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Not disagreeing with you, but one thing that has annoyed me for years is the 'if wasn't for the keeper we would have won/lost' argument. The keepers job is to stop the ball going into the net, no matter how spectacular a save they have to make to do it. Rant over. As for Ayr, imo they flattered to deceive, Chalmers in particular.

University of Stirling v Albion Rovers was a good game. 2 Very good goals, the University equaliser and Rover's second scored by Joe Bevin who looked a good player and is only 18. Albion Rovers now managed by a certain Sandy Clark.

For those who can't make the game on Saturday against Dunfermline you can purchase tickets online now: https://tickets.ptfc.co.uk/packages/LZEmOKzmpW/e/dXen4Zq8WQ Good Luck!

The winning numbers from Saturday's draw: https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/half-time-draw-results-23rd-september-2023/

True, but it would be a lie 🙂.

Thanks Peaty

HHHH AHHA HAAH HAAA HAAH

Arbroath are miles better than Cove or Hamilton, as I suspect Dunfermline will be, so not exactly a comparison....nevertheless hopefully we up our game on Saturday

If you went for A Slightly Bitter Jag you would sneak in ahead of Auld Jag.

Wish I called myself AAA Jag!

Men's Second Round fixture update Civil Service Strollers v Stranraer - H1 Albion Rovers v St Andrews United - A2 Stenhousemuir v Brora Rangers - A2 Cumnock v Turriff United - H1 Kilwinning Rangers v Cowdenbeath - H1 Peterhead v Clachnacuddin - A2 Deveronvale v Broxburn Athletic - A2 Forres Mechanics v Buckie Thistle Dumbarton v Banks O' Dee - A2 Dunbar United v East Fife - H2 Fraserburgh v Bonnyrigg Rose - H1 Tranent Juniors v East Kilbride Formartine United v Clydebank - A2 Beith v Broomhill - H1 Brechin City v The Spartans - H1 Jeanfield Swifts v Elgin City - H2 Musselburgh Athletic v Clyde - H2 Luncarty v Bo'ness United - H1 Huntly v Forfar Athletic - H1 Pollok v Gala Fairydean Rovers - H1 Deadline for predictions 1pm, Friday 27 October.

Standings after Men's First Round joe the driver accelerates away from the starting line.

The warning signs were already flashing… outplayed and outbossed in midfield by Ayr until we scored our second, scoring our third against QP (at 2.1)completely against the run of play when our midfield was again being overwhelmed, QP had also just hit the woodwork. Then coming up against a hugely experienced and cunning manager on Saturday who will have seen us play against Ayr and probably couldn’t believe his luck when he heard he was playing the same team. I’m sure Doolan will learn but he doesn’t have many options middle to back with the squad he has assembled. Milne’s form has dropped significantly, Williams seems frequently unavailable due to personal issues (but Doolan was well aware of the subsequent risk in signing him), Zander can’t cover RB (which was obvious weeks ago), Ngwena is kind off unknown despite playing many games for a couple of championship sides - was caught out a few times against Ayr and again on Saturday being too far forward), and as we all know we have a plethora of midfielders but none yet it seems a decent defensive one which is a BIG problem and the main reason we haven’t kept a clean sheet - except ironically against Ayr because they were poor in front of goal and Sneddon put in a good performance. Fitzy jogging back is another unresolved issue. He’s nowhere near the hard worker that Lawless is and the one that Tiffoney became. So a lot for Doolan to resolve and that will be a test of his coaching ability, but I can’t see how this is completely fixable before the January window. Before somebody accuses me of wanting him out that is not the case. Even a defeat on Saturday which (if we played like we did on Saturday) would be his equivalent of McCalls Cove/Hamilton debacle, he clearly still deserves more time in the role but he’s going to have to learn fast. I also accept he’s working on a smaller budget than his predecessor had last season but these are the cards he’s been dealt.

Maybe his agent, who is Dowds agent, is whispering in his ear.

There is a difference being a supporter who recognises deficiencies and opinions on them and to a supporter who sees nothing wrong with what the management or team are doing. Dools tinted glasses.??. Where did I say sack Doolan. A young McCall remark is in relation to the eerily same pattern of performances and results as under McCall. Granted that budget is tighter and we are in the low end of the signing market, but to date Doolan's signings have been meh, particularly as been commented by many on her, the midfielder problems haven't been addressed.

Hmm, might it be because his teammate/companion/partner/bro got a more lucrative deal at another club?

Absolutely……Guardiola has drummed into Grealish what he needs to do when they don’t have the ball and jogging back isn’t it ….ill forgive players a lot but not working hard isn’t one of them

Good post but you can see BG constantly on Aiden’s case . Just my opinion but Doolan plays Fitzpatrick for his strengths and what he can create , not sure that’s enough when you’re in a battle or you’re behind in a game . At our level can we afford a luxury player?

Don’t disagree with any of that but ideally you would want Fitzpatrick and Milne to dovetail and work as hard as Lawless and McMillan.

The 4 or 5 cameos from Fitzpatrick was more than anyone else managed in the game. Harry doesn’t look interested this season for some reason.

Earlier last season there was reason to criticise Fitzpatrick's work rate. Perhaps lack of fitness/effort was a reason he rarely started? Now he starts every game and has played 90 min every league game bar one (a tactical substitution). Now in my mind if he's not doing the work set out for him on a continuous basis then Aiden's either disregarding instruction and the manager's letting him off or the manager isn't finding a chronic fault with the player. My point really being that continual criticism of a player not giving 100% is continual criticism of the manager. In fact I would say the manager would be far more to blame than the player. Throw in the captain for good measure as he's clearly not captaining the side if the player closest to him is not playing to order. If you blame Fitzpatrick then Doolan and Graham are equally if not even more to blame. Personally I don't think that's the case. Said before our last line defence is unprotected. A defensive mid would cover for attacking fullbacks (eg Paton for SOD & ATS) not so much attacking wide players. You can argue that by not having the luxury of a defensive midfielder then Lawless & Fitzpatrick should do more defensively. Merit in that but I feel that's a tactical matter rather than personal responsibility. And that brings you back to criticism of the manager rather than the player.

Regarding Fitzpatrick. He was probably the best of the attacking trio on Saturday and looked like the only one that worried Arbroath when he was on the ball. However I thought we learned from last season that Aiden struggles defensively in a 4-2-3-1 but does pretty well in a 4-4-2? Also think we don't get the best from Milne in a 4-2-3-1 as the gap between Fitzpatrick and Milne doesn't allow Milne to overlap or Fitzpatrick to easily drop in front of Milne when we lose the ball. Last season under Doolan we were undoubtedly at our best when we went 4-4-2 and played Tiffoney through the middle. This season we have the players to do that again but because Bannigan needs to play we need another 2 midfielders to compensate. I would like to see us try the following: Sneddon/Mitchell McMillan-Muirhead-Neilson-Milne Lawless-Williamson-McInroy-Fitzpatrick Graham-Robinson

The key is learning and we shall see eg not playing Zander at right back would show learning from mistakes. there is a great human assumption that people learn from mistakes , it’s not automatic and often people don’t learn from experience. this is a big season to see if Dools can reflect on what’s working or not and change things.

If had the technical know how I would take the game on Saturday and show you numerous examples of where Aidan and Zander having lost the ball or our play has broken down simply jog back …..it’s a decided feature of how they play it seems

Agreed