CALM AFTER THE STORM

Signed up Cammy Russell, Ryan Conroy and Dale Carrick are contracted for the next campaign After steadying the ship, could the Diamonds shine with a fresh start in League One next season?

Mark Pirie

It’s a season no fan will be keen to look back on, manager Stephen Findlay admitted last week.

A seventh placed finish and being knocked out of every cup competition in the opening round doesn’t make great reading for the diehard Diamonds who turn up at the Excelsior Stadium every week.

However, after statements from the former chairman and pundits backing the club for relegation the New Broomfield club are still here, and still in League One.

The season kicked off with no official manager following the departure of Mark Wilson just before the start of the season.

Director of football Gordon Dalziel and assistant boss Donald Jennow led the patched up Diamonds, made up mostly of youth players, to a lacklustre Betfred Cup campaign.

Star striker Andy Ryan left for Dunfermline, and was soon followed out the door by firstchoice keeper Rohan Ferguson - who was immediately loaned back from new parent club Motherwell.

They shipped 10 goals and won just once in a group that featured Partick Thistle, St Mirren, Livingston, and Stranraer - in hindsight one of the tougher draws.

For the opening day league defeat to Forfar, Dalziel’s pal Willie Aitchison was drafted into the dugout.

The former Hearts coach took over in the dugout with Jennow preparing to exit, and had seemed to steady the ship, picking up points and being joined by a host of loanees from Hamilton and Motherwell.

However, that proved to be another false dawn as chairman Jim Ballantyne chose to wield the axe and sack the gaffer just weeks into his reign - despite winning the Monklands derby at Cliftonhill.

Following the public bust-up and a host of high-profile names being touted for the job, former under-20s coach Stephen Findlay took the helm with Marc Fitzpartick.

They were picking up points, and keeping their head above water. However, a 7-1 defeat to Arbroath, a Scottish Cup exit to Highland League outfit Cove Rangers at the Excelsior and another humbling 6-1 defeat to East Fife will live long in the memories of punters.

After the drubbing by The Fifers, Findlay decided to take on the mantra ‘ if you can’t win games, don’t lose them’. In the end, this is what kept the Diamonds in the league.

The New Broomfield outfit have drawn the most games in League One this term and with a questionable backline managed to grind out enough points.

A squad overhaul saw a number of players arrive in Airdrie last January, as the consortium ushered in a new era - and handed both Findlay and Fitzpatrick new deals, while formalising them as manager and assistant.

A play-off push was touted by some of the incoming talent. In the end the squad never seemed to mesh as quickly as was needed to put any pressure on the top four.

The League One season ended where it began, with defeat to the Loons in a typical end-of-season clash.

With Raith the only full- time team in League One next season and with a host of new recruits promised by management and directors there is cause for optimism for the chasing pack.

With eleven players signed up for the next campaign the Diamonds could sparkle next season.