When we signed shagger and wardlaw all the fans were like aw we're go be challenging for the league this season defo play offs and due to 1 bad result everyone says its go be a long hard season, we aint got a big squad the now and the fact we've played 3 games in a week all away could be a part to play nd the fact our team aint really gelled yet so comon fans get behind the team rather than put the team down after every bad result rather than crictise and boo the players get behind them and encourage them

Well said...got to agree.
QOTS on Saturday wont be easy either. So be prepared for a hard game.

To be fair, I`ve yet to hear from any fan who after signing Wardlaw and McManus has said we would be challenging for the league and defo the play offs.

Time to gell? That back 4 has played together a few times before, Sloan and Muir looked like they had just met tonight but played most of last season together and the season before.
The problems are the same as last year, no balance in the midfield. We need Sloan and Smith to stay fit, but they are both left footed. However if we lose either of them then we are screwed. Muir continues to be a waste of space and a shirker. The jury is out on Mcbride, but again he wasn't exactly impressive tonight. Don't understand how Durie doesn't think we need another midfielder, it is easily the weakest part of our team. Wardlaw and McManus got little or no supply and the defence was continually exposed.
Then we have two full backs who can run all day but actually do very little with the ball. Cook just swings his leg at it trying to "guide" the ball up the line. But invariably it goes out the park.
I just hope that Durie has something up his sleeve. If not fingers crossed that Albion Rovers and Stranrear are both honking.

Agreed we should get behind the team. The big problem the last few games has been injury's to key players. Sloan missed a lot of games. Mcmanus our best goal scorer has missed all of the pre season training and games. Darren smith out against alloa and didn't start the night and a few others. These 3 players are big team players for our club this year. If you look at our bench the night there is no depth in our squad and the manager will sort it out but we have to just accept it the now till our key players are back fit and new players come in.

Too small a squad leads to a lack of competition for places especially when hit with a couple of injuries. This means that some players can play poorly but are virtually guaranteed to keep their place. We are also lacking an experienced vocal leader on the park who can motivate players and get everyone fighting for each other. Really thought Durie and Chisholm would have identified this from last season and have rectified it by this time although I understand that there are players available who are holding out to the end of the month to try to get the best deal .
We really need 4 or 5 quality players to give us a squad which provides the Manager with options in every position, allows us to cope with injuries & suspensions and put pressure on players to perform, otherwise they are dropped. To do this the Board must release some of the funds from the Rangers game. C'mon the Fife !

Thank fuck for that.When I read the thread title I thought it was the match report from Central Park!

I agree with ur statements about playing style nd specific players if it was half way thro the season but it only being a few games in is madness for instance to show how thick half our fans are look at the 3 2 1 for the alloa game div was more a less in everyones and 1 bad game nd he is basically being made out to be surplus to requirements. And with mocking our management team who have lots of experience and given the time and SUPPORT will do well, durie is an experienced player and chisolm and dodds done well at dundee nd didn't queen of the south get to scottish cup final with chisolm?? Prob just people with nothing better to do with there time or no footballing brain to mock them. We have best goalkeeper in league and give wedderburn and campbell time to gel nd get fit they will be awesome we have goals in us with wardlaw mcmanus nd jamieson experience with malcolm nd samuel for however long they stay but with cpl extra players nd we should be challenging in this league

i cant understand for the life of me how we didnot sign wedderburn after saturdays game.The guy strolled the game then last night back to whyte who hasnot kicked a ball all season.To be fair i wasnt there last night but had a feeling we would put in a poor display.Midfield a problem area no one wants to do the dirty work and the opposition go through 90 minutes without a glove being layed on them.We stand back and admire the opposition and just let them play through us without anyone letting them know they are in a game.We need a hard man in the middle who can lead and drive the rest of the team on.Im not convinced about the defending ability of either full back.I was at ibrox and alloa and only seen about 8 tackles in two games.Samuel and Smith our two best players and campbell up there as well,lets get wedderburn signed and at least we have the spine of a team.

I am still bemused as to why we did not sign King.

Wedderburn & Park both free agents that we could do with getting signed sharpish.

I'm pretty bemused as to why we didn't sign King either to be honest.

BlacknGold.... the voice of reason.
Form what I've seen so far this season, been satisfied with the squad and the new arrivals. The teams we have played in the opening games would not have been my first choice.
Rangers...full of internationalists.
Alloa...Good signings and flying from the 3rd with a point to prove at home.
Cowden...1st Div.
Peterhead...Both Dundee and Rangers struggled.
QOTS... Prepare for another tough game against the full timers and favourites to win the league. Still we're at home this time, will take a good effort to get a point though. Lets get right behind the team eh.

Which says to me "I don't want to really play for east fife, I'll just go to who pays more than the next club"

If you don't want to play for the club, play local boys who will be given the chance. Rather that than these 10 bob waste of spaces!

BB - good post, just wanted to use this part of it.

Surely some of the cash banked from the Sevco game (assuming it's been paid of course) can be used to fund new signings, King wouldn't cost much and by all accounts wants to play for East Fife.

I wonder if any players think we can pay more with the Rangers cash and are trying to get more money out of us.

7

Heard he wasn`t signed due to his attitude.

we should build a terracing behind the goals , get more atmosphere in the ground , encourage the players we have to survive in div 2 , with vocal support , then build up to div 1. confidence and belief can make any players better .

Aye. let's build some terracing with the cup money instead of investing in some decent players. In fact bring back the mound!

Aye , let's throw our money at some fuckin player ? who will leave as soon as stay for our cash ,

Please can we knock off the build terracing talk!

Crowds of around 500-600 make it obvious there is no demand! If there was, where were the extra Ibrox fans on Tuesaday night?

We'd all love crowds of 2000 plus but its not going to happen short term. If we did go up to Div 1, temporary area behind a goal could help but the costs far outway the usage! This should have been done when we moved.

Staying at Bayview Park would have helped, of course! Other clubs (Forfar for example) Upgraded the terracing over time and not done them any harm!

Bayview Stadium mote than covers our present needs. Nee Terracing at Bayview Park would have done the job.

If it should have been done when we moved, why should we not do it now? If we don't do it now, when are we ever going to do it? Never.
We have the lowest capacity in Scotland. If we have any intention of improving the club's performance to challenge for promotion, we need a bigger capacity to host games in the First Division that would attract crowds of over 2000. Of course Bayview is fine for our current needs. But if we want to get better and play against better teams, they are going to bring more supporters. That's extra cash for us. Bayview is fine for East Fife fans because there are so few of us; putting in terracing is not about us. It is about teams who have bigger supports than us, which bring us more money.

The Rangers money is windfall that no one could have expected, and the club should not have budgeted for. This is an opportunity to better East Fife for the short, medium and long term. There is talk on this thread of Bayview Park. That ground was built up from a simple playing field to a 20,000 capacity stadium because the committee and then directors grasped opportunities when they came along to better the club's facilities. What are we doing now to improve our lot?

Players come and players go. A lot of money can be spent on players who do not bring success. It is easy wasted in a single season, and when it is gone, we have nothing to show for it. But a bit of terracing at our inadequate stadium would still be there in ten, twenty, thirty years' time, hopefully longer.

Let Rangers' troubles fund our long term benefit, so we never again have to move a cup tie to another ground, so that we never have to turn people away from a league match. We maximise our future potential revenue. We might have two home games against Rangers next season as well ... at this rate the terracing could be fully funded by Rangers' demise.

Opportunities like this don't come around very often. Spending our bonus money on players is a temporary fix that would leave East Fife with nothing at the end of those players' contracts.

Spot on. Of course it won't happen though. This Board, like all of its predecessors over the past 25 years, thinks small which results in the club staying small. We have been overtaken by so many clubs over this period it is embarrassing and we are now a club with the same standing in the game as Forfar, Brechin, Stenhousemuir etc. and for a near five decade fan like me that has been hard to take.

It's no wonder with such a lack of ambition that fans have deserted the club in their thousands over the past 30 years.

It's not the fans killing the team its the current bunch of players.
Fucking murder.


Now where's Taggart when you need him...

Mad Man,
The "Found This in the Attic" article in the last programme of last season featured EFFC V Arbroath, 30 years ago, crowd 481.

IMO we've never really replaced Steven Tweed and has cost us throughout the seasons.
How many times did Stevie Crawford and John Robertson bemoan the fact we'd lost silly goals from set-plays or other kinds of defensive errors?
When we did bring in a bit of experience in Chris Innes for just one game you could see the difference it made.
I reckon if Bob Malcolm can get himself fit then he may be the answer.

are you the tosser that's been bined from the rovers fantalk?

29 years ago: 5760 v Raith in the cup
28 years ago: 5863 (and the rest) v Hibs in the cup midweek
28 years ago: 10000 v celtic in the cup
26 years ago: 10000 v rangers in the cup midweek
26 years ago: 3800 v dunfermline in the league
25 years ago: 4900 v dundee in the cup midweek

Please stop trying to put us down

Fan,
It's not for me to decide who needs put down.
My comment was simply to illustrate that everything was not wine and roses 30 years ago. In general crowds everywhere have declined for a variety of reasons. Not having terracing is pretty far down the list.

Just consider what you have written (spending bonus money on players is a temporary fix)then tell me which will increase crowds, new terracing or a better team ?

Agreed mate. Never mind the terracing right at this moment. We need a team that can challenge in the second division this season. We are lacking in all departments (except goalkeeper) at present. Otherwise you will not need the terracing in any case as EF will be playing to dwindling crowds in the third division. TEAM PERFORMANCE FIRST THEN TERRACING CONSIDERATION.

No point in improving the stadium. WE are moving. The only question is when and where to. If the Muir homes does not materialise something else will come up.

... must be a director to have this kind of accurate insider information.
I thought pish like this had stopped when Mole aka face blemish was killed in a tunnel collapse under the boardroom.

Now...... if you want a real scoop,Gordon Durie is leaving the club. Don't know when or where he is going but you heard it here first.

Dont know where people get their information from regarding the stadium and manager but I think we would appreciate it if Eugene could clarify if these rumours are anywhere near true.