Jump to content

The Arbroath Thread


Recommended Posts

32 minutes ago, clashcityrocker said:

Anything less than a win and we are virtually relegated.

The January signings have been decent - but the damage was done with the summer signings in 2022.

Would expect around 1000 Arbroath fans to attend the Cove match - hopefully this can inspire the players.

Defeat against Cove and unfortunately it's over.

Most of the summer signings are gone, how can they be to blame?

 

The players who played today lost that game, not the summer signings.

The team is simply not good enough. And you can stick that humble pie where the sun don't shine 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, lichtie23 said:

Not one of those players look capable of battling in the relegation fight we are in. For all the good we done in the first half we folded horrendously in the 2nd. 

Absolutely agree with this ,no matter what Dick may say or think today's showing was crap so much so that I left early out of disgust.

None of the new signings show any desire to win the ball and their ball control was appalling, the mid-field is non existent and what Dick sees in Besintindo I do not know.

One thing is for sure is that I will not be driving up from the Capital for the game at Cove.

Regrettably I think League 1 is a begging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, RedLichtie86 said:

We have gone from a team that could pass teams off the park and have resolute defending and graft to see our games

to a team that lacks any fight and can barely string 3 passes together.

We certainly played better than we have done earlier this season but we are still decidely well off the pace which is a big worry.

 

We cant afford any more poor results. Next weekend is going to be vital in order for us to stay up.

 

img_1_1675409213777.thumb.jpg.fa1731fa2b6665537ca57ba844822bd7.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, RedLichtie86 said:

We have gone from a team that could pass teams off the park and have resolute defending and graft to see our games

to a team that lacks any fight and can barely string 3 passes together...

 

Watch some highlights from last season or 2019 just to see how stark the differences are. We were a fast, passing, relentlessly attacking team. We would batter the opposition into submission, fight tooth and nail for 90 minutes and never give up.

Now - slow, formulaic, predictable, powder puff etc etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Tattie36 said:

Can someone, anyone please show me how we’ve meaningfully improved since the start of the season?

Use stats if you like.

First 19 games:

14 points

13 goals

28 conceded

0.73 points per game = 26 points over a season - dead last. Pish.

Last 5 games (since 1st Jan):

7 points

10 goals

11 conceded

1.4 points per game = 50 points over a season = 5th ish place form. What would've been considered another excellent season for us.

Looks like an improvement to me ;) 

Squad pre January, realistically, gave us f**k all chance of not finishing 10th. 

The squad we have now gives us a 50/ 50 (in my opinion) chance of staying up, and I think that's probably the best we could realistically ask for back in late December. I personally think the squad is significently improved in every area, and the majority of the signings have already showed themselves as clear upgrades on their predecessors. Credit to the management team for this - it does however mean that my minimum expectation is that in the next 12+ games we continue to show form that is outwith the bottom 3 teams. If we don't, then it means the management have failed this season with two very different squads which would be extremely unacceptable...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A game of two halves with the wind pegging back both teams playing into it. Difficult conditions to play any kind of meaningful passing football but I'm sure it's been way windier that than at Gayfield.

Hard one to take for Arbroath having been in the lead and looking fairly comfortable defensively up until the last 20 minutes. Thought a draw would have been a fairer result. Raith, 2 shots on target and 2 goals. Brown's volley was sweetly struck it must be said. Easton was getting joy on the right against Scott Stewart as the second half went on.

McKenna's corner kicks were extremely dangerous first half and you could tell it was going to lead to a goal or a goal scoring chance. Olusanya's shot and a near post miss by Adarkwa? were strong chances not taken. 2-0 at half time and I expect the points would have been all Arbroath's.

First time I've seen your new signings live. Thought Balde looked a good signing;  some tenacity, grit and covered the ground well. Adarkwa isn't Nouble but definitely has something to offer.  Easily a better target man than we have. Will link the game and grab some goals. Game seemed to pass Dow a bit as far as I could see. Komlafe has a turn of pace. Interesting to see how he turns out.

Subs from DC didn't change the game as I suspect he'd hope.

Millen's theoretical collapse first half was shocking. Ref pulled a few to many yellows in general I thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess we got what we deserved from today's game. Same old failings, inability to score goals, little midfield creativity, creaking defence and against a side who mastered the conditions better. Coupled with some incomprehensible refereeing made it a hard watch.

Apart from tipping over corners in the first half and losing a goal to one corner, the Rovers keeper (on a go-slow for most of the match) didn't have to make a save, can't remember us having any shots on target.

Need big improvement to have any chance of staying up. Maybe once the new signings have settled in little more we will get an improvement. Thought Banks and Hetherington did well when they came on. Dow did well first half but drifted out of the game in the second half.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, SimonLichtie said:

First 19 games:

14 points

13 goals

28 conceded

0.73 points per game = 26 points over a season - dead last. Pish.

Last 5 games (since 1st Jan):

7 points

10 goals

11 conceded

1.4 points per game = 50 points over a season = 5th ish place form. What would've been considered another excellent season for us.

Looks like an improvement to me ;) 

Squad pre January, realistically, gave us f**k all chance of not finishing 10th. 

The squad we have now gives us a 50/ 50 (in my opinion) chance of staying up, and I think that's probably the best we could realistically ask for back in late December. I personally think the squad is significently improved in every area, and the majority of the signings have already showed themselves as clear upgrades on their predecessors. Credit to the management team for this - it does however mean that my minimum expectation is that in the next 12+ games we continue to show form that is outwith the bottom 3 teams. If we don't, then it means the management have failed this season with two very different squads which would be extremely unacceptable...

That’s hardly a good comparison is it? 5 games v 19. Why not cherry pick the 6 game period from beating Morton to beating Hamilton earlier in the season where we had 8 points (2 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats), plus a cup win v East Fife in that time too. That form would have given us a season total of 48 points and a comfortable mid-table finish. The point is, there is very little evidence that anything has changed in a big enough way to make enough of a difference.

We've played 15 games since our last home win, including 6 home league games, 2 draws and 4 defeats + 2 home cup defeats in that time too.

Again, I can’t see enough of a meaningful improvement to keep us up.

Win v Cove and I’ll perhaps think a bit more positively, until then, I don’t just think we’re down, I think we’ll end up 10th. If we can’t start winning at home then we’re fucked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Tattie36 said:

That’s hardly a good comparison is it? 5 games v 19.

I agree - but it's the only way to compare the 'old' v 'new' squad in terms of improvement. The 'new' squad starting when we punted Corfe, Isiaka etc and got in Yasin, Adarkwa and Balde - hence choosing then onwards to compare. I'd be making the exact same comparison as things continue and it obviously becomes more and more meaningful..... If it doesn't stay at that 1.4ish points a game level then we're in trouble, if it does we give ourselves a very good chance.

I understand what you're saying in terms of it being enough of an improvement, but I think it's slightly contradicts you're argument about the above comparison. If 5 games v 19 isn't a good comparison on paper/ stat wise, then I'd say the same about judging if theres been enough of a meaningful improvement ;) 

Ultimately we're all going to find out over the next few months..... I hope you're wrong, as I'm sure you do :lol: , but I fear you may end up being correct..... As I said - I view it as a real 50/ 50 for us at this point in time and I think Cove and Hamilton will/ should view it similarly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, SimonLichtie said:

I agree - but it's the only way to compare the 'old' v 'new' squad in terms of improvement. The 'new' squad starting when we punted Corfe, Isiaka etc and got in Yasin, Adarkwa and Balde - hence choosing then onwards to compare. I'd be making the exact same comparison as things continue and it obviously becomes more and more meaningful..... If it doesn't stay at that 1.4ish points a game level then we're in trouble, if it does we give ourselves a very good chance.

I understand what you're saying in terms of it being enough of an improvement, but I think it's slightly contradicts you're argument about the above comparison. If 5 games v 19 isn't a good comparison on paper/ stat wise, then I'd say the same about judging if theres been enough of a meaningful improvement ;) 

Ultimately we're all going to find out over the next few months..... I hope you're wrong, as I'm sure you do :lol: , but I fear you may end up being correct..... As I said - I view it as a real 50/ 50 for us at this point in time and I think Cove and Hamilton will/ should view it similarly.

Yes there is a small up turn no doubt but we needed a much bigger improvement particularly with Hamilton appearing to be rejuvenated and Cove having a moral boosting result today - Christ, we haven’t even scored in 3 games v Partick this season, never mind beat them.

If we think we’ll be up for the game in two weeks then so will Cove… and some. Despite their recent results I think they’ve been better than us this season, particularly on the plastic pitch at Balmoral which is lightning fast.

I also think we all need to stop putting most of the blame on the players. It’s not them that decide on lineup, formation, tactics, substitutions etc. As I said in this thread earlier, the difference in how we play compared to the last few seasons (last season and 2019 in particular) is stark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apart from corners today in the first half I couldn't see where we were gonna score from, 1 nil at half time was never gonna be enough, 

I have no doubt we have a better squad, however I still think we play players in wrong positions and our tactics aren't working, our home from is dreadful, 

People will say you have to give people a chance, but we have been here so many times lately with signings and they haven't worked out, first impressions are normally the best and Olusanya and Komolafe don't look any better that Fosu was, 

Cove away is a must win, anything less then we are fighting for 9th at best, 

                   Gaston 

Banks Little ToB Hammy

     Hetherington Balde

Stewart  Mckenna El-mhanni

                Adarkwa

 

Edited by lichtiekev
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, SimonLichtie said:

I agree - but it's the only way to compare the 'old' v 'new' squad in terms of improvement. The 'new' squad starting when we punted Corfe, Isiaka etc and got in Yasin, Adarkwa and Balde - hence choosing then onwards to compare. I'd be making the exact same comparison as things continue and it obviously becomes more and more meaningful..... If it doesn't stay at that 1.4ish points a game level then we're in trouble, if it does we give ourselves a very good chance.

I understand what you're saying in terms of it being enough of an improvement, but I think it's slightly contradicts you're argument about the above comparison. If 5 games v 19 isn't a good comparison on paper/ stat wise, then I'd say the same about judging if theres been enough of a meaningful improvement ;) 

Ultimately we're all going to find out over the next few months..... I hope you're wrong, as I'm sure you do :lol: , but I fear you may end up being correct..... As I said - I view it as a real 50/ 50 for us at this point in time and I think Cove and Hamilton will/ should view it similarly.

I give us a 50/50 shot at this stage too. We're going through big changes this window, like you are, and there's an element of hope there's enough new recruits that make the grade and they bed in quickly enough. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, lichtiekev said:

Cove away is a must win, anything less then we are fighting for 11th at best, 

 

Jesus, I know we’re bad but I don’t thing even a team of 11 Deri Corfe’s would make us end up 11th in a 10 team league. 😉

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Tattie36 said:

I also think we all need to stop putting most of the blame on the players. It’s not them that decide on lineup, formation, tactics, substitutions etc. As I said in this thread earlier, the difference in how we play compared to the last few seasons (last season and 2019 in particular) is stark.

I view this side of things very simply. If I (and anyone else) think's we've improved the squad enough to stay up, which I do think we have, then if we don't stay up everything points towards poor line ups, tactical choices, subs etc and the buck for them stops with one person... On that note, my opinion is that if we acknowledge out strengths and play to them properly we will stay up. If we don't, we won't.

Everything points towards playing a 4-5-1 IMO. Setting up that way is best against the majority of teams in this division, and it is the formation to get the best out of what we have. It gives us the flexibility we need during different game situations and it allows us to have our best players on the park, in the positions that suit them best. After last week's win I fully understand not making any changes for todays game, but now we've lost and we've got our full squad entirely signed up, the way we set up against Cove will presumably be the way we plan to set up for the rest of the season. For me, that really has to be along the lines of:

Gaston
Banks/ Stewart     ToB        Ricky      Hammy
Dow/ Stewart                                        Yasin/ Bobby
                                   Adarkwa

The above seems fairly obvious to me, and the midfield 3 has one sitter, one central and one number 10 in it. The number 10 is Mikey McKenna, and sitter is Hetherington or Bitsindou, and the one in the middle is Balde. Keep the shape, keep the majority of the personnel and make smallish changes week to week where needed so we can start building a proper understanding between the players. If we chop and change formation/ tactics everytime we play poorly, we'll play poorly most weeks and go down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Tattie36 said:

Jesus, I know we’re bad but I don’t thing even a team of 11 Deri Corfe’s would make us end up 11th in a 10 team league. 😉

A team of Deri Corfe's would require the calling of an EGM to liquidate the club :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, SimonLichtie said:

I view this side of things very simply. If I (and anyone else) think's we've improved the squad enough to stay up, which I do think we have, then if we don't stay up everything points towards poor line ups, tactical choices, subs etc and the buck for them stops with one person... On that note, my opinion is that if we acknowledge out strengths and play to them properly we will stay up. If we don't, we won't.

Everything points towards playing a 4-5-1 IMO. Setting up that way is best against the majority of teams in this division, and it is the formation to get the best out of what we have. It gives us the flexibility we need during different game situations and it allows us to have our best players on the park, in the positions that suit them best. After last week's win I fully understand not making any changes for todays game, but now we've lost and we've got our full squad entirely signed up, the way we set up against Cove will presumably be the way we plan to set up for the rest of the season. For me, that really has to be along the lines of:

Gaston
Banks/ Stewart     ToB        Ricky      Hammy
Dow/ Stewart                                        Yasin/ Bobby
                                   Adarkwa

The above seems fairly obvious to me, and the midfield 3 has one sitter, one central and one number 10 in it. The number 10 is Mikey McKenna, and sitter is Hetherington or Bitsindou, and the one in the middle is Balde. Keep the shape, keep the majority of the personnel and make smallish changes week to week where needed so we can start building a proper understanding between the players. If we chop and change formation/ tactics everytime we play poorly, we'll play poorly most weeks and go down.

Yes and definitely agree with your lineup, a good balance with a bit of physicality in midfield. However we could put out a team including Messi and Haaland but if the team is then setup and instructed to play in a certain way then you’re not playing to your strengths. As I said before, watch highlights from last season or 2019. We played as a unit, everyone gave 100% (or they were hooked) with clear tactics and objectives, and with a desire to win every single game, challenge, corner, 50/50. Any of our current squad could have played in those teams and we still would have done as well.

I do think the January window has strengthened the squad but was 8 too many at this stage? Players need time to bed in and adjust to the pace and physicality of the game here. Throwing on 3 new signings when winning an ultra important game is just the latest in a very long line of tactical brain farts this season by Dick Campbell. Not something an experienced manager like him should be doing. I personally think he’s terrified, panicking, knows we’re in deep shit and doesn’t know how to get out of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The truly abysmal home run continues, by far the worst in the division and, compared with a half-decent away record, one obvious ‘reason’ we’re in this predicament.  A high proportion of these 12 games have been in windy conditions (more than usual I’d say) and we seem to handle these less well than most visitors.  Is this because our too-frequent personnel and lineup changes reduce the players ability to become accustomed to conditions/playing together.  Is the parttime thing a factor and, related to that are fitness levels what they were?  We seem to lack some of the physicality/athleticism/aggression of last season, vital in this league.  We can’t seem to string 3 passes together at Gayfield.   Against Raith, we conceded possession in midfield, lost most 50:50s and, when we had the ball, we’re unable to find a player or, in most cases, keep the ball on the ground.  Yet barely 6 weeks ago, we looked the better side at Starks Park, tho only managed a draw.  Can’t really blame the home crowd.  Finally, it’s always preferable - given the choice - to play into the wind first half.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...