Arbroath FC had a disappointing Scottish Championship campaign by their standards last season, with the Red Lichties finishing eighth, one place above the relegation playoff spot. It’s a far cry from their form of 2021/22, where they finished second in the division, and they’ll be determined to get back to these sorts of heights with the help of their new arrivals.
Arbroath, as many will expect based on last season, start as one of the least fancied teams to win the league this term. Football betting online has become so accessible that fans of the Scottish Championship enjoy a wide range of betting markets together with highly competitive odds, and the Smokies will be hoping to upset the current odds between now and May. It’s going to be a challenge, but one that Dick Campbell hopes his team, and his new charges, will be up for.
At the time of writing, Campbell has welcomed nine new faces into his squad, with seven heading through the exit door since the end of last season. It represents a bit of a rebuild from the experienced manager as he looks to help Arbroath find the magic touch that’s eluded them since 2021/22. And he’s gone for a mix of youth and experience, with the average age of incomings 26.1.
There’s been a lot of focus on strengthening the attacking unit, with no fewer than five of the nine arrivals expected to do the business in the final third of the pitch. Winger Mark Stowe is joined by attackers Jay Bird, Jermaine Hylton, Kenan Dunnwald-Turan and Leighton McIntosh. It makes sense that this is the direction the club has gone in because the total number of goals scored in the Scottish Championship in 2022/23 was a paltry 29, whereas the season before, it was fifty-three.
Also arriving through the door at Gayfield Park are goalkeeper Ally Adams, centre-back Aaron Steele and central midfielders Jess Norey and Craig Slater, adding some much-needed strength to the spine of the team. Again, it’s always a good idea when a club’s recruitment is pragmatic, and bringing players to strengthen the core, especially when twenty more goals were conceded in the league last term compared to the previous one, is as pragmatic as it gets.
With pragmatism very much at the forefront for Campbell and Co., this could, and hopefully should, transfer onto the pitch. Scoring more and conceding less than they did last season would be an excellent start for Arbroath. They’ve certainly recruited players who can help make that so, but patience could be required as they gel and begin developing an understanding with each other.
Whether they can instantly bounce back to the levels they delivered in 2021/22 is an unknown, and many will suggest unlikely, but taking steps in the right direction should see them in with a chance of operating higher up the division than the lower end where they called home in 2022/23.
