Away From The Numbers
All good things come to an end. Or so they say. AFTN has been around since 1989, first as a fanzine and then making the jump to a website and forum in 2003. We've been through the many ups and down at East Fife in those 12 years but policing the forum has become a giant pain in the ass in recent years. As such, we made the decision not to renew it when it expired.
The forum is no more and will remain as a locked archive until it is eventually deleted by the host. We're looking in to try to save some of the content as an archive.
This is not the end of AFTN though. The site will continue and will be revamped and return in its full glory for the start of the 2016/17 season. Maybe even sooner. There will be a comment sections and possibly even a new, registered forum. Check our Twitter (@aftnwebsite) for all the latest info and we'll also post in on the EFFC memories Facebook page.
Until then, have a last browse here, thanks for all your support over the years, and 'Mon the Fife.
GoF
Been a long time since i have posted on this forum however i have reflected on recent events and i think its time to be honest and open!
Gary what are you doing? It pains me to rant and communicate negativity, but for any chance of change it has to be said.
Gary you talk the talk no doubt of that, we hear and see you on various channels but to this juncture you are failing/struggling to deliver.
We were awesome in the opening few games, awesome, but now we have reverted to type. So bad that everything we witnessed last season has returned with vengeance; not beating 10 men in the last two games for 45+ mins is as bad as it gets!
In football great leaders make great teams through trust, rapport, respect and listening! I don't know you Gary and your intimate leadership skills but you definitely fail on the latter, that i am sure of!.
Gary listen to the punters; we are the people that make the club survive, we are the people that love the club, sacrifice every weekend possible for the club to make the effort home and away to cheer the guys on.
You have a squad of decent players, players that can play football, players that can win us the league but you choose to play one up front, play the long ball. Its brutal to watch and it must be brutal for your players to play that type of game with those type of tactics with their inherent skills.
You want to succeed as a manager and aspire to higher echelons i am sure that must be true, so fix the basics Gary!
What you are doing wrong; it’s in your face, we as supporters can taste, feel and see your failings. Its not rocket science and easily fixed. The majority (including me) would love to see you succeed. I have no doubt you are a great guy, you have a plethora of playing experience that if channeled with the right focus can win us the league, but to change this, you have to LISTEN to your audience.. or you will lose us!.. REMEMBER GARY FORTUNE ALWAYS FAVOURS THE BRAVE!
Totally agree with everything you say Terry,the football played under Naysmith is torture to watch.
Couldn`t help but notice even more empty seats on saturday,fans are drifting away rather than watch the same turgid crap week in week out.
I also feel we have enough quality available to see off the poor level of opposition in this league,but unfortunately the manager continues to fail miserably with his tactics and how he utilises the players at his disposal.
For me the guy has totally failed to deliver as manager of our club,unfortunately we are lumbered with him and his grim tactics for the rest of what looks like being another forgettable slog of a season!
What surprises me most is the time it has taken for most folk to realise the man is not cut out for management.
Football under Naysmith has been brutal to watch. Was brutal last season and is brutal this season.
Tactically naive and no direction sums it up.
Things are unlikely to improve and folks are getting wise to it. Not before bloody time!
We created 12 clear chances in the last 30 minutes and umpteen more before that.
Before calling for the manager's head think for a moment about how these chances were missed.
In almost all cases it was because the player concerned rushed the chance. It's a wee bit ironic that along with many others in recent games I've been screaming for players to "take a shot now" rather than try to be too intricate.
What's happening I think is that the players are now in a sense trying too hard to score too quickly. We know for example, that Fash can score in a 1-1 situation but over the last couple of games he hasn't. That doesn't mean he's now become a poor player - though the idiot who was calling for him to be subbed yesterday clearly thinks so.
If a team is creating chances - and we are doing so - the failure to score comes down to individual human error (or good defending/goalkeeping). Changing the manager won't solve that.
(apologies for posting twice - I put it on the wrong thread last time)
Totally agree with the above, we are creating a lot of chances but things are not going our way.
Before getting pissed about the manager, take a look at what we are doing on the park. Also what are we really expecting, we are not Barcelona we are a club with decent quality for the Scottish 2nd Division
Just watched Garys interview after the Annan game, he is spot on. We just need these chances to go for us and we will get there.
PS to all Gary haters, Be realistic and get behind the team/manager - we are in decent shape and I still think this season we will go up automatically,
Eugene,
I do admire your optimism but no I don't know that Fash can score in one on one situations. I would ask you to go back to the Montrose game on EFTV and from the subsequent games, count the one on ones with Fash and it is away up in double figures.
You are right that missing easy chances is not the managers fault but failing to change tactics to take advantage of playing against 10 men in four recent games is I am afraid. Don't get me wrong I am not calling for his head but would like to see a bit more attacking mindedness and not end up chasing the game.
We have seen one game so far at home this season where we played the opposition off the park. That was Berwick but since we have toiled badly.
Hope it can be turned around soon maybe starting on Tuesday??? but what is on offer just now does not encourage the weekly payers to keep coming back whereas we season ticket holders are stuck with it but are not putting cash through the turnstiles.
Like everyone else, I can't believe that we didn't take anything from the game yesterday.
My thoughts on the tactics etc - I think Gary started at left mid with Kieran McDonald at left back as he was scared of being done for pace down that side.
Some folk saying he won't change his tactics - yesterday in the second half we went 3-5-2 and had them pinned back in their own half for long periods. To be fair, Annan defended deep but were well organised. A combination of poor finishing and desperate defending left us goalless and pointless but it wasn't for the want of trying especially second half.
We were pretty much reduced to the bare bones yesterday with Kerr & Slattery in the stand, Walker missing and Campbell on the bench but not match fit. This is the downside of having such a small squad and options are very limited especially in forward areas and Gary must take some responsibility for this. We must stop giving opponents TOO MUCH respect unlit is rather than setting up to contain opponents and hit on the break..
One thing that annoys me week after week is the lack of direction, motivation and advice given from the dugout. Watching Chapman and his coach yesterday compared to our bench was like chalk and cheese. Shouting abuse at players when they make a mistake is hardly going to make them better. Players need to be told what they should have done and why it will help.
The goals have dried up for Fashat the moment but he still showed a few times yesterday that he can leave players for dead but others need to get into scoring positions and give hi options in front of goal.
I know we were playing 10 men in the second half but we area different team when we pass and move rather than lumping it back to front. Let's get the ball down and play the way we are capable of against Stirling and get us into the ne t round and set us up for a revenge mission at Smokieland next Sat.
I really hope we put away our chances on tuesday and turn this four games without a win around, we know we can do a lot better in our performances like we have saw against Dumbarton, Motherwell, Berwick (home) and Montrose earlier at the start of this season. Hopefully tuesday we can pick up a cup win get through to the next round and bring back some much needed confidence ahead of the league trip to arbroath on saturday, also away games haven't been good with the form we have at the moment i hope we win and go to arbroath and have some belief we can do the same. C'mon East Fife!!! 
One thing you can say for Gary is he has got the players behind him. They all say they are loving their football under him at Bayview. Football sometimes doesn't reward you for dominating teams and creating a load of chances, yesterday was one of those days. I know it is very frustrating to watch, but I feel given the rub of the green we will start taking our chances. That is 3 games I have been to this season we should never have lost East Stirling, Arbroath and yesterday. In all these games the opposition has had one sniff at goal and taken it . We have had the lions share of possession but don't seem able to break defences down. I think it is down to not enough creative players to link with Fash. We have a midfield full of holding players this is restricting the opposition to creating few chances, but I can only see Kyle wilkie being able to put the killer pass in to open a defence up. I don't think the balance of the squad is right we have lots of full backs and holding midfielders, few flair and attacking players. I don't just see us in that boat every team ive seen doesn't have much flair and the majority have went for brute and physical strength. We seem smaller than every team but im like Bayview boy if we get back to getting the ball down and playing it through the midfield and wide areas we will get results that way. We must be brave and try and keep possession of the ball instead of humping high balls from back to front. I think another proven goal scorer is a must for the squad as Fash cant carry the goals for colum all season himself.
One think is we must be in the play offs as I can see Annan winning that league as long as we make the play offs it be aright
My thoughts on the tactics etc - I think Gary started at left mid with Kieran McDonald at left back as he was scared of being done for pace down that side.
Some folk saying he won't change his tactics - yesterday in the second half we went 3-5-2 and had them pinned back in their own half for long periods. To be fair, Annan defended deep but were well organised. A combination of poor finishing and desperate defending left us goalless and pointless but it wasn't for the want of trying especially second half.
We were pretty much reduced to the bare bones yesterday with Kerr & Slattery in the stand, Walker missing and Campbell on the bench but not match fit. This is the downside of having such a small squad and options are very limited especially in forward areas and Gary must take some responsibility for this. We must stop giving opponents TOO MUCH respect unlit is rather than setting up to contain opponents and hit on the break..
One thing that annoys me week after week is the lack of direction, motivation and advice given from the dugout. Watching Chapman and his coach yesterday compared to our bench was like chalk and cheese. Shouting abuse at players when they make a mistake is hardly going to make them better. Players need to be told what they should have done and why it will help.
The goals have dried up for Fashat the moment but he still showed a few times yesterday that he can leave players for dead but others need to get into scoring positions and give hi options in front of goal.
I know we were playing 10 men in the second half but we area different team when we pass and move rather than lumping it back to front. Let's get the ball down and play the way we are capable of against Stirling and get us into the ne t round and set us up for a revenge mission at Smokieland next Sat.
A couple of points.
There was nothing positive coming from Chapman towards his players from the bench. He is a bully and not respected by those who used to play for the club.
Gary, like every other manager in the league has a limited budget. He has recruited quality rather than quantity to attempt to get us promoted out of this league.
Yesterday was probably our best performance since the 5-0 game against Berwick but we were unable to capitalise on the good possession. Frustrating, but hopefully this will give the lads some self belief.
Ross brown can be a creative player if we play Leyden, Wilkie, Brown and Macdonald. I've watched his killer pass at berwick that put fash through on one on one with the goalie and missed, at some point we will turn that corner and go on a run we just need to convert those chances into goals its easy to say this hopefully tuesday night as Captain says can give us confidence ahead of league business up at Gayfield.
Then we have Mullen who can shoot anywhere outside the box aswell, We need to start getting back to form starting tuesday for the traveling fans this week.
The Annan manger is not a bully like he said he was just happy cos is team won nothing wrong with that and he said it was a hard win can't lose are next to 2 games Stirling and Arbroath away hard games no easy games in football
Like Gary Naysmith said Ross Brown has missed a few easy chances this year. He hasnt progressed much over the last few years. I think we should look at moving him on.
I like Rossco when he is in the team, his form of last season may not be following him this season at times but last season he was our effectively our best player until January came where we added the quality we needed to guide us to the play off. Ross brown could of played anywhere in the team last season and he puts in the shift hence it was a different story to lewis no offence, and if your not going push yourself to get in the team might as well put the wages on another midfielder like wilkie, pat and muzzy. Why the boy is the very best talent produced from the McNeil academy and still with us than the other five or six who were let go including Rooney, Martin and Lennie.
That night where the club turn the corner last season at cliftonhill rossco played on the right wing and was superb that night, bale sprang to mind that night with his pace and be able to beat his man as well as the work Dickson and kev put in getting that 3-2 victory.
Berwick
Rangers sack there manger no manger is safe lose a lot of games and u are out the door Barry Ferguson will be next
If Annan are the best team in the league then the rest must be pretty terrible. We really have no excuses for not coming first among this lot of crap.
G
Shoogly peg time Naysmith. Same old shite come christmas ya should do one.
It feels like a key point in the season coming up. 5 points off the top looks not too bad, but we're also 5 points off the bottom.
Which way is the season gonna go?
Signs a striker and sticks him on the bench as he continues his defensive approach to the game.
Now that's just silly. The laddie hasn't played at anywhere near this level and the team and strategy had been decided before he was signed. He looked like he had a fair bit of pace about him when he came on but didn't quite adjust to the cut and thrust of the game. Only to be expected but give the laddie time to fit in.
I sometimes wonder if folk on here actually attend games before bumping their gums.
Now that's just silly. The laddie hasn't played at anywhere near this level and the team and strategy had been decided before he was signed. He looked like he had a fair bit of pace about him when he came on but didn't quite adjust to the cut and thrust of the game. Only to be expected but give the laddie time to fit in.
I sometimes wonder if folk on here actually attend games before bumping their gums.
You don't need go attend every game to pass comment. It's all the same old shit. Sometimes up, sometimes down, but mostly shit, going nowhere.
Now that's just silly. The laddie hasn't played at anywhere near this level and the team and strategy had been decided before he was signed. He looked like he had a fair bit of pace about him when he came on but didn't quite adjust to the cut and thrust of the game. Only to be expected but give the laddie time to fit in.
I sometimes wonder if folk on here actually attend games before bumping their gums.
You don't need go attend every game to pass comment. It's all the same old shit. Sometimes up, sometimes down, but mostly shit, going nowhere.
As a supporter of near 50 years, i find it difficult to disagree with this.
Getting a bit uninteresting now and very predictable.
If we are lucky, we get a reasonable performance for one half then it's backs to the wall and let the other teams dictate the game. Agree that it's a too predictable and every week is becoming all too familiar.
Failure on Saturday is not an option. 2 up front please but I very much doubt that will happen
Must agree with this comment. I can't believe you sign a young lad from a high flying Championship team, and stick him on the bench. By all accounts, and I haven't been to enough games to either agree or disagree, but we have been crying out for a striker and partner for Fash. The laddie must be a full time player and therefore his fitness levels should be better than anyone currently playing in the team. He comes highly recommended, having read other posts, but someone else says he's not ready to play at this level!! What level are we talking about here? He's training every day,, and along side guys who are at a much higher level than us. We are in the bottom league so let's get real. We've got him for 30 days apparently, so that probably should equate to 4 games for him to show what he is made off. Unfortunately that is now down to three. I hope to be at the game next Saturday, and it would be could to see him on from the start.
Well said Mr Legend. The Manager has said the player from Hibs will start on Saturday but I fear it will be to replace Fash rather than partner him up front. Hope I'm wrong though.
Please leave Gary.
Im afriad its time to go now, count our lost and give the new manager what he needs for the window upcoming, we've had two seasons and a full season of them in-charge via play-offs going nowhere bar and capable of being in the play-offs we need another head to bring back fans and new input into the team and please take your coaching team with you...change needed! fresh ideas and coaching needed anyone bar another player/manager though in charge or non-manager. Wots Jimmy Calderwood or Jeffries doing these days?
would swap him for danny lennon as well.
Go now!
