Tattie36

Eh? Chris Hamilton, Jack Hamilton and Craig Wighton are full time. Wouldn’t say that’s “most of our key players”. I think our fans would say our key players would also include Gaston, the back 4, Low, McKenna and arguably Stewart and even Linn, none of who are full-time.

I'm not a fan of the route one fitba we've been playing of late but this is definitely the approach we need to take on that pitch.

I have zero issue with the "premier league, you're having a laugh" stuff or gesturing etc at segregation. It's all just fitba banter and we'd be doing exactly the same if the positions were reversed. Chuking bins about and attacking or abusing stewards is a different matter altogether though. As for the subs - I'm not his biggest fan but Donnelly played very well when he came on and created a goal. Hilson showed uncharacteristic composure for his goal and could have won it at the death. I love Linn but that wasn't a game for him yesterday, certainly not the final few minutes anyway. IMO, as we were persisting with the route one stuff, we should have brought on Ford instead of Linn and put him up front with Hamilton. I stand by what I said yesterday - if Gaston had played then I'm convinced we would have won that (even at "only" 99% fitness as Dick said pre match). There are very good reasons why fans of his previous clubs don't rate Antell. He did well v Ayr but had one save to make and was under very little pressure.

As I said further up the thread, Antell was terrible. I watched on tv and and he was panicking every time they attacked which, as you say, projects onto the defence. The first goal he should have lauched it into the North Sea, nothing he could do about the third but he got very lucky on a few occasions. I know this is a bold statement but we would have won that today if Gaston was playing, even at "only" 99% fitness, as Dick said he was pre match.

Scrambled a draw but that was not great no matter how you look at it. Looked pretty comfortable up to Raith's first goal but struggled after that, even when it went to 3-3 Raith looked very dangerous going forward. Our normally rock solid defence was sliced open a few times and if Raith had timed their runs a bit better they would have scored more. Really, really ugly football from us, Raith tried to keep it on the deck going forward and were using their wingers and trying nice through balls for the forwards to run on to, whereas everyting from us was ultra direct, one dimensional hoofball. Also - what do Bakare and Ford have to do to get some game time? Surely bringing on a physical player like Ford is more sensible when we're insisting on route one football, as opposed to Linn, Hilson or Donnelly. And I'm sorry but Antell is just not good enough to be playing in games like that - first goal 100% his fault and looked shaky as hell any time they went forward and got lucky more than once. With ICT coming onto some good form, second place isn't looking too comfortable. Interestingly, we hadn't conceded 3 goas in a game all season until ICT two weeks ago.

The scary thing for us is Raith aren't settling for this.

Utter panicky hoofball guff.

And that is why Gaston should be startin, even if only 90% fit. Absolutely strolling it but if you have a keeper who does that then everytime they attack is a worry.

Cheers. 6 days in and still feeling sh1t and testing more positive than Maradona in ‘94. Gutted I can’t be there today but will be cheering on from the sofa. Extra gutted as it’s a perfect day and I was supposed to making a boozy day of it.

Unfortunately Covid has finally got me so I wont be there tomorrow but agree with this. Need a big vocal support tomorrow, the last few home games have lacked atmosphere due to nerves, poor/cagey performances... but now is when it's needed. A good win tomorrow and who knows?

Didn’t we used to have a strong u21s setup? This is horrific, matter of time before they score again. If this is our future then heaven help us.

The playoffs are far from perfect but to suggest they add nothing is mental. At the moment every single team in the championship still has something to play for at both ends of the table, surely that’s better than half the teams going through the motions for the next 6 weeks. From an Arbroath perspective, we’ve never had a particularly good experience with playoffs - been in loads but only promoted once through them, if my memory serves me correctly. Obviously 2 up automatically would be amazing for us this season but that’s not the rules so if we end up in the playoffs then so be it. I also like the fact that a team who has a brilliant run post new year and is on form can have the opportunity to go up over a team going in the opposite direction.

Due to Raith’s defensive issues, I would like us to start with as sensible an attacking lineup as possible. Essentially the same 11 as last Saturday but with Gaston in goals and either Stewart or Linn on from the start with Craigen dropping to the bench. Nothing against Craigen and he played very well last week but we need to go for it.

Great post and agree with every word, although I think the seeds of our recent and current success were planted in 2010-11. Yes we’ve had one particularly grim season since then but winning that first title (and almost back to back ones) was huge - gave us belief that we could actually win things and got that monkey off our back.

Stop being so negative DUAFC

Watching it back, it's even worse than I thought and I thought it was a dreadful decision at the time. I was behind the goals so didn't see the extent of the gap between the players but the camera angle shows just how ludicrous a decision it was. Most referees just blow for a foul every time there's any kind of challenge when one player falls over, so I'm not surprised he gave it but surely the linesman had a great view. Mind you linemen have zero power or influence over refs nowadays even though they're miked up. That seaside linesman was terrible anyway though - stuck his flag up first half when J Hamilton was at least 2 yards on then didn't flag when we had a player well off right infront of him. Clueless.

I know it’s not going to ever happen but it would be an option for him to keep a place in the team as he certainly ain’t going to be scoring goals.

I would like to see him spend the summer in the gym bulking himself up and adding physicality to his game. Far too easily pushed off the ball but he could do a decent, poor man’s Nouble-esque hold up job if he added that to his game.

Excellent second half. Much more like how we played earlier in the season and should have scored another one or two - the two on one near the end and Ricky Little’s header being the clearest chances but a few other decent ones too. Thought Little, Low and Craigen were our standout players but a few others played well. Best game (second half anyway) from McKenna in a good while and Donnelly did well when he came on. Hamilton really needed that goal, should do his confidence the world of good, you could see he was lacking confidence with his chance in the first half where he had two chances to shoot but delayed and allowed the defended to get a block in. Very happy tonight.

One thing's for certain - Morton have won the title for best kits this season.

No wonder Dunfermline are bottom. Loads of possession in dangerous areas but they seem terrified to shoot/cross/pick a defence splitting pass, deciding to take the safe option and pass it sideways or backwards instead. Looked a lot more dangerous against us the other week and created loads of chances with being more direct. I'm guessing this is how they're being coached?

No of course not and I certainly would rather be top than second. What I’m saying is that for the past few weeks everything and everyone surrounding the club has been obsessed with being top and winning the league, I’m convinced the pressure associated with this has had a detrimental effect. Our dip in form and results has allowed a bit of a reality check. Of course we all want to win the league but second is a very real and achievable target. Concentrate on that first and foremost and hope upon hope that Killie slip up.

Completely agree. The pressure definitely got to us with sitting top for so long. Personally speaking, I feel a lot more relaxed now. Let’s realistically aim for second place which is, as you say, a fantastic achievement and would give us a decent chance of making the playoff final. If things do work out better than that then great but we need to stop obsessing over it.

Goals are like hen’s teeth for us at the moment. Not even creating many chances now so can’t completely blame the strikers. Would like to see us try something different- push McKenna up (only if Low is playing) and give Ford at least half an hour, all depending on how the game’s going obviously. Would also like to see Linn start again, he was brilliant first half v Partick but anonymous v Dunfermline so who knows how that would pan out.

Amazed Nicky Low is in that team as he’s only played about half the games this season. Shows how how good and influential he is.