stan3600 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 But as has already been said there have been plenty part-time/hybrid teams made it to the Premier/premiership (whatever the feck it’s been called) post 1976 reconstruction. If (big if) we make it, I can’t see how we could stay fully part-time and even remotely compete.Really? I suppose I’m deluded but I think our current squad (including Nouble and Dowds) plus 3 signings to replace Swankie, Hilson and Bobby ([emoji22]) would compete ok. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chubbychops Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 (edited) Seen all the contenders and Arbroath are the best side I've seen. Think they will be the first part time top tier side in about 35 years. Were Clydebank part time in the Premier League? Edited January 3, 2022 by Chubbychops 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan3600 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Respect to Arbroath, but I suspect Killie will appoint a manager that will propel us to the top of the league. Plus a couple of key signings. Do you really think you’ll get a better manager than Tommy Wright? Gary Holt? I don’t think so. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellichtie Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 I think it'll come down to who we manage to sign in January and staying injury free. Having played every team a couple of times I think we're probably best placed to win the league along with Caley or Raith but again that depends on who other teams manage to sign and if Killie manage to get their act together. Quietly confident we can win the league and hopeful that we do cause we're never up to much when we have to go through the play-offs for promotion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottydog Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 I've great respect for the Campbells who have Arbroath are rolling along smoothly. Quite simply if things were to remain exactly the same in the second half of the season they would of course be crowned champions. Football rarely works like that though and there are several factors that will or may come into play to put a spanner in the works. The comings and going of the loan players will likely be a huge factor, but if the twins can, if not keep, then replace current loanees with like for like or better, then there should be no worries there. Unfortunately for them other teams will almost certainly attempt to strengthen too and if that happens then things may be more difficult. Perhaps the biggest factor though is the relatively small squad they have, unless I'm mistaken there are only 21 players there. Should there be issues with covid or injuries and suspensions then things would get a whole lot tougher. We Rovers fans know all about injuries, especially to key players, and particularly to goalkeepers and if I recall Arbroath had to register 49 yr old Rab Douglas to sit on the bench last season. In a nutshell we are all at the mercy of the injury gods, how's yer luck? As long as their luck with injuries holds and their disciplinary record (good at present) stays ok then they could just do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky1990 Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 If Thistle dont win the league I really want this Arbroath side to do it. Not only a good side, but Dick Campbell would be box office in the top flight. Having to listen to every pundit bitch and moan about the wind at Gayfield is a significant downer on the thought though. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Blue Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Firstly, and also as a fan of an unfashionable provincial club, of course I hope that Arbroath win the Championship outright and get promoted - I seriously do, like many others on here. There has to be a glimmer of hope for the smaller clubs from time to time otherwise what's the point. Will the bubble burst? Well, of course it will, that's what happens to bubbles as they get bigger - it's just the way of things. The question is when will it burst - in the Championship this season or upstairs next season? The problem is that ultimately size matters and it will be the size/quality in depth of the squad that will be the limiting factor eventually in whichever league they find themselves in - coping with injuries, illness, suspensions etc over the course of a full league season requires a big, strong, deep squad. Unfortunately, my view is that the present 12 club top flight set up pretty well precludes the extended presence of the provincial clubs apart from the odd exception now and again - but even those are fairly short lived occurrences. And of course that is what the 12 club top flight was designed to do - to create a closed shop for the bigger fish and to keep the minnows down where they belong - hardly a sporting concept but at the end of the day cartels do what cartels do. Anyway, good luck Lichties! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Starko Rover Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Arbroath are doing fantastic but honestly it’s still any of the top 5 right now as there’s a long way to go and not much between the teams. Injuries and new signing will obviously play a big part but it’ll simply come down to which of the 5 hits form at the right time. We were flying earlier in the season but have hit a slump will come out of it? Who knows. If Arbroath do it fair play to Dick Campbell and his team it’ll be an outstanding achievement. One thing’s for certain this has been a really interesting season this year with no run away leader and no team cut adrift at the bottom. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan3600 Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Do you really think you’ll get a better manager than Tommy Wright? Gary Holt? I don’t think so. Ok. Fair play. McInnes may be as good as or better than Tommy Wright. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tiel Burn Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 I am clearly in a minority of 1 in that I just don't get/enjoy the Dick Campbell shtick. I find it worse than Ron Manager reruns. However as a manager, hats off to him and his staff, their place at the top of the league is nothing more than they deserve. When they ran away from Rovers a couple of years back I thought that was their once in a generation team. They have now gone further and there is no fluke about it. Wouldn't be surprised if they grab a big name loanee as they are seen as an attractive and fun proposition. They are a good side so it's not about a bubble bursting as that suggests they have been lucky. Squad size and injury/suspensions is the big challenge but that's the same for everyone Of course I want Rovers to come good but if its Arbroath good luck to them, family club, strong community engagement, local fans and as away fans we get treated with respect when visiting. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320Lichtie Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Touched on the squad thing earlier. We’ve had plenty of issues we’ve had to deal with already I think if we wanted we would’ve got Ben Williamson back so I’m hoping we’ve got something lined up in the middle of the park... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottydog Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, 1320Lichtie said: Touched on the squad thing earlier. We’ve had plenty of issues we’ve had to deal with already That’s interesting, but surely those issues couldn’t have been too crippling, Take the Rovers squad which Is about 25-30% bigger and when injuries and Covid struck for our visit to Firhill we couldn’t field a recognised striker and could only field 5 subs, a keeper a 24 yr old and 3 kids under 18. By my reckoning our 28 man squad had 4 out on loan and 6 either injured or affected by Covid that day, loan players aside that meant a quarter of our players were unavailable. If the same crisis was to befall the lichties they’d be down to 15 or 16 and maybe less. I know Nouble was out for a few weeks, didn’t realise there were more issues. Edited January 4, 2022 by Scottydog 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tattie36 Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Scottydog said: That’s interesting, but surely those issues couldn’t have been too crippling, Take the Rovers squad which Is about 25-30% bigger and when injuries and Covid struck for our visit to Firhill we couldn’t field a recognised striker and could only field 5 subs, a keeper a 24 yr old and 3 kids under 18. I know Nouble was out for a few weeks, didn’t realise there were more. Well, arguably our most influential/best player, Nicky Low has been out injured since September. We also played the Morton match on 18 December with 7 players missing and most of our management team. Our bench consisted of 4 players - 49 year old Rab Douglas, who was also acting as head coach, 38 year old Gavin Swankie, the aforementioned Nicky Low who still hasn’t played a minute since September and Harrison Clark, a teenager who has since gone to Kelty. We’ve also been missing several other players at other times this season through injury or Covid - Thomson, Nouble, Little, O’Brien, Henderson, Stewart, Hilson etc All from a squad of 20-21. That enough? Edited January 4, 2022 by Tattie36 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottydog Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 1 minute ago, Tattie36 said: That enough? Aye it’s plenty, as long as it’s sustainable. By the way if Nicky Low is your most influential player can we please have the one that’s the divisions to scorer and also has 5 assists to his name? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320Lichtie Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 5 minutes ago, Tattie36 said: Well, arguably our most influential/best player, Nicky Low has been out injured since September. We also played the Morton match on 18 December with 7 players missing and most of our management team. Our bench consisted of 4 players - 49 year old Rab Douglas, who was also acting as head coach, 38 year old Gavin Swankie, the aforementioned Nicky Low who still hasn’t played a minute since September and Harrison Clark, a teenager who has since gone to Kelty. We’ve also been missing several other players at other times this season through injury or Covid - Thomson, Nouble, Little, O’Brien, Henderson, Stewart, Hilson etc All from a squad of 20-21. That enough? But apart from that... You know Dunfermline only had 5 subs for that one game? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320Lichtie Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Just now, Scottydog said: Aye it’s plenty, as long as it’s sustainable. By the way if Nicky Low is your most influential player can we please have the one that’s the divisions to scorer and also has 5 assists to his name? He said arguably to be fair. If you look back to the match thread v Killie you’ll see the reaction to us losing Nicky Low. Everything went through him. Hopefully he comes back and does what he was doing for us pre injury 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tattie36 Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 3 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said: But apart from that... You know Dunfermline only had 5 subs for that one game? He’s actually a Rovers fan, his profile pic is a “hilarious” dig at the Pars. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320Lichtie Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Fully appreciate what Scotty is saying but we’ve had to deal with injuries and Covid like everyone else in this league. Quite badly actually it’s been far from ideal. Don’t see how we are at more risk of that than anybody else. Overall every one of our players in the 21 man squad has a strong case for starting, aside from maybe Antell and Hilson. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mr_malcolm Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 All this talk about Arbroath being part time etc . This might be a stupid question but Hamilton survived for years full time and in the spl . We’re they bankrolled or living off cash from player sales ? All done on a same kind of fanbase numbers wise anyway 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecto Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 22 hours ago, 1320Lichtie said: Fully appreciate what Scotty is saying but we’ve had to deal with injuries and Covid like everyone else in this league. Quite badly actually it’s been far from ideal. Don’t see how we are at more risk of that than anybody else. Overall every one of our players in the 21 man squad has a strong case for starting, aside from maybe Antell and Hilson. Kinda enjoying the attention we are getting, shows we are doing loads right, pleasing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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