The Arbroath Thread

[lichtiekev]

It's clear it's not just the lack of striker that's the issue, 

Its the recruitment that has carried on since Bakare and Ford then the loss of good solid players, It's not the guys fault but Jacobs, Fosu, Corfe to name a few are not good enough for this level

Then the tactics and team selections have been absolutely bizarre, there is to many instances this season to name,

All the criticism is completely fair, its his team, his signings, his tactics, he has had plenty time and funds available but has got it all wrong,

Maybe if he held his hand up instead of worrying about the Bobby Linn song he would get a little more understanding, without Linn we would probably have 0 points and 0 shots on target this season

[stan3600]

All agreed except Jacobs was very good today and has been good for a few weeks. I thinks he’s a good addition to the squad. At least as good as Craigen who I also rated.

[Vegetableman]

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 ;.

[RedLichtie86]

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.

[Lichteeeeee]

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.

 

[Lichteeeeee]

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?

[SimonLichtie]

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  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  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....

[Tattie36]

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  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  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.

[stan3600]

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  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  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…

[AuAl]

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.

[basher brash]

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 ? 

[RedLichtie86]

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.

[ecto]

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 

[RedLichtie86]

Is that the same level we will be next season?
Is that a brass neck you have?

Your point is?

[RedLichtie86]

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.

[vikingTON]

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.

[SteveTheLichtie]

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.

[RedLichtie86]

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.

[glasgowlichtie22]

All good - Dick still has a list of Noubles mates 🫣

[ecto]

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