Thank God That's Over : Season 2009-10

So, the dust has finally settled on the most rotten campaign anyone following Montrose can remember.

The last time we came bottom of the third division, in 1998-99, under Kevin Drinkell, we ended up with thirty points, having won eight games. This season, we've won three fewer games, six fewer points, and have ended the season absolutely marooned, ten points behind a demonstrably abysmal Elgin side. The Scottish Cup run was a very rare bright thread, in an otherwise unrelentingly grim tapestry of abject failure.

The roots of this wretched season ran deep. Season 2008-9 ended on a note of optimism, with the club having narrowly failed to reach the play-offs, and the newly installed Steven Tweed had made a promising start to his managerial career. Even the most downbeat of Montrose fans would not have expected a bottom placed finish in the season to come.

Sadly, the civil war that was fought between Tweed and some elements then in the boardroom, were a major factor in the slow motion car crash that we've all witnessed. With a drastically reduced budget, Tweed was obliged to release the likes of Bradley and Hunter, players who had ensured that Montrose were a tricky and unpredictable opponent. The replacement of these players with juniors and cast offs who hadn't made the grade elsewhere, hardly inspired confidence.

We began the season with rumblings of discontent behind the scenes at Links Park, and a thin and inexperienced squad. The successful under-19 team were blooded a season too early in the first team. After a miserable few weeks, Tweed had to bring in fresh players, including McNeil, Tomana and the on-loan Paul Watson, stating that the youth teams were "there to augment the squad, not be the squad". The folly of an over-emphasis on youth was most painfully illustrated in the defeat down at Stair Park to a poor Stranraer side. Montrose's young boys were simply bullied off the park by a team with greater experience, and much greater physical presence. The worrying lack of funds to address the on field problems were made clear when the supporters set up their own Save Our Squad fund, to try and help the beleagured Tweed attract new players. the signing of Paul Watson and Tomana seemed to pay dividends initially, with a fighting 2-2 draw at Station Park, sealed by a last gasp 35 yard thunderbolt from Chris Hegarty. That was a game we really should have won, against a strangely listless and out of sorts Forfar.

A narrow and unfortunate defeat at Links Park to a struggling and form bereft Queens Park, on a rainy Tuesday night in October, saw Tweed abused by a small minority of the home support for the first time, whilst other fans voiced criticism of the then chairman and director of football. Still without a win, the club travelled north to face Banks O'Dee in the second round of the cup, with many fans fearing an embarrassing defeat.

The resultant comfortable victory showed the the side could play- and battle on through the biggest downpour I've ever watched a football match in. Cup form never looked likely to be replicated in the league, though, and the side passe up good opportunities to close out a first league win of the season- particularly in home games against Stranraer and Annan. These frustrating near-misses were offset with some utterly abject home defeats, where we simply gave games away through carelessness and lac of concentration. A 1-3 defensive disaster against Berwick Rangers ranks highly in that category.

The long freeze in December and January allowed the club to take stock a little bit. It was clear that certain members of the board wanted Tweed gone, but the money was not available to pay off his contract. There may also have been reluctance to change the manager whilst the club was still involved in the Scottish Cup, which had unexpectedly continued after a battling 2-1 home win against a desperate East Fife. The side entered the unscheduled winter shutdown on the back of a 2-3 defeat at Hampden, again unfortunate, but leaving Tweed tearing out the wispy fibres of his beard in rage, at the shortcomings of a half hearted and defensively slack Montrose showing.

The "high" point of the season undoubtedly came between the end of January and March. Further progress was made in the Cup at the expense of Edinburgh City, in a "nostalgic" trip to Meadowbank stadium. The club closed out an impressive 3-1 win, with remarkable goals scored by Stevie Nicholas, signed on a short term deal, and Daryl Nicol. That Saturday, we finally won, at the twentieth time of asking, down at Shielfield Park. The 2-0 success was fully merited, and hugely enjoyable, but with a professional display such as that, questions were asked as to why Montrose had failed in each of their previous nineteen games.

A week later, we were finally shot down in flames in the Cup, 5-1 by Hibs at Easter Road, but a 600-strong travelling support outsang the home fans throughout the match, and Andy McNeil put his name back on the sports pages, with a courageous and obdurate display in the Montrose goal. The passion for the club is still there in the town, and the players showed that they could really raise their performance level when necessary. The difficulty was in securing that level of performance every week, thereby encouraging some of the stay-aways in that crowd of 600, to come back to Links Park on a regular basis.

In March, the team finally gelled for a few games. Four victories were recorded, the stand outs being a battling 3-2 success against East Stirlingshire at the depressing half finished plastic surrounds of Ochilview, and a remarkable 4-0 destruction of Forfar at Links Park. A narrow single goal success up at Borough Briggs briefly lifted the side above Elgin, and hopes amongst the support that we could avoid bottom place.

Sadly, the end of the season was to be as miserable as the beginning. We finally surrendered a proud 13 year unbeaten record at Station Park, and finished the campaign by shipping five goals in each of our last two games. Whilst being destroyed at home, 5-0, by the championship winning Franchise, was no disgrace, the same cannot be said of last Saturday's awful capitulation up at Elgin. Needless to say, with only one point gained since Steven Tweed won the manager of the month award for March, the side finished well adrift at the foot of the table, all the early spring optimism having long dissipated.

So, what lessons can be learned?

Steven Tweed is a proud man, and he will be deeply hurt and embarrassed by the failure of his team this season. It's fair to say that the nature of his signings last summer, showed that he underestimated just how hard a league the third division is to get out of. We paid dearly for that in the first couple of months of the season. Further, the team's disciplinary record was absolutely abysmal throughout the campaign. The suspensions accrued seriously hurt our chances of ever getting off the bottom of the table for long. Disappointingly, the team seemed unable to concentrate for a whole ninety minutes. With the exception of cup games, we seemed to switch off for a minimum of twenty five minutes every game- that kind of dip in performance simply cannot be sustained at senior level. Some of the younger players had decent enough seasons- I'm thinking of Andy McNeil, Fraser Milligan, Aaron Sinclair, and, latterly, Daryl Nicol. The signings of Stephen McNally and Paul Tosh, although they inspired some initial doubts amongst the fans, proved inspired. However, too many of our other senior players were too consistently inconsistent, and they must aim to improve.

It's a puzzle to many opposition fans that Steven is still in a job at Links Park. He certainly gained a lot more sympathy from the fans last season than would normally be the case, because of the rumours circulating about behind the scenes goings-on. However, he really needs to get a grip of the squad this summer, and start producing results. There is a different board at Links Park now, a budget for next season has been agreed, and there is no impediment to the team making progress. If we start the season with a thin and under-trained squad, and some poor results, the calls for Tweed to go will grow substantially, and his position will be much harder to defend.

I don't want to say anything about the boardroom shenanigans. Two prominent members of the board have left to pursue new projects, and there is nothing to be gained from going over old ground. The task we all have now is to work with the board, to try and raise money for the club over the summer. More information will come out in the coming weeks, I'm sure, but with the club back in the hands of a locally based board of directors, we all have to play our part in ensuring that we move and progress back towards respectability and competitiveness, on and off the park, after this dreadful low point.

So, this, I suppose, is the summary of season 2009-10: never again!