Eight games in, almost a quarter of the way through the Championship season, and things are not looking pretty for Arbroath.
The Lichties prop up the table with just five points and one win.
Dick Campbell’s men suffered a blow at the weekend, losing out 2-0 to relegation rivals Cove Rangers, their fifth loss of the campaign.
They will now have to dust themselves down in a bid to get something against Dundee this weekend.
However, there is still a long way to go in the campaign and the Angus side have been in this position before.
Last season
The difference between this season and last is stark.
At this point 12 months ago, the Lichties had three times the number of points they have now.
They had won four, drawn three and lost just the once – on the opening day to Inverness, which turned out to be their only home defeat of the campaign.
Gayfield was a fortress. Fans had seven goals to cheer in impressive wins over Partick and Hamilton, while they held their own against Killie in a 0-0 draw.
This term, a record number of season ticket holders have just seen the ONE league goal – a late consolation bundled over the line by Kieran Shanks in the 2-1 defeat to Queen’s Park.
The league is not the only table Arbroath are bottom of. They have also have attempted the fewest shots (45) and managed the least shots on target (18).
That is 10 fewer shots compared to the next lowest (Cove, 55) and nine fewer attempts on target (Morton, 27) after eight games.
At the other end, they have conceded the second-most goals with Derek Gaston one of the busiest keepers in the league having been called into action 29 times.
In addition to that, they have already lost the same number of games as they did in the whole of 2021/22.
Big October
Despite not enjoying many home comforts this season, October could prove to be a huge month for Arbroath.
The Lichties have FOUR games at Gayfield in as many weeks.
Gary Bowyer’s Dees, Raith, Hamilton and Ayr will all visit the Angus coast.
The Honest Men are the only other team in the league to have the same home advantage this October.
The Lichties may have struggled so far, but this could be the month for them to kick start their campaign.
All is not lost
Aside from last season, which increasingly looks like an anomaly fuelled by exceptional loan signings, Arbroath have found themselves in similar predicaments and battled their way out.
After eight games in 2020/21, the Angus side were in exactly the same position, points-wise, as this term: one win, two draws, five losses.
They found themselves a place higher in 9th, one point ahead of Queen of the South.
However, they have managed to score two more goals this season than they did two years ago.
Their first season in Scotland’s second tier was slightly better. In 2019/20, they sat in 7th spot with eight points; two wins, two draws and four defeats.
Despite the extra win, they still only managed five goals in that period.
In both of those seasons, the Lichties had to wait until three quarters of the way through the campaign before starting to pull themselves to safety.
Should Arbroath manage to stay close to their nearest rivals at the bottom, history could repeat itself.
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