The Arbroath Thread

[1320Lichtie]

25 minutes ago, relichtie said:

JMac probably wanted to bring in his own players, but to replace better players with inferior replacements is not good management imo. Gallagher and Reilly look quality, but some of the other recruits don't look as good .

McIntyre has signed very well - there is still work required but not sure how you could have a go at him for his signings. Hylton and Bird aside who were both very good but were never going to play in L1 and losing McKenna is obviously a blow but McIntyre summer business been a mile better than Dicks the previous 2 year. 
 

 

 

[ExiledLichtie]

On 01/08/2023 at 19:07, 1320Lichtie said:

We still need a left back but in my head I can’t help but feel this is a really decent side with good options to come off the bench, particularly Allan, Stowe and McIntosh - yes we might not win on Friday and we might even get beat the weekend after too but I have a small degree of cautious optimism based off this side ON PAPER

 

Gaston

 

Steele

Little

ToB

Stewart (Hamilton when fit or new LB)

 

Balde 

McKenna

Slater 

 

Hylton

Dow

 

Bird

 

Bench - Adams, Jacobs, Gold, Turan, Norey, Allan, McIntosh, Stowe

 

That to me looks and in my head feels really decent - also all of our own players. 
 

Really choking for a months to 6 weeks worth of decent performances so that idea gets reinforced in my head. 
 

Think Dick, Ian and the recruitment team have done really well (have the right to take this back if things go Pete Tong because I have said the words on paper and cautiously optimistic) 

Ahem.  You didn't seem so unhappy with the signings last summer.

Edited August 4 by ExiledLichtie

[1320Lichtie]

18 minutes ago, ExiledLichtie said:

Ahem.  You didn't seem so unhappy with the signings last summer.

Last summer we signed Steele, Stowe, Slater, McIntosh, Adams, Hylton, Bird, Turan. 

Bird and Hylton very very good like I said but neither would ever drop to L1. They were fantastic signings that added to what looked like an already decent group last summer. 

 

Steele is now on the bench. Everyone thinks Stowe should be moved on. Slater has come in for a lot of criticism and McIntosh, who has left and we’ve signed two better forwards than him. Don’t get me started on Turan and Adams although I know how much you loved both of them.
 

McIntyre has signed very well for L1. He will not have had the same options or budget Dick had when we were in the league above. McAdams, Watson, Gallagher and Reilly are very good signings. Coulson looks like a good signing too. 

 

I don’t know how you could criticise his signings and say they are inferior. Basically everyone has been an upgrade minus the young lads (all 3 shown promise) and Callaghan 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 4 by 1320Lichtie

[The Moonster]

59 minutes ago, ExiledLichtie said:

That's Ian Murray punted from Raith after one game....can't wait to hear the football experts on here dissect that.

Almost everybody calling the Raith board idiots and lambasting their statement as not making sense. I don't know why you find this stuff difficult to understand. 

[ExiledLichtie]

4 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Almost everybody calling the Raith board idiots and lambasting their statement as not making sense. I don't know why you find this stuff difficult to understand. 

And yet...

[1320Lichtie]

7 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Almost everybody calling the Raith board idiots and lambasting their statement as not making sense. I don't know why you find this stuff difficult to understand. 

Mate…. Best to just leave it. 

[ExiledLichtie]

24 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

Last summer we signed Steele, Stowe, Slater, McIntosh, Adams, Hylton, Bird, Turan. 

Bird and Hylton very very good like I said but neither would ever drop to L1. They were fantastic signings that added to what looked like an already decent group last summer. 

 

Steele is now on the bench. Everyone thinks Stowe should be moved on. Slater has come in for a lot of criticism and McIntosh, who has left and we’ve signed two better forwards than him. Don’t get me started on Turan and Adams although I know how much you loved both of them.
 

McIntyre has signed very well for L1. He will not have had the same options or budget Dick had when we were in the league above. McAdams, Watson, Gallagher and Reilly are very good signings. Coulson looks like a good signing too. 

 

I don’t know how you could criticise his signings and say they are inferior. Basically everyone has been an upgrade minus the young lads (all 3 shown promise) and Callaghan 

 

 

Its not me you're arguing with, its yourself.  You're criticising Dick's "last 2 years" of signings, but if we go back a year, what do we have?  We have you praising his signings to the roof.  In fact, I distinctly recall you accusing some of us of the crime of "negativity" when we pointed out the balance problems in the squad at the time.

Total revisionism from you.

[Lichtie78]

1 hour ago, ExiledLichtie said:

From the outside it seems pretty odd, but if Raith can punt a manager after 1 game....

Yeah I suppose, but I think our board and Raith’s board are very far apart in how they see things.

[JoseMarooniho]

2 hours ago, Lichtie78 said:

Not sure this makes much sense. Pretty much everyone I’ve seen thinks Raith sacking Murray is a terrible decision

Looking for sense in the wrong place. 

[ExiledLichtie]

20 minutes ago, JoseMarooniho said:

Looking for sense in the wrong place. 

Im reading the Raith thread, and plenty of Raith fans seem relatively happy about the decision.  I have no view on it personally.

Edited, some examples here:

https://forum.pieandbovril.com/topic/108282-the-new-raith-rovers-thread/page/6629/#comments

Edited August 4 by ExiledLichtie

[1320Lichtie]

31 minutes ago, ExiledLichtie said:

Im reading the Raith thread, and plenty of Raith fans seem relatively happy about the decision.  I have no view on it personally.

Edited, some examples here:

https://forum.pieandbovril.com/topic/108282-the-new-raith-rovers-thread/page/6629/#comments

If Arbroath do not win next week. I think Jim McIntyre will need to go 4 for 4 wins afterwards - otherwise he will be done

 

You would have to imagine that plenty of people not in a job right now would be looking at this thinking it’s a great opportunity for them to get back in 

 

Best just seeing how next week goes first.. 

[ecto]

6 hours ago, ExiledLichtie said:

That's Ian Murray punted from Raith after one game....can't wait to hear the football experts on here dissect that.

Tbf, I expected Dougie Imrie to be the first sacked, would take him in a heartbeat 

[glasgowlichtie23]

16 minutes ago, ecto said:

Tbf, I expected Dougie Imrie to be the first sacked, would take him in a heartbeat 

I thought it would be either Imrie or McPake

[ecto]

3 hours ago, 1320Lichtie said:

If Arbroath do not win next week. I think Jim McIntyre will need to go 4 for 4 wins afterwards - otherwise he will be done

 

You would have to imagine that plenty of people not in a job right now would be looking at this thinking it’s a great opportunity for them to get back in 

 

Best just seeing how next week goes first.. 

agreed, tbh, just don’t see where a win is coming from, then again a win might just spark us to life

52 minutes ago, glasgowlichtie23 said:

I thought it would be either Imrie or McPake

might take McPake, tbh

[glasgowlichtie23]

If there was 1 game this season that we NEED to turn up it’s to be against these c***s. 

4-4-2 

 

McAdams

Wilkie

ToB

Watson

Bisland

Coulson

Gold(If fit- slater if not)

Callaghan

Stewart

Reilly

Gallagher

[JobbieSandwich]

7 hours ago, glasgowlichtie23 said:

If there was 1 game this season that we NEED to turn up it’s to be against these c***s. 

4-4-2 

 

McAdams

Wilkie

ToB

Watson

Bisland

Coulson

Gold(If fit- slater if not)

Callaghan

Stewart

Reilly

Gallagher

Have to feel for TOB and Scott Stewart.

Just over 2 years ago the line up was;

Gaston
Thomson Little TOB Co. Hamilton
Stewart Ch. Hamilton Low Craigen
McKenna J. Hamilton

What a drop in standards, utter mismanagement in the pursuit of personal gains.

[A.K. Barr]

feeling very passive just now all things afc, travelling to stenny Saturday fully expecting to lose and we did, I’d usually come away raging but just knew it was coming. Feeling very un arsed about Saturday coming too, just feel like another loss is coming. 
 

Too many players on Saturday miles off the pace, Callaghan for me was a terrible signing at the time, not good enough for Arbroath, and he showed absolutely nothing on Saturday, Wilkie and Bisland poor, it’s hard to tell on the park what the set up/ tactics in the middle of the park are we get over run so easily. We need Gallagher Reilly and Coulson firing and going ASAP. 
 

on Saturday Montrose will be everything we aren’t, well drilled, dogged and hard to beat. I have only seen Montrose beat us once in the league at gayf in the last 20+ years… 

 

Strange one that I desperately want McIntyre to succeed but I cant see it coming, do we twist soon or bumble along for a good few months then get rid? Just feel like we’re wasting time on the inevitable the longer it carries on. 
 

 

[relichtie]

34 minutes ago, A.K. Barr said:

 

Too many players on Saturday miles off the pace, Callaghan for me was a terrible signing at the time, not good enough for Arbroath, and he showed absolutely nothing on Saturday, Wilkie and Bisland poor, it’s hard to tell on the park what the set up/ tactics in the middle of the park are we get over run so easily. We need Gallagher Reilly and Coulson firing and going ASAP. 
 

on Saturday Montrose will be everything we aren’t, well drilled, dogged and hard to beat. I have only seen Montrose beat us once in the league at gayf in the last 20+ years… 

 

Strange one that I desperately want McIntyre to succeed but I cant see it coming, do we twist soon or bumble along for a good few months then get rid? Just feel like we’re wasting time on the inevitable the longer it carries on. 
 

 

 

Edited August 5 by relichtie

[relichtie]

This

[ExiledLichtie]

I think the players we have are decent and capable of more.  Obviously I think that having two strikers and no sub or backup to play in a two striker system is mismanagement, but its fine, once the league cup groups end, we'll be bringing in a young 20 goal a season striker.  Apparently.  According to the experts on this thread.  That aside, the squad seems perfectly adequate for league 1 level.  I think we saw flashes on Saturday of what the players could do.  I also think on Saturday we were set up in a solid "do not lose" system, that generally worked, except for the bit where we conceded 2 goals and lost our minds.

Like others, I'm struggling to see what will be different about the Montrose game.  People have said that Gallagher and Reilly must start together.  Fine, but who do we bring on after an hour when one or both are struggling?  Innes Murray was dreadful, do we switch to playing him out wide where he is obviously happier?  But then if we play 2 wingers like Murray/Stewart and Coulson, like I've seen suggested on here, we leave only 2 in the middle, and they will be completely overrun, just like we saw on Saturday.

Now we do have the players for a 4-2-3-1, but I suspect the manager does not like to play that way, and doesn't have the time or inclination to completely rejig his team.  

Conclusion: there's a good squad for the next manager to work with, and if we don't win on Saturday, we are just wasting valuable time.  As others have said, optics matter too.  Lose badly to Montrose at Gayfield in front of a huge crowd, and our support will be livid.  This will be the first Montrose derby for many of our kids.

On the other hand, there are good players there, the performance at Stenny wasn't all bad, and if we get a win, it could kick start us.   It feels like a must win game for McIntyre.