Which Arbroath will turn up this time? The clinical 3 goal scoring Arbroath, or the disinterested negative team? This is a big one for us, we haven't been able to pull clear in fourth place yet, so a win is really a must IMO.

Not sure how to call this one. The last time we played Arbroath, it was a shitey, dull game of football until Arbroath had this mental five minutes when they scored three goals.

Other than that game, we've had a reasonably good record against Arbroath this season. At least we're not playing at home, we never win there. Both teams are quite unpredictable so I've no idea what the score will be.

Probably a 0-0 draw or something.

4-0

I haven't decided who to yet.

Seconded.

I've long given up on making predictions, as to do so is an act of folly given our fluctuating form.

Although there's still a fair few points to be won, I've got a feeling that tomorrows results going to be quite significant come the play off reckoning.

Thirded...I have absolutely no idea which way it will go. All I can hope is that Tosh doesnt play (I was against his signing and would like to see him released at the end of the season), and that Watson starts!

The good thing is that thanks to inconsistency all round, Stranraer and Montrose are practically within striking distance, so no team can say that they are in the playoffs for sure (IMO). If you take the actual football out of the equation, it could be quite an interesting end to the season for us all!

Only 7 games to go for us so no room for slip-ups. The fact its at Gayfield would tend to give Stenny a big edge. We haven't really performed there for 2 seasons.

Huge game, think we will choke again. I'd love to see us go there and play one up front and nick a goal but the way we are defending that won't work.

Going to optimistically predict a score draw.

fourthed

Trying to recall the last really impressive, entertaining performance from us at home in the league is something of a recurring topic of conversation between myself and the small herd of men I stand with at games. You really do need to go back a fair while.

Tosh, although past it, is the kind of forward that has caused us problems all season. A physical presence and our defence seems to shit a brick like last week against Elgin. Hopefully Jordan Smith can be a bit more physical and we don't get bullied at the back.

I have a sneaky feeling we will win but I don't know what I base this on.

Must win tomorrow and like everyone has said it depends on which Arbroath team turns up. The organised hard team to beat fighting for every ball or the unorganised leaky defence one.

Rattray could be out tomorrow and like everyone that was at forfar saw ,the defence looked so slow without him there. If Rattrays fit then this should be the team.

Hill

Flyer, Rattray, Bishop, Black

Lunan, Sellars , Watson, Mcbride

Scott , Deasley

Left Brazil out as I think he could do good coming on as a sub with Reilly coming on aswell

Lunan's suspended.

If Lunan is suspended, Alan Brazil or Nicky Smith should play right mid instead.

We were pish poor, i know mcglashan said it was a must win but surely not having 7 defenders on the pitch, starters Black the left back wasnt playing as Reilly the forward was playing there.

Cm was alright with Sellars watson and Smith but when Sellars the most creative midfielder weve got comes off for a center back when we have got a great young talent in mcbride on the bench its pretty stupid.

Then we bring on a forward for a central mid in Watson leaving half fit Nicky Smith as the only center mid on the park.

Also we were at home playing against 10 men for the last 15 minutes and we tried to waste time every throwing or corner for the last 15 mins also.

Todays performance was shambolic we never created a clear cut chance and we were so negative, something has to change there is no way we could play like that in the play offs and not get punished. Stenny deserved to win worst performance of the season.

End of rant

First things first, that's a really important 3 points for from what was a pretty significant match for both teams. So it was job done today.

However, that was a really dire game of football and we were totally unispiring and bereft of ideas. Stenny, although also poor, certainly didn't deserve to lose and were the better team today. That said, they really didn't create many clear cut chances against us which I guess is pretty damning considering how poorly we played.

But, and it is a big but, it could be argued that at this stage of the season the result is all and I would be inclined to agree that in this game it was.

Taken in isolation, I would be happy to write it off as a really important, but undeserved, 3 points from an awful game and been perfectly happy. However there's been far too many performances of a similar ilk at Gayfield of late and the punters surely deserve a bit more entertainment for their money.

I am so, so, so angry. Angry so that I dont have time to finish this rant as I have to go out. Yes, we got the result, and I was actually really happy with the first half performance.

We had Reilly and Flyer in attacking wing back roles, we started off with Scott and Tosh (Ill come to him later), we had Brazil on too, that was an attacking formation...and despite the loss of Scott, it showed with our first half play. We passed the ball about, we ran, and we were unfortunate(IMO) not to go in further ahead. It was decent entertainment.

And this brings us to the absolute farce that was the second half. Now, I am not (and I suspect most lichties are also not) hard to please. I dont expect us to win every game, and I dont demand promotion, all I want is some entertainment and a fun day out.

That was absolute fucking torture. We sat back, we let Stenny dictate the play, and while Hill didnt really have much of a save to make due to our solid defence...we didnt attack! We were eminently capable of it as we showed in glimpses, but we just didnt bother.

And then the last 15 minutes or so. What an embarrassment. We were only 1-0 up, and the slightest mistake could have led to us sacrificing a goal, timewasting like that was just not on. I hate timewasting. I hate it when the opposition does it, and I hate it when we do it. It was ridiculous. We wasted opportunity after opportunity because we were more interested in keeping our 1-0 lead than going for a second. I was disgusted, and the fans around me were also very, very unhappy.

Flash back to McGlashans first season in charge...we finished fourth, we lost plenty, but the games were FUN! We had big wins, big losses, rammys on the pitch, and the fans idolised him. Now look at us, sure, we win lots of games, but the fans are starting to turn on him, I heard that apparently he exchanged words with a group of lichties at the end of the game, and its because of his negative, negative tactics. Please...give us some entertainment!

Now, Tosh. Although I never criticise the players at matches, I prefer to shout encouragement, I have criticised Tosh a lot on here, and to other people, and I still think that he is past it and should be released at the end of the seaon. His body isnt up to it, and I didnt want him selected. But today, although he didnt play that well, come the end of the match, it was looking like only him and Flyer were actually interested in going for a second goal. So thanks to him and flyer for at least making an effort to entertain the fans today, because our managers tactics were not encouraging it.

I travel 85 miles each way, and many of the fans on here (there seem to be a lot of Arbroath exiles on here) do the same or more. We dont ask much, but we ask that the day out is entertaining and reasonably enjoyable. I dont think that is too much to ask surely? I dont really care what league we play in, I just want a fun day out, regardless of the opposition. Thats why today, despite the 3 points, I am very, very unhappy.

The best team might have lost but if you don't shoot you don't score.

The only consolation for me was that arbroath were murder and will surely drop points.

If we play like we did today we will but that was our worst performance of the season by far, its very annoying because the way the team played last saturday was brilliant passing moving and creating chances ,

Forfar was bad but we had 5 or 6 decent chances but today was the worst. As the start of the topic says its which lichties team turns up to play the last 7 games that will decide where we will end and im confident that we will be in the play offs but not to confident.

I actually felt sick watching the way they played there. Of course the saving grace was that we got the 3 undeserved points

Poor game with maybe only Stenny and a couple of Arbroath players actually playing. Hardly a goalmouth incident the whole 90.

... but in Arbroath's defence, it was rather a makeshift side out - for instance Reilly at left then key men Scott and Sellars out early. It was at Gayfield where we haven't performed and the players always seem edgy these days. And it was a sound defensive performance.

The pressure is starting to tell at this stage of the season. Even our manager took exception to the justified vocal complaints of some home fans and told the moaners to `support their f****g team' . All in all, this kind of display is guaranteed to reduce the crowds even more before the season ends.... but a win is a win.

Playing like this, you wonder where Arbroath would find another 7-9 points that would seal a playoff place with only 6 games left.

Stenny fans can't be overjoyed. Nice possession for two-thirds of the pitch but no cutting edge. And the frustration started to show with the players. Not out of it yet.

Nearly went to this game today after I slept in and missed the train to get to Cowdenbeath.
Bloody glad I didn't bother going, from reading this thread.

Yes, for all that the managers coming in for justifiable criticism for the over cautious tactics there certainly were mitigating factors. It doesn't excuse John completely for todays performance but you can understand why he would be inclined to err on the side of caution. It's probably fair to say that he went too far in the application of this though.

Also, the defence do deserve to escape any criticism and Reilly, for all that I'd sooner never have to see him play in that position again, acquited himself admirably.

Heard George Burley was at the game today after being at the sportsmans dinner.

Wonder if we will see Toshy in the squad for Croatia Game.

It may have been makeshift, but I genuinely thought that we had a good first half. Flyer and Reilly worked well on the wings, Watson did alright, we had a couple chances to score, and it really wasnt that bad a game! The fact that we were so, so poor in the second half was totally down to the managers tactics. No way round it. That team is capable of more, and they have shown it in flashes, but the manager seems to be holding them back.

Now, it may seem to the other fans that we are moaning too much considering we got a win, but it wasnt good enough. The fans don't mind losing some games...we lost plenty a few years back and the atmosphere around the club was brilliant. There is more to life than results. Dont get me wrong, I dont want McGlashan to leave, and I think he could yet be excellent for us...and we do want to support the team, but we havent got anything to support!

The fact is that our fanbase doesnt change whether we are in the first or the third...the same guys turn up and watch us, our loyalty is unquestioned. We love our club, all of us! How can we be expected to vocally back our team when there is very little to back though? It is hard to cheer when we are timewasting round the corner with 15 mins still to go, its hard to cheer when we play 7 at the back, its hard to cheer when our strategy consists of soaking up the opposition attack, winning the ball, and hoofing it straight back to them.

We dont ask for much, but we need something to cheer! Nobody is saying that we should be going all gung ho and 2-2-4, but I am tired of coming back from games angry and frustrated, even when we win! It should be noted that there was very little criticism of the players at the game....but John was getting slagged and jeered. That tells me that Im not the only one to notice that our managers cautiousness is hindering our teams potential. The atmosphere is poor at the moment, and has been for a wee while, things will only get worse at this rate.

As I said, I still think McGlashan is the man for the job, but he needs to offer us something, we need something to cheer. Games like today are just not good enough. No disrespect to Stenny, but they are not a good team (neither are we), and there is no way that they should have had the dominance they did in our midfield. If we had extended ourself slightly, we could have had a game! After all, our defence was dealing with everything they could throw at us. When we went forward, we could have harrassed them, if we werent too busy running into corners and giving the ball back to Stenny again.

Btw, apparently 513 at the game, but probably about 250 of them were gone before the final whistle....a bit worrying considering that we won the bloody game!

Awful game, especially the 2nd half.

Most teams would struggle without their best defender, midfielder and striker on the park though.
That's the first time I've heard some of our fans booing at a victory.

I wouldn't complain about the running down of the clock though. We were playing shite, so every second wasted was worthwhile.

I think the overall criticism is harsh though. We've just come off a run of around 7 games in 22 days and taken 13 points out of the 21 which isn't bad as they've mainly come from teams around us in the league.

No way???

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.

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

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.

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

Never looked like scoring.

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

Our season is over.

Sound.

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

Suspended sentence?

No. Medal, suspended from his neck.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.......