After the immense disappointment of the play offs last season, Cowden will be hoping for a more successful season. With very few changes being made to the squad (at the time of writing) it is a good foundation for the team to build on. Out went Derek Fleming, Gary Cenerrazzo and fellow youngster Callum Young. That left manager Danny Lennon with David Hay, Mark Baxter, Kenny Adamson, Scott Linton, Joe Mbu, Darren McGregor, Jay Shields, Danny Mackay, Jon Robertson, Marek Tomana, Mark Ramsay, Jay Stein, Brian Fairbairn, Paul McQuade, John Gemmell, John Dempster, Graeme Brown and John Ferguson all signed on for this coming season.
This squad has recently lost striker Graeme Brown who left the club by mutual consent for personal reasons. Graeme leaves with the best wishes of everybody associated with Cowden and he is truly a Cowden great after playing in over 200 games for the club and scoring over 50 goals. Replacing Graeme will be Gareth Wardlaw who signed a few weeks ago. Gareth formerly of Raith Rovers and Ayr United will be hoping to make a big impression at Cowden after leaving recently promoted Raith. Right now Gareth is the only signing to have been made by Lennon.
In the writers opinion a couple more signings are required. Davie Hay is the only senior goalkeeper at the club (and is a superb keeper) but if he was to receive an injury it would mean a youth keeper coming in. While I believe it is good for youth to be brought into the team (last year we saw Scott Linton, John Robertson, Danny Mackay and John Ferguson all make a significant impact) it would be advisable for another goalkeeper to be brought in to act as back up to 'The Cat'. Last year we saw young Rangers goalkeeper Scott Gallacher come on loan and he did a fine job. Perhaps another loan signing to act as back up would be an ideal solution.
The defence was the main reason why Cowden came so close to glory last year. The team only let in 34 league goals (in the 36 league games) which was the lowest number in the league. Unfortunately John Armstrong has returned to Hearts after another successful loan spell at Cowden and I am sure every Cowden fan out there wishes that he will return to the club in the coming years. While there is still 2 very talented centre halves at the club in Joe Mbu and Darren McGregor it is important that another one be signed up to act as cover. The 2 full-back positions are fine with club captain Mark Baxter at right back while Kenny Adamson returns from injury to take his left back role. There is back up to both positions with Jamie Reid and Scott Linton coming through the youths and impressing in appearances last year.
The midfield needs a goal scorer in its ranks. While of course it is hard to find a player like this it is probably the main area where Cowden lacked throughout the whole of last season with only Brian Fairbairn contributing a significant number of goals. That is not to say that the other players did not contribute greatly to the Cowden cause last year but a midfielder who chips in with around 7 or 8 goals a season is vital to every club. Last seasons champions had Ross Clark who notched in 15 goals for the Sons from midfield! Of course though, Cowden may have this player in their ranks in the form of Jay Stein who came into form towards the end of the season. It is vital that Cowden have a midfielder to help out the strikers in the scoring charts.
Up front Cowden only managed to score 48 goals in the league campaign which is not good enough for a side to win the league. In recent years Dumbarton have scored 65, East Fife scored 77 and even ourselves notched 81 goals when we won the league in 2005/06. That is not to say that our strikers did not do us proud last year - John Gemmell was superb up front and hopefully with an injury free season can score at least 15 goals this term. Paul McQuade was also on form up until his injury in January which hampered his performances towards the end of the season when Cowden also suffered from a lack of goals. Hopefully next season can see Paul recapture his form alongside Gemmell. If these 2 are on form then there is no reason why Cowden cannot launch a serious title bid especially with John Dempster and Gareth Wardlaw waiting in the wings.
It will be a tough though for Cowden to win the championship. Forfar Athletic have strengthened in true Dick Campbell fashion with experience (players like Chris Templeman and Kevin Fotheringham know what it takes to win the league) while East Stirlingshire will be hoping to build on their play off position last year. Recently relegated Stranraer and Queens Park will both be hoping to bounce back although neither club have signed too many new players on. Annan Athletic will be hoping to continue their progress in the league after a solid debut season while Albion and Elgin have strengthened too. Cowden's derby side this season Berwick will be aiming for at least a play off spot after a disappointing campaign last year. Dark horses though could be Montrose who have strengthened their squad with no fewer than 9 players - it can be hard to gauge how well a team will do with so many new players that will take a while to gel into a team.
For Cowden without signing another centre halve, a back up goalkeeper and perhaps another centre midfielder it may well be tough to challenge for the league title although a play off spot is definitely reachable. With those 3 new signings? The league championship trophy could well be returning to Central Park…..
First up for Cowden is Peterhead away on cup duty on the 25th of July. Before then though Cowden have 4 more pre-season games lined up:-
- Cupar Hearts v Cowdenbeath, Saturday 11th July @ 2.15pm @ Duffus Park
- Ross County v Cowdenbeath, Saturday 18th July @ 3pm @ Victoria Park
- Lothian Thistle v Cowdenbeath XI, Wednesday 22nd July @ 7.15pm @ Saughton Astro
- Cowdenbeath v St. Johnstone, Tuesday 28th July @ 7.30pm @ Central Park
Cowden have already played Partick Thistle in a closed door friendly last Saturday. The full time first division side came away with a 4-1 victory with young John Ferguson getting a late consolation goal for Cowden.
Roll on the new season!