fifth player in reserve. McKenzie is the star of the show and will be called upon to score goals from midfield with his box to box play. Dan Fitzgerald and Alan Muir are competent professionals who will do a job. Captain Fraser Bremner looks to have a beat on the fourth spot in midfield if McCarthy opts to play four in that department.

"We look reasonably solid in the middle of the pitch," McCarthy said. "We're four or five deep and we usually only play a formation that requires three from that group in our starting eleven."

Attack

Four talented offensive players comprise a solid midfield grouping. Target forward Leighton Buzzard is the team's most talented player and he'll have to lead the line. Wingers Paul Napier and Wesley Millwood provide plenty of service for Buzzard while young sensation Boab McMillan will increasingly shoulder the load as the season progresses.

"I like our depth and variety going forward," McCarthy said. "We can rely on Leighton and Boab to tally the goals with Paul and Wesley providing service."

Other notes

General depth concerns throughout the side have led to the manager calling for more funds in the transfer market. The side will have to get younger in order to look towards the future in higher divisions. Is a blockbuster trade in order to get younger players into the fold?

That's great stuff, Richard. I really am glad I could be of assistance. Your devotion to NAI is totally unquestionable!
Even though I am Canadian, I have followed several Scottish teams for some time but I won't tell you who they are because I will probably put the kiss of death on them by telling you who they are! SESL/goodluckicon.gif

East Stirlingshire starts of with dissappointment

This new season must be the season of the revival of East Stirlingshire. The last few seasons weren't very good and the team was seen on the last few place on the division 3 ranking a lot. But manager Bijlsma reformed the squad and has a strong, young and powerfull team on the field.

Look at the names in the squad and you will be impressed. Players like Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel en Dennis Gentaar have a bright future on their mind and trying to bring the famous club East Stirlinghsire to higher grounds.

What can we expect then? Lots of spectacular football with hopefully a lot of goals in front and not much goals against the team. But isn't this logic for football? Offcourse it is, but we bring it with beautifull soccer and the fans will cheer on the benches. Only a couple of minutes they are sitting on it.... Only during the half-time break. The rest of the match they will stand of the tension and sensation going trough the stadium.

QOS 3 - EST 1

But the season didn't start out very well, but that was expected. In the CECIL-cup qualifiers EST had to face a very strong team. Queens of the Stonea....no.... Queens of the South was the opponent and will be again next saturday. This is a very strong side which EST could expect in forehand to lose against.

QOS 3 - EST 0. This is harsh. East Stirlingshire fought brave and kept a 0-0 standing at the half-time break. A couple of changes weakened the team a little bit. But QOS was strong en scored three times. Nothing to do against.

Bijlsma: "The numbers on the scoreboard aren't deserved. We deserved a draw or maybe a small loss. Now the chances for qualification is almost nothing. With a small loss we could give Queens of the South a hot afternoon coming saturday. We won't give the match away, but we realize the chances are almost nothing."

First new player arrived at EST

Early in the season East Stirlingshire aquired a new player. Enes Demirovic joined the team from Peterhead. The Bosnian player is a young midfielder, which means he is a future star.

Bijlsma: "I'm very happy with Enes, he's talented, but we know he needs some time to evaluate to a class player. But there's no doubt he'll get to that."

OK with the 1st Leg of the Cup prelim out of the way(Lost 3-1 at Clyde) No big disaster , we can turn it around at home ! . The Motherwell coaching staff are looking ahead to a season in Division 3 which promises to be Eventfull at the very least.There are a number of Classy teams in the Division (St Mirren;Elgin &Forfar). Fraserburgh look outclassed & Aged but have bags of resources so their coach has a busy time ahead to get them competitive. Forfar & MOT have the youngest squads in the Division,Stirling need to boost their OTF if they want to figure in the honours race!
My Predictions are
1. MOTHERWELL
2.St Mirren
3.Forfar
4.Elgin
Fraserburgh & Greenock fighting for the Wooden Spoon
Scott McDonald to be Div 3 Top Scorer