retired_destiny1124

19.10.06
Arbroath (0) Celta (2)
Arbroath- None
Celta- Javi Moreno 11,69
MOM- Javi Moreno, Celta

"Well, now we know where we stand with the likes of the best in Europe," grimly commented Gond.

"It wasn't that bad Barry. I was disappointed in Thomas (Magnusson). Unfortunately, he disappeared from the match- the pressure seemed to get to him- and Moreno was all alone on both those goals. We didn't play badly offensively, but Pablo Oscar Cavallero isn't the Argentine National keeper for no reason."

"He did make some terrific stops. It is going to be very hard to overcome them now."

"All we can do is try. This is a bit of a learning experience."

Celta Crushes Arbroath
by Sammy Gohl
As expected, powerful Celta rolled over hapless Arbroath 2-0 in front of a disappointed Gayfield Park crowd. The Arbroath Board has to be wondering what their huge outlay of money bought them as the ineffectual home side could manage only a feeble effort and appeared in awe of the powerful Spanish side.

***

22.10.06
Arbroath (1) Livingston (0)
Arbroath- Gareth Munro 33
Livingston- None
MOM- Rubio, Livingston

"A good win, but a costly one," said a winded Gond.

"Too true. Jamie (Langfield) will be out at least a month with that dislocated jaw."

"Who do you want up from reserves to back up Ian (Ritchie)?"

"It will have to be Frank (van de Wey) because he is the 3rd keeper on our European roster."

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28.10.06
Hearts (3) Arbroath (1)
Hearts- Martin Taylor 23 Barry Quinn 47 Andy Kirk 85
Arbroath- Chris Thompson 36
MOM- Barry Quinn, Hearts

"A bad end to a rotten month," blurted Gond.

"We certainly didn't play well. These injuries are piling up and hurting us badly now."

"How long will Dunga be out for?"

"A minimum of 3 weeks. We will be scraping soon at this rate."

Hearts Hammer Arbroath
by Sammy Gohl
The now hot Hearts club took a sledgehammer and crushed visiting Arbroath into little bitty pieces enroute to a 3-1 win. Though the hapless Arbroath club tried to look like they belonged in the match- there was no point when they truly seemed to have earned that distinction.

***

2.11.06
Celta (1) Arbroath (1) UEFA Cup 2nd round 2nd Leg (Celta advances on 3-1 aggregate)
Celta- Gustavo Lopez 17
Arbroath- Joe Osei-Kuffour 70
MOM- Mike Zonneveld, Arbroath

"It was a good showing. Not good enough to advance, but a worthy performance in front of a hostile crowd," commented Gond.

"I am pleased. It would have been nice to win and we had enough chances to do so- but this was a good sign of the development of the club."

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5.11.06
Arbroath (1) Rangers (1)
Arbroath- John Elliott 81
Rangers- Maurice Ross 22
MOM- Robert Malcolm, Rangers

"It was another good comeback to draw with them, but we should have won," said Faramir shaking his head with disappointment.

"If Mike (Zonneveld) makes the penalty kick- we do win. Klos made a nice save on the kick- but that one hurt a lot. You could tell Mike was really down over missing it."

"Frank (van de Wey) played pretty well, given the circumstances. We have to find a way of defending corners better. That one that Ross headed in is about the 7th corner we have given up this season- entirely too many."

***

"What? You actually decided to splash some of our funds around?" asked Gond with a lopsided grin.

Faramir shrugged, "If there are bargains to be had..."

Arbroath Buys Heath
Arbroath today announced the transfer purchase of defender Matt Heath. Heath, a 25 yr old DC, had been unhappy with the reduction in his playing time at Leicester and had wound up on the transfer list at his request. Arbroath made an offer in the realm of 500K and Leicester was content to take the money and let their unhappy player walk. Heath is a superb all around defender and is expected to step directly into the starting lineup at Arbroath.

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11.11.06
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (1) Arbroath (2)
ICT- Brian Smith 19
Arbroath- John Elliott 61 Mike Zonneveld 65
MOM- Mike Zonneveld, Arbroath

"Nice come from behind win," smiled Gond.

"It wouldn't be nearly as hard if we didn't give away goals on corners, especially the first goal of every match," grinned Faramir.

"At least we got it back."

"Frank (van de Wey) played superbly again today."

"I am beginning to understand why you weren't willing to offer Ian (Ritchie) a new contract when his became unprotected..."

"That's true. With both Frank and Andrew (O'Donnell) waiting in the wings- I couldn't see offering Ian the kind of money he wanted to sign a new contract."

***

"Again? What happened to saving all the funds?" asked Gond.

"We still need a playmaker. Peter Wolf really hasn't been comfortable in the role again this season and I know he is one. Plus it was only a small amount that we needed to spend to get him."

Whalen Back to Scotland
Arbroath announced they had completed a transfer purchase that will bring 26 yr old AMFC Stephen Whalen back to Scotland from Wycombe. Whalen, whose contract was expiring, comes back to Scotland after two years at the English club- which bought him from Livingston. He is reportedly very happy to both come back and have a new contract. The reported transfer cost to Arbroath was 190K.

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18.11.06
Arbroath (3) Kilmarnock (1)
Arbroath- Stephen Whalen 3,14 Matt Heath 35
Kilmarnock- Michael Yates 90-P
MOM- Matt Heath, Arbroath

"What an explosive match!" said Gond with wonder in his voice.

"It was going a lot better before those redcards at the end. Frank's (van de Wey) was close, but I guess he deserved it. Stephen's head butt was uncalled for- especially since the referee decided to ignore Garry Hay's push on him. I appealed the 1 game ban, but I don't have a lot of hopes they will uphold it."

"Up til then Stephen was having a terrific debut, he looked very much at home in our offense."

"Getting the redcard cost him MOM honours as well- if he doesn't get sent off he gets it instead of Matt (Heath)."

***

"Yes, that's bad news..."

Schembri Out for 2 Months
Lingering leg problems again sidelined Arbroath skipper Angelo Schembri (II) and this time he will be out at least two months in an attempt to completely resolve the calf problems he is having.

***

25.11.06
Dundee (5) Arbroath (1)
Dundee- Mark McCormick 38,48 Juan Sara 64,88 Ulises de la Cruz 82
Arbroath- Peter Wolf 2
MOM- Mark McCormick, Dundee

"What an embarrassing match," grumbled Barry Gond.

"I have no clue what is up with Jamie, but it was like he was lost in space today- especially in the second half. He just plain missed two of the goals."

"Even if he plays better- we lose. We didn't do much right out there today."

Dundee Drenches Arbroath
by Sammy Gohl
As Arbroath continues to struggle, their Board must be wondering why their staff is shelling out for additional players. They added Matt Heath and Stephen Whalen to an already overpaid club and the today's result plainly shows they have the wrong mix of players for success.

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29.11.06
Arbroath (6) Celtic (1) League Cup Quarterfinal
Arbroath- Chris Thompson 2,17,61 James Coppinger 37 Stephen Whalen 45,82
Celtic- Kenny Miller 28
MOM- Chris Thompson, Arbroath

Gond smiled and shook his head, "A lot of frustration let out in that one."

Faramir nodded, "It had been building for awhile. We lucked out getting Stephen (Whalen), we finally have the cohesive midfield we have been searching for- for the past two seasons."

"Don't forget Chris (Thompson)- he looks like the major scorer we have desperately needed up front for the same time. This club may be dangerous down the stretch if Jamie (Langfield) settles down some."

***

2.12.06
Aberdeen (2) Arbroath (1)
Aberdeen- Andreas Klarstrom 10 Robbie Winters 30
Arbroath- Peter Wolf 4
MOM- Marvin Andrews, Aberdeen

"They are playing really well- obviously since they are in 1st- but if we get a few breaks..." observed Gond.

"We hit the crossbar four times and post once, but they also hit the post a couple times on Jamie (Langfield). Still, they played a bit better than we did and because we didn't do a better job- we got the result we deserved."

Aberdeen Continues Soaring
by Sammy Gohl
Aberdeen continued to hold 1st place against the surging Rangers as they cruised past stumbling Arbroath 2-1. They took full advantage of the Arbroath disorganization to score a pair of first half goals enroute to the convincing win.

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9.12.06
Arbroath (1) Motherwell (0)
Arbroath- Gareth Munro 43
Motherwell- None
MOM- Mark Brown, Motherwell

"That was a big win for us," said a pleased Gond.

"Certainly gave us a little margin in 4th place over them in the standings. It was another solid offensive effort- even without more scoring."

"I thought Ian (Ritchie) played very well today."

"He did and we actually gave him more help on the backline today. We still miss Angelo Schembri a lot though- Ruben (Hazell) is an adequate fill-in, but not even close to being in his class."

***

13.12.06
Arbroath (3) Celtic (0)
Arbroath- Gareth Munro 22 Chris Thompson 25,34
Celtic- None
MOM- Chris Thompson, Arbroath

"Talk about a frustrated club! They were really primed to play us after how badly we beat them in the League Cup match- and instead we just took the match away from them in the first half with our offensive execution," gushed Gond.

"It was a very satisfying performance in all aspects of our play today. After we played so well offensively in the first half- I worried about letting down defensively in the second half. Instead we played a superb defensive half and got some great work from Jamie (Langfield) in keeping the clean sheet.

"Did you see that the loss dropped them to 9th place? Talk about an unhappy Board..."

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16.12.06
Livingston (1) Arbroath (2)
Livingston- Derek Lilley 52
Arbroath- Chris Thompson 7 Joe Osei-Kuffour 21
MOM- Chris Thompson, Arbroath

"You don't think Derek still holds a grudge?" asked Gond with a smile.

"Well, the finger pointing by Mr. Lilley was a bit much, but fortunately we won the match so I could actually care less about the showmanship on his part."

"We are playing much better with the lead lately, not as much foolish chances and winding up out of position."

"All of which translates into more support for the keepers and Jamie (Langfield) doing a much better job."

***

"Well, a couple less unhappy players do deal with," commented Gond.

"A couple more spots open for the future too."

Arbroath Lets Two Go on Free
Arbroath announced that they had allowed midfielder Billy Macdonald to go to Division 1 St.Johnstone on free transfer. They also announced that forward Michael Moore would be joining Division 2 Alloa on free transfer.

***

20.12.06
Arbroath (2) Hibs (3)
Arbroath- Gareth Munro 10 Daniel Sjolund 65
Hibs- James Scowcroft 22,64,85
MOM- James Scowcroft, Hibs

"Barry, we have got to be able to adjust to changing game conditions. Scowcroft was the only Hibs playing doing anything- all match. We still let him wind up beating us with his hat-trick!" fumed Faramir.

"We didn't control or mark him well. We let them control the tempo of play too much as well- especially for a home match."

Hibs Hang Arbroath
by Sammy Gohl
James Scowcroft provided a superlative performance as Hibs continued their march up the SPL table with a 3-2 win at Gayfield Park. Arbroath blew many chances in allowing the visitors the win and their Board should be examining the fitness of the current club management.

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23.12.06
Celtic (0) Arbroath (1)
Celtic- None
Arbroath- Peter Wolf 45
MOM- Dunga, Arbroath

"Another close one, but we held on," offered a relieved Gond.

"Jamie (Langfield) was stellar today. The Celtic Board has to be wondering what's going on. That is a lot better club than they have shown this season."

"As long as we keep winning against them- I would prefer they don't change their management."

***

26.12.06
Kilmarnock (2) Arbroath (0)
Kilmarnock- Michael Yates 37 Paul DiGiacomo 55
Arbroath- None
MOM- Jimmy Walker, Kilmarnock

"Jimmy Walker had all the answers for them today," grimly commented Gond.

"We had plenty of good scoring opportunities. They converted their chances, we didn't."

"Our backline didn't give Jamie (Langfield) enough help today. They couldn't contain the Kilmarnock forwards."

Kilmarnock Over Arbroath
by Sammy Gohl
Kilmarnock maintained their one point advantage over both Celtic and Motherwell for 7th place in the SPL table with a strong 2-0 win over visiting Arbroath. Kilmarnock bottled up the visitors attack and pleased their fans with some superb passing sequences in the win.

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2.1.07
Arbroath (1) Hearts (0)
Arbroath- Joe Osei-Kuffour 86
Hearts- None
MOM- Martin Taylor, Hearts

"Clutch goal that time," observed Barry Gond.

"Joe (Osei-Kuffour) made a very nice shot on that one. We needed the win, so it was a very big goal. They really made it tough on us."

"You're right on that- our midfield couldn't get going. I am not sure whether it was more their defense or the fact that the pitch was so muddy in the downpour."

***

"Good news for a change?"

"What is that?" asked Gond.

"Angelo (Schembri) is done with his rehabilitation and should be ready to play for our next match. Also Chris (Thompson) is back in light training."

"It will be great to have Angelo back in the lineup."

***

20.1.07
Dundee United (3) Arbroath (2)
Dundee United- Jody Morris 11 Scott McDonald 37 Tobias Grahn 71
Arbroath- Matt Heath 47 James Coppinger 73
MOM- James Coppinger, Arbroath

"5 shots- 3 goals. Jamie is back to being very inconsistent," observed a disappointed Gond.

"He played bad, he knows it. It was another match we could have had a better result in."

Dundee United Tips Former Manager
by Sammy Gohl
Dundee United gave a nice account of themselves as they rolled past struggling Arbroath in a 3-2 win. Despite the score, Dundee United controlled much of the match and made their home fans happy with the performance.