The Arbroath Thread

[ExiledLichtie]

Just now, Broath Boy said:

Can anybody post how our squad is doing. I.e., out of a squad of I think 21 who is major fukked, who is medium fukked and who is playing next Tuesday.

here go’s

McKenna out till March?

Ricky, who knows?

Tam, no word from today?

Several players subbed early on.

as the gaffer said we are on fumes.

Plus

a new signing incoming, which in general supporters seem to rate.

Additions welcome, cheers

 

Is Dow not also major fucked?

[lichtie23]

It looked like Steele is now fucked 

[Broath Boy]

Forgot about Dow, surely back soon, wasn’t there today, how bad did Steele injury look.

[lichtie23]

10 minutes ago, Broath Boy said:

Forgot about Dow, surely back soon, wasn’t there today, how bad did Steele injury look.

Boy landed on his knee

[lichtie23]

Adams will get the plaudits but McIntosh was superb today. Norey brilliant again and slater put a shift In as well. 

[timlichtie]

Is it fair to assume that Hylton is away and Balde will be back?

[Broath Boy]

Just now, lichtie23 said:

Adams will get the plaudits but McIntosh was superb today. Norey brilliant again and slater put a shift In as well. 

Sounds like the boys put in a shift, a bit like Inverness, approx 18 games left, a battle from now on.

[Housecaptain]

1 hour ago, lichtie23 said:

we have the money 

That is now, not when it was first mooted about 10 years ago. 

[RedLichtie86]

44 minutes ago, Housecaptain said:

That is now, not when it was first mooted about 10 years ago. 

Fair enough.

But the club has been in a fairly good financial position for years now. At the time though other clubs found a way to keep their youth setups running. 

I have no doubt fans, hospitality guests, local business people etc would happily contributed money to help keep it running if given the chance.

[1320Lichtie]

If it was down to me I’d do exactly what the club are just now - youth set up a total waste of money for me

 

That Ali Adams goal gets better with every viewing

 

I love Dick Campbell and have so much respect for him and the job they all done they’re legendary but I’m enjoying the more measured and sensible post match interviews McIntyre has been giving us. Really enjoy listening to him 

[SimonLichtie]

Yesterday kind of sums up one of the reasons I never miss a game - a true once in a lifetime moment for anyone who was there. A game that we'll all remember for the rest of our lives, and last night/ this morning whenever I've closed my eyes all I can vividly see is my view from right behind the goal of Ali Adams volley

As has been said by others, in terms of the performance, once again yesterday had more positives than negatives to it which has been been the case in every game since McIntyre game in, apart from Morton. It was also good to see Hylton and Bird laughing and joking together at the end of the game - while last weeks 'incident' was obviously completely unacceptable, they're two real quality players and if we have them on the park and playing together we've got a far higher chance of winning games than if not. I hope everyone can put the whole thing behind us now and continue to move forward, it certainly looks like the squad/ management have done so.

Squadwise, we're not coming into January and we'll obviously see players come and go. There's many factors that need to be taken into account, we're certainly not in a simple 1 in 1 out situation. We need to balance the budget, add key players in key positions and take into account our current injury situation and when people are likely to be due back. Personally I see it roughly as follows:

Gaston - contracted till May 2024, would expect him to remain our number 1 keeper until then when highly likely he'll retire and focus on his coaching

Adams - a fine backup keeper and all round good guy

Hammy - Speaks for himself, hopefully here for a good few years to come

ToB - As above and long term contract. Carrying an injury currently

Ricky - Contracted till the end of this season, struggled during autumn and will have to assess things on return from injury. Injured at a disasterous time in terms of keeping his place in the starting 11, as you'd expect by the time he's available again we'll have fit ToB, Steele and a new CB signing and depending how they've been playing....

Steele - Contracted till end of next season, has shown some good qualities this year so far but struggled with his distribution and with the unfamiliar right back role which he's been playing which only further highlights the issues in his game; distribution and a real lack of pace on the turn. Young enough to improve in the areas he needs to and hopefully going forward he can play in his proper position.

Gold - Would always keep/ have in my squad, a real team player.

Stewart - See above

Slater - I thought Slater was outstanding yesterday, and in the past few weeks he's upped things a level performance wise. Missing pre season mixed with at times being asked to play in a midfield 2 killed him in the first few months of the season but now really coming onto a game. 

Norey - Has really impressed during his run in the team in recent weeks, and seems to be able to play a number of roles in midfield and filling in at right back. Has gone from likely out the door to make way for someone else to someone I'd definitely keep for the rest of the campaign.

Jacobs - Like Norey, has managed to impress in the past month or so in the game time he's had. He's clearly short on pace and coming towards the end of his career, but he's a good guy to have in the dressing room and shown he can still do a limited job at this level. Ultimately a player who will likely leave in January or at the end of the season if we can get a replacement signed.

Balde - After initially impressing last year, really struggled this campaign before his loan move to East Kilbride. He should never have been loaned out I'm sure we all agree, but I think a longer term future at Gayfield probably doesn't exist for him. I think there's a chance we'll see him back for the second half of the campaign to show McIntyre what he can do, but realistically with the squad we have and the signings you'd hope we make, Balde would never be in the starting 11 for us.

Lyon - A tidy enough player, but I suspect someone who will leave in January when his contract is up as McIntyre looks to use his wage elsewhere. A classic situation where if you miss pre season, you spend the entire first half of the campaign catching up and I don't think any of us can really fully judge the player who has had bits of game time here and there and isn't match fit

Allan - Currently on loan at Larne, contract is up at the end of the season at which point he will almost definitely leave the club.

Dow - A really steady hand when he came in January and he's a very reliable player and obviously knows the game really well, but a lack of pace means he's very much a wide midfielder as opposed to a winger. I think he'll struggle to fit into a Jim McIntyre team and I expect him to play a role off the bench once he returns from injury.

Stowe - I think he's had enough chances to show something now and simply hasn't. We've not seen him create anything and he's still naive at this level to a lot of the defensive side of the game and his positioning both on and off the ball. There's a future for him in the SPFL, but I think a loan to a L1 or L2 club if possible would be most suited at this time.

McKenna - Hopefully back around the middle of February, however when he does return there is no number 10 role for him to return too. Will be interesting to see where he fits into the system we're currently playing.

Hylton - A quality player and I'll be gutted if/ when he leaves in January. The sort of player I'd love to see us be able to tie down to a 2/3 year deal.

Bird - See above, but replace January with the end of the season. One of the best strikers I've seen in maroon considering the level we're currently at

McIntosh - One of the best part time players in his position and comes with superb aerial ability. Really glad we've got him signed up past this summer

Turan - Unfortunately I think since a real purple patch several months ago, Kenan has struggled. He struggles to hold the ball up as well as is required, and is not a huge goal threat. He did show what he can do in 3 or 4 games, but ultimately 3 or 4 good showings in 24 games isn't enough.

We currently have 21 players on the books, with 2 out on loan and 6 injured/ carrying injuries through December (Gold, Steele, ToB, McKenna, Little, Dow). A squad of 21 is totally fine size wise - a squad of 19 is a couple short but still workable, especially with the amount of players we have who can play multiple positions. A squad of 19 with over a third of that squad injured is not fine - any team at this level with 6 regular first team players injured is going to struggle. Having a couple of 17/ 18 year olds who are miles off it sitting on the bench and playing 10/ 15 minutes here really makes no difference to the situation IMO.

I'd expect come the end of January we'll probably be aiming to have a similar size of squad to what we have now. This means Balde either returns to the club or leaves permanently in January to free up space and 2 or 3 of what we have currently will need to move on. We can't carry a squad of 25 just because we have some short term injuries, so it'll still be a difficult balance until the summer for McIntyre when Allan's contract ends and he is in a better position to sign players on permanent deals.

I think Dick left us in a really good position considering - a manager leaving a club who are big favourites to finish bottom, in a position where they're not bottom? A core squad of quality part time players? We were basically a defender short when he left, as well as the sillyness of loaning out Balde, and he'd lost the dressing room. The losing of the dressing room was much more of an issue than the players available - McIntyre has clearly shown that.

[afc_36_0]

Unbelievable effort from the team yesterday. DID NOT GIVE UP. Get the bodies in please jim!

ps good to see mikey and jay in the stand with the fans and celebrating at the end

Edited December 31, 2023 by afc_36_0

[Lanky Highlander]

Just watched the screamer goalkeeper’s goal on Raith’s YouTube highlights. Fantastic, brought a smile to my face. (Just don’t repeat when you play Ayr Utd next please). 

[TASC_1878]

All at TASC would like to wish you and your family a very happy new year. Listed below are some stats from our TASC away days in 2023

Buses - 21
Miles Travelled - 4,330
Wins - 7
Losses - 9
Draws - 5
Goals Scored - 25
Goals Conceded - 39

Thank you for your continued support throughout 2023, We can’t wait to see you back on the buses supporting our Lichties in 2024

[keptie]

Probably two of the best goals I've seen us score and both at Starks Park. Hammy's goal which which I absolutely love, the coolness when he wrong footed everyone is magic and importance of the goal.  Of course now Ally Adams sub goalie coming on at centre forward with an absolute 30 yard thunderbolt. Love them both.

[lichtiekev]

If we need a goal on Tuesday does Adams come on before Turan?

Or is Adams starting? 

 

[timlichtie]

Balde back on Tuesday I hear. Bird and Murray should both be in. Still major shortages in defence. The manager pulling out all the stops in the transfer market.

[Tattie36]

I know Balde isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I for one am looking forward to seeing how he gets on under McIntyre. We’ve seen a big improvement in the team in general and particularly in some individuals - Norey, Slater etc since the new regime came in so it might be just be what he needs. there’s definitely a good player in there imo.

[Blawin a Hoolie]

Balde back is a good move…let’s no make him out as the Devil…we have all made mistakes.

Imagine he had the stuffing knocked out of him, taken it on the chin and making a name for himself at EK.

hopefully can bring some of that mojo back to Gayfield.

’mon the Lichties 

[ExiledLichtie]

Are people writing off Balde and Stowe already?  Balde looked really good last season, and we've yet to see how he does in a Jim McIntyre team.  I think now we have a new broom, it might be time to think about what sort of club we are going to be.  Under the previous management, anyone under 27 simply stagnated.  We saw players have bright starts and then peter out to nothing.  We had clubs (allegedly) unwilling to loan us players due to the style of football.  

The fate of Stowe, Steele and Balde will give a good clue of who we want to be.  I don't think we can expect a player like Stowe in particular (and also the other two) to jump straight into a championship team and be players of the year.  We need to give players time.  Someone like Steele, you'd expect to be an understudy to the main defence, getting the occasional start, and making regular sub appearances in season one, before kicking on in season 2.  Same for someone like Stowe, making the step up from the lowland league.  So are we going to take these players, and give them a season to bed in and watch them develop?  Or are we going to be a retirement home for ready made players to do a couple years of graft, with the oldest average team in the division?  

It will be interesting to see which way the board and McIntyre go over the next window!