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39 minutes ago, Vegetableman said:

You Don't become a crap manager overnight , you lot were punching way above last season 

As said before careful what you wish for 

Oh BTW thanks for Luke Donnelly . 2 goals today and playing well ;.

Oh dont dude

Because we played him up top on his own, or out wide left rather than playing him in his natural position in the middle of the park.

Our own fans say its a disgrace Mckenna was played up top today, who plays a similar position to Luke.

But because its LD he got hell for it.

Glad to see him doing well at Alloa though, good player if you ask me and glad a manager plays him to suit his attributes.

 

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34 minutes ago, RedLichtie86 said:
42 minutes ago, Vegetableman said:
You Don't become a crap manager overnight , you lot were punching way above last season 
As said before careful what you wish for 
Oh BTW thanks for Luke Donnelly . 2 goals today and playing well ;.

Glad he found his level. After almost 3 years without a league goal he must be happy.

Is that the same level we will be next season?

Is that a brass neck you have?

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I can't believe how quickly things have swung in such a short space of time..... not in our league position but in terms of me standing up for Dick and everyone else being absolutely furious with him :lol: While I understand the majority of comments, I do think some stuff does slightly show the fickleness of football fans...

Media comments/ post match interviews - Dick has exaggerated, dismissed and ignored things in his interviews for the whole time he's been our manager - it used to really piss me off 3/4 years ago but no-one cared as we were winning.... now we're struggling they seem to be infuriating everyone....... don't watch them would be my advice, it did me a world of good ;) 

Substitutions - I think Dick's subs and tactical changes in games have always been questionable from day one and again it used to really frustrate me but I almost feel numbed to it now :lol: If we haven't taken off our only attacking threat with 20 minutes to go then I'm delighted. In his last 50 league games for Arbroath, Bobby Linn has only played 90 minutes twice - end of season game against Morton last season when everything was done and we had a two week break before the play offs, and today. For whatever reason, Dick decided at some point a couple of years ago that Bobby Linn can't play for 90 minutes, and that's that. So, regardless of game situation, fitness situation, score, players available etc, he is either sub or is subbed. Today being different, I guess he's accepted at this stage that we just need our only real goal threat on the pitch for 90 minutes, which he would be entirely right on, but this was very obvious several months ago.

Signings wise - I'm at a total crossroads on this.... I really do sympathise with Dick (to an extent!) on this front. The amount of bad luck he's had when it comes to signings not working out/ being let down etc. in the last six months has been outrageous. He's had about 10 shit pre seasons in one when it comes to things not coming off from everything I've heard, and none of it has really been his fault. However, quite obviously, what we have signed isn't up to the level required, and ultimately he's the one who decides who signs on the dotted line. I actually think expanding our market and looking down South and in other places is an excellent idea and a really progressive way of doing things, but our execution has been rather shite.... I'm hopeful what we've put in place recruitment wise will help things in the coming windows....

At this stage, sacking Dick would be very bold in my opinion! The squad we have, regardless of how we got here, is what we have until January. While obviously the subs/ use of players has been poor, this isn't particuarly new, and I still feel he's our best bet unless we take a complete nosedive, which I honestly think is very unlikely. He should also have plenty 'in the bank' as it were considering everything he's done during his time at the club. 

In terms of on the park - I hear/ see Scott Allan getting a lot of stick..... I think he's getting progressively better, and will continue to do so as he gets fitter. Everything good going forward comes through him and/ or Bobby Linn, and longer term (January + beyond, with Allan being on a two year deal) when he is given more to work with I think he'll be excellent. Up until a few weeks ago I was rather pissed off with him - unfit, off the pace and then a really stupid sending off to keep him out and not getting matches for another few weeks. I remember back in Dick's first year he signed someone for 'big money' (at the time!) who hadn't had any proper pre season, was unfit and lacking match sharpness and was, frankly, pish, for his first half a dozen games.... I thought he should be out the team, Dick kept playing him and once fully fit and sharp he was the best player in the division for the last two thirds of the season....

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12 minutes ago, SimonLichtie said:

I can't believe how quickly things have swung in such a short space of time..... not in our league position but in terms of me standing up for Dick and everyone else being absolutely furious with him :lol: While I understand the majority of comments, I do think some stuff does slightly show the fickleness of football fans...

Media comments/ post match interviews - Dick has exaggerated, dismissed and ignored things in his interviews for the whole time he's been our manager - it used to really piss me off 3/4 years ago but no-one cared as we were winning.... now we're struggling they seem to be infuriating everyone....... don't watch them would be my advice, it did me a world of good ;) 

Substitutions - I think Dick's subs and tactical changes in games have always been questionable from day one and again it used to really frustrate me but I almost feel numbed to it now :lol: If we haven't taken off our only attacking threat with 20 minutes to go then I'm delighted. In his last 50 league games for Arbroath, Bobby Linn has only played 90 minutes twice - end of season game against Morton last season when everything was done and we had a two week break before the play offs, and today. For whatever reason, Dick decided at some point a couple of years ago that Bobby Linn can't play for 90 minutes, and that's that. So, regardless of game situation, fitness situation, score, players available etc, he is either sub or is subbed. Today being different, I guess he's accepted at this stage that we just need our only real goal threat on the pitch for 90 minutes, which he would be entirely right on, but this was very obvious several months ago.

Signings wise - I'm at a total crossroads on this.... I really do sympathise with Dick (to an extent!) on this front. The amount of bad luck he's had when it comes to signings not working out/ being let down etc. in the last six months has been outrageous. He's had about 10 shit pre seasons in one when it comes to things not coming off from everything I've heard, and none of it has really been his fault. However, quite obviously, what we have signed isn't up to the level required, and ultimately he's the one who decides who signs on the dotted line. I actually think expanding our market and looking down South and in other places is an excellent idea and a really progressive way of doing things, but our execution has been rather shite.... I'm hopeful what we've put in place recruitment wise will help things in the coming windows....

At this stage, sacking Dick would be very bold in my opinion! The squad we have, regardless of how we got here, is what we have until January. While obviously the subs/ use of players has been poor, this isn't particuarly new, and I still feel he's our best bet unless we take a complete nosedive, which I honestly think is very unlikely. He should also have plenty 'in the bank' as it were considering everything he's done during his time at the club. 

In terms of on the park - I hear/ see Scott Allan getting a lot of stick..... I think he's getting progressively better, and will continue to do so as he gets fitter. Everything good going forward comes through him and/ or Bobby Linn, and longer term (January + beyond, with Allan being on a two year deal) when he is given more to work with I think he'll be excellent. Up until a few weeks ago I was rather pissed off with him - unfit, off the pace and then a really stupid sending off to keep him out and not getting matches for another few weeks. I remember back in Dick's first year he signed someone for 'big money' (at the time!) who hadn't had any proper pre season, was unfit and lacking match sharpness and was, frankly, pish, for his first half a dozen games.... I thought he should be out the team, Dick kept playing him and once fully fit and sharp he was the best player in the division for the last two thirds of the season....

Agree with some of that but why does everyone keep going on about January as if we’re magically going to pull a couple of goal scorers out of thin air? As I said earlier - they don’t exist and if they do, why would they come to us over teams higher up the league? The 5 sub rule has totally f*cked it for us and other teams who rely on loans.

How many points can you realistically see us picking up by then? Enough to keep us in touch? We need at least another 10 by then, how are we going to do that when we can’t score and don’t play strikers?

Yes we’ve had terrible luck with injuries, suspensions and signings falling through but that doesn’t change the fact that Dick is signing players but not playing them. We can all agree that the available striking options are poor but it’s all we have so we MUST play them, otherwise we are down no doubt about it.

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I can't believe how quickly things have swung in such a short space of time..... not in our league position but in terms of me standing up for Dick and everyone else being absolutely furious with him :lol: While I understand the majority of comments, I do think some stuff does slightly show the fickleness of football fans...
Media comments/ post match interviews - Dick has exaggerated, dismissed and ignored things in his interviews for the whole time he's been our manager - it used to really piss me off 3/4 years ago but no-one cared as we were winning.... now we're struggling they seem to be infuriating everyone....... don't watch them would be my advice, it did me a world of good [emoji6] 
Substitutions - I think Dick's subs and tactical changes in games have always been questionable from day one and again it used to really frustrate me but I almost feel numbed to it now :lol: If we haven't taken off our only attacking threat with 20 minutes to go then I'm delighted. In his last 50 league games for Arbroath, Bobby Linn has only played 90 minutes twice - end of season game against Morton last season when everything was done and we had a two week break before the play offs, and today. For whatever reason, Dick decided at some point a couple of years ago that Bobby Linn can't play for 90 minutes, and that's that. So, regardless of game situation, fitness situation, score, players available etc, he is either sub or is subbed. Today being different, I guess he's accepted at this stage that we just need our only real goal threat on the pitch for 90 minutes, which he would be entirely right on, but this was very obvious several months ago.
Signings wise - I'm at a total crossroads on this.... I really do sympathise with Dick (to an extent!) on this front. The amount of bad luck he's had when it comes to signings not working out/ being let down etc. in the last six months has been outrageous. He's had about 10 shit pre seasons in one when it comes to things not coming off from everything I've heard, and none of it has really been his fault. However, quite obviously, what we have signed isn't up to the level required, and ultimately he's the one who decides who signs on the dotted line. I actually think expanding our market and looking down South and in other places is an excellent idea and a really progressive way of doing things, but our execution has been rather shite.... I'm hopeful what we've put in place recruitment wise will help things in the coming windows....
At this stage, sacking Dick would be very bold in my opinion! The squad we have, regardless of how we got here, is what we have until January. While obviously the subs/ use of players has been poor, this isn't particuarly new, and I still feel he's our best bet unless we take a complete nosedive, which I honestly think is very unlikely. He should also have plenty 'in the bank' as it were considering everything he's done during his time at the club. 
In terms of on the park - I hear/ see Scott Allan getting a lot of stick..... I think he's getting progressively better, and will continue to do so as he gets fitter. Everything good going forward comes through him and/ or Bobby Linn, and longer term (January + beyond, with Allan being on a two year deal) when he is given more to work with I think he'll be excellent. Up until a few weeks ago I was rather pissed off with him - unfit, off the pace and then a really stupid sending off to keep him out and not getting matches for another few weeks. I remember back in Dick's first year he signed someone for 'big money' (at the time!) who hadn't had any proper pre season, was unfit and lacking match sharpness and was, frankly, pish, for his first half a dozen games.... I thought he should be out the team, Dick kept playing him and once fully fit and sharp he was the best player in the division for the last two thirds of the season....

Scott Allan looked class today. He’s getting much better every week. If only he had a striker to pass to…
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9 minutes ago, stan3600 said:


Scott Allan looked class today. He’s getting much better every week. If only he had a striker to pass to…

Was actually going to say that in the match thread, there was a couple of touches and spins that Allan had today that really showed his class. Seems to link attacking play very well, just wasn't the finishing touch available.

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Looking as an outsider Campbell has stuck more or less with the same squad for 4/5 seasons now some have moved on and Arbroath are now currently struggling , What was Campbells long term plans ? This best part time BS in Scotland come on it only lasts for so long if Arbroath want to progress they need to spend more why has the recruitment been so poor ? Is it because you have what you can afford ? 

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Looking as an outsider Campbell has stuck more or less with the same squad for 4/5 seasons now some have moved on and Arbroath are now currently struggling , What was Campbells long term plans ? This best part time BS in Scotland come on it only lasts for so long if Arbroath want to progress they need to spend more why has the recruitment been so poor ? Is it because you have what you can afford ? 
Some of it down to the fact Dicks roledex of past players to sign is empty now and he has no idea who to sign.

And he has no faith in the players he has brought in.
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7 minutes ago, basher brash said:

Looking as an outsider Campbell has stuck more or less with the same squad for 4/5 seasons now some have moved on and Arbroath are now currently struggling , What was Campbells long term plans ? This best part time BS in Scotland come on it only lasts for so long if Arbroath want to progress they need to spend more why has the recruitment been so poor ? Is it because you have what you can afford ? 

No sure there is a lack of cash, club appears to be in rude health financially, but Dick has a habit of showing loyalty to some players, sees continuity as a plus, but recruitment has become ragged 

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Games until January when we will be signing these 2 mythical strikers to get us top 4.

Nov 5 - ICT (A)
Nov 12 - Cove (H)
Nov 19 - Partick (A)
Nov 26 - Fraserburgh (A) Scot Cup
Dec 3 - Morton (H)
Dec 10 - TBD (H) Challenge Cup
Dec 17 - Raith (A)
Dec 23 - Queen's Park (H)

Going to be a rough couple of months if we dont pick up points in the 6 league games.

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28 minutes ago, basher brash said:

Looking as an outsider Campbell has stuck more or less with the same squad for 4/5 seasons now some have moved on and Arbroath are now currently struggling , What was Campbells long term plans ? This best part time BS in Scotland come on it only lasts for so long if Arbroath want to progress they need to spend more why has the recruitment been so poor ? Is it because you have what you can afford ? 

I'd hardly say that giving a two year deal to Scott Allan is the sign of a club not spending enough to progress. The question is whether the signings have worked or not. 

I don't think a club gives Allan a two year deal if it's seriously concerned about playing seaside league football next season. The expectation is clearly higher than that IMO.

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18 minutes ago, virginton said:

I'd hardly say that giving a two year deal to Scott Allan is the sign of a club not spending enough to progress. The question is whether the signings have worked or not. 

I don't think a club gives Allan a two year deal if it's seriously concerned about playing seaside league football next season. The expectation is clearly higher than that IMO.

The expectation is alot higher and the board are clearly building towards that. The issue they now have is the man in charge isn't capable of taking them to that next step. The hybrid full time setup is creating divides in the squad and I'm pretty certain the new recruitment team is purely a board level hire and won't have much to do with the current manager.

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The expectation is alot higher and the board are clearly building towards that. The issue they now have is the man in charge isn't capable of taking them to that next step. The hybrid full time setup is creating divides in the squad and I'm pretty certain the new recruitment team is purely a board level hire and won't have much to do with the current manager.
Dick and Co went to the board the other week to ask for help with recruiting as they were struggling to find players themselves.
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12 hours ago, AuAl said:

Was actually going to say that in the match thread, there was a couple of touches and spins that Allan had today that really showed his class. Seems to link attacking play very well, just wasn't the finishing touch available.

Never hides, always wants the ball

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13 hours ago, SimonLichtie said:

I can't believe how quickly things have swung in such a short space of time..... not in our league position but in terms of me standing up for Dick and everyone else being absolutely furious with him :lol: While I understand the majority of comments, I do think some stuff does slightly show the fickleness of football fans...

Media comments/ post match interviews - Dick has exaggerated, dismissed and ignored things in his interviews for the whole time he's been our manager - it used to really piss me off 3/4 years ago but no-one cared as we were winning.... now we're struggling they seem to be infuriating everyone....... don't watch them would be my advice, it did me a world of good ;) 

Substitutions - I think Dick's subs and tactical changes in games have always been questionable from day one and again it used to really frustrate me but I almost feel numbed to it now :lol: If we haven't taken off our only attacking threat with 20 minutes to go then I'm delighted. In his last 50 league games for Arbroath, Bobby Linn has only played 90 minutes twice - end of season game against Morton last season when everything was done and we had a two week break before the play offs, and today. For whatever reason, Dick decided at some point a couple of years ago that Bobby Linn can't play for 90 minutes, and that's that. So, regardless of game situation, fitness situation, score, players available etc, he is either sub or is subbed. Today being different, I guess he's accepted at this stage that we just need our only real goal threat on the pitch for 90 minutes, which he would be entirely right on, but this was very obvious several months ago.

Signings wise - I'm at a total crossroads on this.... I really do sympathise with Dick (to an extent!) on this front. The amount of bad luck he's had when it comes to signings not working out/ being let down etc. in the last six months has been outrageous. He's had about 10 shit pre seasons in one when it comes to things not coming off from everything I've heard, and none of it has really been his fault. However, quite obviously, what we have signed isn't up to the level required, and ultimately he's the one who decides who signs on the dotted line. I actually think expanding our market and looking down South and in other places is an excellent idea and a really progressive way of doing things, but our execution has been rather shite.... I'm hopeful what we've put in place recruitment wise will help things in the coming windows....

At this stage, sacking Dick would be very bold in my opinion! The squad we have, regardless of how we got here, is what we have until January. While obviously the subs/ use of players has been poor, this isn't particuarly new, and I still feel he's our best bet unless we take a complete nosedive, which I honestly think is very unlikely. He should also have plenty 'in the bank' as it were considering everything he's done during his time at the club. 

In terms of on the park - I hear/ see Scott Allan getting a lot of stick..... I think he's getting progressively better, and will continue to do so as he gets fitter. Everything good going forward comes through him and/ or Bobby Linn, and longer term (January + beyond, with Allan being on a two year deal) when he is given more to work with I think he'll be excellent. Up until a few weeks ago I was rather pissed off with him - unfit, off the pace and then a really stupid sending off to keep him out and not getting matches for another few weeks. I remember back in Dick's first year he signed someone for 'big money' (at the time!) who hadn't had any proper pre season, was unfit and lacking match sharpness and was, frankly, pish, for his first half a dozen games.... I thought he should be out the team, Dick kept playing him and once fully fit and sharp he was the best player in the division for the last two thirds of the season....

Loving your work Si  !!

Any truth in the rumour your doing a PhD in "Arbroath  - The Campbell Years" ??

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So at what point do we consider his position then?

Relegated this season?
Relegated from League 1?
Relegated from League 2?

There comes a point when all managers, regardless of how many trophies they have won or how well they did the season before, are subject to being under pressure if the results on the park are not good enough.

We set our stall out last season by finishing 2nd. We can compete in this league. We can play football and challenge at the top. But this season we are playing like a team scraping around at the bottom, dreading every game as if we dont know when the next goal will come from.

End of the day the fans want to be entertained with whats on the pitch, to see the club win games and score goals. The fans will come every week to see that. If we are play dire football and the fans are ever more restless and angry at every loose pass or bad substitution then the fans will start to stay away.

Can the club afford to allow the poor on field performances ruin the work being done off field?
There is definitely pressure there and some expectations that are not currently being met but just because we finished 2nd last year doesn't mean we should have the expectation of being a top half championship side every season.

Last year was massively above expectations. The season before it went down to the last game to ensure we weren't in the relegation play offs and realistically were going to be in the relegation fight in this league.

I'm not happy with some of the tactics and team selections but suggesting sacking him is just heads gone for me.

We have been unlucky with injuries this season and being able to put the same team on the park most weeks. My main criticism is we should be playing our strikers when we need to score goals. Give them a run in the team and let them try and build some confidence.

DC is not above criticism and being held accountable but let him try and fix his mistakes.

When we were relageted to L2 under Sheerin we were willing to give him another chance due to his previous achievements and this is no different to me.
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There is definitely pressure there and some expectations that are not currently being met but just because we finished 2nd last year doesn't mean we should have the expectation of being a top half championship side every season.

Last year was massively above expectations. The season before it went down to the last game to ensure we weren't in the relegation play offs and realistically were going to be in the relegation fight in this league.

I'm not happy with some of the tactics and team selections but suggesting sacking him is just heads gone for me.

We have been unlucky with injuries this season and being able to put the same team on the park most weeks. My main criticism is we should be playing our strikers when we need to score goals. Give them a run in the team and let them try and build some confidence.

DC is not above criticism and being held accountable but let him try and fix his mistakes.

When we were relageted to L2 under Sheerin we were willing to give him another chance due to his previous achievements and this is no different to me.
I am not calling for his head right now.

I am asking at what point do we consider his position?

Are we willing to accept relegation just because he of what he has achieved in the past. And if we are relegated and he stays on but find ourselves struggling in L1 do we just shrug and accept it because its Dick?
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25 minutes ago, RedLichtie86 said:

I am not calling for his head right now.

I am asking at what point do we consider his position?

Are we willing to accept relegation just because he of what he has achieved in the past. And if we are relegated and he stays on but find ourselves struggling in L1 do we just shrug and accept it because its Dick?

If we are relegated and he is still here, he will not survive if we are struggling in league 1.

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