Deadly

Have the club announced season ticket prices since the early bird offer? Someone mentioned earlier that the club hadn't emailed existing season ticket holders which seems madness. I just thought I'd missed it or it went to a junk folder. Gonna forget the dog shit served up in the playoffs and get me and the wee lads bought again.

Agree it's not ideal if that scenario arose, and certainly not straight forward selecting venues. I'm definitely in favour of a one off final and would like to see any barriers overcome, but I'm just a paying punter so my opinion doesn't really matter!

Yeah, i'm still up for the two legged semi but could one off final venues and dates not be agreed at the start of the season picking championship or lower stadiums that would be available? If it happens to be the championship club's ground who are in the final then so be it. I just love a one off final

Fair point, and I don't know is the answer. The plus side is it's less expensive for the fans and it's a proper one off final. Not sure if it would be practical for the reasons you gave but worth exploring.

Was about to post something similar. We did all know our season tickets didn't include play offs so I've no real issue there but the point about 4 (hopefully) games and travel in such a short space of time is a good one. A wider issue than just us, but do we need 2 legged semis and finals? I like the one off nature of a final

I've seen some of the stuff and there's definitely good intention, I just don't think the impact can be meaningful unless (as you say) it's a joint focus by the foundation and the club. An example being that my lad goes to the Saturday morning sessions and not once in a year has anyone from the club been along. Free tickets (we have season tickets but most don't) but bring a paying adult etc. If those were handed out by a player (even the 20's) it would be a way of getting more folk along. School visits, assemblies etc. Any opportunity to get players into the schools would be great. The south stand shot, mascots etc are great for the kids that go but id like to see more done to get NEW kids / families along. Links Park Community Trust are the Montrose FC equivilant and they have a great link with the club and community. A real joint up programme and they do some brilliant work in the area.

Nothing particularly ground breaking as far as I'm aware mate, and that's the frustrating thing. They do simple things well. Just stuff like well run youth community coaching programmes and linking to local schools / groups etc. Pathetic is maybe harsh, but I don't think we do very well on that front. There are a few bits and bobs that go on but I really think we need more of it, and what we do needs to be better.

Totally agree with you. Would love more fans providing more gate money and a better atmosphere. They won't just appear at the gates though. We (the club) need to make the effort to get them in, and once they're in to keep them.

These clubs all have decent community programmes whereas ours is pathetic. Agree about the playing style. It's not been good to watch this season. That's not a factor for me but it certainly doesn't help the overall experience. I don't think we necessarily 'shat it' today , I just think we didn't have enough about us to break them down. One thing that has bothered me is that Vaughan was flying playing wide. He ended up CM which was not ideal, but why when the CM issue was sorted was he never played wide where he did all the damage early in the season? F#ck it, onto Wednesday.

I've got a season ticket and take my boy to almost all away matches too, so I say this as someone who is there week in week out ... Why should they come every week? The standard is poor, the prices aren't particularly good, and the community programme the club rolls out is token effort at best. We can't just expect people to come to the club. The club needs to be doing far more to attract and retain new fans. Not everyone is born into supporting the club. Some need enticed but I see little or no evidence that this happens. I'd love to see bigger crowds but I think the club need to look at how they make it appealing and affordable. I'll keep coming along (as will others) regardless of how shite the football is but accept that not everyone will and don't have any ill feelings towards people who pick and choose their games.

I'm ever changing from a full bore hard on with excitement, to shitting my pants with fear. I kinda like it

I've always thought Lochee United to be a well run club, and enjoyed my visits there as a player or paying punter. I'd like to think these comments don't represent the club as a whole. Hopefully an apology comes from juniorsforme, and if not then i'd hope the club apologise on his behalf. Clubs should be engaging with local communities, and also making their ground a ground that neutrals feel welcome at.

I've always backed Smith and really want him to succeed, but some of his team selections / substitutions have been odd throughout the season. Zanatta helped turn the game last week yet didn't even get on today despite us crying out for width. Court got 2 minutes today and all that did was help run the clock down and waste time. Hendry looks decent and I'm still unsure as to why he didn't get a sniff for so long. Vaughan was unplayable as an attacking wide player, and even once Robertson was back fit Vaughan wasn't played where he has been so effective. He went up front as opposed to wide where he did so much damage early on in the season. All of that said, he isn't responsible for the embarrassing defending for the goal and Buchanan missing an open goal. Yes, he put Buchanan on the park and for all that many disagreed with that call, you would still back him to put that away. I thought it WAS a corner for the goal. Smith scrambled to keep it in which made me think he thought it came off a rovers player last. I had a decent view and wasn't sure but Smith's reaction made me think it was a corner. Don't agree with abusing Smith and the shouts to sack him. While he is in charge we need to get behind him and the team to help us through the play offs.

Id be amazed if they invested in a new astro pitch a few hundred yards away from an under capacity astro pitch they fully funded.

Spot on. The current Astros in Kirkcaldy are not at capacity, and that includes winter periods. I'm not against astro but I am against relying on income - that won't come in - to make it viable.

I don't think Austin was involved at Cupar Hearts when the discussions / proposal to use AM Soccers youth set up to feed into Cupar Hearts took place, although he had previously played for and managed them. I think the unsuccessful talks were what prompted the creation of the AM soccer adult side. It would have made more sense to merge / link the AM youth set up into the Cupar Hearts adult side but for reasons I'm not privy to, Cupar Hearts didn't want to link up. Your right, there was definitely talk of AM using bayview. I think this was for a newly formed lowland league side and my understanding was that this was in addition to the ammie team, and not instead of. I thought Kennoway using Bayview was dead in the water due to the facility hire being higher than they anticipated. Maybe it's back on? Knowing how ambitious (and capable) AM soccer are I'd be surprised if they weren't looking at an avenue into the pyramid.

Good signing. I was hoping the rovers might have looked at him but not to be. Local lad for EF and hope he does well for you guys .... Except against the rovers which should go without saying.

Alloa brought less than 50 to Starks park in Early December when they were going well, so I'd guess at least 450 would be EF fans. What's an average home (as in home fans only) crowd for you guys?

A mate of mine supports Stirling Albion and they have had the exact same thing happen. A young wide player on loan from hearts had been recalled for some winter sun. Timing horrendous. I don't think Zanatta is brilliant (gradually improving and turning into an important player) but as he's the only fit natural wide player it's a big blow. The board have made a few boo boos in their time but this isn't their fault.

Worth noting that the Levenmouth area committee funded the Astro at bayview, so no big outlay for EF to get the pitch installed. They may have had some costs (Liam will know) but the vast majority was paid for by council money. Given balwearie has recently been upgraded I'd guess we'll get no council money and would have to fully fund the installation ourselves. Only real slots of interest for users would be 6-9(ish) Monday - Friday (maybe even Thursday) through the winter months. I'd like to think the board would consult with the community groups that would potentially use it before going with a field of dreams approach of "If we build it, they will come". I much prefer grass, but if the board identified that it would be beneficial in the long term then I'd grin and bear Astro.

I like Murray, but I thought he was badly exposed away to Alloa and looked shaky at home to Ayr as a LB. The way we are trying to play, the FB's to be comfy on the ball ..... I don't think he is. I know the narrow midfield at Alloa didn't help his cause in that game, so maybe a bit harsh from me. It may be that the manager has to see if the better available options are at CB or LB. If no decent CB's are available but a LB is, it'll force his hand to move for the LB and vice versa. I think more money being made available suggests the manager only sees McKay (and other young lads) as cover for the bench, but not deemed ready to start games regularly. Depleted squad and results still going well, so if we get through the injury problems without a dip in results then hopefully the lads come back and kick us on even more. Hope we get a decent crowd there on Saturday and keep the run going.

The manger sees these players every week at training, and if he felt they were capable then I'm sure he'd play them. Always great to see local (or boys who've come through the ranks) lads come through but they have to be good enough. If we can get a right good one every year or two then great. I trust the manager to make the call on who he thinks is ready / good enough to contribute to the first team. Totally agree with your comment on another post about putting Osei out on loan. Let's see if he can cut it. I personally think Court is a better bet than Osei and now we have Zanatta in we are well enough covered up top.

From the little I've seen of him so far McKay looks raw and nervous on the ball. If he gets his chance, hopefully he grows in confidence and does a job for us. Murray struggled at Alloa (possibly due to the narrow 3 man midfield) and against Ayr at LB. I feel for him as he's playing out of position to help the team. Agree with most that Davo had a great game on Saturday and long may that type of form continue. I don't see Robertson as an option at CB, mainly because we need him in CM. Keeper worries me. Seems to communicate well but has flapped a few times and I'd love to see Lennox back ASAP. Whatever we do defensively is going to be far from ideal and we're just gonna have to piss with the defensive cock we have. Sadly it's looking a bit like a baldy half incher at the moment. Agree with everyone else who says we're strong in attacking areas, and we may need them to kick on even more to help us through the defensive situation. Spence hasn't been scoring a great deal but he occupies defenders, makes unselfish runs creating space for others, and retains possession well. Buchanan looks to have been playing through a wee niggle but is looking sharp again and is a proven scorer. I don't see that changing. Barr has been great the last couple of weeks and I don't need to say anything about Vaughan. Osei looks like he needs someone to remote control him as he appears lost when he's on the park. I'd like to see Court ahead of him but I wonder if Zanatta will jump ahead of both now? Winning the east development league is a good achievement but the step up in standard / physicality from u/20 to first team is huge and sadly it may be too big a jump for the majority. Great start so far and we just have to believe in the manager and squad to get us through a hard period.

It would be great to see some of the younger lads get some game time, but I also think it's important to build some momentum going in to the opening league game so it will be interesting to see what the line ups are. I thought Robertson had his poorest game in terms of passing and ball retention etc, but some of his break up play was really good and possibly goes under the radar. As others have said, we've played 3 teams all in leagues above us so I think we'll see how good a player he'll be for us once the league games start. Davidson looks shaky at CH. some very sloppy passes, clearances etc. over pre season and the first couple of games. Hopefully they're out of his system now and he can have a good season for us. Really encouraged so far. We need to hope the squad stays fit and free of suspension, as I think our 11 will be the best 11. Not so sure we will have the best squad though. Possibly once players are moved on higher up the leagues we could see a loan or two coming in.

What's the story with the home strip for this year? My wee lads desperate for a home top but all you can get is the red away top in sizes way too big for to him. Emailed / FB / phoned the club but never get a reply. The wee man's desperate but cannae seem to get him one.