Outperforming others but not getting results

[Fargone]

Plenty of positives from recent games, says the Gaffer, as we've outperformed teams but "we've just been unfortunate in not getting the results". We have to fin a way to nullify Michael Moffat - view external link (www.arbroath-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/outperforming_others_but_not_getting_results_82828 1/index.shtml)

[Lichtielegend]

This suggestion that we're outperforming teams is going to see us sleepwalk into relegation.

There are clear problems that have to be rectified and some of them have existed for the whole season.

[lifelonglichtie]

I share lichtielegends concerns. All season our defence has been poor and I thought that this would be addressed when the transfer window opened but no. Even now, when we have defenders out with suspension nothing has been done and it seems nothing will be done before the signing deadline at the end of the month.
Why wont the manager sign defenders? we will have been relegated by the AGM so he will have a lot of explaining to do then, as well as apologising to the fans.
If he's still here that is, which I hope he is not

[broathrbest]

Why does this ( he wont sign defenders ) keep cropping up , the management team have tried to sign several players , but you cant force anybody to sign on the dotted line , especially when several other more affluent rivals are in the mix , its not like bid tv where a A 1 pound 50 call guarantees the product plus p&p of course , seriously the management team in my opinion are doing their best and have , what i can see the backing of the players , as well as myself , before i go , i believe we will stay up , probably through the playoffs , but if the worst happens we just dust ourselfs down and have a crack at coming straight back up and i will still be there season ticket in hand , as that what a supporter does .

[housecaptain]

I am afraid I do not see it this way and the league position is testimony to this.
What I find galling is the intransigence of the manager to recognise and rectify the problems that have been evident for all to see.
E.G. the retaining of 3 players in particular, 2 of whom were released in January and the other who is still the subject of many postings.The failure to sign a dominant central defender and lately the lack of obtaining a loan player when we are fighting for our life in league 1.
At the moment we are now favourites for relegation and when it is evident we are relegated we should be bringing in a new manager
to assess the players for next season.
You have only to look at Airdrie to see how that benefited them.

[Bellevue]

"Outperforming others but not getting results", "Deserved to get something from the game", etc. etc. How often have we heard this sort of thing this season?
If you outperform the other team then 99% of the time you win the game,but if you don't score more goals than them outperforming them means nothing.
Deserve to get something from the game? 99% of the time you get what you deserve from the game. If you defend like schoolboys you will lose more goals than you score and you will get what you deserve from the game...nothing.
Does any of that that sound familiar, does it sound like the season we have had? I believe it does and I think we had better get used to the idea that we will be playing in Div 2 next season. Which might not be too bad a thing, we might be able to win more than 2 games in a row in that league.

[maroonie]

There is a saying that the "league table doesn't lie" and that surely applies to us. With 20 defeats from 30 matches it is no surprise to see us bottom. Even Hearts, Morton, and Queens Park on the bottom of the other Scottish leagues some with a lot fewer points have less defeats than us. Our deficiencies at the back, especially in the central area have been well documented and as suggested above not addressed by the management. We can't blame lady luck or anything else for our plight. We are IMO where we deserve to be and a dramatic turn around will be needed in the last 6 matches and might still not be enough to get us off bottom. Its a straight dogfight between us and the fifers now for the relegation play off spot. How different from my, and I suspect most of our support from the pre season expectations. Can we get up to the dizzy heights of 2nd bottom?. Hope so! C'mon lichties.

[steeplejack]

Outperforming.????
Matching maybe, but not outperforming.

[AFC1320]

Totally agree Steeplejack I would not say we are "outperforming" in fact we have played some decent stuff this season have not had the break of the ball or luck and the vast majority of games we have lost by the odd goal.

The reason we are where we are is imo is what I moaned about at the start of the season was HEIGHT in defence and midfield and pace up front.
Look at the difference since Nicoll and McManus have arrived we are a far better team although I still would have liked to see a giant central defender signed.

Yes the gaffer has made some mistakes but on our day we could compete with the majority of teams in this division but we have not been consistant.

[ectolichtie]

The problem since the beginning has been the back 5, sticking with Morrison for far to long, there is a reason he is a career back-up, Keddie has been hopeless, Travis looks at sea with Keddie, Hammy and Banjo do not read the game well enough, have not seen enough of Little to pass judgement

[steeplejack]

We'll said ecto. If Paul Sheering wants to make a career out of football management then he has to make some tough decisions this summer, loyalty and friendship must be replaced with ruthlessness and unpopularity.
There's no doubt he has an eye for a player and believes in the way a football team should play the game.
He still seems to have the backing of most supporters, and the backing of the committee, but that backing is because of previous seasons, not this season.
In my honest opinion we are better than East Fife, but are not better than any other team in this league, results and league positions don't lie.
We need a monumental end to the season to overhaul East Fife and survive the play-offs, please prove me wrong and show me are capable of staying in this league

[smokie_bacon_crisps]

Our defence certainly has been the weak link this season. You only need to look at the stats for that. The last few weeks it has been more settled with Little, Trav, Keddie and Hammy but the first dozen or so games with suspensions and injuries we went to Ibrox with an average age of our back line of 20. Banjo, Trav, Donaldson, Hammy. The majority of our goals conceded seem to have been from set plays, so is this the wrong tactics or lack of skill/ability/height?

Although if you look at the league table outside of Rangers every team has conceded over 45 goals, with the more than half of the league conceding over 53 so it's not just our team who has a leaky defence.

Maybe more worrying under the style of football we have played under Sheerin has been the lack of goals from all over the pitch. There was a 6-7 game period after Erwin left we were struggling to score but he did go out and make those changes and since we recruited Deuchar, McManus and Nicoll we have got back to our s

[timlichtie]

From what I saw on Saturday, our best bet is Deuchar for both scoring and assists. That would be particularly true if we go down and have to mount another promotion challenge.

[ClashCityRocker]

Six games to go and Arbroath are now entering the last chance saloon.

Luck has been scarce this season and we are now needing favours from other teams to beat East Fife to avoid automatic relegation.

Arbroath need to collect as many points as possible starting this week - if we fail to win at least 3 of the remaining matches we surely be relegated ( East Fife won't all their games ).

Arbroath have outplayed a lot of teams this season, but still lost the matches - we have heard this all before, but luck has been in short supply.

We still have a window of opportunity to finish above East Fife - but need to start winning.

In short, we need to get results against Stenhousemuir, Stranraer, Forfar, Dunfermline and Airdrie.

If the players can find their form and their shooting boots we have a chance - but this is our last opportunity and we need to win at least 3, probably 4 of the remaining games.

C'mon the 'broath.

[Brizaldo]

Have a funnu feeling Peanuts is working his wantaway TICKET. Just a thought hope im wrong

[Lichtielegend]

Arbroath have outplayed a lot of teams this season, but still lost the matches - we have heard this all before, but luck has been in short supply.

Can you define what you mean by 'outplaying' as I must have a completely different definition.

Thanks.

[ClashCityRocker]

It might seem peculiar to some, but Arbroath have most definitely outplayed a number of teams this season and still lost the match ( perhaps due an error in defence or being caught on the break etc ).

In recent matches against both Airdrie and Forfar, Arbroath were more dominant, outplaying their opponents, but still lost the games.

There have been some games where Arbroath were the better team, deserving of a win, but still lost .

Recently, when we lost 2-3 to Forfar, at the end of the match most fans applauded the players off the park to acknowledge how well the team had played, but still lost this match.

Obviously no one is suggesting every match has been like this , but there has been some lopsided results this season.

[timlichtie]

I've been to most of the games home and away this season. We have certainly played more attractive football than all of the lower half of the division. Our weakness has been in defence, but we reinforced midfield and attack without bringing some more quality to the back.

I'm aware that the management team have tried hard to bolster the defence, but missed out on several targets and that's likely to cost us dear. We will surely rectify the shortcomings over the summer but it may be too late for this division.