East Fife v Dumbarton 01/02/2020

[squeezeboxson]

9 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said:

I thought Forbes was going to be our Andrea Pirlo who sat in midfield and sprayed the ball about at will, playing passes that set up great chances?

League 1 needs players who can play at a decent pace and who can press opponents. That isnt Ross Forbes.

To be fair, I have seen East Fife twice this season (missed today) and they are comfortably the best footballing side I have seen. They play nice, quick football and they don't give you a second on the ball. The recipe for complete disaster when you start with Hutton, Carswell, McKee and Forbes. I think Jim has a lot of work to do to figure out our best formation. We have bodies at least but options mean choices - something I would rather have than not.

[Jan Vojáček]

The worst thing about today was conceding twice from set pieces. That's been a trend all season and, given McGeever and Neill have been decent, is overlooked. Defensively we are absolutely rancid and concede far too many.

Pettigrew deserves a shot between the sticks imo because Brennan really isn't settling our defence down. Carsy is still miles off it and although he did very well forcing the error for the second goal McCluskey is fundamentally not good enough to be a starter for us. I was very surprised to see PJ left on the bench when we clearly needed something different going forward.

On the positive side I thought big Rab Jones has cult hero potential and was in the right place to slam in his goal. Given the way we play we need a forward like him and I can see him linking up nicely with someone rapid like Jai. That aside it's difficult to be too optimistic based on that showing.

RE the Forbes chat, it's laughable to suggest he's not what you need at this level. He must've been one of (or the outright) top scoring midfielder in the league last season. I get that he's not everyone's type of player, and that they'd rather have a wide player who sprinted about the park, but last season it shouldn't be overlooked how good he was for us. And i trust Duffy to get that out of him again.

[BallochSonsFan]

33 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

One bad game doesn't make him a bad player. He's a good player at this level, I don't think anyone expects him to play the Pirlo role considering he mostly operates at right mid and plays in League 1 of the SPFL. Pirlo was a deep lying midfielder.

Funnily enough the best player on the park today is a similar type of player to Ross Forbes.

As mentioned on the Sons thread, he scored 13 league goals for us from midfield last season. Do you think he done badly in his last spell?

I don't think he was or is what we need.

[lorenzo71]

Cammy Bell would be a good addition if we could afford him.Brennan makes too many mistakes and unsettles the defence

[FifeSons]

On 31/01/2020 at 11:44, The Moonster said:

Forbes looks pleased to be back. 

It's just the usual "he doesnae run aboot!" folk that don't like him

 

1 hour ago, BallochSonsFan said:

League 1 needs players who can play at a decent pace and who can press opponents. That isnt Ross Forbes.

 

[Life on Marrs?]

Glad to see us back to winning ways & the roller-coaster way of doing it only adds to the excitement! Seems we've got the message, you need to shoot to get goals & we should've been out of sight at half time. I also thought it was a clash of heads and a drop ball for Neil's goal at the time, God only knows what we were doing at the back for the equaliser! Classic Agnew free kick, we all knew where that was ending up, he did seem to just run into the defender to win the foul though. 

Still not a goal from our forwards. What about that new guy though, he's fast & certainly looks a cut above this level, Anton, if you can keep up with him, he'll make chances for you, not just his boots that stand out. 

All in all a good day at the office, hopefully stopped the rot. Happy wi that. 

[George Parr]

1 hour ago, squeezeboxson said:

To be fair, I have seen East Fife twice this season (missed today) and they are comfortably the best footballing side I have seen. They play nice, quick football and they don't give you a second on the ball. The recipe for complete disaster when you start with Hutton, Carswell, McKee and Forbes. I think Jim has a lot of work to do to figure out our best formation. We have bodies at least but options mean choices - something I would rather have than not.

Absolutely this. East Fife’s pressing and dynamism on the ball is something to behold for a part time side. We just looked a bit lumbering in comparison - particularly in the middle of the park.

On the plus side big Jones looked promising and Sam is starting to find his feet. We’ve enough about us to get it together and avoid relegation, that’s my only ambition at this point. 

[ewan_fife]

To be fair, I have seen East Fife twice this season (missed today) and they are comfortably the best footballing side I have seen. They play nice, quick football and they don't give you a second on the ball. The recipe for complete disaster when you start with Hutton, Carswell, McKee and Forbes. I think Jim has a lot of work to do to figure out our best formation. We have bodies at least but options mean choices - something I would rather have than not.

Dawwwww ur cute x

[fifer67]

Can’t fault any player on the park for effort as no team left anything out there. East Fife really should have been out of sight but our inability to defend cross balls gave Dumbarton hope right on the half time whistle. How the ref gave a free kick that led to the goal only he could tell you. Add in another piece of typical East Fife defending and Dumbarton must have thought all their birthdays had come at once. Step forward Scott Agnew every set piece delivery he made was right on the money and it was no surprise when Murdoch got on the end of another pin point piece of accuracy. Agnews free kick was worth the £15 entry money fantastic skill again to curl it away from the keeper. Dumbarton we’re tidy enough with ball retention in the middle of the park but didn’t really carry any cutting edge in the final third. East Fife really must find a way to cut out the individual errors at the back it is so frustrating watching basic errors week after week. League now looks like a top 5 and bottom 5 . East Fife , Airdrie and Montrose looking like any 2 from 3 for play off places. 

[Its not only a game]

Glad to see us back to winning ways & the roller-coaster way of doing it only adds to the excitement! Seems we've got the message, you need to shoot to get goals & we should've been out of sight at half time. I also thought it was a clash of heads and a drop ball for Neil's goal at the time, God only knows what we were doing at the back for the equaliser! Classic Agnew free kick, we all knew where that was ending up, he did seem to just run into the defender to win the foul though. 
Still not a goal from our forwards. What about that new guy though, he's fast & certainly looks a cut above this level, Anton, if you can keep up with him, he'll make chances for you, not just his boots that stand out. 
All in all a good day at the office, hopefully stopped the rot. Happy wi that. 

That was hard- our defence is the gift that keeps giving.. DY must be pulling his hair out- good players- playing well and making costly errors.

In my view EF best 3 players were Murdoch- Denholm and Dowds. Murdoch is as hard as nails and scored an important goal. Denholm best game- attacked well but his defensive support was outstanding.
Dowds is now clearly fit again - led the line really well against 2 strong CB’s- his lay off to Denholm in the first half - his pass through to Wallace in the 2nd half and winning the ball in the corner and passing to Agnew should of been 3 goals. But above all he must run the most miles in the team by far-does Wallaces running also! Thought the latter was poor today- should of been substituted- but said that a few times recently!

On the subject of saying things recently- we need a strong midfielder !

[O'Kelly Isley III]

No matter the overall flow of the game, the statistical possession percentages or the lack of general threat around our goal, the unpalatable truth is that we are capable of shipping goals, and particularly bad ones, anywhere and at any time.

There are reasons for that of course, linked to individual ability and collective confidence, but we can't expect to match well-organised and fit teams like East Fife until we can address it.

It was especially disappointing today as there were signs of hope at the other end of the park with Jones impressing and Jai showing glimpses of genuine pace.

For the record, that's now twice this season we've clawed the Fifers back to 2-2 only to lose 4-2; I reckon about five of those eight goals were avoidable.

And we still need a reliable keeper.

[Life on Marrs?]

18 minutes ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

No matter the overall flow of the game, the statistical possession percentages or the lack of general threat around our goal, the unpalatable truth is that we are capable of shipping goals, and particularly bad ones, anywhere and at any time.

There are reasons for that of course, linked to individual ability and collective confidence, but we can't expect to match well-organised and fit teams like East Fife until we can address it.

It was especially disappointing today as there were signs of hope at the other end of the park with Jones impressing and Jai showing glimpses of genuine pace.

For the record, that's now twice this season we've clawed the Fifers back to 2-2 only to lose 4-2; I reckon about five of those eight goals were avoidable.

And we still need a reliable keeper.

Surprised you guys are losing so many goals. I would've thought a centre half pairing of Neil & Mcgeaver would be as good as any at this level. 

[sirscottyoung]

Surprised you guys are losing so many goals. I would've thought a centre half pairing of Neil & Mcgeaver would be as good as any at this level. 

Neill hasn't looked particularly good at any level [emoji1787]

[Life on Marrs?]

Wondering if Robert Jones has now scored more at Bayview this season, than when he actually played for us?

Hope it works out for him, as he's spent a fair bit of time without a club. 

[sirscottyoung]

Wondering if Robert Jones has now scored more at Bayview this season, than when he actually played for us?
Hope it works out for him, as he's spent a fair bit of time without a club. 

Yeah he never scored for us [emoji1787][emoji1787] to be fair he looked alright yesterday.

[troy]

13 hours ago, Its not only a game said:

That was hard- our defence is the gift that keeps giving.. DY must be pulling his hair out- good players- playing well and making costly errors.

In my view EF best 3 players were Murdoch- Denholm and Dowds. Murdoch is as hard as nails and scored an important goal. Denholm best game- attacked well but his defensive support was outstanding.
Dowds is now clearly fit again - led the line really well against 2 strong CB’s- his lay off to Denholm in the first half - his pass through to Wallace in the 2nd half and winning the ball in the corner and passing to Agnew should of been 3 goals. But above all he must run the most miles in the team by far-does Wallaces running also! Thought the latter was poor today- should of been substituted- but said that a few times recently!

On the subject of saying things recently- we need a strong midfielder !

Who are you going to drop to let your strong midfielder in?. The present midfield all have different good qualities. 

[Its not only a game]

Who are you going to drop to let your strong midfielder in?. The present midfield all have different good qualities. 

Our midfield has been overrun a lot of times this year. Agnew the best attacking midfielder in the league by some distance is having to do to much defending( not his strength)

The area of the field where i feel we have the least cover- Davidson needs competition....

[troy]

42 minutes ago, Its not only a game said:

Our midfield has been overrun a lot of times this year. Agnew the best attacking midfielder in the league by some distance is having to do to much defending( not his strength)

The area of the field where i feel we have the least cover- Davidson needs competition....

Davidson has to be the most underrated East Fife player. He gets up and down the park and puts in a shift every game. He's not somebody I would drop. I do recall the last game he missed when we last played the rovers. The team definitely missed him that day. 

[sirscottyoung]

Davidson has to be the most underrated East Fife player. He gets up and down the park and puts in a shift every game. He's not somebody I would drop. I do recall the last game he missed when we last played the rovers. The team definitely missed him that day. 

With you 100% on this one. Glad I'm not the gaffer cause he has a selection headache in a few positions.

2 weeks until our next game I hope that something can be sorted so we don't lose match sharpness as that yesterday was class.

Also hope that the guys up top can get a great understanding with Morrison as that could be pivotal. (like when he somehow beat the defence and put that incredible cross in but anton had stopped as he didn't think he was getting it) just so they know to gamble every time as their defence could switch off like anton did and he's then standing alone to hit it in

[Its not only a game]

Davidson has to be the most underrated East Fife player. He gets up and down the park and puts in a shift every game. He's not somebody I would drop. I do recall the last game he missed when we last played the rovers. The team definitely missed him that day. 

So you don’t think we have not been dominated in midfield at times this year- last 2 Rovers game- last 2 Montrose games?

 

... and all i have said is we need to strengthen that part of our team....