Mark Cowie has backed Fraserburgh to come good this season and hopes their fortunes will start to change in the Scottish Cup this weekend.
The Broch are without a win in their last five games and have amassed 14 points from 11 Breedon Highland League matches this term which sees them sitting 12th in the table.
Cowie is the longest serving manager in north football and since his appointment at Bellslea in April 2015 he has guided the Buchan club to eight trophies.
As well winning the Highland League title, four Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cups and three Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shields, Fraserburgh have enjoyed memorable cup ties against the likes of Rangers, Kilmarnock, Falkirk and Arbroath.
Given that success and their recent results the Broch have been the subject of scrutiny, but Cowie is sure they will turn the corner.
This weekend Fraserburgh are at home to Rothes in the first round of the Scottish Cup and still have the Aberdeenshire Shield and R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup to come later in the campaign.
‘We haven’t been hitting the standards’
Cowie said: “Frustrating is probably the word to describe things recently.
“We’re in our 10th season in the job and we haven’t really had a spell like this. These things happen, we just need to do our best to come out of it and we will.
“We haven’t been hitting the standards that we have set. I’ve said to the boys that they set the standards, when we start dropping below that in terms of performances and we aren’t getting the results then folk will start questioning you.
“You become victims of your own success. We’re getting back up towards a full squad and hopefully we can get the confidence up and go on a run, which we’re more than capable of doing.
“We’ve had some good results this season, but we’ve had a lot more not so good results than we’d like.
“At the same time we’ve had a spell where we were missing nine players for some games and that would decimate any squad.
“I’m not panicking, there’s a lot of noise coming our way, but we know what we’ve got in the dressing room and we know we can turn it around if we stick together, which we will.
“On our day we’re one of the best sides in the league and I don’t think anyone can dispute that.
“The previous nine seasons have been laden with success and at any level when you have success there’s an expectation rise and a desire for more success.
“But it’s not easy to win things in this game, because of what we’ve done in the past nine years when we have a spell like this people start questioning you.
“They’re used to Fraserburgh winning a lot of games and being in finals.”
Boss brushes off flak
Cowie is unperturbed by criticism that may be coming Fraserburgh’s way and added: “Criticism doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve been in the game long enough and I know if we don’t get results I get flak and my head is on the chopping block.
“I know what I do, I know what I put into the job and the club. I still believe I’m capable of having success.
“I don’t know if we’re the most successful team in the league over the last decade, but we’re in the top two or three.
“There’s a lot of noise about different things and I’ve had a couple of arguments with players, but that happens and I’ll back my players until the day I stop.
“They’re a very good bunch of players and more than that they’re a good bunch of people.
“Sometimes you need a bit of flak to inspire you to prove people wrong and we’re more than capable of doing that.
“People are entitled to their opinions, people will have their opinion on the way we play and the way Fraserburgh is.
“But I’ve got my own thoughts on it and over the last nine years I don’t think you could argue too much about the way the boys have performed.
“I block out the criticism and I’ve got a good board who are behind me. Speaking to the players there’s nobody more upset about the way we’re playing than them.
“We know we haven’t hit the standards we’re capable of and we need to get back to that.
“Hopefully we can get a reaction against Rothes, as well as the Scottish Cup we’ve got the Aberdeenshire Shield and Highland League Cup still to come.”
Jack Henry on his Wick return
Jack Henry says he would have regretted not returning to Wick Academy after making his comeback from a double leg break.
The midfielder made his first Scorries start last weekend in their defeat to Forres Mechanics following the serious injury he suffered in March 2023.
After recovering from injury Henry turned out for North Caledonian League side Golspie Sutherland in the latter part of last season and played amateur football this summer before deciding to rejoin Wick.
The 32-year-old, who is preparing to face Huntly at Christie Park this weekend in the first round of the Scottish Cup, said: “The biggest thing that pulled me back to Wick was thinking I’d regret it if I didn’t go back.
“I didn’t want to get to say 40 and think ‘I wish I’d gone back and done that.’
“Finishing with the injury I had wasn’t the way I wanted to finish at Wick.
“I enjoyed playing last weekend and I’m going to see how I get on, as long as I’m still up to it I’ll try to enjoy it.
“Big Scottish Cup games like this weekend are the ones you miss when you’re out.
“They’re always good to play in and hopefully we can get a result.”
Challenging recovery
Having not been injured for a long period of time before, Henry revealed he found his recovery challenging.
The player, who first joined Academy in 2017, is a decommissioning operative at Dounreay and was off work for a number of months.
Henry added: “Initially I found things quite hard mentally because I felt quite isolated.
“Everyone else has still got their work and has still got their football and I was just stuck in the house.
“Before my injury I probably took it for granted. I’ve played with guys like David Allan and Alan Farquhar who have done their knees but because it hadn’t happened to me I’d never really considered the aftermath of an injury like that.
“I was off my work for five-and-a-half months and then I had a phased return going back a couple of days a week.
“I’m lucky to work at Dounreay, because we get full pay for six months as sick pay so that was a big relief that there were no issues on that front.
“I’m very grateful to my work, that side of things isn’t something you ever think about until it happens to you.”
Formartine shirt demand delights Wade
Julian Wade has revealed that demand to join Formartine United’s Dominican fan club is outstripping supply.
The Pitmedden striker, who netted a stunning goal against Huntly in the Breedon Highland League at the weekend, is Dominica’s record scorer at international level with 20 goals in 50 caps.
Since Wade joined Formartine in 2022 there has been significant interest in the North Lodge Park club in his homeland.
Every time Wade goes away on international duty he takes Formartine replica shirts with him for fans in Dominica.
But the 34-year-old says United have run out of jerseys ahead of his next trip back to the Caribbean next month.
Wade said: “It’s a crazy one but in Dominica I think people are more interested in the Highland League than the Scottish Premiership.
“People back home follow Formartine and everyone has been buying the Formartine jersey so we’ve got a good following.
“Every time I go over for internationals I take jerseys with me, but right now demand is more than supply.
“I was meant to be taking more over in October but Sandy Sinclair (Formartine United treasurer) has told me there won’t be any more to take until after Christmas.
“It’s really good that there is that interest in Formartine. Not all of the jerseys go to Dominica I’ve had people in the USA and elsewhere in the UK that have asked for jerseys.
“For me as a footballer it’s a great thing. I know some people play football to get a big house or nice cars, but for me being able to make a positive impact in my country is the main reason I play football.”
Striker on his special strike
This weekend Formartine will try to reach round two of the Scottish Cup when Whitehill Welfare visit North Lodge Park.
Wade is still basking in the glow of his superb goal in United’s win against Huntly on Saturday when his opportunistic strike from long range caught goalkeeper Jack Robertson off guard.
He added: “I was chuffed with the goal, it’s been a while since I scored so it was definitely needed.
“I got the ball and there were a couple of defenders around me, I looked to see if there were any team-mates around me and I saw the goalkeeper off his line.
“There was nobody else around me so I took a chance and it paid off.”
Ormsby after cup pick me up
Horace Ormsby is hopeful Keith can find a way to snap their four-game losing streak and end a near four-year wait for a Scottish Cup victory.
The Maroons tackle East of Scotland League First Division leaders Camelon at Kynoch Park on Saturday in the first round of the national tournament.
After promising results earlier in the campaign Keith are on a run of four straight losses.
Their last win in the Scottish Cup was on Boxing Day 2020 during the Covid-19 disrupted 2020-21 competition.
However, winger Ormsby, 28, remains upbeat and said: “We’re struggling to figure out what’s been going wrong because we’ve had some good results this season.
“But in the last few games we’ve gone downhill, we’re working hard and trying to figure out exactly what it is.
“We need to score more goals, but we also need to stop conceding as many.
“Hopefully as a team we can make it work in the games coming up.
“It’s nice to have the cup game, it’s something different for us to play for.
“We’ve spoken about it being a few years since the club has won a Scottish Cup tie so hopefully we can change that.
“One result can make a big difference and give us a bit of confidence and momentum again.
“We beat Brora and we followed it up with a win against Forres and we’d like to start doing that again.”
Conversation