One up front…

[OmaniArab]

Unfortunately Robbies' first objective is not to lose rather than play to win.

[shedka]

Let's be honest here Arbroath should rightly feel gutted as to a man they gave 100%. There is no doubt they will take points off a lot of teams in this league and if they continue in that form may well stay up which would be a fantastic achievement. That was however a MASSIVE 3 points for us today. Shankland worth every penny we are paying him as he will be the difference in a lot of games. Poor performance in a lot of areas from us today but Arbroath deserve a lot of credit for that. We'll play a lot better and lose so I'll take the 3 points every day of the week.

Anyone who has looked at Arbroaths results for the last year or so will see they don't give much away, they also seem to have a knack for getting a goal on the road, the fact they had lost just 3 goals in the 5 games before todays tells its own story, they will finish mid table and will be difficult opposition for everyone else including Ayr next week, still easy for them the goal we gave away Wych was there only effort on target but a good giruy scoring the winner after all the timewasting

Sporle did really well when he came on that was a positive playing in that area in one, McMullan was decent, Liam Smith at poor for 85 mins they became very decent the last few mins, Shankland was quiet but his him chances he puts them away now often than not, Appere had a poor game, Stanton poor today, Butcher need him back in the middle

Not at our best but won the game... that's all that matters, 5 wins from 6, 15 pts from 18, 3 wins from 3 at home, top of the table.

[shedka]

Unfortunately Robbies' first objective is not to lose rather than play to win.

Lol just laughable and clichéd


If that were true (which it isn't) we'd be drawing a lot of games, we barely draw games at all now, just 2 draws in 20 league games since the Jan window shut, last ten league games have won 8 and lost 2 (that's 24 pts from 30), we very much go for the win and don't settle for a point, it's how we lost at Partick back in march, equalised, pushing for the winner and caught with a sucker punch

[ClashCityRocker]

Arbroath will feel robbed - they had the game won and somehow in the last 5 mins Shankland managed to score 2 goals ( he was virtually never in the game until then ) - perhaps even a 1-1- draw would have flattered United.

Shortly after Arbroath's goal they hit in the woodwork and if that had went I think they would have went on to win the match.

Shankland was the difference between the two teams but thought he did very little until the last 5 minutes ( typical goal predator ).

Arbroath are a difficult team to beat - other teams will struggle against them too.

[jjaflup22]

Was expecting a tough game today with Arbroath having the best defensive record in the league so would have been happy with a one goal win. Wasnt expecting it to be in the manner it transpired though. Apart from the Dundee game Shankland has been the difference in every game. Without him we would have been looking at another bang average season.

Without a doubt.

[jjaflup22]

We really struggle against teams who organise their defence and midfield like Arbroath did today. The team that Robbie sent out looked one paced and devoid of any idea of how to break down Arbroath's defence. It was only when he introduced pace and width did we look like we could get in behind them. IMO, the Arbroath defence that had looked rock solid all day, started to panic a bit as soon as someone ran directly at them. This then opens open up the question as to why was pace and width not on from the start.
Sporle, McMullan and Chalmers all ran at the defence and Sporle in particular spread them wide. A very welcome but slightly fortunate 3 points. Arbroath will cause problems for other teams but only if teams play a narrow game against them.
Side note, what the feck do we do about our defence, Reynolds was brutal today and we definitely need Butcher in midfield, it's a bit of a problem.

'Slightly fortunate' - lol!

[shedka]

I think people just look at things from a negative side, no way did they deserve to win and they certainly weren't robbed and the game was never won for them, Shankland had more shots on target in the last few mins than Arbroath did the entire match, we dominated the first half but were too slow until nearer the end of it, started the second half slow, they scored with there only attempt and had a wee flurry for a couple mins, then was one way traffic again although stop start which is they tactics, we only really improved with regards being a threat after the Sporle, McMullan and then Chalmers came on then you could see a goal coming for us

They deserve credit as they are well organised and will and have been difficult for most sides in this league, we were not at our best, still wasn't a robbery

[shedka]

Without a doubt.

It's not without a doubt though ha ha, our pts per game ratio from Feb - May and in general under Neilson pre Shankland suggested we would be right up there over a full season, we just had to add a bit to the base we had built, and it's proving the case, still on an upwards trajectory

[jjaflup22]

I think people just look at things from a negative side, no way did they deserve to win and they certainly weren't robbed and the game was never won for them, Shankland had more shots on target in the last few mins than Arbroath did the entire match, we dominated the first half but were too slow until nearer the end of it, started the second half slow, they scored with there only attempt and had a wee flurry for a couple mins, then was one way traffic again although stop start which is they tactics, we only really improved with regards being a threat after the Sporle, McMullan and then Chalmers came on then you could see a goal coming for us

They deserve credit as they are well organised and will and have been difficult for most sides in this league, we were not at our best, still wasn't a robbery

'no way did they deserve to win'... Deary me...

[shedka]

'no way did they deserve to win'... Deary me...

Dearie me all you want

They didn't, and they didn't win.


Neilson's juggernaut rolls on.