The East Fife Thread

[LiamA]

Haven't seen Kelty's but St Johnstone who play there think ours is better

 

[LauraEFFC]

BREAKING | Away strip announced for next season.

Here is a sneak peak at our away strip for next season. We are going back to our roots by replicating our first ever strip for our 115th anniversary, we hope our fans get the significance of this date.

[LiamA]

Yes 115 years is really significant & it's only right we acknowledge our roots

[Bring Your Own Socks]

I don't have a colour computer mate, just the old B&W model, so I can't see what colours it is but I like the design. Hope the shirt sells well.  

Enjoy the rest of your day...

[Jan Vojáček]

Random one guys, but what's big Ben Gordon up to these days? I forgot he signed for you lot at the start of the season, and then seemed to disappear off the radar after leaving pretty quickly (IIRC).

Anyone know if he's still playing? He was smashing for us.

[grant1903]

He went abroad,Australia I think

[BullyWeeLad]

I’m coaching with Tony McMinn and he was tellin me 3 week ago Barry Ferguson could be the next Fife manager

[King Kebab]

[Stevo Fife]

6 minutes ago, BullyWeeLad said:

I’m coaching with Tony McMinn and he was tellin me 3 week ago Barry Ferguson could be the next Fife manager

Back down to the basement forum ya mug.

[Brucelee1973]

As a supporter who has stayed away this season due to the stupid 40% increases in season ticket prices. I really hope that the board see sense for the following season and reduce the prices for season tickets whilst holding the prices for pay on the gate. Or I tend to agree that sub 400 will be the norm with the current set up.☹️ enjoyed the few games I have attended with the majority being away.

[sammytroot]

YOUNG FIFERS | We'll be announcing a great new season ticket deal next season for kids .

 

 

Looks like a step in the right direction.

 

[east fife for life]

Have we ever been gubbed 5.0 twice at home in one season? I know it was a threadbare squad but it's just a bit embarrasing! Oh well, onwards and upwards so they say ????

[faither]

I see there's the usual suspects accusing the club of "lack of ambition" and demanding the manager gets the boot.

I'm quite clear that the ambition this season, as always, is to maintain a viable club that is not going to go bust and the current board have achieved that - from a pretty bad situation a few years back. In footballing terms it was to remain in League 1 and we've done that with still a possibility of getting more points than last season.  I'm not quite sure what other ambitions are feasible given the finances available to the club but perhaps the critics will be able to identify where the resources would come from that would enable us to get to and more importantly (cf Brechin) stay in the Championship. Mind you when "supporters" publicly state they're not going to attend matches it doesn't help.

As far as the manager is concerned I'm not sure what benefits would be gained through his removal. I've been at most games, H&A and it's been clear that the many defensive errors we've seen are as result of players not doing their job right. Now unless you think that the manager is deliberately telling to act the way you do it's hard to see how it's his fault.  He was appointed in pretty urgent circumstances not long before the start of the season and so had little opportunity to plan with his choice of players. There's a "supporter" whose voice can be heard every game bawling " Cmon Young, get it sorted", as if he were't aware of the problem.  Mind you I've never heard the same guy do anything but criticise so maybe he's compensating for a sad home or work life!

In any kind of business if you're going to change something important you need to be pretty clear about how the change will improve matters. That applies to football as well as everything else.  Simply binning a manager is not an answer.

Finally,  (rant nearly over) as far as the future of the club is concerned I'm much more concerned about the legacy planning re the board and ownership. Five of the current board are 70+ and while they've done and are doing a great job what happens when they start to become "unavailable"? Is there a plan to bring in younger directors with the same commitment and willingness to put their hands in the pocket as these guys?  Will the holding company owned by Samantha Twigg just stay as passive owners? Will there be an attempt to transfer ownership to a CIC or similar?

There's no legal requirement for the board to respond to these questions but there's certainly a moral requirement, especially as the club is increasingly positioning itself as a community organisation .

 

 

[Pat 1958]

I see there's the usual suspects accusing the club of "lack of ambition" and demanding the manager gets the boot.
I'm quite clear that the ambition this season, as always, is to maintain a viable club that is not going to go bust and the current board have achieved that - from a pretty bad situation a few years back. In footballing terms it was to remain in League 1 and we've done that with still a possibility of getting more points than last season.  I'm not quite sure what other ambitions are feasible given the finances available to the club but perhaps the critics will be able to identify where the resources would come from that would enable us to get to and more importantly (cf Brechin) stay in the Championship. Mind you when "supporters" publicly state they're not going to attend matches it doesn't help.
As far as the manager is concerned I'm not sure what benefits would be gained through his removal. I've been at most games, H&A and it's been clear that the many defensive errors we've seen are as result of players not doing their job right. Now unless you think that the manager is deliberately telling to act the way you do it's hard to see how it's his fault.  He was appointed in pretty urgent circumstances not long before the start of the season and so had little opportunity to plan with his choice of players. There's a "supporter" whose voice can be heard every game bawling " Cmon Young, get it sorted", as if he were't aware of the problem.  Mind you I've never heard the same guy do anything but criticise so maybe he's compensating for a sad home or work life!
In any kind of business if you're going to change something important you need to be pretty clear about how the change will improve matters. That applies to football as well as everything else.  Simply binning a manager is not an answer.
Finally,  (rant nearly over) as far as the future of the club is concerned I'm much more concerned about the legacy planning re the board and ownership. Five of the current board are 70+ and while they've done and are doing a great job what happens when they start to become "unavailable"? Is there a plan to bring in younger directors with the same commitment and willingness to put their hands in the pocket as these guys?  Will the holding company owned by Samantha Twigg just stay as passive owners? Will there be an attempt to transfer ownership to a CIC or similar?
There's no legal requirement for the board to respond to these questions but there's certainly a moral requirement, especially as the club is increasingly positioning itself as a community organisation .
 
 

Losing the same goals from crosses all season proves he canny coach players, hes has ample chance to get it sorted and proved he canny, when he did well at albion rovers he had an experienced assistant either sandy clark or billy stark, this season has shown hes lost without this, every week we get the same drivel about not marking or individual errors, even when we win the fitba is turgid, new blood required as far as im concerned, sick of watching him turn his back on the pitch and shake his head every time we lose a goal, canny see how he will improve things next season if he stays

[King Kebab]

Not saying that I want Smith away, but I really don't think that the Club can actually afford to payoff the rest of his contract!!!

I also really think that the fact that there is some unrest is because there has really not been any improvement on or off the field, it looks like we are going to end up, as Faither said, in exactly the same position, League-wise, as we did last season, safe (with possibly more points) but again not bothering the playoffs!!!

Personally I'm willing to give Young the summer to sort it out and next season to prove his worth, but if it's the same turgid displays as we've been seeing this year then perhaps we should be looking elsewhere!!!

Another good point Faither raises is what would we do if we did get to the playoffs or even, just imagine it, win the league and went up in our current form and organisation, we would realistically just get spitballed, rolled up and sent back down again, probably in exactly the same fashion as Brechin are at the moment and possibly how Arbroath and Alloa will next season if they win the playoffs and they haven't planned and budgeted for the step up!!!

It's no good just planning to do well in our own League, we have to be,at exactly the same time, planning to survive at the next level, our example should be Dumbarton and how well they have done the last few seasons and then move ahead again and aim for the level of say a Queen of the South and then see what happens from there, that is what realistic ambition is, it's something you plan for, not something that lands at your feet!!!

To continually skirt around 7th or 8th and perennially become a fixture of League One could actually be more destructive to the Club than being relegated, at least if you go down you can come back up, with increased crowds and the good feeling of the fans and a trophy, as I'm sure Gary Naysmith would remember, as he took us down but took stock, planned and took us back up and still remains one of the most popular managers we have ever had!!!

 

[BJW]

Not saying that I want Smith away, but I really don't think that the Club can actually afford to payoff the rest of his contract!!!
I also really think that the fact that there is some unrest is because there has really not been any improvement on or off the field, it looks like we are going to end up, as Faither said, in exactly the same position, League-wise, as we did last season, safe (with possibly more points) but again not bothering the playoffs!!!
Personally I'm willing to give Young the summer to sort it out and next season to prove his worth, but if it's the same turgid displays as we've been seeing this year then perhaps we should be looking elsewhere!!!
Another good point Faither raises is what would we do if we did get to the playoffs or even, just imagine it, win the league and went up in our current form and organisation, we would realistically just get spitballed, rolled up and sent back down again, probably in exactly the same fashion as Brechin are at the moment and possibly how Arbroath and Alloa will next season if they win the playoffs and they haven't planned and budgeted for the step up!!!
It's no good just planning to do well in our own League, we have to be,at exactly the same time, planning to survive at the next level, our example should be Dumbarton and how well they have done the last few seasons and then move ahead again and aim for the level of say a Queen of the South and then see what happens from there, that is what realistic ambition is, it's something you plan for, not something that lands at your feet!!!
To continually skirt around 7th or 8th and perennially become a fixture of League One could actually be more destructive to the Club than being relegated, at least if you go down you can come back up, with increased crowds and the good feeling of the fans and a trophy, as I'm sure Gary Naismith would remember, as he took us down but took stock, planned and took us back up and still remains one of the most popular managers we have ever had!!!

And people were still wanting to get rid of Naysmith before we went on our run in the January. Some people are never happy and will always be moaning cants, aye we all pay our money but some of us are more realistic in what can be achieved.
Let's give DY a chance to sort things out.

[Gordon EF]

Some of the incessant moaning about Darren Young is ridiculous. I don't know if the East Fife support is any better or any worse than other teams or if it's just always been like that but the lack of perspective amongst some of the fans would be funny if it wasn't so tiresome. As mentioned above, folk were shouting to get rid of Gary Naysmith for almost 2 years before we went on that great run towards the title in 2016. It sounds from the Arbroath fans as if Dick Campbell was getting stick from their end yesterday which is just fucking ridiculous after what he'd done there.

To put things in perspective, we haven't finished above 5th in League 1 for more than 20 years now. I wouldn't use that as an excuse to say we shouldn't be aiming higher than that and of course we can all point to similarly sized clubs who've managed it in recent years but it does go to show it's not fucking easy for a club our size to do. We're competing against a host of PT clubs who are all fighting to get there.

As for Darren Young, it's only fair to judge him against what reasonable expectations would be for the season. Ayr and Raith are full time and clearly have more resources than us. As nice as it would be to finish above them, it's not a realistic expectation to put on a manager, so that leaves us competing with the other 7 PT clubs in the league (I know Airdrie are FT but probably have a PT budget). We're going to finish smack bang in the middle of that group, so I'd say that's probably the mid-range of expectations met - we haven't over-achieved, we haven't under-achieved.  To me, that's more than enough to merit a crack at next season to see what he can do.

in his defence,  he came in very late in pre-season when most of the squad was already signed up so really didn't get his chance to put his own stamp on the squad. He'll have that next year. There have been a few frustrating things about this season. Getting grannied by the Rovers isn't exactly going to help any manager's reputation with the fans. There's clearly been an issue with conceding soft goals, especially from crosses and corners which we've never really sorted. We got knocked out the cup by Brora and I know a lot of people are fed up with playing 1 up front. But the reality is that it's been mixed season and I think some fans are pretty guilty of only seeing the negatives.

Could be worse, we could be Cowden.

[1320Lichtie]

Some of the incessant moaning about Darren Young is ridiculous. I don't know if the East Fife support is any better or any worse than other teams or if it's just always been like that but the lack of perspective amongst some of the fans would be funny if it wasn't so tiresome. As mentioned above, folk were shouting to get rid of Gary Naysmith for almost 2 years before we went on that great run towards the title in 2016. It sounds from the Arbroath fans as if Dick Campbell was getting stick from their end yesterday which is just fucking ridiculous after what he'd done there.

To put things in perspective, we haven't finished above 5th in League 1 for more than 20 years now. I wouldn't use that as an excuse to say we shouldn't be aiming higher than that and of course we can all point to similarly sized clubs who've managed it in recent years but it does go to show it's not fucking easy for a club our size to do. We're competing against a host of PT clubs who are all fighting to get there.

As for Darren Young, it's only fair to judge him against what reasonable expectations would be for the season. Ayr and Raith are full time and clearly have more resources than us. As nice as it would be to finish above them, it's not a realistic expectation to put on a manager, so that leaves us competing with the other 7 PT clubs in the league (I know Airdrie are FT but probably have a PT budget). We're going to finish smack bang in the middle of that group, so I'd say that's probably the mid-range of expectations met - we haven't over-achieved, we haven't under-achieved.  To me, that's more than enough to merit a crack at next season to see what he can do.

in his defence,  he came in very late in pre-season when most of the squad was already signed up so really didn't get his chance to put his own stamp on the squad. He'll have that next year. There have been a few frustrating things about this season. Getting grannied by the Rovers isn't exactly going to help any manager's reputation with the fans. There's clearly been an issue with conceding soft goals, especially from crosses and corners which we've never really sorted. We got knocked out the cup by Brora and I know a lot of people are fed up with playing 1 up front. But the reality is that it's been mixed season and I think some fans are pretty guilty of only seeing the negatives.

Could be worse, we could be Cowden.

 

Not Dick Campbell to be fair.

 

Ryan Wallace was getting it tight from a usual suspect that drives everyone around the bend. Wallace clearly came out on top though. [emoji23]

 

A few guys enjoy sticking the boot in to Campbell when something goes wrong and they feel like they know best with their hindsight and expertees. But it isn’t anything against him would be the same for any manager.

 

Would say most people love him though. Not just one of my favourite AFC managers but one of my favourite football people too.

 

EF haven’t done great but they’ve done away ok. There are some good teams in this league. You’ve comfortably stayed up and just not had enough to make a push for the play offs. Surely don’t need to add too much more to give you a chance of that next season. Everyone realistically finished 2 places worse off this season too as both Ayr and Raith really went all out to try and win the division. They were always going to be 1 and 2.

[Mon_The_Fife]

I don’t see the point in trying to get the manager out, obviously emotions are high after another 5-0 drubbing but we need to look long term. Young needs time to build his own squad and he needs the summer to assemble it.

I understand some of the frustration of the supporters when we see Arbroath, Alloa, Brechin and Dumbarton our performing us and we should probably be looking to kick on to the next level but as has been posted what is the plan for this to happen? Not criticising the board here but do they have a longer term structure in place? People on the board are over 70, and not questioning their desire to see East Fife succeed but surely we need younger people to move us forward as football is constantly evolving and of course enticing new supporters is key. I read previously about some board member saying something along the lines of ‘they know where we are’ in response to trying to get more fans through the gate.I feel we need more than that.

I’m back in the country in the summer and hopefully can catch a game.

[Gordon EF]

1 hour ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

A few guys enjoy sticking the boot in to Campbell when something goes wrong and they feel like they know best with their hindsight and expertees. But it isn’t anything against him would be the same for any manager.

EF haven’t done great but they’ve done away ok. There are some good teams in this league. You’ve comfortably stayed up and just not had enough to make a push for the play offs. Surely don’t need to add too much more to give you a chance of that next season. Everyone realistically finished 2 places worse off this season too as both Ayr and Raith really went all out to try and win the division. They were always going to be 1 and 2.

Ah right, fair enough. The fact that anyone would stick the boot in after a defeat or a poor performance in a season like Arbroath are having still shows the fantasy land that some supporters live in. Some folk expect their team to play great football and win every game. It's a competitive league with a lot of clubs around the same level, it's just never going get anywhere near to happening unless you're full time and are spending a lot of cash.

The last paragraph sums it up for me. We're not a long way off being able to get a play-off place next year. Like last year, we've been fairly unlucky with injuries again, with probably our three most recognised attacking midfield players (Smith, Wilkie, Lamont) missing large parts of the season. Mark Docherty's been out for ages as well.

There was some shout a few weeks ago about this being the worst football someone's ever seen from East Fife. Ridiculous comment, it wasn't much more than 10 years ago we were scrabbling around at the bottom end of L2. Those were truly dire days where we'd routinely get scudded by utterly ordinary L2 teams.