The Arbroath Thread

[JoseMarooniho]

Missed the first 30 minutes. Felt we played well enough, obvious last third issues. Pleased Scotty played after that nonsense about him being out. Him, Dow and Flynn improve that line up. Tam too. Onwards. 

[lichtiekev]

Nothing in it with a poor goal on our behalf that separated the game,

Though we were good in spells in first half but made some terrible decisions and some really poor final balls In 2nd half. 

Thought that was the first time we got the subs wrong, Coulson very fortunate to stay on, i personally thought Slater struggled badly too. 

Reilly best for us, he does a power of running and some of his link up play was outstanding, just lacked that cutting edge,

Would of liked to won, but not overly bothered, will be 5 or 6 boys that come Into that starting line up and back to what's Important next week

 

[afc_36_0]

Looked ok tonight considering we had a completely different midfield. Some great deliveries into the box but the ball never seemed to fall for us. Callaghan and probably slater need moved on in january, just dont offer us anything.

[SimonLichtie]

Really surprised Slats is being singled out for criticism - he was really tidy on the ball and played the number 6 role really well I thought, rarely wasted possession and always made himself available. Comparatively Goldy really struggled, and Callaghan was 2 yards off the pace and the game mostly passed him by. Out of the 3 of them, I'd certainly say Slats was the best in the centre of the park. He's also impressed me in the last 3 or 4 weeks coming on as a substitute - I think he's a really good experienced head to have in the middle of the pitch, but he basically plays the same role as Ryan Flynn who is our starter in that position. His job is to keep the shape and protect the back 4 off the ball and on the ball to keep it moving and offer the back 4 a consistent option into the midfield and I think he did that role really well.

I see tonight as being fairly similar to the Inverness game. As I said last week, half our games this season have been and will continue to be stuffy, even games decided by an individual piece of quality, a mistake or a wee bit of luck. Last week we won by the odd goal in this type of game, tonight we lost by the odd goal. Absolutely jaw dropping to see someone on the Facebook comments describe our performance as 'embarrassing'  

Not a game to particuarly read much into given our starting 11 - I felt Innes Murray and Quinn Coulson needed to offer a wee bit more out wide, especially Innes, but I suspect he may have been one of the players Goldy mentioned had been struggling with illness. There were more positives than negatives for me tonight - simply by the fact Tam and Scott Stewart should be good for next week, and Ali Spalding was fit enough to be named on the bench also.

[SmokeyJoe]

Would it have been nice to win? Yes.. but main thing was getting some players minutes and picking up no more injuries which appears to be the case so not a terrible night.
 

Leagues more important 

[TheRoundO]

I didn’t see the match. It had to be Luke Donnelly. A Donnelly header?  That’s a collector’s item. 

[ExiledLichtie]

21 minutes ago, TheRoundO said:

I didn’t see the match. It had to be Luke Donnelly. A Donnelly header?  That’s a collector’s item. 

I can't even bring myself to be mad.  I never thought he was good enough for us, but he never gave anything less than his best, and I always wanted to see him do well.

Thinking about it, I think the reason I was so disappointed last night was because it was an eminently winnable game.  Alloa just didnt look that good!  They looked vulnerable under pressure and didn't do an awful lot.  We made mistakes with our approach to the game by deciding to sit so deep initially, and when we threw everyone on, people were getting in each other's way because of poorly executed subs.

We could have and arguably should have won that game, despite being pretty poor.  Oh, and having a striker to bring on might have been nice.  

Finally, even after reflection, I still think that Slater was the worst player on the pitch.  He was part of a brutal midfield that just didnt work.  Gold, Slater, and Callaghan were all muddled up and poor, and I don't think their roles were clear, but Slater was the poorest of them all.   

[1320Lichtie]

With everyone fit (Hammy aside as out for season) - what’s our best 11? For me… 

 

GK - Aidan McAdams

 

RB - Layton Bisland 

CH - Keith Watson

CH - ToB

LB - Jack Wilkie

 

CM - Ryan Flynn

 

RM - Scott Stewart 

AM - Ali Spalding 

AM - Ryan Dow

AM / LM - Fraser Taylor (although harsh on Coulson but think we need both Taylor and Spalding in the team)

 

CF - Gavin Reilly (Gallagher just not really featured yet so Reilly got to be number 1 striker as it stands) 

 

Subs 

GK - McConnell

Def - Brynn Sinclair

Def - Dylan Smith

Mid - Quinn Coulson

Mid - Innes Murray 

Mid - David Gold

Mid - Liam Callaghan

Mid - Craig Slater

FW - Calum Gallagher

FW - Jamie Richardson

 

 

I think that’s a pretty strong squad. Plenty on that bench that could be a starter depending on form etc. Think we’re in a good place, hopefully everyone is back for next week like hinted in Goldie interview and we can start getting some luck on the injury front. 

[lichtiekev]

13 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

With everyone fit (Hammy aside as out for season) - what’s our best 11? For me… 

 

GK - Aidan McAdams

 

RB - Layton Bisland 

CH - Keith Watson

CH - ToB

LB - Jack Wilkie

 

CM - Ryan Flynn

 

RM - Scott Stewart 

AM - Ali Spalding 

AM - Ryan Dow

AM / LM - Fraser Taylor (although harsh on Coulson but think we need both Taylor and Spalding in the team)

 

CF - Gavin Reilly (Gallagher just not really featured yet so Reilly got to be number 1 striker as it stands) 

 

Subs 

GK - McConnell

Def - Brynn Sinclair

Def - Dylan Smith

Mid - Quinn Coulson

Mid - Innes Murray 

Mid - David Gold

Mid - Liam Callaghan

Mid - Craig Slater

FW - Calum Gallagher

FW - Jamie Richardson

 

 

I think that’s a pretty strong squad. Plenty on that bench that could be a starter depending on form etc. Think we’re in a good place, hopefully everyone is back for next week like hinted in Goldie interview and we can start getting some luck on the injury front. 

Reilly has to play 100%, Gallagher if and when fit would have a lot to do to replace him,

Also really liked the loom of Smith from Ross County, don't know if he could play RB instead of Bisland, Might be harsh but gotta be the best 11 on the pitch

 

[timlichtie]

That game last night was crying out for an impact striker off the bench with 20 minutes to go. We apparently have the best one in the league. What is happening with Gallagher?

[lichtie23]

16 minutes ago, timlichtie said:

That game last night was crying out for an impact striker off the bench with 20 minutes to go. We apparently have the best one in the league. What is happening with Gallagher?

Calf injury 

[ecto]

1 hour ago, TheRoundO said:

I didn’t see the match. It had to be Luke Donnelly. A Donnelly header?  That’s a collector’s item. 

Apparently he was also running, jumping and tackling, none of which he done for us

[Leicesterlichtie]

Conceding goals from set pieces must be a concern and needs addressing.

[Lichtie78]

27 minutes ago, ecto said:

Apparently he was also running, jumping and tackling, none of which he done for us

This just seems an unnecessary dig at a player who wasn’t good enough for us at the time but certainly didn’t half arse it, and enjoyed his time at the club.

[lichtie23]

6 minutes ago, Lichtie78 said:

This just seems an unnecessary dig at a player who wasn’t good enough for us at the time but certainly didn’t half arse it, and enjoyed his time at the club.

For all LDs faults when he was with us his effort could never be questioned. He was also very good with the ball at his feet 

[glasgowlichtie23]

Thought donnelly was one of their best players last night tbh, seemed to be everywhere on the park 

[timlichtie]

Luke Donnelly never a great goal scorer, but definitely scored some great goals. Last night was vintage LD. 

[ecto]

1 hour ago, Lichtie78 said:

This just seems an unnecessary dig at a player who wasn’t good enough for us at the time but certainly didn’t half arse it, and enjoyed his time at the club.

Oh for goodness sake, get over yourself 

[Lichtielegend]

Luke Donnelly is my personal acid test when discussing football with other Lichties. If they don't rate him, I know I can generally disregard most of their football opinions.

He played a fairly substantial role in our best team in around 50 years but his style is maybe more suited for a team dominating matches which is harder in the Championship.

 

 

[RedLichtie86]

2 minutes ago, Lichtielegend said:

Luke Donnelly is my personal acid test when discussing football with other Lichties. If they don't rate him, I know I can generally disregard most of their football opinions.

He played a fairly substantial role in our best team in around 50 years but his style is maybe more suited for a team dominating matches which is harder in the Championship.

 

 

Aye. The near 2 years of 0 goals or assists in the league was a substantial help to our cause during that time.

His only season he contributed to the side was the 19/20 Covid ended season where he scored 5 and assisted 2.

After that he was near hopeless. Was beaten at numerous headers due to his ability to get shorter when jumping for a ball, pushed off with ease, lacked positional sense to recieve crosses or through balls. So much to the point that after 2 seasons Dick had a brain fart and tried to turn him in a CM ahead of an actual CM which was horrific.