WT Figo

Happy to see Malin sign on again. As has been said, a decent squad player who didn't put a foot wrong when coming on as an infrequent sub. Played in a variety of positions and always seemed to have a smile on his face.

As Herald says there was a lot said by D.C. about the squad and his plans, but we should respect his request that it should stay in that room. All will become clear in due course anyway. The one thing that is probably ok to report is the Club's view on the proposal for PL Colts in the lower leagues. AFC are totally against it and their view is that virtually every other club in the lower leagues will also vote against it. As has been suggested on here, if 2 or 3 PL start in the HL/LL they will soon get promotion to League 2 which means 2 or 3 part time teams being relegated. It is turkeys voting for Christmas. That said, it won't impact on the PL or Championship so they would likely vote for it. Money talks and if the OF want it to happen, it will.

Thank you Jose. I don't read newspapers, have no real interest in any other team in Scotland, nor do I generally read any others threads on P&B. So I had completely missed this discussion previously. I have now read all of the posts on that thread from December and then skipped forward to the comments since this resurfaced on Friday. Now I have got a better understanding of the proposal I have to agree that this is utter pish! This clearly demonstrates the utter contempt that the football authorities have for SPFL 1 & 2 and HL/LL clubs. Pandering purely to mainly the OF's ambitions to the detriment the quality of competition and entertainment in the lower tiers, is at the very least insulting to fans and members of those clubs. I fail to see how this can be of any benefit to anyone. If the PL clubs want their U21 players to develop in competitive leagues, then as someone else suggested, get them out on loan. One or two PL loanees in League 1 & 2 squads can benefit both the player as well as the Club they play for, as long as they are played. But, that is not always the case as we saw with Mutch last season. it is the AGM this week, so I wonder if anyone attending will ask the board for their view on this. Be interesting to find the view of Mike Caird et al on this.

I don't quite understand what this colts proposal means. Could someone please explain it for me?

Post of the year so far. Well said. Cannot disagree with a word of that. I have tried to say something similar a few times, but not so eloquently.

Ricky Gomes Arbroath are extremely delighted that Goalkeeper Ricky Gomes has agreed terms to remain at Gayfield. Ricky was a pivotal part of the team that won the Ladbrokes League 2 Championship after arriving at Gayfield in July last season. Ricky made his Arbroath debut in the second half against Raith Rovers in a pre-season friendly at Gayfield before making his full debut against Inverness Caledonian Thistle U20s in the 3-0 win in the Highlands but unfortunately was injured late in the game. It wasn’t until the 8th league of the season that Ricky was again involved. An injury to Robbie Mutch allowed Ricky to grab his chance and in the following game which was his first full appearance he won the man of the match award as Arbroath defeated Forfar Athletic 2-0. Ricky’s performances between the sticks made sure that he was 1st choice keeper at the club and went on to remain in goal for the remainder of the season keeping 9 clean sheets in the process and being undefeated away from home in goal all season. Ricky is extremely popular with the Arbroath fans we are delighted that Ricky is remaining at Gayfield! C’mon the Lichties!

John Gibson Arbroath FC are delighted that Goalkeeper John Gibson has agreed terms to move to Gayfield. The 28 year old will be a familiar face to all Arbroath fans having played for Clyde for the last 2 seasons where he has regularly frustrated the Arbroath attack with his shot stopping skills. John who stands at 6’-3” is a vastly experienced keeper and started his career at Dundee United enjoying a loan spell at Forfar Athletic. John made the switch to City rivals Dundee in 2009 and was loaned out to Elgin City where he played the entire season. His form at Borough Briggs earned him a new deal and he went on to play for Sligo Rovers, Montrose and Elgin as well as making 3 first team appearances for Dundee. In the summer of 2014 John made the switch to Alloa Athletic and played a pivotal role in Alloa’s Championship play-off survival before moving to Broadwood in the summer of 2015. We would like to welcome John to Gayfield and wish him the best in his Arbroath career. C'mon the Lichties!

Me too.

Absolutely agree. There always seems to be one player that the Lichties moaners pick out as their target for venom. Ferns seemed to have been chosen to be that player even before he had set foot onto the pitch. It was as if SAFC Jake had created some clones and sent them to Gayfield to vent his spleen on Eddie Ferns. It was quite horrendous to witness him being barracked and boo'ed before he had even had a kick of the ball. I really don't understand that mentality. If he is in a AFC shirt, he deserves to be supported and encouraged positively, at least from the start.

It seems that this thread has actually been migrated,

Seriously!??!. He has the ball control of penguin! I watched in despair at times when virtually every short pass he received bounced off of his shin and went to an opposition player. I heard one Lichties fan describe him as a gravestone because the ball just rebounded away from him all the time.

Actually he conceded 23 of the 36 goals, so if it is percentages you want it is 87%! I repeat, I am NOT knocking him, merely giving my opinion that your comment that he was faultless for 95% of the time is flawed. I pointed out 3 goals towards the end of the season which sprang to mind. I could examine the other 20 league goals he conceded by looking again at the (excellent) highlights and may find others that he was at fault for. If I was knocking him, or intending to knock him, I could do that. But I won't as I am NOT knocking him, just offering an opinion.

So we could see Simon Murray back at Gayfield (again).

My mistake. It wasn't Elgin, it was Edinburgh when he should have caught it instead of trying to be a volleyball player. At Annan he made a save that he should have caught and pushed it straight to their incoming striker. Blame the weather!!? Not that old, old excuse again. Weather happens. Gayfield weather happens more than mist places and can change several times in a game. But the Arbroath keeper plays (or at least warms up and experiences it) 19+ times a season, whereas opposition keepers only get it twice. It is not beyond even the most intellectually challenged to see which way the wind is blowing and realise that if it is going from your left to right strongly, then kicking it close to the right touchline will mean it will catch on the wind and go out. As I said before, I am not knocking him, just think that your crush on him seems to be clouding your view.

I think that you are perhaps showing a bit too much love for Ricky Gomes there. He was pretty steady most games, but did flap at the ball and contribute to 3 goals that I can think of in the last few games (Annan and Forfar away, plus Elgin at home). Plus his kicking was very often crap. I lost count of the amount of drop kicks he put well into touch because he didn't account for the wind. I don't mean to knock him as he was far better than Mutch and Fleming before him, but I think your 95% faultless comment is being overly generous.

Excellent!! Squad getting bigger and better. See I said we just needed to wait until May 31st for signings to be announced. Get in Lichties.

Just seen Liam Callaghan has tweeted that he has received a League 2 Championship medal in the post from AFC, despite leaving in January and only playing twice in the league. On that basis, it seems that Robbie Mutch, Michael Dunlop, Gary Philips and Jason Brown should also get one. On the Sunday after we won the league I asked if anyone knew what the criteria was for who got a medal, after Big Rab got one. Someone said that the Club got 25 medals and they decide themselves who gets one. I cannot see how that can be true, judging by how many went up to get one at Stirling (include coaching staff) if they are also sending them out in the post to former players.

Ah, ok I see. Got you now.

Which players do you mean?

So from that announcement from the Club, we still need a Keeper and Left Back. Interestingly it doesn't mention Hodge, Malin, or Gomes leaving or staying so could be news on them soon.

From the AFC Facebook page. Arbroath Squad 2017 / 2018 Arbroath manager Dick Campbell has been working hard behind the scenes as he plans for our move up into League One. Arbroath FC are delighted to announce that several key players of our Ladbrokes League 2 Championship winning side have agreed terms, committing themselves to Gayfield for next season. Steven Doris, Eddie Ferns, David Gold, Kane Hester, Omar Kader, Ricky Little, Ryan McCord, Bryan Prunty and Mark Whatley have all agreed terms to sign alongside Josh Skelly, Colin Hamilton and Bobby Linn who had already signed / were under contract. We would also like to thank Donald McCallum, Matty Smyth and Jassem Sukar who were all on loan at Gayfield and played a part in our League Title. Arbroath FC would like to go on record and also thank their parent clubs - Dumbarton FC, Dundee FC and Dundee United for allowing them to link up at Gayfield. Of course as new players come in, there will be players moving in the opposition direction. Martin Scott, Josh Thomson and Ryan Stewart all depart Gayfield but we would like to thank them all for their contribution they made and wish them all the very best for the future. There will be further player announcements and details to come in the following days and weeks. We hope these announcements will build the excitement for next season and we look forward to revealing more very soon. C’mon the Lichties

From the AFC Facebook page. Transfers / Season Tickets / Strips There is a lot of activity going on at Gayfield at the moment as you can imagine just like every summer and close season. We will keep you informed of all activity in the transfer market. We are aware of the excitement from supporters and it is echoed by everyone at the club. There has also been a lot of questions in regards to when season tickets will be available and also when our new home and away strips will be ready to purchase. Again this information will be made available as soon as everything is in place. We value your support and excitement and we will inform when we can. C'mon the LIchties!

Very pleased with this signing. Really like Josh and and think that he is a great option

Yes, I guess you are right. Just wishful thinking.

Wonder if our board were astute enough to include any clauses for getting something from this deal?