The Arbroath Thread

[ecto]

15 minutes ago, Hammerafc said:

Last season was that bad you have consigned it out of your memory as it was Hamilton that were awful rather than qots.

From the outside last season looked like a success and ultimately the goal was achieved but the football especially at home was terrible. That said we had the battling quality to hold firm and secure draws in games we looked like losing but this has disappeared this season.

We are still in a reasonable league position though and well in touch with the rest of the league and with the correct appointment we may stay up.

The loan market disappearing for Campbell really seemed to be pivotal as we did very well over the years with Martin, Williamson, Virtanen, C Hamilton, J Hamilton, Nouble that just gave the squad a bit of a boost with the brilliance of Linn, McKenna and an excellent defence we have had a very enjoyable time under Campbell for the majority of his reign as Manager.

Certain bit of truth about the shrinking of the loan market

[JobbieSandwich]

Dick Campbell has been the greatest Arbroath manager in my lifetime and I'd guess only Bert Henderson would be the only rival as the club's GOAT.

Other than a month long spell, things haven't looked good for the last 12-18 months. This is compounded by the fact it came on the back of our best season in 50+ years. I still think Dick had credit in the bank, so to speak. I have no doubt, if they want to, they'll turn up and achieve at another club.

I think it might also be worth having a look behind the scenes. There's no doubt since Mike Caird took charge the club has been run a lot better but is there a bit of bloat now? Could do with a bit more transparency too with board members that have linked interests outside the club. Off the top of my head I can think of;

Gary Moir - Moir Construction doing a lot of work in the ground. He's a fan so don't think it'll be dodgy.

Ewen West - Strathmore Events 'organising' our hospitality. 

Jonny Booth - In fairness, he seems to be pretty competent. However, it does seem convenient that the club did a deal with Astute to produce various items during Covid and Jonny finds himself appointed as a director at Astute shortly after. I also notice that another Astute Director has since been appointed to the club. He also runs a property business with his brother, Malcolm. He seems to have weaseled his way in with the bricks at the club as 'Bar Manager'. I think by Bar Manager, that means he can help himself at the hospitality/boardroom bar and get pished. I think I even noticed a tweet last week where the club declared him a 'board member', although I haven't seen anything official.
 

I don't know about anyone else but I think a rather large factor in our decline on the pitch has been this attempt at a 'hybrid' system. I can understand the thinking behind it to try and get a better quality player in but in practice, it's been a bit of a disaster. I can think of maybe 3 players that have come in and looked capable. Lewis Banks, Sean Adarkwa and Jermaine Hylton. Adarkwa was injury prone, Banks couldn't be convinced to stay more than 6 months and Hylton will probably be off in January. The surprising thing is we haven't tried this with local players from the likes of Dundee and Aberdeen.

Given the lack of results from these full-time players, you need to ask who is benefitting? The team aren't, as we've got progressively worse the more we've introduced them. The part-time players aren't because even if a player is good enough, they move on too quickly to really fit in. Given that these players are not local, they have to be provided with housing in order to make the move. It would seem that the only person actually benefitting from this hybrid scheme is the landlords of these flats being provided to the players. I wonder who that is.

 

[RedLichtie86]

An end of an era.

Dick Campbell will go down as a fantastic manager for us. There is no doubting that.

But all good things must come to an end.

The shambles of last season and the continuing struggles this year have made it the right decision for him to leave now rather than wait.

A new approach is needed in terms of management, player recruitment and behind the scenes.

Ideally need someone with experience at this level. But whom that may be is the big question

 

[1320Lichtie]

Obviously been a lot of talk about how amazing Dicks been for Arbroath but would also just like to say that Pink seemed like the nicest most genuine guy ever too and sad to see him go. Big Rab a cult hero and never ever heard from John Young but he seemed like a guid c**t from what I’ve heard.
 

Unbelievable memories so thank you for that.
 

Think it’s just sinking in today about how sad yesterday was. 

 

But I’m still sure it was for the best.

Edited November 26, 2023 by 1320Lichtie

[lichtie23]

A very surreal feeling when the announcement was made. Iv been one of the many who have wanted Dick gone for a while now but when it actually happened I felt crestfallen. It’s sad that my last memory of him as the manager was arguing with the support as he walked off the park. 
 

It was a decision that is best for the club. The next appointment is a big one and can’t be rushed. 

[Tattie36]

1 minute ago, lichtie23 said:

A very surreal feeling when the announcement was made. Iv been one of the many who have wanted Dick gone for a while now but when it actually happened I felt crestfallen. It’s sad that my last memory of him as the manager was arguing with the support as he walked off the park. 
 

It was a decision that is best for the club. The next appointment is a big one and can’t be rushed. 

Exactly how I feel. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I just wish he’d stepped aside at the end of last season… or even the end of 21/22.

I had a bad feeling it would end this way and it’s so sad for such a successful and, up until very recently, popular manager/management team to end their tenure like this.

As the writing’s been on the wall for sometime, I would hope that there have been potential replacements earmarked, discussed and possibly even tentatively approached already. Need someone in fairly soon as being rudderless for more than a very few weeks at this crucial time of the season is the last thing we need. Has to be the right guy though.

 

[timlichtie]

Any new manager coming in will inherit some serious problems. The squad is small and weak in midfield and defence. We are also committed to long contracts to players who are struggling at Championship level. What is the status of Scott Allan’s contract now? If the Cambell’s were subsidising that, what now?

Not an enticing prospect for a new management team and we may have to steel ourselves to a turbulent few months. Most important that we don’t go into free fall from this.

[1320Lichtie]

6 minutes ago, timlichtie said:

Any new manager coming in will inherit some serious problems. The squad is small and weak in midfield and defence. We are also committed to long contracts to players who are struggling at Championship level. What is the status of Scott Allan’s contract now? If the Cambell’s were subsidising that, what now?

Not an enticing prospect for a new management team and we may have to steel ourselves to a turbulent few months. Most important that we don’t go into free fall from this.

Scott Allan is a Larne player until the end of his contract. 
 

The new manager will also inherit some very good part time football players - it’s not all doom and gloom. 
 

What players are on long contracts who you wish weren’t on long contracts? Can only think of ToB who is on a long contract but surely you’d want him to stay here?

[Housecaptain]

I thought Slater was on a 4 year contract, I sincerely hope not. 

[1320Lichtie]

1 minute ago, Housecaptain said:

I thought Slater was on a 4 year contract, I sincerely hope not. 

2 year. 
 

Slater can also be a good player for us. There is absolutely a player in there.

[lichtiekev]

Slater could be a good player if there was ball winning midfielder, it has been obvious to everyone we needed a bit of physicality in midfield, it was also obvious to everyone the defence needed freshened up, We still need a left back, Great to have Hammy back but he doesn't have the pace or legs to play there anymore and would have him fighting it out with Little to partner ToB,

We also need to get Stewart further up the pitch, he has done a great job covering at the back but we miss his drive and running going forward,

One time we passed the ball about yesterday resulted in the goal, Hopefully the new manager can get us playing a bit more football as we have good players, 

[timlichtie]

15 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

Scott Allan is a Larne player until the end of his contract. 
 

The new manager will also inherit some very good part time football players - it’s not all doom and gloom. 
 

What players are on long contracts who you wish weren’t on long contracts? Can only think of ToB who is on a long contract but surely you’d want him to stay here?

Far from all doom and gloom. I never go there.

I was under the impression that Allan could return at Xmas and also that Larne might only pay part of his wages. I also thought Slater was on a 4 year contract. Happy to be corrected.

[1320Lichtie]

8 minutes ago, timlichtie said:

Far from all doom and gloom. I never go there.

I was under the impression that Allan could return at Xmas and also that Larne might only pay part of his wages. I also thought Slater was on a 4 year contract. Happy to be corrected.

I can only see two years after a google search, few places have said that but nothing official. To be honest I would probably be reasonably happy if he was on a long deal. 
 

For me the only players I’m unsure on are Turan, Norey and Stowe - they’ve all got a bit to prove for me, the latter 2 need more of an opportunity particularly Stowe seeing as he’s signed for another year and clearly has something about him. 
 

Jacobs race is run 

 

The rest of the squad is pretty good I think on an individual player basis obviously the lack of depth in certain areas of the park has been done to death by now 

[ExiledLichtie]

I don't think there's a bad squad there.  I was of the opinion last season that the management didn't get the best out of the players we had (not you Deri).  I think we've got good forwards, and I don't think its a weak midfield at all, I think its a decent midfield with plenty of options.  Defensively we are definitely weak, but I think Steele looks promising, ToB is still quality, and hopefully Hamilton will be back up to speed.  The summer recruitment was generally good in my opinion.  I think last year's recruitment was poor, but this summer was much better.

I think we just need some new ideas there, and we need someone who can get the best out of players under 24.  Stowe hasn't had opportunities, Balde was packed out on loan, Shanks has scored 7 in 14 (I think) after being sent packing, after all the hype, "mini Messi" Dylan Paterson stagnated and regressed before leaving, and there were all the comments about not wanting to send younger players to Arbroath because of our style, so that's an area we'd be looking for  improvement in.

I wish it hadn't ended like this, and I wish the board had made the decision in the summer to say "no, we're moving in a new direction, thank you for your time", that way the management could have left on a high after avoiding relegation again, and we wouldn't have had the (by all accounts) unpleasant scenes of the last two games.  For that, I do blame the board a bit for not acting.  It wouldn't have been an easy decision, but that's why they're on the board, to make the tough calls.  I've got nothing but good wishes towards our legendary management team, and hopefully we can have an anniversary celebration of Dick's first league title in a couple years time, where we can show our appreciation.

[clashcityrocker]

DC has left big boots to fill and sadly, I think we could drop out of the Championship for sometime - DC kept us in the Championship for an amazing 5 years!

My understanding is that Pink was paying for Scot Allan's wages - so no idea how that will play out.

Injuries, loss of form and a failure to sign a suitable defender and midfielder resulted in DCs undoing - and it should be noted that some of the players have to take responsibility for this - they let DC down.

Finding a manager to steady the ship and keep us in the Championship is going to be a tall order - would avoid any rushed decisions.

[Rjc-1988]

Of course Dick’s methods were very much “old school” and  last season’s performance was much more what you would expect from a PT side in the Championship. That said be very careful what you wish for. There are plenty of “new breed” Managers who watch Man City and think that the way forward is to play out from the back and essentially “pass the ball to death” with no end product. 
 

Sorry to see the Campbells leave the club when on the end of a cup shock. To be fair there is no disgrace in losing to Spartans - they are a brilliantly run club who are definitely on the up. Might have been better for them to call it a day at end of last season.

Sad to see the Campbells being barracked after the game - they deserved better but that’s football. Reminds me a bit of Peter Houston’s last game in charge of Falkirk - got slaughtered by the Falkirk faithful after being a huge success over many years. We all know what happened to the Bairns in the aftermath of his departure.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

I genuinely think Arbroath will regret this. None of the names mentioned so far could lace big Dick’s bunnet so be careful what you wish for.

Campbell would’ve kept you up comfortably and realisticly that should be the aim and nothing more. Despite the success of a couple of seasons ago, part-time teams should be looking to survive and anything else is a complete bonus. Arbroath are sitting pretty in the league so I just can’t fathom why there is such a clamour to get rid of Dick and his team.

[Tattie36]

1 minute ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

I genuinely think Arbroath will regret this. None of the names mentioned so far could lace big Dick’s bunnet so be careful what you wish for.

Campbell would’ve kept you up comfortably and realisticly that should be the aim and nothing more. Despite the success of a couple of seasons ago, part-time teams should be looking to survive and anything else is a complete bonus. Arbroath are sitting pretty in the league so I just can’t fathom why there is such a clamour to get rid of Dick and his team.

Nope. 

[ecto]

1 minute ago, clashcityrocker said:

DC has left big boots to fill and sadly, I think we could drop out of the Championship for sometime - DC kept us in the Championship for an amazing 5 years!

My understanding is that Pink was paying for Scot Allan's wages - so no idea how that will play out.

Injuries, loss of form and a failure to sign a suitable defender and midfielder resulted in DCs undoing - and it should be noted that some of the players have to take responsibility for this - they let DC down.

Finding a manager to steady the ship and keep us in the Championship is going to be a tall order - would avoid any rushed decisions.

Am no buying this, get the right man in, club has made money while the sun shone, we have better players than last season, get couple out in Jan, couple in, a centre mid and a centre half/right back/ left back, as Steele or Hammy could play with ToB, we have to go back to being defensively sound

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Just now, Tattie36 said:

Nope. 

Nope what?