ExiledLichtie

What?

He's had injury problems and not played a lot of football. I'd be more than happy to see him brought off the bench for a couple of weeks.

He mentioned the playing people out of position too, obviously the management are aware that we all have the pitchforks out!

We're used to him now. The way he can pluck a ball out of the air, spin, go past two men like they arent there, get right into the centre of the box, and then with time and space, hit a shot so far off target that it goes out for a throw.

An actual central midfielder in central midfield? What witchcraft do you speak of?

To this day, I don't understand why we let Henderson go. Genuinely think he's been our biggest loss. I don't think Little has been on top form, looks like he came into the season carrying a slight injury, so Henderson could have let him sit a couple games out. Similarly, he was outstanding in some of his games in midfield, I was a lurker at the time, but last season, people were jokingly making Busquets comparisons. I'm confident we wouldn't be having these discussions if we still had him. Edited to add, unless of course, DC decided to play Donnelly in midfield and not give Little a break, and just decided to play Henderson on the wing. Sigh.

Agreed! If he was asked to sit back a bit, as he has done plenty of times before, McKenna absolutely could play centre midfield. Sure, he wouldnt get as many goals, but his physicality, presence, and tactical flexibility would really help us.

It is August. We are 4 games in. Corfe has been signed for what, 2 weeks? This is a knee jerk reaction.

How can you write Corfe, Fosu and Jacobs off in August? Fosu is a midfielder played out of position, Jacobs is clearly not quite fit, and Corfe has barely had a sniff. The manager has got to improve though, that's twice in a row he has got the team utterly wrong.

I liked Chris Hamilton, but I did feel he did his best work when Low was out injured. When we had Low and Hamilton together in midfield, I don't think it really worked as well. I preferred seeing Low and Henderson as a partnership.

Its only a couple a weeks since we were all clamouring for him to at least be given a shot. If he never gets any games, how will we know if he is good enough?

Where will it be though? In the last year, we've had the benefit of being able to move it to wherever needed, depending on numbers. Seems a backwards step to have permanent segregation in.

Maybe Craigen out? Much as I like him, we have better options both on the centre and on the wing now. I think he's unlikely to feature as often, and I dont think he's vital on the pitch. He seems to be a popular guy within the squad though.

That's true. I was there too, and although there was plenty of space in the stadium, it did feel like more than the reported crowd. But if there was a league decider match against Montrose now, you would barely be able to move in Gayfield.

That is the key thing. The money we are making now is money that we can bank some of. The stadium repairs and improvements we are making are sustainable and mean further savings in the future, not that we arent even saying repairs any more. They are upgrades! Also, we never had that much of a "casual" fanbase. When we won our first league title against Montrose, we had a bit over 1100 there, if I recall rightly. All those people that have been to their first match in the last year or two might well not stick around, bit because they have been before and they know what a game is like, in future big games, they are more likely to come along. So we've grown the glory hunters, as well as hooking kids at a young age. Also, lets not forget the hipsters. We all know the type, the people who have subscriptions to the athletic and spend altogether too much time discussing the merits of the Mexican second tier. We're in the hipster consciousness now. Somewhere there will be some German with overly groomed facial hair and a wall full of Arbroath merch, telling his friends to forget Bayern, the Scottish second tier is where its really at. Basically, even if the revenue dried up tomorrow, we're a bigger club than we were, and we will feel the benefit for decades!

What an odd career Simon Murray has had. I mind when he did well for us and got his big move to Dundee United, and that started a long career of yo-yo ing up and down the leagues!

Hilson always does "quite well" when he comes on. He buzzes about like a wee nuisance, works hard, and gets into decent positions. He just doesnt score goals. Whenever I see him on the touchline preparing to come on, I mentally just assume the game is done, and nothing further will happen.

I agree with the posters above. Donnelly is not the answer for us and not good enough, but he never stops trying, he always gives 100%, and always does his best every time he plays. So calling him Donkelly is hugely disrespectful. I would go with Shanks up front, I don't think its fair to keep putting Fosu up front when he's clearly a midfielder. Its not getting the best out of him.

I'm sure I'm not the only Arbroath fan who feels weirdly like a proud dad. Scoring was always the weakest part of his game, even for us, and it feels like he's stepped up a level this season. Looks a bit more composed in front of goal, has a harder shot, but without sacrificing other attributes of his game. I imagine a couple of goals and being the main man will do him the world of good too.

I just love watching Nouble play. Livi fans can thank us for getting him up to speed for them!

I knew this backlash would come. People were obsessed with us last season, and now those exact same people are desperate for us to fail. The whole thing is just a media construct! This season, I'm looking forward to us no longer being media darlings, and being just another team again.

I don't want to criticise either Hilson or Donnelly. It feels unfair. Both absolutely try their best whenever they play. Hilson is always a nuisance, buzzing about before miscontrolling the ball, and Donnelly is good for a couple league cup goals. They never hide, and they always try their best. So I get why Dick keeps them both. They aren't up to what we need though. They are not championship standard.

I do think that perhaps we are focusing too much on our failings, and not giving enough credit to Dundee. They looked good going forward, and I can't remember the last time a league team made our defence look that shaky. Probably distracted by the sight of McGowan's hair.

Completely agree with this. As well as Nouble and Hamilton, we also had Dowds, who was a big handful too. When these guys occupied defenders, McKenna had the freedom of the pitch. In addition, Linn barely played last season, and Low was out for ages, so McKenna became our main man for set pieces. That isnt the case this year. I think he's playing as well as ever, and lest we forget he won the penalty tonight! Its just that he doesnt have the same freedom. McKenna is the least of our problems!

He got the starting line up wrong too. When he made the subs, at first I thought it was Shanks on up front, but then I saw that familiar ironing board physique, and my heart sunk...