Godlovessmokedhaddock

Have we definitely signed Gold for next season? Don’t remember seeing an announcement. Like the leader he is was the first player over to the fans after the match and was doing the selfies and signings with the kids. Just had a horrible feeling that it was goodbye. And if that’s Ricky’s last home game what a sad ending. Fans so fed up he didn’t get applauded off.

Heard from a good source that the Campbells have enough money and are moving the whole club to Methil. The only problem is the ongoing feud between D.H. Robertson and Stuarts of Buckhaven over the naming rights of the pie hut. Or maybe we stick with honest opinion and stop claiming we know things we don't. We're not in the room where it happens, only the board, management and players are.

I’m on team McIntosh. McKenna acting like he’s brought the ball to school today. No doubt will want Ricky’s armband next.

https://www.facebook.com/share/dMon82DQf4aPoTB8/?mibextid=WC7FNe Last game worn Arbroath shirts for Swankie and Linn in this bunch. But I’ll outbid anyone for man bun

Would be good if our own club would let its own supporters know. We don’t all live nearby. The recent roadworks were completely out of the blue and I nearly missed the start of the game. Certainly missed the liquid analgesic that our performances require

The last couple of games I moved to the McIntyre must go camp. What I need to see tomorrow is some structure and some tactics. That doesn’t need your best team, that’s coaching, principles and a plan. I want to be able to see what the plan is when we have the ball. If it’s hoof down the middle then while it’s horrible, it’s a plan. Given our quality, trying to force the opposition into mistakes is not the worst idea. Out of possession, who is doing what. Too often in recent games we have seen Ricky charge into midfield to cover the ball carrier. It rarely ends well. I also want to see a captain, demanding standards. As Nicky Low and Chris Hamilton did. Tam is a superb player but no leader. In terms of a new appointment Goldie is a quality coach, but a name has popped up that would be ideal as either the boss or assistant. James Craigen is a very smart guy, and knows how not to treat people and get respect. He saw what DC was doing before anyone. He and Gold have been a successful partnership outside Gayfield and have all the contacts that airse claimed to

I know that Dick told his immediate family he was spat on as he called them to say he'd quit. His son told close friends that he'd never heard his dad so low after TNS. I wasn't there so cannot comment on what happened. But I know that this is what he said happened at the time. As for the board not trying to keep him, well 18 months had drained the goodwill bank. He couldn't really have expected anything else. Selection issues were down to his squad management. But if he's the bigger person he claims he didn't need to say it.

Firstly good luck to the team today. Hopefully the upcoming break can allow the players a rest, give others a chance to come back and allow Jim a chance to coach the squad and do what he wants with the side. As for Always Arbroath, it's not for me. I make my investment in the club through my season ticket and shares in the past. If they were to make the season ticket over 12 months I might be tempted to pay more. To my mind, the rewards are not worth it. For £100 I'd want that scarf to be cashmere. However, what concerns me is that it's being done at all. Businesses who bring in schemes like this often have cash flow problems. It's why companies like Odeon or pret have subscription scheme, to get them through months like January. Given the reputed bank balance, the fighting fund should be fine, but staff wages are in a different accounting pot and we may need to be concerned.

Yesterday showed how bare the squad is. The legacy of the previous regime. Which the board has to take some responsibility for, they have the oversight. The players worked hard, but the shape of Morton stopped our passing and the numbers in defence gave no space around the box. We desperately needed some guile, dare I say a Bobby Linn character. But Bobby in his prime and not the nearly forty Bobby he is now. It would be easy to pick fault with players and systems. But they have all played enough games as 442 in their careers to know what is expected. I liked how Jim McIntyre recognises that Scott Stewart is not a full back and put Norey in there. He was solid, bar a shape positional error in the lead up to the first goal. But the terrible pass that exposed his error was not his fault. The new boss will have seen writ large the size of the task. Finger in the dam during December to build some confidence, then recruitment, recruitment, recruitment. Ricky left on crutches half way through the second half On the back of Friday night's interview you have got to hope that he turned up to the board and said you have weaknesses here, here and here and I've arranged him, him and him to arrive on January 1st.

Was speaking to someone very close to Dick Campbell but not to the club this morning. DC is blaming his senior players for letting him down this season, "some have been at the club for ten years" Hopefully those senior players will step up tonight. I'm not too keen on the interim team, but we will attract a better calibre of candidate the further out of the doo doo we are. Cannot say I'm looking forward to the game, Dunfermline are rank rotten at the moment. But there have been some great win and goals, Cook from the byeline, at East End over the years and hope for one more of the same!

Stewart Petrie is the new Kane Hester

It certainly is

I believe that all those who defended the Campbells suggested that we needed to give them until now before considering if they should go. The squad quality is better than last year. The idea of having scouts, Sellars and co, is a groundbreaking policy and has secured improvement. I imagine it might catch on with other teams. The quality improvement is shallow, and the size of the squad, particularly defensively has left us exposed too often. Good management builds in capacity for parts of the system, ie players, to be faulty, (injured). The quality of football continues to decline. The position of strength of the freak season has been squandered. That Ian Campbell admits that they took their eye off the recruitment ball at that time is noble. However, it is a director's job to ensure that all parts of a business are running effectively and in this respect are culpable. The board have made huge strides with the club and on the whole invested very well. But they have left too many football policy decisions solely to the management team. The majority of the team that season was on the wrong side of thirty. The quality of Nouble and Jack Hamilton took defensive pressure off the rest of the team. The players knew that was their moment in time and that the era that took them from Division 2 had ended. Despite having the talent to pass the ball, we launch it. The midfield talents recruited to potentially build a team around have gone on loan as they had RSI from following the ball launched over his head. Young players, other than Steele should avoid Gayfield in terms of their development. The Aberdeen FC comment was telling and evidenced by our lack of loan signings. Bluffed away by our manager, who changes his "long-held" views whenever the situation doesn't look favourable to him. Loyalty is admirable, but a blind belief that some of these players are "the best in the league" is folly and we are suffering. Crowds are noticeably down, the kids are not coming any more, hospitality appears not to sell out and on the current form why would anyone buy a half-season ticket? The poor football is no entertainment and many of the recent season ticket purchasers may think differently next summer. Change now gives a new manager, the scouts and the directors a month to look at recruitment and gives a chance for improvement. Otherwise, I fear we will struggle in a playoff and potentially be stuck in League 1 for a spell, losing our best part-time team status. The Campbells have changed the club, but it's time to go.