The Arbroath Thread

[mo83]

Liam Craig as in the ex St Johnstone?

[lichtie23]

I’d be asking Callum Davidson if he fancies it 

[Mike the Magyar]

22 hours ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

Aye, about 50 year ago. The landscape has changed somewhat since then. 

Aye, and look at the crap full time professionals we’ve signed in the meantime.

[Smokerson]

Not really said much recently as I’m pretty disgusted at some of the antics of our support. The change of manager is probably the right call at this time but some of the stuff and abuse yesterday was embarrassing. I don’t mean to come across like a wet wipe but shouting at swearing at Dick after all hes done for us is shameful, hearing stories of someone trying to spit at him and then Colin Hamilton being held back from an altercation, just ridiculous.

Theres been a demise on the playing side for a while but Dick will go down as one of our best ever managers both on and off the pitch.  We’re a totally transformed club and a large percentage of that is Down to him. 
 

The board have a huge call to make now, hard one as I believe we need someone who comes with a style and clear plan but short term that group of players need motivated and to dig out points as some of them look like they’re going through the motions.

[CoveRangers1922]

2 hours ago, lichtie23 said:

I’d be asking Callum Davidson if he fancies it 

Played golf* with a friend of Callum's about two months ago and he said Callum feels he's done as much as he can in Scottish football. Double with St Johnstone and never in the running for a higher profile club in the SPL.

Supposedly he wants a shot down in England where he played for 13 years.

Been out the game for almost 8 months so don't know when the itchy feet kicks in

* I say golf, I hack it around these days with little practice and much preferring find a football game to go to instead.

Edited November 26, 2023 by CoveRangers1922

[1320Lichtie]

2 hours ago, Smokerson said:

Not really said much recently as I’m pretty disgusted at some of the antics of our support. The change of manager is probably the right call at this time but some of the stuff and abuse yesterday was embarrassing. I don’t mean to come across like a wet wipe but shouting at swearing at Dick after all hes done for us is shameful, hearing stories of someone trying to spit at him and then Colin Hamilton being held back from an altercation, just ridiculous.

Theres been a demise on the playing side for a while but Dick will go down as one of our best ever managers both on and off the pitch.  We’re a totally transformed club and a large percentage of that is Down to him. 
 

The board have a huge call to make now, hard one as I believe we need someone who comes with a style and clear plan but short term that group of players need motivated and to dig out points as some of them look like they’re going through the motions.

Trying to spit at him? No really having all this, you sure? 
 

Also not really sure how that makes you a wet wipe. Completely normal view to have. 

[RandomGuy.]

3 hours ago, lichtie23 said:

I’d be asking Callum Davidson if he fancies it 

3-5-2 defensive football with players out of position and a manager who thinks taking the 2nd most successful side in the country over a decade to a play off to avoid relegation is "a bigger achievement than winning a trophy".

If you thought Campbell was bad at least he had a personality.

47 minutes ago, CoveRangers1922 said:

Supposedly he wants a shot down in England where he played for 13 years.

Theres no supposedly about it. He absolutely fucked us, to the point we're still feeling the after affects, because he spent an entire Summer hawking himself around English clubs rather than bothering to try and improve our squad. We've been playing catch up for about 5 windows now because he didn't bother looking past his first season as he never wanted to stay any longer.

He'll be lucky to be offered a top flight job again, never mind picking and choosing one.

[SmokeyJoe]

Yeah Davidson is a no from me turgid stuff from his really poor assembled squad at saints. 

[Ludo*1]

Davidson was offered the Dundee job in the summer and turned it down.

[Tattie36]

Never mind his tactics, lack of personality or desire to manage in England - any prospective manager who’s not 100% committed can f**k right off…. and then f**k off a bit more.

[AFC360PUNK1320]

Really sorry to see Dick, Pink, John and Rab go but they will go down in history as up there with Sir Albert as our most succesfull Management team.

Not going to say i agreed 100% with everything Dick done as i didn't, his treatment of Bobby Linn, some of his subs, forcing decent players like James Craigen out the Gayfield door, but on the whole he has done a really great job for the Red Lichties.

The weekend Dick resigned was a bitty weird as 3 players he never rated at our club, James Craigen, Keiran Shanks and Kane Hester x2 all scored.

Thanks for the great memories to the 4 of you and regardless of the sad ending you will all go down as Red Lichtie Legends.  

[lichtie23]

Regarding this claim of someone spitting on Dick I think that’s total bull. Our support self police’s pretty well and the culprit would have been identified and called out for it instantly. 

[Wee man the jackass]

14 hours ago, Smokerson said:

Not really said much recently as I’m pretty disgusted at some of the antics of our support. The change of manager is probably the right call at this time but some of the stuff and abuse yesterday was embarrassing. I don’t mean to come across like a wet wipe but shouting at swearing at Dick after all hes done for us is shameful, hearing stories of someone trying to spit at him and then Colin Hamilton being held back from an altercation, just ridiculous.

 

Pleased to see an honest evaluation of the situation, rather than some nonsense about the 'self police' 

[clashcityrocker]

Do we have a closing date for applications or has it been kept open.

Absolutely no rush - but I think we will struggle to find someone to fill the boots of DC and his management team.

The immediate remit will need to be to keep us in the Championship, steady the ship and assess the squad.

Won't be any shortage of managers who talk the talk - but the board need to identify one who can walk the walk.

Get the wrong man and we will get relegated.

[Specky Ginger]

It's for Arbroath fans to say whether the time was right for a change, but as an outsider looking in, the late Frank Connor, who I idolised for the job he done at the Rovers, always said his aim in management was to "leave a club in a better position than he found it".

In that context, I think it's fair to say Dick was a success at Arbroath.

[1320Lichtie]

2 minutes ago, Specky Ginger said:

It's for Arbroath fans to say whether the time was right for a change, but as an outsider looking in, the late Frank Connor, who I idolised for the job he done at the Rovers, always said his aim in management was to "leave a club in a better position than he found it".

In that context, I think it's fair to say Dick was a success at Arbroath.

Best manager we have ever had in my opinion - although I’m only 31 years old so maybe that’s naive - he will be the most iconic manager of my lifetime that’s for sure. The first day he was in charge I remember he was in the clubs bar in the ground having a pint 20 minutes before kick off talking to all the fans. It was such a refreshing thing after we’d had Todd Lumsden who was an absolute dork and the complete opposite. Dick ended up in Devitos on several occasions too, before he got the job he had a speaking event in the town exactly one week before which I attended. Couldn’t believe my eyes when I seen him standing at the side of the dance floor with a pint of Tennents in hand. 
 

An absolute hero of a guy whose character was massive and a breath of fresh air. I’m not exaggerating when I say I have noticed that draining out of him over the last year. The jobs taken its toll on him and he’s been scrambling about trying to recover for a long time. That character was one of his two main strengths at one point along with his recruitment, I touched on the recruitment earlier in the thread.
 

Without them he and us as a club were finding it a struggle and the sad reality of football is that things need freshened up. 

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Spitting at Dick Campbell!? 

This is even worse than I thought. I hope for you decent Lichties out there you can get your club back and weed out these imbeciles.

[Leicesterlichtie]

It's not only the job at hand that took it's toll on him. Outside of football he's had his own health issues to contend with and didn't he also lose a close family member not too long back. So, in hindsight, maybe dick should've called time in the summer after completing his seasons objective.

I know from losing my mum last year and my dad having early dementia and news of cancer recently how much that has took out of myself.

[DUAFC]

That's an awful lot to deal with, so sorry.

Puts everything into perspective 

Edited November 27, 2023 by DUAFC

[embow]

Remember speaking to him at a "do" a few years ago when he was in remission from the cancer scare and he had us in stitches at the table with his dark humour.

" I always stick my elbays oot in the mornin' when I wake up and thank the Lord that they're no' touching wid'!!"