Tattie36

Fine. No one would begrudge him wanting the opportunity to play for the club he supports. He’s obviously getting towards the end of his career and he may not get another chance. However, he is under contract so a proper and significant fee would have to be paid. Having said that, Arbroath are well within their rights to not want to sell one of their top players to a direct rival.

If he’s not going to Morton but doesn’t want to play for us anymore then what’s the alternative? I don’t mind if he goes to Morton but it would have to be for a significant fee. No manager in their right mind would let one of his top players sign for a rival unless the money is right. Loan him back to Shire (where we rescued him from) until Christmas then see if Morton still want him for peanuts then. If not then loan him out again until the end of the season then he can go where he likes, or to whoever will have him.

I know, just getting impatient.

Why’s McKenna out for a few months?

The silence is deafening.

The silence is deafening.

I still think a strong, holding midfielder is as important as a striker. You can’t create or score goals if you don’t have the ball.

100 appearances in total with 13 goals. Most of them against lower league opposition in cups. Perhaps the way we play and the type of chances he got didn’t suit him but a terrible return from a supposed “striker”. There is a good player in there though and maybe dropping a league and starting afresh will work for him, I hope it does.

I’m glad others are noticing and voicing this. Before I say anything else - he is one of my favourite Arbroath players ever and his form early last season was sensational. That doesn’t make him immune to criticism though. Yes I know he was the championship’s player of the season last year but every time I’ve seen him this season he’s not even been close to being OUR best player… and that shouldn’t be too difficult the way things are going. Some of our fans need to actually look at what he’s doing in games at the moment and forget about his previous form. If he was a new signing he would be getting ripped to shreds from the terraces. I actually think his form dipped quite drastically towards the end of last season and has only got worse this season. I’m not talking about his goal scoring, we know he had a great partnership with Nouble - it’s everything else. He has lost his energy, his strength, his commitment and his confidence. I can’t remember the last time I even saw him make a tackle or find a teammate with a pass. Personally I think he needs a spell on the sidelines to try and re-find his spark - obviously that can’t and won’t happen though as we have no one else to fill that role. As I said, a big favourite of mine and I hope to hell he hits form again soon.

I meant about the Nicky Low situation. He appears to no longer be playing for us, hasn’t been in the squad for the last two games - no idea where he’s going and when but the strong rumours are to yourselves.

Have you not been paying attention?

The most worrying thing for me is not necessarily that we’re not scoring goals or even losing games, it’s the complete lack of threat we pose and chances we create. Last season we battered teams into submission with our direct attacking football, creating chance after chance and putting opposition defences and goalkeepers under intense pressure. This season we’re lucky to have 3 or 4 half assed attempts on goal per game with maybe 1 or 2 on target if we’re lucky.

Yeah I think you’re right… well we’re both right as Hilson is like playing with 10 anyway.

It’ll only be 3 outfield subs as that starting lineup only names 10 players.

Dowds will score tonight.

Completely understand that players want game time and thus might want to leave to get it. However Monkfish seems to be hinting at something more deep rooted than a small number of players wanting to be on the pitch more often. I’m sure there are a few guys at the club that are very well aware that they will be used sparingly but are happy to be part of such a good team and play as and when they’re required. Take them out of the equation and it sounds like this could be more established players. Hope not obviously.

(If there is any truth in it) do you have any idea of who and what the catalyst is for this? Seems very strange as squad strength and togetherness seemed to be huge parts of our success.

You’re definitely at it, I’ve thought it for a while. Who/what are you? A “hilarious” Mo fan with a fake account? That weird Killie fan Fid? Hilson has had several runs in the team (as had Donnelly) and has never come close to delivering anything like the performances Dowds did in his short time at the club.

Totally agree. We also could have sneaked an undeserved point v QP and Dundee and won against ICT. However none of this would cover the fact that the performances have been woeful. The big difference is that last year we were creating shit loads of chances in very game.

Well unless we get a few signings in during the week and have a completely different approach then I can’t see it being anything other than a Partick win. We have been nothing short of abject this season. 5 games, 5 terrible performances. It would be easier to accept if we had been playing half decent and creating opportunities but we’re not. Our normally reliable top performers are playing badly, looks like we’ll be missing half of our defence, Nicky Low appears to be leaving and we are lacking players to put the ball in the net, not that we create anything anyway. I don’t think it will be a hammering but I can’t see it being anything other than a comfortable away win.

I think it’s very interesting and highlights exactly why it’s attractive for many guys to stay part-time. I would imagine our top players will be on a pretty healthy wage, add that to their day job salary, which for some will be very good, and there are few clubs in the whole of Scotland that could match that. I would actually go as far as to say that the vast majority of our players earn significantly more than the average Championship player.

I fail to see the relevance of what Wighton was doing 4-5 years ago. How good a player was Jacobs 4-5 years ago compared to now? The simple fact is that Wighton hasn’t fulfilled his promise… yet, I really hope he finds his form again as he’s obviously a good player and he was excellent in his first spell for us. However I would rather have the Shanks playing now than what we saw of Wighton last season. One is going in an upwards trajectory and is hungry, one isn’t.

I think that’s a bit unfair on Shanks. Personally I think he’s potentially a much better striker than Wighton. He’s scored more already this season than Wighton did last season, with a fraction of the game time and he looks strong, sharp and has the ability to create goal scoring chances out of very little. He looks the real deal to me although obviously a bit raw. Bring in an experienced striker to play alongside him and I think we’ll get a very good return. My worry is that he’s put out on loan, Dick obviously doesn’t think he’s quite ready although hopefully his performance last Saturday has changed his mind.

Yeah, you’re right but I wasn’t suggesting Craigen on the left - just those 4 in midfield somehow, however that wouldn’t work so yeah, drop McKenna into midfield and push Allen up to 10.

We need to shore up the midfield for this IMO so would be tempted to line up a bit more cautious. Drop Bobby to the bench and start with Craigen Low, Alan and Stewart in midfield with McKenna at 10 and Shanks up front. Or even start Jacobs (I know) but we have to get something, anything out of this game.