[GoTeamGaz]

not a brilliant performance by any stretch but two goals & hopefully thats us on our way to slowly climbing up the table a bit B)

[LoonsYouthTeam]

That'll be us buggered then

[The Moonster]

Really poor game but the Sons took their chances for a change and i think we probably deserved our win. Onwards and upwards.


Get it up ye Gemmell!


EDIT - The ref might aswell of wore a Rovers top. Absolutely shocking.

This post has been edited by The Moonster: 02 January 2008 - 17:36

[ShakehandsTom - DFC]

Pretty poor performance, but who cares? We got the 3 points, and deserved them too.

B)

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

had this game been played a couple of weeks ago we'd have lost.

it makes a difference to see us take our chances and walk away with a win. chapman must have game them a boot up the arse at half time as we looked much better in the second half. we didn't play all that great but we ground out a win which i'm certainly happy about.

hopefully chapman will bring in a couple of decent players this month and we may well finish higher than we expected.

[GoTeamGaz]

according to setanta we've leaped above shire in to 8th :-D

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Quote

Both teams also wore black armbands.

taken from the dumbarton website.

unfortunately that's not true. i only spotted one of their players wearing a black armband.

i found it rather strange that they weren't wearing them.

[THE SONS OF THE ROCK]

Bring Back Paddy Flannery, on Jan 3 2008, 09:30, said:

taken from the dumbarton website.

unfortunately that's not true. i only spotted one of their players wearing a black armband.

i found it rather strange that they weren't wearing them.

your right there was only one wearing a black arm band

[Aloysius Snuffleupagus]

Bring Back Paddy Flannery, on Jan 3 2008, 08:30, said:

taken from the dumbarton website.

unfortunately that's not true. i only spotted one of their players wearing a black armband.

i found it rather strange that they weren't wearing them.

Kenny Wright, who played with Phil O'Donnell at Motherwell, was the only Rovers player to wear an arm band. However, given that the minutes applause was impecabbly observed by Rovers players, officials and support, I very much doubt there was anything sinister in it. Knowing Rovers, it's more likely that we just didn't have any black tape available and Kenny has taken the trouble to source his own (from Dumbarton, no doubt).

Anyway, to the game. We had enough chances to win two matches in the first half, neglected to take them, and got our arse felt in the second. The two goals we lost were shockingly soft, and might have been prevented if either an effort was made to block the initial cross from a deep position, or attacking players weren't granted free headers in the box - schoolboy stuff.

All in all, both teams were pretty poor. Chapman has his work cut out down there, but will be able to steer Dumbarton away from the bottom. I get the feeling we're about to have a January clear-out, so God knows what the rest of the season will be like.

[the snudge]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 10:34, said:

Kenny Wright, who played with Phil O'Donnell at Motherwell, was the only Rovers player to wear an arm band. However, given that the minutes applause was impecabbly observed by Rovers players, officials and support, I very much doubt there was anything sinister in it. Knowing Rovers, it's more likely that we just didn't have any black tape available and Kenny has taken the trouble to source his own (from Dumbarton, no doubt).

Anyway, to the game. We had enough chances to win two matches in the first half, neglected to take them, and got our arse felt in the second. The two goals we lost were shockingly soft, and might have been prevented if either an effort was made to block the initial cross from a deep position, or attacking players weren't granted free headers in the box - schoolboy stuff.

All in all, both teams were pretty poor. Chapman has his work cut out down there, but will be able to steer Dumbarton away from the bottom. I get the feeling we're about to have a January clear-out, so God knows what the rest of the season will be like.

Most of yer players headin to the rock??

[Aloysius Snuffleupagus]

the snudge, on Jan 3 2008, 11:08, said:

Most of yer players headin to the rock??

I reckon you'll see Ciaran Donnelly and Jamie McKenzie down there - Cowboy doesn't seem to fancy either, and will probably let them go.

Jamie Ewings (Chapman's goalkeeper at Rovers) was also in the stand yesterday. I believe he's been down south for a few months, so may not have a club at the moment.

[YIBBIDAY YABBA]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 11:21, said:

I reckon you'll see Ciaran Donnelly and Jamie McKenzie down there - Cowboy doesn't seem to fancy either, and will probably let them go.

Jamie Ewings (Chapman's goalkeeper at Rovers) was also in the stand yesterday. I believe he's been down south for a few months, so may not have a club at the moment.

i'm quite happy with david crawford at the moment.

not heard of Donnelly or McKenzie, hopefully if they're to head this way then they're centre halfs or strikers.

[sons for spl]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 11:21, said:

I reckon you'll see Ciaran Donnelly and Jamie McKenzie down there - Cowboy doesn't seem to fancy either, and will probably let them go.

Jamie Ewings (Chapman's goalkeeper at Rovers) was also in the stand yesterday. I believe he's been down south for a few months, so may not have a club at the moment.

Good god no! Hes mince... Crawford is far, far better!

[Dumbarton-Mad]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 11:21, said:

I reckon you'll see Ciaran Donnelly and Jamie McKenzie down there - Cowboy doesn't seem to fancy either, and will probably let them go.

Jamie Ewings (Chapman's goalkeeper at Rovers) was also in the stand yesterday. I believe he's been down south for a few months, so may not have a club at the moment.

He is a really good player if he's the guy i'm thinking of. Would certainly stregthen our defence but we still need a creative midfielder and a striker.

[PWL]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 11:21, said:

I reckon you'll see Ciaran Donnelly and Jamie McKenzie down there - Cowboy doesn't seem to fancy either, and will probably let them go.

Mckenzie is a good player on his day but his discipline has always been a major issue. Guaranteed at least a couple of red cards a season.

[Aloysius Snuffleupagus]

YIBBIDAY YABBA, on Jan 3 2008, 11:32, said:

i'm quite happy with david crawford at the moment.

not heard of Donnelly or McKenzie, hopefully if they're to head this way then they're centre halfs or strikers.

David Crawford was very good yesterday, it has to be said.

Ciaran Donnelly is a centre half, and a pretty good one. He was Gordon Lennon's central defensive partner and, in my opinion, a large part of the reason Gordon did so well with Rovers and ultimately got a move to Partick i.e. Ciaran did the unfashionable stuff for him. He's a wee bit hot-headed though and struggled to get back into the team following suspension.

As for Jamie McKenzie, you've not been about the lower divisions long if you haven't heard of Jamie. He's been with us twice and also has spells at Stenny and Elgin. A talented midfielder on his day, but struggles with fitness, and is another hothead.

Apparently, McKenzie has been told he will be allowed to go if Cowboy can drum up a replacement. I'm not aware of Ciaran being told the same thing, but he is close to Jim Chapman, and is clearly out of favour with us.

[Dumbarton-Mad]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 11:53, said:

As for Jamie McKenzie, you've not been about the lower divisions long if you haven't heard of Jamie. He's been with us twice and also has spells at Stenny and Elgin. A talented midfielder on his day, but struggles with fitness, and is another hothead.

Apparently, McKenzie has been told he will be allowed to go if Cowboy can drum up a replacement. I'm not aware of Ciaran being told the same thing, but he is close to Jim Chapman, and is clearly out of favour with us.

Is he more of a creative or holding midfielder?

[Aloysius Snuffleupagus]

Dumbarton- Mad, on Jan 3 2008, 11:55, said:

Is he more of a creative or holding midfielder?

Creative. An excellent passer of a ball for our level, and can take a decent free kick on occasion.

[Dumbarton-Mad]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 11:58, said:

Creative. An excellent passer of a ball for our level, and can take a decent free kick on occasion.

Exactly what we need then. Him and Donnelly would be decent signings for us but we'll see who Chapman brings in.

Edited to add: Why exactly did Chapman leave Rovers? I know it was a shock to most of the fans, did he fall out with the board?

This post has been edited by Dumbarton-Mad: 03 January 2008 - 12:02

[Aloysius Snuffleupagus]

Dumbarton- Mad, on Jan 3 2008, 12:00, said:

Exactly what we need then. Him and Donnelly would be decent signings for us but we'll see who Chapman brings in.

Edited to add: Why exactly did Chapman leave Rovers? I know it was a shock to most of the fans, did he fall out with the board?

Yes, his relationship with the board was extremely fraught towards the end. It was a shock to the support, but only because nobody was aware just how bad things were - the first most of us knew of it was from the Evening Times.

However, I think we all now accept that the club did the right thing in getting rid at the end of the season, and bringing Cowboy was certainly a very good move.

[mike rankine]

GoTeamGaz, on Jan 2 2008, 17:20, said:

not a brilliant performance by any stretch but two goals & hopefully thats us on our way to slowly climbing up the table a bit B)

I think we all agree that it wasn't a great performance (especially first half) but a good solid start for Jim Chapman.

It's amazing the difference a reasonably fit Craig Brittain makes to the team. His usual superb contribution in defence and his crosses for both goals. The fact that he was used sparingly by both Martin and McCabe speaks volumes for our slide down the league.

It was also great to see some smiles around SHS again yesterday - in particular the wind-ups and banter from Brian McPhee during the game.

[Dumbarton-Mad]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 12:08, said:

Yes, his relationship with the board was extremely fraught towards the end. It was a shock to the support, but only because nobody was aware just how bad things were - the first most of us knew of it was from the Evening Times.

However, I think we all now accept that the club did the right thing in getting rid at the end of the season, and bringing Cowboy was certainly a very good move.

Yeah, if the albion board hadn't brought as good a manager as the cowboy in the decision might not have been justified. I'm happy with Chapman though, he seems to know what he's doing and will sort the players out and bring the right ones in. I think he had installed a good team spirit at Albion, the only time i saw them last season was when they won late on a Links Park and they kept pushing right till the end a got a deserved winner. Those are the kind of performances we so badly need.

[Aloysius Snuffleupagus]

Dumbarton- Mad, on Jan 3 2008, 12:18, said:

Yeah, if the albion board hadn't brought as good a manager as the cowboy in the decision might not have been justified.

The decision would still have been justified regardless of who came in. There was no working relationship left, and reasonable requests for action from the Board were being ignored by the management - no employer would put up with that situation.

[Dumbarton-Mad]

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, on Jan 3 2008, 12:23, said:

The decision would still have been justified regardless of who came in. There was no working relationship left, and reasonable requests for action from the Board were being ignored by the management - no employer would put up with that situation.

True, obviously the situation was beyond what the board could accept. Hopefully Chapman's relationship with our board will be good. I think the fact he's full-time is a good sign for us.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

mike rankine, on Jan 3 2008, 12:16, said:

I think we all agree that it wasn't a great performance (especially first half) but a good solid start for Jim Chapman.

Perfect afternoon from a Sons point of view - three points gained but overall a pretty dire performance which lets Chappy see just how much work lies ahead. I would think he will be trying to wheel and deal over the next few weeks.