Sons' sorrow

[George Parr]

It's a  bold and welcome move by the club. I really hope it pays off.

[Howlin' Wilf]

The club is to be congratulated on the pricing move. It's an ambitious one right enough with 20% off the walk up price. For this to have a neutral financial effect, the walk up crowd will have to increase by 25% (12.5 admissions for £200 against 10 previously).

To stand still on season income (comparing only on a full price ticket) sales will have to increase by 8%

If it as goodwill gesture to the support, then it has already worked. The more difficult task will be to justify the decision financially.

[albundy]

It is mentioned that they will aim to make up the shortfall in other areas as well as hoping for an up take in season tickets/gate price:

"means we must increase sales and raise money through events to cover the gap. We need everyone on board to help with that."

[Jordo1872]

19 minutes ago, albundy said:

It is mentioned that they will aim to make up the shortfall in other areas as well as hoping for an up take in season tickets/gate price:

"means we must increase sales and raise money through events to cover the gap. We need everyone on board to help with that."

Most clubs will have 2-4 fundraising events per year. We should look to do the same but the novelty soon runs a bit thin when it's the same old sportsmans dinner type event. That's why I was pleased to see us try something a bit different with the Murder Mystery night. Not everyone's cup of tea which is fair enough but equally it will hopefully appeal to a different demographic.

The club needs events like this to work so hopefully the fans get behind it.

[Sons Fan]

I still think we should be talking to the likes a ASDA/ retail park and the council to get signs up to remind people of game.

 

[Howlin' Wilf]

1 minute ago, Sons Fan said:

I still think we should be talking to the likes a ASDA/ retail park and the council to get signs up to remind people of game.

 

There are posters around town for every game.  Asda will have a policy on posters. I think Morrisons used to put them up until their policy changed.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

There are posters around town for every game.  Asda will have a policy on posters. I think Morrisons used to put them up until their policy changed.

The posters need a catchy strapline....I'm thinking something like 'Come Cross The Line' - they don't need to know it's the halfway line.

[C'mon_the_Sons]

With us being at the bottom of Castle Road I believe we need something more visible than a few posters round the town.

If the club could afford it they should get a sign at a prominent location in the town which allows you to slide out the next opponent and match details a bit like the sign they have at the Falkirk Stadium.

Not sure if the feasibility or cost of this tho.

[Howlin' Wilf]

1 hour ago, C'mon_the_Sons said:

With us being at the bottom of Castle Road I believe we need something more visible than a few posters round the town.

If the club could afford it they should get a sign at a prominent location in the town which allows you to slide out the next opponent and match details a bit like the sign they have at the Falkirk Stadium.

Not sure if the feasibility or cost of this tho.

These things probably help in a residual way but to quote Alex Wright "The only thing that helps increase the crowd at Boghead is a winning team". I suspect he was right and 30 years later he probably still is.

 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

And another thing.  SA gets it in the neck from time to time, but what is the general consensus on Ian Durrant ?  I remain sceptical about both his role and his influence on team matters, and there's been too many ex-Rangers retreads and loanees about the place for my liking; nothing against that club, it's just that the players concerned have been largely mediocre.

I'm interested to hear others' views.  Apart from Rangeman of course.

[sonsism]

1 hour ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

And another thing.  SA gets it in the neck from time to time, but what is the general consensus on Ian Durrant ?  I remain sceptical about both his role and his influence on team matters, and there's been too many ex-Rangers retreads and loanees about the place for my liking; nothing against that club, it's just that the players concerned have been largely mediocre.

I'm interested to hear others' views.  Apart from Rangeman of course.

Hard to say really.  I definitely think there was a boost when he first came in last season.  I think he's a good guy to have in the dressing room as the players seem to like him (going by quite a few of them celebrating goals with him and sharing laughter with him during the warm-ups and not much more) but no idea how he has an impact on the tactics or performances.  I'd like to see him call the shots on his own for one game and see what happens but I doubt we'll see that unless Aitken moves on and he fancies a go at the gig himself.

Great move by the club in regards to ST prices.  I'll be renewing as soon as I can regardless of Wed & Sun's results.  Small gestures like that really go a long way and I hope they can justify the decision financially towards the start of next season.  Under no illusions that there are still lots of concerns off the park but with the recent sponsorship change, the ST prices and the increased effort to attract new fans and ideas to the match day experience it's nice to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.  2 good results and it'll be even brighter.

[Silverton End]

7 hours ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

And another thing.  SA gets it in the neck from time to time, but what is the general consensus on Ian Durrant ?  I remain sceptical about both his role and his influence on team matters, and there's been too many ex-Rangers retreads and loanees about the place for my liking; nothing against that club, it's just that the players concerned have been largely mediocre.

I'm interested to hear others' views.  Apart from Rangeman of course.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

And another thing.  SA gets it in the neck from time to time, but what is the general consensus on Ian Durrant ?  I remain sceptical about both his role and his influence on team matters, and there's been too many ex-Rangers retreads and loanees about the place for my liking; nothing against that club, it's just that the players concerned have been largely mediocre.
I'm interested to hear others' views.  Apart from Rangeman of course.

I don't believe Jack Ross should get the credit for what Ian Murray done here and I don't think Durrant deserves stick for Aitken's shortcomings. Of course they are a team so he shouldn't be completely immune to criticism but the final decision lies with Aitken, including signing those average Rangers/ex Rangers jobbers.

In terms of judging him as an assistant he seems to be doing fine but it's hard to tell tbh. I don't think much has changed since Faz left for Stranraer - same style, same tactics etc.

[Howlin' Wilf]

And another thing.  SA gets it in the neck from time to time, but what is the general consensus on Ian Durrant ?  I remain sceptical about both his role and his influence on team matters, and there's been too many ex-Rangers retreads and loanees about the place for my liking; nothing against that club, it's just that the players concerned have been largely mediocre.
I'm interested to hear others' views.  Apart from Rangeman of course.

You say too many Rangers retreads and loanees. Some have worked out and some haven’t but surely more the former? Hutton and Walsh ( whose first involvement pre-dates Durrant ) to a certain degree have been decent. Burt and McCrorie are good young players - maybe the latter never got much of a chance. Wilson hasn’t been great but his opportunities have been limited. I think it’s probably good for Steve Aitken to have a guy like him to offer advice. It does the club no harm in having him and his experience.around. I’d say the same if it were Peter Grant so that I can avoid any nods or winks. If and when Steve Aitken moves on, I wouldn’t be averse to him taking the job.

[George Parr]

With the set-up of the technical areas at the Rock you can sometimes feel a bit detached from the coaching staff and you've got no real feel for what is being said during matches. Contrastingly the games at Inverness this season have been interesting to the extent that we've been more or less sat behind the away dugout. In the most recent match (1-5) I found Durrant's 'shouts', 'opinions' etc to be reasonably insightful. Notably, he called the players out for giving up and he pretty much talked Burt through his entire time on the pitch. Meanwhile Stevie A. offered very little although perhaps that's his style.

It would be a big jump to go from assistant to manager and I would rather we cast the net a little wider if and when the time comes. I think Durrant's more likely to follow Stevie anyway - particularly if he lands a full time gig.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

3 hours ago, Howlin' Wilf said:

You say too many Rangers retreads and loanees. Some have worked out and some haven’t but surely more the former? Hutton and Walsh ( whose first involvement pre-dates Durrant ) to a certain degree have been decent. Burt and McCrorie are good young players - maybe the latter never got much of a chance. Wilson hasn’t been great but his opportunities have been limited. I think it’s probably good for Steve Aitken to have a guy like him to offer advice. It does the club no harm in having him and his experience.around. I’d say the same if it were Peter Grant so that I can avoid any nods or winks. If and when Steve Aitken moves on, I wouldn’t be averse to him taking the job.

This is hardly the time for debate Wilf but we’ll need to agree to disagree on some of these assessments, as for me really only Burt has (in flashes) shown real quality.  The rest have been pretty mediocre at best, with McRorie currently way overrated.  And we never factored in Tom Lang……

 

My wider point though was the seeming incongruity of one of the best creative midfield players of his generation being assistant boss of a team with a consistently fragile and ultra- defensive midfield – it seems an odd one.

Edited May 8, 2018 by O'Kelly Isley III
Mistake

[Howlin' Wilf]

1 hour ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

This is hardly the time for debate Rab but we’ll need to agree to disagree on some of these assessments, as for me really only Burt has (in flashes) shown real quality.  The rest have been pretty mediocre at best, with McRorie currently way overrated.  And we never factored in Tom Lang……

 

My wider point though was the seeming incongruity of one of the best creative midfield players of his generation being assistant boss of a team with a consistently fragile and ultra- defensive midfield – it seems an odd one.

Durrant took the job as a shaky bridge back into the game -  he is deputy station officer in  the Castle Road firefighting unit. In his playing career at Rangers he was always in a team which won championships, trophies and got to the semi finals of what is now the Champions League. To  apply his role as a player in a linear and seamless way to his current situation is, I would suggest, not realistic or fair.  However, I'd bet my bottom dollar that Sam Stanton has got a lot to thank him for in getting his current gig.

Lang is the type of signing that could have gone either way and in his case it didn't work out, despite him having had some decent experience - it happens.

Your wider point has a reminiscence of Davy Wilson about it. He was an attacking winger but was a pretty defensive manager.

[Howlin' Wilf]

1 hour ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

This is hardly the time for debate Rab but we’ll need to agree to disagree on some of these assessments, as for me really only Burt has (in flashes) shown real quality.  The rest have been pretty mediocre at best, with McRorie currently way overrated.  And we never factored in Tom Lang……

 

My wider point though was the seeming incongruity of one of the best creative midfield players of his generation being assistant boss of a team with a consistently fragile and ultra- defensive midfield – it seems an odd one.

McRorie started six games for Dumbarton, two victories, three draws and one defeat.

[optimistic]

And Tom Lang? Can’t have played as many as mcrorie, s08?

[Jan Vojáček]

1 minute ago, optimistic said:

And Tom Lang? Can’t have played as many as mcrorie, s08?

Lang only started one game - a 4-0 victory against Raith Rovers, so his wins to starts ratio is as good as anyone in DFC history! Made five sub appearances too (W1 D1 L3)