Tattie36

Wrong - it’s an absolute 100% must win for Arbroath. Inverness can afford to draw but we can’t.

Absolutely nothing going our way this season. Surely even the most positive of our fans must admit it’s looking bleak. Need a run of good wins starting tomorrow… and goals too as our goal difference is by far the worst in the league.

Happy enough with that - untested at this level but a natural goalscorer so here’s hoping. The club really need to stop with this countdown to an announcement nonsense though as the speculation just goes OTT - we had Nouble, Hylton, Linn, May all mentioned. Just announce it at 11:00 ffs without the buildup.

Nah, has to be Gretna. A random non league team playing in the English Northern Premier, or whatever it was, chosen by a millionaire to chuck money at to see how far he could take them. Only for it all to come collapsing down after a few short years when he died and the money dried up. Back at their level now. Yes, Cove have had money chucked at them and are where they are mainly because of that but they’ve worked their way up from the Juniors to Highland League and through L2 and L1 to a single unsuccessful Championship season and are now competing again in L1 - hopefully with a little more humility and realism. Although they have a very small fanbase relative to their success, I have no doubt that they’ll still be around even when the money dries up. Do I think they’ll ever be challengers to the Dons in Aberdeen? Absolutely zero chance of that but I can see them stumble around somewhere between the HL and Championship in perpetuity and at least “in theory” they have potential to be a bigger more successful team.

… and fourth. QP and Partick.

The last game v Dunfermline still annoys me more than any other game this season. Well on top and cruising (well, maybe not cruising but certainly comfortable) before… well we all know the rest. That 2 points chucked that day could define our season.

A draw today not the end of the world but means we have to win the next 2.

The goal or everything? Are we ever going to score a goal again?

We’ve actually got something resembling a full bench today. Can’t remember the last time we had that. No place at all in the squad for Ali Adams, got to feel a bit sorry for him as he’s done absolutely nothing wrong.

This is practically unwatchable - wtf is going on with the camera angle?

Completely agree. All I was suggesting was a decent player or two on a short term contract not signing Messi

I would imagine the financial repercussions of relegation would far far outweigh spending a few bob to try and stay up. Risky of course as it could be a double whammy but I would risk it if it were up to me…. Which thankfully it isn’t.

Quite a few have been out for weeks/months. No idea who will be back and when. Only seem to find out who’s available when the team is announced an hour or so before kick offs. The fact that we have our largest squad in years yet could only name 1 outfield player and a sub goalie for our last game - not to mention having to play our sub keeper outfield v Raith - says it all. Never seen anything like it.

Of course but I just feel like it’s too late. Sincerely hope I’m wrong of course but it needs an unlikely combination of a huge and immediate up-turn in form - staring next Saturday, Dunfermline to continue being shit and at least one other team to implode. I’m confident that we’ll improve and pick up a few more wins and points but will it be enough?

In theory I agree but just look at the last 15 games: 6 points out of a possible 45 and a -27 goal difference. We have 16 game left and we’ll need to win at least 6 or 7 of those and draw some more. I would be astonished if we can turn this round. Just need to hope things improve massively with returning players and that Dunfermline continue with their terrible form.

You can just see what’s going to happen before next weekend - Pars sack McPake on Monday and get in a new boss in for the new manager bounce.

You’ll be glad to know (as was I) that The Foundry reopened a few weeks ago.

Not sure I buy into this “our fans wouldn’t do something like that” stuff. All teams have a percentage of arsehole supporters and Arbroath FC is no exception. Some of the stuff I’ve seen and heard over the years has proved that. However, the fact that not one single person, even those in very close proximity to “spit gate” saw anything, nor was it captured on the multiple videos that were doing the rounds at the time, has convinced me that this is just more Campbell fantasy, said to take the focus off him and his failings. It’s now gathered pace so he’s doubled down to avoid admitting he was wrong… what a surprise. At worst, I imagine an irate fan shouting spittle tinged abuse - huge difference between that and being spat at. It’s all about perception. Christ, I remember being at Gayfield about 20 years ago where I went to the wee disabled bit that used to be at the front of the stand after the game to shout at the ref as he went off, and the guy next to me was literally foaming at the mouth with rage. To this day, my wife (it was her second and final Arbroath game) claims I ran on to the pitch to try and attack the ref (I was leaning just a little bit over the wall) and I’m pretty sure that mr foamy puss next to me didn’t have rabies either.

Feel a bit sad watching that interview. I understand he would have been angry and upset at the time, especially knowing his personality, but I thought that with the passing of time he would have calmed down a bit and have shown a bit more decorum and class than that. It was an ugly end for all involved, can’t it have just been left at that? Shades of Mark McGee at Aberdeen and the phantom spitter that no one saw apart from him. As others have said, I wish he’d left at the end of last season or even the season before. It was and remains all about him.

I completely agree with you. I don’t think it’s the end of the world, football is cyclical and we will always have ups and downs. This has been a big up but everthing must come to an end and being part-time means that its been very likely ever since we got promoted. Just saying that there will be big changes and that I would rather we throw everything we can at staying up for as long as possible. Some here almost seem to be looking forward to dropping down just so we can see a competitive team again. I don’t mind that per se but we’ll have to get used to the club as it is now changing a fair bit.

Behave? So you can’t see us averaging any number between 100-999? Unlikely to be any big travelling supports to boost our average either. Yes, if we have a great season but look at QOTS, they average half what they did in the Championship, Dumfries is bigger than Arbroath and they had many more years of “success” than we did to build that support. Yeah there are the diehards among us but football fans are fickle as f**k.

Not saying it’ll be doomsday but it’s unlikely to be just a case of dropping down and rebuilding for a crack at the L1 title. Unless the board are prepared to take a big risk financially and we bounce back immediately, then there’ll be a huge financial hit and a much scaled down operation over the coming seasons. Obviously hope I’m way off the mark but I see staying at this level as critical to continuing with the club being anything like it is now.

What worries me most about relegation is that the club will immediately become a very very different beast to what it's been for the last 5 years and it may take years… if ever, to get back. We will have to get used to 3 figure attendances again, a huge drop in hospitality, local interest, merch sales (will the club shop survive?), prize money, gate money, sponsorships, tv money etc etc etc. It’s all very well that we’ll hopefully be watching better football and a more competitive team again but ask Alloa, Accies, QOTS or even Falkirk if they thought they’d be in L1 for so long and if it’s preferable to being a poor Champioship team. Look what Accies have thrown at trying to get back up - they might through the playoffs but it’s not a given. A few short years after our last stint in the second tier we were in serious danger of slipping out of the league altogether.

The thing is, the SFA will be fucking delighted with this result and even more so if TNS win the whole thing. It’ll give them some kind of justification for having the Welsh and N Irish teams in it in the first place, prove them right and that the format works. Can anyone think of another football association on the planet that would actively support and promote another country’s football to the detriment of their own? Also, don’t understand the calls for an equidistant neutral. It’s a Scottish competition so it really has to be hosted somewhere here. Having said that it’s the SFA so they might go for Wrexham or Chester.

Looking very, very ominous. Just can’t see how and where we’re going to pick up the required amount of points and also turn around the massively disadvantageous goal difference. Huge game v a faltering Dunfermline in 2 weeks could be a make or break game…. Actually the next three games.