[the_russian]

loon, on Mar 14 2008, 21:00, said:

Lunan's suspended.

No way???

[1320Lichtie]

Just read the Sunday Mail and Jon said thats THE PROUDEST IVE EVER BEEN OF MY PLAYERS ,

What is he talking about gave us a right good laugh as thats the most EMBARRASING PERFORMANCE ive seen from an Arbroath team plenty of people wont come back for a while after that.Knew some folk where it was there first game since the montrose one (5,0) and they thought it was important so theyd come down to see it , doubt they will come back for a while once again as freezing your bollocks off to watch that isnt worth it.

[loon]

loon, on Mar 14 2008, 20:00, said:

Lunan's suspended.

the_russian, on Mar 16 2008, 11:16, said:

No way???

Only Fozzy will come close in the number of games missed through suspension.

[Mel Hutchwright]

1320Lichtie, on Mar 16 2008, 11:31, said:

Just read the Sunday Mail and Jon said thats THE PROUDEST IVE EVER BEEN OF MY PLAYERS ,

I'm sure that John was just making a point to all the naysayers that, despite the vitriol coming from the terraces, our makeshift team just dug in and achieved an hugely important result against our nearest playoff challengers. The players really didn't deserve to be greeted by boos at the full time whistle yesterday (I appreciate they were directed at the management rather than the team but the players may not have been fully aware of this) and John was right to fight their corner. Lets not forget that John's emotions were running high and that he probably made this statement not long after his outburst at the fans.

Regarding this outburst, it was a really stupid thing for him to do but I'm not going to judge him too harshly as it would take a better man than I, and I'd imagine most of the punters in our support, to rise above the crap that gets shouted towards him week after week without reacting. There's certain supporters who turn up week after week and just shout constant abuse towards JMcG and it's becoming increasingly tedious. Anyone who attends Gayfield with any regularity will know who these people are. I've never totally bought into the argument that once you pay at the turnstiles your entitled to shout what you like ("we're paying their wages etc.....). Yes, you have a right to voice your displeasure if things aren't going well but a certain section of our support direct almost constant invective towards the dugout. It isn't constructive and it is often downright offensive. The man is only human.

Like most of our support I'd like us to play a bit more expansively, but the fact is we're at the business end (I hate that expression but I can't think how else to word it......) of the season and, for all that it was an ugly performance, yesterday was a very good result.

[Gordon EF]

loon, on Mar 16 2008, 11:54, said:

Only Fozzy will come close in the number of games missed through suspension.

Doubt it. Fozzy's only been suspended once this season.

[dubs]

Never looked like scoring.

Arbroath defended well although it was all pretty straightforward for them.

Our season is over.

Sound.

[xbl]

dubya, on Mar 16 2008, 15:35, said:

Our season is over.

Not true, we're so inconsistent at the moment...

[edinlichtie]

Gordon EF, on Mar 16 2008, 15:22, said:

Doubt it. Fozzy's only been suspended once this season.

Suspended sentence?

[Gordon EF]

edinlichtie, on Mar 16 2008, 16:23, said:

Suspended sentence?

No. Medal, suspended from his neck.

[1320Lichtie]

Anyone know whats the story with Scott and Sellars , Sellars looked like he will be alright for saturday but Scotty looked like he had pulled his hammy

[farflung lichtie]

Mel Hutchwright, on Mar 16 2008, 12:28, said:

I'm sure that John was just making a point to all the naysayers ....
....

.... yesterday was a very good result.

Tend to agree with almost all of that. The `proud of the players statement' by McGlashan was a little excessive but your points were spot on.

I don't see the mileage in constantly venting spleen on the manager especially at this level. And to constantly attribute blame on the basis of some mythical dream tactics also seems surreal.

The team could certainly do more to encourage the support but i think the support should be a doing a lot more regardless.

[SimonLichtie]

I've never been in such a "I cant be fucked with Arbroath FC" mood in the last few weeks. Even though we've been getting good results, and obviously I wont stop going home and away, I can understand why people aren't coming to watch us. In the last few weeks, everything on and off the pitch at Arbroath has depressed me more and more.

Of course I want us to be promoted, but do I really want us to win the play offs after such a poor season of football? I'll be gutted if we lose in the play offs (if we make them) but it wont be anything like as painful as it was last season when we played some decent stuff and ended up with nothing when we deserved better.

John got it spot on down at Stranraer, and has been unlucky with people getting injured/ suspended at bad times this season but that doesn't excuse some of the shameful tactics, formations and substitutions we've seen this season.

Sort it out John, or you'll have more than the fans to answer to.

[xbl]

farflung lichtie, on Mar 16 2008, 23:36, said:

...but i think the support should be a doing a lot more regardless.

Such as? There is generally nothing to cheer on the pitch, and most of the match takes place down the other end of the pitch from us. Even when we do get the ball, we very rarely do anything with it, and that isnt down to the players, thats down to the manager.

Its not about mythical dream tactics, its about basic entertainment, you know a couple shots, some passes, a few runs, just basic stuff. Like Simon, Ive never been so apathetic about the club. Yes, we're getting results, but the performances have been more depressing than our relegation seasons.

Do I want us to win the play offs? I dont know to be honest. If we get promoted to the second, I can see us staying up with our current tactics, but the football will be even worse than it is at the moment.

[1320Lichtie]

I think John is trying to put all his focus on defence as boring as it is , but last year when it was attacking we got humped by QP .

Maybe John is concentrating on the defence so we are hard to score against rather than us scoring goals so we might do better in the Play Offs and do a Rangers e.g win the 2 legs in the playoffs 1 0 and after we get the goal just defend to make sure we get through, which could be good but very boring.

[nofixedability]

Gordon EF, on Mar 16 2008, 15:22, said:

Doubt it. Fozzy's only been suspended once this season.

Could be wrong but suspect he means Martin Fotheringham of Forfar, AKA Fozzy, will be only one to come close to Lunans number of suspensions.

[Mel Hutchwright]

SimonLichtie, on Mar 17 2008, 00:12, said:

I've never been in such a "I cant be fucked with Arbroath FC" mood in the last few weeks. Even though we've been getting good results, and obviously I wont stop going home and away, I can understand why people aren't coming to watch us. In the last few weeks, everything on and off the pitch at Arbroath has depressed me more and more.

Of course I want us to be promoted, but do I really want us to win the play offs after such a poor season of football? I'll be gutted if we lose in the play offs (if we make them) but it wont be anything like as painful as it was last season when we played some decent stuff and ended up with nothing when we deserved better.

John got it spot on down at Stranraer, and has been unlucky with people getting injured/ suspended at bad times this season but that doesn't excuse some of the shameful tactics, formations and substitutions we've seen this season.

Sort it out John, or you'll have more than the fans to answer to.

I do agree with you to a large extent, and much of this season, even many of the games we've won, have made for some really grim viewing. As I said earlier in the thread, if Saturday was taken in isolation, it could be written off as being a fortuitous but important 3 points at what is undestandably a nervy stage of the season for the players. The problem is that there's been a fair few performances that, although maybe not quite as ugly as Saturdays, have not been far off this level this season. The fact that many have been at home has compounded the disillusionment amongst the support. I'm struggling to recall the last time I left a game with such mixed feelings about what had happened on(and off) the pitch as I did at the weekend.

I'm not for a second saying that I agree with the comments that JMcG has made about the game, but I can kind of understand why he's felt the need to defend the players in this way. The fact is that, due to the resources available to East Fife this year, realistically his target for the season was to get us into the playoffs, an achievement that is now in our own hands.

That said, I also don't see results as being the be all and end all and would dearly like my buckles to be swashed on occasion. Think I may be asking for a bit much at the moment though.......

This post has been edited by Mel Hutchwright: 17 March 2008 - 20:28