Stockport winger Diamond banned for three games
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Press and Journal
3 hours ago
- Press and Journal
Elgin City boss Allan Hale on why he's not writing off Edinburgh City - despite their 15-point deduction
Elgin City boss Allan Hale says writing off clubs after 15-point deductions so early in the season makes no sense. His views come ahead of hosting Edinburgh City, who were docked that amount by the SPFL after suffering an insolvency event last month. Inverness were hit by the same margin in League One and escaped the drop due to their strong form last year and Edinburgh's third-placed finish in League Two suggests they'll have a fighting chance. They already have beaten Stranraer 2-1 and fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Annan Athletic to move to -11 points in the fourth tier. Edinburgh took 10 points from Elgin last term as their promotion hopes were dashed in the play-off semis by Dick Campbell's East Fife, who went up after beating Annan in the final. Annan squeezed past Elgin in the other semi-final to end the Black and Whites' bid for a first-ever promotion to League One. Hale is sure their weekend opponents will believe they have a fighting chance to stay up, while his side seek to add to their sole point after narrow losses to Annan and East Kilbride and a draw at in-form Dumbarton. He said: 'It's so early. When things like this happen, people jump to conclusions and say they'll finish bottom, which is not sensible when you consider what Edinburgh achieved last season, and the squad that they have. 'We drew once and lost three times against them last season, so we know we're going up against a good side. They play good football and they have a clear identity. 'Despite our results, we feel like we're in a good place. We're getting some players fitter and our confidence is starting to show within our performances. 'We will focus on the things we do well. We feel we have a chance against anyone.' Josh Walker scored a swerving opener in last week's 1-1 league draw at Dumbarton, with Scott Honeyman levelling for the Sons in the second half. It was a result which put City's first point on the board. The 24-year-old ex-Annan and Queen of the South attacker was snapped up earlier this month after playing just once for League One side Stenhousemuir after leaving Queens. Hale was delighted for Walker to open his account, but he revealed the words of advice which have been given to all City's front-line. He said: 'Josh is a really good technical player. He can go outside and inside. 'We just want him to do things a little bit quicker, just speed the game up a little bit. He took that message on board against Dumbarton and he took his goal really well. It was an excellent strike – the goalkeeper was never saving it. 'When he is in those forward areas, he has to get shots away early, which we're asking all our forward players to do more of, rather than score the perfect goal and walk it in. 'Josh has settled in really well within the group and his fitness and sharpness will improve. 'The way we play is slightly different to what he's been used to, but he's a really good addition for us.' Last week, Elgin brought in Arbroath midfielder Ali Spalding, 19, on loan for the season, with a January recall option, and he came off the bench in the second half at Dumbarton. Hale explained why he made the move and what he feels the title-winning player will add to the Moray side. He added: 'Against Inverness, we saw we were having to reply on Miko Virtanen and Mark Gallagher, who have had niggles. 'With Russell Dingwall and Lewis Hyde out injured, it was important to give ourselves another option in that area and not have to rely on the same players with the busy schedule we've got between now and the end of September. 'We were aware of Ali being available on loan and he only played 20 minutes on Saturday but showed up well. 'He's positive, with a good engine, and looks to play forward at the earliest opportunity. 'He's 19, but he made 30 appearances for Arbroath, who won League One last season, so that can only be a good thing for us.' Ross Draper is a doubt for Saturday's game against Edinburgh, joining the casualty list of Russell Dingwall, Lewis Hyde, Kyle Girvan and Owen Cairns.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Grassroots football to trial cooling-off periods in bid to tackle rise in misconduct
The Football Association is to introduce cooling-off periods in grassroots football in acknowledgement that 'more must be done' to contain bad behaviour by players at that level. A select number of grassroots leagues are to trial the system this year, a move that will allow referee to order players of both teams to stop and retreat to their penalty area in order to prevent 'escalation during heated moments in a match'. During 2023-24, the latest season for which figures are available, the FA received 4,277 allegations of serious misconduct at grassroots level, a 13% increase on the previous year. The governing body is committed to 'creating safe, respectful, and inclusive environments' in the grassroots game, according to its director of football development, James Kendall. 'We're clear on our position that all forms of unacceptable behaviour, whether on or off the pitch, have no place in football,' Kendall said. 'We've made good progress on addressing these issues, but we recognise there is still more to be done, and we need to constantly adapt, develop and evolve our procedures in line with changes in the game.' The International Football Association Board (Ifab), which determines the laws of the game, authorised trials of cooling-off periods in 2024. It argued the measure could be used in instances of 'significant confrontation' so as to 'prevent further confrontations and the need for the match to be abandoned.' Any player who does not adhere to a referee's instructions regarding a cooling-off period will receive a yellow card. Captains and coaches will then be charged with calming down their teammates before reporting back to the referee, who will use their discretion to restart play. The FA's aim is to keep any break brief, 'based on the seriousness of the situation and conditions'. Cooling-off is only one of several measures that will be deployed this season in a new crackdown on discriminatory behaviour, abuse of officials, and more general misconduct. Among the measures deployed include an extension of the use of referee body-cams across all leagues with persistent disciplinary problems and the introduction of the captain's-only protocol, whereby only the captain can discuss decisions with the referee, which is also to be adopted in the Premier League and Football League. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion The FA will also continue its 'behaviour improvement programme', introduced last year and by which clubs are ranked according to behaviour.
Scotsman
6 hours ago
- Scotsman
Hearts recall Liam McFarlane from Alloa to ease their goalkeeping problems
SPFL loan deal cancelled by Premiership parent club Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hearts today recalled Liam McFarlane from a loan at Alloa Athletic to ease goalkeeping problems at Riccarton. The 20-year-old signed a new long-term contract with his parent club this week and is now back at base with his season-long loan cut short after just six weeks. Injuries to first-team keepers Craig Gordon and Ryan Fulton prompted head coach Derek McInnes to bring McFarlane back. The Edinburgh club will continue looking for a new signing to compete for the No.1 position alongside Zander Clark, McFarlane and Harry Stone. McFarlane's return is designed to ease some of the pressure around the situation in the meantime. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Alloa signed McFarlane on loan on 7 July this year and he made seven competitive appearances. He performed admirably in four Premier Sports Cup group matches and two League One fixtures as Andy Graham's side won all of their first six games this season. Their first defeat came at Ibrox on Saturday as Rangers won 4-2 in the Premier Sports Cup last 16. For now, that will be McFarlane's last game with the Clackmannanshire club. He agreed a new deal ahead of rejoining Hearts, securing his future with the previous agreement set to expire at the end of this season. Coaching staff feel he has the potential to challenge for the No.1 position in time. It remains to be seen how quickly he can challenge Clark but Hearts are still eager to bring in another goalkeeper before the transfer window closes on 1 September. Management want stronger competition for the No.1 role and enquiries have been made to a number of clubs, including Everton regarding their 23-year-old reserve keeper Harry Tyrer. He is one of many names on Hearts' shortlist. The situation needs attention with Clark's performances unconvincing so far this season. Injuries to Gordon and Fulton merely exacerbated the problem. Gordon was Hearts' first-choice keeper last season but the 42-year-old is sidelined with a nerve complaint in his shoulder which arose in May. Clark, 33, was promoted as Gordon's deputy for the new campaign with Fulton as back-up. However, Fulton is now out with a torn groin muscle suffered last Friday. Medical scans suggest he will be absent for between three and four months. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Stone, 23, was Hearts' substitute goalkeeper against St Mirren on Saturday. He has yet to make a senior appearance for the Tynecastle side and was earmarked for a loan move before the injury issues worsened. Hearts are keen to trim the size of their squad if they can before the end of the month. Adding another goalkeeper would increase numbers but, with Gordon and Fulton missing for long periods, the process of finding another keeper is underway. The club will not rush into a decision on any new recruit and are currently looking at a range of different options ahead of Saturday's match with Motherwell in Gorgie. McInnes explained the situation as it stands. 'We've brought young Liam back from Alloa, we recalled him today,' he said. 'It was something that we were thinking about so that kind of settles us down in terms of numbers and options. We'll just continue to keep abreast of that situation and see where we're at. We are looking [at other goalkeepers]. I think it'd be remiss not to at the minute, so we're just having a look. Whether we can land one that we feel can come in, we'll see. With Ryan's injury, it's probably accelerated that.' McFarlane and Stone's lack of top-level experience counts against them but McInnes has assessed both keepers closely since pre-season training began in June. 'The one thing they don't have is that real first team experience at Hearts, but sometimes that's always the hardest bit to get to,' said the manager. 'You've obviously got every day in training where they've got an opportunity to impress. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Liam trains with us, as Harry does every day. Liam's had the benefit of going out on loan this season and it's been really positive up until now. It wasn't something we wanted to do and recall him, but we need to thank Alloa for their understanding and the co-operation with that as well. Andy Graham has done a good job with Liam but we feel that, by getting Liam back, we're bringing him back to provide competition.' Gordon is slowly working his way back from injury and is now managing parts of training. He is still weeks away from any first-team action, however. 'Craig's a wee bit longer-term,' explained McInnes. 'Craig is just doing bits and pieces with [coach] Paul Gallacher and the goalkeeping department, but not putting consecutive days really together at the minute. He's getting closer. 'I think Craig's a lot more positive about it. I think everybody's starting to breathe a wee bit easier that we seem to be coming to the kind of end point. There are still no guarantees of timelines for me when I ask the question to the medical team, other than he's progressing and hopefully over the next few weeks he'll be back in full training.' More to follow....
