Forfar Athletic News 2018 onwards

[mo83]

Were the Forfar players on a bonus when we met earlier in the season? Played us off the park twice but doing absolutely woeful again....Very weird as you boys have a decent squad on paper.

[ForfarLoon84]

5 minutes ago, mo83 said:

Were the Forfar players on a bonus when we met earlier in the season? Played us off the park twice but doing absolutely woeful again....Very weird as you boys have a decent squad on paper.

No idea about win bonuses, but hard to believe we are the same squad that played so well pre-season/League Cup.

I just think McKinnon is too negative but perhaps wasn’t so negative pre-season with nothing to lose.

[Jupiter Jazz]

9 minutes ago, mo83 said:

Were the Forfar players on a bonus when we met earlier in the season? Played us off the park twice but doing absolutely woeful again....Very weird as you boys have a decent squad on paper.

Anything can happen in the League Cup, nothing should be read into it.

On paper, astro or grass, our squad is rubbish.

[theSilverFox]

10 hours ago, mo83 said:

Were the Forfar players on a bonus when we met earlier in the season? Played us off the park twice but doing absolutely woeful again....Very weird as you boys have a decent squad on paper.

We don’t have a great squad, we have a handful of good players (not even 11 unfortunately) and a squad of uninterested loans and other dross. The league cup displays against the Angus teams were impressive… or maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. The truth is we went out and attacked, attacked from goalkeeper to striker with high energy. Now we are so defensive and the midfield is like it’s playing in mud.

[speedframe]

2 hours ago, theSilverFox said:

The truth is we went out and attacked, attacked from goalkeeper to striker with high energy.

Correct, something we have never replicated in the league campaign.

It should be obvious to everyone, including Mr McKinnon, that the current tactics are not working.

We have nothing to lose going back to playing football the way it should be played!!!

 

 

 

[Neilly]

15 hours ago, Jupiter Jazz said:

Anything can happen in the League Cup, nothing should be read into it.

On paper, astro or grass, our squad is rubbish.

You're fighting a losing battle mate. Look at the subsequent replies. The lads think you can just flick that attacking switch and get on it.

The Scottish League Cup group stages (yes we know you won it lads) is essentially American pool with large pockets. Anyone can beat anyone with a bit of luck and catching the better opponent cold.

League football is like snooker. You aren't going to lay a glove on the opponent unless you have the required quality over a longer period.

Forfar have a big squad of American pool players who will never make a good snooker player.

[Jupiter Jazz]

13 minutes ago, Neilly said:

You're fighting a losing battle mate. Look at the subsequent replies. The lads think you can just flick that attacking switch and get on it.

The Scottish League Cup group stages (yes we know you won it lads) is essentially American pool with large pockets. Anyone can beat anyone with a bit of luck and catching the better opponent cold.

League football is like snooker. You aren't going to lay a glove on the opponent unless you have the required quality over a longer period.

Forfar have a big squad of American pool players who will never make a good snooker player.

Cracking analogy btw.

The denial is something else, I'm not sure why there is such refusal to just accept we have a bottom end League 2 squad. 

[ScottishLoon]

2 hours ago, Jupiter Jazz said:

Cracking analogy btw.

The denial is something else, I'm not sure why there is such refusal to just accept we have a bottom end League 2 squad. 

Because we don't.

There's such a  thing as a decent squad performing poorly, footballs not always as simple as being near the bottom of a league means the squad is what's bad when it's more likely that's it's a mix of players not believing in the manager because the manager keeps changing things he shouldn't then being mindlessly stubborn on other things, and players shot of confidence.

Before anyone suggests I'm protecting every player by saying that I'll list the ones who have simply not been good enough.

Mutale - too much speedboat no driver.

Ferguson- looks a complete dumpling 90% of the time and a complete mystery to what his strengths are.

Munro - was a really good servant for years but far too mistakes and should move on.

Watson - clearly has pace and something there but ultimately still looks like a naive youth player.

Ross - scored a couple good goals but overall goes missing in games too much recently.

Robson - strange one because he's got undoubted ability with passing and can drive forward well but he's another that like Watson is still too naive and goes missing when under pressure and has been playing too much I feel.

Skelly - started the season well and was doing everything except scoring but like quite a few since Stranraer away he's lost all confidence and needs another competent striker to take the pressure off a bit.

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by ScottishLoon

[Dan Steele]

It's never easy having to face up to the fact that the team you're following is sitting just off the bottom slot of League 2, but that's where we are. McKinnon's plan and signings for the way forward was obviously something the Board were happy to hear but clearly it isn't working. I don't agree with those that say these players aren't trying. I'd be surprised if loanees, watched by their parent club for the move up, are just coasting when their aim is higher level football. Clearly, the physical strength of other teams in L2 is way above our level. To have put in a dire performance and failing to break through Elgin's defence says it all (no disrespect to Elgin). We are, as results, performance and position show, where we deserve to be. Hard to say, but at the moment I can't see very much changing.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

9 hours ago, theSilverFox said:

We don’t have a great squad, we have a handful of good players (not even 11 unfortunately) and a squad of uninterested loans and other dross. The league cup displays against the Angus teams were impressive… or maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. The truth is we went out and attacked, attacked from goalkeeper to striker with high energy. Now we are so defensive and the midfield is like it’s playing in mud.

The League Cup is a total lottery. It’s an extension of pre season where teams are still trying to get up to fitness and in reality any team part-time team can beat any other part-time team regardless of their level. As soon as you came up against a full-time squad of players in that very same cup you were roundly pumped.

[Caleb Aparicio Tello]

I completely agree with your assessment of our team's performance and position in the league. It's disheartening to see us struggling so much, and it's clear that McKinnon's plan and signings aren't working as intended. I often watch here. While I don't think the players are intentionally coasting, it's evident that the physical strength and overall quality of other teams in League 2 are far superior to ours . Our dire performance against Elgin perfectly highlights this issue.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Caleb Aparicio Tello

[Jupiter Jazz]

3 hours ago, ScottishLoon said:

Because we don't.

There's such a  thing as a decent squad performing poorly, footballs not always as simple as being near the bottom of a league means the squad is what's bad when it's more likely that's it's a mix of players not believing in the manager because the manager keeps changing things he shouldn't then being mindlessly stubborn on other things, and players shot of confidence.

 

Aye, but most of the time that's exactly why teams are at the bottom. I said right at the start of the season I would take 9th purely based on the make-up of the squad.Defence is fine if he'd actually stick with a regular back four instead of the mental chopping and changing. Midfield and upfront, forget it (other than Thomson).

Callum Moore for example intrigues me. What is it people have seen him do in four seasons that they rate the guy? What is he good at? I couldn't believe it when I seen McKinnon was attempting to get him back.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Jupiter Jazz

[ScottishLoon]

1 hour ago, Jupiter Jazz said:

Aye, but most of the time that's exactly why teams are at the bottom. I said right at the start of the season I would take 9th purely based on the make-up of the squad.Defence is fine if he'd actually stick with a regular back four instead of the mental chopping and changing. Midfield and upfront, forget it (other than Thomson).

Callum Moore for example intrigues me. What is it people have seen him do in four seasons that they rate the guy? What is he good at? I couldn't believe it when I seen McKinnon was attempting to get him back.

Moore was arguably our best player at the start of this season, he's been the biggest victim of the chopping and changing of ray imo and you can't expect consistency if you don't know where you'll be playing each week.

Edited November 23, 2023 by ScottishLoon

[Neilly]

14 minutes ago, ScottishLoon said:

Moore was arguably our best player at the start of this season, he's been the biggest victim of the chopping and changing of ray imo and you can't expect consistency if you don't know where you'll be playing each week.

But what is he good at? What are his attributes that would make him a good player at this level?

We had him on loan from Dundee and he was as beige as they come. Even a few years on anytime I've seen him he never stands out. One paced, timid and doesn't impact a football match.

If he wasn't playing for Forfar would he be playing league football? The answer is no - if you want to answer that honestly.

[Jupiter Jazz]

13 minutes ago, ScottishLoon said:

Moore was arguably our best player at the start of this season, he's been the biggest victim of the chopping and changing of ray imo and you can't expect consistency if you don't know where you'll be playing each week.

He started the league season at left wing back then left back and was so bad McKinnon had to move Matty Allan (!) there until Brindley came back. He's played in midfield for four seasons and what impact has he had? It's waving through and accepting mediocre players like this that will definitely see us in the Highland League.

[nofixedability]

2 hours ago, Jupiter Jazz said:

Aye, but most of the time that's exactly why teams are at the bottom. I said right at the start of the season I would take 9th purely based on the make-up of the squad.Defence is fine if he'd actually stick with a regular back four instead of the mental chopping and changing. Midfield and upfront, forget it (other than Thomson).

 

Agree that our goalkeeper and defence are fine for this level , the problem is lack of chances created and taken. Cannot believe we have not tried McLeod right through the middle as yet, either let him play off Skelly or have Patterson in behind him, cannot be any less effective than what we have done so far. 
 

The heart of the problem is the move to ‘local’ players, it has deliberately hamstrung our squad . Fair enough it may be a money based move but that wasn’t how it was sold in the Summer, local players would gel better and be better able to attend training was the line. Hasn’t fucking worked. Would be better with some players on more expenses that knew where the goals are.

Edited November 23, 2023 by nofixedability

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

11 hours ago, nofixedability said:

Agree that our goalkeeper and defence are fine for this level , the problem is lack of chances created and taken. Cannot believe we have not tried McLeod right through the middle as yet, either let him play off Skelly or have Patterson in behind him, cannot be any less effective than what we have done so far. 
 

The heart of the problem is the move to ‘local’ players, it has deliberately hamstrung our squad . Fair enough it may be a money based move but that wasn’t how it was sold in the Summer, local players would gel better and be better able to attend training was the line. Hasn’t fucking worked. Would be better with some players on more expenses that knew where the goals are.

So are all of Forfar’s players based locally? And if so how local are we talking? That seems like a strange strategy to adopt and will massively limit your options. 

[fafc1885]

36 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

So are all of Forfar’s players based locally? And if so how local are we talking? That seems like a strange strategy to adopt and will massively limit your options. 

Everyone except for Darren Whyte, Tomas Brindley, Andy Munro, Roberto Nditi, Zach Paris and Cameron Ferguson are based within Angus and Dundee, a couple more are also in Fife and Aberdeen.

Previous managers’ went through a lot of money with expenses for west coast based players so we’ve been forced into this.

[fafc1885]

18 hours ago, ScottishLoon said:

Watson - clearly has … something there

It’s certainly not any form of football ability anyway.

[nofixedability]

14 minutes ago, fafc1885 said:

Everyone except for Darren Whyte, Tomas Brindley, Andy Munro, Roberto Nditi, Zach Paris and Cameron Ferguson are based within Angus and Dundee, a couple more are also in Fife and Aberdeen.

Previous managers’ went through a lot of money with expenses for west coast based players so we’ve been forced into this.

I think am right in saying that Whyte, Munro, Brindley and Nditi were already signed on two year contracts hence why they are still here?