Brechin boss Ray McKinnon has found some positives in a Glebe Park season that failed to bring the push for the Play-Offs that was expected last summer.
Injuries ruined any hope of a successful campaign and after a brief flirtation with relegation issues, Brechin secured their League 1 status last Saturday by defeating Stranraer 2-1.
McKinnon said: “We have achieved safety however overall it has been a disappointing season. We could still finish fifth or sixth in League 1 but especially with the squad of players that we have that is less than we had hoped for.”
“We aimed for the promotion Play-Offs however injuries have ruined our season.”
The former Dundee United and Aberdeen player talked through the season’s woes saying: “Things started badly early on as our skipper Ewan Moyes was knocked over by a car in the summer. That has affected him adversely all season and also in pre-season we could tell that Jonny Brown was not quite right after an ankle operation.”
“After his first game for us Bobby Barr needed a hernia operation. To be fair to Bobby he came off the bench regularly for 10 – 15 minutes in a lot of games until he got the operation done. What we saw in those short spells we wanted on the pitch for the entire game but we never got it until half way through the season.”
“That was 3 key players struggling right from the kick-off.”
McKinnon added: “Those injuries caught us off guard a bit and then when we got other injuries on top of them we were struggling. Derek Carcary who was really influential for us last season when his pace unsettled defences has been in and out all season with hamstring trouble.”
“Greg Cameron and Stephen Robb are other players who were in for a while and out for a while, it was very frustrating. Garry Kenneth was brought in to help and he suffered a hamstring injury after a couple of games and our goalkeeper Graeme Smith was also out for 4 weeks after breaking a bone in his hand.”
Brechin’s defence was the worst hit area with McKinnon saying: “Against Arbroath at the beginning of March we lost three defenders to injury by half-time and lost the game 4-2. Against Rangers three weeks later we lost two defenders to injury by half time as well and lost that game 2-1. It is still going on just now as big Gerry McLachlan went off injured against Stranraer last Saturday although at least we won that one.”
“We had so many injuries in defence Darren Petrie who joined us on-loan from Dundee United as a holding midfielder has gained a lot of experience as a defender as well.”
McKinnon also could not replace like for like as he explained: “We had to change the shape of the team that we wanted to play during the season until we got all these guys back. We had to mix and match as we don’t have players that can just swap in and out.”
“That put an unfair burden on Alan Trouten and Andy Jackson to get goals but to be fair to them they did that well until the inevitable happened. We lost Alan for two months and Andy broke a thumb.”
McKinnon has found positives as he explained: “It has been a really challenging season for us as a group and a really challenging season for me individually.”
“At the start of the season everyone felt that we should be aiming for the Play-Offs and we had the squad to do that. We showed that in four great games with Rangers where we had them worried in every game before losing. We beat Dunfermline and drew with them at home and only a late, late penalty goal cost us a draw at their place.”
“We have now beaten Stranraer and are unbeaten against Ayr United and that tells you what might have been. However we could not win consistently against the teams below them. We always seemed to lose bad goals to the teams in mid-table and below and just never got out the habit of doing that.”
McKinnon continued: “We are safe but it is frustrating to be 6 points from the Play-Offs as that shows you what could have been. Relegation was never a threat or a real concern however my blood pressure did get raised when East Fife won at Dunfermline and we lost to Rangers the next day.”
“There was pressure building on us but we got the job done at Stranraer but needless to say that was after a switch-around as Gerry went off and Stephen Jackson came on. He is usually a full back but had to go on at centre half.”
“His big brother was playing with a broken thumb so he could not complain too much.”
The 43-year-old reckons that a lack of consistency came from a lack of a consistent line-up as he added: “A lot of teams around us in the table have had a settled line up week in and week out and we never had that until recently. We have been more settled recently and we have seen the benefit of Greg Cameron and Robert Thomson playing regularly recently.
“After two or three games they were up to match speed and it was good that Robert scored the goal that kept us in the Division down at Stranraer.”
McKinnon summed things up by saying: “In looking for some benefits I have found some. I suppose you could say that the experience I have had this season, my first full season as a manager, will stand me in good stead for my longer career. Some managers may be in their job for a long time before they get the run of injuries we had.”
McKinnon will use what he has learned saying: “I will take time to reflect on it all and re-shape the squad and remodel how we do things for next season. It has been a great learning curve and I need to use what I have learned.”
There could be significant changes with McKinnon saying: “I have to consider our location and where players come from to train and play with us. Sometimes this season we have allowed players to go out running one night close to their home and come to us for training one night.”
“The players have kept themselves fit however I am not sure that approach is the most effective when it comes to organising the team. It can make things difficult and a new season might mean a new approach. I have to look at it as there is no point in experiencing a painful season and not learning from it.”
The omens are good for next season with McKinnon saying: “We have ‘Trouts’ and Andy signed up already and that is a terrific start. They are two of the best players in the league and they have their pick of teams but they enjoy it here. Their signings give us something to build on.”
“We will take stock and rebuild during the summer. We have quality here already and want to get more on board. Hopefully we can have a much easier time of things injury wise next year.”
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