Marten

Our best striker is Jaden Ferguson, he came on in the second half but is still coming back from an injury. When he is fully fit we'll be fine. Also one of our best defenders, Calvin Colquhoun is on his way back from an injury, he has been out for over a year but is nearly back. Shame about the dropped points today, but East Craigie away is one of the toughest games of the season. Should be able to beat Arbroath Vics comfortably on Saturday.

Not sure they're desperate just to be in tier 5. I think they're quite happy where they are while trying for promotion.

Looking forward to Saturday, I'll be there.

Just a wee note on the "junior leagues" here. You said that the North Region & Midlands League are "still junior" and will probably change at some point. Although both leagues are still organised by the NRJFA & ERJFA respectively (who are in turn falling under the SJFA) so are technically indeed "still junior", the situation has considerably changed already. These leagues aren't stand-alone anymore, they are both part of the pyramid, clubs can get licensed & if licensed and they win the league, they go in a promotion play-off to get to the Highland League. Currently only 2 clubs across both regions are licensed and thus eligible for promotion, both in the Midlands League: Lochee United & Tayport. Other clubs are however working on their license so within the next few years I'm confident there are considerably more than just these 2, probably mainly in the Midlands League as the facilities tend to be better around here but there will probably be some in the North Region too. In the Midlands League, Lochee United have spoken out that our ambition is to get promotion to the Highland League. We strengthened considerably for this season in the hope to achieve that. Most remarkable signing is no doubt Bobby Linn, who came over from Arbroath where he was a fans' favourite. He retired from playing in the SPFL but couldn't resist the call from his local club (he has lived in Lochee all his life, very close to the ground). The squad has considerably more depth this season too, which was main our issue last season as we didn't have enough cover to deal with injuries and lost too many points when the inevitable injuries hit us. We are not expecting to get an easy ride towards the league title though as there is strong competition. Downfield look good & we had to come from 3-1 behind to beat them 5-3 in an absolute thriller last Saturday. Brougthy Athletic are also a strong side so we expect tough competition from them.

Get in Sweden!! I love this, FIFA being their usual corrupt selves by planning all their games at prime time USA, assuming they would win their group. As a result, The Netherlands already played 2 games in the middle of the night, and again the QF against Spain. Not only didn't the USA win their group as FIFA expected. Now the Swedes finish the job and put this arrogant mob out. Get in!

I suppose it also depends on whether or not the result is still hanging in the balance. In 4 of our 5 league games so far we were 3 goals ahead at the end of normal time. In the other game (yesterday) we were 2 goals ahead against 9 men. With the winner basically known already there isn't that much point in continuing for long.

Arbroath 0-4 Dundee United Quite one-sided, especially in the first half. It was already 0-4 at half time. Good to see Bobby Linn saying his goodbyes to the home support at half time, seen him again today but on the pitch putting on another great shift for Lochee United. I do love Gayfield as a ground, the weather made it considerably more pleasant last night compared to my last trip there!

Another heavy defeat for Arbroath Vics who had a very poor last 2 games. Broughty Athletic & Lochee United are the only sides remaining on 100%, with the latter winning a top of the table 8-goal thriller against Downfield. Also big wins for East Craigie, Lochee Harp & Tayport. Many goals today!

I think with our fairly fast paced style of play we will more often than not decide games in the second half after running the opposition tired tbh. Still very early on obviously so I'm not getting carried away, but this is an excellent start to the season.

Lochee United 5-3 Dundee Downfield An absolute thriller. This promised to be a good game and it was. A typical game of two halves. Lochee United were poor, especially defensively, in the first half. You can't do that against a good team and the Spiders took full advantage by taking a 3-1 lead at HT. The second half was so much better though. A quick goal after the break got us back in the game and through an amazing fightback we took a 4-3 lead. Downfield lost their heads and got deservedly 2 players and their manager sent off. Against 9 men we decided the game and got a fantastic win. Very impressive second half performance and a deserved win based on that.

Cheers mate, I'll give that a go!

He has been great for us so far. Sometimes when players move down multiple tiers they disappoint as they tend to think they are too good for that level of football. It's nothing of the sort for Bobby Linn. He works very hard, plays in service of the team and creates lots of chances for his teammates. He scored once in the first 4 games, but he is far more important in the build-up. Of the 11 other goals we scored, he played an important part in the build-up to the goal (or foul that led to a penalty kick) in 8 of them.

I see Bobby Linn is getting his farewell tonight. I'd love to be there tonight (I only support Lochee United, not Dundee United), but I can't seem to buy any tickets. Maybe a bit cheeky to ask it in here, but any chance anyone can help me out for tonight? Edit: ticket sorted so I'll be there tonight.

I'm not sure scared is the right word, but it should be a good game Saturday. Without a doubt our toughest test so far. A team scoring for fun against the only team who haven't conceded a goal yet. Definitely interesting.

In England teams are moved across to balance the numbers. Promotion/relegation is sorted by the FA as far down as step 6, then based on the teams in each tier they decide on the make-up of the different leagues. That wouldn't be doable for Scotland. In England it already results in odd leagues geographically and they still have very significant population centres in the Midlands/North like Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester, Merseyside, Newcastle and so on. Scotland's population is far more lobsided than England's. In Scotland this approach could easily mean Edinburgh teams end up in the Highland League. There are some things Scotland could copy from England, like the SFA forcing through more promotion and relegation. But fixed boundaries make sense for Scotland imo.

Having just witnessed Lochee United's 4th consecutive 3-0 win to start the league, I was wondering how many clubs managed to start a league campaign with 4 or more of the exact same results? Any further examples? And if so, any of them runs of 3-0 wins?

Lochee United 3-0 Blairgowrie I feel like I'm repeating myself. Much of the same again, but obviously I'm happy with this sort of consistency. Today was the first time our new goalkeeper Dean Easton has been seriously tested, a test he definitely passed with 2 great saves late in the first half. Time to get out the record books. How many clubs in the pyramid have ever started their season with 4 times exactly the same result? And I wonder if it ever happened with 4 3-0 wins?

Introduce a rule that every club in the pyramid can only have 1 team in the entire pyramid, including cup competitions organised by the SFA or leagues within the pyramid. So effectively a ban on any B-teams.

It's now 6-0 for us. Please Portugal, score that goal to knock the USA out.

Not centralised, but various clubs put their own highlights online. Lochee United put ours on both Facebook and Twitter.

It will be interesting to see how the season develops. We also look very strong up front.

The table, Downfield, Broughty & ourselves are the only teams still on a 100% record, with Downfield leading the table on goal difference because of their big win against Forfar United.

The top of the table clash between North End & Broughty finished a 2-3 win for the visitors. Broughty were 0-3 up, North End got back but didn't manage to equalise. Carnoustie get their first win of the season. Only unexpected result imo is Tayport only getting a draw at Blairgowrie.

Dundee St. James 0-3 Lochee United Well, we're definitely being consistent. Another 3-0 win, again a commanding performance and not given anything away. Again it could be argued we should have won by more, but I can't really complain with such a result.