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In midweek we had a game at home to Inverness. A tough side at the best of times – now we had to show how much we wanted to stay in this division. Gary Bowman is out for another 2 months with another groin injury, so Jim Gardner replaces him. Andy Cargill comes in for Darren Spink in the middle. The first half was an open affair with good chances wasted by both Heenan and Brownlie whilst Hinchcliffe saved well from Hislop at the other end but at half time there was no score. We were getting better and defending but we had to continue that for the whole game if we were to get something from the game. We defended solidly the whole game and it became even more important after Paul Brownlie had to come off injured with Feroz replacing him. Darren Spink also replaced the yellow carded Andy Cargill. Unfortunately try as we may the deadlock could not be broken and we had to settle for a 0-0 draw. At least it’s nice to say we “settled� for a draw now.

However most people at the club realise how important those 2 dropped points could be – making for a fairly despondent atmosphere after the game. Even worse followed that game as Jim’s medical tests after the match were not encouraging. Paul Brownlie would miss 4 weeks of action and Eddie Forrest and Kevin Heenan would both miss a week. It really has not been a lucky season at Gayfield.

There was no time to reflect on that draw though as we had to make a daunting trip to 4th placed Ayr on the Saturday. Ayr are very much a club on the up so we would have to be working at 200% to get a result here. Spink came in for Cargill, with Swankie taking Brownlie’s front man role with Feroz on the right of midfield.

The first have was a tight game, just what I wanted and we managed not to concede in the first 45 although Andy Dow left the field injured to be replaced by McGlashan. After the break though James Grady struck in the 52nd minute to hand Ayr victory. We closed them down all game but sadly we never got a grip of the midfield battles and Division 2 football took a step closer. Fortunately Ross County and Clyde suffered heavy defeats but it’s almost certainly too little too late. TO make life more challenging than it already was Andy Dow would miss 2 months with a groin strain, so he was unlikely to play any real role again this season.

Craig Forrest’s neck injury from which he has just recovered seems to sadly be contagious somehow as Steven Florence is out for 3 weeks with the same problem. In all my time in England, I never ever saw such a horrific injury strewn season.


Results

Sat 01/02 Arbroath 2 St. Mirren 1 Heenan pen 7, Brownlie 16 McGowan s/o 60, Roberts 62
Sat 08/02 Clyde 3 Arbroath 0 Shields 23, 55 Watson 78.
Wed 12/02 Arbroath 0 ICT.0
Sat 15 /02 Ayr 1 Arbroath 0 Grady 52


Table after 27 games



<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Team W D L F A GD Pts1. Falkirk 17 3 7 50 29 +21 542. Alloa 15 4 8 41 27 +14 493. Queen Sth 14 4 9 50 36 +14 464. St. Johnstone 12 6 9 47 39 +8 425. Ayr 13 3 11 36 41 -5 426. ICT. 11 7 9 43 37 +6 407. St. Mirren 11 5 11 45 37 +8 388. Ross County 8 6 13 34 46 -12 309. Clyde 7 6 14 29 45 -16 2710. Arbroath 2 6 19 17 55 -38 12</pre>

Top Goal Scorers

1.Kiegan Parker 18.
2.Derek Lyle 16.
3.Lee Miller 16
4.Dennis Wyness 15
5.Steven Hislop 15

Top Assists

1.Lee Miller 11.
2.Chris Hay 10.
3.Derek Lyle 10.
4.Martin Cameron 8
5.Dennis Wyness 8

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March Review

After a disappointing February where we missed out on a few valuable points we are now in the unenviable position where we could be relegated by the month if results don’t go our way and we lose all ours. Unsurprisingly none of the letters from the SFA told of awards winging their way to Gayfield. Terry Christie, Richard Walker and Bobby Mann picked all those up. We have to start March with a home clash with Queen of the South a side that has troubled us all year. Now is the time for team work. For spirit. For 110% commitment. Heenan replaced Feroz in the right wing in an otherwise unchanged side.

In the first half we were excellent. Good hustling and closing down the Queens players helped to settle us early on and Swankie was inches away from connecting with a Gardner centre that would have almost certainly seen us score in the 5th minute. However we worked hard and were patient. Accurate passing for a change gave Swankie a sight at goal in the 35th minute but Thompson pushed him and we had a penalty. After much nail biting and finger crossing moments Gavin Swankie slammed it home and that was how it stayed until the break.

The pressure intensified on Queens goal after the break as we searched for decisive second goal to kill the game and give us some breathing space. It never materialised, but neither did a Queen of the South equaliser and finally we had beaten them this year. McGlashan and Cusick both made sub appearances and Jim Gardner was nominated man of the match. It was another terrific display by the lads and I was delighted for them. Clearly they were focused on the task at hand. It’s clearly painful to consider why they weren’t so earlier but that can’t be changed – we can only play our hearts out in the remaining games and see what bears fruit. Both Clyde and Ross County were defeated as well, which gives us hope with 8 games remaining. We are still 15 points from safety which may well be too much but we are still alive.

Unfortunately Kenny McMillan was carrying a slight strain in the match and it worsened to the degree where he has now ruled himself our for 2 more weeks. Andy Cargills 2 month lay off also meant some re shuffling to the side before we travelled to St. Johnstone. We’ve gone so close against the pre-season promotion favourites twice before but this will be a harder proposition as St. Johnstone are a side on the up now. John Cusick and David McInally were brought into the line up to replace McMillan and Cargill. Containment is the key against St. Johnstone, especially against Kiegan Parker.

St. Johnstone began brightly and opened the field up, something Steve and I had been keen to prevent happening but it also allowed us chances on goal and crucially in the 10th minute Swankie won another penalty. But he missed. It was a big miss and on the half hour mark Chris Hay punished us by giving the home side a 1-0 advantage which they held until the break. After the break it became almost mission impossible as Kiegan Parker scored in the 58th minute. After that they had the momentum and unfortunately our only goal was damage limitation in a game that could have turned out so differently had Simon Miotto not held Gavin Swankie’s penalty. Gavin himself was disconsolate at the final whistle as he was only too aware of the significance of that miss. Ross County and Clyde drew 0-0 with each other as they moved a point further ahead and now our task becomes much harder.

Henslee and Brownlie’s return to training boosted us somewhat as we tried to prepare for the oh so tough game with Falkirk at Gayfield on Saturday. Having already beaten us 5-0, 3-0, 2-0 and 3-2 this year they certainly hold the upper hand. Add that to the fact that as table toppers they are brimming with confidence and players like Mark Kerr and Lee Miller and many an Arbroathian will be worrying. This is a game where we have to show bottle. For it Paul Brownlie goes straight back into the line up at forward with Swankie in midfield. Cusick replaces Ritchie as a centre half.

The first half was a tight one and a lucky one for us. Falkirk’s forwards were off form and we were thankful for that, however once we got to half time all square we had a damn good chance of holding on. After the break I was getting quite agitated on the line as Falkirk seemed as though they were going to score at any moment. Then on 76 minutes there was a goal. But not for Falkirk! Darren Spink, who had been having a superb game in the centre took a free kick on the half way line and from an angel he picked out McAulay in space on the edge of the area and the experienced man hit a fantastic volley into the roof of the net! The crowd erupted as we scored. From that I took off Spink and Swankie as a precaution and asked Steve to get them hitting it long, tackling hard and getting behind the ball. We were not losing this lead! Indeed we weren’t as in the 85th minute Gayfield was the happiest I’d seen in a long time. A through ball from man of the match Jim Gardner found John McGlashan in acres of space and the sub fired home a second to secure the points! It was an excellent victory, one that I’d prayed for, for a long time and now we had at last beaten Falkirk! What the heck is going on with this side! Sadly though Kevin Heenan had to leave the field injured late on. Alloa’s victory over Ross County and Clyde’s draw with St. Mirren helped lift spirits. It was still possible – but only just.

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The next two fixtures took on a whole new level of importance. Ross County away and Clyde at home. Boy were those big games for us. We now lie 13 points behind Ross County with 6 games to go. The hard work cannot stop and there are no rooms for errors but the atmosphere has lifted at Gayfield and even the Herald have had a couple of nice things to say about us.

In other news during the week, Rangers have almost clinched the SPL title, and Livingston have replaced sacked manager Jim Leishman with Alex Smith. Livingston are 7th the SPL. Rangers then went on to qualify for the UEFA Cup semis with a convincing 7-0 aggregate win over German side Kaiserslauten.

Then on Saturday we had our big game. Ross County away. The permutations were varied. We win and we’re 10 points behind with 15 still available. We lose and we’re relegated. Euan Graham was rendered useless for two weeks after suffering concussion in clash of heads in training today. John McGlashan replaces Kevin Heenan on the right of midfield. John McGlashan was replaced on the bench by Kenny McMillan. I was determined we were not going to go down today.

The first half went as planned. No goals conceded, although none were scored either it set the second half up for a very exciting and tense affair. Connaghan and McAulay had to continue their superb form in the second half to cope with an inevitable Ross County attack. We were struggling to cope with them though, as we sort to improve a terrible away record of just 1 point all season. Craig Hinchcliffe was keeping us in this game the entire second half as McGarry and Winters threatened to relegate us there and then. We had no chances ourselves so I simply prepared for the worst whilst hoping we’d get a win. In the end it was a compromise a 0-0. Another point away from home is always good but at this late stage it could prove costly.
w we beat Clyde on Saturday we can still be relegated if Ross County get a win at Ayr. This is one of the few games in my career I hope when I will be cheering on Ayr.

In other news, whilst Raith Rovers were being put into receivership, the last Scottish Cup quarter final was being played. Rangers beat Hibs 4-0 to join Celtic, 2-0 victors over their least favourite lower league side Inverness Caledonians, Dundee 3-1 conquerors of Motherwell and Dundee United, 4-0 winners against Livingston, in the semi final. On the 26th, I watched Celtic trounce Kilmarnock in the League Cup final with Larsson and Sylla amongst the goal scorers.

The very end of the month saw Internationals again with the Euro 2004 qualifiers. I was surrounded by plenty of rejoicing Scotsman pouring down the whisky ( not wishing to stereotype or anything ) as the resounding beat Iceland 3-0 at Hampden with all the goals arriving in a pulsating 20 minutes. Martin Cameron and Steven Thompson were the scorers. I also had personal satisfaction in noting England’s 3-0 win in Liechtenstein, a Robbie Fowler hat trick as he scored in the 30th, 60th and 90th minutes.

Results

Sat 01/03 Arbroath 1 Queen of the South 0 Swankie pen 36
Sat 08/03 St. Johnstone 2 Arbroath 0 Hay 29, Parker 60.
Sat 15/03 Arbroath 2 Falkirk 0 McAulay 76 McGlashan 86
Sat 22/03 Ross County 0 Arbroath 0


Table after 31 games
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Team W D L F A GD Pts1. Falkirk 20 3 8 56 32 +24 632. Queen Sth 17 4 10 59 38 +21 553. Alloa 16 5 10 46 35 +11 534. ICT 14 7 10 51 43 +8 495. St. Johnstone 14 6 11 52 45 +7 486. Ayr 14 3 14 41 28 +13 457. St. Mirren 12 6 13 49 44 +5 428. Ross County 8 8 15 37 52 -15 329. Clyde 7 9 15 32 49 -17 3010. Arbroath 4 7 20 20 57 -37 19</pre>

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April Review

Despite the woes at the club continuing in April, as Jim Gardner and Tim Woodcock managed to injure themselves again I had some welcome and happy faxes to print off and hang up on the notice board outside the small equipment hut near to this office. First off, although the messages were clearly templates with names added, I felt a sense of pride about receiving the award for March’s Manager of the Month. Also to be congratulated was Craig Hinchcliffe who won Player of the Month for March as recognition of his importance between the sticks. As a reward, we offered him a £30 pound increase on his contract that was due to expire this summer.

The week then had it’s ups and downs again. David McInally was injured for a week but McGlashan took a £200 pay cut per week on his extended contract whilst Hinchcliffe signed his new 3 year deal. In the second round of internationals that game there was more cheering from the pot bellied folk who propped up bar tables as Scotland moved to the top of their qualification tables with a 1-0 victory in Lithuania. Even I was shocked by that one. I was thankfully able to join in the celebrations albeit for a different reason in that England had thrashed Turkey 3-0 but all the same I felt I was becoming accepted in the Arbroath area. Jim Gardner then signed an extended contract with a £20 p/w increase. We are still under budget though which is good.

However once all that had passed it was back to the serious work again. Clyde would be tough and by now absolutely no-one needed telling it was a must win game. If we didn’t we were relegated no matter what happens here on after. With Woodcock, Dirno McInally Gardner, Bowman Cargill and Dow all out through injury we’d have to be strong and focused. Currie Cusick Connaghan and Florence protected Hinchcliffe in goal whilst Paul Brownlie was supported by McGlashan Spink Swankie McAulay and Heenan.

In a bruising first half encounter where both sides’ desperation was evident, we managed to subdue Clyde’s early enthusiasm and for the final twenty minutes of the half we were on top and deep into stoppage time we buried one of our chances as Gavin Swankie’s cross was headed home by the outstanding young midfielder Darren Spink ,ironically one of Gordon Wallace’s best finds for the club.

In the second half we dominated the entire proceedings for a change! Gayfield had rarely seen such great football from the home side which made me a little sad. After Heenan hit a post in the 72nd minute, he crossed 3 minutes later and found Paul Brownlie to volley home a decisive second goal. I regretted not bringing him off straight after as he soon made things interesting by getting himself sent off with 10 minutes to go – it was his second yellow so I can’t appeal directly – I’ll have to hope the ref is willing to rescind one of them. I brought Swankie, Cusick and Spink off after that to save legs, Henslee Ritchie and McMillan all came on to help control the final few minutes and they did so as we recorded another home victory! It was a great win but would have little significance if Ross County had won at Ayr. We wouldn’t find that out until Wednesday as the game had been put back after weather conditions called off the Saturday fixture.

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Settling down into the slightly worn leather chair, arriving a full hour early I ordered a Newcastle Ale and awaited with baited breath for Ayr v Ross County. Fortunately the pub had managed to hook up to some illicit cameras to broadcast the game - which had potential repurcussions for Arbroath.

Through out, I was bawling at the grainy video feed, unsubtly cheering for Ayr to win - like I said a one time thing - to give us hope. Realistically we were down but I couldn't give up hope of a miracle. Then Stephen McGarry scored for Ross County 10 minutes before the half time whistle. Arse. As the half time came, I felt the piercing and also disconsolate gazes of fellow supporters. Another pint arrived - and although it had evidently been spiked - I was not complaining.

On the hour mark it was 1-1 again and I struggled to keep cool. James Grady had blasted home a scrappy effort to tie it up. It would be interesting to see who had the most hunger to win this. Ross County were desperate to avoid the drop whilst their opponents were pretty much in obscurity. Safe from relegation but they weren't going to climb anywhere fast.

As the game ticked down into it's final few seconds I was at least thinking it was only a point - now if County could just lose all their remaining fixutres whilst we won ours... when James Grady belted a beauty home from 25 yards! 2-1 Ayr and the room was electric. Although our hopes looked bleak, any scrap of optimisim was snatched upon and usually used as an excuse to get wasted. Well I don't see anyone complaining!

Let’s hope Ayr could continue to help us out by winning at Clyde on Saturday. Elsewhere in midweek it was the UEFA Cup semi finals and Rangers came away from Olympiakos with an impressive 2-1 victory. Should they win that they have a strong chance of facing Manchester United who defeated another Greek side PAO 2-0.

The weekend saw us return to the small matter of having to win at 4th placed, promotion chasing Alloa to keep our hopes alive. That and praying that Lord Robert is up there somewhere looking down on us kindly. Perhaps he’ll inspire ICT and Ayr to defeating Ross County and Clyde this afternoon. I can only hope.

The only change made to the side was enforced. Paul’s suspension meant a chance for Heenan to return to his attackers role and Jim Gardner came in on the left wing. Nerves jangled in the opening minutes as Craig Hinchcliffe saved us with 2 terrific early diving stops, whilst Kevin Heenan narrowly missed the Alloa goal. Learning that Clyde had taken an early lead was a blow but at least our fans had not picked up on it. Or if they had they didn’t show it. We continued to fight our cause as I expected them too and deservedly went in level at the break. Ayr had equalised at Clyde to given us a welcome boost but now we had to go out and find a goal. It was 45 minutes of Division One football for us.

On the hour mark it was still level but ICT had scored twice in quick succession at Ross County, we had to take advantage of this! The in then 67th minute there was a goal in this game. For Alloa. Ian Little fired home under Hinchcliffe and we were in trouble. 17 minutes later and it was 2-0. Their captain Gregg Watson headed in a corner and it was over. We couldn’t find a goal back from this. Ayr were now winning 3-1 at Clyde, as were ICT at Ross County – but it was immaterial – we were relegated now and would be playing in division 2 next season.

The players knew it and they were dejected. The good luck wishes and commiserations of the Alloa staff was nice but it would not console anyone connected with Arbroath. I’d never tasted relegation before and I certainly didn’t want to again. I felt sick and terrible as if I’d been winded. One thing I will be grateful for though is the Alloa crowd. They cheered their team off the pitch as they would but when our players went over to apologise to our fans and thank them for our support they applauded and there were audible shouts of good luck, and commiserations. They respected us and it was a humbling experience. The Herald had grown excited in recent weeks about our renewed form and some of the more optimistic of them predicted a miracle comeback. So did I, I guess in some ways, well my heart did, but deep down inside me it was always going to be mission impossible. By Christmas we were 22 points from safety and without a win. That is, as it proved today, relegation material.

That same day Raith secured promotion out of the second division so they were the first side to replace us. I suspect the emotions at Raith would be somewhat contrasting to how we felt travelling back to Arbroath. But anyway we had given it our best shot and the last few weeks had put smiles on the Arbroath inhabitants and that is at least some consolation. This experience should I hope only prove beneficial next season as we look to get ourselves back into this division as soon as possible. I hope the old saying “One step backwards, two steps forward� can be applied to Arbroath.

Even though our season still had games to play, we could still technically catch Clyde for example, injuries seemed to continue as usual. Gardner and McAulay both went down with 3 week lay offs. In the Scottish Cup semi final Celtic defeated Rangers 2-1 where they will meet one of the Dundee’s.

For the trip to St. Mirren, who had been put into administration a few days earlier, I made a few changes. Lee Walker and Paul Farquharson from the reserves were given starts. Roddy Grant played up field and Euan Graham partnered Eddie Forrest. Craig Feroz played wide right with Currie McMillan and Spink in the centre.

I was hoping that this was a game we could get a goal or two from and give the fans something to cheer about. A win was unlikely given the side I put out, and after Craig Easton scored in the 4th minute it became even less likely. On 36 minutes the game became one of retaining pride after Scott McLean grabbed another.

In the second half Paul Farquharson got himself sent off for petulant play and we were dead. That was our hopes for maybe challenging 9th spot extinguished and now it was set in stone that we had finished bottom of Division One this year. Many other titles were decided today with Rangers 2-0 win over Dunfermline handing them the SPL title, while Falkirk’s 2-0 win at St. Johnstone saw them champions of Division One as they returned to the SPL, pending a groudn inspection. Unsurprisingly Lee Miller was one of the scorers. Queens Park won promotion to the second division, although the Championship hasn’t yet been decided there yet. Rangers and Manchester United then set up a mouth watering UEFA Cup final after they both won in midweek against Greek opposition.


Results

Sat 05/04 Arbroath 2 Clyde 0 Spink 45 Brownlie 76 Brownlie s/o 79
Sat 12/04 Alloa 2 Arbroath o Little 60, Watson 77
Sat 19/12 St. Mirren 2 Arbroath 0 Easton 5, McLean 36.

Table after 34 games
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Team W D L F A GD Pts1. Falkirk 22 3 9 65 38 +27 69 C2. Queen Sth 18 5 11 65 45 +20 593. ICT 17 7 10 62 45 +17 584. Alloa 17 5 12 49 39 +10 565. Ayr 17 3 14 49 51 -2 546. St. Johnstone 15 6 13 55 54 +1 517. St. Mirren 14 6 14 53 47 +6 488. Ross County 8 9 17 40 58 -18 339. Clyde 7 9 18 33 58 -25 3010. Arbroath 5 7 22 22 61 -39 22 R</pre>

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May Review

As the season ends it’s final month, I’ve already got to look to the future with Arbroath. The board have told me I’m staying put for now as the end of season fight saved my job but we need to be finishing amongst the front runners next season.

For our final game at Gayfield this season a few more changes were made as more players were given a chance. Today was all about pride. We had to win this one for the 4500 fans who turned up to watch us. What a flock. The highest attendance of the season once we’ve been relegated.

They were cheering on 25 minutes as Gavin Swankie latched onto a Steve Florence long ball to score and half time we were leading a division one side. We should be contenders next season I’m sure of it – I’d be disappointed if we weren’t. Of course it’s the poor defending that gave Stephan Whelan a late equaliser that needs to be worked on next season to make a challenge next season but we have a few months to work on that.

Also today Craig Levein was sacked by Hearts unsurprisingly. An awful run from the Edinburgh side saw them slip from European contention in late January, right the way down to the foot of the table, 6 points behind a very grateful Aberdeen, with just 2 games remaining. One team we won’t be seeing next season is Cowdenbeath who were relegated from the second division, whilst one we will is Albion Rovers, who were promoted from the third along with Queens Park. There is one final game to see who wins the title there. Ironically we have ended up with some silverware though as Arbroath reserves won their league. The future’s bright at least!

Onto our final fixture of the season then and a trip to Inverness. Relegated sides tend to play with ease now the pressure’s off them. I hope this is the case today as I would dearly love to end the season with a victory. Inverness meanwhile are eager to hold onto their second spot in the table so obviously it won’t be easy – but then again when have we ever had an easy game this year?

Once again I made a few more changes to the side as we looked to keep it tight initially and then maybe nick a goal or two here or there. The first half was tight as I expected but it opened up again after the break when, upon making substitutions, an all out attack was ordered. Let’s find a winner I was hoping. Tim Woodcock was having an outstanding game in goal for us which is of course promising for us, but sadly that’s where all the action was so a 0-0 draw was a good result for us. At least we ended the season unbeaten though.

Elsewhere though there was plenty of drama and I felt so sorry for Ross County who were relegated alongside us on the final day after spending every other week outside that zone. Clyde’s 0-0 draw was enough the lift them up ahead of County by 1 goal after Ross County lost 4-0 to Falkirk! If only Falkirk hadn’t been such heartless fools. That must hurt. Hearts relegation to the first division was confirmed after they failed to beat Dundee to even give themselves a chance. New manager Walter Smith will have plenty to chew over there. As runners up to Raith Rovers, Forfar clinched a spot in the First Division again on the last day to the dismay of Brechin, so long besides Raith at the top. In the third it was Queens Park who clinched the title by winning their last game 4-2 over Montrose. The Arbroathians enjoyed that one.

With our relegation confirmed Paul Brownlie was informed by John Christison that his wage has dropped by 10% in accordance with his new contract. He will now be on £117 per week. He’s still happy playing for us though.

In the awards section it was Falkirk’s player manager Owen Coyle who picked up manager of the year, after leading by example with 17 goals himself complimenting Lee Miller’s tally. Ayr’s defending Paul Lovering picked up the players gong.

Scottish Division One Team of the Year:



[b]Allan Ferguson ( Falkirk )

Mark Campbell ( Ayr )
Mark Dempsie ( St. Mirren )
Paul Lovering ( Ayr ) –left back
Alan Gray ( Queen of Sth ) – right back

Stephen Cosgrove ( Clyde)
Steven Ferguson ( Ross County )
Mark Kerr ( Falkirk )

Dennis Wyness (ICT)
Kiegan Parker ( St. Johnstone )
Lee Miller ( Falkirk )

Substitutes

Andy Goram ( Queen of Sth )
Mark Smyth ( Ayr )
Aaron Black ( Ayr )
Paul Hartley ( St. Johnstone )
Martin Wood ( Ross County )

That week the Scottish were celebrating Rangers victory over Manchester United in the UEFA Cup final something I took a little stick from for being simply English! Barry Ferguson grabbed both goals. The following week Juventus took the Champions League title defeating Inter Milan 3-1 with Del Piero an inspiration. The month of May ended with a 2-0 victory for Celtic over Dundee in the Scottish cup.

Results

Sat 03/05 Arbroath 1 Ayr 1. Swankie 25 Whelan 59
Sat 10/03 ICT 0 Arbroath 0 .

Final Table

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Team W D L F A GD Pts1. Falkirk 22 3 9 65 38 +27 69 C2. Queen Sth 18 5 11 65 45 +20 593. ICT 17 7 10 62 45 +17 584. Alloa 17 5 12 49 39 +10 565. Ayr 17 3 14 49 51 -2 546. St. Johnstone 15 8 13 57 55 +1 537. St. Mirren 14 6 16 54 54 0 488. Clyde 8 10 18 37 58 -21 349. Ross County 8 10 18 42 64 -22 3410. Arbroath 5 9 22 23 62 -39 24 R</pre>

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Close Season / Division One / Arbroath stats



Top 5 goal scorers

1. Dennis Wyness ( ICT) 23.
2. Derek Lyle ( Queens ) 23
3. Kiegan Parker ( St. Johnstone ) 21
4. Lee Miller ( Falkirk ) 20
5. Colin Samuel ( Falkirk ) 19


Top 5 Assistants

1. Lee Miller ( Falkirk ) 16
2. Chris Hay (St. Johns) 11
3. Derek Lyle (Queens) 11
4. Dennis Wyness (ICT) 10
5. Stewart Kean (Ayr ) 10

Yellow Cards

1.Ross County 66
2.Arbroath 64
3.Queen of South 56
4.Ayr 54
5.St. Johnstone 8

Red Cards

1.Arbroath 10
2.Ross County 8
3.St. Mirren 4
4.Alloa 4
5.Clyde 3.



Arbroath stats



Appearances

1.John McAulay 33
2.Paul Brownlie 29
3.Dennis Connaghan 28
4.Steven Florence 26 (2)
5.Kevin Heenan 22 (5)
Goals

1.Paul Brownlie 8
2.Kevin Heenan 5
3.Gavin Swankie 5
4.Eddie Forrest 1
5.Roddy Grant 1
6.John McAulay
7.Darren Spink 1
8.John McGlashan

Assists

1.Jim Gardner 4
2.Kevin Heenan 3
3.John McAulay 2
4.Gavin Swankie 2
5.Paul Brownlie 1

Conceded

1.Gary Gow – 35 from 15 games
2.Craig Hinchcliffe – 24 from 18 games
3.Tim Woodcock – 12 from 6 games.

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Close Season / Pre-Season June-July Part One

June
For his heroics the latest SFA circular informed of Clyde’s Alan Kernaghan picking up the Manager of the Month Award. Paul Shields was nominate player of the month whilst Lee Miller made up for missing April by collecting his customary award. Maybe they should call it the Lee Miller award.

On a cool breezy June day I was at the office, as a final sorting out papers before I take a 10 day vacation to first England and then Canada, and it was there, with my television resting peacefully on the foldaway table, that I watched Scotland succumb to a Michael Ballack strike and resign their leadership at the top of the table on goal difference to Germany. Turkey’s draw with Slovakia cheered me up a tad whilst I watched several hundred very melancholy folk stream from the pubs, pÃ*ssed, towards their homes yelling “Bertie the Bástardâ€�. Apparently he threw that game for his own national side to win. Couldn’t be that Germany out played them obviously.

Before I left it was gratifying to learn that Euan Graham, whose contract expiry had managed to circumvent my attention somehow was asking for a reduction in wages of £20 as the club deal with the effects of relegation. I hoped that would be sorted by the time I got back from my break in England, where I was secretly going to watch the England Slovakia match after some family members managed to buy some tickets.

It was a decent enough game with a brace from Michael Owen enough to keep us top. With Germany slaughtering the Faroes I suspect the Scots aren’t in such a great mood now as their once optimistic hopes of automatic qualification have been brought back down to reality.


When I retuned from my break of celebrating with fellow England fans and touring the scenery of Canada on the 20th of June it was irritating to learn that there had been a mix up with Graham’s contract. Apparently some cheeky fellow who claimed to be representing Euan had asked for the pay cut and when Euan discovered the new terms he was mortified and discussed the matter in person. His agent had been unaware of the ‘talks’ as well which is why the new demands of £230 pounds were a little disappointing. Eventually he settled for £210 though – still keeping us under budget.

I also learnt of three new arrivals to the Under 18 side. That afternoon I invited them for a quick session to cast an eye on them and boy have we some prospects! Paul Pirie is an astonishing talent. I’d love to keep him but it looks unlikely given that Sunderland and Leeds have already expressed an interest in the 15 year old! Still it proves our Youth programme is still effective! John Graham, 15 year old sibling of Euan is a hard working defensively based midfielder and apparently is the next John McAulay according to Jake, so we’ll keep tabs on him. Scott Reid at 16 has some potential but he’ll have to work hard. Both will be playing Under 18 and reserve football whilst Paul Pirie, even though he’s 15 might get a chance at first team level – assuming he doesn’t hop across the border to Sunderland or Leeds. If he does remember where you heard him first – Paul Pirie!

The board in their wisdom have told me only a respectable position is necessary this season. Apparently John Christison won’t be putting too much pressure on me for a promotion challenge! That’s nice but really I thought the club would have more ambition than that! Anyway the Herald automatically think we’re promotion candidates, and the genereal feeling from many of the villagers is that we should be challenging for a promotion this year. It also turns out Kevin Heenan was voted Fans Player of the Year, something that does not surprise me- although I suspect Paul Brownlie came a close second.

Paul Pirie is turning out to be quite the irksome arrogant upstart. Clearly he knows he is talented, and other forces have persuaded him of that fact and now this precocious 15 year old feels we cannot offer him a suitable wage. Well laddie there are folk here who have survived perfectly happily on less that £100 per week throughout their careers. Laughably his agent has told us he’s considering his options and wishing he hadn’t joined this club. Way to appreciate the training and encouragement. Just shove it in Jake Ferrier’s face why don’t you. Mind you when he no doubts reads reports that an English Premier League side are interested you’re going to inflate your ego. If he goes – it’s no loss as we never had him before but it would be nice to see how good he really is once he gets out there on the pitch.

Elsewhere Craig Levein had found employment again, now with Partick Thistle in the SPL again. Maybe he can achieve the dubious honour of relegating two sides in succession. As June ends and we enter the pre-season friendly month of July – in which Steve Kirk has already organised a series of matches, I browsed the free transfer player database supplied by the PFA for Scotland. There were some several high profile players looking for clubs both in the United Kingdom and abroad. Based on reputation and the manager reports that accompanied some of the individuals marked up there, I consulted with John Christison before trying to lure some of them to Scotland. Any signing would have to stick to the pay structure here so I doubted any of the several I offered contracts too would arrive. Somehow I don’t see Alen Boksic or Alessandro Costacurta plying their trade in Arbroath

retired_bbcarr

bad news about the relegation although it did seem like merely the conformation of what had seemed inevitable. and the silver lining is that at least your pre-season prediction came true

better luck next year. red lichties for the title :cool:

p.s. please add all the standard 'it's a good story as well' praise :thup:

retired_embartl

Cheers Terk. I have to admit relegation when it came wasn't much of a shock given that it took us 5 months to win our first game Still next year should be a little less depressing anyway

Pre-Season Part 2 – July

As soon as I’d made those bids however I was inundated with messages on my computer. By offering the contracts early I’d forced a reaction from fellow sides still unsure as to whether to go for it. Now they’re all speculating in the hope of accumulating and I see my chances of success whither dramatically. Then came the list of rejections. Denis Irwin said no, Paul Ince said no, Andrei Kanchelskis said no, Sensini said no, Valerio Fiori said no and so did Alen Boksic and Dennis de Noojer. Ah well I tried. Another target, aging Dutchman Henk Vos moved to Ciudad de Murcia instead.

After a warm up match with Forres Mechanics, which we lost the Sunday papers reported in earnest about Paul Ince’s move north of the border to join a Scottish side. Yes that’s right. He joined Dunfermline. Sadly Josu Urrutia joined Levante ahead of us. Boksic and De Noojer rejected my second attempts. One star didn’t. One Internationally renowned World Cup winner didn’t reject us this time round. He missed the attention of newspapers in silly season so Monday’s announcement would be even more shocking. John Christison was ecstatic to bring in such quality. As was I. The lift he would provide relegated side was enormous. The signing almost overshadowed the next email I received. We were up against Stenhousemuir in the Challenge Cup 1st round! Ok maybe it did overshadow that somewhat.